Advertisements

Tag Archives: review

Trying Arbonne

21 Monday Sep 2015

Posted by in Fashion

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Recently my local Arbonne consultant got in touch to ask if I would like to review some products and of course I said yes.

Donna, the Arbonne consultant, sent me the Intense Hydration Mask, Arbonne Intelligence CC Cream, Pure Vibrance Colorlast Hair Serum, RE9 Advanced Lifting and Contouring Eye Cream and a vanilla and java eye shadow duo, all of which you can see below:

20150921_201859

The first thing I tried was the Intense Hydration Mask as I have been having problems with dry skin. The mask was good because it didn’t really dry in and  a mask so dry that it cracks is really not what you want when you have dry skin. I left it on for 10 minutes, washed it off with warm water and noticed a real difference after just the first use. My skin felt a lot smoother and a lot less dry than it had been. I think if you have dry skin it really couldn’t hurt to give it a go.

Once my skin was feeling a bit better I tried the CC cream and it was a little bit dark for my skin but not overly so. I could get away with it If I blended it well at my neck. It was actually a really nice colour that made me look like I had been away in the sun for a week or two but it wasn’t too orangey which was good.

The eye shadow duo is a good little hand-bag extra, the brown is great for a smokey eye, it blends really well and it’s easy to remove. It’s inspired me to try a brown smokey eye. The vanilla wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anything to rave about either, just a normal eye shadow that does the job.

I tried the hair serum twice because I didn’t realise the first time around just how little you need to use, seriously – a lot goes a long way with this stuff, once I got the hang of it it was quite good at smoothing down frizz, particularly when I was wearing my hair back in a pony-tail but you have to be extremely careful not to make your hair look greasy. I found putting a teeny tiny bit in the palm of my hand and rubbing my hands together before applying to my hair was the best way to get the results I wanted.

I didn’t really notice a result with the lifting and contouring eye cream but I think maybe that it is meant for more mature skin, I have some dark pigmentation under my eyes but I don’t have puffiness or bags so there wasn’t really anything to lift or contour in the first place. The cream smells quite nice though and it comes in a lovely chic little pot that looks nice enough to leave on show somewhere in the bedroom or bathroom.

Overall I would say that if you like discovering new beauty brands you should give Arbonne a go because you just might find something you like. I’ve used my Intense hydration mask more than once and I’m very glad that Donna chose to send me this.

Arbonne is a global brand and Donna can supply anyone in the UK, USA, Canada, Poland and Australia with products. Her details are below and her website link is also the place to find out the prices of everything I have reviewed.

donnavenman.arbonne@hotmail.com

http://www.donnavenman.arbonne.com

http://www.facebook.com/donnavenmanic

Finally, I would just like to say thanks  to Donna for sending me these products to try 🙂

Thanks for reading!

Advertisements

Trying OSMO

13 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Bargain, Beauty, Christmas, gift ideas, gifts, Hair, review, Reviews, Shopping, under £15

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was recently sent one of OSMO’s 2014 gift packs and I would like to thank Laura at AJPR for sending this on to me to review.

I was able to chose which range I would like to try a product from and I chose to receive something from the shine range as currently I have a few hair products which claim to enhance or add shine that I have been using so I would be able to measure up how OSMO compares performance-wise.

Laura sent me the OSMO Shine gift pack:

20141103_163638

When I opened my parcel to reveal this decent sized, heavy and glitzy box it did feel a bit like a present. I thought yeah,ok, hair care products maybe aren’t on the top of every girls wishlist, they’re not on top of mine, but I would be happy to receive this as a gift – I wouldn’t unwrap it and be disappointed, I’d be quite satisfied and curious to try the products out.

The contents of the Shine gift set are shown on the box as:

Blinding Shine Shampoo 350ml

Blinding Shine Conditioner 350ml

Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher 125ml

So I was surprised when I opened the box to find the 3 above mentioned products plus a 4th product:

20141103_163910I felt what can only be described as ‘well chuffed’ at finding this bonus product, I love surprises! Now it has only this instant occurred to me that maybe this bonus surprise product isn’t in every box and it may in fact be a perk of being a blogger sent the box to review but, as the surprise was actually in the box, I think it is a genuine surprise product and and I give that a big thumbs up. ( The reason I subscribe to glossy box is because it’s basically a grown up lucky bag – surprises are always going to score high with me) EDIT: I have checked, my surprise was indeed a genuine surprise and not a blogger perk, which makes me wonder what surprises the other OSMO gift packs have.

