Kate Rockin’ Curves Mascara | Review

Kate Rockin’ Curves Mascara, £7.49

If there is one thing I like trying out, it's mascara! The Kate Rockin’ Curves Mascara was released earlier this year and is Kate Moss' first mascara for Rimmel London. I actually bought this when it was first released and it's been waiting in my stash ever since. Kate's mascara has the 'broken heart-shaped' brush which Rimmel claims matches the natural lash line to get every lash covered. You can probably tell from the picture, but the brush is pretty large, it's potentially the biggest mascara wand I've ever used.

When I first tried the Kate Rockin’ Curves Mascara I really wasn't impressed. The formula was very, very wet which paired with the new brush was a complete disaster for me. It was so messy to use and I just wasn't getting the results I wanted. I've now had it open for around 2 weeks and now the formula has tried out it's a lot easier to use. 

The brush is pretty impressive, it really does grab every single eyelash. The mascara itself is jet black which gives a really dramatic look to your lashes. Rimmel claim that the mascara gives your lashes all they need in one clean stroke. However, I'm not sure that I really agree, although you can pick up every lash, I don't think you get enough lift and volume in one stroke. One thing I will say is that this mascara smudges a fair bit, if you struggle when you don't use a waterproof formula, this isn't for you!

I really like this mascara, but it's definitely not my favourite of all-time! I naturally have quite long lashes, but what I really crave is volume. This mascara gives a bit of volume, but mainly length. However, if you prefer length over volume you should definitely check this out, it's fantastic!

Monthly Favourites | August

August has been one hell of a busy month, it's probably the first this year that hasn't 'flown by'. We've been insanely busy at work and it time! However, another month has passed, so it's time for another set of monthly favourites! 

Dove Refresh + Care Dry Shampoo, £4.59
Whilst I was travelling with work earlier this month, I forgot to take dry shampoo. So I found myself hunting for the nearest Boots to stock up. I noticed the Dove Dry Shampoo on the shelf and I knew it was coming home with me. This has had some rave reviews and it's a truly a product that lives up to the hype! It's got such an incredible formula which leaves no residue in the hair and it smells fantastic!

Essie Avenue Maintain
I came across this colour when I was packing to go away and it hasn't left my nails since. Essie describe it as 'a lovely parisian blue' - all I know is it's a stunning blue shade which is perfect for sunny days!

The Body Shop Honey Bronzer, £13
I recently dedicated a whole blog post to this beautiful bronzer from The Body Shop, so I won't go on to long about it! It's just beautiful and it's another product that deserves all the hype it gets. It's so easy to use - even a bronzer novice like me can make it work!

Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia, £40
This is by far the most expensive item in my favourites this month, but I've been reaching for it loads in this heat! Jo Malone actually say this is the scent of autumn, but for me the scent just screams summer! It's fruity, it's floral, it's light, it's just perfection! 

What are your favourites this month?

Beauty Wish List | New Releases

There are so many new releases, I think every single day I hear about another new product that I want to try! I'm creating quite a wish list of items. So I thought I'd get them out of my system and share them with you! 

Sandy Nude Eye Palette from Bobbi Brown

There is something about Bobbi Brown eyeshadow palettes, I just fall in love with them all. The Sandy Nude Eye palette looks stunning, every single shade is lovely and it would be perfect all year long. I love that it's got two levels, which hopefully makes it nice and compact. This one retails for £49, which is a lot of money, so why is it still tempting me no-end?!

Soap & Glory™ Sexy Mother Blusher

Ever since trying the No7 Pop & Go blushers, I'm obsessed with trying similar products. I've tried a few makeup items from Soap and Glory and I've never been disappointed, so I'd love to try something from them. These Sexy Mother Blusher's come in so many nice shades, it would be hard to choose.

Coconut Hand Cream from The Body Shop

I'm a huge fan of the coconut scent from The Body Shop! So when I heard that they were launching hand creams in lots of new scents I was really happy. These are only £3.50 so I think I'll be trying this sooner rather than later!

