First impressions of Benefit's They're Real Push Up Eyeliner

First things first, I just want to apologise about the quality of the pictures that I have been uploading recently. I am at uni and I have left my camera at home so I have been having to take the photos on my iPhone which as you know, isn't brilliant quality. So, sorry for that!

Next thing, I want to put out there that this product is a freebie that I got in ELLE magazine this month which means that this product may not be a true representation of the real thing. That means that my views of these may be different than if I had the full product.

Now that's done, lets get on with it...
It took me a while to figure out how this eyeliner actually works, but then I realised that you have to squeeze the gel through the hole at the top using the 'squeezy' pads. As said above, it was a magazine freebie meaning that this is a small product so when trying to apply it for the first time, I really struggled. The product was really small that I couldn't get a good grip (something that I'm hoping you won't get if you get the real thing) so this meant that I didn't apply it brilliantly to start with.

I sometime found huge lumps come out of the tube at once which will either smudge across your eye or just fall off - I have watched a lot of vlogs about this product (the full item) and it shows that I am not the only one with this issue.

However, I finally got used to applying it and it seems that across the eyelid it's quite easy to apply, but it's quite difficult trying to make a 'cat flick', but this may only be because of the size of the applicator. I also found that sometimes the gel would chip off leaving parts of my eye that is unlined. Throughout the day, I found the gel smudging, chipping and moving across my eye which made look slightly Panda-esqe. I would come back at the end of the day to find that the eyeliner is not how I made it look.

However, the gel itself is jet-black and a brilliant colour for eyeliner. The look of it is somewhere in between liquid and pencil - it stays put a bit longer than pencil but it also looks softer than liquid,

I never thought that I wouldn't like this product as it's Benefit and I'm hoping that it is just because I have a freebie. If you have the proper product, comment below and let me know what you think as I'm really hoping that it's actually amazing!

The Body Shop Pomegranate and Raspberry Home Fragrance Oil

Some of you may know I am obsessed with candles and oil burners. I got my first oil burner for Christmas last year and ever since I haven't stopped using it. A couple of months ago I bought a new oil fragrance from The Body Shop in Pomegranate and Rapsberry.

First things first, I have had 4 of these oils and I can say that they last a reasonably long time to think of how much I use it. The fragrances are always distinctive and always leave a lasting smell in my room. This particular fragrance is very strong and sweet so I wouldn't recommend it to anyone to likes a natural and low-key smell to their homes. Luckily, I'm someone to can handle a strong fragrance and this oil has a flowery,fruity smell that compliments a sunny day!

Another brilliant thing about The Body Shop oils is that only two or three drops is needed for a long-lasting burn, which makes it last even longer! The bottles are also made to help control the amount of oil that comes out - instead of tipping it out and using more than you'd like, it comes out drop by drop to make it easier and hassle-free to use.

The Body Shop Home Fragrance Oils are £4 each bottle, however in my personal opinion, they are completely worth it. I have tried other, cheaper fragrance oils before and they're just not the same. The smell isn't a strong, they don't last as long and they normally come in smaller bottles. I am completely in love with all four fragrances that I have got and will definitely carry on buying oils from this shop.

My skincare favourites

Recently, piles of work and visits home have meant that I've really neglected my skin quite a bit and I can't remember the last time I moisturised! So I've decided to give my skin a bit of TLC tonight and get my skin routine back to normal! So while we're on the subject, here's a few of my favourite skin care products of all time.

Soap & Glory's Heel Genius: I have posted about this one recently I have a lot of love for this foot cream. It gives moisture and repairs cracked and damaged skin, as well as drying quickly. For best results, I put this on just before I go bed and put some cotton socks on (which are normally taken off half way through the night) for noticeably soft feet in the morning.

LUSH's Grease Lightning: Another brilliant product that actually works (most of the time). I have noticed recently how some spots just don't budge with this, however all the others are gone in a flash.

The Body Shop Mango Body Butter: My favourite moisturiser of all time! It's mostly for the winter/colder days as it's quite thick and not really something I can handle throughout the summer. The smell is irresistible and gives moisture for days.

Simple Vital Vitamin Day Cream: I have had a lot of problems in the past with my skin and I was told to use aqueous cream by the doctor. After months of using it (and repairing my skin) I wanted to use a 'normal' moisturiser and wanted to get one that will be the kindest to my sensitive skin. I am a massive Simple Skincare fan and this moisturiser has done everything I wanted it to and so far has been kind to skin.

