Michael Kors Spending Spree



So I have a new in my life...Mr Michael Kors
All he designs are so classic and timeless, granted there are a few things I'm not sure on but in the majority it's all so nice

When I was in the states I knew I wanted to finally add a Kors to my handbag collection and considering it's so much cheaper over there than here it was the right time
With the purse and the bag together I saved over £100
Originally I was thinking of buying a Mulberry purse in the airport but the £187 put me off, I know it's something that would last me for years but I just couldn't bring myself to spend so much on a purse and figured seeing as I was buying a Michael Kors bag I could have a looksy at their purses too
Then I fell in love the above purse in the gorgeous mandarin shade
Normally I'd go for something more classic but something drew me towards the bright orange colour completely out of my comfort zone
It's perfect and I love it
The Hamilton bag in tan was on my shopping list before I went and I was so glad to find it
The Michael Kors concession stand was ridiculously busy when we were in Macy's
So overwhelming but I stood my ground, there was no way I was leaving without this baby
I think it was the Memorial Day sales that had bought everyone out but as far as I could see there was no reduction on the usual lines only on the clearance stuff
And then on the cruise there was a watch sale...with Michael Kors watches uh oh!
I knew I wanted a gold watch but I also love the tortoiseshell watches too so I ended up choosing one with both incorporated
It's big, gold and in your face
I love it!
I also saved £100 just on the watch to UK prices, so happy

Love
Belle
xoxo

Kat Von D ~ Ladybird Eyeshadow Palette

Fur Elise, Vespertine, Renholder, Siouxsie-Sioux, Unequited, Harlow, Wolf, Cleopatra

Kat Von D Ladybird True Romance Eyeshadow Palette

$36.00

Sephora

When we decided to go to New York I knew I had to get my hands on something from Kat Von D's makeup collection

I love her and have done for years 

Seeing as I seem to love eyeshadow palettes I figured I'd give one of these a go

Initially I wasn't sure on the Ladybird palette as I don't tend to use matte eyeshadows, leaning towards the shimmery shades in my palette over them 

With the release of the Naked Basics palette I found myself more intrigued by mattes but decided I didn't need the small palette of only 6 shades

And I'm so glad I waited!

When I first saw this in Sephora I was more interested in either the Ludwig pallete or the Saint palette

Ludwig is full of neutrals and a mixture of greens but was out of stock in every store I tried and Saint is basically the equivalent of the Naked palette

After swatching a few shades from the Ladybird palette I knew I wanted to try some eye looks with it and added it to my basket

As you can see in the swatches above the shadows are really nicely pigmented for matte shades and they blend beautifully together

The only dud shade for me is the orange shadow on the end, not sure how I would make that work but maybe blended out it could add a little colour to a look.

The eyeliner in Immortal Love is such a lovely, creamy, pigmented liner that really compliments all the colours in the palette 

I'm now regretting not buying more from this range

It's such a shame it's so hard to get hold of for us Brits

Have you ever tried anything from the Kat Von D range?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Wet n Wild Eyeshadow Palettes in 'Comfort Zone' & 'Downtown Browns'

Downtown Browns

Comfort Zone

These were really high on my list of to purchase products when in the states

I've seen reviews and swatches of these palettes all over the internet

Comfort Zone took many a drug store trip to find and I can see why... the colours are gorgeous and really wearable, and of course super pigmented

The last shade swatched is a perfect dupe for MAC's Club shadow, a stunning duochrome shade which looks so nice blended into the crease

Between the two palettes I definitely think that Comfort Zone is the better one

Downtown Browns shadows aren't quite as creamy and blendable and have a little bit of fallout when swatched

I've been loving the Comfort Zone palette and have been creating lots of different looks with it, it's so versatile

Just a shame I didn't many other palettes like this to pick up

The other two I saw were more pink toned or blue toned

And having blue eyes I can't pull of blue eyeshadow it just doesn't look right

Does anyone know anywhere I can get Wet n Wild reasonably priced in the UK?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

Bottom Lash Mascara

Clinique

$11/£10

This little baby did the rounds in the blogging world not so long ago

I wasn't sold on the idea..a completely different mascara just for your bottom lashes? 

