Half Price Enrapture Encode Totem Styler at Boots!

Enrapture Encode Totum Styler

A quick morning post today on a great offer that is ideal to get now in time for Christmas!

The Enrapture Totem Styler is currently the Deal of the Week product on Boots.com which means it is£37.49 instead of the normal £74.99!

In my honest opinion the Enrapture Encode Totem Styler is the best curling styling tool on the market, I literally know so many people that own this and love it. With the unique three zone barrel (basically three different heat zones that you can change) you can create so many different types of curls and looks

The quality of the product and the packaging is right up there with the likes of GHD's. This is a superior hair tool that heats up fast, comes with a heat-proof carry case, doesn't tug on the hair and will be a staple if you love having waves or curls.  

Heat 1 creates loose curls and heat 3 creates tight curls. For daytime when I'm in a rush I use 1-1-1 for loose curls/waves, I just grab random sections and curl them quickly. For going out and wanting more perfect/styled hair I go for 2-3-1 and curl away from my face which creates loose curls to the middle section of my hair and then tighter ones to the ends. For more glamorous hair I go for 2-2-2 and curl inwards which gives a more vintage style that I know I couldn't do with any other hair tongs that I own.

If you have been looking to buy this or know someone that this would be perfect for, now would be the time to get it.
 
I will be doing a full review of the Totum styler in November as part of my Christmas gift reviews with some hair pics to show how versatile it actually is.

Fee xo. 
 
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Autumn/Winter Nail Edit 2012

Autumn winter nail edit

There are two things in particular that I love about blogging - nail polishes and photography. So I decided to combine the two and get a bit more creative to create a nail polish edit/guide. 

This is just to give inspiration right up until Christmas as to what polishes you could wear on your nails. I do pretty much ignore all nail trends so these are just my picks that I feel go with this time of year. Also all the links are to websites I could find each nail polish the cheapest or with free p&p. I really hope you like!  

autumn fall nail polishes

 Crisp fallen leaves with hues of copper and burnt amber. The start of fall/autumn means you can dig out your rusty copper nail polish shades and wear them like autumn jewels on the nails. Or if you want to play it safe opt for smooth, creamy warmed up nude polishes paired with a glossy top coat to look sleek and refined. 

Left - Right
China Glaze Harvest Moon (£6.00 - Amazon here), Beauty UK Voodoo (£1.99 - Superdrug), China Glaze Elecrify (£6.95 - Beauty Bay here), Color Club Earth Angel (not found maybe check eBay).

berry nail polishes autumn

As Autumn really creeps in and so do the darker nights and chunky knits, think rich warm berry and red wine shades. Chic but colourful and ideal for warming up the skin tone on the hands. 

NYC Penn Station (£2.55 - Lloyds Pharmancy here), Rituals Late Night Ruby (£9.50 - John Lewis here), Revlon Facets of Fuchsia (£6.49 - Boots, Tesco), No7 Starlet (£5.50 full size - No7 counter at Boots)

winter nail polishes

By now you are snuggling up with a cozy throw, hot chocolate is a staple and you dare not go out without a scarf. You want to go for warm and cozy nails with deeper nude shades. If you prefer darker nails, jewel toned polishes with a chunky glitter top coat look dramatic and vampy.

Maybelline Rosy Sand (£4.09 - Superdrug here), Zoya Jem (£10.55 full size - eBay here), Models Own Disco Inferno (£5.00 - Models Own here or Boots), Essie Brooch The Subject (£7.00 - Amazon here, though always check Fragrance Direct here first!)

winter snow nail polishes christmas

It's snowing! Whilst you are rushing around Christmas shopping, something yummy from Starbucks in hand you want what I like to call 'snow globe' nails. Think reflective like winter snow (so go for a white or nude base) or at least add a glittery top coat over your favourite nail polish. 

