Rimmel Apocalips Lip Lacquer Review.

Hi, I'm quite the avid blog reader and I've seen various posts about Rimmel's new Apocalips for quite some time now> I've seen some quite mixed reviews and decided that i wanted to see what I thought. I've been dying to try these since the launch but for some reason I've been slow to jump on the bandwagon, today I've finally took the plunge.

The first thing you notice about the lacquer is the packaging, It's very sleek, stylish and looks expensive. The Tube is Clear casing so the colour shows through. I hate testers on the cosmetic stands as they are often really grubby and tainted by other products, the casing shows you exactly what you'r going to get without having to risk a shop swatch (with no tissue available, I mean you ASDA!).

There is a Doefoot applicator and it does its job really well. If you prefer a lip brush, then its quite easy to scoop out the product too. I picked the shade Stellar as it was very bold and a really Barbie pink. This looks amazingly pretty but it's more of a night out colour than day to day. I'm not overly bold with lip colour. The liquid lipstick is very richly pigmented and one small swipe will coat your lips and make them a glossy but matte colour . I might try a less harsh shade for day to day . This product stays really well and almost taints the lips but it would need re applying regularly if you were eating or drinking throughout the day . The product does have a faint smell but I'm undecided on what I think of it. It certainly wouldn't put me off.

Personally i prefer a lipstick, but this is a really nice alternative. Anyone else use these?

Much Love
Amy
xoxo

Chanel Vitalumiere Satin smoothing Fluid Makeup SPF 15: Foundation

Hello there beautiful! Today's review is about my Chanel Vitalumiere foundation. I've owned this product for a good few weeks now and it's been my favourite foundation to date. 

Chanel Vitalumiere is described as a "Satin Smoothing Fluid Make up" with SPF 15. The little leaflet that came with it goes on to say "bringing a radiantly youthful smooth satin make up finish and a light, moisturising texture... your complexion is visibly rested, immediately on application, the photo reflective pigments have an optical smoothing effect. Fine lines and blemishes are softened and your complexion has a visibly more youth appearance, your skin is energized, the presence of an energizing ingredient, derived from brown seaweed, which is renowned for its stimulating properties helps to give the complexion an immediate "healthy glow".

This foundation feels amazing and its really light and dewy. It gives a lovely glow without being greasy. It's perfect for my normal to dry skin. I'd say steer clear if you have an oily complexion as it may emphasise that. The product apply's really well to the skin and gives a light to medium coverage. It stays put throughout the day and helps to keep skin soft and subtle. One of the things I love about this product, is if you do feel you need to have a little more coverage, its very build-able. It looks just as nice applied with fingers as it does with a brush. I find I get the best results using Real Techniques Pointed Foundation and Buffing Brush. A little goes a long way as far as this product is concerned so don't get pump happy. If you like a really natural finish this is the foundation for you.

I chose shade 10 Limpide- Nude. I do believe it's the lightest shade of the collection and in summer it matches brilliantly, but, I would have liked to see a larger range of colours so I could have got a lighter shade for winter too . I don't usually use a foundation with an SPF as I tend to apply sun screen anyway but its nice in case you forget on the chillier days. The reason I tend to avoid product containing sun screen is I don't really trust the level of SPF, surely a foundation behaves differently to a sun cream? On warm days I prefer to be bare faced too . 

The only real issues I have with this foundation are packaging and price. My quibble with the Packaging is that as its a "pump" bottle and the contents are really quite fluid, sometimes the product leeks into the cap. I'd be very wary of dropping this into a handbag. The plastic cap doesn't seem overly strong either. I purchased my foundation at the Chanel counter at House Of Fraser and it set me back £34.00 for a 30 ml bottle. I do appreciate Chanel is a high end premium brand but still, it's a lot. Drug Store Foundations are coming along way and for Chanel to keep producing foundations at this cost, they might loose out on customers. Anywhere up to £30.00 would be more reasonable. 


If this is something you intend on wearing everyday it would be a good investment. As much as I love this, and adore the brand, I think I'll be looking at cheaper liquid foundations when this runs out. 

What do you think of liquid foundations? Tried this one? Feel free to leave comments I always try my best to reply. 

Much Love
Amy 
xoxo

Figs & Rouge Rambling Rose Balm

Hello! I've found myself becoming slightly obsessed with Organic Produce, everything from food to cosmetics. I've recently discovered an amazing brand Figs & Rouge. They are a UK based company who design and make 100% organic lip and skin care products. 

The Packaging of all of the Figs and Rouge products is super cute, super sophisticated and super practical. The instructions for the products are really easy to follow and the little tins are sturdy and ideal for travel or handbags. The design of the tin would give the impression that the balm is really expensive when in actual fact, it isn't. I purchased my tin from Feel Unique at the small price of just £4.95 for 17 ml. 

