February Empties

This might be cheating a little bit, but some of these empties are from January - shhh! I'm completely crap at finishing products, I seem to get bored and use something else especially when it comes to haircare. So I'm quite proud at the amount of hair-related empties I got through this month!

I finished the whole Lee Stafford Hair Growth range - shampoo, conditioner, hair treatment/mask. I had my hair chopped in January and it's grown leaps and bounds since. I really want to attribute that to these products, but it's most likely the fact that I had all my dead, dry ends cut off. Nonetheless, these products made my hair feel healthy and happy. I'd repurchase if they were on offer.

I was in Manchester for a couple of days in January and I bought the travel size John Frieda Full Repair shampoo and conditioner to take with me. Nothing much to say, they're okay. I wouldn't repurchase as they seemed to weigh my hair down a little bit.

I also finally managed to finish LUSH Cynthia Sylvia Stout shampoo - its main ingredient is beer, need I say more? It was great for my frizz-prone hair, but it's quite pricey so I can't see myself repurchasing it. Not keen on the smell either, was paranoid I smelt like an alcoholic tramp.

However, one hair product which I will repurchase is LUSH Jasmine and Henna Fluff-Eaze which I wrote a full review on here. The smell definitely isn't my cup of tea (it stinks) but I can't deny that my hair absolutely loves this stuff.

I kinda cheated with this one, I have to admit. I bought LUSH Ocean Salt scrub like years ago, possibly around 4 years ago (WHAT?!). I found it last month, it still smelt/looked the same as the ones in store (I swear these expiry dates are a marketing ploy) so I used it. Then I remembered just why I've had it so long without using it. My face hates this stuff, it's far too abrasive for my sensitive skin. So I flushed the remains and kept the pot so I can get a free face mask soon... Sneaky.

I also used up a little sample of REN Mayblossom T-Zone Control Cleanser. Meh. Not much to say, it was slightly too drying for my temperamental skin so I won't be purchasing the full-size.

I'm gutted that I managed to finish the Boots Natural Collection Wild Strawberry body spray. It smells like the most synthetic strawberry smell going, but I really love it. I drench myself in what feels like a whole bottle everytime I leave the house, so I'm not surprised I've finished it!

And finally, I've gotten through another trusty Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. Every blogger's tried and tested, and subsequently loved concealer it seems. I've already repurchased a back-up of this!

How many products have you managed to use up this month?

PS: Did you know you can follow me via Bloglovin? I'm also holding a massive blog sale where you can bag a beauty bargain!

Jasmine and Henna Fluff-Eaze

Jasmine and Henna Fluff-Eaze Hair Treatment - £11.95

This is one of those products that I can see myself buying time and time again! It's a hair treatment which you apply to dry hair before washing it out. I usually leave it on for around 30 mins or however long I can stand the smell... It smells very strongly of jasmine, which I'm not a fan of, and the smell does linger for days. But the benefits my hair reaps from this product is so worth putting up with the smell! My hair is naturally wavy and flyaway once it's dry, but once I've used this my hair is frizz-free, smooth and sleek for about 3-4 days. This mask is primarily targeted to people with dark hair as it does contain red henna, but I have lighter hair (dark blonde/light brown) and I still love it. I feel like it is slightly pricey considering that I have to use around 1/4 of the tub per application and I have fine hair which is mid-length, so if you have longer or thicker hair then you'll need to use more.

But I'm on to my second tub of this, and that says a lot for me as I rarely stick to the same hair care products! As expected from LUSH, this contains lots of natural, fresh ingredients and essential oils. However, one of the ingredients is SLS so if you like to use SLS-free products then this may not be for you. But if you're after a hair treatment that works wonders for frizz and flyaways, then look no further!

LUSH Mask of Magnaminty

My skin is feeling really aggravated and unhappy right now and this is the product I've been reaching for to make it happy again. LUSH Mask of Magnaminty is a face mask which fights break-outs and troublesome skin. Unlike the Fresh masks, this one has a much longer shelf life which is perfect for me because I always end up wasting some of my Fresh masks by forgetting about them or not using them up before they go 'off''. As you can see, this is a bright green face mask and the consistency is thick but it glides onto the skin quite easily. It contains ground aduki beans, so I like to scrub as I'm washing it off to get a wee bit of gentle exfoliation. The peppermint oil in the mask makes it so refreshing to use and it also stimulates the skin to revitalise dull and tired skin, whilst helping to treat any blemishes. This doesn't dry out my skin at all, which I find can happen when trying to treat break-outs, but instead leaves my skin feeling refreshed, cool and any blemishes are calmed down.

