Elemis Hydra Balance Day Cream Review

Hey guys, it's been a while...

 It's safe to say A Level exams & blogging is a pretty impossible challenge. They're (finally) all over now & I really want to get back to blogging so here we are!

I visited a spa recently and they sold a range of Elemis products - if you haven't heard of them before they claim to be a company that use nature and science to develop all natural products - and don't test on animals.

My skin has been playing up extremely in the past year, the perks of being an 18 year old and I've had awful spots with an oily t-zone but dry patches everywhere else and I've found it impossible to find a moisturiser that doesn't make me break out more, that is until I discovered this beauty:

The Elemis Hydra Balance Day Cream

This Day Cream is for combination/oily skin and claims to hydrate dry patches and distribute the oil production on your face.

It's safe to say this has been a skin and life saver. I've only been using it for a week yet there's been visible improvements, my skin is moisturised and I've seen minimal new spots and no dry patches.

The moisturiser itself is very lightweight and absorbs into my skin without leaving a greasy residue and is a perfect day cream for me.

 At nearly £40 a pop I was quite wary but with the amount of high street moisturisers I've been through, it had to be worth a try.

With the wonders it's done to my skin combined with the tiny amount I have to use each time, the money spent was totally worth it and I know I'll be repurchasing this again.

Have you ever tried any Elemis products that you'd recommend for combination skin? If so let me know!

Lucy xx

Late Summer Favourites Video

So a few months back, my bestie Rachel and I created our own YouTube channel - CollinAndBoo (nicknames we give each other) and we finally got round to a new video!
It'd be great if you could check it out, and if you enjoy it* like and subscribe!
* Also, if you don't, let me know any constructive criticism!


Hope you enjoy it!
Until next time,
Lucy :) xx

Blogilates Review

For about two years now I've regularly attended Pilates class, and I love it. So when my friend told me about Blogilates Youtube channel and app, I knew I had to get it.

The way the app works is that you choose what point of your body you would like to work on and use the videos surrounding this. At my Pilates class we never use music, so the POP Pilates series of workouts are super different and really good as I find it's easier to repeat the Pilates moves to a familiar song. The way Cassey explains and shows the moves is very helpful and not over-complicated.

The thing I've always loved about Pilates is how inexpensive and simple it is, but how much it works your body, and I was super happy to find that the case, the only thing you need for some workouts are weights (or as Cassey says, a heavy piece of fruit or bottle of water will do). These workouts are definitely more difficult than a lot of the stuff we do at our local fitness centre so it's a great way to tone your muscles if you can't afford a gym membership (the app is actually free, with access to a monthly calender costing 0.99p/month)

Another dynamic that I love about this app is the forums. You can login and read through posts with other Pilate's fans before and after shots, recipe ideas and just tips to keep you motivated. I've found it's a great way to find a sense of community in an otherwise solitary app. All of the Before and Afters are so so inspiring and give you such a push and remind you to keep going with it.

Finally, another great feature of this app as opposed to just Casseys YouTube videos is the recipes section. With things as simple as detox water to healthy breakfasts and desserts, the app does give you an all round kick into healthy eating.

Overall this is one of my favourite things to use when I'm trying to up my fitness, the workouts can take from 5-20 minutes, work you really hard and are super easy to fit into your day. I'd recommend this to anyone who's trying to tone up and get fitter for summer!

If you have any tips for easy healthy eating/exercise I'd love to hear them c:

Thankyou for reading! 

Until next time,

Lucy 

xx

Primark False Nails Review

Over the past few years, Primark and I have developed a very intense love - hate relationship. I've had issues with a lot of products from there, yet others have become absolute favourites. My main gripe with our local store is how messy and disorganised it is, but seeing as it had all been redone in the past few months I thought I'd check it out.

Now I have quite long nails as it is, but I am absolutely terrible with painting them. I get impatient and bored, if I somehow manage to paint and dry them properly, it's almost a guarantee that I'll pick off the varnish. So for a while I was having shellac done, which I personally loved. However as it does, money and lack of time meant I had to stop having it done. 

Last Monday I was just having a little wander around the shop when I spotted the adorable cat false nails (middle bottom of picture) and completely fell in love with them. Half impulse, half 'they're only a pound so if they're naff it's not put me out of pocket' I bought them and rushed home to apply them. I have to admit I didn't have high hopes for the product, thinking they'd maybe last a few hours?

