Going for Gold with St. Moriz

Cheesy title non? Well golden brown is what we are aiming for here (now I have The Stranglers in my head) rather than Oompa Loompa. Or, as I affectionately refer to my sister when she’s been hitting the faux tan, Lady Ronseal. In anticipation of my cousins wedding and having to unveil my deathly pallor upon the world I have finally conquered my fear and tried fake tan. After some extensive Googling and some excellent tips from my Twitter pals I settled on St. Mori Instant Self Tanning Mousse. It’s dirt cheap (£2.99 for 200ml at my local Semi-Chem but you can get it online for similar) yet it is allegedly a more natural looking dupe for St Tropez. 

Armed with my Primark tanning mitt (£2, did a good job and survived the washing machine!) and some vinyl gloves (I’m allergic to latex) I began the preparations. Tanning is a right faff! I exfoliated every inch of me then slathered on the body lotion before steeling myself for my transformation from Casper the friendly the ghost to Essex girl wannabe. 

The mousse is incredibly dark which frightened the hell out of me. It is totally scentless whilst you apply it although after 4 hours I started to smell like a packet of digestive biscuits. The smell lingered for two showers but thankfully wasn’t two strong. The formula spread very easily with the mitt and the tint means you can see exactly where you’ve missed. It dried within a couple of minutes and I was dressed in 30. 

And yes I’m aware of what that picture looks like.... ew. 

Now St. Moriz state on their Facebook page that they recommend applying it before bed and leaving it on overnight but I wasn’t that brave. After 4.5 hours of wincing at the guide colour I jumped in the shower. Don’t be afraid of the guide colour. For a while there I looked like I’d been rolling in mud but it does wash off. I was impressed! I’d gone exactly the same brown colour I used to go back in the days when I actually went outside in the sun rather than hiding in the shade clutching my factor 50. 

I had not one streak! And 7 days later no patchiness. It faded pretty quickly and I’m now almost back to my original colour but I suspect it would last longer if I’d left it on longer before showering. I’ve been religious about moisturising daily and exfoliating to help stop it becoming patchy which has worked although it’s a bit high maintenance. 

Overall I really liked it. For the first time in years colleagues told me I was looking ‘healthy’ and hubby reckoned I looked ‘well fit’. It’s too much hassle for me to maintain but for special occasions or weeks when I need that little boost I’d happily use the St. Moriz again. I’ve picked up a bottle to give to Lady Ronseal too! It’s a definite repurchase! X

*Bought by me*

Beauty Blog Link Love!

See some before and after photos in My Lips But Better's review of the new Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation.

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Daily Polish shows off a gorgeous blackened blue nail polish you can buy for a steal by drugstore brand Sleek.

Retrodiva knows it's spring when she suffers from her first sunburn of the season. Find out her tricks for treating it and preventing peeling.

Phyrra debuts Geek Chic Cosmetics new collection, N7 and gives you a sneak peek of an upcoming collection, Mana Screwed!

AOYV suggests five must have coral blushes to try this season.

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K at Beautifully Addicted To feels the Pinch with Topshop blushers.

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Audrey Dao is giving away $400 worth of NuMe hair styling products, including a hair straightener valued at $300!

What would you choose with a $50 Gift Card from Apothica? Enter to win at Prime Beauty!

No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara

This mascara was all over the blogging world a few months ago and it seemed to be a big hit. They claim...

“No7 Exceptional Definition Mascara. This amazing new mascara has a truly magic wand and unique, conditioning formula. The innovative three-in-one brush gives lashes exceptional definition and volume.”

The brush is very unique. You have a longer combed side, a shorter one and then a weird bobbly bit at the end. The two combed sides are useful, I apply mascara with the longer side and then comb through with the shorter side to more definition. The bobbly bit on the end just serves to gather goopy clumps of mascara and needs wiping off before it goes anywhere near your eyes. We could have done without it frankly.

