E.l.f Haul

Hi, guys

I recently got some things from e.l.f when they had a free shipping code with a free gift so here's what I got and what I think of them so far. 

The product I was most excited to receive was the Angled Eyeliner Brush, now I will do a separate blog post about this and the e.l.f cream eyeliner so keep your eyes peeled for that soon ;).

Nail Polish in Twinkle - I didn't own a sparkly nail polish so when I seen that this was in the sale section on the website for £1.00 I had to get it. I've tried it out and I actually like it, the sparkles are just enough to wear everyday and it's not in your face. The polish dried semi-matte which I wasn't crazy about but I just put a clear top coat over it to get the glossy effect.

Warm Bronzer - I already have a bronzer which I use to contour everyday but I like to try out new things so decided to get this for £3.50. I like the shades but they are really sheer and it doesn't have any matte shades in it. However there is a highlighter and blush in there so it's perfect for travelling. I think I need to get to know this bronzer more before I can give a true opinion on it but I do like it so far and have been wearing it everyday.

Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara - This is the second one I've bought and i'd repurchase this a million times, I love it so much! I don't use the mascara side, I just use that on my brows after the brow side is used up. This product is a God send for setting eyebrows, it keeps them in shape all day. Perfect. This was £1.50 and last ages.

Defining Eye Brush - I have lots of e.l.f brushes and I love them. They do just the job and at £1.50 each you can't complain at all. I wanted this brush to add to my collection and just like all the others I am so happy with it. I've been using this for applying shadow to the outer corners of my eye.

The free gift!

Day to Night Beauty-on the-go.

I have to be fair, I wasn't expecting these to be be great and sadly I'm not really loving some of the things in it. I quite like some of the shadows, especially the black sparkly one in the Night palette but I just don't like the blushes, they seem far to powdery and sheer, they just don't appear on the skin. The second thing I got for free was the Shimmer Pencil in Black, which I do love! I wore this today and it's lasted all day without too much smudging or movement. It's not so great on the waterline but I don't like wearing Kohl liners on the waterline.

Get all the products here and there's lots more to check out so go see the website now!

What e.l.f products do you rate? Let me know so I can try them out!

Updated - The Trouble With Me

Well, hello again!

I'm sorry if some of you are sick of reading these acne/skincare posts but I do hope they help someone out there!

As you'll know if you read my previous post on my acne, I had been having a major breakout, like the worst one in AGES and it was just sore, dry and I didn't know what to do or where to start. It was really getting me down so I thought it was time to really think about what might have happened to cause me to have such a big breakout.

After having an informal chat with someone at Clinique in boots, the lady told me my skin seemed to be bacterial and hormone related acne and I'd need to see the doctor to get some antibiotics. Now, having been on antibiotics before I just wasn't keen on going on them again, because i didn't think they helped and being on them long term, well, you never know what the long tern affects might be. I'm the kind of person that hates to take a painkiller for a headache never mind an antibiotic so going down that route was just out of the question for me.

I decided to treat my skin naturally the best way I could, even if I could just calm the inflammation, I'd be happy so i decided to use the Honey&Olive Oil face mask method. I'll go through all the steps so you guys can try this out for yourself, even if you don't have acne it's sytill a wonderful thing to do for your skin as the honey contains antioxidants and antibacterial properties while the oil cleanses the skin deep down into the layers of skin.

You'll need:
Extra virgin olive oil (it has to be virgin so it's pure and won't irritate the skin)
Pure honey, I used clear although organic would be better.
A little pot, a rinsed out yoghurt tub would do the job.
Teaspoon.
A clean face, free of makeup and anything else.


Ok so you want to pour half a teaspoon of oil into your pot then a whole teaspoon of honey and mix them together with your spoon. With clean fingertips, gently smooth on the honey and oil mixture onto the face and neck in a generous layer and leave for as long as desired. I left it on for about an hour whilst watching the soaps :). When you remove the mask use warm water only using circular motions. It might take a little while to rinse it all off your face but do be gentle. After rinsing, pat the face and neck dry and apply your usual moisturiser and your done! Your face should feel soothed and moisturised.

Hope this is helpful to you guys and I hope you try it out :)
T.L.B
xxx

Where There's Soap...

Hi guys, so sorry I've not been blogging so much. I lost my camera!! I've been using my Blackberry to take the photos so I hope they're ok to use and you can see in some kind of detail.

Anyway, I have to rave about these products, they are all from the Soap & Glory range and they are quite frankly beautiful and gorgeous. I have always loved S&G from being a teenager and it's my go-to for bath and body products. I got these products for Christmas from my partner (awww) and was very happy when I opened them!

