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Tuesday 23 October 2012

Skincare Challenge - Update!

Hi all,

Last week I did a post on my skincare challenege with Soap & Glory and I have a bit of an update!

I can be a little impulsive sometimes when I buy things, so it was only after I did the 3 for 2 at Boots with Soap and Glory.........I remembered I wanted to try the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish as well some Origins products, whoops!!!

I have liked the Soap and Glory so far, and when I compared their hot cloth cleanser to the Liz Earle sample........Liz Earle smacked it down as it did remove more make up........LOL!

In addition to this, I managed to bag a Clarisonic on Ebay for £50 which I thought was a bargin!  So I should also be getting that in the next couple of days. I also saw Tanya Burr recommend the Elemis Balancing Lavender toner, and for some reason I had been really struggling to find a toner!  There seems to be a lot of cleansers but not as many toners around. 

So, I am still re-doing my skin care challenge but have made some amendments.  I am going to try this new routine for the next 2 weeks and let you know my progress.

I go through weird stages with my skincare routine, sometimes I can't be bothered and just use face wipes (which I have sworn I will never ever do again!!!!) and other times I have tried high end products.  I would say I have normal/combination skin.  I have never had severe acne, but I have suffered with spots since my teens and STILL get them and I am 30!!!!  I say the main brands I have tried are Clinque, Clarins and Simple.....but I have yet found a routine I am 100% happy with. 

So, as I have been really into beauty blogs & vlogs for almost 2 years, I have learnt so much about make up, and now more recently I have been watching videos and reading about skincare, I feel I have educated myself and come to the conclusion that I need to sort out my skin care pronto!  As in the long run my skin is going to be better and I will stop getting horrible breakouts.  Sometimes they are so bad I have to get anti biotics from the doctors.  Also a few years ago, I had such a bad and persistant breakout on my forehead, I had to get a fringe!!!! Bad times.

So, below is what I am going to try out over the next couple of weeks:

Origins Never A Dull Moment Facial Cleanser (morning only)
Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (evening only)
Elemis Balancing Lavender Toner (every morning & every other evening)
Clarisonic Mia with Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (every other evening)
Alpha-H Liquid Gold (every other evening)
Clarins Multi Active Day Cream (every morning)
Clarins Multi Active Night Cream (every other evening)
Origins Eye Dr Eye Cream (every morning & evening)

I don't want to over do it which is why I am for example going to do Monday Alpha H Liquid Gold, Tuesday Clarisonic and then Wednesday use normal cleansing and repeat, as you don't want to over exfoliate your skin!  That's why above I have "every other evening" for some of the products.  The only thing I am debating is the Soap & Glory serum as I am thinking the Estee Lauder Night Repair Serum and I also have a Clarins sample!!  But Estee Lauder is sooooooo expensive!  Going to try and get a sample first I think. 

I will let you know how I get on!  Do you use any of the above?  What do you think?

Cat XXX

Sunday 21 October 2012

Review - Dior Rose Diamond Highlighter

Hi everyone :0)

I have been meaning to review this for some time but not had chance!  There was a lot of talk online about the Dior highlighting powers, mainly the Ambre Diamond.  Because I have Mac Soft & Gentle, I thought it would be a waste, which it why I went for the Rose Diamond  - a lovely pink highlighting powder.

The packaging with Dior as always is gorgeous!  It does come with a velvet pouch, but I find it gets mucky in my make up bag :0(

The thing I like about is there are 4 colours in the powder - so you have the option of mixing them all altogether or just using one of the colours.  For this reason I would say the Ambre Diamond is good if you don't have a similar highlighter like me - because you can use these also on your brow bone & tear duct.

For applying this, I find my Real Techniques Stippling brush is best, as I find highlighters work when pressed into the skin rather than brushed.







I do love this, however I do prefer a more bronze toned highlighter, so I tend to use my Mac one more, but this one is great for nights out, and also looks fab if you have a tan! When I am a bit pale, it can look too bright on me - fair skinned gals note!  I would also say these are similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer bricks.

