5 in 5 | Quick Reviews #1

I seem to have so many products just stacking up which I haven't got around to sharing with you guys as I think you might be interested in some of them! I thought rather dedicating single blog posts to each one it would be much quicker and convenient for us all if I did short and snappy mini reviews - and of course, if you'd like to know more just comment!

Umberto Giannini Incredible Body Volume Blow Dry Spray For Big Hair: 

To be fair, I'm probably not the best person to try this out as my hair is SO long and heavy. Although saying that, I do have voluminous hair days and the times after I used this product weren't those days! On one of the occasions I noticed my hair needed a wash sooner than it usually would. It does say it provides heat protection but I'd much rather buy a product which was intended for protecting your hair against heat. It smells quite nice and I like the packaging but I can't say I'll be repurchasing! 

Glam Glow Face Mask: 

I received this in my #bbloggersxmas goodie bag, and there was recently a fair amount of hype going around for this mud mask so I thought I'd give it a go. I didn't really read the  packaging and just whacked it on - I don't like products that tingle! Once the tingling stopped though it was fine, it smelt like tea and it has tea leaves in it which was quite odd. I washed it off though and I did think my skin looked brighter and fresher. It costs £50 for a pot which I'd never pay for a face mask! If you ever come across samples though I'd say pick them up.

Soap & Glory Glow Job:

I've got to say, I found the name of this product rather amusing and I was pretty intrigued by it. Glow Job is a daily moisturiser with bronzing beads in it to create radiance. I was slightly worried about the bronzing part of this product as I'm rather pale and I don't want to look orange! I think it definitely gives a nice glow and a bit of colour to the skin, and it smells like Terry's chocolate orange which is just amazing! Be wary that the bronzing beads are fully blended in though or you can look very streaky. Although I like this product I think it's one for the Summer months.

Ciate Nail Paint in Power Dressing:

Obviously, I was hugely excited when I purchased the Ciate Mini Mani Month as my advent calendar last December. Since then, I've tried a few colours from the set and have been left a little disappointed. For a dark colour, it was far from opaque on the first coat, it needed 3 coats before I was happy with it. Not long afterwards it peeled off my nails - really not impressed considering it's from a 'high end' nail brand! My Barry M 'Navy' is much better.

Natural Collection Lipstick, Rose Petal:

I picked this up on a whim as I had one of those Boots points vouchers and I fancied a new lipstick. For only £1.99 I was pleasantly surprised! Nude lipsticks are a bit of a struggle so I don't want to pay out a lot for them just in case. It's a nice peachy nude on me which was just what I was looking for. It's moisturising but not overly shiny which is just great for me! It doesn't last a great deal of time but for under £2 I don't think I can complain!

Have you tried any of these products before? What did you think of them?

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Amara; Life, Style, Living

Christian Lacroix Fashion Sketch Notebook: £8.40*

I thought I'd share with you a brand I've recently discovered, Amara.co.uk is an luxury online boutique focusing on life, style and living. I was asked if I'd like to review one of their products and after browsing their extensive range of products I jumped at the chance when I saw these Christian Lacroix notebooks. If you know me, you'll know I'm an avid fan of making lists (I'll make a list at least once a day!) so, a designer notebook with fashion illustrations on it is absolutely perfect for me!

I must admit, it is almost too nice to write in. It's definitely something I'll put special notes in and not just my day to day scribbles. The paper is as you would expect, lovely quality. Considering it's designer I think it's pretty well priced and if you take into account how much a notebook from WHSmith's might cost you nowadays.

Jean Paul Gaultier Cushion | Cath Kidston Towels | Christian Lacroix notebook | Pip Studio Teapot | Emma Bridgewater Pen | Mulberry Candle

I felt I had to share a few other things on Amara, (mainly the Mulberry candle!) Who knew Mulberry did a homeware? I think I'm going to have to make a small purchase... The Cath Kidston bath towels are another favourite and they're actually in the sale. 

I'd advise a look on Amara if you haven't before, especially with Mother's Day fast approaching! Is there anything you've got your eye on?

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2true New Season Nails

Hi Sophie, would you like to try out some brand new nail polishes? Um, yes please! I think you all know how much of a nail fanatic I am, so I couldn't turn down the opportunity to add to my ever growing nail polish collection..

2true, have launched 9 new shades which include high shine crystal polishes, glitter and chic neutrals. I got to try 6 of the new polishes, so here they are;

L > R: Shade 1, Sapphire | Shade 12, Mushroom | Shade 13, Soft Grey | Shade 9, Rio | Shade 7, Miami | Shade 10, St. Tropez

Firstly, I tried out the three polishes from the Crystal Couture collection. These remind of the Models Own Beetlejuice collection, except not as duochrome - more high shine metallic, foil like. On my thumb and little finger is Rio, my index and ring is St. Tropez and on my middle is Miami. 

