L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Exclusive Reds

Happy December guys,

I'm feeling rather festive at the moment and now we are into December I feel it's finally acceptable! I put my tree up today and have been dancing around to the She & Him Christmas album and of course a bit of Micheal Buble. 

I love this time of year as it's a great opportunity to try new beauty looks for the Christmas party season. I wanted to find a new red lipstick that would see me through the festive season, so yesterday I went on a mission to Boots. 

I chose a lipstick from the L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Exclusive Reds collection. It's a new collection of shades with 'a rouge for every woman.' I chose the shade Blake modelled by Blake Lively. Being honest, a part of me chose this shade because I absolutely love Blake and think she is a beauty, however it is also more of a blue-toned red which suits my pale complexion. It is a beautifully classic Crimson shade and would look fab with a slick of black liquid eyeliner for a vintage look. I always find a classic red lip can make an outfit look more dressy and always makes me feel more confident.

Each lipstick is currently £6.99 in Boots and there is one for each skin tone. I haven't tried the others yet but I'm considering trying Julianne's as a fellow red head. 

The lipstick itself has a pointed end which allows for more precise and neater application. It's very long lasting and requires little reapplication.  It has a matte finish and is infused with jojoba oils to help keep the lips well moisturised. 

I would recommend trying the collection and finding the ideal shade for you as I feel there is one for everyone and at the price of £6.99 you can't really fault it. I'll be wearing mine throughout the festive season and I'm hoping Santa may put the rest of the collection under my tree this year.

Have any of you guys tried any of the lipsticks from this collection and if so, what are your thoughts? 

Adele x

Avon Beauty Haul

Hey lovelies.....

Happy November to you all! Hope you've been enjoying Bonfire night festivities, I missed out on Bonfire night as I had to work but I've been embracing the colder weather. I've been out on lovely Autumn dog walks crunching in the red and orange leaves, I've had my first festive drink of the year (Starbuck's honey and almond hot chocolate is the bomb!) and I've been loving wrapping up warm with a glass of wine in hand ready for evenings of catching up on Netflix boxsets. 

I've also been embracing Autumn/Winter beauty and have treated myself to a mini haul from Avon. I've tried Avon products in the past as a teenager but I hadn't bought anything from Avon in years. However, recently one of my best friends has started selling Avon products, hosting Avon & Wine parties and has been encouraging me to part with my hard earned pennies on beautiful makeup! 

My Avon Beauty Haul this month....

 First of all I purchased the Avon Luck perfume which I purchased as part of a gift set, however you can now purchase it for just £9.00. It has a lovely citrus and fruity scent blended with sandalwood. It is very feminine but not too sweet smelling and I absolutely love the packaging, it looks beautiful on my dressing table.

Avon Ultra Colour Bold Lipstick in Power Plum


I purchased this little beauty last night at my friend's Avon & Wine party, I fell in love with the beautiful plum shade and it is the perfect shade for Autumn/Winter. The lipstick is long lasting and as Avon describes it "Super pigmented". It has a very moisturising formula and doesn't dry out your lips in this chilly weather.

This is me testing out the Ultra Colour Bold in Power Plum...

Ultra Colour Bold Lipstick in Bold Bordeaux

I also purchased another lipstick from the Ultra Colour Bold Lipstick range in Bold Bordeaux. It again has a beautiful moisturising formula and has staying power but the shade is much darker, it is a deep cherry shade and looks gorgeous. This is the perfect shade for the festive season and I'm sure I'll definitely be getting my moneys worth.

I also bought an Avon Glimmersticks Brow Definer in Blonde. First of all, it's great because it doesn't need to be sharpened which is definitely a benefit for me as I constantly lose pencil sharpeners. The shade is perfect, it's really easy to apply to fill in the brows and I blend it afterwards with a brush for a natural look. I'd definitely recommend this product, it's a bargain.

