Philosophy Christmas Cookie

Philosophy Christmas Cookie, £7
I recently picked up the Philosophy Christmas Cookie Shampoo, Shower Gel and Bubble Bath in the Boots Sale, it's currently half price at just £7 if you fancy a bargain or trying out a Philosophy product. If you follow my Instagram you'll of seen me snap a photo of this as soon as it arrived as the packaging is lovely, very festive and cute - I was very tempted to order a few of these and stash them away for next year! If you're a fan of sweet scents, this is definitely a product for you. I'm sure most of you are familiar with Yankee Candles - this has a very similar fragrance to their 'Vanilla Cupcake' candle. It's incredibly sweet and a delight when you get a whiff while pouring it in to the bath, just imagine the scent of cookies and vanilla cupcakes baking and then you'll have Christmas Cookie. I could happily use this all year round. I haven't tried using this as a Shampoo yet and honestly I doubt I will as I'm quite particular about what products I use on my hair. Ultimately for me, this is the perfect bubble bath as it fills your bathroom with a gorgeous, indulgent fragrance and your tub up with plenty of bubbles. Combine this with a few of your favourite candles, dim the lights, pop on a face mask, plug in your headphones and treat yourself to a few sneaky chocolates and for me, that is the ultimate tranquility.

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Beauty Wishlist

  If you have Twitter or Instagram and follow other Bloggers or Beauty lovers you'll probably of noticed by now that we're never satisfied. We always want more and the majority have a 'Beauty Wishlist' full of products they'd like to purchase in the near future - so here's mine.   Stila In The Light Palette, £25 - I've seen this raved about on Kayleigh and Zoe's blog and at the moment it's on Feel Unique with free delivery and a Stila Lipgloss as a gift - tempting. MakeUpForever Aqua Brow, £16.50 - I've only seen this blogged about once but it sounds amazing. It's a liquid 'eyebrow corrector' - essentially you take a very small amount of product on your brush and work it through your brows to create defined brows that last all day and look natural. MakeUpForever Smokey Lash, £17.95 - Another hyped product, this is supposed to give you really defined, voluminous lashes - quite dramatic, with minimal application. Dermalogicia Daily Microfoliant, £30.50 - I received a sample of this in a Glossy Box and fell in love. If you suffer from dry patches, flaky skin or have a combination skin type this product will work amazingly for you. Bizarrely this is a rice based powder to which you have to add water and massage in to the skin for a few minutes. I don't know all the technical/scientist explanations for how it works - but apparently the ingredients help to dissolve the old, dead skin cells to reveal smooth, soft and brightened skin. Yes please! Ginvera BB Cream, £19 - I've been trialling out a sample of this as a sachet arrived with my recent love-makeup order. This BB cream comes from Singapore and offers the benefits of 'blemish free concealing, sun block, whitening, moisturising, reduction of lines and long lasting, ultra light feel to nourish skin'. The reason I like it? The colour is perfect for me, it offers a medium coverage with a beautiful radiant finish that doesn't leave my combination skin looking greasy. Topshop's Lip Crayon in 'Arcade', £7 - I can actually cross this one off my list as I managed to pick it up a few days ago. I saw one of the girls at work applying this for New Years Eve and couldn't resist asking what brand it was from and the shade. Review to follow. Philosophy Products - I've heard a lot about Philosophy recently and can't wait to get my hands on some of their products. I have their Christmas Cookie shower/bath gel which I picked up in the sale and next on my list is their The Present primer, Purity cleanser and Hope In A Jar oil free moisturiser.

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Illamasqua - Generation Q

You may remember a little while ago Illamasqua released a collection called 'Generation Q' based on the idea that beauty is in everything and everyone no matter the age, gender or race. Beautiful sentiment, is it not? In the collection there were some stunning products and luckily enough, I was sent the following products to trial and feedback my thoughts on. Gleam Cream in 'Aurora', £18 - an iridescent, champagne pearl highlighter.  Nail Varnish in 'Charisma', £13.50 - a deep, raspberry red with a metallic finish. Precision Ink in 'Wisdom', £17 - an antiqued gold that changes colour in different lighting. Sometimes it can appear olive, brown or black with gold shimmer running through it.
The Illamasqua Gleam Cream in 'Aurora' is a lightweight, cream highlighter that has a smooth, creamy texture but a very light consistency. The effect on the skin is subtle but glowing and buildable to the desired intensity. The best thing? The pearlescent finish it offers that instantly brightens up the skin. I don't find this overly shimmery and there's no large chunks of glitter - thankfully! It reminds me of the Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow in 'Iced Gold' but it doesn't feel quite as heavy on the skin. The nail varnish in 'Charisma' is a gorgeous metallic, deep red that's ideal for colder months. Highly pigmented and well formulated, this colour glides on with ease and only needs one good coat or two thin coats for opaque nails. I did find without a top coat my nails chipped after two days but with a good quality clear varnish on top it extends the wear. Finally, my favourite of the three, the Precision Ink in 'Wisdom' which is the most stunningly beautiful eyeliner I've ever seen. Described as an antiqued gold, it changes colour in the light - sometimes appearing olive with golden flecks, other times showing up as a deep brown, almost black with golden sparkles. It's well pigmented, stays put and the flexible felt applicator makes application incredibly easy.   I always look forward to new releases from Illamasqua as they seem like such an innovative company always looking for ways to create something new and exciting. Some of my favourite products are from Illamasqua and I always find that they're a brand which delivers on quality time and time again. Although slightly late on the bandwagon, I'm just about to browse their sale to see if I can find any bargains!   Did you pick up anything from the Illamasqua Generation Q collection?

