Lip Service

I've have been thinking about having my lips 'done' for a while. I hadn't really done much research on it but I knew I wanted a fuller pout. A month or so ago my boyfriends mum gave me a leaflet on 'Juvederm', a kind of lip filler, and told me she knew of a lady who performed it. Me being me decided to book an appointment pretty much there and then for the next week. I did a little Google research after and decided it seemed pretty safe.

I won't go into the ins and outs of the how process because you can find a look better information if you Google it but I thought some people may be interested in the results.

I only had my top lip filled as I'm pretty happy with my bottom one already and I used 1 vial of Juvederm which I believe to be 0.8ml.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt, I always thought lips were so sensitive but this particular filler has local anaesthetic in, you feel a tiny prick as the needle goes in but then the whole area becomes numb.

Anyway, onto the results:

Before.

I didn't realise until the lady told me that my lips were uneven! Ha, it's pretty noticeable in this picture. She basically told me to even them out she'd put a tiny bit less in the bigger side, but did warn me that they might still look uneven.

Immediately afterwards

They looked pretty good straight away, but obviously they are slight swollen.

Day 2

She told me I was unlikely to bruise, but look at those badboys! Tradge! Luckily they were mostly in the inner part of my lips and I was working night shifts that week so didn't scare too many people with my fishy lips.

3 weeks afterwards

The swelling went down after a week, but I just didn't get a chance to picture them until now! This picture is not very good, but they are pretty even now.

The difference is not massive, and I don't think you'd look at me and be like, 'she's had her lips done' but I notice it and I'm really pleased. The results are supposed to last around nine months the first time and then yearly after that, and I think I'll continue to have them done!

Lastly, so you can see them in action....

If you are thinking about having your lips filled then I'd give you the following advice.

• Research your practitioner - I'm lucky I found a good one, but it could have gone horribly wrong!

• Make sure they use a filler with local anaesthetic in, I know there's loads of different types out there and they all have there negatives and positives, you can find a wealth on info by Googling it, but I reckon without the anaesthetic it would sting like a bitch, and I usually have quite a good pain tolerance!

• It takes at least a week until your lips look 'normal', I didn't realise that my lips would be numb for so long. It was a week before I actually eat properly!

• You may also develop a lisp, me and the letter 'p' were enemies for a while.

• Do them for yourself. Most of my friends and family, including my boyfriend thought I was an idiot for getting them done, but I don't care, I wanted them done, and I like them and to me that's all that matters! Now the swelling has gone down, everyone (except my Mum, who threatened to throw me out the house, haha) has agreed that they look good (or they are all lying?!)

Feel free to ask me any questions in the comment box. Or give me your views, bad or good!

Feel Unique.com Beauty Box - November

Not many people seem to be subscribed to feelunique.com's monthly beauty box. Or if they are, they ain't blogging about it!

Maybe there is a reason for this and I'm just dumb, but I'm certainly enjoying my boxes!

It makes the beginning of the month a very exciting time for me as I love surprises! But I am a slight horder and am worried about how many sample size products I'll have laying around half finished in 6 months time!

Anyhoo, this is November's FeelUnique.com's beauty box

Eek stuffed full!

Xen-Tan Deep Bronze Luxe. Sample Size 30mls. RRP £21.50 for 236ml

First up we have Xen - Tan deep bronze luxe. I'm sure we've all heard of Xen-Tan. I certainly have, and I'm a user of it. I currently use the Absolute Luxe in Ultra Dark (we Essex girls, only go for the darkest!). However, this is an instant tan that claims to last for a week, so it's slightly different. It's 30mls so I reckon just about enough for a whole body? I know Xen-Tan is good, and I can imagine a lot of people, like myself, have already tried it. So is it a new product for me to try? Well, no. Am I happy for a sample? Well, yes, as I already use it, it's pretty useful.

Schwarkopf Dust It. Full size 10g. RRP £9.55

Next is my beloved Schwarkopf Dust It, which I squealed with excitement when I saw. Basically a texturising powder that you 'dust' on your roots for a little bit of extra volume. You may have also already heard of it, I'm pretty sure it's the original powder type hair stuff, but correct me if I'm wrong! Personally I love this stuff and as it's a full size I'm pretty darn happy.