This specific Balm is for the lips, face and body. It's Intensively moisturising and Hydrating. Just a super small slick and your skin is left feeling rejuvenated. I have a four month old baby boy and I have even slicked a tiny amount of this over his skin in the cold weather to stop him getting sore. Its so incredibly gentle, even the most sensitive of skin can reap this products benefits. I've applied this to dry skin on my partner (who wears big burly boots all years) feet and it definitely helped. If like me you suffer from dry bouts of skin, I'd seriously suggest you invest in one of the Figs & Rouges tins, It feels like the elasticity is returned to tight skin and everything feels soo much softer.  If you have dry lips keep this at hand and apply liberally and frequently!

This product smells AMAZING. For being completely natural you'd expect a yucky or zero smell at all, Wrong. It smells quite floral. (my other half wasn't impressed with the smell on his feet!) It's really nice. It isn't overpowering and the smell does stick around for quite a while. 

This balm is easy to blend so sits well under or over other products. It does feel quite grainy but this quickly disappears. I think the texture is one of the reasons this product works as well, when you rub the little grains disappear and its quite massaging. 

If you don't already own this! Go out and buy it. Make up and other cosmetics apply so much better on soft, moisturised skin, so get yourself the prefect natural base. I'm head over heels. Oh Emma Watson is rumoured to love this too.... If it's good enough for a celebrity... 

Much Love

Amy 

xoxo

ELF: Eyes Lips Face Studio Makeup Mist & Set

Good evening. Tonight's post is about a product that I purchased a few weeks ago, Mist and Set. I have needed time to review and gather my thoughts on this one. Not sure about you guys but I can sometimes spend hours preparing and applying product to my face to look flawless, especially for an occasion. Its really disheartening that after all the precision and effort a few hours, some products start to "slip" or wear away. I was beginning to wonder "why bother?". That's when I spotted Mist and Set on the ELF website. With a tiny price tag of £3.75, there was no way this wasn't going into my basket. 

What ELF says about this product:
Wish you could have a product for your makeup like Hairspray is for your hair? Well…keep your makeup staying in place all day with a radiance boosting invisible hold with our new Makeup Mist & Set. The invigorating mist moisturizes and soothes the skin with key ingredients Aloe, Green Tea, Cucumber and Vitamins A, C & E. The lightweight, comfortable and alcohol free formula improves makeup wearability and prevents color from running or fading. 

Spray on after makeup application to set makeup in place or during the day for a quick touch-up to refresh. After you have applied your makeup spray a light mist 12-16 inches from your face with eyes closed to set your makeup in place or use for a quick touch-up throughout the day to refresh your makeup. Let it dry naturally or blot with a tissue to help speed dry.

Sounds amazing, Right? Hairspray for your face? Keep Makeup in place. 

I've used this product in all weathers, hail, rain, wind, sun and snow. I must say, It really does what it says on the tin, or should I say bottle. On warm days when I'd expect make up to run, it stays put a lot better, when its wet and non waterproof products tend to smudge, this practically prevents that. Don't be fooled into thinking your make up will stay in place forever, it won't eventually everything will smudge and blotch but this is a way of slowing the whole process down. You know when you have a cream blush on and by dinner time it can look clumpy and blotchy? Not with this. Make up will remain the same by lunch maybe even tea time with this product. If you are very physically active and perspire a lot, I'd say steer clear of heavy products that need to be set and opt for light make ups, no product will stay on through those conditions. 

The problem I found with this product was mainly packaging related. The spray cap isn't the best quality and although it works, it doesn't work as well as I'd like. Although you get full coverage, it isn't always very even. That said, the product is clear in colour so isn't messy and wont stain any garments unlike other spray products. 

This product isn't the nicest smelling in the world, (it isn't the worst either), but once on it's odourless. I wouldn't spray this directly onto heavy mascara or eye liner but as a set for base make up its amazing. Teamed alongside a good primer, You'd achieve some fantastic long wearing results. 

What are your thoughts? Would you try this? Or have you used it and got any views? 

Much Love
Amy 
xoxo

NOTD: Barry M Pink Flamingo

Afternoon beautiful! I've had a lovely morning playing with the camera in the garden with my little boy. It's amazing it actually feels like summer and I'm wearing shorts! It wouldn't be right to get the summer clothes out without having a summer nail. So here's what's on my nails today.

I think that Barry M produces amazing nail varnishes at really affordable prices. I purchased mine from boots at just £2.99. One of the things that i like about the brand is that it has a colour for every occasion, basically every colour you can think of. Most Barry M counters in stores have a wide range of colours to choose from, so even if this shade isn't the one for you, there will be something that catches your eye.

 Anyone else got a summer colour they are in love with?

Much Love
Amy xoxo

Rimmel London: Instant Tan, Sun Shimmer, Medium Matet & Shimmer

Hi Everyone, Hope you are all enjoying the sunshine! Don't forget to use a good sunscreen to avoid the burn if your flashing the flesh! Speaking of flesh, If like me your as pale as pale can be, you might want a quick tan fix to feel a little more summery. I've got just the solution for you.