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Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette Review

Urban Decay - Naked Basics Eyeshadow Palette, £20 - Debenhams    The Naked Basic's palette is the newest release from Urban Decay. This is their very first matte palette and when I heard this, I knew I had to buy it and instantly put it on my wishlist. So, imagine my delight when I spotted a pile of the Naked Basic's palettes at my local Urban Decay counter - I probably let out a little squeal as I speedily ran walked over. This palette features six shades, four of which are brand new to Urban Decay. From left to right we have..   Venus - New. A demi matte, pearly white. Foxy - This featured in the Naked2 palette, it's a matte cream. Walk of Shame - A pale, pink toned nude, matte. Naked 2 - New. A matte taupe. Faint - New. A warm, rich dark brown, matte. Crave - New. A matte black.   All of the shadows are well pigmented, creamy and blend like a dream - perfect shades for a neutral look or evening eyes all in a compact, sleek palette with a large mirror. This palette is ideal for travelling, it's well made, secure and half the size of the other Naked palettes! Do I think it's an essential purchase? No. Is it a nice luxury item? Yes, of course. If you have a little extra Christmas money and feel like treating yourself, this will set you back £20 but it's a great purchase. All of the neutral shades you'll need together in a well packaged palette with a nice demi matte to use as a highlight.   Did you pick yourself up the new Urban Decay palette?

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Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain's

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stain's in 'Romantic' and 'Crush' - £7.99   Described as a 'pampering balm fused with a lightweight lip stain in an adorable, retractable chubby lip crayon'.
After seeing the Revlon Kissable Lip Balm Stain's splashed across almost every blog I read and hearing that they were a dupe for the Clinique chubby sticks I knew I had to pick a few up. I wasn't particularly interested in the pink or nude shades as I knew they wouldn't make a huge difference to the colour of my lips so I opted for the two red shades on display. 
'Romantic' is a classic Vixen, old Hollywood red. 'Crush' is a gorgeous, deep cherry plum.   The packaging of these are simplistic but sweet, it did take me a few minutes to figure out but they twist up so you never have to bother sharpening them - a huge plus for me. These balms are quite firm and waxy so I don't foresee them breaking off and you end up using very little product, also helped by the fact that the pigmentation is amazing! If you're a little colour shy then a light handed application will give you a hint of colour or you can apply more generously for the full effect. I always exfoliate my lips prior to applying any lip products to eradicate any dry patches so I had no problems with uneven application, etc. These apply like a dream, gliding on to the lips and feel smooth and creamy once on. I find these to be pretty moisturising but by the end of the day the glossy finish has faded and the colour has worn off slightly in areas due to drinking or eating although you'll still have a base colour where your lips are stained - a quick top up is all that's needed!   The only downside, for me is the minty scent - I don't understand why anyone needs minty lips?! but I can overlook this minor negative.   Revlon is currently on 3 for 2 in Boots so if you fancy trying out a few of the Lip Balm Stain's get yourself down there ASAP!

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Dior, Clinique and Perfumes Club

Dior Bronze Matte Bronzer - Shade 1, £28.60

Clinique Anti Blemish Liquid Foundation, Fresh Sand, £19.35

Recently I was very generously offered the opportunity to trial a few products from the Perfumes Club website and feedback my thoughts on the website, delivery and cosmetics themselves. After having a thorough browse of the site, I decided upon the Clinique Anti Blemish Foundation - acclaimed to be brilliant if you have oily skin, and the Dior Matte Bronzer. In order for me to trial the website as a normal customer I was given a code which discounted the products at the end of checkout, but still allowed me to go through the process of finding each item, adding it to my basket, checking out and experiencing delivery as any other customer may. The layout of the website is incredibly easy to navigate and if all else fails and you come up trumps in your search you can find the item you're looking for with the search bar. The Perfumes Club offers a wide range of discounted beauty products, including high end brands which means you might find your favourite products at a lower price! The website also offers the option of PayPal payments, money transfers and Card payments whilst checking out which is an added bonus.

 Postage and Packaging is my only quibble, with it being £6.90 - I know this will immediately throw up a red flag for some but my parcel arrived within three days of purchase, well packaged and I had continual updates on it's whereabouts (it comes all the way from Spain!). The real stand out product so far for me has to be the Dior Matte Bronzer, which is just a dream to use. Although it may be Winter, I'm still an Essex girl and I love a tan so this adds a really healthy pop of colour without looking as though you've been tangoed. Not to mention the packaging is just gorgeous! I'll be reviewing both products in full details within the next few weeks so keep your eyes peeled!

Fancy a browse of the Perfumes Club website? http://www.perfumesclub.co.uk/

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