Rio 60 Second Neck Toner Review

*Rio 60 Second Neck Toner, £33.99   Nowadays there are contraptions that zap away hair, reduce cellulite, even work out your body without having to move from the sofa but I'd never considered that there might be a product to tone your neck. Well, today I introduce to you the Rio 60 Second Neck Toner. Designed, as the name would suggest, to tone up your neck and get rid of the dreaded double chin, this device promises a firmer neck after using this for just 60 seconds a day. This little beauty uses electrical impulses (sounds scary, don't worry it's not!) to stimulate muscles in to passive exercise. This movement is similar to nerve pulses that you'd experience whilst exercising and just means your muscles are contracting and then relaxing.  As you need the Conductive Gel to use the 60 Second Neck Toner you have to do a little patch test in advance just to ensure you're not allergic. This literally entails popping a small amount on your neck for 24 hours and keeping an eye out for any irritation. Once you've done this, you're ready to test the product out! Do be warned you will feel a slight tingling, bizarre sensation at first but it's fine it's just the device doing its job. To use, all you need to do is apply a small amount of the Conductive Gel to the two golden contacts, place the contacts on a treatment area and decide what intensity you want by using the + and - buttons. Now, you're probably wondering what the treatment areas are so let me explain. Treatment Area 1; Underneath your chin, avoiding any adams apples. Hold in place for 60 seconds. Treatment Area 2; Underneath your chin to the left, near to where you feel your pulse. Hold in place for 60 seconds. Treatment Area 3; Underneath your chin and to the right, once again near to where you feel your pulse. Hold for 60 seconds.   Pretty simple, ey?
So did it work? Both myself and my mum tested this out and I'm happy to report we both saw improvements in the appearance of our necks and profiles. I don't have a double chin (or one that I'll admit to!) so I just needed the skin tightening slightly and this did the job for me. My mum had slightly looser skin and a bit more to work on so she was my main test subject. After a few weeks we noticed her neck looked firmer and she no longer had to extend her neck like an Ostrich during family photos. It didn't completely get rid of the problem area, but definitely helped to tighten the skin and improve the appearance. I'll keep you all updated on whether we see any more progress.
What's the quirkiest beauty device you've ever tried?

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Rimmel Apocolips Lip Lacquers in 'Nude Eclipse' and 'Big Bang'

Rimmel Apocolips Lip Lacquers, £5.99

Recently the Blogging World has gone nuts for the latest offerings from high street brands. One of those products was the Rimmel Apocolips Lip Lacquers which are available in eight shades and can be found in Superdrug or Boots. At just £5.99 these wont lighten your purse too much which is why I picked up two shades, Nude Eclipse and Big Bang. At total opposite ends of the colour spectrum, Nude Eclipse is a pale nude, with a pink/brown undertone and Big Bang is a vibrant, classic red.

The Apocolips are a new hybrid of lip product that has the pigmentation and longevity of a lipstick with the sheen and ease of application of a lipgloss - best of both worlds? Almost. After application you're left with opaque colour and a glossy finish but after a few hours the effect has worn off to leave a matte finish which can be slightly drying. For me, this isn't an issue as I love matte lips and it means these have the longevity you need for an evening out, or a day at work. I do find that the nude shades have a shorter wear time but this seems to be a common theme with nude lip products!

The packaging is quite sleek and compact - no where near as luxurious as the Loreal Glossy Lip Stains but practical and great for chucking in your handbag for touch ups or after work makeovers. Inside, you'll find a doe foot applicator which can make for hard work with precise lines but you just need a little extra patience when applying brighter shades. The only downside for me is the fragrance which smells quite artificial and almost like plastic.

 These remind me of the Bare Minerals Pretty Amazing lip colours, so if you're looking for something similar in finish and consistency but slightly cheaper - Rimmel is the way forward. Have you tried the Rimmel Apocolips yet?

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Dainty Doll at Fragrance Direct

If you have a twitter account and joined in any of the #bbloggers chats recently, then you'll of no doubt seen that Fragrance Direct had added Dainty Doll to their stocklist and the products were all massively reduced in price. Being a beauty obsessive, I wasn't going to miss out on such an offer and placed an order immediately, all the items I received were as new and I've been overly impressed with the quality. I purchased three lipsticks in total, two were 'BabyLove' which is a milky, pale nude and the other 'Couture' a deep, burgundy lipstick. All were well packaged, pigmented, creamy and relatively long lasting. At £1.99, you really can't complain. I also picked up two powder blushers in the shades, 'Orange County Girl' - potential Nars 'Orgasm' dupe?! and 'Hippy Shake' a gorgeous, pale pink with shimmer. I love the simple, chic packaging of the compacts and they all come with mirrors for on the go touch ups. I've recently gone on a cream blush purchasing extravaganza so I couldn't decide whether to pick up another from Dainty Doll but in the end I decided why not?! The cream blushers were only £1.99 so I picked up 'Billion Dollar Babies' - a taupe, brown that adds a nice glow to your cheeks. My final purchases were the Eyeshadow Base in 'Frankie Girl' - similar to 'Soft Ocre' by Mac but with a powder finish and the mascara/eyeliner duo which was the only disappointing product for me as the mascara was dried up and the eyeliner was slightly watery and took a lot of effort to build up an opaque line. If you haven't heard of Dainty Doll before, then it was created by Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud after she became fed up with the lack of offerings for pale skinned girls. So, not only is this like perfect for fair skinned ladies - but also women of colour too, as I've tried and tested it on my (fake) tanned skin.   There's still a few products on the Fragrance Direct website, with prices ranging between 99p - £2.99 it's a bargain not to be missed. Especially since not long ago these Dainty Doll products were selling for £11+ in Boots!   Products to purchase - Powder Blushers, Cream Blushes, Eyeshadow Base and Lipsticks. Product to avoid - Mascara/Eyeliner Duo

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Instagram Diary

Hello all!