I used three coats of polish on each. Rio is a lovely copper colour with pink and gold shimmer running through it, St. Tropez is a unique dark purpley colour with blue and red shimmer. Miami is a pink with tiny flecks of blue through it. St. Tropez is a lot like purple blue by Models Own.

I love neutral nail polish so I was excited to try these next two. They certainly impressed!

Mushroom is exactly like one of my favourite nail polishes - Big Smoke by Topshop! I'd definitely save yourself £3 and go and pick this one up if you were thinking of buying the Topshop one. It was good to apply and only took 2 coats to be fully opaque. 

On my ring finger I tried out Soft Grey which was also like Mushroom regarding application. I think it's a great staple colour - I can't believe I didn't have a grey nail polish before this!

This last one is one of the three from the Glitterati collection. Sapphire is a light blue glitter with large flat glitter particles throughout it. It's quite thin so I think it's more of a layering polish but you could build it up to wear it on it's own. I think this is a brilliant colour for the festive season if you didn't want to go for the obvious red or gold nails over Christmas as it's almost icy.

Layered over Soft Grey on Ring finger and Mushroom on thumb

As far as chipping is concerned, Sapphire was much like any other polish I wear - no polish can withstand a day at my work! I did do pretty well though.

I also did a bit of nail art, as I always think a simple bit of nail art looks great over a nude as it livens it up a little, nude doesn't have to be boring!

These polishes get a big thumbs up from me! The polishes are available as of today (5th December) nationwide in Superdrug stores. They retail at £1.99 each or 3 for £4.99! Bargain. I'm going to pick up the last three to complete my collection :) I'll definitely be checking out the rest of 2true's new polishes!

What do you think of the new polishes? 

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Rimmel Day 2 Night Glam Eyes Mascara Review

I've never done a review before but I've really fancied doing one for a while now, I know I don't usually focus on beauty on my blog but I do actually have a rather large interest in cosmetics! I thought I'd put my two pence worth in for the Rimmel Day 2 Night mascara.

I was quite intrigued by this mascara when it first came out as it was a new concept and I'd been using two separate mascaras for a while to make the most out of my lashes and have experimented with a variety of combinations, I bought this with the intention of saving time. I'd also heard a fair amount of positive reviews on Youtube, and it popped up in people's favourites videos a lot, so I decided to try it for myself.

P a c k a g i n g

Nothing particularly fancy about the packaging until you spot the lid. Essentially it has two lids, the first for length (black and slimmer) and the second pink for volume. It's quite clunky packaging, not the most attractive but certainly not the least either. Goes along the 'sexy, glamourous' theme with the pink and black with holographic writing.

P r o d u c t

The tube contains 9.5ml of product and retails at £7.99. Personally, it's slightly more than I usually pay for a mascara but it did feel as though I was almost buying two.

A p p l i c a t i o n

The formula of this mascara is wet. Much more liquidy than any other mascara I've used before, I was pretty shocked the first time I used it, that 9.5ml ain't gonna last you long if you put that much on each time! The next time I used it I scraped a lot of product off and things seemed to go much more smoothly. The lengthening brush is fine, just watch out for the volume one! I found the best way to apply this product is to use the volume one first and then the lengthening wand to remove any large clumps, even though I think you're meant to do it the other way round?

W a n d s

Basically, they're the same brush except one picks up loads of product and the other gets scraped off. It's your pretty average brush with fibre bristles, nothing too fancy about it. I'd also like to mention that I found the lengthening wand a tad tricky to apply as it's on a longer stick than I'm used to so I didn't get as much control as I would've liked.

S t a y i n g  P o w e r

I wore this to a wedding, when we had the our ~Indian Summer~. Let me tell you, it was flipping hot in the venue however, the mascara stayed put! It does flake though if you touch/tamper with your eyelashes, but to be honest why would you want to start fiddling with your eyelashes?!

O v e r a l l ?

I'm on the fence with this mascara. I love the false eyelash look it gives - it defines my eyelashes from a distance. I also like the concept, depending on what eye make up you're going for you can choose what your eyelashes look like with just one product instead of two. However, I'm really not a fan of how much product comes out with the volume brush and how wet it is, I feel like it weighs my lashes down. I think if your a fan of thick clumpy lashes this product would be right up your street! I'd rate it a 6/10. 

W o u l d  I  b u y  a g a i n ?

Probably not, but that's because I like to try out lots of different mascaras! I don't think it's bad at all, now that I've used it for a good few months and it's dried up a bit it's much easier to work with.

So there you have it - I hope/think I covered everything. Have you tried this mascara? What did you think of it?

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