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