The surprise product is called Wonder 10 and you spray it evenly over damp hair, leave-in and style as normal to :

  1. Repair dry and damaged hair
  2. Nourish and protect for radiant shine
  3. Provide thermal protection from styling tools
  4. Deliver soft, silky & more manageable results
  5. Colour Protect
  6. Create body and movement
  7. Detangle (incredibly apparently)
  8. Prevent static
  9. Condition (both natural and synthetic hair – so the bonus is a double bonus if you wear extensions)
  10. Smooth split ends and control frizz

Now Wonder 10 is the one product I haven’t used yet as this week has been more about dry shampoo and less about soft,silky manageable hair-  because I have been rushed off my feet – but I’m trying it out after washing my hair tonight and will update this post tomorrow. Due to how well my other OSMO products have performed I have high hopes for this little wonder bottle. I can tell you right now that it smells amazing – i have no idea what it actually smells of but whatever it is I would genuinely wear as perfume.

(EDIT: I have now tried Wonder 10 and I agree that it conditions, controls frizz and static, and detangles very well. My hair does also feel silky. Body and movement is a hard thing for me to measure as I have thick hair so it’s always full of ‘body’. Likewise  colour protect, nourishment, thermal protection, repairing dryness and damage I can’t really comment on – my hair is my natural colour so no protection is needed (what is colour protection anyway? preventing fade?) The easiest thing for me to say is that my hair feels and looks good so as far as I’m concerned Wonder 10 is delivering results.)

I did find time somehow to try the shampoo and conditioner, maybe because I put them straight on my bathroom shelf when I got them – I was happy because they are not run-of-the-mill and look quite decorative in my bathroom:

20141113_205047

I have a stupidly tiny amount of storage space in my bathroom so I always have products on the window sill and littered around the bath so I really really like it when something actually looks good on display. It makes my bathroom feel tidier so the OSMO bottles get top marks for how they look, that shelf wasn’t so great to look at when Head and Shoulders was up there.

 I also think they look like expensive products hair dressers would use so you might be surprised when I tell you that the price for my whole shine gift-set is around £14 (most places have it for £14ish but I did manage to find it online at fragrancedirect.co.uk and loopyhair.com for under a tenner.) I only did a quick search so if you find any good deals let me know because I am now an OSMO fan.

Part of the reason I’m a fan is because their products do what they say on their bottles and these products made my hair shine. The Shampoo did all of the stuff that I would expect and gave my hair a noticable shine (I did take pictures as I was planning to compare results with my Vo5 Nourish my Shine shampoo but trying to show a difference in shine was asking a bit much of camera)

The shampoo made my hair nice and shiny. Curiously it smells like an aftershave or cologne which is unusual for a women’s shampoo, but quite cool. My hair smells quite nice when I use it, it just doesn’t smell of something generic like strawberries.

The conditioner didn’t really have much of a scent to speak of which is no issue for me – not really any need for both of the products to smell. It conditions well and leaves my hair very soft.

My hero product is the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I actually used this without having used the Blinding Shine Shampoo or Conditioner as I wanted to see how well it worked on its own. It works amazingly. Anyone who uses GHD’s straighteners will understand this next part, you know when you have nice freshly washed hair and then you use your GHD and instantly your hair is all shiny-shiny? The illuminating finisher is just that in a bottle – spray and be dazzled – instant shine. If you use too much you are in danger of going from shiny to greasy – I know because I  enjoyed  spraying my magic shine bottle a little too much until my hair looked like it hadn’t been washed in a week but if you have enough restraint not to get carried away then you will love the Blinding Shine Illuminating Finisher. I didn’t notice a sent until I sprayed some on my hand just now to tell you guys – if you sniff it it smells medicated but I don’t actually smell anything when I am just spraying it on my hair. It’s also not sticky or heavy in the slightest so it’s a pretty perfect product. The Wonder 10 is also not sticky – I just tried it on my hand.

Well that’s all I have to say about OSMO for tonight – if you pop back tomorrow night I’ll update this post let you know how I got on with Wonder10.

Lastly- Would I buy this gift set? Yes, without hesitation. 