Sorry for my recent blogging absence, I feel like there's not enough hours in the day lately but I assure you blog posts will re-commence towards the end of this week as I have LOTS to show you all. Just to keep you updated with what I've been up to here's a little update in photos...

 As you can see I've been doing a lot of shopping recently, I wish I could say what's photographed above is it all but sadly that wouldn't be true. In my defence, Boots and Superdrug had offers on, I had £5 on my Beauty Card and Debenhams had 10% off Beauty! I finally picked up a YSL Glossy Lip Stain, some much lusted after goodies from Mac, a few bits from the new Topshop make up line and new Rimmel / Maybelline goodies.
On Saturday night I went out with my family for my Dads 50th birthday and we had a lovely meal in a local restaurant that's beautifully decorated! I had a tasty chicken terrine, a steak mince burger which was absolutely HUGE and then an assiette of mini desserts to finish. Afterwards I headed out with the work lot for one of the girls birthday and wore my New Look Aztec print midi dress - made complete with control knickers (sexy!) to suck in my food baby.
The next day was my Dads actual birthday and my mum whipped out a giant cake from Valerie Patisserie and if I hadn't had enough cake already a few days later I visited Valerie Patisserie for a slice of Chocolate Gateau and a hot chocolate. And as if you've not seen enough cake already - I'll finish off with a photo of a lemon drizzle cake I made for a customer at work.

Fancy seeing more photos? Check out my Instagram - lisamichellexx
If you want to keep up to date with what I'm doing, tweet me @GoldenGloww

xx MWAH

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Clynol Precious Oil

*Clynol Precious Oil, £15.45   'Glow precious oil for a groundbreaking way to repair and gloss - weightlessly! Formulated with Marula oil, it targets damage to transform dull and lifeless hair in to beautifully soft, smooth and shiny hair. For all hair types.'   Hair oils have recently become a firm fixture in my haircare routine. Not only do they smooth down flyaways, they add shine and help protect damaged hair. The latest I've tried is the Clynol Precious Oil which is formulated with Marula oil which google tells me is extracted from the kernals of a Marula tree, contains Oleic acid and has moisturising properties. My hair is quite fine and I find it tends to get quite dry on the ends so lightweight oils like this are ideal, they don't weigh the hair down - just add extra moisture, shine and definition. I tend to use this either when my hair is wet through the mid lengths and ends or once it's dry and styled just on the ends of the hair or where needed for a polished finish. I have pretty long hair and only need to use half a pump per application, meaning these oils last ages! Although I don't believe these type of products can really repair hair, I do think they add necessary moisture to nourish the hair over time and improve the strength and condition.
What's your favourite hair oil?

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Estee Lauder Pure Colour Blush in 'Witty Peach'

Estee Lauder Pure Colour Blush - Witty Peach, Satin. £24.00   I initially intended on visiting my local Estee Lauder counter to pick up their well hyped Double Wear concealer, one item and leave. However, the moment I approached the Lauder stand my eyes widened and I was pleasantly surprised with their offerings. I don't tend to purchase much from Estee Lauder, apart from their Double Wear foundation as it strikes me as more of a 'older lady' brand. Now I've gotten over the somewhat outdated outer packaging and discovered they have a lot more to offer then just foundation. One of the products that caught my eye was their Pure Colour Blush in 'Witty Peach' which reminded me instantly of Macs 'Ripe Peach' which I was gutted to miss out on when it came out. The ombre design instantly had my heart fluttering and before I even knew it the words, 'I want this too please' had passed my lips. I do find that once I actually own a product, take it home and really trial it out it sometimes isn't as amazingly brilliant as you convinced yourself in the shop it would be. So, that being said I do have a few faults with this product which I'll rush through quickly as I hate to pick fault with something so beautiful.  1, The ombre effect is undoubtedly gorgeous and the main thing that attracted me to purchasing this product but the beige/yellow has no purpose.  2, The packaging is a b**** to open.  And finally.. Why do all high end brands still insist on supplying you with a flimsy, horrible little brush. 
If you can bypass all of it's minor faults then this is a beautiful blush to own. It's not quite as pigmented as I'd hoped but it's easily buildable and offers a pretty peachy/coral flush to your cheeks. Purely because the appearance is so delicate and lovely and because I don't have another coral or peach in my collection alike this I definitely don't regret my purchase. This isn't a necessity, especially if you have similar shades but a nice, luxurious treat.

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