Burt's Bees Super Shiny Natural Lip Gloss

It's New Years Eve and I'm sure we all have fun things to do... I speak for everyone else since I'll probably be sat here doing what I always do, catching up on TV, blogging and sorting laundry out! I've never been a big fan of NYE celebrations which in the past have invariably meant being stuck in an over-filled pub or club, swaying as the crowd pushes you around and clutching a coat and handbag in one hand and a drink in the other... so no, I like my quiet New Year Eves!

Anyway, whatever you are all doing I wish you a wonderful night and a fantastic 2012.

On with this speedy review of Burt's Bees Super Shiny Natural Lip Gloss, in this case, which in this case is Zesty Red.

A 95% natural lip gloss that essentially is a protective lip balm. It provides a sheer hint of colour and nice subtle gloss. The effect is nice enough but there is a flaw with the product, or at least with my tube of product.

For the most part I like this product, it feels thick and protective on the lips without feeling gloopy and sticky but it contains these strange little hard beads of what feels like plastic but is probably some kind of wax? The beads are not packing the tube out so you aren't left with lips covered in grit but they are enough to feel a bit annoying.

It is uncomfortable, but once you've managed to get rid of it by whatever means then you're left with a nice hint of colour and a glossy sheen.

See if you can spot the little bead of  whatever it is in the next picture...

I don't hate the product, I really quite like how it looks and it's really protecting and softening. It's just a shame about the little bits in it. It is however a bargain price at £4.49 so if you are looking for something to protect your lips from the elements this winter, that's nearly 100% natural, is reasonably priced and does a good job but you don't mind a little annoyance then please check it out.

I'm on the fence about this one, but there's no denying that after using it my lips feels so soft and conditioned. I'm just not sure I want a product with bits in.

My product was provided free of charge to me by http://www.cheapsmells.com/ and please be aware I am affiliated with this company.

Yves Saint Laurent Ombres Duolumieres

In the last six months I've fallen obsessively in love with two brands, one is Paul & Joe the other is YSL.  I've been fortunate to receive a few bits that were PR samples but have equally spent a fortune on the brand in recent months. I just can't help it. I've not found anything I'm not in love with yet.

One of the samples I was sent was an eyeshadow duo, officially known as Ombres Duolumieres. The shade I received is Shimmering Quartz/Deep Amethyst.

Purple is tricky for me, I don't tend to get on with anything too lilac, but this looked like a nice deep purple teamed with a very pale peachy pink.

In the pan they look fairly shimmery, but actually the shimmer is very subtle.

 The swatches below are a bit of an odd colour but I'm including it because actually it's a closer and more accurate representation of the purple than the picture above which was taken with a flash.

Despite the deep plummy hints to the swatches of the purple, actually it's a much truer purple once blended on the lid and its very pretty.

Not only are they lovely colours but the wear on these shadows is incredible. The following picture was taken 9 hours later. No primer was used.

Slightly faded but otherwise perfect. I've teamed the shadows with an Estee Lauder Purple mascara which I'll be reviewing very soon but I really enjoyed wearing this look.

The Ombres Duolumieres comes in a multitude of colourways and at £28 are not cheap but the texture and wear is really something else. I'm keen to look at the Petroleum Blue/Oatmeal and Anise Green versions so will be having a look when I'm sale shopping, not that I'm expecting these to be in the sales sadly!

More gorgeous things from YSL, the price point is high but so is the quality!

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

A Small Post About my Eyebrows....

I feel compelled to post this! My eyebrows are in the most god-awful state because I'm in the process of growing them out yet again, and not only that but I'm using Rapidlash on them too so they are a work in progress!  I'm trying not to tweeze any of them at all so I can start from scratch.

I'm so self conscious every single time I put a picture up I figured in stead of moaning about them in each post I'd just do a tiny little post explaining why they are looking so awful at the moment! So bear with me!

Lush Chilli Tingle Lip Tint

Well Lush, you've really outdone yourselves. The lip tints are the best things you've ever made. I absolutely love them. Celebrate is beyond lovely and goes with everything from a heavy smoky eye to a barely made up look. I love it but now I've added Chilli Tingle to my arsenal and I love it just as much. It's amazing. A fab and  slightly scary bright orange in the tin. It's lovely.

For me it's only lightly moisturising, so probably not the best product for very dry lips but I wear this very much as a lip colour and any extra moisture I get from it are just an added bonus.

It is full of great ingredients though, obviously the lovely dried chillies, and hoja santa (an aromatic herb) and annatto seeds which have such a strong red colour in the seeds that the bush is known as the lipstick tree! Then there's jojoba oil and chocolate-scented cocoa butter and wax to protect and seal the colour. It smells gorgeous but really it's how it looks that I really love.

Re the taste, there's a hint of chilli but its mostly chocolate. I'd personally like to experience a bit more tingle!

