September Favourites

Hi fellow nomads,

Another month, another set of favourites. Miraculously, I'm publishing these while we are still in the same month... I've got some real beauties to share with you this month, so let's get cracking.

This month has been all about back to basics for me. I've nailed a decent base, the perfect nude eye look, and I finally fixed my hair. Oh, and I found a great interesting-neutral nail. So let's get going!

ARK Anti-Ageing Skin Protector SPF30 Primer // I received this in my goody bag when I went to the Inside Out Beauty event during September. I'm delighted because as a result of the event, I've discovered a product which I adore and will buy again and again, which I may not have found otherwise. This contains a decent SPF and applies super smoothly, it has a very light texture and is absorbed easily. It gives a lovely glow to the face, but doesn't contain any noticeable shimmer. It can be worn alone to give a gorgeous fresh faced look, or under makeup which helps it stay all day. Oh and the packaging’s gorgeous. I honestly can’t recommend this enough.

Beauty People Special Edition Season.2 Gel Liner Pencils // These featured in my Basket Face #2, where I explain how I got along with them. The love for these little pencils has only grown from then on, and I found myself wanting to use them for the rest of the month. Even though they weren't in my basket! Sacrebleu. These are gorgeous and I've even managed to sharpen them without wasting too much product. J’adore. (Why have I turned French? Moving on…)

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Varnish in Olive // This is the perfect understated green nail polish. I love green a lot, and I want to wear green on my nails a lot, but sometimes the greens I like aren't always work appropriate. This one is, however, and it’s also quite a calming colour to look at which is good in moments of stress. (Am I the only one who can find their zen through nail polish?!) 

Stila In The Light palette // I put off buying this for so long and I have no idea why. It’s gorgeous. The shades are subtle and muted such that I can wear them everyday, but there’s a couple of shades to add some drama for when you want it. It’s just so pretty. I heart this palette.

Toni & Guy Cleanse Shampoo for Dry Hair and Nourish Conditioner for Damaged Hair // I've been using this all month in an attempt to make my mop of hair look presentable until I could get it cut. These two products did a brilliant job and carried me through. They even helped me get an extra day out of my hairwash – amazing! I'm still using these on my new hair and they’re helping keep it spiffy.

What have been your favourites this month?

-Rachel

A Tale of Two Palettes: NYX Butt Naked Eyes vs Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek

It was the best of palettes, it was the worst of palettes. I'll stop the metaphor before I go too far - today I have a review of two palettes, both alike in dignity (alright, alright) yet which give very different results. From the generally excellent makeup brand NYX, they both offer 15 eyeshadows and 7 cheek products in a sleek two-tiered palette and that's about where the similarities end. Let me give you a quick tour of both palettes and you can make your own mind up about which one would be your favourite.

First up, we have the Butt Naked Eyes palette, because it was released first. I wrote a review of this palette way back in February, and I love it just as much now as I did then. Feel free to go back and read my full review here, but the SparkNotes version is: it contains a great range of well formulated face products, including a bronzer, blushers, highlighters, eyeshadows, and eyebrow powders. They all co-ordinate with each other very well, yet can be combined in heaps of different ways to create new looks. They've been well thought out with regard to combinations of those which do have shimmer and those which don't, so you're never stuck with something shimmery when you wanted something matte, and vice versa.

Moving on to the Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek palette, and it's a completely different story. A lot of the colours are very similar to each other, some almost indistinguishable, and there are far too many glittery shadows which lack pigment. 

To illustrate my point, here are some side-by-side shots of the palettes. First up, the eyes:

The Butt Naked Eyes has a balance of 7 matte shades, 7 frost shades, and 1 sparkly shade (in which the base shadow is deeply pigmented). In contrast, the Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek has 6 matte shades, 3 of which are mid-browns and two of which are pale cream colours. It then has one frost, one shade with a slight sparkle, and then six really glittery shades. 4 of those are shadows in which the base colour lacks significant pigment - pale pinks, whites or coppers. The problem I run into with the Turn The Other Cheek eyeshadows is that it's really only possible to create a couple of looks, seeing as the shade range is all so 'samey'. Plus I'm not really big on glittery eyeshadows, especially those which add little colour but lots of sparkle. There are only so many brown smoky eyes a gal can stretch to with 4 shades.

