MAC Angel

Don't know why this looks so orange.....

I knew when I read that Kim Kardashian's favourite MAC shade is Angel that I would have to buy it. It is a lovely nudey pink and is only the second every Frost finish lipstick I have bought. I've been wearing this a lot lately as it pairs really well with every eye look. I don't often wear such a neutral shade on a night out but this is ideal as it doesn't require constant touch ups or paranoid checks that it's not all over my face. 

Do you like this shade? You can find it here xo 

Lush Rock Star

This was a bit of a random purchase, I usually stick to what I know from Lush and stupidly rarely try new things. I only went into the store because my husband wanted to 'smell nice things', I was planning on staring lustfully at the bath bombs but ended up playing with the soaps. Rock Star smells so sweet and delicious, fruity and syrupy but it mostly reminds me of toys I had when I was younger. This soap smells like fruity plastic basically, and I love it.   Lush in France is quite considerably more expensive than in the UK for some things but I considered it a treat for myself after a hard morning organising stuff for leaving Paris. I recently spent nearly €8 on a bar of soap so i'm not sure why i'm whinging about 5! I'm still impressed with the SA for cutting the piece bang on 100g actually, if you want to try it you can find it here.  xo

MAC Russian Red

This lipstick was on my wishlist for a very long time and i'm glad I finally took the plunge and bought it. Over the last year or so i've really overcome my fear of wearing red lipstick and now happily wap some on just for a trip to the shop. It it such a perfect red shade and is very eye-catching. The MAC lipstick formula is perfect and this is no exception. I love matte lipsticks and this is a lovely addition to my collection. 

   You can find it here. xo

Kiko Cosmetics

 

I was so surprised to see a Kiko Cosmetics store in a Parisian suburb and couldn't wait to check out what they had. I tried not to get too carried away and ended up with these beauties.  Hand&Foot Stone Scrub I was really intrigued by this product, mainly because of the hot pink contrasting with the black stone but also because I don't think i have ever seen an exfoliator packaged up for hands. I usually use the same one I use on the rest of my body but it was nice to try one specifically for them. I really like this scrub, it's not too abrasive but does the job very well.  Clics Infinity Eyeshadow in 234 The Infinity shadows come in such a huge range of colours and you buy the palettes separately. I only treated myself to one shadow, a red brown that is incredibly pigmented. The Clics system palette was free because of a promotion, I'm not a fan of it because it's so clunky just for one eyeshadow. Perhaps if a larger palette had been part of the offer I would have been more tempted to fill it. It is nice to have a mirror inside it though.  Smart Eye Pencil in 802 I'm not sure why it's smart actually but it is a lovely, smooth long lasting eye pencil in a dull chocolate colour. It doesn't blend brilliantly but for less than €2, i'm still pleased.  Smart Lipstick in 912 This pink is so stunning and it applies like a dream. It's slick, but stays put. The packaging is to die for, so I will definitely be heading back to stock up on more of these.

I am pleased with my purchases and I look forward to seeing what else Kiko has to offer. The prices are so low and the quality is really impressive. My one criticism is that none of the shades have names, and numbers are harder to remember.  xo

New Shower Essentials

The Essence Ultîme range from Schwarzkopf caught my eye when it was released but I didn't fancy spending so much on shampoo/conditioner that I hadn't heard anything about. It was on a 2for1 deal in Monoprix so I decided to just buy some. I went for the Omega Repair Conditioner and Diamond Color Shampoo, my hair is coloured at the moment and i'm desperate to keep the colour in my hair and to not have it rinsed away down the plug hole. It is also really damaged and I rely on conditioner to keep it under control. I really like using these two together so i'm going to try and get my hands on a mask from the range. It was developed with Claudia Schiffer and her hair looks pretty healthy! I go through quite a lot of shower gel, I apply it really liberally and tend to use it instead of shaving foam quite a lot. My new world favourite is the Cottage Black Cherry & Pistachio hydrating shower milk. I cannot put into words how good it smells, suffice it to say that I would eat it if it wouldn't make me ill.  xo

Eyes & Eyebrows

These are just a few bits I have picked up recently, the lash comb was an impulse buy in duty free and the gimme brow was me succumbing to the hype and finally purchasing it. I think I would like this Tweezerman folding lash comb a lot more if it didn't fold and could actually stand up in my brush pot. I have a very very old lash & brow comb that is also folding for some reason but I was very happy to find a metal comb. The plastic ones are beyond useless and I am never able to separate individual lashes satisfactorily. It's real gold coated as well which is a nice touch. You can buy it here for £9.50.