Bella Pierre Shimmer Powder. Full size 2.35g. RRP £12.99

This claims to be a 'multi-purpose shimmer powder' but personally I will not be using it anywhere other than my eyes, it's dark brown! I'm guessing you get different colours in different boxes. I've heard of Bella Pierre before, in fact my mum got duped into spending a large amount of money on their products from a pop up stall in our local shopping centre, they weren't great quality. I'm not that impressed because of that. However, this eye shadow is fine. Just a brown eyeshadow, pretty pigmented, but goes everywhere. I'm not sold, but I will probably get some use out of it!

Goldwell DualSenses. Ultra Volume 60sec gel-treatment. Sample size - 50mls. RRP £7.70 for 200ml

Anything that gives volume to my hair it good in my books. I've never heard of Goldwell before and was pretty sceptical if it would work. I used it the other night, I was just thinking 'nahhh, this will never work' but I was actually pretty damn surprised that it did seem to give me a good bit of root volume, without weighing it down at all. Probably the most difference I've gotten' from any volumizing product. It smells fresh, and is actually really good value. The only negative I have it that I'm not sure whether it's a conditioner or not? The instructions just say to 'leave on shampooed hair for 60 secs', but what about conditioning? Personally I used shampoo and conditioner before the product, and it seemed to work just fine. Will definitely be purchasing the full size.

Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural Life and Sculpt Moringa Cleansing Balm & Dual Action Professional Cleansing Cloth. Sample size - 30mls. RRP £34 for 100ml

Lastly it probably the item that I was most excited about. Again I've never heard of Emma Hardie, but I love moringa and I love the fact it it is a cleanser that comes with a cleansing cloth, as I'm a user of Liz Earle usually. The packaging it expensive looking and the fact that this little sample comes with such an amazing cleansing cloth is fab!! The cloth has a muslin side and a softer micro fibre side, plus a dinky little logo! I'm happy with the cloth alone! The cleanser is lovely smelling and almost 'gel-like' in texture, if a little on the greasy side. It got my make-up off well and my face looked lovely and smooth afterwards. I feel I need at least a week or two of usage to see any real results, but I'm happy to preserver. Plus I think that even if I don't like the cleanser, I'll be definitely getting some more of the cloths!

Oh, and I also got a little sample of Bvlgari - Mon Jasmin Noir perfume. It's not bad.

All in all a pretty successful box! What do you think?

Feelunique.com Beauty Box - September

I know beauty boxes have been around for a while but I've never been one to lust over them. But a month or so ago I recieved an email about Feelunique.com's foray into the beauty box world. Feelunique is a website I've ordered from before and liked, so I guess that's what swayed my decision.

I'd pretty much forgotten I'd signed up until I got an email a few days ago saying that they were sorry but the September box was going to be late. So I eventually recieved it today, after they sent a dispache email on Monday (pretty speedy delivery)

Excuse the picture heaviness. I haven't had a chance to try out the new products really so reviews in time I guess!

Eek stuffed full!

I didn't mind it was late, but I always like free stuff!

New CID Cosmetics Picture Perfect Kit - full size

Contains 2 eye shadows, lipgloss, highlighter and mascara. 

Lipgloss, eyeshadows and highlighter

The eyeshadows are actually really nice, soft feeling a really pigmented. Can def see me using the brown a lot. Lipgloss is good colour as is the highlighter, the mascara is so bloody small though, it's pretty pointless!

Redken Quick Dry 18 Mini 0 mini sized 100ml retails £3.15

Am a fan of Redken and I actually was about to buy a mini hairspray for my holiday, so this is perfect. But at the end of the day it's hairspray. Smells ok, works well, I'm not quite sure what the quick drying part is about though. Since when does hairspray take long to dry anyway? Anyway I needed this, so WIN

Balm Balm 100% Organic Tea Tree Face Balm - 30ml (full size) Retails £5.99

This balm is the same concept as Elizabeth Ardens 8 Hour Cream etc. So basically you can use it anywhere, I have however never used those creams/balms on my face as they are so damn greasy. I am inclined to try this one though as it contains tea tree oil and is organic, boy does it stink though! Like I said I'm going away so I reckon this might be used as a sort of mask for my face on the 7 hour plane journey. Tea tree is a old favourite of mine for getting rid of spots on my skanky skin so this is pretty useful for me and I'm willing to get over the smell for that reason. But for people with lovely spotless skin, be warned it really does stink.