Anyway, here it is on. it's a nice soft muted shade and not as scary as it looks in the tin!

Anyway, this is a Lush Christmas special and I'm really not sure how long it's going to be around after Christmas so if it takes your fancy you  need to grab one fast!

It's £4.75 and I'll be trying to get the Snow Fairy one and the red one It Started With A Kiss. These are just brilliant for a hint of colour and they wear really well. Love them all.

*Disclosure - PR sample*

Mint Cosmetics On The Go Whitening Pen

You may remember my post a little while ago about the amazing Mint Cosmetics Teeth Whitening Kit. I absolutely loved it and it worked very effectively and quickly on my teeth. My only real issue with the product was that I really struggled to get the mouth guards completely flush to my teeth so I found the gel got quite diluted with saliva. It's not a massive grumble as the results I had were amazing but I thought I might fancy a go on one of the On the Go Whitening Pens that Mint Cosmetics also make. These are largely designed for people who can't get on with the mouth guards, which isn't strictly the case for me but I just thought this might be easier and certainly a bit less time consuming.

It as, the name would suggest, a pen format, which you quickly and easily assemble yourself once you remove the plastic seal.

 I should think most beauty lovers will recognise the style of pen, it's essentially the same as YSL's famous Touche Eclat. You click the end of the pen  and the whitening solution will seep through the bristles. People will most probably be aware that you have to do a great deal of clicking the first time, but it's just a one off, from then on just a click or two gets all the product you need.

You then brush the gel onto your teeth avoiding your gums and tongue. Let it dry for 2 minutes and then you just need to leave  it for 30-40 minutes... so don't have a drink or eat. You can repeat the process a few times a day if you wish and each pen contains 20 applications approximately.

I'm not including pictures this time because essentially I feel the full kit did all the work and I've been using the pens to keep it up and its really worked. You can see my teeth in all their glory on the home page of the  Mint Cosmetics site. Easy to use and quick and highly recommended again.

The pen is also the more affordable option at £19.99, so £1 an application approximately and well worth it. The pens can't be as effective as the full kit simply because you are not using the guards and holding the gel flush to the teeth but it certainly does a great job and if you can't afford £50 for the full kit I do recommend the pen.

Great products. Highly recommended.

Available here.

The Ellis Faas Winter Gift Set

I hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas doing whatever it is that you've been up to! As I'm scheduling this post in advance I can't report on it yet but I'm optimistic that I will have had a great time!

I'm doing a quick post to tell you all about the Ellis Faas Winter Gift Set.

As with all the seasonal gift sets from Ellis Faas, you get three co-ordinating products to give you a complete look.

This set contains three best sellers, the Ellis Red Milky Lips L201 for blood red lips, Creamy Eyes E103 which is a pitch black that blends like a dream or can be used as a liner and then finally a pale Milky Eyes in E209 which is gorgeous.

 All three of these come with the brush style applicator rather than the sponge type and I really like the brush, however, the black is so incredibly pigmented I've not dared to put it directly onto my eyes for fear of making a mistake so I've been using my hand as a palette and picking up product from there using a brush. The black blends like a dream, well as does the Milky Eyes and it's really easy to put together a good look using these products, I've found applying the black first into and above the crease then dabbing the pale shade over the lid gives a fantastic stylish look. As for Ellis Red, what is there that I can say that hasn't been said before. it's blood red and it's bright. Really really bright. You can see it on me here.

Swatcheroonies.

I've really liked the colour combinations of all the sets I've been sent over the last year but I'd say this one is the most versatile. The black can be blended out for a smoky eye, or applied as a superb base, or just in a line for your winged liner (if I'd ever managed to do it without cocking the whole thing up at least) because with the formula of these, once they set and dry they just don't budge. Great stuff.

I'll try to bring photos of the whole look on, I've already done it but forgot to take photographs! The set is £55 and available from http://www.ellisfaas.com/

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

Christmas, Christmas Parties and Japonesque Lashes!

So here it is (nearly), Merry Christmas! This will be my last post before I take a few days off for Christmas. So what better than to show you my outfit and make up for the Christmas party I went to last week.

Not having been out for 5 years I was really looking forward to it, and my husband's employers had got us a very plush suite, complete with our own Christmas tree so I was feeling really rather posh indeed as I lounged around during the day before party.

I decided to go all out after a quick Twitter consultation (thank you London Makeup Girl) and whip out the YSL Noir Terriblement Palette for a smoky eye, along with a nice subtle lip featuring a YSL Golden Lustre Lippie which I think is my favourite purchase this year.

I don't have the best photos of my make up and outfit as the room was a bit dingy but I decided it was time to try out my Japonesque Demi Flair lashes.

It's fair to say I'm completely useless at applying lashes but these attached relatively easily so I went with it! The only problem I had with them was that the glue was in a big lump like a jelly so it was a good job that for some reason I'd bought some extra glue with me! So anyway, here's how I looked for the evening.