Moving on to the cheeks:

Versatility is the name of the game with the Butt Naked Eyes, with a flattering matte bronzer (which could be turned shimmery if desired using one of the highlights), 4 blushers with a range of finishes from sparkly to matte, and 2 highlighters, which have a delicate shimmer to them. The colours of blush are varied, yet wearable. However the Turn The Other Cheek palette has no bronzer, just 3 highlighters. 2 of them are extremely similar and basically look the same on the cheek, and they're all very glittery. 3 of the blushers are pink, pretty similar pinks at that, and 3 of them (not the same 3!) have glittery finishes. 

Here are some swatches which show the similarities between some of the colours. From left to right, here are 4 of the brown eyeshadows, 3 of the blushes and 2 of the illuminators. Now, dodgy lighting aside (sorry) is it just me or...

The Verdict

Overall I'd say that the Butt Naked Eyes palette is a great, do-it-all palette for every day looks. There's variety, it can do a bit of everything, and it's perfect for travel. The Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek is more suited for evening looks, due to the high amount of glitter present in most of the shades. It's also not as varied a palette as the Butt Naked Eyes, meaning it's less likely to be one that you'd travel with. I can see this being fantastic to dip into when getting ready for a night out, but I can't see you getting more than a couple of looks out of the whole palette if you were restricted to using this alone.

That said, the formulation of the powders is decent in both palettes, although they can run a little dry on some shades. They last well over a primer and are well pigmented (except for those sparkly ones on Turn The Other Cheek). I think this is reasonable, considering the price point - the average RRP is £25 for each of these palettes, and they can be sourced from your favourite online NYX stockist. I'm glad I tried the Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek, however when I feel the need for a Butt Naked Anything, I know I'll be reaching for the Butt Naked Eyes palette.

Have you tried either of these palettes? What did you think of them?

-Rachel

A Complete Basket Face #3

Another week, another complete basket face to evaluate.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please read this post and (hopefully) the world should become a little clearer.

This week on my face I've been mostly trying out a new (to me) palette by NYX, and a primer I received at a beauty event a couple of weeks ago by ARK. Spoiler alert: one is incredible, one is awful. But which one? Read on to find out…*

NYX Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek // first up the doozy. This one really didn't impress me this week. Having loved its predecessor, the Butt Naked palette (review here), I was pretty excited to try this however it really did fail to deliver. In brief: not enough variety in shades, half of the products were discoball glittery, and it was hard to do more than one look with this palette. Disappointing given it has 15 eyeshadows, 4 blushes and 3 illuminators. Watch out for a comparison review coming very soon, but until then see the end of this post for a quick look inside the palette.

ARK Skin Protector SPF30 Primer // next up, the product I fell in love with this week. It’s a beautiful silky smooth primer and it has a decent SPF. My makeup stays longer, if I choose to wear any, and if I don’t then my skin looks wonderfully glowy and healthy all day. I'm so happy I found this product and I’ll be using it for as long as I can get my hands on it.

Beauty People Miss 100 Super Waterproof Gel Eye Liner Pencil in Glimmer Bronze // so I had some Beauty People eyeliners in last week’s basket face (that tin… oh my, so pretty) and this week I had a standalone, bigger sized version of the middle shade. I loved this, and I used it almost every day. This really is waterproof and stayed put all day, but is also really easy to apply, super creamy, and blends out well if you want to use it more as a shadow. Another plus is that it’s a twist up pencil, but if you want to make the end sharper they've included a sharpener in the other end of the pencil. Genius.