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Mary Kay Press Event in Glasgow

06 Thursday Nov 2014

Posted by in Beauty, Glasgow, Make up, Makeup, review, Reviews, Shopping, Skincare

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Recently I got to go along to a Mary Kay Press Event in Glasgow. It was at the gorgeous Blythswood Hotel in a nice little bar which we had all to ourselves for the event. We got to wander around and try the products placed on tables around the room and ask the Mary Kay staff everything from how the brand began to what their latest products were. Below are some images that give just a hint of the range that Mary Kay has to offer. There is also some interesting information about the brand at the bottom of this post.
Table Pic (2) DSC_0943 (1) DSC_0946 DSC_0944 Mens (1) 20141028_174846 20141028_181414After wandering around trying things from the tables Make-up artist Lynne Mills from EyeCandy Professional Make-up gave me a nice little make over. I was grateful for this as I had only found out about the event that day (thanks Amy!) and had come straight from work so I wasn’t exactly feeling or looking glamourous.
DSC_0933 (3)After my makeover I got to put together my own palette and I chose some of the products which Lynne had used on me. This made the choice a little easier – there was so much to choose from.20141028_174955 20141028_175009 Here is a pic of me (looking particularly frumpy) but I’m pleased with my make over from Lynne and happy to show off my own custom palette. There are better images of it below.DSC_0940 (1)My palette wasn’t the only thing that I got to take home with me, Mary Kay were very generous.
20141103_155034 20141103_160440 20141103_161214 20141103_161455 You can buy and create your own custom Mary Kay palette. I still have space in mine and I’m thinking that I will include some brushes and maybe some of my own make-up like eye-liner.                                                                                                               Compact Pro (Empty) Palette : £12.50

20141103_163508I tried to pick my favourite product from my Mary Kay haul and I just couldn’t, everything I’ve tried is really good, but I have 3 products which I love and that I am already using everyday. The skinvigorate brush is one of them. To use it you wet your face, apply a cleanser ( I recently converted to cream cleansers and now there is no going back) I’ve used this brush with the Mary Kay Timewise 3-in-1 cleanser(more about that below) and with my own Elemis cleanser and it works great with both. I’m continuing to use it with the Elemis one just now as I like to use all of a product before moving on to the next one. I’ve used it morning and night for 3 days and I’m already much happier with my skin. Anyway back to how use it: wet your face and the brush, apply cleanser and then use the brush in a circular motion for 15 seconds on each area of your face (forehead, nose, cheeks and chin – don’t use it too close to your eyes where the skin is delicate) The brush has a pleasantly odd sensation which I find quite relaxing. I find a light touch works best as, if you apply too much pressure it can feel a bit like the brush is dragging your skin but if you hold it lightly enough it gently buffs and polishes your skin and leaves it looking and feeling great.20141103_163526 It even comes with batteries included and a replacement brush head (it’s recommended that you change the brush head every 3 months so I will have to pick up some more of those.) The only negative thing I have to say about the brush is that I had to wrestle a little bit to take the bottom of the brush off. I did eventually manage to take it off myself (to insert the batteries)- I’m not sure If my own model was particularly stiff or if it is the same story with all of the brushes but either way it is really not much of an issue and the excellent results are well worth this small hassle.                                     Skinvigorate Cleansing Brush: £35.00

20141103_161607 My second love is this Mary Kay mascara, I actually got one of these in a Glossybox a while back and hadn’t tried it yet ( I told you a like to finish a product before moving on to the next) Anyway I have tried this now and I LOVE it. The finished result is amazing. I’ll need to do a separate post on good mascaras because I have a few that I like but I think this one might be number one.                                                                       

Lash Love Mascara: £16:00

20141103_163318 20141103_163231 True Dimensions Lipstick: £14.0020141103_161949 Semi-matte Lipstick: £12.00

20141103_162736Beauty Blotter Oil Absorbing Tissues: £5.5020141103_161825 Translucent Powder: £18.0020141103_163002 Nail Lacquer: £9.0020141103_162400 The cleanser above is a good choice particularly if you want a cleanser which also exfoliates as it contains little exfoliation beads which do a very good job. This will be a weekend cleanser for me as I can be quite rushed in the morning and when I have used exfoliating cleansers like this in the past I end up finding/feeling exfoliation beads when I am doing my make-up for work, apparently I never manage to wash them all off. I will treat my skin to this on weekends when I have time to make sure it is all properly washed off and it will make a nice little addition to my routine.                                    

Timewise 3-in-1 Cleanser: £20.0020141103_162625This eye make-up remover is my 3rd love. It takes my make-up off effortlessly and works so well that instead of waiting for my Simple eye make-up remover to run out I have just ditched it as I think the Mary Kay one works much better.                              

Oil-Free Make-Up Remover: £13.00

After trying their products I’m impressed with Mary Kay and know I will make future purchases from them. If you want to purchase Mary Kay products too there are a few ways to do this, Mary Kay has 3 million beauty consultants worldwide in over 35 countries. The beauty consultants offer a try before you buy service and let’s face it buying make-up without trying it before hand is just a gamble and  the reason why I have so many full bottles of foundation gathering dust. 