Models Own Jack Frost (£5.00 - Models Own here or Boots), Kiko Rainbow Glitter 230 (£1.50 - Kiko UK here), China Glaze Champagne Kisses (part of CG Holiday 2012 set - see blog post on set here), Models Own Snowflake (£5.00 - Model Own here)

christmas glitter nail polish

Christmas movies - check. Quality Streets out - check. Silly Christmas pyjamas and/or socks - check, check. Glitter nail polish - a million percent! Christmas just isn't Christmas without glitter nail polish on your festive gift wrapping fingers. No excuses even if you hate the removal process just opt for a glittery accent finger! 

Models Own Gold Finger, Deborah Lippmann Razzle Dazzle (check eBay for mini size!), China Glaze Pure Joy (part of CG Holiday 2012 - post of set here), Saffron Green Sparkle 70 (£1.55 - Ebay here)


If you would like a nail of the day post or swatches of any of the nail polishes featured just let me know in the comments and I will try to do them over the course of November! 

Fee xo. 

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Blush Palette Giveaway!

10 pan Blush palette


I haven't done a giveaway in a little while so thought I would hold one with a 1-day giveaway! 

I love blush palettes likes this, they give you so many options and have a lovely range of shades.


If you would like to enter please follow the rules in the form carefully. There are 3 different ways of entering, meaning up to 3 chances of winning the blush palette. UK only please.

The giveaway will close - Wednesday 31st October at 12pm and I will announce and contact the winner the following day. 


Good Luck 

Fee xo.

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Easy Halloween Nail Art Tutorial

easy halloween nail art tutorial

From a Christmas post to a Halloween post in one day! I keep actually forgetting that it hasn't been Halloween yet, as it is mid-week this year.

But even if you celebrated Halloween over the weekend these are nails you can do super fast and people will really notice them!

When it comes to nail art I always think simple is best. You don't want something too complicated that you can't recreate on your other hand or that takes you an hour to do. So anything that includes lines, dots and swirling colours together is for me - though I do like trying out different things to see how it looks. 

bone halloween nails 

What you will need...

For this you will need a thin nail art brush and a dotting tool... however if you haven't got either of those you can use a fine paintbrush or eyeliner brush and for the dotting tool an open out hair slide/bobby pin will work perfectly.

 Though if you know you want to try out more nail art then getting a set of nail brushes and different sized dotting tools is so inexpensive! The brush I used here is from a 6 piece nail art brush set which is only £2.79 free p&p from a UK seller on eBay (listing here) and the dotting tool see here is from a set of 5 2-way dotting tools which are an amazing £1.58 free p&p from a UK seller on eBay (listing here). So for under £5 you can try out all different types of nail art.

How to achieve Bone Nails... 

I won't even explain how to do the little stitches on the green nails as it's so easy to do. But I discovered a fool-proof way of creating little bones on the nails - so easy!

You basically want to paint small lines onto the nails at different angles, I would say a maximum of 4 lines per nail. Then with your dotting tool you want to place 2 dots next to each other either end of each line. You want to overlap the dots a little so they don't look like two dots. Then you are done! So simple.

Super duper easy and quick to do.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Models Own polish is Toxic Apple - I had to get it for Halloween!

Fee xo.

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Benefit's 50% off Count Down To Christmas Sale!


Benefit 50% off sale


Maybe I haven't been looking but I have never known Benefit to hold a sale on their website. Or maybe it's just never been good enough for me to notice. 

But this sale has definitely not me tempted! Though while I deliberate whether I can treat myself to more makeup I though I would be an enabler and show you what bargains are to be had!

Of course it is tempting to treat yourself but really some of the products in the sale are too good to be missed for Christmas presents. I mean really only £14.25 for the Cabana Glama set - amazinggggg! This for anyone that is a Benefit lover would be great. 

benefit 50% off sale

Also Lookin' to rock Rita 30ml fragrance is only £14.75 down from £29.50 which would again make a lovely Christmas gift.

There are also eleven Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows in the sale at only £7.00 with some of the more popular shades such as Birthday Suit, RSVP and Sippin' n Dippin' included in there.

You can find the sale here


If you do want anything though I would suggest to be quick *runs off to buy Birthday Suit*

Fee xo.

