Stila Seeing Stars Smudge Stick Set

Stila Smudge Stick Set

£16.66 Boots

Such a bargain! I love Boots for the Christmas sales as all of the make up gift sets from Christmas come down in price

This year my local store actually stocked some Stila, Too Faced and Philosophy products. Normally their pretty poor on the premium make up front.

I'm now regretting not picking up some more Philosophy beauty bargains but in all honesty I have enough shower gel to last me through the year and some.

Considering one of the Stila Smudge sticks alone are £13 paying £16.66 for five full sized is brilliant.

I would most definitely pick up a set of these beauties if your local Boots still has stock available, I know their out of stock online but it's worth a try.

The 'sticks' are like a wind up eyeliner in design, in all honesty I was expecting a thicker nib so as to use it like an eyeshadow but the thin nib allows the product to be used as both an eyeliner and an eyeshadow so it's versatile.

I like how each different smudge stick's casing is the colour of the product it houses.

I get so frustrated when I'm looking for something amongst many other bits and bobs and can't easily distinguish what each thing is.

The glitter in the packaging makes it pretty as well which is a bonus if you display your make up at all.

(L-R)

Moray~Golden Olive Shimmer

Stargazer~Black with Gold and Silver Pearl

Angelfish~Metallic Pewter

Tetra~ Deep Shimmery Purple

Oscarfish~Warm Brown with Gold Pearl (Limited Edition)

In my opinion there aren't any dud colours in this set. 

My two favourites are Angelfish and Tetra.

The darker colours can be used to create a smouldering smokey eye and Angelfish can be used to highlight on the lid and brighten used in the waterline.

The formula is quite soft and blendable, they are long lasting and waterproof too so should last all day, or night.

Love

Belle

xoxo

Sparkles and Happiness

On the 27th December my gorgeous boyfriend proposed 

I couldn't be any happier right now

Myself and my family have had a year from hell and this has made it so much better

We've been together five years now and are thinking about having a Spring 2015 wedding

I'm so excited and haven't stopped smiling 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas 

Love

Belle

xoxo

Benefit 'Hoola' Bronzer



Hoola Bronzer

Benefit

£23.50

I've been contemplating buying the Benefit Hoola Bronzer for so long. It's perfect for a shimmer free, subtle bronzed look.

But I always seemed to put off purchasing.

I've had Nars Laguna in my collection for a while now but find it makes me look very orange and a bit oompa loompa ish

Maybe I have quite a heavy hand when it comes to application!

As usual the Benefit packaging is lovely

Al though the fact it's in a cardboard casing is slightly ngative as this takes a beating in my make up bag and ends up looking tatty very quickly

A fate that most of my Benefit boxes have met.

Hoola is one of benefits top selling products and I cans ee why.

It's a universally flattering shade which works well on almost everyone.

As someone that doesn't tan it gives me just the right amount of colour to look sunkissed but not tangoed.

As you can see from the above swatch it's pigmented well and has a great colour

also no shimmer which is good if your using it all over as no one wants to look like a disco ball...

I recently heard from my local Benefit MUA that Benefit are releasing cream blushers in the new year...how exciting!

Have you purchased the infamous Hoola?

Merry Christmas!

Love

Belle

xoxo

Soap and Glory Whipped Clean Shower Butter

Soap and Glory

Whipped Clean Shower Butter

£8.00

Surprise surprise another Soap and Glory purchase

What can I say pretty packaging and yummy scents are my weakness

Could be worse!

This product is a combined body wash and butter

It's not hugely foaming as a body wash but it does clean well and smells amazing

Rather sweet but a yummy kind of sweet

It does however leave my skin so soft which is down to the cocoa and shea butters

Having both qualities in one product is amazing as on workday mornings I leave myself minimal time to get ready and maximum time in bed 

The scent as I said is on the smooth side but in a good way, a mixture of vanilla and almond

On mornings where I don't fancy something citrusy and zingy to wake me up this is perfect

Makes me hungry for sweet stuff though!

Have you tried the Soap and Glory Whipped Clean?

Love 

Belle 

xoxo

Balance Me Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm

Cleanse and Smooth Face Balm

Balance Me

£20

Another cleanser you use with a muslin cloth....I'm officially addicted!

