If It Was Good Enough For Cleo..

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In the beauty blogging world luxury bath products might just be more popular than lipstick but there’s not much luxury to be found on a budget in my experience so when I saw this in a little shop in Leeds I had to try it. I think it was around £4.50 for the whole sachet and I’d say you’d get 4 generous portions out of just one pack so if consider the hoards willing to pay £5 for a one use bath bomb this is pretty good value. That being said I’m not convinced it actually did anything. I’m always a bit dubious about bath products to begin with and aside from nice smells and pretty colours I’m not sure what most of them do but I will continue to work my way through them in the name of research.

I’ve just found this product online for a little cheaper and there’s a refillable jar version that seems to be a much better deal so if I was to repurchase I would buy that for sure. It claims to soften the skin and I don’t know if my skin is just not that dry or if it’s just not that effective but I saw no results.. I do however like the whole experience of adding powder/salts to my bath pre-soak and as I usually wash my hair/shave my legs in the same water I generally avoid oils and products that leave residue so there’s another pro for this. If you use enough it clouds the water ever so but there’s no discernible fragrance.. in all I’m not entirely sure this is worth any money at all but if you’ve tried this and love it please leave me a comment because it may just be that I’m not the target market.

You can find Dr Rose Apothecary products online here

Miss BB

VO5 – Tousled Style Spray

I took these pictures an absolute age ago, I wanted to review each of the products from the Give Me Texture range individually and it’s taken me far too long to get around to my favourite. the Tousled Style Spray. I do have one issue with it and that is the nozzle, it emits more of a squirt than a mist which effectively gives a single patch of product.. not ideal. I now spray it in to my hand and apply it to my hair that way rather than directly from the bottle.. it just works better that way but I may at some point decant it into a better spray bottle as it would be far easier to be able to mist it as designed. Anyway.. I put it in my towel dried hair, give it a scrunch and it dries with the most amazing texture, I do have a natural wave to my hair so I’m not sure how effective it would be for those of you with poker straight locks but if you’ve tried this please let me know how it worked for you.

One other little note would be that this whole range did seem to dry out my hair a little so I wouldn’t recommend that you use the entire system at once. I was using the shampoo, conditioner, tousled spray and dry texture spray to top up my volume and it was too much, I know use a more moisturising S&C if I’m going to be using the texture range but they’re great products and I’ve even changed my mind about the volume powder.. I used it last week and it gave immense volume at my roots but did feel very sticky so it’s not something I’d use every day. I’m really interested in trialling some items from the new John Freida Volume collection now as I’ve always gravitated towards the ‘smooth and sleek’ side of styling but this has opened my eyes to a whole new way to do my do with no heat required!

Available for £3.98 online here

Miss BB

Favourite Five – Drugstore Tanning

We all like a little glow when Spring/Summer arrives, pale as I am and much as I hate the smell even I do succumb on occasion and when I do I reach for one of the above. I generally prefer a gradual tan and if I had to choose I think the Palmers is my favourite, it smells like chocolate out of the bottle and gives a nice natural bronze for my skin tone. I’ve had some seriously orange nightmares in the past but none of these ever develop an undesirable shade and for the most part they are also great for a streak free finish but remember.. that’s more down to application than formula. I always use a mitt as I find it works best for me and you eradicate the chance of streaks created by finger marks and of course orange hands but I’ve heard of people using socks and I can’t imagine that’s much different to the mitts you can buy so long as they’re not too scratchy. Mousse is the best option if you don’t have time to stand around naked while you ‘dry’ but the L’Oreal gel absorbs quickly too and that’s by far my favourite full tan if ever I want a darker colour. If you’re interested in hearing my ramble about these 5 then watch the video at the end of this post but if you just want to know which are my favourites and where you can get them see the list below..