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Christmas is Coming!

Red Christmas magazine

Can we talk about Christmas yet?!
  
As soon as the clocks go back and I receive my December/Christmas issue of Red magazine I go in to Christmas mode. As you can see by my 2008 December copy of Red magazine I do quite like Christmas... just a small bit!  

I really doubt my love of Christmas will be swayed as I get older, just because I love everything about Christmas; it just seems a more magical and exciting part of the year. Also my love of Christmas has only been aided in recent years by my blog. I get so many ideas for posts come November and December - gift guides, gift set reviews, giveaways etc. 

Just yesterday I was looking back at my achieves and re-discovered a series of posts called 'Bloggers Unwrapped' a series of Christmas-y interviews with different bloggers. So if you want a bit of a Christmas fix definitely have a read of them here. I will be doing the interview series again this year - in fact I have already started planning it


Let the Christmas posts commence! 

Fee xo. 

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Once Upon An Imaginary Beauty World

girl with balloons

I am a bit of a daydreamer to say the least! It tends to happen when I have a to-do list the length of my arm. I can happily sit and daydream in my own little bubble for quite some time!

Daydreams of what I will first buy when I win the Euro Millions Lottery, what I would name my children if I actually wanted children... oh, and another favourite is if I could design my own range of makeup what would it be like! Of course it would have to be called Makeup Savvy. 

So this really is a nothing type of post about my recent random daydreamings! Lucky you haha.

My latest daydream occurred when I was looking through Makeup: The Ultimate Guide, a makeup book by Rae Morris - here. It got me thinking that there really aren't many good, in-depth makeup books out there. Though I do really like the Rae Morris one. So my mind of course trailed off thinking about which makeup artists I would like to see a book from. Lisa Eldridge instantly came to mind. I can imagine a lovely coffee table style book that is a mixture of makeup knowledge and amazing photography and of course there would be sections on Lisa herself and pictures of her cat, Betty! 

 I would also love to see the Pixiwoo sisters come out with a book, but nothing gimmicky at all, as they really are above that with their experience and talent in the beauty world. So I would hate to see a book similar to what Lauren Luke brought out (not that there was anything wrong with it, but it was aimed at a younger audience).

Beauty gurus

 Someone else I would love to see a book from even though it wouldn't be a beauty book, would be Rose from The Londoner. I can so vividly see what the book would be like! It would be a lifestyle book on fashion, food, travel and shopping. Where to find the best burger in New York/London, how to create a capsule wardrobe and of course her recipe for Slutty Brownies would have to be in there.

Another recent daydream I've had was about if I could have my own beauty box! It definitely isn't realistic and will never happen but really how amazing would it be if a blogger started up their own beauty box subscription company - I mean how much knowledge would they have of beauty products to make it a great. No including toothpaste samples or perfume samples that retail £150 full size! It's a given my beauty box would be called the Makeup Savvy box and would be a white gloss box with my blog logo on the front. My daydreaming haven't gone past that part yet so all I know is that the products would be high-street and 'savvy'!

I will stop there though, because really I could go on all day about the things that pop in to my head! 

Please do feel free to ramble back to me in the comments! Which makeup artist or blogger would you like to see a book from? 

Fee xo.

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Lush The Enchanter Bath Ballistic

Lush The Enchanter hallowen bath bomb

Carrying on with all Halloween things today I thought I would share with  you what I am calling my witch-y bath! 

 When I was totally SLS-free Lush Bath Bombs were something I knew I could treat myself to that were fun and didn't of course contain SLS.

The Enchanter Bath Ballistic (£3.20 - here) is a limited edition Halloween product that casts a magical spell over your bath. I dropped this large bath bomb in my filled bath and watched it spin and fizz colours of yellow, then orange and then finally pink - pretty amazing to watch!

Once you get into your magical bath the different colours/fizz do seem to somewhat disappear but the bath water does stay bright orange. Like bathing in Irn Bru! I'm sure this is something kids would love!

