Kiehl's Facial Fuel No Shine Lip Balm

I am a lip chewer. It's a horrible habit but I do pull dry skin off my lips with my teeth. I know, it's disgusting! In order to keep my habit at bay, I try to keep my lips coated in some kind of gloss, lipstick or balm for the most part.

This Kiehl's Facial Fuel Lip Balm was an impulse purchase before getting on our flight back from Florida. My lips were really dry and I just wanted something to slick on during the flight. I didn't give it much consideration (as our flight had been called) and popped it in my basket!

What I love about this product is the way it makes my lips feel. It hydrates without being gloopy, claggy or sticky and it is ultra lightweight on the lips. At the same time, it quenches the lips and leaves them beautifully soft. I am also a fan of twist-up lip balms, there so much easier for on-the-go application, plus there is no dipping of the fingers into the pot to worry my germ-phobic self about. I honestly didn't have high hopes for this because lets face it, judging by the packaging it could be any old 99p lip balm. Yup, I'm a total packaging snob and I don't care who knows it! Ha!

It's also great for applying before drying lipsticks to keep them hydrated, or even to apply over a matter lipstick to make it more comfortable to wear.

This is a permanent fixture in my bag now and I think I'd go as far as to say that this is my favourite lip balm. For now anyway.

Well, I am a beauty blogger!

Available from the Kiehl's website, currently priced at £8.00

Ice Cream Nails

I've never thought of myself as a pastel girl; be that clothes, accessories or indeed nail polish.  However, whilst rummaging through my polish stash I came across this pretty lot!  These are polishes that I reach for often, whatever the season but as they are particularly relevant now as we head towards the warmer weather, I thought i'd share them with you.

Sally Hansen - Mousseline
From her Complete Salon Manicure range, this is the perfect creamy vanilla colour.  The formula here is slightly on the thinner side so it does take 3-4 coats to build an opaque colour.  Once painted though, it gives your nails a fresh, clean look.

Models Own - Lemon Meringue
Such an apt name for this creamy, milky shade.  There is a definite softness in the hue, it's not neon or garish.  I recently bought Essie's matte top coat and, for some reason, I can't wait to pair it with this.  The formula is quite decent too, and 2 coats are plenty.

Barbara Daly - Peach Satin
Unfortunately, this picture is showing this colour much cooler and pinker than it is in real life.  It has a definite apricot-ness while still being soft and pastelly.  This would also need a good 2-3 coats to be fully opaque.

Color Club - Get a Clue (maybe)
Now, I picked this polish up as part of a set from TK Maxx.  None of the colours had names on them so I did a good amount of image searching on Google and I think this is Get a Clue from the Alter Ego Collection, it certainly seems closest.  This colour lies right, slap bang in-between pink and lavender, depending on the light.  It's sheer though, and needs a good 3-4 coats.

NYC - Mint Macaroon
Oh, the name!  Any kind of macaroon is good in my book!  This is one of my most used nail polishes, it just such a flattering, pretty colour.  Plus, it looks amazing with a chunky glitter top coat.  The formula is excellent for the price, 2 coats is enough.

Barry M Gelly - Blueberry
I didn't get sucked into the blogger hype about these at first, I figured that I always use a top coat anyway so didn't have much need for a super shiny finish.  However, it was this particular shade that drew me in; it's a powdery-periwinkle blue and so unlike any other colour I own.  I have found that 2 coats of this is enough.

These are all such cheery colours, you can't fail to feel a little bit happy wearing them!

Take care,

Heather x

Clinique Even Better Foundation Review

 

I picked up this foundation on a whim a good few months ago, used it for a while, then (being the fickle beauty blogger that I am) ditched it for something new.  I recently found it in my stash and after using it the last few days, decided it was worthy of a review!

Now I think this is the first ever foundation review on my blog!  Shocking really when foundation is such a major player in the beauty world.  It's amazing how a flawless base can totally transform less-than-perfect skin, inducing that 'angels singing' moment when you look in the mirror.  Or...perhaps that's just me?!

