Ohhh this is a bit swoonsome this shade – the second of the surprises my lovely boyfriend selected for me. The boy did GOOOOOD!

This one is a “dusky purple with a rainbow glimmer and glow” – This one really comes to life under bright lights, and the multicoloured holo-effect really comes into its own. However this is also beautiful in dull light too – a very pretty “Cadbury’s Purple” type shade, not too red, not too blue (it was juuuuuussst right said Goldilocks)

Again, application was a dream – this time I applied two coats and a top coat, because these polishes are special enough to go to that effort for, ya know?

Above – Taken in Natural Light

Above – Taken with Flash

Above – Close up of Holo effect.

I really really love this polish – yeah, its a pretty dark colour for spring, but I don’t care – this is beautiful, and I’m going all NARS on you and juxtaposing the spring with an unexpected polish shade. Or something.

The point is, this is another beautiful shade from A-England, which has left me wanting more… Luckily I still have one shade to swatch for you… But I’m in no hurry to wipe this one off yet!

After seeing me bore on on twitter about wanting to try some polishes from this range, my boyfriend finally decided to shut me up kindly bought me a couple – so that means that there will be at least another post about this range (although, in all honesty, there are several I now “need”)

Now, if you, like me, took a look at the website (HERE), swooned over the colours but then blanched at the prices, I’m here to tell you that these nail polishes are actually worth every penny. Well, the one’s I’ve tried are anyway…

The first one I tried is “Princess Tears” – a lilac glow with grey/green duochrome effect. This is quite a complex shade though, as not only is it duochrome, it also has a holographic finish to it in the right light.

Above – Taken in Natural Light.

Above – Taken with flash

The wear on this polish was fantastic – these pictures were taken on day 4 after applying – I did not use a top coat (because I am a lazy mare really, and I hate waiting for polish to dry…) and there is only minimal tip wear.

Application was easy, and the polish didn’t show brush marks, and there was no dragging when applying a second coat – the website recommends three coats for a “glasslike” finish, but I applied two and felt that the colour density and coverage was perfect.

Drying time was average, but that’s fine when it wears this well…

An outstanding polish which scores top makes from me in terms of the holy trinity of polishes – formula, colour and wear time. Oh, and as for the price tag – they retail at £9 each online with free P&P – I’ve bought more expensive bottles of OPI limited edition holo polishes, and been far less impressed than I am with these… The range is also cruelty free – I emailed the owner who was happy to confirm this.

Love, and will definitely be purchasing more. Highly recommend this range!

Have you tried any A-England polishes? Were you as impressed as I am?

Now, normally, I don’t go for gimmicky products, but this little beauty from Bourjois is very much floating my boat right now…

I was actually pretty skeptical when I heard about this, and expected it to be a dried out bit of sponge with a hole in which you’d have to scrub your nail in and out for ages, to get the bulk of your manicure off, and then still have to go over with a traditional polish remover. While I was right about the sponge with the hole in, I was very very wrong about the rest of my expectations.

The pot contains plenty of liquid which you can hear when you shake the pot (I actually usually store mine upside down so the top part of the sponge has a good amount of product in it which I think makes it work that little bit better). This literally takes a couple of  seconds and a quick twist to get every bit of polish off – It is quite simply fab.

Other good things about this? It doesn’t leave nails feeling stripped and dry, and actually leaves them with a nice fruity scent – described as “red fruit and vanilla” – it actually feels fairly nourishing (probably due to the almond oil in it!). It is also free of acetone and parabens.

The only downside? You still need a traditional polish remover to get polish off your toes. I could also see that accidentally leaving the top off or loose would be a bit of a disaster for this, as it might dry up quickly. Also, given that this was only sent to me recently, I’m not sure how long each pot would last before it needed replacing.

The remover pot is available now, and retails at £3.99. Which is pricier than an average nail polish remove, but this is a far from average product. A definite repurchase for me.

Disclaimer – this product was provided by a PR for review purposes. All reviews are my own and honest, and are based on my experiences with a product. 

After hearing a bit about his being a hero product loved by makeup artists and Aussie beauty junkies alike, I asked a good friend to pick me up a couple of tubes when she was lucky enough to go to Australia for a month recently… after she politely declined my request to bunk on the plane with her in her suitcase of course.

For the longest time, Lucas Papaw ointment seemed to only be available in Australia, but I have seen it on sale at pro shows like IMATS before, and it’s also now available online at http://www.pawpawshop.co.uk along with a range of other Papaya and Papaw based ointments.

