Oh My Birthday Haul - May 2013

As promised, here is my Birthday haul!

 Apparently I'm hard to buy, or so I'm told! But this year I received so many lovely gifts that are me all over. My favourite gifts were the Charbonnel et Walker Pink Champagne Truffles as they are my absolute favourite chocolates that I only have at Birthdays and Christmas. Also the Orchid I received is just amazing as it's actually artificial so I will be able to keep it forever!

As for beauty related presents I received so many new nail polishes (Color Club, Barry M & W7) which are just perfect for summer. Plus lots of lovely Revlon lip products courtesy of the wonderful Maxi from The Lipstick Blog... I think this was because she was shocked I hadn't tried out any of the Revlon Lip Butters! She also tracked down the Chanel Peridot nail polish iPhone case that I was seriously lusting after. 

 

If you would like reviews of anything in this post just let me know in the comments. 

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, I received so many that I couldn't reply to all of them but it certainly made me feel very special!

Fee xo.

 

My Top 3 Moisturisers for Combination Skin

Skin is a difficult old thing isn't it!

 From my teens until my twenties I was adamant my temperamental combination skin didn't need moisturising. I had visions of any cream making my skin more oily and breaking me out, so I stayed well away from moisturisers.

However over the past 5 years my knowledge of skincare has grown so much and I now realise I should have been using a moisturiser all along, even on the dry areas of my face at the very least. With better skincare knowledge I have now incorporated a few light moisturisers that have really helped my skin out. It did take a lot of trial and error with moisturisers that were too thick/heavy but I finally have three moisturisers I wouldn't be without.

No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Normal/Oily 
 £12.50 here

This was the first moisturiser that I felt I could use daily and it wouldn't over hydrating my skin. It is light, gentle and plumps up the skin slightly before foundation, which it creates a nice base for. When I have a dry patch (normally on my head or the sides of my nose) I really moisturise this on to the area and the dry skin vanishes. 

If you feel your skin type is confused with the odd blemish and dry patch then this is definitely worth giving ago when the No7 £5 off skincare vouchers are around... which is now!

 

Positives - Specifically for normal to oily skin, contains SPF, Hypo - allergenic.

Negatives - It's in a pot; not hygienic, not fragrance free.

Kiko Skin Glow Light Effect Day Cream 

£12.90 - here

Kiko is still a bit hard to get hold of in the UK, unless you live in London and can visit one of two amazing stores. However you can shop online but delivery costs are a bit steep at £5.90 (as the products come direct from Italy!). But if you are shopping at Kiko because it's actually an amazing brand (think MAC for the shade ranges but a lot cheaper) then this day cream is a must for summer for all skin types. I say this because it is just so light and soaks into the skin immediately. 

So even though this cream isn't specifically for oily/combination skin types it will work well with it... unless you have super oily skin and don't want to add a glow/shimmer. For me I use this on days when my skin is feeling quite balanced - not too oily, not too dry and it just add a subtle glow to my skin before I apply my foundation. This could also be used on it's own for makeup-free days. I have tried many creams that have an added shimmer but this one is just spot on as you can't detect the shimmer when it's absorbed into the skin. It just brightener the whole face somehow. Really impressed. 

Positives - Super light, brightening, contains SPF, nice packaging.

Negatives - Only 40ml, not fragrance free.

Super Facialist Tea Flower Mattifying Moisturiser

£12.99 - here Boots online or in-store

This is the moisturiser I turn to when skin isn't behaving and is becoming overly oily in areas and I'm seeing breakouts. The mattifying moisturiser of course does just that - mattifies the skin before applying makeup but it also re-balances the skin after continuous use. So as I mentioned, if my skin is feeling a bit rubbish I ditch my other moisturisers and stick with this for a week or so and with spot treatments (Origins Spot Remover) my skin does get back to normal. 

Also for the price this really does feel like the ingredients are beneficial for the skin and a lot of thought has gone into making it a moisturiser that is just right for oily skin that is feeling unbalanced and needs sorting out. 

Positives -The ingredients - contains Salicylic Acid, great quality for the price, larger than normal volume with 75ml.

Negatives - None that I can see! 

It is tempting as a beauty blogger to try out more moisturisers (and skincare products in general!) but I have realised my skin is happy with the products I use and know adding more in to the mix is risking breakouts etc. So for now I have my No7 Day Cream which I use the most, the Kiko Skin Glow for when I want a glowy, fresh finish and to enhance when my skin is at it's best and finally the Super Facialist moisturiser for when my skin needs some good ingredients to get it back on track after being rubbish. I also sometimes use the Organic Surge Blissful Daily Moisturiser (£8.49/50ml) if I have any really dry patches that need sorting out instantly.

Finding a moisturiser when you have oily/combination skin can be difficult, but trust me finding the right one for your skin is more than worth it! 

Fee xo.

Battle of the Lip Scrubs - Sara Happ Vs. Lush

The Lip Scrub market is a pretty small one, in fact I can only name three companies that sell  little pots of lip scrub. But I personally feel there should be more as they make great lip care products and always look so lovely. 

Maybe in the future they will have a bigger presence in the beauty industry but until then I thought I would compare two lip scrubs that I own and are availible in the UK.

 

Two yummy sounding lip scrubs here but at two very different prices (the price difference is nearly £14). So it should be interesting to see how they fare against each other!