Wild Argan Oil Solid Body Shop

This solid Argan Oil from The Body Shop is getting some rave reviews. I love oils as they have so many uses. It's a completely new idea, so I think it would be fantastic! Especially for travel as you wouldn't be scared of it leaking everywhere.

Autumn Trio from Nails Inc 

Am I the only one totally in love which the new bottles from Nails Inc? They are such a beautiful shape, I know it's totally shallow, but I love them! They have some beautiful colours too, I love this Autumn Trio, there's not a dud shade!

What are you wishing for at the moment? Do you feel a haul coming soon?

NOTD | Fuzzy Peach

Models Own Fuzzy Peach, £4.99

Fuzzy Peach is from Models Own's Ice Cream Sundae Collection. Although this Models Own polish is called 'peach' it's not at all a peach shade. It's easy to see that it's much more a orangey hue. That being said 'Fuzzy Peach' is the first orange shade of nail polish I own. Which is incredible as I own a lot of nail polishes! It's not really a colour I ever look to wear, so it's taken me a long time to get around to testing this. 

I'm not normally a fan of Models Own's formulation on standard polishes. As you can see by the swatch below, that one coat of this formula is very streaky. However, this polish actually corrects itself and with two coats it gets a beautiful opaque polish with a glossy finish.

This colour isn't for everybody, but if it tickles your fancy, you can pick it up from the Models Own website!

August Empties

Whilst normally I'm pretty happy to be finishing up products, this month has seen the end of a lot of favourites. I'm gutted that some of these products have been finished up! Does this mean it's okay to go shopping?

Aussie Dual Personality Curl Definition Serum
I've raved about this product a LOT and I just love it! I've had permed hair for 9 months or so now and this is the first product I've found that I adore. It does everything it claims and transforms frizz into beautiful curls. The best bit? It's super cheap, retailing for just over £5. 
Repurchase? I think it's obvious that I love this product, I replaced it instantly and I thinking of picking up a spare for emergencies.

Dove Maximum Protection
I've tried both the Sure and Dove versions of these deodrants, at first I wasn't sure I could notice a difference between them. However, after picking up the Sure version by mistake, I definitely prefer the Dove one. It's just a lot easier to use, it's not sticky and it's just fantastic. I know £5 is quite a lot of deodrant but I think it's worth it. 
Repurchase? Yes!

Taylor Swift Wonderstruck
I love this perfume and I'm so sad that I've come to the end of it! It's just a lovely light, playful scent that I love wearing all year round. I'm already looking to replace this as it's just the best 'everyday' scent. It's really well priced too, you can pick up 100ml for around £20! 
Repurchase? Definitely! I'm already looking for a good deal!

Tresemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo
I had a sample of this dry shampoo from a beauty box, so I just used it when I ran out of my other dry shampoo recently. It's really likeable actually! It has a lovely scent and absorbs the oil in your hair without a residue. 
Repurchase? I would repurchase in the future, I have a few other dry shampoo products to try first though!

Herbal Essences Fresh Balance Clarifying Shampoo
Chris and I are both big fans of this shampoo! It's the best clarifying shampoo I've tried and it's a tiny £1.99. 
Repurchase? It will definitely be making it's way back into our bathroom as soon as possible! 

Batiste Cherry Dry Shampoo
I've spent a long, long time repurchasing this dry shampoo. It's a great product to have to hand as it just does the job. However, I think this will be my last can, I've found other dry shampoos that are much better to use!
Repurchase? Maybe I'll change my mind in the future, but right now, this is it!

Aussie Dual Personality Hairspray
Aussie Dual Personality Hairspray is my go-to hairspray. We just have a mutual love for each other, it's just perfect! I always feel sad when I finish a can of this and I always try to replace it as soon as possible! I just can't live without it!
Repurchase? Yes I already have and I think I always will!

That's it for my empties this month! What products do you always regret finishing?

Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter | Review

Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter, £7.99

When Bourjois released new versions of the their cult 'chocolate bronzer' I was pretty excited to try them out. The bronzers from Bourjois are totally new to me, I have never tried the original ones in the past. Something about the Bronzing Powder & Highlighter was really exciting to me. I love contouring sets, they are super handy for travelling and you get two products in one palette.

As you can see from the picture the Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter is half a matte bronzer and half a shimmering highlighter. It's designed to provide the perfect contouring solution. The duo comes in a cardboard sleeve which closes with a magnet! It's not the most luxurious packaging in the world, but it is functional, it's never opened in my makeup bag or been damaged. The Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter has the famous 'chocolate' scent, which lots of people love. I'm not really a fan of the scent, I don't hate it, but it's quite weird having a fragranced product on your face. I am however a big fan of the formulation of this little duo. The bronzer is a great colour for my pale skin and it's not hugely pigmented, which means you can build up the colour slowly. The highlighter has a softer formulation and adds a really nice glow and shimmer to your cheekbones. Pair with a lovely coral blusher and you have a perfect summer look!

The Bourjois Bronzing Powder & Highlighter retails for £7.99 and you can pick it up from lots of different places, including ASOS and Superdrug.

Sprinkles Nail Effects | NOTD

Topping Lane by Nails Inc, £11 or £8.25 from Look Fantastic

Nails Inc are definitely innovative when it comes to nail polish ideas, they tend to keep people on their toes about what is coming next. Which leaves other brands imitating their decisions and being second to release products. When they released the Sprinkles Collection in 2012, it was unlike something we'd ever seen before.

For today's NOTD I'm doing a quick review of Nails Inc's Topping Lane, which is one of their 'Sprinkles' collection. Topping Lane is a pink polish which has purple, blue and silver glitter inside. The glitter is fairly chunky so it's definitely not a subtle look! The bonus of this polish is that you can get a look that would normally take 2-3 polishes to create, all in one bottle. The disadvantage, is that it's quite hard to use in my opinion! You don't seem to get good coverage of colour equally dispersed with the glitter. So if you're a bit of a perfectionist, it takes some work to get right.

Although this was part of the limited edition range released, it's still around at certain retailers, so if you like it, keep an eye out for it! 

Brow This Way | Review

Brow This Way by Rimmel London, £3.99

Whenever I write about this product, I find myself singing RUN-DMC. That aside, Brow This Way is a brand new eyebrow release from Rimmel London. It's dubbed to be a 'eyebrow gel'. I picked it up on a whim from Superdrug when I popped in for essentials a couple of weeks ago. I'm so glad I did because it's fantastic!

The world has gone eyebrow crazy recently, there are a lot of new eyeshadow products hitting the market. So there is a lot to choose from! Rimmel's Brow This Way, comes in four shades, blonde, medium brown, dark brown and clear. I went for medium brown, as I just felt like this would be the closest match for my eyebrows. The brush is bigger than Benefit's Gimme Brow, but ever so slightly smaller than Maybelline's Brow Drama. The style of the brush is very similar to Benefit's which makes it really easy to use.

The brow gel is really easy to use, you just sweep it through the brows and the mess it creates is practically zero! I've not had any application mishaps from this so far. The formula is very lightweight, it's not sticky and it's not clumpy. It doesn't make your brows feel hard or crispy either, the formula is just dreamy! 

I cannot get over how cheap this product is, it's completely and utterly worth the price tag! Well done Rimmel! 

The Body Shop Mango Body Sorbet | Review

The Body Shop Mango Body Sorbet, £8

I was pretty damn excited about this little tube of goodness. The Body Shop Body Sorbet's sounded incredible on paper and got some incredible reviews. I bought a bottle as soon as it came online and when it arrived I used it straight away.

This stuff smells incredible, I know everyone says it, but it genuinely smells good enough to eat! So good that it actually says on the bottle that it's not appropriate for consumption, just to avoid any confusion! The smell stays on your skin too, it doesn't disappear after a few minutes, it lingers! The formula is pretty thick, it's thin or liquidly. So it leaves your skin it leaves your skin feeling moisturised and soft, which is lovely too! 