Papaw ointment was originally developed by TP Lucas for its antibiotic properties, but it has come to be known and used widely as a bit of an “8 Hour Cream” substitute – I love it as an intensive lip balm, and I also use it as a hand and cuticle balm. The ointment is petroleum based, so if you like to avoid that then you may want to check out the other papaw ointments available on the site mentioned above. Personally, I find that this absorbs a lot better and is more moisturising than vaseline when used a lip balm.

Texture wise, this has a similar feel and slip to vasewline, but is a little lighter in texture, so feels less cloying;

The product is pretty much scent free.

This would also be good used a cheek gloss or brow groomer, but is also made for use on cuts,bruises and scrapes. Its become a bit of a handbag staple for me, and a little goes a long, long way, making it decent value for money.

I like this product a lot, but given that it is petroleum based, I might look at trying other papaw products with a more natural base.

Lucas Papaw is currently described as being a cruelty free product

Active Ingredients:    The ointment contains 39mg/gm of fresh fermented paw paw, unguent Carica Papaya L, and 0.1mg/g of potassium sorbate as a preservative.    The base of the product is pharmaceutical grade petroleum jelly which meets the purity standards of the United Stated FDA and the European Pharmacopeia.

Disclaimer – This product was a gift. All reviews are honest and based on my own experiences with a product.

This is another unashamed rave about a recent acquisition from NARS.

Personally,for blushers, you can keep your MAC – for me, NARS and Illamasqua blushers are where it’s at. Better pigmentation, and better lasting power on the skin (MAC blushers seem to last about half an hour on my skin for some reason!) as well as stunning colours.

NARS Luster is a shade I don’t seem to hear much about, but if you’re a pale toned girl,and you like blushers which give you a sheen, then you may want to check this one out. It’s basically what I wanted NARS orgasm to be – a soft peachy-apricot shade with a golden sheen.

This is a subtle shade – although well pigmented as all NARS shades are, it’s a pale shade, so if you are scared of heavy blush, than this eliminates that issue. It is fantastic as a blush on pale skin, but would possibly also work well as a highlighter on dark skin.

I can definitely see myself hitting pan, and repurchasing this shade – on my skin it’s subtle enough for an everyday look, but its also just that bit special so that it doesn’t look ordinary…

The sheeny look this gives, means that you can skip highlighter too, unless you are going for a night-time look, when you might want to amp that side of things up a little more. Obviously though, if you like a matte blush, this won’t be the one for you…

What are your unsung blush heroes?

What do you think of this shade?

This trilogy has been causing a bit of a stir recently, and I have to say, the first place I heard about it (as with most current events these days) was twitter.  I put the feelers out as to what the general concensus was on these three books, and the overall reaction seemed to be a positive one, with the underlying disclaimer that I needed to be aware of the target market of the trilogy, ie “young adult”.

Check out the 'Tude on these Young Adults! (SOURCE)

Now, I’m aware that for some, the “young adult” genre causes a bit of discomfort. Because basically its for teenagers innit… and for me being a teenager was, lets just say, an “awkward” period of my life. It was all sweaty palms and anxiety about whether anyone would ever fancy me, whether I’d pass my GCSE’s and when I’d finally get to go out to town and go to an actual real life nightclub and get drunk. To be honest though, my twenties weren’t much better. Replace GCSE’s with degree, and nightclubs with a failed marriage and you’re there… the thirties seem a marginal improvement, but I’m only two years in so I’ve got time to cock them up yet…

Anyway. In the midst of all of this rambling, what I’m trying to say is don’t let the “young adult” label put you off, because this trilogy actually deals with some fairly adult themes, without graphically describing them, which in my opinion is a skill in itself.

The books are set in a future vision of North America, in which the population of “Panem” has been split into twelve districts, each of which are kept in pretty abject poverty, apart from the “Capitol” district, which as its name suggests, is the controlling sector. The first book begins with the annual “Hunger Games”. Now, this is a pretty brutal concept really, which basically involves the random selection of one male and one female child from each sector (apart from the Capitol) to compete in a “last person standing is the winner” style fight to the death for the entertainment of the Capitol, as well as to keep the serfs in the 12 sectors in line and remind them who is in control on a regular basis. Nice huh? Now, for old farts like me, this rang a bell,and reminded me of an old film I once watched on the Betamax video machine called Running Man, which was basically an adult version of the same theme. The film starred a young buck called Arnold Shwarzenegger, who you younguns will know from politics and him recently doing the dirty on his wife… See the Daily Fail for various updates on his life! The books also draw ready comparisons with Battle Royale…

I read this on my kindle, so I hope you’ll pardon the stock images!

