H2O+ Deep Sleep Recovery Serum

I agreed I would only review products which are low-cost and easily found on the high street, but I use this product every day and it's worthy of a blog post!

I actually got my hands on this for free (I somehow won a huge box of beauty products from my favourite magazine!) and had never heard of the brand before. I was pretty excited to use it too because I'd heard everyone raving about serums and I find products that work overnight tend to work best for me (they are usually a thicker consistency and me being asleep means they have a chance to sink in!). 

It claims to be anti-ageing and helps make expression lines fade overnight. Being in my early 20's I'm not entirely sure I need it right now, but surely it's best to start using these products as soon as possible? If it fades wrinkles I'm sure it can do wonders for young skin!

And it has - my skin has been brilliant ever since I started using it. I have combination skin - combination in the sense that some mornings I wake up with dry skin, other mornings it's oily! It seems to find a happy medium between the two and my foundation just glides straight on the next day. 

Being a serum you're supposed to apply moisturiser afterwards, but I hate putting too much on my skin. I find using it alone has worked perfectly fine for me! If your skin is very or consistently dry then I would suggest finding a moisturiser to use overnight too.

Unfortunately it costs £32.50, but Marks and Spencer (wow, a product not from Boots!) have recently started stocking the entire range so it's easy to find. To justify the price, I can assure you that a bottle lasts at least 4 months! (I got mine 4 months ago and there is no sign of it running out.) I use it every night but a really small amount goes a long way. So if you want to treat yourself to a fancy product, this range could be a great place to start!

Find it here.

Bourjois Radiance Reveal Healthy Mix Foundation....

....Phew, that is a name and a half! I actually bought this foundation by accident. After hearing so many people raving about the Healthy Mix foundation I decided to give it a try, but I have now learned that cosmetic shopping on a lunch break isn't a good idea. Thankfully however, there is a happy ending!

I pretty much grabbed the first thing I saw with the name on it (Bourjois now have quite a collection of Healthy Mix products) and knew I'd be the lightest shade - Light Vanilla. I was over the moon and very excited to have this must-have product in my hands.

It wasn't until I got home however that I noticed how sheer and light the coverage was - it worked well and evened out my skin tone, that just wasn't particularly how everyone had been describing it! I realised I'd picked up the Radiance Reveal version rather than the original and I was gutted. Even though it still worked fine, I was so angry at myself for not looking properly! 

Luckily for the foundation (which nearly went to the back of my make-up draw) it has now become my best friend. It makes me look all dewy and as if I'm not wearing any foundation at all! A few days ago I had to hold a meeting after a rather eventful and late night out, and this product saved my life that morning! Usually on a day like that I'd be reaching for my thickest foundation to give me a second layer of skin, but this made me look like I'd had a decent 8-hour sleep! 

Bye bye tired, hungover, alcoholic skin, HELLO happy, healthy (-looking) me! 

PS. If you're after the original, you want the RED lid. The Radiance Reveal has a transparent one. I should have spotted this earlier... 

You can get the entire Healthy Mix range from Boots, and the foundation I went for costs about a tenner. (For some reason Boots haven't put the Radiance Reveal on their website)

Revlon Lip Butter

Now I LOVE lipstick. I don't remember the last time I went a day without wearing it. I discovered these through a beauty blogger who I absolutely love (essiebutton.com) because at first I didn't think they looked that great. They looked too sheer for my liking and couldn't imagine how they would look once applied, but they are incredible! Somehow the colour really shows up, but looks far softer than any matte lipstick. 

I went first for Tutti Fruiti, mainly because this is the shade Essie used in her video (I clearly have no mind of my own) and it looked gorgeous. It looks very orange in the tube so not one I would have usually picked, but it's a great way to try out a more daring colour as it isn't too strong. 

After using this daily, I decided to try a new one and they had bought out a few new shades! So I went for Wild Watermelon which, again, is a colour I would usually save for some kinda fancy-dress night out (I tend not to bother with red lipstick). However, because it's so sheer it's very toned-down, and it makes red a far more wearable colour for the daytime. 

You have to re-apply them a few times but they layer up easily to get the desired look - and I flippin' love them! They're ideal if you want to try a bold colour on your lips, without wanting to make too much of a statement. 

Find them at Boots costing £7.99.

http://www.boots.com/en/Revlon-ColorBurst-8482-Lip-Butter_1252852/ 

Making Massive Hair.

I was recently given this tiny bottle of Tresemme Backcomb Dust, and I've found it to be amazing! It’s small and light and full of white powder (yes it is actually hair product!) which you rub between your fingers to make more of a wax. You then rub it straight into your roots and it works instantly. I was surprised too to realise you don’t need to use much at all to get the desired massive-hair-effect. It holds well, but I use a layer of hairspray if I'm heading out for the night.

It's definitely worth a try. I know a lot of women use dry shampoo to create volume but you're always left with powder, a grey tint, and it makes your scalp itch. This Backcomb Dust however is designed for the job, and although I don’t backcomb my hair, I still find it works brilliantly. It's really cheap too, costing only £3.67 at Boots.

You can read more or buy it here.

All the Soap and Glory!

I discovered Soap and Glory products a few years ago after reading an article about the range in a magazine, and I was really attracted to the cool, retro packaging! The founder, Marcia Kilgore is a well-known beauty expert and founded the Bliss Spa in New York, so I put my full trust into the brand and bought myself a few things.

Choosing a product is the most fun, because you won’t leave with what you're looking for. It's so easy to get side-tracked by the funny slogans and you never know what you'll pick up. The great thing is that they all actually work! Below is a photo of my current collection, some of which you can see is nearly empty!

I'm hooked, and so is my mum and sister who I realised were stealing it when I left it in the bathroom. I later bought them a gift set each for Christmas. Boots regularly put it on a 3 for 2 offer which is ideal when you're first giving it a try and you're not sure what you're after.

My favourite combination is to use the Rich and Foamous Body Wash and the Breakfast Scrub, followed by Smoothie Star Rich Moisture Body Milk. The scent is oats, almonds and brown sugar and makes you smell like fresh cookies. Even Jake has found a love for it as he often comes out of the shower smelling of the stuff.

 

I'm yet to test the make-up products which are slightly more recent than the body stuff, so let me know if you've found any treasures!

I'd highly recommend Soap and Glory products, not only because they do what they say on the bottle, but because they also look gorgeous on the shelf.

Check out the website here, or find the entire range in Boots.

A New Lipstick.

Woohoo the first product on my blog! I took a trip to Winchester this afternoon for lunch, browsing, and a chance to coo over my friend’s baby. I've been after a new lipstick for weeks so I found myself painting my hand with a million shades.

It didn't take me long to choose one having scoured the reviews on the Boots website yesterday. I've gone for one by Max Factor which is a brand I love, and it’s called Colour Elixir Lipstick costing £7.99. Lots of people in the reviews mentioned they loved the Rosewood colour, so of course that’s the one I ended up going for.

I love wearing lipstick during the day and needed a more wearable one. I like my lips to look natural yet made-up, so this pinky-brown colour (brilliant terminology) is perfect. First thing I notice is how silky it feels on my lips, and how well it layered to give a stronger colour. The texture is quite matte which is what I was after, it’s not coming off when I have a drink, and despite the fact it doesn't last for hours, it doesn't create too much build-up when I re-apply it.

There is a similar lipstick by Max Factor with the same shades called Colour Collections, but I found it was sheerer which I never have much luck with. Sheer lipsticks don’t seem to last long on me so paying the extra £1 for the Colour Elixir was worth it.

Find out more and read other customer reviews here.