L'Occitane Hand Cream: I've never been a big hand cream fan but since the cold weather and hard working days, my hands become cracked and dry quite easily and this beautiful vanilla smelling cream does wonders for my damaged hands.

Soap & Glory's The Scrub Of Your Life: Like most other S&G products, this exfoliating shower gel does exactly what it says on the tin (bottle) and removes any dead skin and leaves the rest of my skin feeling soft and smooth for days. The smell is gorgeous and unlike some others, the 'bits' in the gel washed off easily.

The Body Shop Overnight Serum-In-Oil: Another one of my all-time favourite beauty products. A brilliant overnight serum that works wonders while you sleep. It replenishes my skin and makes my skin have a certain glow that I love. It kills dry skin and enhance moisture.

L'Occitane En Provence Vanilla Bouquet Hand Cream Review

Before recently, I've never really been one for hand creams. I grew up with my mum constantly having a hand cream (usually Dove or Nivea) in her bag but I've never really followed suit. When I started working in a bar, I realised that my hands were getting dry and cracked, most probably because of the alcohol ruining my hands. Since then, anything tends to dry out my hands from the cold weather, cleaning and applying makeup. I was using Soap and Glory's Hand Food, but since trying L'Occitane, I don't think will go back.

I got this free from Marie Claire's November issue and I haven't really heard much of this brand before. Since first using it, I have been very impressed. I only use a small ball of this and it covers my hands, the back of my hands, fingers and wrists (on both) - and they're are really dry then I use a little bit more. I have been using this quite a lot and yet I can already tell that this small 30 ml tube will last me a long time. The cream itself is quite thin and has a silky texture which makes it a lot easier to rub into my hands. After putting cream on, some brands are quite sticky and heavy, however with L'Occitane, there's no stickiness but just moisture and a silky feeling.

I only use this once, maybe twice, a day and the moisture stays for hours. It contains 20% shea butter, which is a moisturising ingredient. The one I got was in vanilla fragrance and it smells beautiful, it's not overpowering but there is just enough vanilla to be able to smell for hours.

You can buy L'Occitane hand creams on their website: £8 for 30ml or £19 for 150ml. Remember to follow me on Twitter and on Bloglovin.

ELLE December Issue Freebie: Benefit They're Real Push-up Liner

It's the beginning of the month (kind of) which means magazine time! This month ELLE magazine have a got a brilliant freebie which I'm sure many girls will be running out to buy! It's Benefit's New They're Real Push-Up Gel Liner and I am very excited to try it!

Before getting this product I really didn't know much about it except the fact it was Benefit's new product, it's an eyeliner and in the same 'collection' as They're Real mascara. Like most other products, I like to try a sample of a product beforehand (or read blogs about a certain product) so I was very excited to buy ELLE this month - in September I also got a mini version of the They're Real mascara. However, one thing that I am a little bit sceptical about is that the smaller/mini version of They're Real Mascara is actually a little bit better than the bigger version - I'm not sure whether that's just how it is or whether it was intentional to try to get people to buy it - so I'm worried that when I do try the eyeliner, it will actually be better than if I was to buy the bigger version.

Even though I haven't tried it yet - here are my first impressions:
Looking at it, it's not what I was expecting. I thought it would be a normal pen liner but it's a gel that you have to squeeze through the pen-designed tube. It's quite a small hole so I'm guessing that it comes out quite controlled. I personally haven't had any experience using a eyeliner like this, and if I'm completely honest I'm not too sure whether there are many out there like this (if you know, comment below and tell me which ones! I'm intrigued!). I find applying my eyeliners quite easy but I'm not too sure how I am going to get on with this one, but I'm sure it will also come with time!

This was a 'first impressions' post so keep watch for another post soon on how I get on using this push-up liner for the first time!

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Shampoo and Conditioner

I am a massive Herbal Essences fan - there is no other shampoo/conditioner brand like it and I refuse to use anything different since bad experiences I have had recently with other shampoos (that is to come soon). As far as the different Herbal Essences collections are concerned there are two that I keep switching between; Hello Hydration and Beautiful Ends.

As I have long hair, it's very easy for the ends to get damaged and I really do see a difference in the strength in my hair when I use this collection. I haven't used Beautiful Ends for quite a while as I have been using Hello Hydration, but recently I have come back to this one (just to remember what I'm missing out on). And I must say that where one range lacks, the other triumphs. With Beautiful Ends, it strengthens my long hair and keeps it that way until I decide to get my hair cut (whereas before I was only getting my hair cut because of my split ends). However Hello Hydration makes my hair noticeably softer than any other shampoo/conditioner range or brand I have used before. Don't get me wrong, Beautiful Ends does keep my hair soft, but when switching between the two I definitely noticed a difference - the only upside to having less-softer hair is that it's easier to style!