There's just one thing I can't deal with that spoils the whole 'sorbet' experience for me, the texture. The sorbet has a silicone feel to it which I really, really hate. I've always had a hatred for this texture, it's just too weird for me, I can't use silcone moisturisers or primers either. It's kind of velvety, which I know thousands of people love, but for me, it just doesn't work!

Have you tried the The Body Shop Body Sorbets? 

Pop and Glow Cream Blush | Review

No7 Pop and Glow Cream Blush in Watermelon, £9.95

I've had my eye on these Pop and Glow cream blushers from No7 since they launched. It's been a long old wait to get my hands on one. When I had a selection of £5 off vouchers for No7 I knew I had to try one. So off I trotted to Boots and picked up this little beauty.

Blusher with this little product couldn't be easier. You simply take off the lid, apply the blusher straight from the stick and then blend it out. You can blend it out with your fingers, but I prefer to blend out with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. It adds such a beautiful pop of colour and it's just so simple!

Watermelon has good pigmentation, the formula doesn't drag and it's just a beautiful colour. Better yet is that its completely build-able, just keep applying until you're happy with the finish.

I'm completely obsessed with this blusher, I'm eager to buy the other three colours in the range! Have you tried the Pop and Glow blushers?

New From Next | Wish List

I don't keep my love of Next Home a secret from anyone. It sometimes feel like the whole shop was made for me. It's completely and utterly my style and I love almost everything. Not so long ago the new season collection dropped and now I'm utterly obsessed with a whole host of new things. I definitely have a bit of a cream/natural theme going on in this wish list, everything is very clean and simple. 

First up on the list is this heart shaped dish drainer (£15) we need to get some kind of dish drainer, but I don't want anything ugly. I love how simple and elegant this is! I Equally love these slogan mugs (£12 for 4), they are so sweet and neutral, they'd match any colour scheme.

I've been looking for something just like these heart placements. They are a 8 piece set, in a leather style (£18), perfect for a lovely table setting! I'm not sure Chris is so keen on heart placemats though! We all know that I'm owl obsessed, so these coasters (£8) are right up my street. I love the fact they come in a little holder shaped like a tree! 

I've been looking for a collage frame set for several different rooms in the flat. I've specifically been looking for white frames, but these metallic finish ones might work! You get a set of five, so it's not a bad price for £35. Last on my list is the House Print (£30), I actually saw this in store and fell in love straight away. It's completely my style and would work so lovely in our living room. 

Do you have any favourite shops for home shopping? 

Ps. I'm sorry if you don't get excited by home shopping like I do!

Weekly Roundup #11

It's been a couple of weeks since I lasted shared a weekly roundup with you guys! But I'm back with a new edition and lots of photographs to share with you!

Work
It's been a hectic few weeks at work as we hosted our Annual Partner meeting not long ago. It's hosted in Cambridge which is just the most beautiful place. I genuinely think there is a good photograph to take on every corner! From rivers, to punts, to countryside, to farmyard animals - it has it all!

DIY
We've made fantastic progress on our kitchen in the last couple of weeks. We've gone from having no cupboards, worktop or appliances - to having everything installed. It's so exciting to see our dream kitchen becoming a reality.

Shopping
I've been going a little crazy with the shopping recently! I've been ordering lots of clothes, so my wardrobe has had a bit of a refresh which is lovely! I also treated myself to the new Daisy Dream perfume which I'm super excited about! I also picked up a giant clock for the kitchen (I say giant, it's about 37cm) but it's beautiful and just what I was hoping for.

Life 
It's time for be to jump back on the diet bandwagon! I've still been watching what I eat, but i've been good and not perfect. My blood pressure has been quite high recently so my nurse asked me to try and find some ways to reduce it. I'm back on a restricted calorie diet (1350) and aiming to walk 2 miles a night! It's only been a few days but I feel like I'm doing okay so far!

Blog
A lot has happened on my blog over the last two weeks! If you didn't know already I share a new blog post every single day at 7am, so there are a lot of posts to catch up on! However, here are some of my top highlights! 

