Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water

Hi Everyone,

Today I am reviewing the Micellar Cleansing Water by Ganier Skin Naturals. I spotted this on the shelf in my local Boots store and knew straight away that I had to try it. I am a big fan on the Bioderma Micelle Solution (although not such a big fan of the price!) and was really hoping that this would be a more affordable option.

I reviewed the Bioderma Sebium H20 back in September after hearing so many good things about the range in the blogging community (full review here). I loved that it worked really well as a make up remover but without any of the scrubbing or rubbing that I was used to. I hate using makeup wipes and have oily skin so oil or cream based cleansers do not work for me, but the Micellar Solution ticked all the boxes, especially as it is so gentle.

The Garnier offering comes in a much bigger bottle (400ml which claims to be 200 uses!) and feels like great value for money at £4.99. Heck, I paid £4.50 for just 100ml of Bioderma so it's definitely the cheaper option! Like Bioderma, the Garnier Micellar Water is super gentle and effectively removes makeup without any hassle. It doesn't have much of a scent and feels no different to water on the skin. It leaves my skin feeling gloriously clean and fresh and even removes tough eyeliner and mascara which I wasn't sure it would.

So far I would say that the Garnier Micellar Solution is a great substitute for the pricier Bioderma option. It has all the same great benefits without the guilt- what's not to love?! Plus the bottle feels like it will last me a lifetime. If you are looking for a great value, gentle cleanser that leaves your skin hydrated and make-up free then look no further! I am loving this product right now.

Have you tried it? Let me know your thoughts!

Rosie x

How I Contour

Hi Everyone!

Today I wanted to share with you a quick post on my contouring habits. Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you'll know that contouring and highlighting is a key part of any makeup lover's regime to slim the face, accentuate the cheekbones and highlight our best features (!) whilst simultaneously trying to hide those that we're perhaps less fond of.

I don't claim to be an expert but I love to have a go at "HAC"ing (Highlighting & Contouring- name borrowed from Maskara's blog!), especially as my face is heart shaped and I have quite a high forehead.

There are loads of products on the market at the moment for HACing, but my personal favourites are:

Contour:

Chanel Tan De Soleil or

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer or

Topshop Bronzer in Sandcastle (which I cannot find online)

Highlight:

Estee Lauder Ideal Light Brush-on Illuminator or

Clinique Even Better Concealer in Chamois

I also tend to use a powdered or liquid highlighter such as Revlon Photoready Skinlights Illuminator to finish the look and give my skin a real glow.

For the look above I used the Estee Lauder Illuminator and the Chanel Bronzer, which is great for contouring as it is quite creamy and very easy to blend! As you can see I swipe the bronzer across the top of my forehead, under my cheekbones, down the sides of my nose and around my chin/jawline to begin with (over foundation). Some beauty bloggers will tell you not to contour too far down the face and keep it as a clean line to the middle part of your cheek, but if you have a heart-shaped face like mine you may find that this just isn't enough! I like to blend right the way across under my cheekbones to create a more visible 'apple' of the cheek, but that's just personal preference!

I also apply the highlighter down the centre of my nose, under my eyes, on my lower forehead and on my upper lip and eyebrow arch. I tend to blend the bronzer in with my Real Techniques Contour brush but prefer to use my fingers for the highlighter. Just keep blending until you're happy with it! It can be as dramatic or subtle as you like, that's the beauty of it!

To complete my look above I just swiped some Too Faced Powdered Sun onto my cheeks, added a slick of MAC lipstick in Costa Chic and lined my eyes with my Estee Lauder Doublewear Gel Eyeliner and some mascara. Easy peasy!

I'd love to hear about how you contour/highlight and what products you use so please leave me a comment below!

Rosie x

Birthday Weekend!!

Hi Everyone,

Today I thought I'd do a little lifestyle post for you as to be honest I haven't had chance to experiment with many new beauty products recently! This is practically unheard of for me, but I have been moving house (again!) and living out of a suitcase, so all of my products are boxed up and hidden in the depths of the garage. Plus last week was my birthday and I have been busy celebrating!