The lashes and make up were fab and I was so pleased and had lots of compliments, they stayed on all night but I do have to say I felt quite self conscious!

 I also bought some fab Butler and Wilson jewellery but alas only one bit turned up on time for the party, I was so disappointed! Still I loved the bracelet and it complimented my outfit really well.

 The night itself was amazing...but I was far far too drunk, the 2am tequila slammer was a mistake...was so fab to have a night away from the kids though.

Here I am at before I started drinking with my lovely husband. x

So that was that, a great night was had by all, and my lashes managed to last the night.

So all that remains is for me to wish you all a very happy and wonderful Christmas. Thank you everyone for the support over the last year, I am very grateful for all the support and comments and see you all on the other side.

Loads and loads of love and festive kisses.

*Disclosure - Lashes were PR Samples*

YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre in 111 Rouge Helios

Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre lipsticks are my latest obsession. I bought one. I've asked for a couple for Christmas and I received this one as  sample from the PR's. Rouge Helios. When I opened it up I had two thoughts, the first was oh! I really think I have too many red lipsticks now and oooh! I wonder how the golden lustre appears in this one?

First up, the beautiful golden metal case. Practically begging to be whipped out in public.

And here's the bullet. It's really red.

But this is the surprise... well have a look at the hand swatch first.

It's not opaque and it's not scarlet either. It does indeed have a soft lustre which on my hand looks a little bit bitty, and it's sheerer around the edges of the swatch. I was pretty excited because I love red lipstick but really struggle to find occasions to wear them, which is annoying as I have loads, could this be a red I could wear daily without feeling too self concious?

The answer to that is yes. It's beautiful.

On the lips there's no bitty-ness (although the bullet does feel a little gritty when you apply, it doesn't feel gritty on the lips) and in actual fact the colour has, to my eyes, more than a hint of coral which makes it soft and wearable.

Just to show you it in the context of my face here's a picture I really don't like but it's the only one I have so it'll have to do!

Normally I make my pictures large, that one is staying small ;)

Anyway, gorgeous, I can't get enough of these and since my husband had a House of Fraser box arrive today I'm optimistic that there'll be at least another one for Christmas. Fingers crossed!

At £22.50 these are not cheap but they are certainly my favourite lipsticks...for now at least!

Available from all the usual stockists such as www.houseoffraser.co.uk and www.debenhams.com.

*Disclosure - PR Sample*

The Newest Thierry Mugler Angel Offerings

I think I've talked fairly extensively about my love of Angel and indeed the whole back story of how I fell in love with it. I won't bore you with all that back story again but it's fair to say that Angel has been my longest running love affair and although there have been others and we've broken up once or twice I've always gone running back to it.

I've told you about the new Angel Eau de Toilette and as part of that review I talked about the original Eau de Parfum but I wanted to tell you about a couple of the newest items to join the Angel family.

First up the Christmas Limited Edition Angel with Bracelet. A lovely bottle of the original Angel Eau de Toilette in either 25ml or 50ml.

 The bracelet comes in a little leatherette pouch and looks really pretty on, it's not made of silver or anything, it's a steel bracelet and zamac (!) star but it looks really pretty on and I love it. I won't tell you about the perfume itself as I've discussed it before, but it's really gorgeous if you like that sort of thing, which I obviously do! The 25ml is £51.50 and the 50ml is £66.50.

The really special new addition is Taste of Fragrance Angel. This time Angel is enriched with a Gourmand note, in this case, dark bitter chocolate.

 As usual, a beautiful star shaped bottle, the great thing about this one is that it stands, unlike the Angel EDP which is a nice touch. I keep mine in their boxes always anyway but I know people like to stand their bottles up. As for the fragrance, well I'm just in love. Unsurprisingly. It is definitely chocolate, and I do mean POW in your face chocolate on it's first spray. It's a bitter chocolate and like all Angel scents it's not for everyone, however, I do think if you're on the fence about Angel, its worth giving this a sniff as it's different. Whereas the original is very patchouli heavy, this is a mellower scent. The chocolate fades fairly to a much subtler trace after about 30 minutes, but its still there if you give it a good sniff, it just seems to mellow out the patchouli. It's strong but it's not as overpowering as the original Angel, but still the fragrance lasts all day. Love love love it.

When I first heard about this I wanted to try it and I'm so happy I love it as much as I hoped I would. Am also getting the Angel Liqueur de Parfum for Christmas so I'm Angel'd to the max at the moment.

This one is £42 for 35ml.

I should also mention that part of this Taste of Fragrance there are also others in the line. Alien has  been given a twist of salted butter caramel, Womanity has a touch of fig chutney and A-Men has red peppers. I'd love to try them all!

*Disclosure - Both perfumes were PR Samples*