L’Oreal Miss Manga Mascara // a repeat of last week’s basket. This is still going strong, I still love it, and it’s improving now we are into the second week of wear as it’s beginning to dry out a little.

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara // you’re probably bored of hearing about this now so I’ll just repeat how great this is and move on.

Too Faced Perfect Eyes Waterproof Eyeliner // I've been wearing this in my upper waterline for whenever I want to make my lashes look longer (read: always) and this is an excellent product for the job. Sadly I'm having sharpening issues but aside from that this is great.

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold // a cult product which I haven’t worn in a while, and am thoroughly enjoying having back on my face. I've decided it’s perfect for Autumn as it gives that rosy cheeked, just come in from the cold look. Not one for you if you’re worried about uneven skin tone as the inbuilt shimmer highlights every lump and bump, but it makes for a very pretty 2-in-1 product if you don’t mind that.

Bourjois Une 100% Mineral Foundation // this has been my holy grail foundation for a while, but you can’t buy it in the UK any more. I've been trying new things for a while in the hopes that I’ll find something to beat it, and I came back to it this week to decide whether it was really as good as I remembered. In a word – yes. It’s really easy to apply, and works well for my dry skin. It’s quite a hydrating powder, if you can believe that, and the coverage is very minimal so it suits my ‘bare skin’ look. I do think I've found some products to rival it though, so I'm not quite so worried about running out now.

HD Brows Brow Powder palette in Foxy // another repeat, because I still love it and I can’t stop using it.

Eyeko eyelash curlers // these are beginning to look a little battered, but they do a fabulous job so they stay in the basket.

HD Brows Browtec in Vamp // see above.

YSL Touche Eclat // penultimately, another repeat. I'm still in need of some illumination assistance and this is still bringing the goods.

Elizabeth Arden Advanced Eye Fix Primer // a really rather good eyeshadow primer. See my review here.

Here's a quick look at the Butt Naked Turn The Other Cheek eyeshadows (and a tiny peek at a couple of the blushes). What do you think of the shade range? Review and swatches coming soon...

And that’s all for this week’s basket. What’s been on your face this week?

-Rachel

*Ignore my feeble attempt to build suspense. Clearly I've been watching too much Bake Off…

Rituals: What's On The Menu

I first discovered Rituals in a spare few minutes at St Pancras station in London. It’s the terminus of my line, so I'm there often. I wandered into this nice looking shop, and before I knew it, I’d come away with a bag full of things. Whooops.

My love affair has continued with the brand, which I love for their beautiful and sophisticated scents, the efficacy of their products and the packaging (of course). Now, they’re not particularly cheap, but they aren't ridiculously high end prices either, and the quality makes the price worth it, in my opinion. Also, they usually run promotions or gifts-with-purchase which makes the experience a little less painful on the wallet, plus if you buy in-store there’s usually a lovely sales assistant who will slip a couple of samples in your bag, too*.

So what’s on my Rituals menu currently and what do I think of them?

Energy Bubbles Organic Ginseng & Indian Rose Foaming Cream Bath // I could sit in a bath that smelled this good for hours and hours and hours. This gives a reasonable amount of foam and left my skin feeling fairly soft, but you want this for the scent which will stay on your skin all day. 

Himalaya Wisdowm Holy Basil & Organic Fresh Mint Detox Himalaya Scrub Salt // this ones smells good too, but also does remarkable things to dry skin. It's a decent, chunky salt based scrub so you can really go to town with this if you want. This won't wimp out on you. The only trouble with scrubs is that sometimes all the scrubby bits fall off before you can really get going with them. Well, Rituals have solved this problem rather neatly and it comes in the form of....

Shanti Shower Indian Rose & Organic Sweet Almond Oil Nourishing Shower Paste // a genius paste which you apply to your skin first, so that the scrub sticks to it! Ok so this sounds a bit like a gimmick, and who knows perhaps it is, but when the gimmick smells this good and leaves your skin feeling in such good condition, I'll take it. To be fair, you can also use this by itself with a scrub mitt for a slightly more frugal exfoliating experience, but let's be honest, you didn't come here to save money, did you?! 