You can find the Dior Rose Diamond here

Do you use this?  What other highlighters would you recommend?

Cat XXX

Friday 19 October 2012

Nail Polish Of The Week

This week I am wearing Rimmel Lycra Pro in Blue Vogue. Nude and Navy nails are in this winter and I love this colour. I actually picked it up last year in a hurry thinking it was purple! But it is indeed blue, and I am now glad I picked it up by mistake!!

The Rimmel Lycra Pro line is really good quality and you can tell it is different too their other polishes. I have a few other colours from this line.

Have a great weekend!!

Cat xxx

Thursday 18 October 2012

Review - Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation

Hi guys!

Today I am talking about Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touch Ecalt foundation.  I finally caved in!!

I am normally fussy with my foundation and tend to repurchase the same brand/product.  However, after getting into beauty blogs and You Tube videos over the past 1-2 years, I have I guess self educated myself and know a lot more about foundation.  And a big thing for me is light, medium or full coverage, which I didn't really get before!

So my dilemma was, I really wanted to get Estee Lauder Doublewear foundation for the winter, being a full coverage and better for the colder months.  Plus sometimes I work away and travel, so a long lasting foundation would definitely be a good idea for me to have.  But.....I then started reading blogs about the Yves Sant Laurent foundation and had a dilemma!!!  I had been using Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser recently, so it was definitely time to purchase a foundation for winter....... but which one!!??

So, I decided the best thing to do was get a sample of each, try for a month and see which one I liked.  But...... because they are so different I decided to get both ha!  So I have bought the Yves Saint Laurent one this month, and will be getting Doublewear next month, I figured it isn't too cold right now, so I can wait ha!






The packing is beautiful and mirrors the classic Touche Eclat highlighter.  It is a concern travelling but it is glass, but you can always get round that with travel bottles!  But it does look beautiful on the make up table!



The reason I wanted this as well as Doublewear, is I just love the radiance it give your skin.  I think this is even more important when you have fairer skin.  My friends who have darker skin tell me they don't bother wearing anything on their face on a work day, I could NEVER do that!  I would look dead ha ha!  Definitely need a bit of colour in your face, well I do anyway.

I know some bloggers have said this doesn't last all day, but I generally don't have this problem with any foundation I use.  I do have combination skin, so I am not sure if it's a different story if you have oily skin.

This is a beautiful foundation and I can't really compare it to Doublewear which has been the UK best seller for sometime,  but if you love the Touche Eclat pen, you will definitely like this.

You can find the Yves Saint Laurent Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation here

Have you tried it?  What do you think?

Cat XXX

Monday 15 October 2012

Review - Chanel Illusion D'Ombre

Hi guys!

Today I am showing you my beautiful Chanel Illusion D'Ombre eyeshadows.  I have never been into Chanel until I started blogging, so I blame the blogging world for this habit I have seem to have developed :0)

Anyway, when I  got these, I did have the intention of getting just 1, but ended up getting 3 (sshhhh don't tell hubby!!!).  but to be honest they are such fantastic quality and I know they will last me for ages so are worth it.

The 3 colours I got were Emerveille (82) which is a lovely neutral bronze shade, Illusoire (83) which I would describe as a dark purple shade and Epatant (84) which is a beautiful khaki shade..




On the above picture Epatant (84), Emerveille (82) and Illusoire (83).

It's up to you how you apply them.  You can use your fingers, but I do really think the brush that comes with these is really good for spreading the cream formula evenly across the eye


I love all these, but if you are new to these products I would say to start off with Emerville, because this is a nice neutral shade that you can dress up or down for day or night.  I do wear during the day, but recently I went out and put one of the new Mac pressed pigments over it and it looked amazing!

I love Epatant and Illusoire as well, but I would say these are definitely night time, going out shades.  They are really pigmented which is great and they don't budge all night!  I also find them really versatile to use with other products too, I recently went out and wore Naked Lunch by Mac under it and blended it in from the outer corner which looked really pretty and not too harsh, with it being a a darker colour.

