Friday Wishlist

1.   Topshop Bolt Leather Holdall    2. Ted Baker Union Jack Matinee Purse   3. Topshop Cream Speckle Neppy Panel Sweat   4. YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick in Nude Beige   5. Alexander McQueen Leopard Skull Silk-Chiffon Scarf   6. River Island Black Wet Look Leggings   7. River Island Round Rose Gold Watch   8. River Island Blue Flower Bandeau Bikini   9. River Island Light Purple Studded Purse   10. Maxfactor Masterpiece Max Mascara in Black

A little bit late this week, better late than never hey! Getting a little jubilee happy with the Ted Baker purse, just the cutest thing ever, makes me want to wave a flag and sing god save the queen..no? The River Island Watch is very Michael Kors-esq (droooolsss) and Primark do a lovely scarf similar to the Alexander Mcqueen version at a snip of the price, lavlayyy! Hope you're all well and drooling over items like me! YUM! Happy Jubilee Weekend Everyone, hope you all enjoy it, mine will be spent working...BOOOO!

Loula x

Benefit The Porefessional

The lovely people of Benefit are once again running a promotion with Glamour where you can pick up a Benefit make-up sample with a copy of Glamour Magazine (£2). So off I went, down the shops, with minimal make-up, scaring several small children (even the Post Office's dog ran away....) to pick one up! The items to choose from are: That Gal Brightening Face Primer, BADgal Lash Mascara and The Porefessional Pore Minimising Primer. I went for Porefessional as I have tried the other two and have wanted to give it a go for ages!

What it claims to do: Quickly minimise the appearance of pores & fine lines for smoother-than-smooth skin! Apply this silky, lightweight balm alone, under or over makeup. Translucent, oil-free formula complements all skintones and helps makeup stay put. Contains a Vitamin E derivative, known to protect skin from free radicals.


What I think: Firstly the bottle needs a good shake, at first oily residue just cam out, not ideal! But after a good shake that soon went! The colour of the primer is lovely and perfect for my skin, but would suit a wide variety of skin tones as when applied it is only a tint and barely noticable. I applied with my fingers and you only need a very small amount for the whole face, so even the sample will last a fair while. ITS SO SILKY, like rubbing a scarf across your face, yum! It really does make the perfect foundation base, I can't deny my pores were minimised, I could barely see the open ones one my nose..score! My foundation stays put pretty well when set anyway so not sure it lasted any longer as thats never really an issue for me. Overall, it really is lovely and I completely understand all the hype surrounding it now. I can see what will happen..bye bye tester, hello full size bottle! 


The Porefessional is free in the July 2012 Issue of Glamour (£2 for 7.5ml) and also available from Benefit (£23.50 for 22ml, so technically you could pick up a full size bottle for £6 if you bought 3 Glamours..bargain! Mathematics whizz here!)


Have you tried Porefessional? If not, whip one up whilst they're free in Glamour (its a good read too!)

Loula x

Tuesday Wishlist

1. Topshop Puff Print Aztec Skull Print Vest    2. H&M Citrus Passion Body Splash    3. Topshop Pink Grey Structured Blazer 4. The Body Shop Love Etc... Solid Perfume    5. Missguided Cross Print Leggings    6. ASOS Exclusive Nail Rock Wraps: Toonland    7. The Body Shop Beautifying Oil: Mango    8. NYX Round Lipstick: Circe    9. River Island Sunflower Headband    10. H&M Blazer: Navy Blue

Ooooohhh be mine all you lovely lovely items :) Fallen in love with The Body Shop Love Etc... range after getting the Body Puree (review coming soon!) from last weeks wishlist, soo summery and yummmy! Gas anyone tried the new Body Shop Beautifying Oils? Reading mixed reviews? Apparently they're a good hair moisturiser, rinse me up! Hope everyone's well and enjoying the beautiful weather, pop the St. Moriz away for a while :)

Loula x

Sephora Purchases

On my trip to Paris last week I obviously needed to visit Sephora since its no longer available in the UK. After informing my boyfriend of the urgency we hopped onto the metro and off we went. DISASTER, it was closed for refurbishment. Much to my boyfriends dismay I found another (sobbing at this point he was...I joke!!) I managed to pick up three things:
1. No.45 Mineral Powder Brush
2. Nail Varnish in LO7 Valentine
3. Sephora Collection Rouge Shine Lipstick in No.2

No.45 Mineral Powder Brush
As the name suggests the brush is intended for use with mineral foundation, I do use Bare Minerals foundation in Medium Beige to set my foundation however as soon as I saw it I knew I needed it for liquid foundation. It's taklon synthetic fibres so can be used for liquid products. It gives a lovely airbrushed finished and doesn't hold too much product, overall very pleased with it!

Nail Varnish in LO7 Valentine
Is a lovely coral pink, I bought this as a present for my sister so haven't tried it yet, it looks a lovely consistency though and if it compares to the other Sephora polishes I have it will be long wearing and pigmented.