Balance Me describe this as a daily cleanser for cleansing balm addicts.

It's a natural oil based balm containing anti-oxidant cloudberry and gently polishing oatmeal.

You can definitely feel the oatmeal in the formula but it isn't gritty at all.

It's a very moisturising balm with quite an oily feel but seeing as my skin is so dry at the moment the oily consistency is benefitting my skin a lot. 

This cleansing balm is fantastic at removing all the days make up with ease and without having to scrub at my eyes until their red raw to remove mascara.

It smells gorgeous and very soothing I think I may even love it more than the Liz Earle cleanse and polish.

Have you tried any of the Balance Me products before?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Soap and Glory Breakfast Scrub

Soap and Glory

Breakfast Scrub

£9.50

As I said in a previous post I've recently gotten into body scrubs and wanted to pick up the Soap and Glory Breakfast Scrub, so I did! 

Soap and Glory products are always on some kind of special offer in Boots, normally 3 for 2, so they are great value for money. 

As with all Soap and Glory products the packaging is super cute and looks great on top of bathroom cabinet alongside my other pretties...

This stuff smells gorgeous! Like amazingly yummy

A mixture of maple and banana..mmmm

I love things that smell great especially in the shower

As far as a body scrub goes this is brilliant

Just scrubby enough to smooth my skin but not too abrasive on sensitive skin

The moisturising oils in the formulation leave your skin smooth and soft, combined with the scubbiness of capuacu bits.

Have you tried this yummy skin treat?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Benefit Refined Finish Facial Polish



Refined Finish Facial Polish

£17.50

Benefit

After I had the recent bad skin breakout it seems that my skin has decided to stay that way...

Nothing I've tried seems to have worked and I continue to suffer from bad blemishes and problem skin

Now that it's coming into winter I'm getting lots of dry bits too

I find that a good scrub helps get rid of these and the Benefit skincare range has always impressed me

The facial wash leaves my skin squeaky clean so I use this in conjunction with that

As a polish it isn't as rough and grainy as a scrub but the fine scrubby bits are still great removing any dry skin

It also means it doesn't hurt my sensitive broken out areas too

I wouldn't say there is much of a scent to it which to be honest I like as in the shower I use various other products which cause a medley of various scents

Around my face I'm starting to use more subtle and sensitive products in a bid to see if it's fragranced products that aggravate the most

Unfortunately it seems to be a case of trial and error

But right now the benefit products are doing a great job and haven't aggravated my skin in any adverse way so I'm happy

Have you tried the Benefit skincare before?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Pixi Early Bird Kit

Early Bird Kit

£16.00

Pixi

My first Pixi purchase

Super cute packaging

I love how cosmetic companies are putting so much effort into the packaging of their products

The colours and bird print on this palette is gorgeous

I'm a sucker for anything with a bird or floral print

The gorgeous packaging houses a palette of equally gorgeous products

Three Blushers

Two Bronzers

One Highlighter

4 Eyeshadow Bases

16 Eyeshadows

All of this for only £16, quite the bargain

I'd seen this kit in the Boots Christmas book and was interested in tracking it down

My local Boots doesn't stock the good stuff and it was never stocked online

Yesterday I went up to London to shop and visit Winter Wonderland so I decided to go to the Pixi store on Carnaby Street 

I also picked up two of the Pop Nail Polishes which I'd been looking at for a while 

The above swatches are of the blushers, bronzers and highlighter

The three blushers are lovely colours, not hughely pigmented but easily buildable

Sometimes its nice to not have a super pigmented blusher as it's easy to over do it

The same with the bronzers, I'm guilty of over doing it with bronzers easily and have been caught looking like an oompa loompa before...

There's a great range of eyeshadow colours and they all have a decent colour pay off too

The top row are lighter highlight colours and the bottom row are lovely colours

There really is everything you need in one palette and would be perfect for travelling with

Have you tried anything from Pixi before?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Benefit Peek a Bright Eyeshadow Set

Peek A Bright Eyes 

Eyeshadow Set

Benefit

£24.50 

Another gorgeous product from Benefit

They don't seem to be able to put a foot out of line in my books

The packaging is always stunning and the product inside is always top quality

I've never really dabbled in Benefit's eyeshadows but the MUA used this on me a little while ago and I loved it.