Personally I don’t see a lot of volume added here and it certainly doesn’t add any length but nonetheless it is very good for definition. I like it on its own for day time or layered under a lengthening mascara at night. I have quite dense lashes so this mascara is fantastic for stopping them looking like one big clump of eyelash. Although I will say that since I ran out of my L’Oreal Lash Serum they have returned to a rather disappointing state...

Without mascara:

With:

So it works well, it’s innovative and I dare say I wouldn’t mind buying it again in future. And yet all is not well with this mascara. £12.50?!?!?!? I think not! When you can get great high street mascaras for less than a fiver I think No7 are being more than a little cheeky here. That’s almost Clinique territory. I think it’s another example of No7 trying to be a high end brand just by charging high end prices. Needless to say I’d suggest keeping your eyes peeled for the £5 off vouchers x

*Bought by me, with a £5 off voucher of course!*

Beauty Blog Link Love

The Lip Print gets the Smooth Infusion treament thanks to Aveda and Oscar Oscar salons.

The Pink Sith invites you to marvel at the Givenchy Prisme Yeux Quatour in Candide Garden, which is a nice departure from tired old Spring pastels.

Over at The Glamorous Gleam, Mz. More introduces a dupe for MAC's Ripe Peach blush: Sleek's Life's a Peach!

Got a craving for something sweet? well, Krasey Beauty has swatches and a full look into the MAC Cosmetics Quite Cute collection!

LaaLaa may not have been wearing makeup so much as of late but that doesn’t mean her brushes have been neglected. Take a look on Dolce Vanity how she deep cleanses her brushes.

Tracy@Beauty Reflections got to try the new Sebastian Color Ignite Line and it whipped her hair into condition!

My Lips But Better put OPI Black Shatter to the test under various conditions - see the results!

L from Beautifully Addicted To re-discovers a favourite foundation in Bourjois 10hr Sleep Effect.

Jellyminx shares a super simple Nail Art tutorial.

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Alyson at The Gloss Menagerie has some Inglot AMC lipgloss swatches to share with you!

At Music and Makeup Jo can't stop raving about a £1.50 Accessorize eye dust bargain and features it in this face of the day.

Spring is here, so Mariella at Musing on Beauty reunites with her fake tan and reviews Clarins Delectable Self Tanning Mousse.

Daily Polish has teamed up with a top London salon to give away a FREE Minx or Shellac Manicure or Pedicure! Enter now!

theNotice is giving away two rather surprising products that'll get your skin summer-ready in no time flat. Find out what they are!

A quick Spring EOTD

I do believe spring is finally upon us! Good. I was getting bored of dark colours and I’ve been fully embracing brights and pastels. 

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Milk and a base.

MAC Golden Rod on the inner half of the lid.

MAC Lucky Green through the crease.

The light matte yellow from the 17 Dolly Mix trio on the inner corner.

Dark shimmery purple from the Sleek Circus palette in the outer corner.

Bright pink from the Circus palette under the lower lash line.

The matte white from the Circus palette on my brow bone.

MAC Feline eye kohl on the water line.

ELF Studio cream liner in black on the upper lash line.

No7 Exceptional Definition mascara. 

I also used the matte pink and matte orange from the Circus palette mixed together as a blush and paired it with nude lips. See this is why I actually like having hooded eyes. I can wear these mad colours and not have it be too in your face! X

Freederm Gel

I’ve never really suffered with my skin until around December last year. Suddenly I developed quite awful acne around my mouth and chin where I would normally get one ‘monthly’ breakout only much more wide spread and persistent. Three months on things have (touch wood) calmed down but for a couple of months there it was really bad and quite upsetting. My Mother kindly suggested that perhaps at the ripe old age of 23 I’d finally hit puberty and I might finally grow boobs any minute now. Thanks Mum. 