Gimme Brow is famous for its' brow boosting capabilities and I am very glad I bought it. My usual routine of powder and gel/wax to hold wasn't cutting it anymore as it took too much of my precious pre-work mornings up. This is much quicker and gives a fantastic result. 

The Cath Kidston pouch is too cute, I actually wanted the one with the beefeaters on it but they only had the display one in stock in BHV and it was marked. It was only €7 though so there's definitely the possibility to make a collection of them. They are really practical and I use them to organise stuff in large handbags without compartments.  xo  

MAC Lady Danger

I've been experimenting more with orange-reds recently and I knew Lady Danger was a shade I had to buy. I have wanted this for so long as it's such a stunning matte shade. I could never justify buying it when I knew I was too scared to wear it out of the house. I'm over that, so it was high time I bought it.  MACs Lady Danger is the perfect powerfully bright orange-red. It suits my skin tone really well and I'm really glad I bought it. 

 You can find it here. xo

Homeoplasmine | French Pharmacie Favourite

This pomade is a household staple as a multi-purpose fit-it-all product that I can't believe we don't sell in the UK. 
Homeoplasmine is a mixture of herby extracts, boric acid and vaseline that makes for an anti-septic healing balm that I'm happy I found. I use it on really chapped lips or cracked hands or on scratches and scrapes. 
I have tried using it as an overnight lip balm and my lips have been lovely in the morning. I am not a fan of vaseline at all, it's not good to my lips and it feels horrible. Homeoplasmine actually feels like its settling in and doing good as well as forming a barrier between my skin and germs!
Have you tried Homeoplasmine?

Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate

I remember trying a sample of this a couple of years ago when I had stocked up on the lovely Kiehl's lip balm and being impressed by the product but not equally by the price tag. I'm no longer a student (although I soon will be again) so the price didn't seem so scary for a product that seemed surplus to my usual night time routine. It doesn't hurt that it was a tiny bit cheaper in France either.  It smells absolutely heavenly and is enough to knock me out- I love lavender! I rub it in gently when I'm sat in bed after removing my make up and thoroughly cleansing. My skin in the morning is less dull and dry and feels silky. It also makes me look like i've had a good night's sleep when I invariably haven't- that alone makes it worth the price. You can find it here for £36. xo

#BloggersFestival

Hi girlies, was great to meet some lovely bloggers on Saturday. Thank you for telling me I had crumbs of cupcake in my hair for ages.!! :'( so embarrassing! As Kirsty is STILL in Paris (She's back next week!), I took along my friend Rebecca. She's a trainee beautician and owner of PritteePerfect and an old photography A-level buddy. Apologies if some images are blurry. Her camera refused to focus on anything and was really temperamental when clicking the shutter. So trying to take a picture was hit and miss for most of the event. Have managed to find some decent ones at least! I will be doing a separate post about the freebie products I got, so keep an eye out for that in the next few days as well!

Fantastically organised and well put together by blogger Scarlett London, the event was a hit. I arrived at around 4pm, the event was already in full swing, and Floor 31 at Tottenham Court Road's CentrePoint was full of keen bloggers ready to meet new brands and get to know other like-minded bloggers. Not to mention, there being a spectacular view of the groggy skyline from that high up!

Living just outside London, the train journey was over quicker than I expected and jumped on the tube excited to attend this event. As I had been busy that morning, I hadn't had time to put in that much effort into my makeup or outfit, so I stuck to leggings, chelsea boots and a long jacket.  Can't believe how frizzy my hair was!

More commonly known by members of the generation above ours, Oriflame, much like Avon is a very exclusive brand, which mostly trades through their catalogue or their website, which to me, makes me want their products more! The items that caught my eye the most, were the nail polishes! Speaking to the Rep about the brand, she told me of the new The One range they have just launched, and I must say, I was very interested in a lot of the products. They also had leaflets on how to use the products, which is always a useful bonus! 

Hopefully, I'll get to try out some of their products soon, so keep an eye out for the review!

I couldn't help myself.. The icing just looked amazing.. I had to have one! Unbeknown to me however, I was walking around with cupcake crumbs in my hair for a good 10 minutes before I noticed. They were delicious though!