So there you have it, that's my mini beauty haul for November, I've already ordered some more products from Avon which I should hopefully receive next month, so expect another haul post.

Have you guys ever bought any great products from Avon that you can recommend to me?

Adele x

September Skincare

Happy September guys!

I love Autumn and while I'm sad to be saying goodbye to the last of the British Summertime, I am ready to embrace all the things I love about Autumn. I can't wait to start wearing chunky knits and winter boots, sipping hot chocolate and crunching through the Autumn leaves!

Hope you guys all had a lovely Summer, mine was very up and down but good things are on the horizon :) 

I thought for my first September post, I would share with you my current skincare routine. My skin is normal/combination but recently has been more on the oily side with huge breakouts of spots..... (not fun.)

 

My daily skincare routine at the moment begins with cleansing my skin or removing makeup at night with the Loreal Paris Micellar Water. I love this product, it removes eye makeup so easily, even mascara and leaves my face feeling refreshed. 

When I'm showering,  I'll give my skin an extra cleansing boost with the La Roche-Posay Effaclar purifying foaming gel, this is a lovely cleansing product. You only need to use a small amount and it foams up nicely,  it is great for oily skin and helps to prevent breakouts from occurring. 

After cleansing, I'm currently using the Garner softening toner as it's important to include toner to keep the skin firm but soft. 

I've also been using the La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo gel to treat the breakouts and I've noticed within a couple of days a visible reduction in the size and redness of the spots, I'd recommend it to anyone. 

Also I use the No7 day cream to add a little moisture and find that this leaves my skin lovely and soft.

I've also tried out the Love Lettuce Fresh Face Mask from Lush this week as an added treatment for my oily skin. It states that it will give your skin a radiant glow and it is very exfoliating. I've only used it once so far but I find it leaves my skin lovely and soft and with an added glow/freshness. It also smells divine with the scents of almond and lavender and I recommend it to anyone with normal/combination skin like me. 

So that's my September skincare favourites, is there anything you guys can recommend for me to try for next month? 

Thanks for reading :)

Adele x

To Bob or not to Bob....

Hey guys,

So today's post is about one of the most versatile hairstyles there is....the Bob! They can come in different shapes and sizes, the long bob, an asymmetrical cut, sleek or textured, yet they always manage to look stylish.

I've been growing my hair out of a pixie cut for about 3 years now and I've finally achieved shoulder length locks but I feel like my hair is now well.....just a bit meh. It's at that stage where it's neither long or short and it flicks out at every angle when I get a little bit hot in this summer weather. I always get to this stage and then face the dilemma of whether to cut it back off or persevere.

I'm still trying to decide at the moment, so if you are facing the same dilemma as me here is a little bit of Bob hair inspiration for you.

Image: Marco Manna

Image: Bethany W

Image: David Shankbone

Thanks for reading, I'll let you guys know whether I decide to go for the chop or not! What are your favourite celebrity hair inspirations?

Adele x

Photo credits: Marco Manna at Flickr

Bethany W at Flickr

David Shankbone at Flickr

Bath Time Bliss......

Evening all.... I've just got back from a lovely, long weekend away in London and I decided to have a pamper night tonight in preparation for going back to work in the morning. After a weekend of festival fun at Field Day (Pixies blew my mind), I was ready to have a bath, read a book and drink a ridiculous amount of tea. So here's what I used during my pamper session.

Lush: You've Been Mangoed Bath Melt

This bath melt smells absolutely divine, it has a very fresh citrus scent and moisturised my skin beautifully. The scent lasted for my entire bath and it made my skin lovely and soft, I recommend Lush Bath Melts if your skin is dry and in need of moisture. 

Lush: Cupcake Fresh Face Mask

This face mask from Lush is great if you have oily/combination skin or spot prone skin. I have combination skin and find that this mask is a life saver when I'm having a skin crisis. It is quite thick to apply but you can add a little water to make it easier and I tend to leave it on for about 15 minutes whilst reading a book in the bath. As a self confessed chocoholic, I find the scent of this mask heavenly and it leaves my skin feeling brighter and much less oily. 