Cannot be bothered with that..so I passed on it

Al though I have a huge issue with my bottom lash mascara always smudging onto the skin underneath making me look like a panda by 10am, not the look I strive for no matter how cute pandas are

No matter what I tried this always happened

I had heard that this wouldn't smudge and figured I'd try it out considering in the US it worked out at only £6 so not a huge loss if it didn't work

I tried this out whilst in the humid heat of New York figuring if it worked for me I might stock up

I got my Mum to check my eyes throughout the day and it stayed in place with absolutely no smudging..perfect!

It gave the definition to my lashes I can never seem to achieve with a normal mascara wand without getting mascara all over the skin

The teeny tiny brush was tricky to use to begin with but it soon felt natural to use

I bought another tube in Sephora and now I'm kicking myself for not picking up even more it's a staple in my everyday routine now 

I would probably pay the £10 UK price tag but of course would rather only pay £6

If you have problems with your bottom lashes smudging onto your skin I would whole heartedly recommend this baby it's amazeballs!

Love 

Belle

xoxo

Elemis Skincare Routine

Elemis Skincare

Tri-Enzyme Resurfacing Facial Wash £29.00 200ml

Pro-Collagen Marine Cream £79.00 50ml

Absolute Eye Serum £28.00 15ml

As I mentioned in a few previous posts whilst on the cruise ship I had a lovely facial to help my problematic skin using lots of Elemis products

This was my first experience of Elemis and I think I may be hooked...this could proove quite pricey!

So my skin problem is mainly concentrated in one area, my right cheek, however I get the odd mini breakout on my other oily areas

The therapist sat down with me and we addressed the main concerns and what needs working on, she even drew me a really simple diagram of the skin and all of it's layers

She explained how normal, cosmetic skincare only reaches the top two layers of the skin whereas products like Elemis and other 'proper' skincare reach the first layer where the bacteria linger which are what casues the problems.

During my facial she used the microdermabrasation technique and it felt so good and did a fantastic job

I definitely want to keep up these kinds of facials now I'm home and maybe even try and find some products to achieve this in my routine

I came away from the facial with three new additions to my skincare routine and have to say it was rather expensive

And since I've been home I've found all of these products and other's the therapist recommended on John Lewis (handy when the fiance's mother works for the company!) and for considerably cheaper than I paid on the ship

But I knew if I didn't get them there and then and started to used them immediately then I probably would have forgotten about the products and continued using other crap which was doing my skin no good.

In the past I have never managed to keep up with a skincare routine, getting bored after a few weeks and moving onto something new

But this has been used twice a day since I bought it and I have definitely noticed a massive difference

I'm kicking myself now though as I hated my skin before I started usiong this and don't have a before photo...however I now go without make up sometimes in public...shocker!!

The facial wash smells absolutely amazing, it has essence of truffles in and just smells so luxurious and spa like.

There are so many different ingredients at work in this and they really do work

The resurfacing outcome is mainly targeted for people seeking anti aging effects but this works beautifully for acne scarred and reddenned skin

Before this became part of my day to day routine my affected skin was so painful to touch and really red

I had almost cystic spots on a daily occurence (ouchies) which made me extremely self conscious but now they've gone

I've been using this now since the beginning of June and I've only had 1 really bad spot...it's a bloody miracle!

The Pro Collagen Marine Cream is so hydrating but also extremely light on the skin

I apply this just before my make up in the morning and once applied by the time I've got my make up together and sat down to pop it on it's all sunk in

Again this is another anti aging product (think the therapist was trying to say something!?) but it's really helped my dry bits and feels lovely on the skin

I guess prevention is better than cure when it comes to aging...

The therapist pointed out I have dark circles under my eyes, I had never noticed these before but ho hum

She used the Eye Serum on me and it felt really nice so I though why not!