She was saying how the brown shade comes out slightly different on every person

The kit contains one nude base eyeshadow, one brown contour shade, a shimmery pink highlight shade, creamy eyebright, and two brushes.

I think the set would be perfect to travel with as it has everything you need in, as far as kit brushes go the ones included are also pretty good, I'd rather use my own of course but when caught out and about they would do fine.

Benefit describe this as an eye illuminating kit and I definitely agree

The shimmer highlight shade is gorgeous and definitely illuminates, I've been loving wearing these shadows to work everyday.

The perfect balance of neutral and smokey.

As with most Benefit products there are instructions included to create a make up look

This time the perfect neutral smokey

If you were giving this as a gift and the receiver wasn't that confident with eye shadow looks then these diagrams are easy to follow and will help them achieve what look they like

My Mum always comments on my eyeshadow, this kit would be great to get her into make up a little more

As you can see from the swatches above the shadows are pigmented well and have just the right amount of shimmer in them without being too much like a glitter ball.

The brown is a gorgeous mid to dark colour and is perfect for use in the crease.

My favourite colour has to be the pinky highlight

It's gorgeous and looks stunning and eye opening...love it!

Have you tried this set from Benefit?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Benefit High Flying Lip Gloss Set

High Flying Glosses Set

Benefit

£19.50 

Every year Benefit bring out various make up gift sets for Christmas

Each set comes in gorgeous packaging as you would expect from Benefit

Recently Benefit released a range of lip glosses to compliment their boxes of blushers

I'd love to give them a go but not being a lover of lip glosses means I'm hesitant to spend money on them

I picked up this lip gloss set for a friend for Christmas, there are six different shades in the pack to correspond with the blushers; Coralista: Sheer Coral, Dallas: Dusty Rose, Bella Bamba: Sheer Bright Watermelon, Hoola: Shimmering Golden Nude, Sugarbomb: Shimmering Pinky Nude and Dandelion: Soft Pearly Pink.

The glosses aren't full sized but aren't teeny tiny mini. Their the perfect size to chuck in your bag on a night out.

At £19.50 it works out at only £3.25 each which is a bargain to be able to try all six different colours. 

Have you tried the new glosses from Benefit?

Love

Belle

xoxo

OPI My Private Jet

OPI 'My Private Jet'

This is one of my favourite nail varnishes in my collection

It's quite an autumnal colour and now that it's getting slightly cooler I figured it was time to crack out the more seasonal colours.

I love how the colour is dark but not on the side of gothic

It goes between a black, brown and charcoal grey

The glitter isn't blingingly in your face but it is there, nice and subtle which makes a nice change sometimes

The coverage is opaque in one coat but I always do two out of habit

I never fee l I can comment on wear time with the job I have but it held up ok for two days at work so far

Any other OPI's I might have missed out on?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Christmas List

Christmas is my favourite time of year

I'm just like my Mum, we are the most festive people in our family

Last year we didn't celebrate as usual because my Grandad was in hospital

This year we're going to do him proud and have a great Christmas for him

I love spending time with my family and the festive period is all about family for us

Every weekend is full of various get togethers

I like to plan Christmas shopping very early and most people just laughed in my face when I asked what they wanted, back in September.

But now I have a super organised list for everyone and am about 80% done

I can't wait to sit down with a cheesy Christmas film, candles lit and a glass of wine to wrap them all up 

As a lover of lists I've made a 'visual guide' as my boyfriend always says he won't buy me anything off of a list... 

1. Philosophy Sugar Plum Fairy Gift Set ~ Boots

I actually bought this for a friend for Christmas and have fallen for the cute little set myself. The smell of the shower gel is amazing and it comes with a lovely little lipgloss, both a stunning deep purple colour. When I go to NYC I want to purchase a few Philosophy bits so I see this as a sampler to the goods ;)

2. Converse Sequin Trainers ~ Schuh

I saw these in a magazine a little while ago and thought they were gorgeous!