Sephora Collection Rouge Shine Lipstick in No.2
I'm constantly on the look out for the perfect nude lipstick, I thought I had it in Topshop Nevada, yet it's been discontinued, almost cried. This is lovely though, very moisturising and pigmented, it's a little small for the price though and the tiny glitter particles although can't be seen on the lips feel a little scratchy on the lips! Very pleased on the whole though, the colour is lovely!

Really pleased with my purchases! Do you wish Sephora would come back to the UK? Or are you lucky enough to live somewhere with a Sephora? Back to Paris now please...

Loula xx

Paris

Currently mourning the fact that I really want to be back in Paris! My boyfriend took me away as my 21st Birthday present, boyfriend points for you :) It was so lovellly and romantic (blerghhh, listen to me! haha) even though i speak literally zero French and so does my boyfriend, which proved a little interesting..... (I lie, I can say 'I am eight years old' which is rubbish, because I'm not, I'm 21. Bad times). But here are a few snaps all the same...

Have you been whisked away anywhere recently? If not I hope you're all enjoying at least a glimpse of English sunshine :)
Loula x

Tuesday Wishlist

Third year of uni is finally over! Hallelujah i hear you cry (well, i'm crying it anyway!), and do you know what this means? That's right, more time for blogging, YAYYY! My lovely boyfriend whipped me off to Paris last week for my 21st birthday present, what a babe! I'll be sharing some pictures with you later as well as some sneeky Sephora purchases, its a must (not that he quite understood the urgency...). But first, a little wishlist of the items I'd really like to enter my life right now, thank you kindly...

1. River Island Owl Earrings   2. Missguided Glitter Cross Top   3. Nars Isolde Eyeshow Duo (this is going to my graduation present from me....to me....)   4. Models Own Hed Kandi: Balearic Cool  5. Love Etc... Sun Kissed Body Puree   6. Missguided Sawyer Leather Panel Leggings   7. Missguided (I see a theme appearing here...) Gretta Super High Platform Suede Style Shoes   8. MAC Lipstick: Saint Germain   9. Knitted Fluro Swing Top

There really is a theme emerging, I am loving Missguided at the minute, they have so much up to date stock at really affordable prices, what can go wrong? :)... MAC Saint Germain was screaming out to me in Paris, but at €19 it worked out a little more expensive, so to the English MAC counter it is! I can see a few (or maybe more...) of these items joining my life super shortly, sorry bank balance.
p.s. Jess (other twin half) will be posting another YouTube video at the weekend, so watch out :)

Loula x

Homemade Lip Scrub.

If you're like me and religiously wear lipstick, but no matter how much lipbalm you put on you still get areas of dead skin then your lips need a good exfoliation! Lush's lip scrubs have had a lot of hype recently, but at £5 a tub they're a little pricey, so hallelujah, praise the lord, here's how to make you're own! (just call me Delia... Smith that is...)

You will need:
2 teaspoons of white sugar
1/2 teaspoon of olive oil
1 teaspoon of honey
A few drops of food flavouring (optional)

What you do:
It's so simple, literally mix all the ingredients together in a bowl stirring really well. It should form a thick consistency. Then rub a small amount onto lips ensuring they are lipbalm/product free. You need to rub quite well for about a minute. The olive oil provides moisturisation, whilst the honey is for taste (as is any food flavouring), and the sugar for exfoliation! Then wipe your lips well and you should be left with lovely silky smooth lips :) hey presto!

Hope you all enjoy! Sorry about the picture, there's just no possible way (other than glitter which isn't known for its lip scrubbing effects) which can make the product look pretty!!
Lots of love
Loula xxx
P.s. if you haven't seen my YouTube video, check it out here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WESU12ylhhM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Primark Nourish and Moisturise Lipbalm

Dry lips drive me mad, got myself in a bit of a pickle with the whole situation now too, as the more you use lipbalm, the more your lips depend on it and then get chapped more...nightmare! However there is hope! Recently I learnt that paraffin and petroleum in lipbalms are the key ingredients which are highly moisturising short term but leave lips highly dependant, so my search for lipbalm not containing either begun! I literally searched high and low to no avail, till good old Primark shone through!! I picked up these lipbalms that are peppermint flavour, petroleum and paraffin free and 2 for 50p, what a bargain! They are seriously by far the best lipbalm I have ever used, I've stocked up incase they stop selling them! They are a lovely texture., highly moisturising and don't make your lips dependant! Don't know what I did without them now, I have them everywhere, my housemates keep complaining they're everywhere! I'd recommend everyone to go and buy some, you'll never regret it :)
Loula x
P.s. Primark's 'lipsmackers' range is parrafin and petroleum free too :)

Illamasqua Brow Cake

I've been a religious Benefit Browzings user for well over a year now and I have to say I love Browzings and would recommend it to anyone. But when it started to run out my bank balance just couldn't justify £23 on a new one, I did consider sleek and ELF brow kit options but thought I'd be disappointed after being a benefit user for so long. Illamasqua is a relatively new brand, I've heard many things about them but never actually tried anything, that's when I decided to replace me browzings with brow cake. 