I've been using this daily as well and have to see it seems like the skin under my eyes has brightened and feels softer and plumper

Guess I did need it then

She also recommended Bliss Peeling Groovy Serum which I'm tempted to try but it's a bit pricey

Have any of you guys tried anything from the Bliss line?

Love

Belle

xoxo

Clarisonic Mia 2 Review

Clarisonic Mia2 Skin Cleansing System Set

$149.00

Sephora

Recently my skin has suddenly turned angry against me

It never used to be acne prone and I was quite lucky in my teen years to not suffer horrendously like some of my peers

However now it seems I'm paying for my teen luckiness

The doctors had put me on Oxytetracycline without telling me the side effects so I happily took them twice a day as instructed, until I returned for more tablets and the different doctor informed me I'd need a blood test (bleurgh!) on my next visit due to the tablets probably harming my liver...they hadn't made much difference to my skin so I decided not to take them anymore...who wants liver damage!?

Whilst on holiday I had a facial on the cruise 

It included a form of microdermabrasion and my skin felt instantly better

The redness had toned down and it felt a lot smoother

I came away from the facial with a few new products and a list of others to track down when we got home (I'm yet to invest as it totals over £150!!) but I'll have a post up all about these

I had always been intrigued by the Clarisonic systems but never fancied splurging on something I wasn't 100% sure would benefit me

Whilst in New York I had looked into the kits available in Sephora and the price difference was definitely appealing but I still wasn't too sure

I asked the therapist her views on whether it would be worth investing in the system and she whole heartedly agreed I should indulge a little

Along with the new facial cleanser this would help deep cleanse down to the primary skin layers and help target the bacteria causing all my painful acne

So with her recommendation in mind I knew on our final day back on shore (we had about 3 hours to kill in New York before our flight home) I would beeline to the nearest Sephora and pick one up

I was quite lucky that in the week we had been on the cruise it was now Sephora's 15th Birthday and they had new special offers and sets available

I initially was contemplating just getting the standard Clarisonic Mia in baby pink but the set I purchased above was only $30 more and is a Limited Edition colour (I think) in hot pink, comes with a hard carry case, two heads, trial cleanser (which I haven't tried yet), charger and cute pvc lace detail case to house it all

The website says the retail cost for this little lot is $200 so I already saved $50 there and looking on websites in the UK I saved at least a further £50 but this colour isn't available in the UK and this set isn't available either so it's hard to gauge

Now I have to say it's a lot of money to spend on skin care but with my wedding in two years I want to feel confident in my skin but not have a super heavy foundation on my skin

My Mum kindly bought this for me as my birthday present which I really appreciate 

I've been using this once a day since we've been back and have been loving it

It's so easy to use, I currently have the sensitive skin head on but purchased a four pack of acne clearing heads so I'll used on of those once this one is ready for the bin (generally every 3 months) 

There is a buzz timer which tells you when to move onto the next part of your face so you know how long your cleansing for, this is also part of the 1 minute cleansing timer it is equipped with

I tend to use the timed minute first all over my face and then used it again on my problem cheek for about 30 seconds as this is where I am targeting the most 

I just hope that isn't having an adverse affect...doesn't seem it as of yet

My skin is so much smoother now and the redness has stayed away from my problem areas and since using the painful acne spots on my cheek have stayed away which is fantastic as they were so so sore

However I seem to be suffering with little clusters of breakouts in my oily areas

I'm putting that down to having such a deep cleanse daily which is bringing out all the nasties which need to be expelled for cleaner skin

Things always get worse before they get better I guess

It will be worth it though, I'm so excited to be able to go sans make up and feel confident still

Overall I am so so so soooo happy I took the plunge and invested in this tool as I feel my skin deserves it

My skin is getting better now and I know if I keep it up I should have the semi flawless skin back 

I'll have some before and during photos for my post on the facial skincare coming up if you're interested!

Sorry this post is so long but with something quite expensive I felt an in depth review was needed

Love

Belle

xoxo