Miracle Scrub Ginseng & Ginkgo Biloba Ultra Softening Hand Scrub // I was fairly unsure of how much of a miracle a hand scrub could be, but hats off to Rituals, it is actually a little bit miraculous. This has smaller pieces of salt in it to give an effective scrub, but it's also got lots of moisturising components like shea butter and sunflower seed oil in it to leave your skin feeling moisturised afterwards as well. This exfoliates and moisturises all at once, so you don't even need to use hand cream after! Now that, my friends, truly is a miracle.

Nail Cuticle Treatment // I've raved about this pen before so I will be brief. Basically this is a brush-pen with a base which you twist, so that a thick cuticle treatment goes into the brush. You then apply this to your cuticles. I've made it sound horribly unappealing but I promise, the results are excellent and one of the best things about it is how easy it is to use on the go.

Nail Varnish Corrector Pen // does what it says on the tin. I find this to be a fairly gentle formula (acetone and paraben free, FYI) and again, very portable.

Nail Varnish in Happy 2014 // this here nail polish is not only a very well performing glitter nail polish but it's also a talisman. This has little to do with the brand or the product so I won't go into details, but it's a meaningful little polish for me and my bestie.

*By way of illustration, here are all the items I brought home with me one day in January, following a particularly positive personal review at work (ie, I'm allowed a splurge)...

I bought: Reflection hand wash, Eucalyptus car perfume, and Hammam Body Mud (gift wrapped at the back) for a total of £34. I received a mini Yogi Flow shower gel, 3 foundation samples, 3 (generous) Sakura scrub samples, and a £5 voucher. Not bad, I say.

Other recommendations from the brand:

Hammam Secret Fragrance Sticks // I adore this scent, and loved having the fragrance sticks in my flat. I did try the shower gel too but unfortunately I found it was a little too overpowering for me.

Zensation shower foam // beautiful delicate scent and silky smooth on application, this is excellent.

.

On my wish list

Candles // Hammam Secret and Under A Fig Tree would probably be my top picks to try.

Yin bed and body mist // for some reason the idea of a calming bed mist just draws me in. Call me a marketeers dream, if you must... 

Clothing // oh my, this could get serious. They've got comfy looking jumpers, leggings, gloves, socks…

All the above products can be found on the Rituals website, here. I decided not to link to each product individually, for fear of becoming a little bit too like QVC-by-blog. And this way, you get to stumble across lots more beautifully scented things to buy find essentials which you definitely need.

Is there anything you're keen to try from Rituals?

-Rachel

Bargain Alert: Kiko Street Fashion eyeshadow palette

Hi fellow nomads,

Today I bring you news of a great bargain to be had. I recently had the opportunity to pop into the Kiko store on Regent Street in London, and unearthed this little gem.

This limited edition palette is from their Street Fashion collection, and is called 01 Harmonic Swing. It has 5 shades arranged in a jazzy, but sadly a little plasticky, palette. The shade selection I find really interesting; it’s neutral but slightly different – there’s a hint of a khaki shade in here, a taupe, a mauve, a dark brown/black, and a shimmery white. 

Each of the shades plays with the others nicely, which makes creating a coherent eye look easy even for a novice like me. Similarly, the shades are also very blendable, so you can blend out any mistakes in a trice.

You do need to use a primer to make the most of the pigment and longevity of the shadows. As you can see from the swatches, they can come over a little pale just on bare skin – however, they are buildable to achieve a more dramatic look if that’s what you’re after.

Overall, I’d say this is a fantastic palette for beginners or those who love a neutral palette with a twist. It’s slightly let down on packaging and longevity of wear, the latter which can be solved with a primer and the former which may not matter to you particularly. 