Speaking of foundation, Mary Kay cater to all ethnicities and age groups with all of their cosmetic and skin care products so you should be able to find exactly what you need and stop adding to your dust gathering collection of bottles and tubes.

To find out who is your nearest Mary Kay beauty consultant or to buy Mary Kay products online visit www.markykay.co.uk, now is a good time visit as I spotted some free gift offers today.

Thank you to the team at Mary Kay for all of my great products and answering all of my questions ( the start-up story was particularly interesting, if you want to know the story it’s on the Mary Kay website along with details of how you can become a Mary Kay consultant – they get a 40% discount by the way)

Thanks also to Lauren at Pure PR for letting me attend at short notice and to Lynne for my make over. 

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Visiting Hair by JFK

29 Monday Sep 2014

Posted by in Bargain, Edinburgh, Fashion, Hair, Nails, Reviews, Scotland

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A few days ago I attended a blogger/student event at Hair by JFK in Edinburgh. I took my friend Roxanna with me and we were both glad that we went along, it was a fun night. 

When we arrived we were whisked downstairs for some wine, cake-pops and sushi.

20140924_183114

While having some nibbles we were told about all of the treatments that we were generously being offered; manicures, fringe trims, hair styling(French braids etc) and makeovers by a professional make-up artist.

The first ‘station’ I came across was the nail station:

20140924_183947

One look at all of those sparkly colours and I decided that I was getting my nails done.  The lovely Katie Jane did my nails for me, she was very quick and friendly and I was very happy with the finished result. 

20140924_190148

Four full days later and my nails still look perfect. What’s more they look like I’ve actually had  them done, not like I’ve done them myself. I’ve not had many manicures but sometimes when I do get one I think it doesn’t look any better than something I could do at home but Katie tidied my cuticles and applied the polish flawlessy with the tiniest gap between the polish and the edge of my nails. If you are in Edinburgh and you would like to get your nails done then I really couldn’t recommend Katie enough.

While my nails were drying I met Connor the extremely photogenic hairdresser:

20140924_190429He was nice enough to give me a much needed fringe trim, I got my hair cut a few weeks ago (you can read my review here) and it’s the first time in years that I’ve had a fringe. It grew so quickly that I had already resorted to clipping it back and I had heard that some hairdressers won’t give you a fringe trim unless you are a regular (shocking I know) so I was really at a loss for what to do with it. Lucky for me and for anyone else out there with a fringe, Hair by JFK has:

20140924_193050The Bang Bar! A dedicated service for getting your fringe cut. Jump in for 5 minutes and walk out with a tidy fringe! On Fridays it’s free! Well sort of, Hair by JFK would like you to make a donation to The Edinburgh Dog and Cat home, donate whatever you can and you can walk out with a freshly cut fringe and a warm and fuzzy feeling from doing your good deed for the day.

Oh and by the way, you can even take your dog with you to get your hair cut. Seriously-it’s a dog friendly salon, there was a dog there when I was there. How cool is that? 20140924_193149Not only did Connor give my fringe it’s much needed trim, he thought that, seeing as I was already in the chair, he would throw a few curls into my hair for me. Thanks Connor 🙂

After my hair and nails had been done I had my first chance to get a good look at the salon while Roxanna was getting her make-up done.

20140924_194201

It is a very very cool salon.

The Hair by JKF logo is a zebra with a green mohawk and their philosophy is ‘Hair styling for the individual’ so I spotted a few zebras and several inspiring and unusual hair style ideas:

jfk

20140924_195335

20140924_20283320140924_194243

20140924_19423020140924_195507

With amazing styles like those above all around the salon, I wasn’t too surprised to find this either:

20140924_194442Once Roxanna was done getting her make-up done it was my turn:

20140924_202852

We were both glammed up and ready for our big night out at…McDonalds! Well, it was a school night and I had work in the morning, and it was the nearest place to the train station that was open…and I love McDonalds.

My night didn’t quite end there though, when I got home I opened my JFK goody-bag to find:

20140928_201553

How amazing is the calendar? That is the image that goes with September, it’s a dog/hairdressing calendar all the way through – told you they like dogs. Thank you very much to the team at Hair by JFK for the lovely treatments, the cool goody-bag and for being so friendly and welcoming. I’m sorry we were the last ones to leave!

Thank you also to Kelly at AJPR for inviting me along 🙂

For anyone who wants to know (that should be everyone who gets their hair cut in Edinburgh) you can find Hair by JFK at:

P.S If you are a student then your really should go check Hair by JFK out – they have their own student card and loyalty scheme with loads of discounts available.