Products Mentioned:

St Moriz Tanning Mousse- Review - online here
Derma V10 Solkiss – available at Poundland and Home Bargains
L’Oreal Sublime Bronze Gel- Review – online here
Dove Summer Glow – I can’t find this online, discontinued? surely not..
Palmers Natural Bronze – Review - online here

Miss BB

*Face Mask Friday* – Anti-Hangover Overnight Treatment

This is one of the most exciting sounding products I’ve reviewed in a while, don’t you agree? A hangover cure for my skin? Yes please!

I wasn’t sure what to expect consistency wise and just a word of warning, I lost about half the tub pulling the little insert off as it’s a very liquid formula. It’s basically a gel which is designed to be left to work overnight and unlike most masks which would no doubt crumble all over your pillow this is very comfortable, you really can’t feel it on your skin. I decided to wait until a morning after an evening of drinking to road test it given it’s anti-hangover claims and I must admit it’s a really nice, refreshing sensation when you’re not feeling 100%

Unfortunately other than the initial refreshing sensation I’m not sure it did much else for my skin, after wearing it all day my skin still felt dehydrated and unimproved. I tried it again on a ‘better skin day’ (read:no late night/alcohol) and the effect was much the same. It’s a nice product and as part of your ‘recovery’ it’s definitely something I’m happy to have but I was disappointed to find it didn’t do a lot. I am always interested in overnight masks however and am not about to give up on this one just yet as it’s so much easier to leave a product to work while you sleep.. it’s just nicer when it actually works.

Bear in mind that my skin is oily/combination and blemish prone, I have seen this popping up on instagram and other blogs so if you haven’t already I would imagine you will see a variety of reviews from different skin types (the beauty of blogging) who may feel completely differently about this so if you do find one or if indeed you have tried this yourself leave me a comment and let me know what you thought of it! Perhaps there’s a secret to this I just haven’t found.. I’m thinking it’s going to be a life saver on sunburn though.

Available online here for £13.75

Miss BB

*PR Sample

MUA Lipstick – Shade 3

Oh how I wish MUA named their lipsticks, numbers just aren’t interesting and while I understand that the basic packaging keeps down the costs with brands such as MUA surely they could assign one member of their team the job of naming their colours, no? It’s a little detail but I’m sure it’s not just bloggers that appreciate that kind of thing. Regardless the quality of these lipsticks is really nice and you absolutely cannot go wrong for £1, the formula is creamy, the colour pay off is great and they’re not at all drying. I do have one little irk and that’s the smell. They smell like plastic.. is it just me? They’re original glosses smell so good I just can’t understand why the lipsticks can’t follow suit.. but that’s really my only dislike with this product.

This colour reminds me a lot of Speak Louder from MAC only a little more blue in tone.. definitely a shade I will wear often

Overall I’ve been happy with almost everything I’ve tried from MUA and I don’t know why I haven’t featured them more so after many requests I have stocked up on some new items and dug out some old favourites to share with you over the coming weeks. If you have anything specific you’d like me to review leave a comment below.

Miss BB

Simply Sunkissed

Although the weather is still dismal I have been feeling the Spring/Summer vibe recently and even tried my hand a little DIY tanning. I love the Palmers Cocoa Butter gradual tanner as it gives me just the right amount of glow and I never get those funny looks the next day from colleagues.. you know the ones I mean! Anywho.. the tan inspired me to film something sunkissed for you all, be kind as I’m never great at filming tutorials but I will list everything I used below and there are no fancy tricks, it’s just me applying them so you really don’t even need the video, ha!

Face

Garnier BB Cream (original), Collection Lasting Perfection concealer, S&G Trick & Treat concealer, elf Colour Correcting Powder, MUA Bronzed Perfection bronzing powder, elf blush in Glow

Eyes

Sleek Oh So Special Palette, Rimmel Brow Pencil in Hazel, NYC Show Time Mascara

Lips

L’Oreal Caresse Lipstick in Nude Ingenue

And for those of you that would like to see all of that in action, here’s the video..

Miss BB