Lush The Enchanter Bath Bomb ballistic

The scent of the Enchanter Ballistic is definitely my favourite part of this bath bomb. The Frankincense and zingy orange scent really does fill the room and is quite relaxing. The scent is the exact same as last years Halloween ballistic - Skullduggery.

But... there is a but! The different colours in this bath bomb are pretty amazing however the pink dye stains! It stains the skin whilst in the bath and it also stains the bath... which for me makes no sense at all! You have a bath to relax and to get clean, not get dirty and have to start cleaning after your bath. So whilst having a bath and noticing I had pink marks on my arms and legs I grabbed my exfoliating gloves and removed them whilst in the bath, then cleaned the marks around the bath as I let the water out. Not too much hassle but not what I was expecting and I'm thinking if you didn't have anything scrubby to hand then you would have to have a shower to remove the pink marks from your skin and clean the bath afterwards - quite annoying. 

So really I am in two minds about this bath bomb. I loved the smell and how it transformed my bath but the pink dye really was too much!

As a one off this is a fun treat or if you have children then they are sure to think this is the best thing ever

Fee xo.

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Ohh! - 'Tis a b-black river

Hocus Pocus


It's Halloween! Okay, it's not Halloween just yet, but seeing as it is mid-week this year I'm sure most Halloween-y things will be going on at the weekend. 

 My weekend will consist of watching Hocus Pocus, as it's one of the best non-scary Halloween films. I love the scene with the water sprinkler and the 'black river' you can watch the clip here on Youtube. Also I always forget that Sarah Jessica Parker is in it because it just doesn't look like her.

I'm also tempted to buy some pumpkins for my nieces over the weekend, to carve and decorate... something that will be very messy I'm sure!

 
  Have you got anything planned for the Halloween weekend? 

Fee xo.

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Pre-Holiday Self Tanning!

self tanning holiday

Autumn may not be the time of year when tanning is on your mind, though I do know a lot of people that fake tan all year round! But for me I'm currently in pre-self tanning mode as I am going on holiday in under a month!  

So this means I'm religious exfoliating and moisturising my skin.

It may seem quite premature to prepare my skin for tanning but from past experience the more exfoliated and sooth your skin, the better. It really does mean that your tan will apply better, not appear darker on your knees, elbows or feet and also will last longer/fade naturally. So a bit of work prior to tanning really does pay off. 

self tan

I have decided for my winter holiday I am going to treat myself to a spray tan (also I will be having my eyelashes and eyebrow tinted so I can wear less makeup) and keep up my tan on holiday with the Sienna X Gradual Glowing Self Tan which has a lovely light coconut scent to it. The reason for this is because I want an all over tan that is totally natural looking and a spray tan can give me this! Also it means I can slather on my SPF 50 beside the pool and still look golden brown. You can even go on spray tan training course with Sienna X to learn how to apply tan well and achieve a flawless finish. Handy if you want to be a professional in spray tans.

Then I plan to take my self tan with me in a 100ml travel bottle and apply this every other day as all tans fade a little faster when going swimming, so this will maintain it nicely for the ten glorious days that I will be in the sun. 

Do you self tan in winter? If so, which products do you like to use? 

Fee xo. 

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Breast Cancer Awareness - Think Pink Nails

Breast Cancer awareness nail art

Today is Wear It Pink day in support of Breast Cancer (website about it all here) so I thought I would wear pink on my nails and donate because I'm wearing pink.... actually I'm also wearing a pink Lush liquid lipstick in Passionate & pink Coverse!

I decided to go for mix and match nails to create a fun look, so I collected all my pink nail polishes together and just went with it. 

As you can see I did attempt at creating the breast cancer ribbon on my ring finger however it didn't look that great so I decided to remover it and add a bit of marbling and some glitter. I really think I need to trim my nail art brushes that I have so they are a bit finer.  