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

 

Trying out Alison Stewart Hairdressing

25 Monday Aug 2014

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

So last week I went along to the Alison Stewart Hairdressing Salon in Kirkcaldy and was treated to a free (for review) cut and blow-dry with a head massage thrown in.

Leaving my house I looked like this:

20140816_094217

Obviously it had been a while since my last haircut and I was ready for a change so I walked into Alison Stewart feeling excited about how I would look when I walked out.

20140816_124959

The Salon looks impressive outside and inside it is stylish, bright and modern. I knew just from the decor that I would be treated well here. Clearly a lot of thought went into the layout and design of the salon to make it inviting to customers.

Just to the left of reception was an incredibly well stocked display of the professional products that you can buy from the Alison Stewart salon.

20140816_124043

The salon floor was laid out in an attractive half-moon shape. I really liked this minimal look, hair dressing salons are always busy bustling places but this clean no fuss look promoted a more relaxed atmosphere.20140816_123759

 This coupled with the relaxing effect of my head massage had me feeling comfortable, calm and not nervous at all about getting all my hair chopped off.20140816_113945

I was very surprised when I realised it had taken an hour and a half for me to get my hair done. The relaxing setting and comfy chair meant that I wasn’t counting down the minutes until I could leave. I only felt like I was there for 30 minutes or so all in. My boyfriend/photographer for the day probably felt differently about the passage of time but the staff made him feel very welcome and we were both asked a couple of times if we would like tea or coffee etc.

My stylist, Mairi, used the below products from the Kerastase range on my hair. I can honestly say my hair was the softest I have ever felt it, even two days after getting it cut, so I might invest in some Kerastase products to use at home. As a bonus they smell great as well as working wonders.  Mairi used Nectar Thermique on my hair, a leave-in nourishing cream for use with heat-styling and Nectar Ultime with Imperial Tea Extract – this is actually a beautifying oil aimed at colour-treated hair and my hair has no colour in it, I just leave it natural – but Mairi had already worked a few wonders by this point and I was very happy with the end result so I would use this again.20140816_120131

 For my new look I decided to get a fringe and lots of layers, and Mairi delivered:

20140816_123718After my haircut I explored the Salon (told you I didn’t feel like I had been there long)  and found a chic beauty area for nail and beauty treatments:20140816_124113There were also gorgeous treatment rooms with showers! This is the first salon I have been to that has showers.Showers are obviously perfect for washing off massage oil and leg wax so all beauty salons should have them. I was really impressed with this. 20140816_12415120140816_124258Overall I really loved my experience at Alison Stewart, I was treated like a VIP and I’m certain that is the way that they aim to treat all of their customers. Not only did Mairi give me a great cut (exactly what I wanted) but she talked me through each step in caring for and styling my new do and gave me a booklet with personalised recommendations for hair care products to take away with me.

Even though I would have to drive for an hour I would definitely go back. The service and results are well worth the travel time. I was lucky enough to receive my cut and blow-dry for free but for anyone wondering, the cost for my cut & blow-dry, head massage and styling products used was around £53.00 – not bad for a new do, some pampering and a lesson in hair-care all from a Salon Director.

There are currently 2 Alison Stewart Hairdressing Salons, one in Kirkcaldy and one in Glenrothes so if you live nearby you should definitely pop in for a trim and experience the Alison Stewart Treatment.

To find out more about Alison Stewart Hairdressing visit www.alisonstewart.co.uk 

I would like to say Thank You to Alison Stewart and Mairi for inviting me to the salon, treating me well and giving me a great new look. I would also like to thank Kelly Jones at AJPR for making this opportunity available to me.

 Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Sleeping Beauty Salon Blogger Event

11 Friday Jul 2014

Posted by in Beauty, Nails, Reviews, Scotland

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On Tuesday evening I made my way to Edinburgh to attend a blogger event at Sleeping Beauty Salon. I was so impressed by the salon, it’s services and it’s staff that, although I don’t live in Edinburgh,  I am planning on travelling there to visit the salon again and get some more treatments.

20140708_193220_LLS

Upon arrival at the Salon I was greeted with cocktails and cupcakes.20140708_184043 20140708_184015

and handed a pleasantly  heavy goody bag (the contents of which were amazing)20140708_215701
Then I was told that the Salon was offering us lucky bloggers a variety of free treatments including:

  • Eyebrow threading and waxing
  • Manicures and pedicures
  • Shellac Manicures
  • Application of Nouveau Lashes from the Millie Mackintosh range

AND we could have as many treatments as we liked!