This foundation first came onto my radar when I heard Tanya Burr talking about it and using it in some of her tutorials.  She has such envy-inducing imperfection-free skin to start with, but it looked amazing on her!

The sales assistant matched me to shade 05 neutral.  Normally I would choose a foundation with yellow/peach undertones but she persuaded me that this particular shade was a perfect match.  While I don't disagree that it is a near-perfect match for my face, it seems a tad too pink/neutral toned and doesn't match the colour of my neck!  I'm kicking myself for not being more assertive and insisting on the more yellow based shade!  However it's not majorly noticeable, and I can make it work by using some powder and bronzer to balance it out.

Now, how about letting the pictures do the talking?  It kinda irks me when beauty bloggers do foundation reviews and they show it blended on the back of their hands.  Unfortunately that gives no indication whatsoever to the foundations ability to hide imperfections/mattify/give a glow or whatever claims it boasts.  So I've taken 3 pictures; one bare-faced (eeeeek!), one with the foundation applied and one with powder, bronzer and blush applied.

Au naturale - bare face.  Oh, and please 'scuse the hair!!

Foundation applied, using the Real Techniques Stippling Brush

Ta-dah!  The finished face

While it dispenses as quite a fluid-ey consistency, the coverage is remarkably good whilst maintaining a natural, skin-like quality.  Another thing I have noticed it how well it wears throughout the day.  Having oily skin, I am used to becoming shiny throughout the day, however with this foundation I don't need to powder!  It really is remarkable, especially since it isn't marketed as being oil suppressing.

Overall, I really like this foundation.  It is my first foray into Clinique foundations, but I am now really keen to see what else they have to offer.

Clinique Even Better Foundation retails for £23.00 from the Clinique website.

Sk:n Clinics Special Offer

There is no denying that Spring is on it's way. Yes, there may still be snow on the hills, and the daffodils are steadfastly refusing to make an appearance, but it'll be here before we know it, I promise!
The milder wether brings its own array of issues, one of which being the nearly constant shaving and waxing. Not my favourite task it has to be said. So when an email popped into my inbox from Sk:n Clinics, a laser hair removal clinic, offering 30% off laser hair removal, my interest was piqued! They have clinics dotted all over the country, so there is bound to be one near you.

I've been doing a bit of research and it seems that a course of laser hair removal treatments, typically 4-5, can result in the hair no longer growing back for a large proportion of people undertaking the treatment. Obviously individual results vary, but the thought of being hair-free is very tempting as we start to shed layers of clothes! Who really wants to spend time waxing, plucking, threading, shaving and sugaring anyway?!

Are you tempted?

Heather x

*This is a sponsored post

Update!

Hey lovely people!

I've been gone longer than I anticipated. We were on holiday in Florida for 2 weeks, which was utterly amazing! We were at the Daytona 500, went to the beach, screamed our heads off on the roller coasters and ate our own body weight in the most amazing food! I so did not want to come home, but I guess I had to get back to work so we can save for the next adventure, right?

Well, the most exciting thing that happened when we were on holiday...we got ENGAGED!! *happy dance*


Me and my Fiancé! I'm saying those words at every given opportunity!

It wasn't totally out of the blue, it is something we have discussed and we even chose the ring together, but Darren wanted to choose the right moment to propose. And when he got down on one knee while we were in Florida, just me and him, it was completely perfect!


My ring :)

And so the wedding planning begins! Its both exciting and overwhelming all at once, but I've been stocking up on various wedding magazines and have already seen lots of things I love!

There are lots of beauty-related posts to come, but I just wanted to share a wee bit of my happy news with you all :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

In Flight Essentials

Darren and I are jetting off to Florida this morning. We are specifically going to see the NASCAR Daytona 500, but we have also got passes for Universal and Disney and I'm super excited!!