I've recently fallen in love with the Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier Ultra Nourishing Oil (post here), it's just beautiful. It screams summer and does a whole host of wonderful things (it's on sale at Escentual now, so act quickly if you like it!) 

Summer is on it's way out, so if you're looking to try one last BBQ you might like this Steak Skewer recipe! 

If you're looking for a beautiful cream blusher, it doesn't get better than the 'How 'Bout Them Apples' palette from The Balm (read my thoughts here)!

If you fancy hearing about what's new in my makeup bag, I wrote up a little post about what I've been buying (here) - I highly recommend the new Bourjois bronzer/highlighter duo! 

I'm a big Instagram fan! I share photographs all week long on my Instagram page @missusher3 (here) so please come over and leave your own links so I can follow you! 

Glossybox Turns 3!

This month Glossybox are celebrating 3 years in business and they are celebrating with a 6-product box and a special design. They've actually kept most of their Birthday plans under wraps, there were not any early boxes on blogs and we only knew about one product.

This month the box came in a black outer box with a birthday bow.The birthday box comes in the same famous pink coloured box but the box itself feels a little different. The inside of the box had some changes too! The inside boasted some black tissue paper with a black ribbon and a black sticker. We also got a square shaped menu, which opened up to give us a message from the CEO and big pictures of the products too. Lets talk about what is inside:

Kryolan For Glossybox Highlighter Cashmere, £12.95

I'm normally a bit meh about these 'Glossybox' beauty products. However, for once I'm excited to try this. In fact this product is probably the most exciting for me in the whole box, so I hope it lives up to expectations! They say the highlighter is a lightweight cream with a gloss finish. You can use it to highlight your cheekbones and all other places you wish to get a natural glow. I'll be trying this over the week and if it's good it will be coming on holiday with me!

Figs and Rouge Mini Hand Cream £6.95 for the full size

Figs and Rouge say these mini hand creams are packed with shea butter to soften and nourish even the toughest hands. This little hand cream is such a handy size, another great item if you're going on a late-summer holiday like me. My hands get very dry when I'm in and out the swimming pool! This is a 20ml bottle and the full size is 80ml. 

Yves Rocher Pink Nail Polish, £3.60 for the full size

This is listed as the 'Birthday Bonus' in the box. As you can probably see by the picture, this is a teeny tiny bottle of nail polish. It's a very pretty baby pink colour, perfect for lots of occasions. I love testing nail polish so you can expect to see this in a NOTD soon!

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer, £38 for the full size

This was Glossybox's spoiler for this month and is a product originally created for Audrey Hepburn. I actually already had a sample of this in the past but I've never used it. I knew very little about the product, but now I've researched it, it sounds amazing. It's a pre-shampoo treatment that gives your hair bounce and shine without making your hair feel like it's full of product.

Lalique L'Amour, £67 for 50ml

I have never heart of this brand, but I love trying out new perfumes. This sounds like it's right up my street, it's a floral heart with musk notes, perfect as we head into Autumn. I know lots of people hate receiving perfume samples in beauty boxes, but I don't mind too much. These samples are super handy for travelling and you get to try something you may not have considered.

Pep Cosmeceuticals SkinPep Hydra Sun Defence SPF30 Day Cream, £5.99 for the full size

Pep Cosmeceuticals claim that this product has all the benefits of an SPF without the chalky white finish. They say it's perfect for wearing under foundation and BB creams. It sounds like another great product to take away in my makeup bag on holiday next week! 

So there you have it, the contents of my Glossybox this month! There is nothing that really blows me away at first glance, but I'll definitely give everything a try! Congratulations to Glossybox for turning 3, Happy Birthday! Did you get a Glossybox? What was inside?

Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier Ultra Nourishing Oil | Review

Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier Ultra Nourishing Oil, £25.50*

I'm completely new to Roger & Gallet, I've never tried anything from the brand. I'm also new to figs, I've never tried anything with a fig scent. So the Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier Ultra Nourishing Oil is a journey of discovery for me! You cannot deny how beautiful this packaging is, it's just stunning. It's so photogenic, I got this picture with just one shot, it's lovely!