Soap and Glory: Butter Yourself Body Cream

After my mango bath melt, I decided to treat my dry skin even more and apply this body cream from Soap & Glory. I absolutely love this product because it absorbs really well, it isn't greasy at all and it leaves my skin feeling really soft. 

A perfect bath for me isn't just about the products you use but you also need a good book to help you forget life's daily stresses and a good soundtrack in the background. For me today the book I chose was Game of Thrones, which I'm finally getting round to reading after watching the TV series and my soundtrack was First Aid Kit's new album Stay Gold. I'm now feeling completely refreshed and ready to take on my first day back at work tomorrow (after some much needed caffeine in the morning!) 

Thanks for reading! What products do you guys recommend when you are pampering and treating yourself? Any recommendations? 

Adele x

Beauty favourites: May

Evening everyone...This post is slightly late as I wanted to post it at the end of May but time got away from me this week so here are my beauty favourites from May (better late than never!)

I've featured four products in my favourites this month, 1 of which is a trusty old favourite of mine the Benefit Dandelion blusher. The other 3 are 3 new products that I've tried out and loved in May! I've also featured a lovely little handmade box I purchased from Ivy Cottage Homeware to store some of my beauty products in an attempt to be more organised. 

The first new product I've loved this month is the Body Shop Japanese Cherry Blossom Fragrance Mist. First of all the packaging as you can see is just beautiful, it's just a shame it's made of glass as it can make it a bit of a pain to carry about. It has a beautiful floral scent and if you are a fan of sweet scents like me you will love it.

I posted about the next product Bourjous Rouge Edition Velvet in 02 Frambourjoise in my payday haul post and I have used it several times since then and I love it. It is a beautiful shade perfect for the day or for a more dressed up evening look and has a lovely matte finish. It lasts really well with few touch ups needed. 

This month I tried a hot cloth cleanser for the first time and I had heard great things about the Liz Earle one but decided to try No7 Beautiful Skin Hot Cloth Cleanser which I had read lots of positive reviews for. I have used this several times now and I'm really impressed with the results. It cleanses the skin very well and removes makeup easily, leaving my skin refreshed and clear. It doesn't dry my skin out, feels very luxurious and smells lovely.

Finally, my trusty favourite has been a regular in my makeup bag this month. I just love Benefit's Dandelion Blush, it leaves skin looking beautiful and bright and is perfect for a glowing complexion that still looks natural.

So those were my favourites for May, I'm sure it won't be long until I'm posting June's favourites as time is flying by, I can't believe we are half way through the year already. My mini goals for June are to blog more, read more and finally manage to run a 10k in preparation for race for life in July so wish me luck!

What are your goals for June and which products do you think I should test out this month?

Thanks for reading :)

Adele x

Payday Haul

Hey guys. It's almost the end of my 2 weeks off now (sniff) but I still have the bank holiday weekend to play with and yesterday was payday for me so I decided to treat myself to a few little purchases to try out over the weekend. I wanted to purchase some new makeup and decided to have a little splurge and thought I'd share with you what I bought. 

So here is a little list of the products above:

1) Benefit Dandelion Face Powder: I have used this little beauty before but repurchased it because I just love it. It is a beautiful pale pink colour, it's very subtle and is great for adding a natural looking glow. You can sweep it on your cheeks as a blush or add a light dusting all over to perk up your skin and give it a natural glow.

2) Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen WOW Brightening Makeup in ''Believe in Me'' Ivory: This is another repurchase but again I just absolutely love this foundation. I have tried lots of foundations in the past but I just find that this one really brightens and hydrates the skin beautifully and just gives you a glow. It blends really easily and can be used for a light to medium coverage. It gives you a dewy, natural look which I personally love, however if you prefer a matte look it may not be for you.