While I decided which treatments I would like to get I explored the salon and took some pics of it’s lovely decor and products:

20140708_184024 (2)

20140708_192029_LLS 20140708_191815 20140708_184351 20140708_183952

20140708_191921_LLS (1)

I then decided to have a manicure 

20140708_192051_LLS

This shade is called ‘sugar spice’ and it is from Shellac’s own polish range.

I also had some Nouveau Lashes applied, I chose the City lashes from the Millie Mackintosh range and I was really happy with how natural they looked.

20140708_214615

When I got home I opened my goody bag and was far from disappointed.

20140708_224036

I have already used some of the products that I received so look out for some reviews coming soon.

I received a voucher for a Hot Lava Shell Massage so I will definitely be visiting Sleeping Beauty Salon soon for that and I’m having some issues with my skin at the moment so I am thinking of booking a facial also – so look out for reviews of those treatments.

Sleeping Beauty Salon has a membership system  which for a fixed price of £550.00 for a year or £275.00 for 6 months entitles you to £50.00 worth of treatments every month. Members also receive significant discounts on all treatments and the salon also has a point based loyalty system. It’s easy to see why the chain has won so many awards.

You can find Sleeping Beauty Salons in Edinburgh, Inverness and Lerwick, to find your nearest salon go to  www.sleepingbeautysalon.com

I would like to thank Kelly at AJ PR for inviting me to this event and all the staff at Sleeping Beauty Salon for being so welcoming and friendly and for hosting this great event. 

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Premae – The World’s First Allergen Free Beauty Brand

21 Thursday Nov 2013

Posted by in Beauty, review, Skincare

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hey 🙂

Recently I was invited to the Premae Glasgow Beauty Blogger Event. I had never heard of Premae before so of course I went along. I was quite lucky as, due to a time change on the day, the evening blogger meet-up was very intimate and I had lots of one on one time with Premae founder Clare Eluka and Premae PR, Marketing & Communications Manager Pariss Sloan.

2013-11-10 19

Clare, who is a Make-up Artist and Allergy practioner, founded Premae almost 2 years ago (Premae celebrates it’s 2nd birthday on 1st december 2013) after years of research in order to bring beauty lovers high quality beauty products which are completely allergen free. In fact, as Premae is the first beauty brand to be simultaneously Allergy UK Certified and Vegan Society Approved, I had absolutely no reservations about applying Premae Harmony Moisturising Smoothie Serum to my skin at the event. I had been asked to bring some foundation and a foundation brush along with me and it turned out that this was so I could make my own BB cream using my foundation and the serum. After mixing my foundation and the Harmony Moisturising Smoothie serum together I applied the mix to my face and was happy enough with the results to leave it on all night and get the train home wearing it.

I used up my little BB cream mix quite quickly and instead of whipping up another batch I have settled into the routine of applying the serum before putting on my foundation as I think it works really well as a primer. It is absorbed quickly enough that I don’t have to wait around before putting my make up on which is great.

Each of the bloggers at the event received gift bags containing the following :

2013-11-21 13.13.41

Do these products seem familiar? There are a few reasons why they might. Premae is already a Glossybox favourite, you will have found the Harmony Moisturising Smoothie Serum in the October Glossybox :

Thank you Claire for gifting me the October Glossybox when I told you that I hadn't got this one due to moving house.

Thank you Claire for gifting me the October Glossybox when I told you that I hadn’t got this one due to moving house.

Or maybe you have read about Premae in Vogue, Tirade or Forbes magazines who have been showering Premae with praise. Premae has been featured once again in Vogue’s December issue.

I was already an instant fan of the Harmony Moisturising Smoothie Serum after trying it at the event but it wasn’t until a couple of days later that I tried the Harmony Moisturing Creme Balm. I’m really impressed with this balm, it has a texture very similar to Benefit’s the Porefessional and I love the feel of it on my skin. The fragrance is very subtle and reminds me of lemon sherbet. It is nice and thick so I was quite surprised by how quickly it absorbed into my skin, for me it takes less than 2O minutes to be completely gone. I have been applying this after I come home from work as I have a freezing walk home  and my skin feels really raw by the time I reach my house. The balm soothes my skin instantly and leaves it feeling soft and looking well-cared for instead of weather-beaten. It’s also great for oily skin as it has a mattifying effect. If you think this sounds good and want to try it I have good news. Premae have kindly given me a second Harmony Moisturising Creme Balm to give away so stop by the blog tomorrow for all the details.