Ella Bache Creme Tomate Vitamin Radiance Cream - 30mls (Full Size 50mls - retails £45.95)

Containing tomato, this is supposed to be a complexion brightener. Has a lovely pearl like sheen to it that doesn't make you look like a disco ball face. I like.

Di Palomo Wild Fig and Grape Enriching Hand and Nail Cream 25ml (Full size 75ml - retails £6.30)

No-one can ever do wrong by giving me hand cream, as my hands a constantly being washed or covered in alcohol gel. This smells nice, doesn't particullary feel like anything special on though, but I'm happy enough

Caudalie VinoPerfect Day Perfecting Fluid

This is an extra in the box. Feels nice, only a tiny size but as it was an extra I don't care!

Elle Saab perfum Echatillon 1ml

This picture makes it look huge! It's just a perfume sample though. Smell nice, I like keeping little samples in my bag for top ups through the day. This was another extra too!

So all in all I'm pretty pleased, but then at the end of the day I love a surprise so for me this was kind of like opening a Christmas present! 

Did you receive the FeelUnique.com beauty box. Or have I ruined the surprise?

17 - Falsifeye Mascara and Gel Eyeliner

So I wandered into Boots the other day, looking for nothing in particular. When I noted that 17 had a new mascara on display and where offering a free gel eyeliner with the purchase of the mascara. ZING!

My Lancome is fast running out and I needed a new mascara and I always use gel eyeliner. But actually, I needed no excuse, I was going to buy it anyway. Mascara and eyeliner for £6.49 - barg.

I will be honest I am a mascara snob. I often buy drugstore brand mascara, use them a couple of times and revert back to my ever faithful DiorShow and Lancome Hypnose.

Was this mascara any different?

Packaging - Pink, simple, cute. The width of the tube is redic though, really sqaure and massive. It's easy to grip but I had a hard time zipping up my already overflowing make-up bag with it in!

Brush - As you can see the brush it pretty thick - not quite in the same terratory as Benefits Bad Gal, but not far off. Big brushes mean and lashes are coated much quicker and thicker, but smaller lashes can be left out. Because of its size and the fact that it didn't have a tapered end I found it difficult to get into the corners of my eyes.

Results - as you can see from the before and after. Not a huge difference right? Length, pretty much the same, lashes darker, slightly fuller. Not really a night time mascara for that reason. However I did like the fact that the mascara wasn't too 'wet' feeling, I think it would be great for during the day and gave my the feeling of fluttery lashes! It didn't flake during the day and I didn't get any smudging/panda eyes from it.

So would I re-purchase? No, probably not. I have no qualms with it and will continue to use the bottle up, but it doesn't cut it amongst my high-end mascaras. But if your nearing the end of the month, strapped for cash and needing a new mascara then I'd probably say give this one a go, especially with the free gel eyeliner!

Me and my MAC makeover

So I went and had my first every MAC makeover the other day. I've tried to get one done before but I always wanted it on a Saturday or Friday before a night out, and they get super booked up in advanced!!

The story goes that me and my friend were actually supposed to be in Ibiza this week. But when it comes to organising stuff we both suck big time. Apparently you cannot book holidays 2 days in advance, especially holidays to Ibiza, as they are all sold out. DOH!

So instead we decided to spend a night in a spa hotel. As we had also left this to the last minute (see a pattern emerging?), choices were limited, but I did manage to find a a deal to the K-West spa in London.

