BURT'S BEES Lifesaver

One of the things I hate most about winter is its effect on our bodies. Bitter winds plus over usage of central heating just sucks the moisture out of our skin and it's hit me hard this year. I feel like I have 10 (and then some) moisturisers on the go, all just not quite hitting the spot.

My hands have suffered considerably. Although, I must admit I have the worst habit of picking at my cuticles (TMI alert) and yes I am hanging my head in shame…BUT this little pot of lemony goodness has saved the day!

After getting severely frustrated with the state of my hands I hit good old Google and spotted this Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream on the majority of the top hits. Safe to say I was in boots no longer than 10 minutes later!

First thing to comment on is the smell, very very lemony - one of those smells that makes you think ‘this product is going to work wonders’ before you even try it. It’s quite a hard balm, slightly more solid than Vaseline and needs to be worked with your fingers to soften it before applying. Yes, it is greasy but rubbed in well enough it sinks into the skin within minutes (ahoy there girls on the go) and softens the skin immediately. 

I currently have this little magic pot glued to my desk so I can apply it throughout the day and after a few days I feel my hands are well on their way to recovery. On that note, I am also 5 days into a nail varnish boycott – hoping I can last two weeks without lacquering up my nails in order to give them a breather. 

Burts Bees Lemon Cuticle Cream 15g - £5.99

THE Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm

One hot topic of January has to be the release of Revlon's newest lip product - the matte balm. A moisturizing yet matte balm that gives lip nourishment with a pop of colour. I recently picked up the colour elusive as I lack true pinks in my collection. Elusive is a muted rose shade, perfect for the transition from winter to spring!

The product itself is very creamy and silky on the lips, the bullet makes it super easy to apply and the colour glides on with one simple swipe. Elusive is quite pigmented and before you know it your donning a show stopping bold lip - I have however heard that some of the other shades are more sheer. On the shade front... Revlon have pulled out all the stops here with an amazing array of matte lip colours (quite literally something for everyone)!

The only gripe I have with this product is the obvious - dry lips never fall short of a matte lip product, but nothing a little lip therapy can't sort out.

Now, when's the next 3 for 2 eh...

Maybelline 'The Falsies' Mascara Review

I'm very particular about my eyelashes, my 'OCD' almost always gets the better of me when applying mascara. So when it came to needing a new tube of the stuff I decided to pick up this Maybelline mascara. Having heard a lot of great things I eagerly rushed home and whacked it on...(as you do) to find I absolutely hated it! I was so disappointed with this product as I had super high hopes that I was on track for a holy grail mascara to which I would never look back.

Firstly it's not build-able, and this is a major thumbs down for me. I need to be able to work with my lashes until they succumb to my obsessive compulsive needs. I feel the mascara doesn't give much lift and dries super quick to a crusty (bleh) texture. Another thing was that I actually didn't realise that the wand was curved, this would have definitely made me think twice about buying it - do your research Alison!

I also got a lot of smudging underneath my eye with this product, ain't nobody got time for that!
I mean it's good, but not much more - I probably won't repurchase but I'm not aiming it at the bin just yet.

Perhaps The Rocket would have been a better choice!?

Beauty Wish List

My current beauty lusts!

(clockwise)

1. YSL Rosy Blush Collector Palette

2. Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

3. Shaun the Sheep Tangle Teezer

4. NYX Love In Paris Palette in 'Cest La Vie'

5. Anastasia DipBrow Pomade in 'dark brown'

6. Barry M Hi Shine Gelly Nail Polish in 'Blue Grape'

Sorry the blog has been a little MIA recently, real life rudely got in the way!

Blogging normality should resume shortly.

xoxo

The Big Three: Origins Masks

So I was lucky enough to get my hands on 3 full sized masks from Origins for Christmas, and boy I have been indulging non stop. As I had been suffering from very dry skin this winter I was keen to try out the overnight mask, a notorious product in the beauty world. I do however, suffer from break outs a lot (even without oily skin) so the charcoal mask was second on my wishlist.

Drink Up 10 minute Mask: A light mask that smells like apricots, great for a quick burst of hydration when your skin is feeling 'blahhh' and claims to act as 'a fountain of youth'. What more could you ask for eh? To sum it up - a quick fix of algae extracts aimed for very dry skin, and a little goes a long way with this product.

Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask: This mask has a thick night cream texture, designed to slowly sink into the skin and work it's magic overnight. whilst the cream is thick, it doesn't feel heavy - my skin can still breathe once applied. It contains a range of ingredients including; apricot kernel oil to replenish moisture, avocado oil and mango butters to prepare the face for the next day and Japanese seaweed to avoid further dehydration. It smells divine...think sweet mangoes!

Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask: Now, unfortunately this mask doesn't smell quite as amazing as the other two but that's not the selling point... This deep cleaning mask is aimed to unclog pores and remove pollutants. It applies really easily and fully dries in around 5 minutes. One bonus for me is that it doesn't flake one bit - something I hate in masks! (flaky masks and multitasking doesn't mix well) Once dry I remove it gently with a warm cloth and my skin feels immediately fresh and purified - making breakouts fear for their lives.

Are all three worth the hype? One word - YES!

Budget Buy: Boots Leave-In Conditioner Spray

I have found a drugstore gem in the form of Boots own Coconut & Almond Leave-In Conditioner. These leave-in sprays hit the spotlight last summer and I have recently finished the Dove Nourishing Oil Spray and picked up the boots own version to try.

This spray is aimed at normal to dry hair. I towel dry my hair then spray it all over, from root to tip, and brush through. Instantly it makes my hair tangle free and so soft to touch, adding moisture and smoothing out those unruly strays. Even two days after washing my hair still felt smooth and tame. I also found it meant less straightening, which is a bonus for me and my hair!

The best part is that this 100ml bottle is only £1.39!! - I mean that's loose change (or boots points)!

Oil Slick Nails

A collection of my multi-tonal metallics for you today. I sometimes go off metallic/glittery nails but right now, this second, I'm loving them! After a rifle through my polish collection I realised I have a few very similar metallic shades - all generally donning that oil slick look.

As I said, these five shades are relatively similar -  some more than others but it just shows what trends we are seeing across the polish world right now. Okay, I must admit, I've had the Naked polishes for nearly a year now but they are still firm faves in the nail department and still on trend! (full review here)

Rimmel Metal Rush in 'Pearly Queen': A very sheer lilac polish that shines green/pink in the light. Quite the girly shade in my opinion.

Angelica Nail Colour in 'Chameleon': The most 'oily' of the bunch, purple with hints of reds and greens and generally every colour of the rainbow. This polish really does look different in every light.

Models Own in 'Purple Blue': Part of the Beetlejuice collection, this polish is very glittery mainly shining purples and blues... I know, how did you guess?

UD Naked in 'Hustle' and 'Smog': Hustle is yet another purple based metallic with hints of brown whilst Smog is coppery with subtle hints of gold and red.

Eye catching nails eh!?