Although some of the products were in sets you can also buy them separately here.

Starting with the Daily Smooth body butter, well I just think it's absolutely amazing! Smells great, feels great and does just the job. It's not as rich as a thick body butter which is great for me as I hate anything that feels heavy or thick on the skin. I use this every time I get out the bath and it just sinks so nicely into the skin with no residue left over. Buy here for £8.43.

Next is the Clean Girls body wash. This is the most moisturising body was ever and I find that so hard to say about some products, I use it with a poofy thing in bath and it lathers up to silky bubbles. Amazing! Buy here for £5.87.

What's nicer than a Breakfast Scrub? Nothing! Now let me tell you, I LOVE this product. You know when you buy an exfoliator and you put it onto your skin and it just does nothing? It really peeves me off! I like to know my skin is being scrubbed and all that dead skin is being taken way and that is what this does. It's the most amazing smelling product, it smells of maple syrup. Yeahhh. I want to eat it! Get it here now for £9.45.

Mist You Madly. I use this body spray in the mornings before I get dressed to put a little spring in my step and to freshen up my skin a little bit. It's delightful to spray on but I have to say I'm not crazy about the fragrance to be honest, it's not as floral as I'd have liked but it's still gorgeous for everyday wear. Buy here for £3.11 for the mini version.

Last but not least, Hand Food! It quite literally is food for your hands, it feeds them with so much moisture and loveliness that I will not be without this ever. I have used it none stop since I got it and I have got a mini one which I keep in my handbag and a full size to keep in my makeup drawer. Get it now and try for yourself here for £4.85

                       

                        

                         

 

The Trouble with Me - Acne Battles

Hey everyone!

This post is all about my journey to beating my acne which I've suffered with since my early teens and although it's improving it's still a pain in my life. I consider my acne to be moderate and I've recently had a major breakout and my skin feels so sore all the time. I'm beginning to feel like my acne will never go away, as after years of trying creams and lotions I find they are just not for me and the best way to deal with it is reducing the amounts of products that aren't natural or contain lots of man made ingredients. At the moment for skincare I use the olive oil cleansing technique to deep clean my skin followed by Fresh Farmacy cleanser. For moisturiser I use Olay Classic Fluid which I find smoothes everything out and leaves me with a good base to apply my primer, then foundation.

I'm going to try and figure out if any of the products I'm using could be contributing to the bad break outs I'm having by withdrawing one of the products for 2 weeks until I find out which is the culprit! I do lead a relatively healthy lifestyle and I'm pretty sure that it's down to hormones at the end of the day but I don't want to be on long term antibiotic medications or anything like that.

What do you find helps your skin problems?

What's In My Makeup Bag?

Hi guys, here's what's in my bag! Enjoy. 

                                                                   
 

So here's a list of everything I have in my makeup bag. I use this makeup every single day and I love everything!

• Olay moisturiser
• Revlon ColorStay foundtion
• Avon pressed powder 
• MUA blush
• Soap&Glory bronzer
• Urban Decay Primer Potion
• E.l.f duo eyebrow/lash gel
• Collection 2000 pen liner
• 17 eyebrow pencil
• Misguided lipsplash
• 2True mascara
• Urban Decay Naked palette
• E.l.f brushes
• Makeup bag is from a Soap & Glory gift set

You can buy these products at any drugstore apart from the Naked palette which you can buy here. e.l.f brushes can be bought here. 

What's in your bag?

NOTD - Glossy Midnight Blue

Please excuse the messy application and the quality of the photos isn't great but i had to share this nail polish. Now when i first looked at the 2True products i thought, no, they'll be cheap and nasty and the nail polishes will be super thin. I was sooo wrong! In superdrug you can but 3 products for £4.99 so i picked this polish up. On it's own it costs £1.99 here. I applied a clear base coat then applied 2 thick coats of the Midnight Blue and it turned out perfect!

What do you think?

FOTD - Golden Smoke

                            

                                     

      

I suffer from major breakouts and struggle ALOT with acne so i hope that some of my FOTD's help some of you get over confidence issues and learn how to take care of your skin and hide it with makeup.

Products used:

Revlon Colorstay combination/oily skin in Ivory here

Avon Ideal Shade Pressed Powder in fair here

UD Primer Potion (from the Naked palette set)

e/s - Naked, Smog, Darkhorse, Half Baked and Virgin from the UD Naked palette here

17 eyebrow pencil (sorry I can't find the link but it bought it from Boots)

2True mascara in black from Superdrug (again sorry, I cant find the link)

Soap and Glory Solar Powder bronzer here

Lipstick from Avon which I believe is now discontinued

T.L.B

xxx