(Image)

If you ever are staying in London around the Shepard's Bush area then I would recommend the K-West 100% - not only is it a 5 minute walk from Westfield shopping centre it is also only a 5 minute taxi ride from trendy Notting Hill, and if you love a cocktail, like myself, then Notting Hill is the place to be. In addition to this the spa is pretty fab, tiny, but fab, and has an actual snow room. Yes, an actual room filled with snow. I thought this was amazing and attempted to get many pictures of it, all of which totally failed. Never have I had so much fun in the snow whilst wearing a bikini!

Apparently some people can take pictures in the snow room! (Image)

I got an hours massage thrown in with the package (my friend had the facial) which was really good, and totally relaxing. Treatments are pretty pricey, I guess that's what you expect in London, but there is a huge range, and when you are away you kinda' want to treat yourself anyway!

Anyway, enough plugging for the hotel - I sound like part of there PR team! They're not paying me for this!

After our treatments we hit Westfield, where I had my MAC makeover done.

This is my honest opinon of the makeover, it's a ramble so you can just skip this part and look at the pretty pictures!!

So I got there on time (go me) and waited for the guy to come out, he sat me down, asked where I was going that night and what I was wearing (coral dress). I told him I liked dark brows and eyes and that I wanted to try the new Everhip lipstick. He suggested smokey eyes with a hint of coral and so I kind of let him do his thing. He spent over an hour on my make-up and was so precise with his application!

I decided that didn't want to look the whole way through and so left it till the end to see the result. Honestly when I looked at myself in the mirror I was a bit horrified, I felt I looked really weird - no disrespect to the guy that did my make-up because his blending skills were amazing and his own make-up was flawless. I guess it's just when your used to doing your make-up all the time yourself, it's a bit of a shock to see what someone else does! I think the fact that I didn't go in with any make-up on at all didn't help, therefore the guy had no idea how much make-up I wore on a daily basis (ALOT!) and he didn't actually ask.

Awkwardly he didn't really speak to me the whole time, and I kind of tried to talk but a. felt like he didn't really want to talk to me, and b. found it difficult to start up full blown conversations when I could barely move my face. I kind of got the impression that he thought I was some idiot who knew nothing about make-up, maybe I'm totally wrong and he was just concentrating on his job, like I said I cannot fault him on his make-up skills, and I am a bit of an awkward person to talk to anyway.

Nevertheless here are the results

Pretty amazing blending right? The make-up photographed beautifully and I felt gorgeous and glowy. I loved the conturing and highlighting he did on my face and the lips and eyes complimented each other so well!

I'll be honest though, I added my own false lashes on (really quickly, hence why they are odd and hanging funny!), darkened my brows (like I said, I like dark brows!), added a bit of bronzer and winged my eyeliner out a little bit.

I would totally have another MAC makeover. I may be complaining alot about it but I was actually super happy with the results after my little tweeks! I think if I went again I'd be a bit more specific on what I wanted, maybe keep my make-up on so they had an idea of what products I used and look in the mirror more so I could get an idea of what he did!

I'll go through what I got with my £25 product wise and explain my hair at a later date!

P.s. if you want to know what products he used I can probably hazard a guess!

Pretty in Peach, Sleek Review

I finally dabbled in some Sleek make-up a few weeks ago. The local Superdrugs near me don't stock Sleek and when I further afield I rarely remember to go in any. The couple of times I have seen the brand there only seems to be neon eyeshadow palettes left, which I'm not sure I want to try!

Anyway I managed to pick up the last Pout Polish they had left from the Avoir La Peche collection.Having never tried there pout polish I was intrigued to see if it was any good, plus I loved the colour. I also wanted the blush from the collection, but that was sold out!

I love the packaging, although if I'm honest I find round pots likes this harder to store in my make-up bag, and I hate sticking my finger in things because then I get lipstuff all over everything. But I still love the packaging!

It swatches a creamy peach colour, not massively pigmented, which is what you expect from a 'tinted lip conditioner' anyway and it smells lovely, like vanilla.

I have quite red lips so I do need a pigmented colour for lipstuff to show up really but I'm pretty happy with this. Just gives a lovely sheen with a hint of peach, makes my lips feel smooth, but it's lasting power isn't great.

Still for RRP £4.29 I'm defiantly going to try out a few more of the Pout Polishes!