The main protagonist in the The Hunger Games trilogy, is a young lady who goes by the name of Katniss Everdene. Now, I’m sure that I’m not spoiling the premise of these books too much by giving away that she ends up taking part in The Hunger Games in book one. Book Two, Catching Fire deals with the aftermath of her appearance, both on a personal level for her, but also on a wider level for her friends, family, and certain political sectors. Book three, Mockingjay then extends this theme further.

So, lets have a look at these book by book, and I’ll share a few thoughts whilst trying to minimise spoilers

The Hunger Games

This pretty much had me gripped from the first page. I initially found the character of Katniss to be a fairly complex and interesting one,and her relationship with her other family members intruiged me. In one way, this was possibly also a flaw in the book,as I later reflected that I would have liked Katniss and her mother’s relationship to have been explored further. This feeling actually continued and grew stronger as I read the other books in the trilogy. There were also plenty of obvious opportunities for suspense given Katniss’s actual role as a participant in the games, and the tension from her entering the arena was well maintained, and kept me turning pages. I also, however, enjoyed the actual build up to the games, which gave a lot of insight into how the citizens of the Capitol seemed to have lost perspective on what they were actually forcing the participants to do, but rather viewing this as sheer entertainment. Another thing I initially liked about this book was the non-conventional use of a potential romantic interest, which instead of being viewed through rose tinted teenage specs, was used as a way of gaining support for the Game participants.

Catching Fire 

Sadly, not as intriguing as The Hunger Games, as I felt that this initially began to slip a little into typical teen romance/love-torn teen territory, which in my opinion detracted from the main event. This book had a fast pace beginning and ending which were both really enjoyable, however, for me, the middle third of the book lacked a little pace. Again, I was left wanting more about Katniss’ relationship with her mother, and even with other members of her family, and I actually began to find the side-storyline about her love interest ever so slightly irritating. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to finish this book at a couple of points, however the ending did make up for the middle section massively. This book does convey a lot of interesting themes about political manipulation and the lengths people will go to to either protect the people they love, or to protect a cause that they have strong beliefs in. It also makes some inroads into exploring the impact of participating in the Hunger Games on its participants.

Mockingjay 

I actually enjoyed this far more than the second book in the trilogy, because in this book we get to see more of some of the other districts in Panem, which added to the depth of the books for me. I like a well planned post apocalyptic vision! For me, Margaret Atwood always has, and always will be the mistress of this particular ilk, but Collins does a really admirable job. I enjoyed the political plot lines in the book too. The negatives? The ongoing disjointed relationship between Katniss and her Mother continued to irk me – I’d really have loved a bit more about them, but that’s just a personal thing…

Throughout the whole of the three books, I did enjoy the overall theme of how such experiences effect those involved – Obviously being aimed at the YA market, this couldn’t go too far, but there were some great hints at darkness throughout.

Overall, I’d give the trilogy a thumbs up – a great start and ending,which could have been let down by a slightly slow middle part, but definitely worth a read. It’s stoked my interest in the films too, and I will be going to see the film version when released, even if only to say “ah, the book was better” when I come out of the flicks!

Have you read the trilogy yet? Did you love, hate or feel indifferent? I’d love to know your thoughts!

This is a duo I picked up in LUSH recently, after having a bit of a fail with my previous shampoo of choice (Naked’s Rescue formula since you asked – was just too rich for my hair unfortunately) had left me with greasy roots and rather limp looking hair, whilst still suffering from the dreaded dry ends (as a straightening addict and home hair dyer, I have no idea why I have that problem…)

As you all know I recently switched to being veggie, and also decided to be a lot more selective in terms or which products I use and review in terms of animal testing. LUSH and I have not always been on the best of terms (I find their bath ballistics a little pointless), but I decided to give it a whirl and wondered into my local branch for a mooch. Unfortunately, my leisurely look about was somewhat ruined by the now standard flurry of “offers of help” everytime I so much as looked at a product. (Please LUSH, STOP with the aggressive sales technique, let people have a browse for Christ’s sake!).

Anyway, after a couple of attempts to fight off the sales assistants I realised I had just better bite the bullet, and I asked which haircare they would recommend for me – FYI, my hair is fine, with dry ends, greasy roots and is regularly coloured and heat treated.

I was recommended BIG shampoo and Veganese conditioner, and so I duly trotted home with my purchases like a good little customer. As luck would have it, whilst all LUSH’s products are cruelty free, these two also happen to be vegan, which is a good thing in my opinion…

The shampoo is a bit unusual in that it comes in a pot and is full of coarse sea salt crystals which LUSH say is there to give volume. It also contains seaweed and coconut for softness, lemon and lime for shine, and vanilla, neroli and mandarin for a nice smell.