Next up was a very useful connection to be made.. Search Laboratory. They can help any blogger gain followers, optimise their SEO and PPC, help you gain revenue from your blog and introduce you to some good advertisers and above all, increase your brand awareness on all forms of social media! Definitely something to look in to! Plus, they won me over with freebies of Haribo and other sweeties!

Situated on the opposite side of the room, a really cute new brand Bee Good was displaying their range of bees wax and honey based products, along with some super cute honey iced biscuits! (the quickest way to my heart is through food.. incase you hadn't already guessed..) Founded by husband and wife Simon and Caroline, they have created amazing skincare products and have really made a name for themselves in the short 6 years they have been producing their amazing products. I can tell you now.. they smelt amazing and really left the skin soft and moisturised!

Along the room a little further (I just went round and round and round making sure I saw all the products, so none of this is in any logical order really!) Was IZ Beauty of London nail wraps, where two lovely girls were applying sparkly, colourful wraps to either people's ring fingers or their whole hands. I wanted something really WOW, so went for the most colourful ones I could find. The Neon Pattern Semi-See Through pack. Although I absolutely LOVED the ones the girl that applied mine was wearing (which were the Neon Diamond design). The 20-wrap sets come complete with a mini nail file and cost £6 per pack and can be purchased here.

Unfortunately, my nail varnish colour didn't really go with the wraps I wanted, so I'll do a review when I get bored of this colour!

I really wish I had time to stay a bit longer, as I really wanted to get my make up done by the very talented Gary Cockerill but unfortunately.. the shops called! (I'm so bad). He had such a range of products. I had serious make up envy!

  

Here he's pictured giving a beautiful smokey eye on a blogger (if anyone knows who she is, let me know! Her hair is amazing!) I was in awe. Gotta get myself a masterclass with him, I am still so useless with eyeshadows!

Now, I'm actually in the market for a new curling wand, as I'm currently using my GHD's to curl my hair.. but obviously.. it's never going to compare to a proper curler. Cloud Nine have an amazing large barrel curler, called the Waving Wand that looks perfect for me. They're actually created by the people behind GHD so you know they're good! I have quite long hair, so a large barrel would create lovely volumous bouncy waves that no small barrel could.  

They also had this really cool innovative product called "The O" which heats up their rollers in a matter of seconds! Super cool! If only I could actually use rollers.. (someone teach me please!)

The blogger who got her hair curled using the Waving Wand looked amazing after her hair was done. Full of volume and just looked so perfect. I need to get me some! Prices range from £54 right up to £300 so they're very much investment pieces, but I doubt you'd be disappointed! I'm saving up as we speak!

There were also a few fashion lines being showcased at the event, including Very.co.uk and WantHerDress.com, all displaying their summer best sellers. Bloggers were able to purchase some of their items.

My favourite pieces were of course the shoes. Being obsessed with all sorts of shoes (expect kitten heels as they're are an abomination), I beelined for the shoes. These snakeskin texture metallic flip flops are WantHerDress' current best sellers, and no wonder! They encapsulate the main trends that were around this summer. Personally, I'd go for the gold!

Very.co.uk also caught my eye, not just for their colourful selection of outfits displayed on their mannequins, but the SHOES! Carvela and Lipsy.. they were just so sparkly!

 Over the last couple of years I have been slowly growing my Kurt Geiger / Carvela collection and its currently a decent size... but there's always room to grow. These beauties caught my eye immediately as they're sparkly! However, I usually only buy thick heeled shoes as the stiletto heel is so difficult to walk in on nights out, so need heels that are stable and can keep me upright!

 These heels are from Lipsy and cost around £89. I'm literally like a magpie. I see shiny. I must have.

Also at the event were Urban Outfitters. This is one of my favourite shops as they have such retro things and their clothes are edgy and different. Not as mainstream 'lets be clones' style as most high street stores.  They were running a competition to win the new Fujifilm Instax mini 8 Polaroid camera worth up to £90. I realllllyyyy want one of these, and have actually found them online for as little as £45! So if you're after one, it's worth shopping online!

All in all, I had a great time at the #bloggersfestival and hope that everyone else did too. Keep your eyes peeled for the individual reviews of the goodies I got! Did you go to the event? Were there any brands you hadn't heard of before?