My first experience with a Lush Lip Scrub was with the festive limited edition 'Pow Wow' which was a bright green popping candy scrub with a lovely zingy taste to it. Lush now offer three Lip Scrubs - Popcorn (previously a festive limited edition), Mint Julips and Bubblegum all priced at £5.25 from Lush online and in-store..

Packaging

The Lush Lip Scrub comes in a weighty glass jar with a good screw top lid, which for the price is impressive. This definitely makes it feel worth the £5.25 price tag. However from owning a lip scrub from Lush before I do know the paper sticker on the top and label around the glass jar does get a bit worst for wear and tatty looking. But on the whole the packaging does please me!

Texture 

The texture of this lip scrub is a problem for me as there is nothing to bind it together making it quite a dry sugar (with a slight bit of oil in there) consistency. This means when you try to scoop up some scrub to use on your lips you do need to almost pinch/scoop it as it doesn't stick to the finger to easily rub it on the lips. However the texture does feel fine on the lips even though it does crumble off slightly.

Taste 
 In my head I imagined this scrub to be some kind of yummy buttery popcorn but I will admit in reality it isn't what I expected and I do dislike the taste. The problem I have with it is the  salty and sour taste which I just wasn't expecting - I also know a few other people that dislike this scent/taste. But I'm also sure some will love it. I think me and the Bubblegum Lip Scrub would be a lot better suited! On the label it actually states you can lick the scrub off your lips which I do with my Pow Wow scrub and it's soooooo good!

Scrub Factor 
The exfoliating sugar grains and sea salt in this do make for a good lip scrub and it does really prep the lips before applying a lipstick/lip product. However after exfoliating the lips they do feel like they need a lip balm so I tend to use the lip scrub after washing my face, as I'm getting ready, then apply a lip balm. Then after I have applied all of my makeup I wipe off the lip balm and apply a lipstick. I feel it does need to be slightly more moisturing but for a lip scrub it definitely works.
 

 

Sara Happ's range of luxury lip scrubs came about when she realised there was a hole in the beauty industry for them, so as a lover of all lip products she created the lip scrub line with other lip products to follow and a body scrub. The Lip Scrub range comes in 6 different scents/flavours in the UK - Vanilla Bean, Brown Sugar, Cocoa, Blood Orange, Peppermint and Red Velvet, all priced at £19.00 from Beauty Bay.

Packaging 
Now clearly the outside packaging is lovely - the bow, the little box... just ideal for giving as a gift. However for £19.00 the lip scrub itself is quite a cheap feeling plastic jar, which is a let down if I am totally honest. If it was a glass jar like the Lush Lip Scrub (which is a much cheaper product!) then this would be a truly luxury product all round. I do however like the labelling and the clear lid so you can see the scrub.

Texture 
After trying the Lush Lip Scrub and it being quite a dry scrub I was expecting this to be a bit more 'together' being a more expensive scrub. But 'together' just isn't the word for the consistency of this... it is gooey, sugar-y and just perfect.

Taste 
Describing a taste is as hard as describing a fragrance/scent so I will just say that this is the yummiest lip product - ever! It tastes exactly like vanilla and sugar... and just to explain how much I love the taste of this, it advises to wipe off the scrub once done exfoliating the lips, but I just lick it right off as I feel I can't waste it! This may be bad but I really don't care.

Scrub Factor 
 I would say this is a medium scrub, not too harsh feeling as you exfoliate the lips as the sugar granules feel quite a good size. Plus as  it contains two lovely oils and petrolatum it leaves the lips with a balm feel, almost like after using a luxury body scrub, which keeps the lips hydrated... something I really like about this lip scrub! My lips after using this are smooth and hydrated.

The Winner

For me it has to be the lip scrub by Sara Happ. Yes, £19.00 is steep for a lip care product however such a little amount is needed that I am certain this will last way over a year and more. However if the price is just too much (which I can understand!) there is an interesting Missha Melting Sugar Lip Scrub (£5.92 from eBay here) that does seem fairly similar. I'm sure I will be trying it out in the near future to see how it compares.

If you have tried any of the Lush Lip Scrubs I would love to know which is your favourite flavour as I'm sure I will give another one a go! 

Fee xo.

NOTD - Neon Leopard Print Nails

Some super bright Leopard Print nails for the weekend, today!

Since purchasing Barry M Gelly nail polish in Lychee I have been dying to try out some nail art over the top of it. I could see it would make a great base some some nail doodles, so I did just that with a few Models Own nail products.

What I really love about Barry M Lychee is that it is such a neutral base, it isn't a pink toned nude or too dark, it's just right, which makes it great for showing off bright nail art. You can see a full NOTD of just Barry M Lychee here. 

To create the neon leopard print...

 

I dotted random blobs of Models Own Luis Lemon (from the Ice Neon collection) on to my nails with a medium-large dotting tool (the set of 5 dotting tools I use can be found on eBay for only £1.02 here). The only thing to be aware of with this is to not have thick blobs of nail polish on the nails or it just won't dry. So make sure to only load the dotting tool with a small amount of nail polish. 

Once the neon yellow blobs had fully dried I used a Models Own Nail Art Pen to create wiggly lines around each blob and added a few dots/marks to fill in any gaps and add to the leopard print design. To finish I applied a single coat of Color Club Top Coat for a glossy finish. 

If you did want the neon spots to look even brighter than this you could use a white nail polish base to really bring out the brightness of the neon and even use different neon shades for the leopard print spots.

A simple nail look that has a nod towards summer! 

 Fee xo.