Roger & Gallet say that this is a multi-purpose oil, that you can use on your skin and your hair. 'Enriched with fruit oils grape, pomegranate, blackcurrant, apricot and passionfruit, and a sweet almond oil'. If you're thinking this sounds heavenly, you're right because it totally is! You just spray in oil into your palm, warm it up a little on your hands and then apply to your skin or your hair! I've never used a spray bottle with an oil before, but it makes life very easy! It's just a lovely light oil which makes my hair smell incredible! I love it!

This will definitely be coming on holiday with me, it just smells beautiful and hopefully will keep my skin nice and moisturised! 

The Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier Ultra Nourishing Oil is pretty pricey at £25.50. However, the good news is that Escentual have 1/3 off all Roger & Gallet products for the month of August, so you can pick it up for £16.83! Which makes it that little bit more affordable.

FOTD

Today's blog post is a face of the day! I had a lot of products to try out and play with, so it seemed like a good excuse to get dolled up and take a picture.

I started with the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation which I think is my favourite of all time. There's something about this foundation that my skin loves and we work well together. I follow foundation with powder and I'm using the Fit Me powder from Maybelline in the shade 125. I used to be a Rimmel Stay Matte powder girl, but after using this I can see how cakey it is. This Maybelline powder is such a fine grain powder, it adds coverage and flawless finish without being too heavy. 

The Bourjois Bronzing Powder and Highlighter Duo comes next. I've been using my Real Techniques Blush Brush for the bronzer, it adds a lovely colour which is just buildable. It's not orange and it's not hard to use if you're pale like me. I sweep the highlighter over my cheeks with the Real Techniques Contour brush. The highlighter is quite subtle, I normally go for something a bit more pigmented. The Balm 'How 'Bout Them Apples' cream blusher in Pie has fast become one of my favourites. Huge pigmentation, it's easy to apply and it's easy to blend. 

I finish with the No7 Stay Perfect Shape and Define in Glistening Ray on the eyes, I used it without a base this time. It's a very glittery shade and it does not move. I used the Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara on my lashes. It's a really fabulous mascara, it adds length and definition with heaps of volume! You can't see my brows under my fringe, but I've been loving the new Rimmel Brow This Way brow styling gel. It adds colour and gives a really nice finish to sparse eyebrows. 

I finished my look with the Laura Mercier Lip Glace in Gossamer, which is a limited edition shade I picked up in a set. It's a stunning 'my lips but better' shade which has a lovely sheen to it. It feels quite sticky at first but it settles and is really lovely to wear!

JAPONESQUE Velvet Touch Eye Shadow Duo

I've had the JAPONESQUE Velvet Touch Eye Shadow Duo in my collection for such a long time and I completely forgot that I hadn't featured it on here yet! One of those things that I photographed and never got round to speaking about.

I haven't heard very much about these JAPONESQUE eyeshadow duos, which is a shame because they are so lovely! The packaging definitely needs a mention, I mean how could you not talk about it? The beautiful black packaging is paired with a bright blue top. The colourful top is created from gel which is created individually on each eyeshadow. So every single product is a little bit different and completely unique. 

I have the duo called 'S7' which is a super catchy name. It features two shimmer shades, one beige and one brown. JAPONESQUE officially call the two shades 'Pearlescent beige and metallic taupe.' The two colours work beautifully together, you can create a really quick semi-smokey eye from one tiny palette which is great for travelling.

The shadow is super soft and the pigmentation is beautiful. Pigmented enough to create beautiful colour and rich enough to build up to something more dramatic! 

This duo is quite pricey as it costs £18 and the palette itself is pretty small, so it's definitely a bit of a treat, but it's worth every penny! You can pick it up from John Lewis or BeautyBay.

Laura Mercier Tarte Au Citron

I cannot believe it’s taken me so long to get wrong to trying this little perfume. I picked this up in the Christmas, yes Christmas, sales from Space NK. This is such a beautiful perfume, it’s Laura Mercier’s Tarte Au Citron.