I was desperate but the pharmacist refused to hand over the Benzyl Peroxide lotion just yet but I decided to try this. The active ingredient is Nicotinamide (at 4%) which is basically an anti-inflammatory. It’s a cloudy gel which you apply once or twice a day to the area. There is no stinging or irritation and it dried to a clear film that you can apply makeup over the top of. 

Now I’ve read great things about this from some bloggers that I really respect but I can only write about my own experience with products. For me unfortunately it didn’t work. After a month of using this I gave up and finally got my mitts on some Benzyl Peroxide lotion (does anyone actually want a review on that?) and finally started to see some improvements. My skin is still not behaving 100% but it’s infinitely better than it was and I’m applying tea tree oil to the problem areas as a preventative which seems to be helping. 

For me Freederm didn’t achieve anything so I won’t be repurchasing. That said I suggest reading other reviews too because I know it’s been fantastic for others and the 10g tube is only £5.10. As a side note does anyone have any suggestions for products to help fade acne scarring? I’m desperate people! X

*Bought by me*

A comparison of some black pencil liners

I have a lot of liners, so many that I actually forgot to include a couple in here but never mind. I’m one of those people who feels naked without liner on my water line and that is all I ever use pencil liners for. I like gel or liquid for my upper lash line so I couldn’t tell you how these perform for that. I swatched them all on bare skin, left them for a few minutes to set then swiped at them to see how well they stayed put. Here are our contenders and their results. 

MAX Factor Kohl Pencil £4.99 – Nicely pigmented and holds up reasonably well on the swipe test. For the price you could do a lot worse. 

WetnWild Colour Icon Pencil (no idea how much this costs) – I got this with a palette that the lovely Tracy from Beauty Reflections kindly sent to me. It’s a lovely liner with flecks of glitter that really pop. Pigmentation is fab and lasting power is reasonable. Thanks Tracy!

Benefit BAD Gal black £14.30 – Overpriced and more grey than black. This is one of my least favourite black liners. Thankfully I got it free in a magazine rather than paying for it. It doesn’t last long on the water line either. 

Urban Decay 24/7 liner in Zero £13 – Fantastic deep black liner and the swipe test show that this has much more staying power than the other contenders. 

MAC Feline Kohl Power £13 – On a par with the Urban Decay in terms of pigmentation but much more prone to smudging and it has a tendency to run. I like this as a base for a dark smokey eye or when I want deliberately smudge my liner. This is ltd edition but it comes out quite frequently. 

Neils Yard Eye liner – I got this free in a magazine too and I remember the RRP for it being something ridiculous like over £15. It’s just awful. You can barely see it on my skin. Frankly I’m tempted to throw it away.

My personal favourite is the Urban Decay although Feline definitely has it’s uses. The MAC Factor holds its own against the pricier alternatives though and I do get a lot of use out of it. If you have access to WetnWild (you lucky things you) it’s a good bet but for goodness sakes please don’t buy the Benefit one. It’s just not worth it! X

*All bought by me unless otherwise stated*

Revlon 30 Second Eye Makeup Remover

Now you can’t buy this in the UK (thankfully) to the best of my knowledge. This is a little souvenir from my honeymoon in Thailand. Ah the Turtle Mart. The only shop I’ve ever been in where beer cost less than soft drinks. Good times! I ran out of eye makeup remover half way through the trip and this was all I could find. 

I really don’t have a lot to say about this apart from DO NOT WANT. It stings my eyes and does a half arsed job of removing mascara. I’m alternating this with my beloved Lancôme Bi Facil in an effort to use it up and I dread the days when I have to use this. If I use it every day it leaves my under eye area dry and flaky. 

I feel bad that I don’t have anything positive to say about it but I really don’t. I think I’ll stick to buying Revlon’s makeup thanks! x

March Empties

The no buy is still going strong. I discovered a disturbing thing though. In an effort to get back into the swing of blogging I wrote out a schedule of posts from now until my no buy ends on the 7^th of May and I have enough stuff to review until then.... I think that just drives home how badly this no buy was needed. The urge to shop comes and goes in waves but so far I’m staying strong. If you’re doing a similar project let me know how you’re getting on in the comments. We need all the help we can get! 