This palette is currently on offer at just £5, down from £14.90. I think this represents great value, and whilst I probably wouldn't go for the palette at full price, I think £5 is a steal for this great selection of shades. There are also a couple of other palettes from the collection in the sale for the same price, so if this shade selection isn't your bag, one of the others may suit you better. If you can't get to a physical shop they're in stock online here,  And if you do go into the shop, remember my Key To Shopping At Kiko Regent Street, London.

Happy shopping...!

-Rachel

My Top 7 Nº7 products

Happy weekend everyone! Just in case you're planning to hit the shops today, and just in case you might be passing by a Boots, would you like to know which products I particularly like?

Oh you would? Great, then keep reading...

The cosmetics which I've picked out from Nº7 are made all the better due to their very reasonable pricing and decent availability. The entire range is always on some kind of offer or another, and if you’re careful and combine your offer then you can get a truly exceptional deal. In particular, look out for the gifts with purchase and try to combine that with a buy one get one half price or 3 for 2 offer, and if you’re really doing well try and use a Nº7 discount voucher when they’re in circulation too.

So without further waffling, here are my picks. From right to left, we have...

Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser // I tried this on a whim and I absolutely love it. This cleanses my skin deeply and doesn't sting my eyes. It came with a muslin cloth and the bottle lasts for ages - I've been using this every night for about 2 months and I'm barely a third of the way through.

Stay Perfect Shade and Define eyeshadow sticks in Glistening Ray and Cool Mink // I've raved about these in a Mini Review Mondays post (see it here), and I stand by my assertions. I won’t repeat myself so if you’d like to see what I think of them, head on over via the link. I wish they’d release more shades so I can buy them all! 

Stay Perfect Smoothing Eyeshadow in Pewter // I bought this hoping it would be a BB cream eyeshadow type base, like the Bare Minerals ones. Sadly, it isn't, and you can read a bit more about what I thought here, but that all said it's still a really pretty eyeshadow that's really easy to apply. If you don't have a problem with oily eyelids then I think this would be pretty crease resistant and long lasting without a primer, as promised on the packaging. For my oily eyelids, I use it with a primer for when I want exciting, sparkly eyes.

Pop & Glow Cream Blush in Classic Rose and Instant Radiance Highlighter // This is Nº7’s answer to Clinique’s chubby sticks for cheeks – except Nº7 managed to launch theirs a good 6 months before Clinique. I have the highlighter and the blusher in Classic Rose, and the range has now widened to include a couple more blushers and a bronzer. These are super quick and easy to use, as you just draw them on and blend them out. No need for brushes, and you can blend away any mistakes very easily. I think these are a great convenience product and goes to show how ahead of the curve the brand can be.

Airbrush Away Primer //  This is a silicone based primer, but it’s not as silicone laden as something like The Porefessional. This means I find it easier to apply, as it’s more like a moisturiser. I don’t have a super oily face or particularly large pores, but this does a great job at holding everything in place if I've got a long day with a full face on, and it doesn't break me out. I wouldn't however recommend the redness correcting primer, which is tinted green – that was stiff to apply and tricky to blend in, and then gave me spots. Avoid that one like the plague.  

Triple Protection Tinted Moisturiser // I got compliments on my skin when I wore this – it’s effortlessly easy to wear, has a decent SPF in it, and doesn't feel heavy on the skin. I find it really easy to apply and the shade is a great match for my skin, too. A nice easy base for the summer months.

Moisture drench lipsticks in Mulberry and Plum Delicious // These may look very similar, but I assure you they’re completely different on the lips… Actually, they’re not a million miles apart but that I think sums up the wonderful thing about this range. All the shades are so totally wearable and non-scary for lipstick novices. They’re pretty moisturising so they feel almost like a balm, yet they’re not shimmery and they’re relatively long lasting. Excellent for work, excellent for an evening out, these are always a safe bet. Also, the Nº7 counters in Boots are now running a shade matching service where you can be guided to your perfect shade. Remind me to sign up for this asap...