I would recommend these to anyone they are amazing!  A cheaper alternative would be Maybelline Colour Tattoo, but I definitely think Chanel are worth the money.

What do you think?  Have you tried these?

Cat XXX

Saturday 13 October 2012

Nail Polish Of The Week

This week I am wearing Lead by Topshop. The picture does not do this polish justice, it looks black, but I can assure you it's a really dark purple with a green undertone. It depends which way the light is shining on it basically! I got this last week and thought it would be an awesome shade for winter.

I really think Topshop have upped their game in regards to nail polish. I have not seen this colour with any other brand. I also saw they had a glitter polish which looked extremely similar to the OPI muppets glitter polish, which is great as OPI is pretty impossible to get where I live!

What do you think of this weeks polish? Do you like the Topshop range? If so what colour would you recommend?

Cat xxx

Friday 12 October 2012

Review - Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

Hi guys!

I am reviewing this Chanel bronzer today. I am an avid Pixiwoo follower (check our their You Tube channel here, http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiwoo if you have been under a rock and don't know what I am talking about!).  Nic always uses their bronzer, but it always looked a bit scary to me!  So I never tried it.

However, I was still on my mission to find the perfect bronzer.  The last one I used was Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in Medium Deep and I talked about in my Everday Make Up blog.  I did like this, but I think as the weather got colder and my tan from my Ibiza holiday in May faded, it started to look orange.  And the hubby told me this so it must have been noticeable!!!  So, I did read some of my fellow bloggers reviews on this, and kept reading again and again, it was good for fair skin.  I had some points on my Debhanams Beauty Card (always comes in handy!) so decided to take the plunge.

And guess what, I really REALLY like it!  I did struggle applying it to start with, but found through trial and error that a kabuki brush is best to apply this with.  I did try the Real Techniques Contour Brush, but feel like the kabuki brush is just better to apply.






I know on the photo it does look a bit orange!!  But this is just a swatch!  I guarantee once blended into your foundation, you just get a lovely, natural glow.

You can find the Soleil Tan De Chanel here - http://www.chanel.com/en_GB/fragrance-beauty/Makeup-Bronzers-SOLEIL-TAN-DE-CHANEL-95742

Have you tried this product?  Is it a staple in your make up bag, or do you hate it??  Let me know!

Cat XXX

Sunday 7 October 2012

Nail Polish Of The Week

Evening all!

This weekend I wore Nails Inc Montrose Place. This is a really bright metallic pink, I have to confess I forgot about this one when I bought Nails Inc Notting Hill Gate in the summer as I normally prefer matte colours, but I really like this one and it was perfect for a night out in Liverpool.

Then on my ring figure, I added Topshop Nails in Ice Cruse for a bit of sparkle!

What colours are you loving for your nails at the moment?

Cat xx

Saturday 6 October 2012

Review - Bourjois Faux & Fabulous Eyelash Applicator

Hi everyone!

Check out what I got today! It was 3 for 2 in Boots, and I already wanted to get the Real Techniques 4 pack brush set, then I noticed the new Bourjois eyelashes which I read about online a couple of days ago

They aren't like any of my Mac or Eyelure lashes and I just thought they were really pretty!!

Then this little gadget caught my eye! Now, it's a bit of a lie, because they are not tweezers at all, definitely just an eyelash applicator, but I think they are ace!

I have used tweezers to apply false lashes for such a long time, but I just think this little gadget is going to be great for those of you who find applying lashes really tricky!! Plus I got them for free, so thought I would give them a go!


It is really easy to use, and you have a little more control of the lashes!  And because there's a rubber tip on the end, there's also less chance of poking yourself in the eye!

Don't get me wrong, a pair of tweezers will do, but I would definitely say this would be great for those of you just starting to experiment with false lashes, due to the added control you get. 

Do you have these or anything similar?

What do you think?

Cat  XXX