Sailing on the sea...Ocean Salt by Lush Review

I am a massive lover of facial scrubs. Up until a few months ago I was scrubbing everyday, until I kinda twig'd that this wasn't the right thing to do. And for some reason I just stop buying any. I was just using my mum's Clinique 7 day scrub every week or so and that was that.

Well a few weeks ago, when my skin was particularly manky looking, I happened to be in Lush buying my weekly dose of bubble bars when I wandered over to the skin area. Bar the face masks I've never actually tried anything for the face from Lush, I guess I almost have it in my head that natural products don't do much for spotty and gross skin like mine (I no, I no, silly me). I had heard from lots of lovely blogging ladies that Lush facial products were good but I already had a good cleanser, toner and didn't really want to try there moisturiser. So facial scrub it was then.

I was pretty much sold on the Ocean Salt facial scrub when I saw it, just because it has the word 'salt' in it and I also have it in my head that salt is a good exfoliator and, salt heals, right?

It promises to be a 'stimulating scrub, for a complexion that glows' and contains lime, coconut, grapefruit and vodka, alongside the sea salt.

Costing £6.45 for 120g I reckons it comes in at a mid-range priced scrub, I probably wouldn't be inclined to spend much more than that on one but they do make the bigger size, £11.80 for 250g if your feeling frivolous!

First off, I'm all about the smell, and this smell totally smells like a cocktail, and I'm also all about the cocktails. So cocktail smelling scrubs are amazing - snaps for you Lush.

I guess from the moment you see 'salt' scrub on the label you kind of get an inkling that it will be pretty harsh. Dipping your finger in this scrub just confirms those fears, or joys, I guess it depends on how scrubby you like your scrub! The scrub contains lots of different sized rough salt particles and feels creamy, yet a little greasy to touch.

To get a good scrub I feel you only need a small amount, too much and it just sort of falls off your face! Wetting your hands helps a little bit I find. Once it's on you have to be really careful with how hard your scrub avoid your eye area at all costs and try not to get it in your mouth (you know that taste you get when you swallow sea water? Yeah, that times 100 with this!)

Once it's washed off I really do see a difference in my skin straight away. It gets rid of any dry areas and it pretty damn good at cleaning out any blocked pores, it makes my skin look squeaky clean! Which is no mean feat!  

So would I recommend it?

Yes. But here's my word of warning, sensitive skinned girls step away, even with a light buffing of this scrub on the face I still reckon it would cause problems, also scrub happy girls (like myself) should perhaps find another scrub to get happy with or you'll have half your face off!

However I've you feel that your skins needs a bit of a brighten every week or so, or if you suffer with spots. I would whole heartedly recommend this. I've been using it once a week on my skin, usually before a night out and I have really seen a difference. Plus salt does heal the skin and if I'm having a particularly bad break out I leave this scrub on my skin for 5 minutes or so before I buff off and it does seem to have some effect on the little buggers.

What I also find a little frustrating with Lush sometime is that everything has a really short use-by-date, however this scrub is good for over a year, which is something to bear in mind when your only using it weekly!

Ummm...Umberto...?

About a month ago I was wandering around Boot's looking to buy some more conditioner.

I'm a life long fan of Aussie 3 Minute Miracle but like everything I'm begrudged to buy it unless it's on offer, and it wasn't. However, at the time they were doing 3 for £10 offers on professional hair care.

Umberto Ginannini caught my eye mainly because I'd read a few reviews on Backcomb in a Bottle (BIAB) and was intrigued to try it. This way I could buy it, plus 2 conditions. Win win situation?

So along with Backcomb in a bottle I picked up.

Plump&Sexy Volume Conditioner from the Glam hair range (same range as BIAB)

Moisture Replenishing Hair Mask from the Spa Rituals range.  All RRP £5.61 - so I got a fair bit off.

Firstly I'll start by reviewing the Backcomb in a Bottle. You may have read reviews on this before so I'll keep it short and sweet. It is basically spray gel in a bottle. Sure it keeps the hair that I backcombed in place, but in doing so it knots my hair up so badly and is very sticky.