Have you tried any of these products? Are you, too, a Nº7 aficionado?

-Rachel

A Complete Basket Face #2

Ready for a whistlestop tour through my Basket Face this week?

(If you're wondering what on Earth I'm on about, see this post here).

The products I selected to compose my basket were, anticlockwise from upper left:

No7 Smoothing Eye Shadow Eyeshadow in Pewter Shine // this is a new product for me, and I was drawn in by the ‘creaseless’ promises made on the stand. They have a small range of 6 shades, of which I only liked 2, and I went with this as the most wearable shade. In a nutshell, this is a good product but not amazing. It stays crease free reasonably long (eg 4 hours) but doesn’t last all day. Also, it’s quite sparkly. It is however a nice shade and applies easily. I was hoping for a dupe for the bare minerals BB cream eyeshadows but sadly this isn't one. Still, it's good enough for me to have kept using all week.

HD Brows Browtec in Vamp // an old favourite of mine now, this has a fine, twist up nib which you can use to define the edges of your brows. I think this is fabulous and I highly recommend it. 

Miss Manga mascara // I've used this before and loved it. This is my second tube and the wand does seem more bendy than the one I had before (or maybe I'm just misremembering my first tube) but I'm still enjoying it. This is a great mascara and I highly recommend it.

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara // a repeat of the previous basket. Apologies. See my thoughts here.

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Cool Medium // the first time I've ever used a base product in the shade medium- sorry, darker skinned girls, this range must be awful for you. I've been having some breakouts this week which needed covering up, and this did an admirable job. It stays put all day, even on oily areas, and blends really well into the skin.

YSL Touche Éclat // I've been using this to disguise  my under eye circles and it's doing a pretty good job. I talk about this a lot so I'll move swiftly on.

Eyeko eyelash curlers // another weekly staple, these do a good job of curling my eyelashes. Not much more to say than that!

HD Brows Brow Powder in Foxy // I use this to fill in my brows after I've defined them with the Browtec. The powder is super finely milled, very pigmented, and doesn't travel around your face. I highly recommend this, too.

Beauty People Gel Liner Pencil Special Edition Season 2 // this adorable tin came in what I'm casually titling 'The Best Memebox Ever’ (Superbox #41 My Cute Wishlist) and I have been all over these eyeliners this week. They’re pretty spangly, yes, and I have overdone it once or twice, but I love the combinations of colours that come in the tin, how smoothly they apply, how easy they are to blend, and then they set and stay all day. I have particularly enjoyed doing a sort of lazy ombre effect, by using the lightest colour all over the lid, then a layer of the medium bronze (the middle one), and then the brown along the lashline smudged out with a brush. It’s so easy and looks so, so pretty! Also the tin is adorable - picture proof below. The only downside with these is that you have to sharpen them. And I'm terrible at it.

NYX Butter Gloss in Crème Brûlée // this has swiftly turned into a staple for me, and normally lives in my work bag. I've been using this all week. Because not only does it give a decent, non-sticky gloss finish to the lips but IT TASTES LIKE CAKE.

NYX Blush in Dusty Rose // the perfect rose for my colouring, this is a new purchase for me and I've been loving it. I've been happy to have this on my face every single day this week.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Translucent // I use this to set both concealers above, and it does a grand job at it. Good powder, good price. Happy girl.

Just look at that tin. I'm fairly anti-cartoon but even I think this is awesome.

If you want to know what was in last week's basket, just go ahead and click here.

Have you tried any of the products in my basket this week?

-Rachel

The Bin Diaries Part VI: Products I'm Throwing Away

Hi fellow nomads,

It's time once more to take a trip into my rubbish and have a look at the products I've loved, hated, and had no strong feelings about.

Let's get started on this little batch of empties, shall we?