I was pleasantly surprised to find out they had in fact last me over a week. I'll admit, I did have to reglue three or four of them, but seeing as I constantly have to peel off price labels at work and wash up at home, I'm extremely happy with how long they've lasted. It also helps that they didn't look tacky, I think I've had four or five compliments over how good they look, some people even assumed they were salon done!

Today I popped back into town and bought the four more you see in the picture, so I'll be road testing them over the next few weeks. They have tons and tons more absolutely gorgeous patterns and block colours so I'd recommend these massively!

Instagram

Instagram

Thanks for reading!

Lucy

xx

The best (and worst) skin care and beauty products that I own

Everyone has their staple beauty products that they couldn't live without. Unfortunately we all have our beauty products that were more of a miss, so I thought I'd give you a few of my favourite products and also a few that I won't be repurchasing.

The Good

Urban Decay Naked 1 & 3: I know, I go on about these a lot, but they have become staple palettes in my make up look. I adore everything about them, the simple yet gorgeous packaging, the soft brushes and of course the mix of creamy, pigmented matte and shimmer shades. I just adore the fact that most of the shades can go together to create endless looks!

Benefit World Famous Neutrals - Easiest Nudes Ever: I used this in my first ever blog post and I adore it. When I'm in a rush or can't be bothered to figure out what colours I'm going to use from my other palettes, I pick this up. The cream potted shadows are so smooth and don't crease and the powdered shadows are gorgeous colours and also don't crease. I love that this palette is so simple,  if you're feeling extra lazy, there's a step by step guide inside to a great eye look. 

Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless Mascara: For around half a year now I've wanted to try out Benefits They're Real! Mascara because of how extremely long peoples lashes seemed to be after using it, but I have lost that extreme desire now I've found this mascara. For half the price, my lashes look almost unnaturally thick and long. This was actually an impulse buy because the packaging was so bright, I'm so pleased that I picked it up because I know I'm going to be re-purchasing this again and again.

Quinoderm 10 Cream: This is actually a pharmacy over the counter product. I don't suffer with acne, but when I get a skin breakout I've found it really hard to find a product that gets rid of my spots. This cream does the trick, it reduces the spot with in a day, normally they're gone in 2-3 days. The only thing I'd say about this is it is quite harsh on the skin, If I don't moisturise a lot my skin gets very dry in the areas I've placed the cream. (but I guess it is quite strong as it's used for acne, so what should I expect!) I couldn't live without this cream for bad breakout days. OH! And it's ridiculously cheap! £2.65 for 25g (which lasts me months)

Molton Brown Skinboost 24 Hour Moisture Mist: Unfortunately, you can't get this any more which sucks, but I've still got some of mine left from a previous Christmas set. I use this when I get unusually dry skin, one or two sprays on my face make my skin feel hydrated and healthy, I'm going to be gutted when I use the last of it because it's really helped to keep my skin moisture locked!

And the bad..

Maybelline Fit Me Powder: This is probably my least favourite product in my entire make up collection. I have dry-combination very fair skin and this powder seems to leave me with a shinier face than I had to begin with, if I have a very dry spot it tends to cling to it more and become more clumpy. It also tends to have a pretty poor coverage unless I build it up a lot, and then it doesn't last throughout the day. I cannot wait to purchase a new powder and say goodbye to this product. 

77 Eyeshadow Palette from War Paint: I have to say I didn't expect a lot from this palette. I received it as a Christmas gift and I knew it was a very inexpensive palette. The colours are very chalky and have quite a bad pigmentation to them, so to get the colour you have to apply a very heavy amount of shadow. The colours don't last for an entire day, but for a few hours you can build up an okay eye look, if you remember to remove all the fall out. However, it was very cheap and was one of the first palettes I owned, so for a younger me it did the job. 

Tea Tree Facial Toner: First thing - this product being in 'the bad' is no fault of the actual product. I was told by a Body Shop representative that the tea tree range would be great for my dry-combination skin. As I often got break outs and red patches I agreed and ended up buying most of the range (big mistake). After using this toner a lot I realised it actually dried my skin out terribly (which after research was understandable as this is meant for oily skin.) . The only good thing about this product is the fact it did leave my face very clean and reduced the spots I had. (much unlike the tea tree concealer that made me break out a treat)

Freederm Fast Track Spot Gel: This product did, well nothing. I purchased it for it's miracle '3 hour redness reducing' qualities, but after using it the product had no effect on my skin. The only noticeable difference was a dryness and actually slightly more spots than before. At £5 a pop I wouldn't recommend this for anyone, this was a case of a bad impulse buy!