The texture is a slightly waxy powder (if that makes any sense!!) I apply it with a (largish) angled brush, it gives much more of a soft focus finish than browzings, however, I'm really impressed with its pigmentation. Do I prefer it? I'm not really sure to be honest, it's harder to gain an even brow, I've ended up looking like that lady on the stroke advert a few times due to uneven brows (not a good look)!!! If its left unset without clear brow gel it can powder onto your face slightly too. I think it's just different and will take some getting used to, I will definitely stick at it though, the quality is amazing and it's left me eager to try more illamasqua products so I suppose it can't be all that bad can it?! :)

Loula x

P.s. had to include the last photo, even Jack's eyeing it up to preen his slug brows!

Mac Fix+

4 posts in nearly 4 days? Cripes, I'm a reformed blogger!! haha!...

Today i'll be giving you my views on MAC Fix+ Spray :) It has to be said, I <3 MAC, I think we all do deep down! I don't know about anyone else but I didn't know what I wanted for Christmas last year, I don't need anything (except a new hair dryer, thanks mum!!!) so when my brother asked me what I wanted make-up was the only answer! So off I sent him to the MAC counter and boy did good! He got me the Fix+ Spray which I'd had my eye on for a while. What MAC claim:

An aqua–spritz of vitamin and minerals, infused with a calm–the–skin blend of Green Tea, Camomile, Cucumber, topped off with the fresh, natural, energising scent of Sugi. Adds radiance, finishes makeup. Spray it on. Skin drinks it up!

It's pretty much glorified water, but some lovely glorified water at that! I read some reviews before I got it saying that it blends makeup together and makes an airbrushed look. To be honest, I don't think it does. It goes some way to sealing my makeup and I can tell a difference by the end of the day when I haven't worn it, i.e. more patchy foundation but I don't think it blends layers together. If you get the spray at the wrong distance you can look patchy too. However, it is a good makeup sealer, spritz a bit onto brushes for a daily clean and also a really nice skin refresher before make-up and hydrates skin through make-up (MAC foundation especially studio fix fluid is very drying so a good option if you find the foundation very drying to your skin). Would I re-buy? I think I would you know, it's not in my opinion hideously over priced! It's not a necessity but a really nice novelty and who doesn't love them?! :)

MAC Fix+ is available from MAC counters for £7 for 30ml or £12.50 for 100ml (mine is 100ml)

Loula x

Superdrug Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser

I've been using this cleanser for a few months now and steered away from reviewing it because I wasn't sure what I thought. I've never heard a bad thing about Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser and when this puppy was on 2 for £3.99 in Superdrug when they're £5.99 each (Superdrug fail. Y you be so stoooopid?!!) I couldn't really say no...

What it claims to do: 'Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser with muslin cloth is ideal for removing dirt and make-up whilst providing gentle exfoliation'

...I started using it once a day by wetting my face slightly and rubbing in the cleanser then buffing away with the muslin cloth ran under warm water. The cleanser is really creamy and lovely and removes all my makeup but I found it kept bringing my skin out in spots, which is very rare for me. I noticed it was worse if I did a cleansing mask after or used a heavier moisturiser after toning. I've come to the conclusion that the warmth of the hot cloth mixed with the exfoliation opens my pores too much for other product to then get stuck. Nightmare. I've gone to using it once every 3 days and sticking to my old skin care routine for the others & it's working really well, my skin is smooth, soft and clear- just loovlay jublayyy!! I would recommended it if Liz Earle, just start using it a few days a week and build it up to avoid the volcanic eruption occurring on the face look, personal fave.

Hot Cloth Cleanser is available from Superdrug for £5.99 (it's currently on 3for2 with other items in the vitamin E range too... Oooh happy dayssss!)

Loula x

Glitters raining on me.

My week in pictures. <3

Leopard nails, Caffe Nero, Twin Time, TOWIE, Filofax, MUA palette, Can I really buy this?!!, Picture taken by a giant, Roundest eggs ever?, Always helps if your shoes match, MUA shade 1, French Manicure, Starbucks, Barry M 52, Twin Loving!, Duke sleeping n'awwwww!, McQueen ring, Flat hunting, Lipsticks, Dissertation winning!, Revlon 471, train times, Topshop earrings, Classic keyring pose.

Loula x

Highstreet Lipsticks.

Hello there everyone :) Taking a well deserved dissertation style break to show you my favourite highstreet lipsticks. I'm a sucker for MAC lipsticks but at £13.50 (cripess) a pop they're reserved for special occasions so instead back to the high street we go! I was strictly a nude lipstick kind of girl until recently when I've really bonded with brighter colours, who would have thought it eh?!...

 Barry M 101 : a whiteish nude, lovely for summer though :)

 (Apologies for cracked lips! arghhh) Body Collection- Poison: a deep purple, a bit of a lip stainer for a day after though...

Miss Sporty- Striptease: a slightly shimmery nude

Barry M- 52 : a bit daring but lovely with an all black outfit :)

 Revlon Deluxe Creme Lipcolour- 01 Poppy: a lovelyyy classic red

 MUA- Shade 1: really moisturising and stays well all for £1, holy moly!

 ELF Minerals- Natural Nymph: my favourite nude ever besides GOSH- Darling and MAC- Myth, its really drying though, saddens me, SOB.

All my love,

Loula x