I've always been a converse girl at heart, at one point I had around 8 pairs...back in my emo/skater days...

I really like how these have a bit of glam factor about them

On the site I even read a review of a bride planning to wear these laced with ribbon on her wedding day...such a cute idea for a heel-phobe (I'm not phobic of course just can't walk in them to save my life!)

3. Stila Into The Light Eyeshadow Palette ~ Boots

This has appeared on countless blogs recently

Of course I've been lemming it, a neutral eyeshadow palette, it has my name all over it

Considering it's had such great reviews I'd love to add it to my little collection

It seems a bit smaller than the Urban Decay palette but mainly in length so it should fit in my smaller make up bag for on the go/travelling, perfect

4. Ted Baker Twinkee Glitter Bow Large Washbag ~ Ted Baker

Girly. Nude. Sparkly. Bow

Every girl needs a pretty washbag, self explanatory

5. Marc by Marc Jacobs Amy Gold Watch ~ Goldsmiths Jewellers

I've been drooling over gold, chunky watches for a while now but haven't quite found the one. It was close between this one and a Michael Kors watch, seeing as I got one for my 21st I figured I'd branch out into a different brand.

I kind of know for a fact that I won't be getting this simply because we aren't doing big presents this year but a girl can dream.

6. Too Faced Sweet Indulgence Make Up Set ~ Boots

I've never tried any Too Faced make up before but again seen plenty about it on blogs.

This limited edition kit looks like the perfect introduction to the brand. 

A good mixture of eyeshadows, blushers, primer etc. 

What's on your Christmas list this year?

Any traditions your family have?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Haus of Gloi Autumn products



My first purchase of Haus of Gloi products...

Easily influenced, after seeing The Sunday Girl's post on the Halloween exclusive goodies I had to make an impluse purchase especially as the Halloween scents are limited edition I didn't want to miss out.

...Already being tempted by the Yule range

I'd been lemming the body scrubs and exfoliators so had to give them a try, and 
of course the body butters, love a good body butter especially in the winter

In my little 'haul' above I have:

Pumpkin Queen Sugar Exfoliant

Honeysuckle Lemon Curd Pumpkin Butter

Ghost Puffs Soft Bubbling Scrub

Litchi Milk Tea Pumpkin Butter

Imp Sugar Exfoliant

Butter Pecan Lip Balm

Gingersnap Lip Balm



I've never really been too fussed about body exfoliators but recently I've definitely noticed a difference in my skin and that it may well need a little attention
As these are only a small sample jar I thought they would be perfect to give the formula a try before committing to a larger version
The scents I purchased are the Pumpkin Queen and Imp scents
All of the products I purchased have sweet and fruity scents which is something I look for when shopping for body products
I'm not a huge fan of anything overly floral or spicy but a little is alright 
The Pumpkin Queen scent actually has hints of peach in which is my all time favourite scent
If something has peaches in it I'm all over it!
The Imp scent is again rather sweet



Ghost Puffs Soft Bubbling Scrub
This smells divine!
It's a mixture of buttery popcorn (nom!) and marshmallow (double nom!)
It could be too sweet for some tastes but to me it's perfect
A slightly different scrub to the above
It's smoother, and not so grainy.
There's cocoa butter in the formula so leaves your skin super smooth



I love love looooooove Lychees (not sure why haus of gloi spell it weirdly) 
Their scent is gorgeous too, not quite my favourite peach will hold that spot forever 
But I do love this nearly as much
It's sweet and fruity with almost a floral undertone, a bit like when you eat a lychee it's mainly fruity but there's a perfume kind of floral taste too
These are extremely moisturising and sink into the skin really quick as well
I've got the Honeysuckle and Lemon Curd flavour on my desk at work to pop on my elbows and fore arms during the day
The scent lingers well too which I like as it's such a nice smell to catch a waft of

I also bought two of the lip balms as I seem to be the biggest lip balm addict!
The Butter pecan is over sweet to me, shocking I know, it smells too sweet and overpowering, a bit sickly too
I still use it but not as much as I'd like to
The Gingersnaps is pleasant as the ginger isn't too strong
Both balms are really moisturising and last well on the lips