It's not a miracle worker - ie, my spots haven't miraculously disappeared after using this - but it does help to calm break-outs, minimize their appearance and I really do feel like it does something positive to my skin. I bought a smaller 125g pot which costs £4.95, but I'll definitely be investing in the larger 315g pot at £8.75 because of the longer shelf life! I've used the mask maybe 5-6 times already, and my tub is still 3/4 full. You don't need to use a lot of the product, and I tend to use it just on my problem areas (chin, jawline and t-zone).

What do you reach for when your skin is throwing a tantrum?

November Favourites

I've been trying lots of new products in November, and this is a selection of my favourite products that I was reaching for most last month. First is the Lee Stafford Hair Growth Treatment which is basically a treatment to be used in between shampooing and conditioning. I've only used this a couple of times so I can't comment on the hair growth aspect, but it does leave my hair feeling soft, strong and super shiny! I'm using the whole hair growth range at the moment, so I'll update with that in due course to see if it's working. Another hair care product I'm loving this month is the TRESemmé 24 Hour Body Plump Powder. I'm not really one for hair styling products as I usually just let my hair do its own thing, but recently I've been loving a tousled, slightly messy look and this product is perfect for just adding a touch of texture and volume without feeling like my hair is weighed down in product.

I recently bought a few MUA eyeshadow palettes, but the Undressed Palette is the one that I have been reaching for nearly every day. The quality of the shadows are amazing, and I rarely stray from a neutral eye so this is perfect for me. I finally succumbed to the Real Techniques Stippling Brush which has been calling my name every time I'm in Boots! It was on a buy one, get one half price deal so I couldn't resist any longer. I use this to apply liquid foundation and find it gives such a lovely finish, I can't imagine applying foundation without it anymore! I also use it to buff in cream blusher. Another highly blogged about product is the Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick 107 which completely embodies Autumn/Winter for me. It's the perfect berry shade, and I love the matte finish. It has a creamy formula, doesn't highlight imperfections and has amazing staying power. Lastly, I've included LUSH King of Skin which is a solid body butter applied when skin is wet, rinsed off and gently patted dry. This has been my saviour recently with the harsh winter weather, and it smells lovely - full of moisturising cocoa butter and shea butter.

Quite a few favourites from me this month, I found it really difficult to narrow it down for this post! What products have you been loving recently?

November Empties

Happy December, everyone! I know it's clichéd to say this, but how fast is this year going?! Christmas is looming and I'm trying to get through as many products as I can to make room for new things this month. I'm really rubbish at finishing products, I've lost count of the amount of half-used products lying around my flat. I think I get bored too easily and always want to try something new, unless I really really love something!

This month, I've gotten through 7 products which is really good for me! First up is a sample of LUSH Ro's Argan Body Conditioner*. It has the same concept of hair conditioner, you apply it to clean, wet skin and then rinse off. I've never come across a product like this before, but I have to say I am in love. This has the most divine scent, and that's coming from the girl who hates rose-scented things! It's a gorgeous sweet, rose scent and most importantly, it does its job and it does its job damn well. I got 2 uses out of my sample, and I am definitely buying the full-size tub ASAP.

Next is LUSH American Cream Conditioner. I won this back in September at a LUSH event, and it took me ages to use it up. It's marketed as a double strength conditioner, but I still felt like my ends needed that little bit extra moisture. It smells bloody gorgeous, but I don't think I'll repurchase because it just didn't have that 'wow' factor for me.

To round off my LUSH empties, I also managed to use up a fresh face mask this month called Cosmetic Warrior. This is packed full of fresh garlic and antiseptic tea tree oil, and is a more potent version of the popular Cupcake. It's basically Cupcake's big sister, perfect for battling breakouts and troublesome skin. I'm on the fence with this one, the smell was a massive turn-off for me and I don't feel like it did great things to my skin. It felt a little drying, but my normally oily skin has been a bit weird with the weather recently so that might not be the face mask's fault! I won't repurchase it any time soon because there are lots of other face masks I want to try, but I may well try it again in the future.