Personally if you are going to backcomb your hair I'd suggest using hairspray to set it, or the fabulous Dust It from Schwarzkopf. I'll use it up but I wouldn't bother re-purchasing. Although it actually does do a good job of setting curls without the crispy look.

Next up is the Plump&Sexy volume conditioner.

 
Firstly, I love the bottle, but screw tops aren't very practical in the shower, tsk tsk, but it's not the be all and end all of a conditioner, so I'll let it slide.

The actual product itself has a very strong smell, the kind of smell that stays on your hair after the conditioner has been washed off. It's a funny smell, very hard to describe, personally I like it but it might be too 'chemaclly' for some peoples liking. I rarely use shampoo/conditioner that makes my hair smell lovely after I've wash it off so I did have some appreciation for it.

Unfortunately that's as far as it goes. For me, a test of a good conditioner is how slippery it makes my feel whilst in using it, plus as I rarely brush my hair before washing it (I know, I know..slaps wrist) it needs to be able to get my knots out in the shower! I could tell from the first wash that this just wasn't the case with Plump&Sexy. Worst still it left a horrible residue on my hair once I'd blow dried. I've tried to persevere. making sure I rinsed really well, but every time I use it I get the same greasy/dirty feeling on my ends and at the same time it made my hair look really dry. I guess I did see some volume in my hair, but it's almost like the thickness in my hair was down to the product leaving it's residue! 

I won't re-purchase this, nor will I even use it up. Maybe those with thicker locks might find that the residue it leaves useful in giving volume, but sadly it's not a product for me.

Last up is the Moisture Replenishing Hair Mask from the Spa Rituals range. You get a good 200ml for your dollar, which isn't bad. And it smells absolutely lush! It really does remind me of a lovely spa smell. Again, like the conditioner it leaves its whiff on your hair after it's been washed off.

Now as for the product, it goes on like a dream, and makes my hair feel so silky, just like amazing. Seriously, it really feels like it's doing it's job. Sadly though, it has the same residue leaving problem as the Plump&Sexy conditioner, but probably 10 times worse. I guess the hair mask does kind of warn you of potential problems though....

"finer hair should use sparingly and hair prone to excess oil should apply only to damaged ends"

Oh I see, I probably come into both categories there. My hair is prone to oil and although it's not that fine, it's still not that thick either. But to you know what Umberto? I have tried using sparingly, and I have tried using only on my ends, and I've tried using sparingly on my ends, yet I still get the same result. I really, really want to like this hair mask, and I'll probably put up with greasy feeling locks for once in a while, just to get that silky feeling that really makes me think that it's repairing all my split ends magically. Plus what I have found is that if you use it and then wash your hair again a couple of days later you get that same silky feeling when wet.

I'm going to continue to use the hair mask but probably only when I know the next day I'm just going to stuff my hair up on head for work or the gym. Repurchase wise? The jury's still out on that, like I said, I want to love this product so much....

All in all though, Umberto? Sort out your hair care product formulas!

Anyone else used Umberto Giannini's products?

Hoola Vs. Laguna. FIGHT!!!

Being a long time lover of bronzer I had pretty much had found my star product in Benefit's Hoola. I've been repurchasing it for years and I've never really wanted anything more from a bronzer.

That was until I heard good things about NARS Laguna, lots of good things... I was torn between my loyalty to Hoola but my curiosity for Laguna. Curiosity always gets the cat. So I purchased Laguna.

I've been using them both for a while now, so I feel that I should review them!

Round 1 - Price

First off, they both cost the same amount. £24. However you get 11g in Hoola and 8g in Laguna. Do the maths. Plus Hoola comes with a (all be it, crap) brush

Ding, ding, ding!

Winner: Hoola

Round 2 - Packaging

Hoola & Laguna

Benefit box powders all come in the classic retro style boxes. They are cute and different to your normal plastic casing. However, they are cardboard and so damage quite easily, my friend uses the Dallas (of the same box design) and basically throws it everywhere, she has managed to rip the top of the box and so now her lid flaps off! Plus they are a bitch to transport anywhere, so big! I don't take mine out in my bag but it's still pretty scuffed, as you can see above!