It smells exactly just that, it’s a beautiful fresh sweet citrus scent and it smells incredible when the sun is shining! This actually came in a travel set with lots of different things and I didn’t think I’d like the scent as a perfume, but I really like it! Laura Mercier say ‘Tarte au Citron captures the essence of lemon, bergamot, cassis and warm crème fraiche, and blends it with delicious notes of whipped vanilla custard, baked pastry accord and velvety musky woods’. It’s just summer in a bottle to me, it smells a bit like lemonade, so lovely!

Sadly this scent was limited edition for the Christmas collection, so it looks like bottle of joy is pretty hard to get hold of. However, I have heard that the Laura Mercier Verbena Eau De Toilette, is very similar! So it's definitely worth checking it out if it sounds interesting to you!

How 'Bout Them Apples

The How 'Bout Them Apples blusher in Pie from The Balm, is part of a full sized cream blusher palette. I've heard a lot about The Balm, I love their highlighter and all of their other products get rave reviews, so I was pretty excited to receive this in my June Birchbox.

'Pie' is a beautiful bright cherry pink shade, which is just beautiful for summertime. It's a dream cream blusher, first of all it's really pigmented. I've been using my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush with this and you barely have to dab it into the product to get some colour pay off. Saying that, they blend really easily, so if you do find you've been a bit heavy handed you can fix it quickly. The colour also builds really well, so you can start light and get up to a colour you love.

Of course you have to spare a thought for the packaging which is just gorgeous! It's a little bit retro and very cute! I love that the blusher is inside little apples.

I'm definitely more than tempted to pick up the full palette from The Balm, it would be my first cream blusher palette and I think it would be a great purchase for summertime. If it tickles your fancy, you can pick it up from Superdrug for £26.50.

Notting Hill Gate | NOTD

 

I received Nails Inc Notting Hill Gate in my Nail Polish Diary at Christmas time. The shade was launched in 2012 as a hot 'vibrant neon pink shade'.

One coat is on the left hand side of the wheel and you can see that it's fairly unimpressive. It's definitely not a 'one coat wonder'. With two coats you get a bit more coverage, but for me personally I think you need three to get the true bright colour you see in the bottle. It's a very sheer formula, you need to be patient with it to get a nice colour.

Surprisingly, the colour is quite matt to the eye, it's not a high gloss finish. It's definitely a hot pink shade, but to me it doesn't scream neon. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, but if you're looking for a bright highlighter pink, this isn't the one. The matt finish is  easily fixed with a glossy topcoat though and packs a punch on the nails. Perfect for the summer sun and lovely on holiday with a tan!

Notting Hill Gate retails for £11 in a variety of places, including at Nails Inc online here. 

Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder

The world and their wife seem to be obsessed with this bronzer from The Body Shop. It's official name is the 'Honey Bronze Bronzing Powder' and it's embossed with the prettiest honeycomb pattern. It's just so simple yet so pretty. 

The bronzer is a completely matt and it's a completely even shade all the way through the compact. It's not very pigmented but it's the perfect bronzed shade if you're as fair as me. For me, lack of pigmentation isn't a problem, it means that you can layer up the bronzer without going overboard and needing to correct mistakes. 

However, I have shade 01 and it is very light! I think I could have been a little more daring and picked up a shade darker, because it's so easy to work with!

I'm genuinely impressed with this bronzer, I know it will get a lot of use and it deserves the hype it has!

BBQ Recipe: Marinated Steak Skewers

As all we get ready to enjoy the last of the summer holidays, why not get the BBQ out and try some of these Marinated Steak Skewers!

A few weeks ago we hosted a dinner party for Chris' mum and dad. It was their 28th Wedding Anniversary so we wanted to make all of their favourite food! His dad is a big fan of steak so we decided to make some steak skewers. We've had skewers a lot for BBQ's in the past, but we've never marinated the meat before.