Think Pink nails

For the base nail polish I used China Glaze Wicked Style.
On pinkie - I used Models Own Magenta Divine
Ring fingernail -  I applied a little white nail polish and merge it in the nail with a cut out piece of plastic wallet (had to get creative as I didn't have any sandwich bags!) then I added Models Own Hot Stuff over the top (better swatch I did here). 
Middle nail - I used Rimmel Pro Urban Princess for the flowers with a tiny bit of white nail polish swirled in with a cocktail stick. 
My index finger - I applied stripping tape and painted my nail in Rimmel Pro Urban Princess
 Thumb nail - I didn't take a picture but it is little pink glitter polka dots. 

I actually really like the look of mix 'n' match nails but rarely ever do them so this is a nice change. Also the mix of designs and glitter makes it fun!

Nails Inc Breast Cancer Paint your pinkie

Also Nails Inc have decided to donated £1 from every bottle of their Pinkie Pink nail polish sold to Breast Cancer Campaign and are encouraging women to paint their pinkie's pink! You can find the nail polish - here.
 
On other nail news have you see Models Own new swatch gallery on their website? It is basically different swatches that nail fans/blogger have done, even a few of my nails are in there. You can look by most popular and by clicking on the images you can find out what the shade name is. It will of course be good for look at the different shades MO do but also nice to get some inspiration for nail art as well. 

If you haven't got pink nails today at least paint your pinkie, pink! 

Fee xo.

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DIY: Vanilla Sugar Body Scrub

DIY Vanilla Sugar Body Scrub

Did you see my DIY post on how to make your own holographic makeup brush holder? If you didn't know I started a little DIY series and for my second instalment I promised a homemade body scrub. 

This is the scrub that I use when I don't have my beloved Soap & Glory The Breakfast Scrub and also when I want to prep my skin before fake tanning as I can make it the exact texture and level of exfoliation I want.
  
I am aware this does look like a food recipe! However please trust me as this does work and it's also quick and yummy to make. You can even just make enough for a single shower in a bowl if you so wish.

Now this is very basic, basic enough to actually give no measurements! It's just about adding the ingredients together bit by bit and achieving the texture of scrub you want. 

DIY Sugar body scrub

What you will need - An air tight storage jar (this jar was around £2.50 from Tesco, though Kilner jars are also good), extra virgin olive oil, white and demerara sugar, vanilla extract. 
  • First pour your white & brown sugar into the jar and either shake up to mixture or mix together with a spoon. The main thing to note here is that the demerara sugar will give you a more coarse scrub and the white sugar will give you a softer more runny scrub. I personally fill up half of the jar with a 1:1 ratio as I like my scrub to be quite coarse as I use it on my knees and feet. Really it is all about using your judgement.
    • Next slowly add the olive oil whilst mix the sugar, you want the sugar to clump together and be soaked in the oil but not so that you can see any oil. The sugar should soak it up. The best way to see if you have the right consistency take a small amount and test it on the back of the hand to see if you need any more oil. 
    • The last step is to add a little Vanilla Extract to the mixture. You really do only need the smallest amount to add a scent to the sugar. Here I used half a teaspoon and mix it in well.
    DIY Shower brown sugar scrub

    I will admit this isn't the most sophisticated homemade product but actually that is what I like about it! There is no need to go out and buy any essential oils or a carrier oil and you also know that there are very little ingredients in this.

    When using this in the shower I of course make sure my skin is damp before rubbing it over my skin and if I do want a softer more foaming scrub I add some shower gel in the palm of my hand with the scrub. The sugar body scrub can be stored in at room temperature for around 3 months, though you may need to give it a mix now and again. Of course if you do have sensitive skin then either give this a miss or only use a very fine grain of sugar. 

    My next DIY post will be a nail art tutorial I think! 

    Fee xo.

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    Halloween Nails - Scary Scene

    Halloween nails nail art

    Not my best nails but I promised Halloween related things and Halloween nail art is fun to do! 

    If only I could have got my tree silhouette right then it would have looked really good I think. But sadly one looks like a palm tree and the other looks like a Texas cactus scene! I think the problem was I used the wrong nail art brush and it just wouldn't do as it was told and it was also too thick. I won't even go into how i did the nails as it's simple enough, though I will say it's much easier if you paint the tips of the nails black with the nail polish brush first - think a wonky french manicure. 