I hope you liked reading this, comment below with your best and worst beauty and skin products!

Until next time

Lucy 

xx

Urban Decay Naked Palette

As you may know, it was my birthday last week. My godmother and aunt gave me vouchers to buy the beautiful  Naked palette. I've wanted to own one of Urban Decays amazing palettes for god knows how many years, but I've always though £37 was too much to spend on makeup. Especially as a young 14/15 year old without a job!

Now I know that these palettes are actually a fairly reasonable price for what they are (not to mention that they come with an amazing shadow primer!). They are very pigmented and require little product on the brush to get a strong colour. The brush is incredibly soft and good quality, no bristles have come out whilst using it and it isn't rough on the skin at all.
With the beautiful neutral colours in the Naked Palette, there are so many different ways to combine them, with day looks and night looks.

I've always been fairly nervous with using eyeshadows, always being afraid of going too over the top, so this purchase is actually perfect for me. I like that there's a mix of matte and shimmer shades, meaning I can be as subtle or outgoing with my look, whilst still keeping it fairly neutral.

I attempted to do a swatch of this palette, but my pale skin has kinda hidden Virgin and Sin, sorry!

The shades I've fallen in love with are buck - a matte, warm brown colour, half baked - a shimmery golden colour that's going to be perfect for Summer and Creep - a black with flecks of silver glitter. However, I can honestly say there isn't a shade on this palette that I dislike and would stay away from, which I find really rare in any make up palette.

I absolutely adore everything about this product, from the velvety box to the soft, wide brush to the beautiful range of natural colours. I would recommend this to anybody, whether a make up pro, or just starting with it, as it allows you to take your look as far as you're willing too.

An Evening and Daytime look that I created with the Naked Palette, having a brain like a sieve I can't actually remember what colours I used - whoops!

Thanks for reading,

Until next time!

Lucy

xx

Mini Lush Haul

So today I went to Southampton for the first time since Christmas to finally do some shopping for myself (yipee!) and of course, being a sucker for lush products, I had to pop in and buy some old favourites and also, test out some different things!

Also, sorry if the images are pretty low quality, my camera died and I've had to use my iPhone!

I actually only bought 4 products this time as I've had to start restricting my spending because of car buying etc (oh the joys of turning 17 on Friday), but I'm pretty pleased with what I did get. I'll start off with the products I purchased today that I've never used before;

Dreamtime Bath Melt
£3.25

Butterball Bath Bomb
£2.50

The first product that caught my eye in the shop was the lush Butterball Bath Bomb, I tend to get

extremely dry skin in the winter months and I'm always looking out for products to give me a moisture boost. This one seemed perfect as it was advertised as replenishing thirsty skin. The smell is absolutely delicious, it has a hint of vanilla, one of my favourite scents around winter. I cannot wait to try this one out to see if the cocoa butter ingredients help to revitalise my dry skin! My only downside about this bath bomb is that it won't turn my bath a pretty colour... sigh.

The Dreamtime Bath Melt was actually a product I've been wanting to try out for ages since I spotted it on the lush website. I'm an absolute sucker for lavender as it always reminds me of my Grandmother and is the only thing that helps me sleep on the nights in which sleep seems impossible. SO... this product seemed like a must have as not only does it smell of lavender, it aids sleep!

Just as a warning, if you're not a fan of lavender, I'd stay away from this as the smell is rather strong and I imagine, quite overwhelming for some! I adore the design of it too, you can see the pieces of chamomile (I think?) in the bar and it has 'dreamtime' stamped on the bar (which you can't actually see because well, crappy iPhone quality!) , once again, a simple but sweet design by lush. I cannot wait to try this one, I think it may be a new favourite!

Think Pink Bath Bomb
£2.50

The Comforter
£4.50

Now for the tried and tested!