Last weekend my boyfriend and I went to Cheltenham as a birthday treat and stayed in the gorgeous Hotel Du Vin. I chose Cheltenham as I'd been once before when I was at university in Bristol (ahem.. several years ago now) and really enjoyed it. The hotel I was not so familiar with but  Oh-my-Gosh it's gorgeous! We stayed in the Ruinart room which had an amazing his-and-hers bathroom complete with two showers and two baths. Yes, possibly a little bit gimmicky.. But surely you have got to give it a go?!

The trip was a real treat and we had a few glasses of champagne in the room before heading out for dinner at a lovely little French restaurant called L'Artisan. I wore my new ASOS jumpsuit which I am already in love with having umm-ed and ahh-ed over it for quite some time before purchasing!

The next day we had an additional treat when the hotel staff brought us breakfast in bed on a little tray complete with pastries, toast, juice, coffee and granola with yoghurt.. Yummy. I thoroughly enjoyed our stay and would recommend the hotel to anyone as we found the staff to be extremely helpful and the whole trip was a great experience.

I hope you all had a brilliant weekend!

Rosie x

What I Got for Christmas...

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all having a wonderful start to 2014! Christmas seems to be well and truly over now; the tree is down, selection boxes have been eaten and my Christmas playlist has been abandoned. I really enjoyed Christmas in 2013 and was lucky enough to receive some lovely presents, a few of which I thought I'd share with you in today's post. I'm doing this purely because I've read quite a few of these posts and found them really sweet and interesting, and so I hope you enjoy reading mine!

Handbag: I was truly spoilt by my boy this time around, and he bought me this AMAZING bag from Michael Kors. If any of you have read some of my previous Lust List posts then you will know that I am partial to a designer handbag, and Michael Kors is one of my all-time favourite brands. This bag is so buttery soft and has both a long and a short strap which makes it easy to carry around. I am so in love with it that I'm a bit scared to use it in case I get it dirty! It is absolutely beautiful and the colour is perfect for everyday- I was seriously impressed with his choice!

DKNY Makeup Bag: This bag is perfectly handbag-sized and will definitely come in handy. I always seem to be short of makeup bags so this was a really useful present for me and I love the cute DKNY pattern. 

Makeup Brush Set: This 11 piece brush set is from Fakeface and the brushes are lovely and soft. I love the angled blush brush and the precision eyeshadow brushes, plus they come in this really handy zip case. They are not quite on a par with my beloved Real Techniques brushes but who doesn't love a new set of makeup brushes, plus I love the packaging!

Makeup: I was given a lovely Estee Lauder set which includes a gel eyeliner, mascara and eyeshadow trio. I love Estee Lauder makeup and the packaging always feels very luxurious. I have only tried the eyeliner so far but it glides on so smoothly and really lasts all day so I'm very pleased with it. I also received some vouchers for Christmas so bought a few other bits and pieces including Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation, MAC eyeshadow in Brun, Clinique concealer in Chamois and YSL Rouge Volupte lipstick in Nude Beige. These were all treat puchases, especially the lipstick as I've had my eye on it for ages! I am really happy with everything I bought and I'm sure I will be reviewing these products soon.

Watch: This wasn't actually a Christmas present but I treated myself to this gorgeous Michael Kors watch in the January sales (yes, I'm obsessed I know!). I'd wanted one for a really long time and this one was just so beautiful that I couldn't resist. I love it so far and have been wearing it every day- it is such a statement piece but seems to go with everything and comes in this swanky Michael Kors box, yay!

There are a couple of other bits and pieces but as this is already quite a long post I won't bore you with them. All in all I was a very lucky lady and I cannot wait to test drive some of my new products! I am also one of the unfortunate January-birthday-people (the most depressing month to have a birthday ever), so hopefully I might have some new and shiny bits and pieces to show you after the 11th!

What did you all get for Christmas? If you've done a post on this I'd love to read it (and perhaps you can give me some birthday present inspiration!).

Rosie x

Face Of The Day

Hello lovelies!

Today I am doing a quick Face of The Day post to showcase some of the fab new products that I have picked up recently. I have always been a fan of the full coverage foundation, but in this look I am trying something a bit different and using a BB cream instead. I did not expect to like this look as much as I do, but the BB cream I used gives a lovely illuminating glow and is perfect for everyday. I hope you enjoy!