3) Bourjous Rouge Edition Velvet in  02 Frambourjoise: I love trying out new lipsticks so I thought I'd give this little beauty a go. I'm yet to try it out but I've read that it gives a long-lasting matte finish for up to 24 hours so I'm excited to try it out as I hate having to keep reapplying lipstick. You can either use your fingers to blend for a more subtle pout or use the applicator brush for a more intense look. I'll try both methods and review on the blog very soon!

4) Rimmel 60 Seconds Rita Ora Nail Polish in 873 Breakfast in Bed: This is another new purchase I'm excited to try. I normally use Topshop nail polishes but I'm excited to give Rimmel's 60 second range a try to see if they really do dry that quickly. I chose this shade because it's a beautiful mint shade and I'm loving pastels at the moment. I'll review this for you on the blog soon :)

Kimono: New Look £19.99

I also treated myself to this beautiful Kimono from New Look for £19.99. I'd been looking at lots of different ones on the web and really wanted to find a lovely one to wear to a festival I'm going to in June, so when I spotted this one in New Look yesterday I was pretty chuffed. I absolutely love the beautiful pale colours and I'll be throwing this on over some shorts and a plain top or a summery dress.

I'm pretty pleased with all the purchases I made and can't wait to try them all out. Have you guys tried out any new products you can recommend to me? Let me know. Thanks for reading :)

Adele x

Topshop Nails Collection

Hey everyone! I'm on annual leave now for the next two weeks and that means I can actually paint my nails! Being a nurse means that I have to keep my nails super short and I never bother to paint them on my days off because I forget to take it off before work. So when annual leave rolls around I love to paint my nails as a little treat. I've recently purchased two of the nail polishes from Topshop's Nail Collection, so it was a perfect opportunity to try them out!

The two shades I chose were Forsaken (the lovely lilac shade) and Celestial.  My favourite at the moment is Celestial, I love the bright blue shade, a lovely colour for spring! The nail polish has a great opacity and you just need to apply a couple of coats. The Topshop Nail Collection has a large range of different shades and types of nail polish and it is of a great quality. It's reasonably priced with polishes priced between £5-6. I'm definitely going to be investing in more shades when pay day comes! :) 

Please excuse the state of my hands, I'm never going to be a hand model! (Ha)

Have any of you tried any of the Topshop nail polishes and if so, what are your favourite shades?

Adele x

1940s-inspired look

Happy Sunday everyone, it's been a rainy, miserable day here so it seemed the perfect opportunity to experiment with some hair and makeup styles for my blog. I've always loved vintage hair and makeup and a couple of birthdays ago my friend Sammi bought me a 'Style Me Vintage: Hair' book by Belinda Hay which I had yet to try out, so I thought I'd try out a 40s inspired look on my friend Sophie. 

Hair

The kit I used: Hairbrush, backcombing brush, separator clips, bobby pins, V05 Strong hold hairspray

'Style Me Vintage: Hair' By Belinda Hay (available on Amazon for £6.89)

The hair style I chose for the look was Victory Rolls as Sophie has naturally curly hair which holds in a style really well. The book has a step by step guide on how to create the style and easy to follow instructions. Firstly, I separated the hair into 4 sections, 3 on the top for the rolls and the rest of the hair left down. After backcombing each section of hair, I rolled each section of hair upwards and secured in place with Bobby pins and hair spray. I repeated this for each of the rolls and then rolled the rest of the hair up and pinned it at the back. I used lots of hairspray to secure the style in place and voila!

 The end result! 

 Beauty

The makeup I used for this look

To match the Victory Rolls, I decided to do a 40s inspired makeup look. I wanted to achieve a natural looking complexion with a hint of blush, defined brows, lined eyes and a strong lip. 

Face

Foundation: I used Dior's Skin Nude BB cream in 001 for the base and applied using a brush to achieve an even coverage.