    The nail polishes used were - Rimmel Black Cab (best opaque black I use), Essie Orange, Its Obvious (£2.99 - Xtras *featuring new brush*) and NYC In A New York Minute Top Coat (favourite high-street to coat). 


    Fail nails, but from afar they do look good enough.

     Next week I have an Eyeball nail art tutorial coming up and also a tutorial for brains nail art !

    Fee xo.

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    Lauren Conrad Beauty Book Review

    Lauren Conrad Beauty book Amazon


    I have just finished Lauren Conrad's new book - Beauty, so I thought I would do a full review of it as I have really enjoyed it. 

    'Beauty' is Lauren's second book which covers everything from skincare to lifestyle topics, hair and of course, make-up. You can find her new book here via Amazon for £8.24.

    Lauren Conrad Beauty in my eyes is aimed at beauty enthusiasts that want to learn a little more about beauty, skincare and hair or just love Lauren's style and makeup in general. So I would say this book would be good for anyone from the age of 14 to mid 20's, that said I have personally enjoyed reading the book (though I haven't gained too much knowledge from the book) due to the imagery and topics in the book - a good mix of chatty subjects, beauty talk, tutorials and lifestyle topics. For me it is just a nice girly book to have at hand to flick through and even to use as a reference.

    Lauren Conrad Beauty book

    As Amazon doesn’t have a 'look inside' the book I thought I would detail all the chapters by reviewing each section. This will seem like a lengthy review but I really don't give anything away! But it will just show you just how much is covered and all the different areas of the book.

    Chapter 1: Finding Your Beauty
    Quite a short first chapter with an intro to Lauren's own beauty journey so far and some images of looks she tried in the past! Much like 'Style' this is also narrated in 1st person by Lauren who gives a friendly and very approachable feel to the whole book.

    Chapter 2: Skin Care
     The first real chapter on skincare I thought I would probably end up skipping past but instead of Lauren suggesting products for different skin types and problems. The chapter is really realistic, which is a really good way to be when it comes to different skin. There is also quite an informative section on ingredients to avoid, which I know I will come back to as a reference when I am looking up more info on Google. 

    Chapter 3: Hair Care 
     Again Hair care is approached in a very informative way and I instantly found myself learning things I just didn't know about, such as what is in both shampoo & conditioner - I'm also so glad that Lauren mentioned avoiding SLS's in shampoo, as this is something I really believe in! The chapter also covers natural hair masks, hair growth and also quite an in-depth look at different hair styles for different face shapes and hair textures. 

    Chapter 4: Stress
    Chapter 5: Fitness & Food 
     The topics on stress, fitness & food I found interesting to read. I found the subject of stress was approached really well and was also like a friend in an odd way. I think this is really good for anyone in their teens and anyone that is a fan as it is a bit more of a personal chapter. I didn't take too much away from the fitness & food chapters however there is a table of all the different nutrients, which again I know I will going back to as a guide.
     
    Lauren Conrad Beauty book preview

    Chapter 6: Makeup Tips, Tricks and Techniques
     The Makeup Tips, Tricks and Techniques chapter was the one real chapter that I found myself skimming over as I know all the basics now. However this is great for anyone just getting into makeup as for it only being a section of the book it does cover alot. There is a page for each key makeup product - foundation, concealer, bronzer, blush, eyeliner, mascara etc. Also four pages on all the different tools/brushes you can use and how to shape your brows. Then a few pages on 'beauty crimes' which I think is maybe the weakest area to the book... not really needed.

    Chapter 7: Everyday Makeup
     Everyday Makeup is the first chapter in the book with tutorials, all quite basic and easy to follow, with a tutorial on everyday looks for different complexions. Also tutorials on the 'no makeup look' and how to apply makeup in a hurry - I will actually be following this when taking my dog out for a walk as I need to stop using so many products! There are also some written guides for tackling different face issues which is wrote by Amy Nadine who is Lauren's makeup artist, such as 'making close-set eyes look wider' and 'making a wide nose look narrower'. This part did seem a bit "do this to be beautiful" like a wide nose had to be corrected, though Lauren does mentioned that she did poll her readers and that it was what they wanted to know about the most. I guess this sadly speaks volumes of the world we live in!