The Think Pink Bath Bomb was actually the first bath bomb I purchased from lush, I was automatically drawn in by its pretty colours and flowers. I tend to always buy this one as it's incredibly cheap at only £2.50 a pop, and smells lovely! It's quite a light, florally scent and definitely isn't as overwhelming as a lot of other lush products seem to be, but I quite like that as it gives me a relaxing bath without a really strong scent. This is the one I seem to use when I'm feeling pretty, well, bland! My favourite thing about this product is definitely the little heart confetti that's inside, it makes my bath feel a bit more special and luxurious (the fact that they dissolve by the end of it is a plus too, means no mess!)

Finally, one of my favourite all year round lush products, The Comforter! I think I've lost count of how many times I've purchased this Bubble Bar. Once again, the first thing that drew me too it was the bright colours, and the smell is divine. It brought back childhood memories of my favourite blackcurrant sweets and it's quite a nice smell to use in winter as it really lifts my mood with its fruity fragrance. At £4.50 I initially thought it was pretty expensive for one use, until I discovered it's for multiple baths!

Lush actually recommend you crumble half a bar at a time, but I've found I can get 4-6 baths worth out and still get the gorgeous pink colour and the blackcurrant smell. This bubble bar actually does what the name says - comforts you! I always use it when I'm stressed out or just need to take a breath, and I always leave the bath feeling calmed and comforted!

Hope you enjoyed this post, comment below with your favourite lush products!

Until next time,

Lucy 

xx

TIGI S Factor Review

Helloo, as my everyday makeup routine went down surprisingly well, today I'm gonna review some TIGI hair products!

As I dye my hair quite frequently, it tends to become quite dry, dull and frizzy, so I'm always looking out for nourishing shampoos and conditioners to give my hair a little boost. For years now I've been using Herbal Essences 'Ignite My Colour' and whilst it does make my hair feel like it's in better condition, it doesn't really give it a vibrant shine.
After seeing the TIGI products on a Zoella video, I decided to look at the products and give them a go. At the moment I have three TIGI products, TIGI S Factor True Lasting Colour Shampoo and Conditioner, and TIGI S Factor Smoothing Lusterizer.

The first product I'm going to talk about is the True Lasting Colour Shampoo and Conditioner (750ml). I absolutely adore the packaging on the whole TIGI range, it's simple but still looks lovely. The first thing I noticed about this product is it's delicious smell, it's a light coconut and almond scent and makes my hair smell divine! 

Using it for the first time, I honestly thought it would dry out my hair completely by the way it felt in the shower. I'm not sure if I'm the only person that, when wet, had hair that felt like straw after using this? However, when it was dry my hair had such a beautiful, vibrant shine to it, the healthiest looking my hair has been in a long time. I was also extremely surprised by the intensity of the colour it left my hair with, as having faded red hair has left me with a dull orange/red colour but after using this product, it looked glossy and sleek. 

I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who colours their hair and is after a decent, salon quality product at a reasonable price. I actually bought mine in the feel unique sale, so I got the two 750ml bottles for around £26.90 (!!!), I think it's normal price is around £33.95? With bottles this big, I can tell this product is going to last me a very, very long time!

The second product I use is the Smoothing Lusterizer Defrizzer & Tamer.

Naturally I have always had stupidly wavy and frizzy hair and the recent years of dying and bleaching it have not helped with the situation. I've tried countless de-frizzing products but always felt my hair was left heavy and sticky by the thickness of the serum inside.

It's a completely different story with this product. I fell in love with this when it arrived, firstly because of the scrumptious strawberries and cream scent and second, the lightness of the actual product.

 I used it straight away and found it actually did the job, it tamed my frizzy mane and left my hair looking sleek and professional. Not only did it smooth my hair, it made it look healthy and shiny due to the shimmering glitter of some sorts in the product that reflects the light. 

My only criticism of this product is that when I used it near the top of my hair, it automatically caused it to look greasy and flat. I think this may just be due to the closeness of the hair to my head. Unfortunately this can sometimes (on extreme frizz-days!) leave me with a half frizzy, half smooth head of hair. 

Apart from that minor flaw in the product, I can safely say this 'Lusterizer' is a life saver for my problematic hair and I'd definitely recommend this to anyone.

At £15.25 I think this is a reasonable price to pay as I've been unable to find a frizz-tamer at anything cheaper!

Overall I can safely say I love the TIGI products and I'll soon be investing in the S Factor "Serious" Conditioner and Spray Heat Defender!

Thanks for reading :)

Lucy xx