Laguna comes in a classic NARS style case. It might not look exciting but it feels solid and expensive and much more slimline making it easier to take out in your bag. Plus it has a pretty good mirror inside the lid.

Ding, ding, ding

Winner: Laguna

Round 3 - Colour

Both Laguna and Hoola I would describe as 'muddy' bronzers, neither have a hint of 'orange' on or off, which is why I believe they are both so popular. In the pan Laguna looks slightly darker as you can see here....

When you swatch, the colours are very similar. Laguna has a very slight shimmer to it (which can be seen in the flash picture), I guess you could say that it is very slightly more pigmented too, and very slightly warmer than Hoola.

L-R Hoola, Laguna - flash

L-R Hoola, Laguna - natural light

See? The differences are very slight, when you transfer the bronzer to a bigger area i.e. your face! The differences are even less.

However in saying that Laguna does have the shimmer while Hoola is matt. Personally I prefer matt for the day and shimmer for the evening, so I guess they both have there uses.

Ding, ding, ding!

Winner: Tied!

Round 4 - Lasting power 

Personally I have never ever had a problem with either Laguna or Hoola melting off. 14 hours shifts running around a ward are no match for either of them. However I do believe that part of there staying power is to do with the foundation and primer you use. But I have found they are both 'budge' free! 

Unfortuantly I've only ever worn Hoola make-up free, so I can't comment on how they are without a foundation base as it wouldn't be fair!

Ding, ding, ding!

Winner: Tied!

So the champion is..............Er, both!!!!

 No seriously I can't fault either or them, they are both really similar. 

I guess if you take your bronzer everywhere with you then Laguna is better for portability. But then if you prefer a matt finish with your bronzer then Hoola is the one, (plus it's slightly better value for money!). Personally I like matt during the day and shimmer for a night out, which is why I'll be repurchasing both!

Guilty as charged - MAC Prep+Prime Skin Brightening Serum

Suspected detained on grounds of shiny face offences

Looks innocent, huh?

Well believe me it's not.

I purchase this around a month ago, I vaguely remember hearing something about the Prep+Prime range being good and I never say no to a serum. The word serum makes me think that is doing my skin good and I do enjoy a bit of skin brightening, especially as I cake so much make-up on. It also claims to 'strengthen the skin against UV-related damage, while M∙A∙C Charged Water ensures deep, long-lasting hydration'.

Lovely, I thought, I could do with a new primer. So I purchased. I believe it was around £28, which I think is pretty pricey for 30mls, but then I didn't know the price until I paid. This was partly due to the fact that my wonderful boyfriend had decided it was appropriate to wear a 'hoodie' with the hood up to a shopping trip around Covent Garden. Which meant that I was not only dragging my boyfriend around MAC but the security guard (who obviously did not like people in 'hoodies' being in his shop) was also trailing around after us. My own little entourage......ay? Neither were very helpful though, haha. Which is probably why I came out with this bloody thing!

Once I got my new little purchase home I decided that being small and expensive I would only use it for special occasions, which for me counts as any day that I'm not actually at work.

So fast forward to the first day I wasn't at work and me therefore using the serum.

The serum is a milky colour - as you can kind of see in the above picture. It's quite wet to touch but goes on easily and dries quickly, it don't think that it feels particularly smooth on, but it is very lightweight and smells nice. On bare skin I find that to me this makes absolutely no difference at all. But I was still hopeful for its brightening  power under my make up.

The results? Utter rubbish....

This only really dawned on my yesterday, but I've being noticing that for a while I've been getting a very shiny forehead, like really, really greasy looking. I didn't really think much of it and just presumed that it was down to my working hard or me being hot, plus I only noticed when I got home and by that point it didn't matter anyway. The serum doesn't make any difference under make-up at first.

However, yesterday I had a study day at work, I've started a new course and it basically meant me sitting in a lecture theatre for 6 hours. Taxing on the mind, not so much on the body though (or the forehead, to be precise) so why when I got home did my forehead look like it had a done a marathon, a sweaty, sweaty, marathon? Because, do you know what? The day before I worked a 14 and 1/2 hour shift, I work a job that's pretty active I guess, but when I got home my face and forehead was shine free.