Aussie Luscious Long Leave-in Conditioner // This does what it says on the tin, and smells beautiful. I do like Aussie products and this is no exception.  This bottle lasted for-EVER and has done some great service when my hair is just horrible and knotty. It’s better for an all over condition rather than treating specific areas eg dry ends, which I prefer a serum for.

To buy (again) or not to buy?: I probably would at some point, but for now I'm going to stick to some serums I have which I'm enjoying

Sephora Express Nail Polish Remover // I rave about this all the time and the bin diaries will be no exception. I bought this in Paris and fell in love (don’t tell my husband), I now want to go back and buy about a hundred. I like this pot because

 - It removes your nail polish extremely rapidly
 - It’s great for travel as it is  a self contained, robust, one stop nail polish removing shop.
 - It smells not awful (like nail polish remover)

 - It doesn't leave behind a greasy residue like some other sponge pot removers I've tried (Bourjois I'm looking at you)
 - The pot is a cheerful colour

Basically this is amazing and if you live near a Sephora, please buy one immediately.

To buy (again) or not to buy?: Yes, yes, everyday yes!

La Source Relaxing Body Lotion // I'm awful at remembering to use body lotion, even with lovely products like this. I really enjoyed using this, it smells like the ocean and sinks in very quickly. It also scents your skin for the whole day. What I didn't like was that it wasn't quite heavy duty enough to tackle the really dry areas of my skin, but otherwise this was lovely.

To buy (again) or not to buy?: Maybe, I loved the scent but wanted a bit more moisturising action.

Nails Inc nail polish in Clerkenwell // This is another ancient product! You can tell by the packaging which is about 4 iterations ago. Nails Inc marketing team would probably have a fit if they saw it. Anyway, I'm throwing this away because it’s aged, it’s gone gloopy and I'm not actually a big fan of the colour- it’s a very obvious purple with shimmer in. Not really for me.

To buy (again) or not to buy?: Sadly not. I’d buy another colour though.

Clinique All About Eyes // A bonus time sample from Clinique again, I do love bonus time. This is supposed to reduce under eye bags and be generally refreshing in the morning. It did fine at the latter, not so much the former. Also it interfered with under-eye makeup slightly, so maybe it’s better to use this at night? Anyway, it did nothing for my mammoth under eye bags unfortunately so this wasn't quite the dream for me that it could have been. Still hunting for that magic cream…

To buy (again) or not to buy?: No, this didn't quite work out for me sadly.

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm in Chunky Cherry // As you may have guessed, I'm a big fan of Clinique and I love that they started the chubby stick/crayon trend which has now been copied to death by all and sundry. The copies have, in some cases, been excellent products in their own right and I've enjoyed them (eg Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey, which I love) but I have to give credit to the pioneers, Clinique. This is a beautiful colour that suits my colouring quite well, is easy to apply, and travels well. It’s not super long lasting but I’ll forgive it because it’s just so pretty. This has the honour of being the first lip product aside from lip balm that I have ever finished (and dug into the base of the stick to get all the last colour out).

To buy (again) or not to buy?: I've bought another one already! But I'm saving it so I use up all my other crayons first. Can’t have too much excitement at once, you know.

Darphin Azahar Cleansing Micellar Water // I have no idea where I got this sample from but it needed using up. It was pretty good, convenient for travel, and didn't irritate my skin however the full size is pretty expensive so I think I’ll stick to my Bioderma, for now (it’s a bad sign when Bioderma is the budget option).

To buy (again) or not to buy?: Probably not, but only due to cost – if it were cheaper, I probably would!

And that's all from the bin this time, folks. Catch you around here again soon!

-Rachel

The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014 from Latest in Beauty

Hi fellow nomads,

I'm a sucker for beauty boxes from Latest in Beauty, and those which they bring out in conjunction with Glamour are usually my absolute favourites. This box is no exception, and when I was sent the preview email I jumped straight on it. The box arrived a couple of days later in the post, and here's what was in it...