    Chapter 8: Party Makeup 
    Party Makeup tackles how to apply individual false eyelashes and how to achieve perfect winged eyeliner - I even picked up a few tips here. There is also a tutorial with Lauren on her go-to party look (very similar to her cover look), a subtle smokey eye and how to refresh your makeup. This was one of the chapters I felt there could have been a bit more content... I enjoyed it but it was rushed for some reason! 

    Lauren Conrad Beauty Book inside

    Chapter 9: Everyday Hair 
     The Everyday Hair chapter was another enjoyable read. I did know most about different tools but did pick up a few tips. But I really enjoyed the hair tutorials and will definitely be trying out a few braids mentioned, such as the rope, fishtail and goddess braid.

    Chapter 10: Party Hair 
     This chapter definitely inspired me to use the hair tools I have a lot more - as I do have about 6! A small section in this chapter is on products to use in the hair and then some really great hair tutorial on different models, all very achievable and so pretty. I will be trying out the loose party ponytail in which you curl your hair first and then take it up into a ponytail, wrapping a section of hair around the band (you can actually see a section of the tutorial above). Also I have always wanted to know how to achieve retro curls so I will be going back to this when getting ready for a night out.

    Chapter 11: Nails 
    Quite a lot of basics covered in this chapter - caring for the nails, tools to use, a basic polish-free manicure, a basic manicure and french manicure tutorial. It then moves into more nail art tutorial with - reverse french manicure, polka dots, flowers and glitter. I really didn't need this chapter however if you are new to nail art an actual book to sit in front of you whilst try out some of the tutorials is really great. I was a bit sad though that it wasn't more creative or savvy! For example the polka dot nail art just mentioned to use a paintbrush... though her tips from The Beauty Department of making your own dotting tools would have been ideal here.  Also one detailed nail art tutorial would have been great instead of the two pages on glitter nails.

    Chapter 12: Beauty Through the Decades
    This along with the hair chapters was definitely my favourite read, I wish it could have been a larger part of the book as it was interesting and creative. The start of the chapter is a summary of sorts, with what iconic things happened in each decade, starting from the 1920's. I won't spoil that part for you if you buy the book but it’s a great quick summary of how the world of beauty has evolved. The next pages cover what types of looks were in for each decade going from the 20's to 70's. Each page shows Lauren trying out each look and looking beautiful, but also it details beauty icons for that era (great for look up after reading the book). If you want to channel a certain look then this gives you the idea of the things you will need to do. Not too in-depth (no tutorials here) but enough to get you inspired to find out more!

    Lauren Conrad new book look inside

    This really is a packed book that can teach you the basics, to try out new styles of makeup and hair and also a good starting guide to ingredients. But it also can make you feel more creative and want to learn more. I did find myself on the internet mid-reading looking up things mentioned in the book.

    Lauren Conrad Style (£7.31 - Amazon here) was definitely a 'testing the waters' 1st book, that had snippets of good information but on the whole didn't go too in-depth about anything - just a good flick-through for me. Also it was definitely more focused on Lauren... but do not worry, if you are a fan of Lauren's then you will 100% get your fix - I even became a bit in love with her style and hair! I guess just a more grown-up book that is less Lauren but more about what she now knows.

    My only negatives on the book would be that no brands/products are mentioned at all, which for me is a shame as it would have made it a lot more interesting if she could have mentioned which red lipstick she loves to use or which hair tongs she likes the most! Also a few areas of the book could have been missed out - the beauty crimes and how to correct different 'flaws' weren't for me.

    A really nice book to either treat yourself to or give as a gift!

    Lauren Conrad Beauty is currently available in hardback and contains 288 pages - £8.24 from Amazon.

    Fee xo.

    PS. Sorry for the long review - I get carried away sometimes! 


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