One downside of long haul flights is that it totally dehydrates my skin so I started a quest to find some regulation-friendly skin care minis to take on-board with me!


I was initially on the hunt for some Olay Precision Cleansing Cloths however neither Superdrug or Tesco had them (boo!) so I picked up the Nivea Daily Essentials Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes instead. These aren't a product I've used before, but they promise to cleanse, tone and hydrate whilst removing make-up and are alcohol free! I intend to whip these out and give my skin a good cleanse so I'm not sitting with a full face of make up on for 9 and a half hours.


I also picked up this fabulous little Trilogy Travellers Set from eBay. I already love their Organic Rosehip Oil (as does my skin) so I reckon I can't go far wrong with these products. In the set we have cleanser, exfoliator, facial mist, moisturiser and body cream. These are all dinky sizes so collectively do not exceed the regulations for taking liquids onboard. I'm probably only going to make use of the facial most and moisturiser on the flight itself, however ill use the other products while I'm away. The moisturiser is lovely and rich, and I can top up my hydration levels throughout the flight with the facial mist.


I'm also popping my Bare Minerals foundation in my hand luggage for before we land. I wouldn't usually choose this foundation, however I'm a bit restricted on liquids so I'll make do with this instead.

Things will probably be a quiet on the blog for the next couple of weeks, but I'll be doing plenty of make up shopping whilst I'm in the US, so I'll have loads to blog about when I come back!

Take care (and no wild parties while I'm gone! :))


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Random Facts About Moi!

In keeping with tradition on my blog, I'm the last blogger in the entire blogging world to do this tag! I actually started filming it for my YouTube channel and ran out of things to say by fact 2...fail! I've thought about it a bit more now so here goes...

1. I am 30 in October!!
2. I absolutely hate tomato sauce (Heinz etc), although I've never tried it
3. I once fell down a 20 foot embankment and cut my knee, the following week I feel down 2 steps and broke one ankle and badly sprained the other and ended up in hospital for 4 days!
4. Darren and I met on Facebook ❤


5. I love Stock Car Racing and travel all over the country to follow it! We even went on a road trip to Holland to watch it!
6. I'm going to Florida with Darren next week for the Daytona 500! Excited.com!
7. I have a Labrador called Holly, she doesn't live with me anymore as I can't have pets in the flat, so she stays with my mum and dad. I love her silly amounts :)


8. I'm a reformed nail biter and need to have painted nails otherwise I'd start biting them again
9. Childbirth scares me...lots!
10. My favourite season is Spring, new beginnings and all that
11. I dislike Winter and the long, dark nights
12. I have a terrible memory, I forget EVERYTHING!
13. I have a random taste in music ranging from ABBA to the Eagles, if it sounds good I like it!
14. I am scared of flying, and have to take Diazepam before I fly
15. I love being near the sea, so peaceful
16. When I was born we lived in a static caravan while our house was being built...
17. ...the sound of rain pitter-pattering on a car roof instantly calms and soothes me which probably harks back to my caravan days!
18. I've been on TV!
19. I love the Olympics and I was a steward when the Olympic torch came through our local town!


20. I am tall, almost 6ft!
21. I am quite a shy person and can be socially anxious. However, once I know someone I can chat away quite happily
22. I work in mental health
23. I am a distant relative of Ewan McGregor, true I promise! Surely that means I can knock on his door for a cuppa, right?!
24. I'm obsessed with getting Cashback on Quidco!
25. I hate being a passenger in a car but I love driving
26. I didn't try peanut butter until very recently and I. Am. Obsessed.
27. I love taking pictures of sunsets


28. I cried when I went to Barcelona and saw the Magical Fountain of Montjuïc, it was just so beautiful
29. I am terrible with money - if I have it, I'll spend it!
30. I love roller coasters and theme parks, I am a total big kid!



Hope you enjoyed this and feel free to link me up to your Random Facts posts! :)