L’Oreal Infallible Foundation – It was ok but I wouldn’t repurchase. It has a tendency to look a bit cakey around my mouth and although it lasted better than some I have plenty of foundations that do a better job of combating my oily nose. 

Bourjois Double Ended Eyeliner in Noir + Blanc – This is probably my third one of these. It’s pigmented and extremely handy having the black and white together. Unfortunately it does have a tendency to run a little.

Random Vie Body Polish – Wouldn’t know where to buy this if I wanted too, my Mum gave it too me because she didn’t see the point of it. It was ok but nothing special. 

LUSH Glogg Shower Gel – It was nice but I don’t think you can buy it anymore as it came in a Christmas box set. 

MAX Factor False Lash Effect Mascara (waterproof) – This was fantastic and I will happily repurchase over and over. 

Rimmel 1-2-3 Mascara – Awful, just Awful. It isn’t even properly finished but I’ve had it almost a year and I’ve been using it constantly for the last 6 weeks. I just can’t stand it anymore so it’s gone. 

Burts Bees Lip Balm – Couldn’t stand this either but I used the whole thing up. It just didn’t do anything for my lips and was too waxy. 

Botanics SPF10 Hand Cream – I use these up every month and will buy a pile more when the no buy is over.

Rituals Honey Touch Body Lotion Sample – I used this as a hand cream. Smelled lovely and worked well. 

L’Occitane Hand Cream – I got this free with a magazine. It was ok but the scent bothered y cat strangely. She freaked out whenever I put it on :s 

Trevor Sorbie Beautifully Brunette Conditioner – This was actually quite nice. It left my hair nice and soft and very glossy. I’d happily buy it again. 

TRESemme Dry Shampoo – I liked this but not as much as the Brunette Batiste so I’ll be buying the Batiste again instead. 

No7 Protect & Perfect Day Cream – I actually grew to really like this. It sank in nicely so it was great to use under makeup. I think I’ll buy the full size for winter when all I need is SPF15 but I’ll definitely only get it with the £5 off vouchers. 

No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum – I found another sample of this lurking in my sample box and gave it another go. I still don’t get it. It does nothing for me. 

What have you managed to say good bye to this month? Let me know in the comments! xx

Sample Sunday – Origins Checks and Balances Frothy Face Wash

Don’t you love it when you go to a counter for something specific and rather than bullying you into buying the rest of the range the SA just hands out samples so you can try it out? Some counters are better than others at this. Origins is fan-bloody-tastic. This product is aimed at combination skin which I have. They say;

“When it comes to faces with dry and oily places, it takes a clever cleanser to balance the two. This gentle, frothy face wash carefully does both jobs without canceling each other out. Konjac Powder seeks out oil, soaks it up then keeps it well in-check, while Wheat Protein balances and protects dry prone zones. And Broadleaf Kelp breaks down dirt, disperses excess oil and sends dullness down the drain. There's also aromatic Bergamot , Spearmint and Lavender to add pleasure to the process. Skin feels comfortably refreshed after cleansing, never tight, pulled or parched.”

I love the strong spearmint scent. It’s definitely a good one for perking you up in the morning. The texture is a weird bouncy kind of mousse. It’s kind of like the Fluff marshmallow goop. You don’t need a lot to get a nice rich creamy lather  (ooh er). It doesn’t strip my skin at all or irritate it and it doesn’t leave it feeling dry either. 

Obviously this sample isn’t enough to tell whether it would really ‘balance’ my skin in the long term but it was pleasant enough for me to file this away in my to purchase list. At £15.32 it’s pretty pricey for a face wash but I suspect the 100ml tube would last a good long while. Personally I like it! x