I actually expected this to make my hair feel a little bit rough, but I was surprised that the shampoo actually turned out to be pretty pleasant to use. The sea salt gives it a pleasantly refreshing feeling on the scalp, and actually does produce a lot of volume, whilst the rich creamy base means it doesn’t dry out my hair. I was also massively pleased with how shiny this left my hair looking. The only note of caution I’d have for this shampoo is that it might not be great on coloured hair – now while I don’t mind a bit of fading because I colour my own hair at home, if you’ve spent megabucks on a flash salon job, you might not be so keen… After a few uses I have noticed that the ends of my hair definitely do not feel as dry as they did, but this could also be due to my use of this…

Veganese conditioner is one of two of LUSHs vegan conditioners (made vegan by the absence of lanolin), which is their lightest formula conditioner, made for all hairtypes, and is designed to give shine without weighing hair down. Initially I didn’t think this would be rich enough to deal with the dry ends of my hair, but I’m happy to say I was proved wrong. Its a light formula, spreads easily through the hair and rinses easily. It has a *bit* of an unusual scent though – I’d say earthy crossed with a mild lemony scent, which you’ll either not mind or find vile. I don’t find it lingers on the hair anyway, so I fall into the “don’t mind”camp. A few uses down the line, and I’m pretty impressed with this – its a great conditioner for fine hair types, and whilst it doesn’t do anything earth-shattering, it doesn’t claim to, and my hair definitely *feels better* since I’ve been using it. People with coarser, drier hair types might not find this rich enough for them.

So overall, I’m impressed by these two hair products – obviously being a beauty blogger I’ll try other haircare, but I can definitely see myself purchasing both of these over and over again. They seem to work well for my hair, and that’s a tough audience to please!

Disclaimer – I bought these products myself.

Original post title huh?!

As I’m sure you are all aware, Illamasqua are launching a new fragrance called “Freak” on Thursday the 20th October, but you can Pre-rder it on the Illamasqua Site from tomorrow…

I was very lucky and very surprised to receive a small sample sized bottle of the perfume in the post the other day, and I have to say, I like it a lot. As with a lot of Illamasqua products though, it’s not a stretch of the imagination to say that this will be a scent that people will either love or hate. As Julian Kynaston (Founder and Joint MD of Illamasqua) says…

“For me, Freak is all of the dangerously sexy parts of Kubricks film “Eyes Wide Shut” captured in a bottle. There’s no middle ground with Freak. The name, the packaging and the fragrance will polarise opinion to simply love or hate.”

 Obviously, as scent is affected by your own skin chemistry, it will smell different on everyone... It also worth mentioning that Illamasqua are marketing this as a unisex fragrance, so (although I hardly think it needs saying), don't expect a light and girly scent!

I have to say, I’m in love with the quirky design of the bottle…

Having said that though, I can see that those with an insect phobia might be “freaked” out (Yeah, I went there) by it. If you follow my twitter though, you’ll know that Ren and Coco, my kitties have started to bring me “trophies” of spiders, usually still alive – I don’t get freaked out by insects, and I actually always try to rescue them and release them in the garden while they still have enough legs to scuttle away. So that little snail just strikes me as cute…

The imagery behind the new perfume is also stunning as we’ve come to expect from Illamasqua…

So what about the scent itself? Well, I’ll go into the “proper details” in a second, but I though it might be helpful to some (ie those who don’t necessarily have a perfumiers finely tuned nose) to know what my impressions are…

This is not a light scent – its no floral or “green” based type of smell, and definitely veers more towards the heavier darker sexier side of perfumes. It has almost musky “leathery” touches to it, but it’s all stopped from getting too heavy by a great blend of citrussy notes (I think this comes from Black Davanna), which wears really well for a citrus note – I usually find on my skin they are the first to fade, but this lasted really well. This is definitely a scent I’d wear for night-times, and I think it’s really rather sexy!

Ok, now the “official” explaination…

Top Notes - Black Davana, Opium Flower and Belladonna bewitch the senses into uncontrollable lust and passion.

Heart Notes - Poison Hemlock, Datura and Queen of the Night blossom, caress and kiss.

Base Notes - Aromas of Frankincense, Oud and Myrrh, addictively mesmerises and captures the senses.

The fragrance will retail at £59 for 75mls, and to celebrate it’s launch, Illamasqua are also launching three limited edition products – Hemlock, a pale opalescent green nail varnish; Queen of the Night pigment, a blackened plum shade, and a sheer lipgloss in Datura, which is a neutral mauve.