At the event I got chatting with Pariss who told me that she especially loves Premae products because they help her skin look good even when her psoriasis flares up. This struck a cord with me as my sister suffers from psoriasis and I knew that she had a particularly bad outbreak on her hands as I had seen her earlier that day. I told Paris and Clare this and they recommended the Premae Luxury Hand and Foot Cream :

2013-11-15 21.20.37

I decided to buy it and give it to my sister. I gave her it a few days ago and she is going to let me know how it works out for her, when I gave her the cream her hands looked like this:

2013-11-15 21.18.46

You might not be able to see it very well but the dark red patches on her fingers is where her skin is peeling off. Hopefully she will see some improvement after using Premae’s Hand and foot cream. I’ll keep you updated.

Do you have skin Issues too? The Premae website http://premaeskincare.com/ let’s you filter their products via skin issue so if you have a skin problem you can find a product that will help. They also have a chat function so that you can ask questions while you are browsing, click the above link to see for yourself.

Currently Premae have 13 different ranges targeted at different Skincare issues so whatever issue you have Premae should have a product that will help. They also have an SPF range arriving in May 2014 which will be followed by their first make up range which I am already excited to try.

Don’t forget to visit the blog tomorrow to take part in my Premae giveaway!

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Inside the July Birchbox

30 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by in Beauty, review, Shopping

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here is what I received inside my July Birchbox :

20130720_175401 20130720_175526 20130720_175615 20130720_175710 20130720_175805 20130720_175829 20130720_175908 20130720_180039 20130720_180205

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Mmm…Milllennium – Breviewed

21 Monday Jan 2013

Posted by in review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breviewed Logo

As far as blogging gigs go, this one is the tastiest one that I have had yet. 
At the moment Millennium and Copthorne Hotels are trying to decide which chocolates from the Hotel Chocolat range they should place in the rooms of their hotel guests. This is no easy feat since the Hotel Chocolat range has a wide variety of beautiful chocolates to offer. So that’s where I come in, Milennium and Copthorne Hotels have sent me and various other bloggers a gorgeous bag filled with Hotel Chocolat goodies to review and to pick our favourite chocolate from. Don’t mind if I do 😉

Here is the lovely sample pack that I recieved and what was inside it :

choc_collage_web-large

Obviously I couldn’t wait to dive in and start reviewing.

First of all I tried the Salted Caramels.

pic 2pic 3

pic 4pic 5

This was the first time that I had ever tried salted caramel so I was quite excited. The chocolates were a good enough size to give me a nice satisfying bite when I tried them. The first taste that hit me was unfortunately the salt which, although I was expecting it, I found quite unpleasant. After that the caramel taste kind of kicked in which improved things and then I finally got to the not so salty chocolate which was a relief. I think that people who like salted caramel would enjoy these but these just helped me find out that I am not a fan of salt in my caramel. With regards to the packaging I think that it resembles the packaging for tablets which, lets face it, is not very enticing but the look and shape of the chocolates themselves was quite inviting. I would say that guests who like salted caramel would enoy these but it is unlikely that all guests would enjoy them so I don’t recommend these for Millennium Hotels.

After the Salted Caramels I opted for the Smiley Lick.

pic 7

This was a nice and simple chocolate lollypop. It was easy to open and the chocolate was lovely and thick so you get a real mouthful with each bite. I liked this so much that I couldn’t stop to note down my thoughts after just one bite. It ended up like this before I could stop eating it long enough to take notes :

pic 8

The chocolate was very smooth and it melts in your mouth almost instantly. Out of all of the samples that I recieved it was the only one that protected you from getting chocolate on your fingers since it was on a stick. Although this was so nice that I felt like eating it all in one go, I think it is a little too goofy looking and not quite elegant enough to look at home within Millennium and Copthorne Hotels. If it were up to me I would stock this at the hotels but reserve it for the child guests and give the adults something a bit more elegant.

When I finally managed to put down the Smiley Lick I moved on to the Billionaire’s Shortbread Selector.

pic 9pic 10

pic 11pic 12

I thought that the presentation of the Billionaire’s Shortbread was quite appealing, to me it looks like something that would fit in with the elegant and luxurious feel of Millennium Hotels so it ticked that box straight away. Then I opened them. They have such a strong smell! They obviously smell of chocolate and caramel so nothing unpleasant but I was surprised by the strength of the smell, it hits you as soon as you open the packet and I found that a little off-putting. After that I expected these to be very rich and sickly-sweet. It turned out that they were really quite nice. Like the Salted Caramels they were a decent size and gave you a nice satisfying bite. I was pleasantly surprised by the filling, I had been expecting runny caramel and instead I got some kind of caramel-praline blend which I actually quite liked. I loved that the shortbread cookies were on top instead of at the bottom. I thought that was quite a nice twist. The Billionaire’s Shortbread is a contender.

