Pantene and beauty Q+A with Cat Deeley

I was recently invited to a Pantene event, where they unveiled their new ambassador, who turned out to be no other than Cat Deeley!

After some yummy canapes and cocktails we were shown a brief promotion video before welcoming the new face (and hair) of Pantene aqua light for a Q+A session.

Although absoutely gorgeous in real life, her beauty regime is quite low maintance and one of her favourite products from the range is the lightweight nourishing mist, which she uses to create beach waves and to look after her hair in the LA sunshine. Like a lot of other celebrities she also loves her Creme de la mer, Shu Umera eyelash curlers, as well as the Clinique superbalm lipgloss.

The new range of products are designed to clean and condition the hair without weighing it down and although not silicon free, the concentration is lower and they are designed to to be rinsed away more easily without leaving any excess residue.

I have to admit I was a bit sceptical of these claims but having used the shampoo and conditioner twice they definitely don't weigh my hair down as much as other Pantene products and because there is less residue my hair stays fresher for longer. However it's early days so I will be doing a full review in a few weeks once I've had a chance to try out the products properly.

Have you tried any of the products from this range? What haircare products are you loving at the moment?

International swap with Rachel

When I posted a review of Maybelline the falsies mascara, Rachel (*la bella vita ♥) commented saying that she really wanted to try it but it wasn't readily available in Canada. I offered to send her one and we decided to do an international swap.

She actually posted these last month but as I was moving flats I asked her to send them to my home address, and I wasn't able to get them until now:

I chose to try some body lotions from Bath and body works, as well as the NYX cream blusher and lipgloss.

Bath and body works body lotion in sweet pea and dancing waters

NYX cream blusher in Glow

Unfortunately she couldn't find the lipgloss I wanted so she brought me a shimmery pink lipstick instead.

NYX lipstick in Georgia

She was also super generous and included a lipliner in Rose and jumbo eyeshadow pencils in Yogurt and Milk as well as a cute cupcake card!

A big thank you to Rachel for sending me everything, the body lotions smell amazing and I can't wait to try out all the make up!

Have you ever done a make up swap? What are your favourite products from abroad?

Free I-Divine palette and foundation matching

A little last minute but I thought I'd do a post anyway in case you're interested.

(click to enlarge)

Sleek make up have recently expanded their foundation colours and to make sure there's a shade to suit everyone they are doing foundation matching all day today.

All you have to do is fill in a questionnaire and then get matched. In return you'll get a free goody bag which will contain an i-divine palette of your choice, including any past limited edition ones.

Me and my friend went this morning and it really doesn't take long at all. I was also able to get the graphite palette, which I've been trying to get for ages, so I would definitely recommend popping along.

It's taking place at 94 Judd St, WC1H 9PS and they'll be foundation matching until 8pm.

Did anyone else go along to get foundation matched?

[A'kin] jojoba and lavender light conditioner review

Despite having normal/oily hair, I like to use moisturising conditioners and intensive masks on the ends of my hair, so when I was sent this light conditioner by Mypure, I had my doubts, but (luckily for me) it doesn't seem any lighter than the other conditioners I use.

The creamy conditioner comes in an vintage looking bottle with a pop open lid for ease of use. It's very strongly scented with lavender, which I really like, but if you're not a fan of lavender then this isn't for you.

I found it rinsed out easily and it really helps to leave my hair tangle free and silky smooth. As it's very strongly scented it does leave a hint of lavender even after rinsing and drying my hair.

As my hair is oily at the roots I've not put any there but it works just as well as the more moisturizing conditioners I normally use on the ends of my hair.

Have you tried any [A'kin] products? What is your favourite conditioner?

Aussie luscious long fairytale party

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend the luscious long fairytale party, which was hosted by Aussie. I'm not actually an Aussie Angel, but the lovely Ling kindly invited me and Carla along as her guests for the evening.

To start the evening off, we were given a demonstration of 2 up dos and the hairdressers shared some of their tips for long hair.

We were then treated to some yummy food and cocktails and left to mingle with everyone.

Because there were people attending from all over the country I got to meet lots of lovely bloggers, including Amina, Lauren (and her friend Sarah) and Emma.

(Thanks to Ling for the photo)

We were also able to have our hair done and I had mine put into a pinned up do, which I really liked and will definitely be attempting to recreate myself.

(Ling getting her hair styled)

All in all it was a really fun night and it was great to meet some new bloggers.

Thanks again to Aussie for hosting the party and to Ling for bringing me as her guest!