To make these Marinated Steak Skewers you will need (we made 10 skewers):

Steak - any steak will do, we actually used steak medallions for this

6 peppers: we used 2 green, 2 red and 2 orange

1 large onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of pepper

2 tablespoons of Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

60ml of lemon juice

60ml of soy sauce

120ml of olive oil

Skewers

To make the skewers it's really simple! Start by cutting up your meat and vegetables for the skewers. You want to aim for nice cubes of meat and squares of pepper and onion. If you're using wooden skewers, you will need to soak them in water for 10-20 minutes before using them. 

Now you can make your marinade: crush your garlic into a bowl with the salt, pepper, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and soy sauce. Mix the ingredients well to ensure it's combined. Now you need to grab a whisk and whisk the mixture whilst pouring in the olive oil. You need to whisk continuously so the oil combines with the mixture and doesn't separate.

Place all your meat and vegetables into the marinade and let it sit for a few minutes. Once marinated put your ingredients on to the skewers. 

Heat your BBQ or your griddle pan (if it's raining) and place your skewers on to the grill. Cook on a medium-high heat and turn them occasionally to get an even cook. The marinade will give the skewer a really nice char so don't worry if it's looking burnt. 

Leave to rest for 5 minutes once the meat has cooked to your liking and then serve!

DUPE: Speckle vs. Swan

In my July favourites I featured Illamasqua’s Speckle nail polish, which was part of the limited edition Imperfection collection last year. Although the rest of the collection is available, sadly the nail polish is now unavailable to buy,  I hate featuring things you can’t get hold of, it’s annoying wanting something you cannot buy. Which made wonder, is there something similar available which you can get?

I had a look in my collection to find something to recreate the look and I stumbled across Model Own’s Swan. ‘Swan’ is a relatively new release from the Speckled Egg collection, released at Easter time. The similarity between these two polishes is uncanny!  As you can see by the swatches they are practically identical! It’s very hard to tell them apart, except for the size of the ‘dots’ inside the polish and Swan being slightly darker; Illamasqua is on the left and Models Own is on the right.

So if you missed the Illamasqua Imperfection Collection but liked the look of the Speckle polish in my July favourites, it’s good news! You can go head to Superdrug and pick up a cheeky dupe for a tiny £5!

Have you found any dupes recently?

Bad Beauty Habits

When Microscope Beauty posted her own list of ‘Bad Beauty Habit’s it really struck a chord with me. I was guilty of almost every item on her list and it got me thinking about my very own ‘Bad Beauty Habits’. I started keeping a list of things in my notebook, that I noticed to be a bad habit of mine. Here we go:

Not looking after my cuticles

I’m so bad at not looking after my cuticles properly. I make a habit of using cuticle remover and pushing down the beds, but I never trim them back. Most of the time they tend to look a little worse for wear!

Dirty Makeup Brushes

Sometimes I can get on a good roll of cleaning my brushes regularly, but the majority of the time it completely slips my mind.  The biggest problem for me is finding a time to clean them when I don’t need to use them the next day!

Chipped Toenails

I’m probably paint my fingernails three times a week, but when it comes to my toenails I’m pretty lazy. Which is a bit of problem in sandal season when your nail varnish is always chipped!

Messy Mascara

I’m really bad at applying mascara, it just ends up everywhere. It’s normally when I use a mascara with a big brush, but it appears all over my eyelids and sometimes ends up on my cheeks! I get through a lot of cotton buds.

Picking At Nail Polish

I’ve been known to paint my nails and then be polish free in the next 2-3 hours. When I’m stressed/nervous/bored I have a habit of picking it off. It’s probably my most annoying habit, but it does mean I get to use a lot of colours during the week. ;)

Being Indecisive and Impulse Buying

I literally go from one extreme to another. I can be in Boots browsing the aisles aimlessly, not picking up anything, not buying anything. Walking out empty handed when I need to pick up essentials. Other times I can be in Boots and walk out with 3-4 items that I’ve never heard of and not read about! More often than not, I end up with things I definitely not need!

What are your bad beauty habits?