Concealer: I used Nyx HD Photogenic Concealer in Fair for under the eyes and Rimmel Match Perfection in 010 Ivory to even out the skin tone.

Powder: To set the base, I used Daniel Sandler Invisible Blotting Powder.

Blush: For a hint of colour on the cheeks, I used E.L.F Blush in Candid Coral.

Brows: For well-groomed, neat brows, I simply applied a bit of Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite.

Eyeshadow: I used the Naked 2 Urban Decay palette and used a mix of shades including Foxy, Bootycall and Chopper to achieve a shimmery, nude colour on the lids.

Eye Liner: I used Collection: Extreme 24 hour Felt Tip Liner in Black to line the eyes and add a little flick.

Lashes: I curled Sophie's eyelashes using Shu Uemura Eyelash Curlers and then added 2-3 coats of Soap and Glory's Thick and Fast Mascara in Black.

Highlighter: I used Sleek's Face Contour Kit in Light to highlight the inner corners of the eyes and to add a hint of highlighter to the cheekbones for a bit of shimmer.

Lips: For a beautiful strong red lip, I used Lime Crime: Velvetines in Red Velvet, it's really easy to apply and achieves a lovely, matte finish.

I'm really happy with the end result and I think this look really suits Sophie. The hair and makeup styles really work together to achieve this beautiful vintage look. The hairstyle can be modernised by leaving the back section of hair down to tone it down slightly and the makeup can be mixed up by changing the lip/eye colours to suit the look you are going for.

 Thanks for reading, please feel free to leave a comment and if there's any different styles you would like me to try then let me know... :)

Adele x

Beauty Favourites: April

Happy Bank Holiday Monday everyone and hello May. April has flown by as per usual and I can't believe that we are almost half-way through the year already, it'll soon be Christmas again! (Kidding!) I have tried and loved some new products in April and thought I'd share what I'm currently loving with you guys! :)

I decided to give the new Garnier Ultimate Blends Haircare products a try as I like switching up my shampoo and conditioner regularly. There are a few different products to try suitable for different hair types such as for coloured hair, however as I have a daily battle with the frizz and my hair is easily damaged I decided to try  'The Sleek Restorer' after hearing that it states that it can keep hair sleek for 72 hours! (Wow!) I've been using this for over a week now and I have to say I love it. It was on offer in Boots and it was a bargain. The scent of coconut oil and cocoa butter is gorgeous and has left my hair smelling like a pina colada! I'm really impressed with the results after using this shampoo and conditioner, it left my hair feeling smooth and manageable but not weighed down and felt as if I had been to the hairdressers and had a treatment. I'd recommend this product to anyone with a similar hair type and there's also a treatment and a Sleek perfector oil which I need to try out next.

As a huge Soap & Glory fan, I was excited to try the new Orangeasm Body Wash and I wasn't left disappointed. The scent of mandarin, Sicilian lemon and sweet orange peel oils is fresh and lovely, it smells of summer! It's a very light body wash and I love it so much I'm going to invest in the body spray too.

Until recently I was a La Roche-Posay virgin and after a particularly bad breakout of spots and a lot of moaning, a friend of mine recommended their Effaclar Duo (+) anti-blemish cream so I gave it a go. This product is a life-saver; after the first use I already could notice a difference, my spots were less angry and red. It is suitable for those with sensitive skin like myself and helps to unclog those pores. I'll always reach for this product when I'm having a breakout and would recommend it to all you ladies out there!

I absolutely love buying new lipsticks and a large percentage of my wages is spent investing in my lipstick collection. I wanted a new colour for Summer and chose Rimmel's Lasting Finish lipstick in 210 Coral In Gold. It's a beautiful shade, only costs £4.99 and really does last with few touch-ups.

So there you have it, feel free to leave a comment and let me know if you've tried these products and what you think. Or if you have any recommendations on what I should try this month then let me know!

Adele x