The penny dropped, I don't use my serum for work, but I did use it for the study day. And do you know what? All those days I've been getting a sweaty spam head, I seem to remember using my Skin Brightening Serum. So I'm pretty sure I've found the culprit.

Maybe it's me? Maybe you've used the stuff and loved it. Maybe it looks lovely on clear skin, and maybe it is protecting me from evil UV rays.

But personally? So sorry MAC, I still love you, but you can keep your Skin Brightening Serum

Review - Vichy Dermablend Corrective Foundation

Depending on who's blogs/vblogs you read/watch, you might have heard of Vichy. Also if you are European, you probably know about it too. But for those who are relatively new or had never heard about the brand then here's something I copied and pasted about it from Wikipedia (sorry, I know you should never use Wiki as as source!)

"Vichy ("Vichy Laboratoires") is a premium brand of dermo-cosmetics owned by L'Oréal under its Active Cosmetics division and is sold exclusively in pharmacies. Thermal spa water from the hot springs of the town of Vichy, France, is the only water source used in its formulations. The company was founded in 1931."

I originally heard about it from this fabulous lady and if you haven't heard or watched Lisa Eldridge work her magic then you MUST. I watched this video about acne covering with lots of interest and decided that I must buy the Vichy Dermablend foundation (along with the Clinique redness solution's). This was just before Christmas and at the time I could only find it online and a lot of the colours were out of stock, plus what with buying Christmas present I didn't really have the money. Also I was very happy with my Clinique foundation so I just forgot about Vichy.

Last week I was having a mooch around Boots when I found a whole Vichy stand! I think this is a relatively new thing from Boots as I've never seen it before. So I pounced on the foundations! The problem is that they were in boxes with no testers making colour matching a bit difficult (this might not be the same for your Boots though, I went into another Boots this week that did have testers) luckily I chose wisely and the colour is pretty perfect for my skin!

So, onto the product

It is marketed as 'Corrective foundation' so in my eyes is best for skin that needs correcting i.e. redness, acne, scarring. My skin is pretty gross, I suffer with blackheads, whiteheads and spots underneath the surface. My cheeks are the worst area, so I've decided to show you guys a before and after.

I chose the colour Nude (25), my skin colour is naturally quite light, but I use fake-tan and like to wear my face products as dark as I can get away with. I usually wear a NW25 in MAC. Vichy only comes in 5 colours which is a bit rubbish, but you can always mix!

The foundation is a liquid and so goes on best with a foundation brush or stippler in my opinion. It gives a full coverage and I would almost say its more like a concealer than a foundation but without the caked-on-feeling you often get with concealers. I've been using it alongside a lighter foundation and using over areas that need a particularly heavy covering. What I really like about this foundation is that you don't need to layer it on, it just gives a full coverage from the first application. This means that it feels light and fresh on the face.

So you can see what kind of coverage it gives, below is a picture of my face naked, then with MAC studio fix foundation on (which I'd say gives a heavy coverage) and then with Vichy Dermablend. I took these pictures in the same light on the same day with no other products on.

I'm sorry I'm subjecting you to my awful skin, its in the name of beauty I tell you! Also please click on the picture to enlarge - you get a much better idea!

So what do you think? I can defiantly see a difference! Although MAC SF covers there are still a couple of red areas, with Vichy they've practically disappeared!


So would I recommend it?

Yes! Since buying this product I've pretty much gone concealer free (apart from eye bags!) and whats gorgeous about it is that it can be worn everyday. MAC SF is probably the heaviest foundation I own but I wouldn't wear it day-to-day because it's almost mask like. Whereas I've been wearing Vichy to work and everyday since I purchase it, it lasts really well and I've been getting home and looking in the mirror, and thinking 'wow, my face still looks perfect'

Any negatives?

The colour selection is one, like I said I found the perfect colour in Nude, but you might not be so lucky. It's worth trying to mix colour though! Other then that, nothing. Even the price is good £14.30 for 30mls

You can buy it here

Let me know what you think if you've tried it!