Rimmel London has quite an extensive fake tan range and all of the products are at really affordable prices compared to some premium tan companies. You can pick these two beauties up from lots of different stores, I purchased mine from Superdrug for the tiny price of £2.98 each. The tan tubes are 125 ml so as far as costing goes, its great value for money.

These tans are designed to provide an instant all over tan, suitable for face and body. Its noted on the packaging that this is a 24 hour tan and washes off. Personally, I've found that these colours do remain on the skin for around a day or so, BUT the finish is nowhere near as good as when first applied. You could argue that's the same with all products but for a tan, you'd expect to look just as polished as when first applied, it's all about staying power. If you do opt to use one of these tans, I'd say have some gloves at hand otherwise you might find yourself with nasty tell tale fake-ry signs. It does wash off but not very well unless you'r going for a full on soak in the bath. I did make the tragic mistake and ended up scrubbing my fingers with a nail brush to get this product to shift. not comfortable to say the least! As far as the all over tan is concerned too, I don't like this product on my face. It seems too heavy. I think a separate face tan or good bronzer would achieve the same results without looking as cake-y.

So up to now it sound like all this product has going for it is its price. Wrong. The shades of tan that Rimmel have available are amazing. they have every shade from fair right up to dark. Its good to have a wide choice as if your naturally fair, applying something that's too dark can look clown like and vice versa. These tans blend really well and they take seconds to get onto the skin, when buffed well you can really play around and build on the intensity of the tan. I chose to buy medium matte and shimmer. I'm quite fair skinned. The reason I purchased both is that I was unsure what the difference would be with the products, I don't want to look too matte or that shimmery I glow like a Christmas bauble.  These products look really well applied on their own, and they mix together to give a really pretty natural looking shade.

As you can see, the colours look completely different out of the tubes. Overall, two products that offer great value for money, a few application cons but when applied correctly and care is taken, you can achieve a salon quality tan.

Has anyone else tried these?

Much love Amy
xoxox

Soap And Glory: Hand Food And Heel Genius

Hi Everyone! Hope you have all had a wonderful weekend! It's been really lovely and sunny in County Durham and as my other half has had some time off, we have spent some quality family time with our little boy. If you follow me on Twitter (feel free to follow if you don't), You may already be aware that on Saturday night I had a pamper night, It was amazing! Being a new mummy it can be quite hard to find time to really indulge yourself, so I really took advantage. I used a face mask, lit candles around the tub, had a good scrub and soak, deep conditioned my hair, plucked, tanned and popped in my Sleep In Rollers and so on. You name it if it was on the pamper list, I done it. Whilst Looking in my products stash I came across these two little treats.

They were originally as part of a girt set I received at Christmas but I've never got round to using them. They are available to buy from Boots and the Hand Food Currently retails at £5.00 and the Heel Genius at £5.50. So price wise, For 125 ml bottles its excellent value especially from a brand well known for  retailing quality goods. As you can see the packaging is very pretty, pink and girly. I absolutely love soap and glory products and one of the reasons for this is the whole range, from skincare to cosmetics are all packaged in this complimentary yet unique packaging. The instructions on each product are clear and well written.

Now as the weather slowly starts to warm up, it's obvious we are all going to want to have pretty nails painted in summer colours and pampered feet to show off in flip flops and Sandles. No doubt like me, many of you out there neglect their little digits over winter, especially their feet. Out of sight out of mind? My feet especially are looking quite dry and generally unloved. I do have a pair of moisturising socks and gloves which I used for these products but, If you don't own any I've found socks (on hands and feet) work just as well.

After my Bath, I applied a generous amount of each product to the appropriate area, slipped on my gloves and socks and let this marvellous cream set to work over night. Now I'm not exaggerating by saying marvellous, once I woke up and the product had soaked in, my hands and feet not only felt amazing but looked rejuvenated. Soft to touch, moisturised and smelling like a dream. Perfect!

These creams are really thick and luxurious. They stay where they are put and don't feel the slightest bit greasy. I used a very big helping and may have slightly overdone it as the product goes far. So even used everyday, these creams will last a good month or two. Some creams can smell over powering or even worse, have a bad odour to them. There's nothing worse, in my eyes, than having a bath, feeling clean and smelling sweet and then loading yourself with a pong-y product. Yak! No worries with these two little lovelies though! Very pretty floral and fresh scents. Beautiful.

I've Swatched these creams so you can have a look at the texture. They look like hand and foot products should.

If you have the cash and want to invest in a hand and foot cream, give these a whirl. Great value for money, does exactly what it should and feels a lot more expensive than it actually is.

Anyone else tried a Soap and Glory product they've thought was amazing for the money??

Much love Amy
xoxo