Once I had sampled the Billionaire’s Shortbread I moved onto the Eton Mess Slab.

pic 13pic 14

pic 15

pic 16pic 17

This smelled exactly like strawberry ice-cream. It wasn’t an overpowering smell either, you just got a faint whiff of it as you lifted the chocolate to your mouth. It was lovely

When I bit into this it was so flavoursome. The bar is a blend of strawberry and vanilla chocolate with scattered pieces of strawberry, merigue and cookies on top and inside. Each bite tastes a litte different depending on what kind of mix of strawberry, meringue and cookies you get. I really really liked this but there was just one problem. It was so messy. In the image above on the right you can see all of the debris that fell off of the bar when I snapped a piece off to eat. When you are staying at a nice hotel you really don’t want crumbs all over you so if Millenium and Copthorne Hotels do decide to offer this to their guests then I think they should offer it as a small bite size bar or in a selctor pakage like the Billionaire Shortbreads.

Last but not least I tried the Drops Gemstones.

pic 18pic 19

pic 20

These are my winner! I would strongly recommend that Millenium and Copthorne Hotels pick these to offer to their guests. Each drop is a fusion of white and dark chocolate and they just taste great. They are quite small and very moreish and I imagine that they would be something great to snack on while unpacking your case.

If I go to a Millennium Hotel in future it will be the Hotel in Glasgow which faces right on to George Square. I’d go at Christmas time when George Square has a nice big ice rink in it and is filled with fairgroud rides. I would hope that the chocolates that I found in my room would be Drops Gemstones as not only could I snack on them while unpacking, but they are also small and portable enough that I could fit them in my pocket and take them with me when I go on all of the rides at George Square.

So that’s what I think but what about you? If you went to a fancy hotel which of the chocolates above would you hope to find in your room? Which would you least like to find?

Thanks for checking out my blog 🙂

Breviewed – Off With Her Head Millinery

27 Thursday Dec 2012

Posted by in Fashion, review, Shopping

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , ,

Breviewed Logo

Hey 🙂

Some of you may remember when I published a post about www.offwithherheadmillinery.co.uk  back in September. Well, thanks to the very kind Lisa Jones, the Off With Her Head Milliner, I have some lovely head gear to review for you.

First off, I want to comment on the OWHHM packaging. My items arrived in perfect condition in a bubble wrap padded envelope which stated that it was ‘Especially for Breige McBride’ which I thought was a very nice touch. Inside the envelope my items were decoratively wrapped in tissue paper and ribbon so I felt like I was getting a lovely present.

SAM_1386

I was delighted to find that I had been sent two items to review as I had only been expecting one. I recieved a comb in head piece and a woollen headband.

SAM_1423 SAM_1426

This little festive head piece is very cute and you just comb it into your hair as it has a hair comb attached to it.

SAM_1532

I love this little head piece and I will for sure be digging it out every Christmas as it is a nice and unusual touch to any Christmas outfit and I was very happy to find that it stays put for hours even with my hair straightened. OWHHM have a lot of these comb in pieces, not just festive print ones. I featured some of the others here. The only negative thing I have to say about this is that a tiny corner of the comb is visible when you have it on due to where the comb has been sewn on but since it’s a clear comb it doesn’t matter all that much.

I also recieved a woolen headband which you can see below.

Here is what it looks like on. ~I may have got a little carried away with my modelling 😉 ~

SAM_1521

SAM_1517

The headband is really comfy, cosy and easy to wear. It’s perfect for the cold winter months and I think it looks quite stylish. My only problem with it is a personal one since I don’t like the colour orange and tend not to wear it but maybe this can be the exception.

Off With Her Head Millinery have lots of cool  head pieces that you won’t find anywhere else and I find the prices quite reasonable for such quality handmade pieces. Go check out the website to see if anything catches your eye : www.offwithherheadmillinery.co.uk

Also right now there is a sale on with up to 50% off many  Off With Her Head pieces  at the Off With her head Etsy store :  http://www.etsy.com/shop/LisaJonesMillinery so go pick up a bargain.

I would just like to say a big Thank You to Lisa Jones, the Milliner at Off With Her Head Millinery, for sending me these items to review.

On a side note, regular readers may have noticed a lack of posts recently, I had a lot going on with uni and then my boyfriend and I travelled to England to spend the festive season with his family and I just returned home yesterday. You can expect regualr post from now on. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas 🙂

Thanks for reading my blog 🙂