So basically what I'm saying is that Herbal Essences should definitely make a mixture between the two maybe a Hello Beautiful Ends collection, maybe?! Hmm.

But as far as Beautiful Ends shampoo and conditioner goes, it pretty much ticks all the boxes. Strengthens hair, reduces split ends and still gives touchably soft hair - all are big fat ticks!

Soap and Glory Hand Food & Heel Genius Review

I wrote my first ever post on this blog about Soap & Glory's Heel Genius in December. It's quite embarrassing to look back at it but it shows just how much I loved this product and since then nothing has changed.

I got the mini version of it in set S&G set for Christmas last year and it was my first experience of using a foot cream and I was completely shocked to find out how much it actually repairs your feet!

Recently I have been working a lot which means walking around endlessly in not very supportive shoes and doing that all over the summer wrecked my feet like you wouldn't believe. I had so much dead and dry skin and at some points, my feet were in pain because of the damage that was done to the skin. Soon after using this product, my feet didn't become perfect but it did help immensely. Most of the dry skin is now nourished and when I kept applying it every night, I could feel my feet becoming more and more hydrated. The dead skin was slowly going and now, after weeks of taking care of them, they are now back to how they should be!

Soap and Glory's Hand Food is not surprisingly just as good. As the weather is getting dull and colder, my hands always start to become dry and Hand Food is so light that it dries quickly, but it still keeps the moisture in my hands for hours.

As you can see, I have upgraded my Heel Genius since the mini version I was given at Christmas and I am sure there will be many more bottles that I will go through.

Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint and Basecoat, Top coat & Nail Hardener All In One Review

This post is actually quite late because the first/last time I wore this Barry M Gelly nail paint was in September on my holiday, but better late than never!

When I go on holiday I normally get my nails done professionally but this year I wasn't able to go so instead I wanted a really nice colour but I wanted it to last a long time as I didn't want to keep topping up my nails whilst I'm sunning on the beach. I've heard some great things about gelly nails in general but never had the chance to try them out. As you may know, gelly nails are meant to last a lot longer than ordinary nail polish as it's thicker than normal polishes. This made me really excited to try Barry M's new gelly collection which have a huge range of different colours. As I was going to be in the sun (and was trying to build up a tan) I wanted a pale yet pretty colour to enhance the tan I was hoping to get - I chose Rose Hip, a pastel/pale pink.

For someone who isn't brilliant painting her nails, I found this very easy to apply. The brush is just the right size and applies the nail paint like a dream. When applying it, the liquid seemed exactly the same to any other nail polish that I've had so I wasn't too sure about the 'gelly' element and how long they would last. However, I must say that I am extremely impressed with this product as it lasted me about 10 days or so - whilst being in the water and chlorine - without a single chip or smudge! I expect that it may have lasted a lot longer if I wasn't constantly in the pool and hot tub. The colour stayed throughout my whole holiday and didn't fade.

As well as buying the Hi-Shine Gelly nail paint, I also bought Barry M's All In One Basecoat, Topcoat and Nail hardener. Even though my gelly nails were shiny to start with, this topcoat gave it even more of a shine and glimmer than you would usually only get when going to a nail salon. Within a couple of days I could feel my nails becoming a lot stronger, even though they were constantly being in water. My nails are usually very brittle and weak, so even having a little bit more strength to them made a big difference.

I have always loved Barry M's nail range but their Gelly range has literally made me obsessed. Eventually, I would love to have all the colours of this range and at £3.99 it won't take long (or much money) for me to start my collection. I have already purchased a second colour called 'Lychee' (nude) which I am wearing now and which I have fallen in love with!

Lush Grease Lightning Spot Treatment Product Review

As you can probably tell by my last post, I have been getting a lot of spots recently which means constantly covering them up with makeup. Over the past couple of months or so I have been seeing many people blogging about Lush's Grease Lightning Spot Treatment but I was always undecided about what I thought about this product. However, as I was having a lot of breakouts, I thought was the best time to try it out and figure out whether it's just a gimmick.

I am happy - and shocked - to say that this product actually works! It takes a day or so to kick in but I could definitely see some differences in the spots as they had gone down a considerable amount. I put one squeeze of this on the back of my hand and than dabbed the gel onto my spots (with clean hands) and rubbed it into place. I normally find that if I apply it in the morning, the next morning my spots are usually less visible which is very quick.