Guest blogging on Zuneta

My second guest post went live on Zuneta today, and it would be great if you could take some time to read the post and maybe leave me a comment.

Click here to read the post.

Thank you!

NOTD- Eyeko rain polish

A very fashionable grey blue nail varnish that dries to a glossy finish:

Like the other Eyeko nail varnishes, the brush was very easy to use, and I found that one coat was enough to give me a streak free even colour. Because I only needed one coat, the nail varnish dried very quickly.

When I was first sent this, I was very unsure about the colour- I normally only wear reds and pinks. But after wearing it for a day, the colour grew on me, and although I still prefer my pinks and reds, I can see myself occasionally wearing this when I want a less girly colour.

What do you think of blue and grey nails?

Don't forget to use my Eyeko ambassador code (E9624) for a free gift with every order.

Project bathroom and Illamasqua makeup amnesty.

I'm still trying to use up my huge collection of toiletries and since my last post I'm pleased to report that I've finished 12 products:

(8 of the 10 finished products)

Soap and glory clean on me (not shown)
Alberto Balsam strawberry conditioner (not shown)
Mitchum antiperspirant
Head and shoulders classic clean shampoo
2x Origin modern friction exfoliator sample (not shown)
Batiste tropical dry shampoo
Botanics overnight foot treatment
Dove intensive body lotion sample
Siana nourishing night cream
L'oreal youth code day cream
Elemis pro collagen hand and nail cream

Also Illamasqua currently have a make up amnesty promotion, where you can bring in unwanted/finished make up in exchange for 25% off their range of products.

I've just finished my Maxfactor mascara, so I'll be bringing that and an old concealer in exchange for a discounted cream blusher :)

The make up amnesty runs until 31st July and is available at:

Selfridges (Oxford St, Trafford Centre, Bham Bullring)
Fenwick (Newcastle)
BT2 (Grafton St Dublin)
Debenhams (Glasgow, Belfast, Cardiff)

Are you also trying to trim your stash of toiletries? If so how are you getting on?

Will you be taking advantage of Illamasqua's make up amnesty?

My experience of leg waxing- Ministry of waxing

At the weekend I was invited for a half leg wax at Ministry of Waxing, a quirky little salon in central London.

(photo from Google images)

After a quick health questionnaire on arrival, I was taken downstairs to the treatment room. To start with my legs were wiped clean and sprinkled with talc powder. The hot wax was then directly applied from a roller tube and a cloth strip used to remove the wax and hair.

I've never had a professional wax before so I was a little apprehensive, but luckily my therapist Nicola was friendly and a very good waxer. The wax, although very warm, wasn't at all hot or uncomfortable, and she removed the strip quickly so I didn't find it painful. It felt very similar to pulling off a large plaster.

At the end of the session, I was given a little information card with some aftercare tips and advice. Because she was very quick, I was in and out of the salon in 15mins

The downside of waxing is that it won't remove hairs below a certain length, and because I'm a regular shaver, I had some hairs that were too short to be waxed, so my legs weren't 100% smooth.

However fuzziness aside, I was very impressed and with results expected to last 2-4 weeks I am definitely a new waxing convert. In fact I'm getting the other half of my legs waxed on Wednesday :)

Are you a regular waxer? How are you keeping your leg hair free this summer?

Edward Bess make up

Before the launch I didn't really know anything about this range but now it is fast becoming one of my favourite brands.

After we were personally greeted by the lovely Edward Bess we were given the chance to play and swatch the make up to our hearts content!

I love neutral easy to wear make up and this range does that beautifully.

My favourite product is the compact rouge cream blusher,
which is super pigmented, creamy and perfect for every day wear.

A gorgeous cream highlighter

A selection of pigmented and easy to blend eyeshadows

As you may know I love my lipglosses and my favourite colours were
Bare rose (a pinky nude) and Warm flame (a deep red).

I couldn't resist posing for a picture with the man himself!

At £22 for a lipgloss and £30 for a cream blusher this range isn't cheap, but it is high quality and I love the neutral shades and sophisicated feel of the products.

Have you tried anything from this range? What products have you got your eye on?

Guest blogging for Zuneta

My first guest post for Zuneta went live today and I would really appreciate it if you could take the time to have a read and maybe leave me a comment :)
Click here for the post.

Thank you!

IPL update and session one results

I was initially only going to try out the E>one on my legs, but after writing my review I decided seeing as I already had the machine, I might as well do my underarms too.