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr Eyeshadow in 'Pink Gold'

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24 hour Eyeshadow

Pink Gold 

£4.99

I've already reviewed of the other shades available in the Maybelline colour tattoo eyeshadows but this has to be my favourite by far

A gorgeous creamy pink colour which seems to show up differently on different skin tones

I've seen swatches on some people where it leans more rose gold whereas on others it can be quite cool and frosty

On myself it's more cooler but not too frosty that it looks barbie pink

As you can see from the above photo it has a lovely shimmer going through it

I don't personally like matte eyeshadows as I feel they lack pigmentation but also look very flat and uninspiring

A little bit of shimmer is alright for day time as long as you don't look like a disco ball

In my opinion there is just enough shimmer to make this a stunning finish but not too much that it can't be used as an everyday shadow

Which is exactly what I use it for

On the mornings where I'm on an early at work I just slick a bit of this on, a little mascara and off I go

The formula means it stays in place all day and I can still see the shimmer, with minimal creasing, when I finish a 9 hour shift at work

By this point my foundation is long gone but at least my eyes still look good

A bit of a turn around this colour seems to be exclusive to us in the UK and I can't see it on any of the American websites, considering they have twice as many colours available than us this is different...

Have you tried the Colour Tattoos?

Love 

Belle

xoxo

Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser

Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser

£10.00

I seem to have a thing about purchasing hot cloth cleansers at the moment

After finally getting my mitts on the infamous Liz Earle cleanser (all be it the limited edition scent) I've been eager to try similar products

I love having that little bit of time to myself in the evenings having a good cleanse rather than my previous habit of just using a make up wipe on it's own..

I really enjoy using a lot of Soap and Glory's other products so I thought I'd give their version a go

As with other hot cloth cleansers a muslin cloth was included (I'm getting quite the collection now!) 

The product itself has panthenol, natural sweet almond, orange and lavendar essential hours in it so the scent is pleasant and not chemically at all

I find it in a similar league to the limited edition Liz Earle cleanser, a soothing, lightly fruity scent.

It takes my eye make up off really well too, some cleansers require a second dose of rubbing but this one does the trick in one go

My skin feels soft after and no residue is left behind on my skin

I'd most probably repurchase but considering there are so many cleansing products around I'll probably try a few more and see if I stumble across the holy grail product.

Love

Belle

xoxo

Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector

Rose Shimmer and Coral Shimmer

£16.00

Clarins

My cousin works in a Clarins beauty salon which stocks the whole Clarins line...heaven!

I popped along the other day for a loooovely facial and to get my brows tamed

I may be biased but it was actually the nicest facial I've ever had

I'd heard about these lip balms on various blogs before so was a little bit cheeky and used my cousins discount, but I couldn't just get the one I fell in love with both of the above shades.

The consistency is a cross between a lipgloss and a balm

It's moisturising but also glossy

And has the gorgeous toffee scent which everyone raves about

I love the smell, it's not overpowering of fake smelling like so many other sweet scents around

The colours are both very sheer but there is a hint of a rose tinted pink and coral shimmer left behind

They look gorgeous on top of a lipstick but also on their own

These have become a staple in my handbag since purchasing them and can tell it will be a very long love affair!

Have you tried any of the Clarins range?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Sleek Blush By 3 in 'Lace'

Sleek Blush by 3 blusher trio 

Lace

£10.00

Recently I bought the blush by 3 in the shade Pumpkin and straight away knew I wanted to pick up the shade Lace as well

Unfortunately when I initially purchased it there was the Pumpkin palette in the Lace box... I only realised this when I got it home to take photos for the blog

I was pretty gutted as I couldn't wait to use it and put it on here

It took me around a week to manage to get back into Superdrug and get it swapped over

The customer sales assistant looked at me like I was some kind of criminal when I said I wanted to swap it as it was wrong, not exactly my fault the wrong product was in the box

Anyway... The shades are gorgeous and to me much more wearable than Pumpkin

I find bright blushers intimidating but these are easing me in gently, I guess the trick is a light hand which I'm now mastering