Much to my disappointment, my lovely wee bottle of The Body Shop Vanilla EDT ran out this month. I bloody love this scent, it's the perfect pure vanilla fragrance that lingers all day. And it's been discontinued. So I'm not a happy bunny, but luckily I do have a back-up bottle that I'll be using very sparingly now! If anyone has any suggestions for something which is similar to this, please let me know!

I finally finished up my État Pur Micellar Water which I received months ago in a Latest in Beauty box. I liked this when I was going through a cleansing water phase, but I now use an oil-based balm cleanser which I much prefer in the colder months. I probably would repurchase this because it really does its job, but I prefer it more in the warmer seasons.

Finally, a couple of make-up items! I finished up the much raved about Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, and I have already bought a back-up to replace it because it is probably the best concealer I have tried and for its £4-something price tag, well, it'd be rude not to. I also used up my MAC Eye Brows in Lingering which was a good eyebrow pencil, but I have been using a cheaper alternative which I'm getting along fine with, so I don't think I'll repurchase.

So, those are my November empties! I'm now on a mission to use up more products before I buy new ones, but we'll see how long that lasts...

xoxo

Monday Wishlist #5

I feel like I've been super reserved with my wishlist this week, just 4 things that have really caught my eye. Since it's coming up for Christmas, I'm trying my best not to lust after much, and concentrate my shopping lust on presents for others - honest!

The first thing on my wishlist this week is this dark red studded shoulder top which I actually saw on my friend Holly's fashion blog. It's from River Island and costs £22. It looks like the perfect top to throw on with a pair of jeans, winter boots and a cosy jacket for some effortless autumn style.

Another thing on my wishlist this week is the Bumble and Bumble Curl Reactivating Mist which retails at £14.25 on LookFantastic. I've heard amazing things about Bumble and Bumble, but I haven't tried any of their products. I recently decided it would be a great idea to cut my own hair, but I ended up hacking away at it with blunt kitchen scissors and funnily enough, it ended disastrously. My friend managed to salvage what was left of it and I'm now left with shoulder length hair so I feel like I need to get some tousled waves in it to give it some volume and life, so I really want to try this mist!

Thirdly, I'm eyeing up these Crest whitening strips like there's no tomorrow! I've never had white teeth and, being a smoker and caffeine lover, my teeth are suffering. I can't find a direct link to these, but they retail on Amazon for around £11-15. I've heard that they can make your teeth sensitive, but I've also heard and seen some great results from them so I'd be willing to put up with a little sensitivity if they work!

Lastly, I'm after yet another Topshop lipstick, this time it's Beguiled. I'm slowly but surely getting more adventurous with my lip colours - I even came home from work with a bright red lip last week! Now that it's cold and icy outside, I'm really not feeling my corals and pinks, and I'm feeling brave enough to try a deep red/wine/berry shade. I love the formula of Topshop's lipsticks, so I think I'll have a wee swatch of this next time I see it. My only worry is that because I'm so pale and my hair is dark now, I'll look like a goth/vampire/dead. Only one way to find out!

As well as lusting after things for myself this week, I've been desperately trying to hunt down some Christmas present ideas. I think I've settled on buying lots of Lush goodies for my family to try and convert them.

What are you eyeing up this week? Do you still treat yourself in the run-up to Christmas?

xx

LUSH Colour: Drive lipstick

Hello! It's been quite a while since I posted, and I do apologize but I don't have much of an excuse apart from life being a bit rubbish and taking over completely. I've been busy and stressed, but I feel like things are settling down now and I'm excited to be able to get back into blogging again. I promise I won't slack off this time!

As most of you will know, Lush recently launched their Emotional Brilliance cosmetics range back in July. As part of this, there is a colour range called Word Up which contain eyeliners, lipsticks and eyeshadows. The great thing about these is that they are multi-purpose and super versatile, so you can use the liquid lipsticks as cheek colour, etc. I won't go too much into the rest of the range or I'll be here for days but if you're interested, then take a look here to spin the wheel and discover what your colours mean.