As ever, the box comes beautifully packaged in a sturdy cardboard box with all the items snugly cushioned in tissue paper. I've never had any items arrive broken or in otherwise less than perfect condition, which is a great comfort when things are arriving in the post.

Nude Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Tantalizing Taupe // This is a newly released product from Maybelline, and comes in a range of nude shades (unsurprisingly). Looking at the shade range, they all look fairly tricky to wear for someone of my colouring (extremely pale with boring coloured hair) and luckily, I think I probably got the best shade of the bunch. This has a slight rose undertone and isn't as brown as some of the others. Still, I'm not quite sure it does anything for my colouring so I’ll be saving this one for experimental days/the 90s revival. On the plus side, this is a nice, creamy formula which is moisturising and relatively long lasting, given the formula. Oh, and I’ll forgive them the Americanized spelling this once

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser // A cult product appears in a beauty box – this is quite a rarity! This cleanser has overwhelmingly positive reviews and comes with its own cloth and instruction booklet. I've only had the chance to use this once but I'm seriously impressed already. Here it is all dressed up neatly in it's packaging. How cute??

Laura Mercier foundation primer // I'm always keen to try Laura Mercier products because she does make some delightful things. This primer is light as air and melts into the skin effortlessly. I think it did prolong the effects of my makeup although I’ll need to give it a more extensive test to be sure. Also, it’s pretty chilly here now so it’s not being tested to the limits of heat endurance in any way. However, it did make products much more easy to apply on my skin and minimised the effect of any dry patches.

Eyeko Mascara Off Eye Makeup Remover Wipes // A nice travel sized pack of makeup remover wipes, these will come in super handy on business trips or weekends away when you just can’t be bothered – or on occasions where the bathroom facilities may be a little sub-par. I haven’t used these yet as I'm saving them for just such an occasion, but I'm hopeful for a nice damp (can’t use the word moist, sorry) wipe that doesn't sting the eyes and removes waterproof makeup easily without tugging or irritating my eyes. If it can do those then I’ll be a very happy chappy.

Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defence Conditioning Spray // I actually really love "dry conditioners", in a rare occurrence of me liking something trendy. There have been a few of them out recently, and they do wonders on the ends of my hair as they get very dry. I'm excited to try this and I've enjoyed other Philip Kingsley products immensely, so watch this space.

James Reed Sleep Mask Tan // I haven’t encountered anything like this before, and I'm quite intrigued by it. Pre holiday or during the middle of summer this could be a great product to fake the foreign holiday glow. Sadly I'm such a pale pale person that I'm slightly concerned that I’ll end up looking like an orange snooker ball, but for the purposes of blog research I'm willing to give this a go. I may wait until the weekend, though. 

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara // I always have use for a mascara and this one has been given some very good reviews. The brush looks a little scary and stiff, rather like the They’re Real! mascara from Benefit, but that product gives great results so I'm looking forward to giving this a go.

1 year subscription to Glamour iPhone/iPad edition // I don’t read magazines anymore because they’re too expensive to purchase on a regular basis, but if you’re throwing in a subscription for free then sure! I’ll give it a go. Glamour is one of the better magazines I think, not as full of rubbish as some but not as ridiculously aspirational as others (no, I'm not spending £3.5k on a dress and neither is anyone else I know). I expect this will come in very handy on commutes or work travel, where it's much more convenient to just read on my work phone than lug a magazine around. 


The Glamour Beauty Power List 2014 box retails at £15.99 which includes P&P (this isn't always the case with all Latest in Beauty boxes). Latest in Beauty often send out offer emails with reductions or extra free gifts with purchase, so if you can manage to hold on it may  be worth hanging on for these. They often release a good code on Bank Holidays - but unfortunately we're all out of these until Christmas (!!!). Also, these boxes do have a tendency to sell out, and I think this is a great opportunity to try out some well loved products for much less than their retail value.

Now I'm done enabling, I'll sign off. Have a fabulous Wednesday,

-Rachel