Like most products, this does have its downsides. The smell isn't brilliant (a classic Lush smell but less flowery and girl and more clinical) and after applying it, it does leave that area quite dry and stiff to move. However, I always apply moisturiser 5 minutes or so after applying this just to make my face feel fresher and smoother, If I'm completely honest, if there's just one spot that needs removing, normally one squirt of the gel is a bit too much which means that you end up putting to much on your face (which leaves me feeling slightly uncomfortable) or you have excess gel on your hands.

However, this product is fast becoming a must-have for me and I have a feeling that it will last a life time! For only 6 or 7 pound or so I am very happy with this product and it definitely is not a gimmick. Let me know what you think of this product and please follow me on Twitter and Bloglovin.

How to cover up spots

This is just a quick post today but as you can see recently, I have had quite a big break out on my chin. Thankfully, with the help of makeup I've been able to cover up my spots quite easily. Here's a quick list and guide on my spot cover up:

Products I used:
bareMinerals Primer - You must, must, must use primer when covering up spots as it keeps foundation and powder away from the spots themselves.
Maybelline Dream Fresh BB Cream -  This BB cream takes away some of the redness around the area and smooths over the surrounding skin.
L'Oreal 'The Foundation' - I have been using this foundation since I was 17 and have done so because it gives a brilliant cover up and coverage.
Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer - My favourite concealer and a another product I have been using for a long time. This covers the spots like a treat and the powder helps set the concealer as well as blending it in to the skin.
L'Oreal 'The Minerals' Powder - This is the makeup product that I have used for the longest, since I was 16! This powder gives a natural finished to my skin as well as adding extra coverage to my spot-prone area.

I understand that putting lots and lots of makeup over the top of spots isn't exactly the smartest idea but that's why primer is so important. I used all of these products the cover up my spots but I did use them in moderation - don't cake them all on! Concealer (especially this S&G one) only needs to be applied in small doses to cover up an average sized spot so there is no need to cake it on.

November Wish List: High Street Special

We're another month down which means that we're another month closer to Christmas. When thinking about this month's wishlist I had in mind things that I would like for Christmas. I have been watching many Youtube Vlogs and reading so many blogs this week and so many people are still loving high street beauty products and I am right there with them! So here is my wishlist/Christmas list of all the high street beauty products I am wanting to get my hands on.

Bourjois Cream Blush - I have just started to become a fan of blusher and I have heard many good things about cream blusher - in particular, Bourjois Cream Blush. And you maybe shocked to hear that I have never owned any Bourjois beauty products. None! I'm really excited to try this one out some time!

Sleek' I -Divine Storm Eye Shadow Pallet - Another craze that I am just beginning to love is daytime eye shadow. Now, I'm all for eye shadow for a night out but I have never really worn it during the day. I'm getting to the stage where I am getting bored of my look and want to change it up a little bit more. I have heard some brilliant things about Sleek (I have their liquid eyeliner and I love it!) and how pigmented there eyeshadows are. I have chosen the Storm pallet as there are many natural-yet-gorgeous colours in there, as well as a couple of beautiful blues.

Sleek's Contour Kit - Sleek again and another product that I have wanted to get my hands on all year. I've never properly contoured (as I haven't really had the right products) but I am very excited to see how this works. There are so many bloggers and vloggers out there who love this product and hopefully, soon I will be one of them.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Professional Primer - L'Oreal is my favourite high street makeup brand and there's no way that any other brand will beat it. My foundation and powder are both L'Oreal and I have been using them for about 5 years with no troubles at all. I've only just started wearing primer so I have only tried one brand (bareMinerals) so I want to spread my wings a little and try other brands.

The Body Shop Honey Bronzing Powder - Nearly every time I walk in Body Shop I always find myself looking at this product and wondering what it's like - why I haven't thought to buy it before now I'll ever know. This bronzer is made with Community Fair Trade honey and is available in four different shades ranging from light to dark which makes me very happy - I am naturally quite pale so finding a bronzer that isn't too harsh for my skin tone is normally quite difficult.

Bourjois Shine Edition Lip Stick - I don't use lipstick very often but that mostly because it doesn't usually suit me, however I do like light pink colour with a touch of shine so I'm excited to try this one out.

Let me know your opinions on any of these products as I'd love to hear to them! Please also remember to follow me on Twitter and Bloglovin if your don't already.