Now, I'm really not one for bright or bold lip colours. I never ever thought that I would wear a purple lipstick, let alone like it! Drive is quite a vivid purple, but on the lips it is much more wearable than I originally thought. The formula is gorgeous! Because these are fresh, handmade colours they do not contain preservatives and the main ingredient is jojoba oil, meaning that the colour is super hydrating. To me, it feels like applying a lip balm because it's so hydrating, but the colour is highly pigmented and once it dries, I forget that it's there which I love. It's also really long-lasting, I find it wears really well even through eating and drinking. The one downside is that it costs £14.50 for 5g of product, which is quite pricey! But I think the fact that it's a multi-purpose product does justify the price, for me at least.These are also 100% vegan, which is great.

I think Drive is the perfect shade for Autumn/Winter nights, and I'll definitely be picking up more of these fresh, handmade colours because I just find the formula to be so lovely!

Have you tried any of the emotional brilliance range? What do you think?

New Haircare Range @ Lush!

Once again, I'm sorry for the Blackberry photos - still haven't managed to bring my camera back to life!

Last Friday (07/09) I attended a haircare launch night at my local Lush store. I'm a huge Lush fan, but I've never actually tried any of their hair products so I took this as a great opportunity to see what I'm missing out on - quite a lot, apparently! There are 8 new products that have been added to the haircare range, so I think there's definitely something for everyone.

1. Sea Spray Hair Mist £9.95/100g - I've tried so many sea sprays, but this one seemed different as it contains essential oils such as grapefruit oil which gives a lovely scent to the product. It claims to give body, volume and hold so it's more of a styling product than anything else.

2. BIG Solid Conditioner £9.00/100g - BIG Shampoo is one of Lush's biggest selling haircare products, so I can imagine this solid conditioner will be a big hit! It's absolutely loaded with coconut oil and smells divine. We were shown a demo of how to use this, and the creaminess of it is unreal. It also contains sea salt for volume and lemon and lime juice for shine.

3. Superbalm £12.00/45g - This is a hair treatment aimed at those who suffer from dry, irritated scalps. It doesn't appeal to me particularly, but I did have a little feel of the balm and it felt so nourishing so I can imagine it will really help those with troublesome scalps. It contains lots of lovely, good-for-you ingredients like lavender oil and extra virgin coconut oil.

4. Happy Happy Joy Joy Conditioning Hair Perfume £9.00/100g, £18.00/250g - Now this is right up my street. I love when I use a product and I can still smell it on my hair hours later. It smells so good! The main scents are neroli, rose and grapefruit so as you can imagine, it's a really lovely fragrance, not too overpowering - very subtle but gorgeous.

5. Shine So Bright Hair Balm £4.50/10g - This is a super nourishing balm for split ends - we all have them, right?! It has quite an oily consistency, but we were told that a tiny little bit goes a long way so if used correctly and just on the ends of your hair, it won't weigh down your hair or make it look greasy/oily. Again, this is packed with amazing ingredients like shea butter and lots of lovely essential oils!

6. Fair Trade Honey Shampoo £7.00/100g, £14.00/250g, £23.50/500g - I'm not going to lie, I ran for the hills when I saw this. The smell of honey makes me so nauseous, I absolutely hate it! But I do know that honey has some great benefits, and I can imagine that if you like the scent of honey, you'll love this and I'd love to hear if anyone has tried it and what they think!

7. Roots Hair Treatment £9.95/225g - This is a treatment for fine or thinning hair. I have super fine, flat hair so I might have squealed a little when I spotted this product! I bought it, but haven't tried it yet so expect a full review when I do. The treatment is infused with fresh mint and peppermint oil and it smells so gorgeous. I can't wait to use this!

8. Blousey Shampoo £18.00/240g - The final product in the new haircare range - and one which I incidentally forgot to photograph - is the Blousey shampoo. This is aimed at those of us who have bleached, colour damaged or naturally fragile hair. It's crammed full of fresh bananas which really come through in the scent of the product, and they're an amazing ingredient for restoring nourishment and shine to lack-lustre hair!

I also entered a raffle on the night and I actually won! I was in complete shock because I don't think I've ever won anything in my life. I actually said out loud "I never win anything!" before my name was called out, cue me shouting in the middle of the shop "shut uuuup" in true TOWIE style. Slightly mortifying. But it was worth it, as I had a full hair consultation and got to pick some lovely goodies which I will be trialling and reviewing very soon!

I'd like to thank LUSH Dundee and all of the lovely girls working there for a great night, and I'm looking forward to the next one already!

Have you tried any of Lush's new hair care products, or anything from their hair care range at all? I'd love to know what your stand-out products are!