As the shades are all so pigmented you only need to swipe your brush on the surface lightly and you've got enough for your apples of your cheeks

It's easier to build up colour than to take it away after all

In the swatches I have heavily applied the shades on my arm

The first colour is a matte orange, normally this wouldn't get used but I find myself reaching for it on horrid, rainy mornings to add a bit of colour to my cheeks. Perks me up straight away

The middle colour is very similar to the Rose Gold shade which is deemed a dupe for Nars' infamous blusher Orgasm. I have Orgasm in my collection and will admit it's similar but not the same. Orgasm will forever be my favourite blusher but now I have something so similar I won't use it as much as I was...I don't have £20 to be spending on blushers on a regular basis after all!

The third colour is a lovely rich, coral. It seems darker than a traditional coral, even rose toned. It's a hybrid shade and again with a light hand this looks gorgeous 

I love this palette overall and think it's such good value for £10.00 you get three great shades

Have your tried the blush by 3 palettes?

Love

Belle

xoxo

MUA Undressed Palette

Undress Palette MUA
£4.00 from Superdrug
MUA is a fantastic British drugstore brand with all the products amazingly cheap but still great products
Being an eyeshadow fiend, especially nude colours, I was drawn to this palette instantly when seeing it all over beauty blogs but everytime I was in a Superdrug they always had no stock available. 
All the colours in the palette are dupes for the shadows in the Urban Decay Naked palette

Top Row swatches
The shimmer finish shadows are really well pigmented whereas the matte colours are a bit on the subtle side, luckily only two out of the twelve shadows are matte
The pigmentation is great considering the palette only costs £4

Bottom Row Swatches
I kind of wish I'd waited for the inevitable dupe palettes to come out before buying the Urban Decay Naked palettes but then again it's nice to indulge in a bit of premium beauty sometimes...
I can definitely see this little wonder coming with me to New York next year, perfect shades for both daytime wear and evening 

Oh and if you have any recommendations for must sees in New York let me know!

Love
Belle
xoxo

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable in Cherish and Darling

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

£7.99 each

Top 'Cherish'

Bottom 'Darling' 

A few months ago I purchased this Revlon balm in Lovesick, a gorgeous, bright, fuchsia pink. It's a stunning colour but a bit bright for everyday wear, for me anyway I'm not one to embrace a bright lip on a daily basis..

I had been eying up the various colours Revlon have to offer for a while and finally decided to get some when Boots had their Autumn 3 for 2 on

As you can see from the swatches both of these colours are pale and muted

They apply quite sheer but on my lips they give just enough colour to be noticeable 

I love the minty scent they have and that they tingle a little bit on application

Being a balm they are quite moisturising but not as much as other's on the market, al though with such good colour pay off it's not really an issue.

I love these balms along with Revlon's Lip Butters

There are a few more colours I'm eying up, Rendezvous which is more of an orange colour slightly out of my comfort zone but it looks too pretty to miss. And Honey which is a more nudey colour.

As I'm going to New York next year I've also had a look into what colours they have available over there. 

There seems to be a lot of products from high street brands we have that are only available in the USA so I'm excited to try some different things out.

Are there any products we can't get over here which your eager to try?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Korres Bargains at TK Maxx

Jasmine Shower Gel ~ £3.99

Quince Body Lotion ~ £5.99

Guava Shower Gel ~ £3.99

All from TK Maxx

Since trying a few lip balms and body cream from Korres and loving them I've been dying to try some more goodies

I kept hearing how TK Maxx always have such beauty bargains so I thought I'd take a little looksy

Imagine how happy I was when I saw some Korres products tucked away in the disarray that is TK Maxx's beauty section

The shower gels retailed at £8 each and the body lotion at £12.50

They also smell gorgeous as you would expect from Korres products

I'm still working through my penultimate bottle of Snow Fairy from last year's stash but am so eager to try these out
After looking at the Korres website I think they may be having a label redesign or something so that could explain why TK Maxx have got stock now

I also picked up a pack of four nails inc polishes for £15 and seven color club polishes for £8

Rather happy with my bargains and can't wait to go back for another rummage

Have you stumbled across any bargains lately?

Love

Belle 

xoxo