On the legs it wasn't painful but it was a completely different sensation on the underarms. Although not unbearable it was definitely painful and hot, but thankfully the surface area of my underarms is a lot smaller, so at the least the session was over quickly.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue using it on my underarms but a week later when I saw the results I completely changed my mind. Normally there's loads of hair but as you can see in the photo there's very little regrowth! Even now, several weeks later, most of the hair still hasn't grown back and it's a similar story for my legs. Although there's more regrowth, there are also plenty of bald patches.


IPL can be time consuming (for the legs) and painful (for the underarms) but for me the results are definitely worth the pain, and luckily with the E>one I only need to treat it once every 4-6 weeks.

I'll be doing a second session soon and I'll keep you updated with how I get on with it.

Have any of you tried IPL hair removal? How are you staying hair free this summer?

Jergens mini-giveaway winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. I numbered all the entries ( a grand total of 3! lol) and used random.org to select the winner:

Entry no2 belongs to Phoebe, well done!

Can you please email/DM me your address and I'll pass it onto Jergens who'll ship the prize directly to you.

A weekend NOTD

For the Aussie party on Saturday I decided to paint my nails with Eyeko coral polish (to match my dress) then as I had some free time on Sunday I decided to decorate my nails with some stickers which I was sent from Viva la nails.

Out of all the different designs, this one is probably my favourite. The flowers are so pretty and it would go with almost every colour. The stickers are super easy to use as well- I simply peeled them off with tweezers then used my fingers to press them over my nails.

What are your favourite nail designs at the moment?

Also I've recently signed up to be an Eyeko ambassador and you can use my code- E9624 to claim a free gift with every order.

Forgotten favourites

Over the last year my make up collection has really expanded, but it's been a case of out of sight, out of mind for me when it comes to products.

(Mac select moisturecover concealer)

This was my first ever MAC purchase but it was a little dark for my skin so it's been sitting unloved in my drawer for the last few month. I re-discovered this when I moved flats and as I now have a tan it's the perfect shade for covering my dark circles.

It's pigmented enough to neutralise that horrible bluey purple colour and as it's a moisturising formula it doesn't cake or settle into any fine lines.

(NYC colour wheel in pink cheek glow)

I was sent this sometime last year but as the weather got warmer, I switched to cream blushers as they give a nicer glow to the cheeks. However I find that it doesn't last long and by mid-afternoon the colour has disappeared from my cheeks.

The blusher is sheer but buildable and as it's a powder, the staying power is a lot better. Although it's a matte formula I find that a little bit of highlighter works wonders, leaving me with dewy flushed cheeks that lasts for most of the day.

Having been through my make up, there are so many products that I've just forgotten about, so from now on I'm going to try and change at least one product from my routine every week.

Is anyone else guilty of buying make up then just forgetting about it? What have you re-discovered recently?

Lovea le monai body milk review

Now that it's summer time I've been making more of an effort to moisturize everyday so I was really pleased to find the L'ovea le monai body milk in this month's MyPure parcel.

Texture wise this is a light fluid that is quickly absorbed by the skin without leaving it feeling sticky or greasy. It comes with a pump for ease of use and you only need a few pumps to moisturize your entire body.

My skin is a little on the dry side so I did question whether it would be moisturizing enough but despite being such a light lotion it kept my skin nicely hydrated throughout the day.

Scent wise it's got a very sweet smell which I do find overpowering however it does fades to a more subtle scent after application.

It's not my favourite scent but I love that it's so light and easily absorbed and it's currently my go to body lotion, although I won't be repurchasing once this runs out.

Have you tried anything from the Lovea range?

Lip products I'm loving

When it comes to make up, lipsticks and glosses are one of my favourite items- there's such a exciting colour selection and it's such an easy way to brighten up your face.

L-R: MAC sweetie, MAXfactor sweet red and Benefit life on the A list

For years I only used to wear lipgloss because I found lipsticks drying but MAC sweetie lipstick gives a sheer wash of glossy colour without being too drying on my lips.

It's a gorgeous pinky plum colour that's natural enough for everyday wear but can also be layered for a more intense night-time look.

I was sent this MAXfactor lipgloss in sweet red, which quickly made it onto my favourites list.

It gives a sheer pinky red glossy colour which looks lovely on its own or layered over a lipstick. It feels quite moisturising and isn't too sticky either.

For fuss free everyday lip I've been reaching for my Benefit life on the A list lipgloss.

It's a gorgeous pinky nude that gives a hint of colour for a 'my lips but better' look with a nice glossy finish. I don't think it's worth paying full price for but I would definitely recommend if you win the Flake Benefit promotion.

What would be your favourite make up item? Which lip products have you been loving recently?