Face:

Revlon Photoready Skinlights Face Illuminator in Pink Light (under BB Cream)

Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer in 001

Revlon Photoready BB Cream Skin Perfector in 020 Light Medium (applied with fingers, not a brush)

Clinique Even Better Concealer in Chamois (used as highlighter on nose, cheekbones, chin and forehead)

MAC Mineralise Skinfinish Natural in Medium

Brows:

MAC Eyeshadow in Brun, applied with Bare Minerals Brow Brush

Cheeks:

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer to contour

No.7 Instant Radiance Highlighter to accentuate the highlighted areas

MAC Blush in Melba

Eyes:

No.7 Stay Perfect Amazing Eyes Pencil in Black (on upper and lower waterline and smudged slightly under eyes)

Benefit They're Real! Mascara

Lips:

Natural Collection Lip Lines (this is an old one and I can't find the shade I'm afraid!)

Korres Lip Butter in Jasmine

Overall I love this dewy, fresh faced look and it was so easy to create that I will definitely be doing it again! The Photoready range from Revlon is a firm favourite of mine at the moment and looks so flawless in photographs- I am planning a post on my favourite products from the range which will hopefully be available soon.

Enjoy the rest of your week everyone and of course feel free to leave me a comment!

Rosie x

December Favourites!

Hi All,

As this year draws to a close I thought I'd share with you a few of my favourite Winter products at the moment. I must admit that Winter is not my favourite season as it wreaks havoc with my skin- it's paler, duller, spottier, drier, and all around difficult to manage. Here are a few of the products that have helped me through these tricky Winter months so far!

1. Angels on Bare Skin

The first thing to say about Angels on Bare Skin is that it's a bit of a weird product, and I can definitely see why some people don't like it. It is a LUSH product which means that it is handmade from natural ingredients, and this particular cleanser lists almonds and lavender amongst its ingredients. It comes in a tub as a sort of smelly, grainy lump, and the idea is to mix a little in your palm with water to make a paste which you then rub into your skin as a cleanser.

Is it messy? Yes. Is it pleasant to use? Not particularly. But what Angels on Bare Skin does offer is results (at least in my experience!). It leaves my skin so incredibly soft that I can barely stop touching it, and redness is also significantly reduced. I don't know that I would choose to use this cleanser in Summer when my skin is reasonably healthy, but in Winter I find it gives me just the pick-me-up I need.

2. No.7 Instant Radiance Highlighter

The second item on my list is this lovely highlighter from No.7. I have had my eye on the Watts Up! product from Benefit for a while now but at £9.95 this seemed like a cheaper alternative so I decided to give it a try. I'm so glad I did! I use this every day now under my foundation to give a subtle radiance, and over foundation as a highlighter on nights out. I find it gives a lovely dewy look to the skin which is just what my skin needs for Winter. I also love the packaging of this product- it is like a shorter, fatter version of a Clinique chubby stick and fits perfectly into any make-up bag. The only negative I have found with this product is that it didn't sit very well with my Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation and needed rather a lot of blending. Other than that it has been a Winter triumph in my make-up collection!

3. Quinoderm 5

I mentioned that I often get breakouts during Winter, and this year I even got a bit of mild acne which had never happened to me before and really got me down. This product was an absolute saviour and treated it so quickly and effectively! I need to point out that this product was recommended to me by a pharmacist because I was suffering with mild acne and I would always, always check with your local pharmacist before purchasing for yourself as it contains Benzoyl Peroxide which can be harmful to your skin. I used a tiny bit of this on the affected area twice daily and within a few days it had almost completely cleared. I couldn't believe it as I had tried lots of conventional spot treatments like Clearasil and Freederm with no success, and I would certainly recommend looking into it if you are in the same position.

4. John Frieda Luxurious Volume Range

The final products I would recommend for Winter are the John Frieda Luxurious Volume range. I have been using the Shampoo, Conditioner and Blow Dry Spray to combat lank, Winter locks and I have rarely loved a shampoo more. My hair feels soft from root to tip and it has a lovely healthy bounce and shine to it that I love. I also use a touch of Frizz Ease to keep my hair smooth after straightening and I've been really pleased with the results so far- a definite Winter winner!

So there you have it- a few of my Winter lifesavers. I hope that you enjoyed my post and I promise to be far more disciplined with my blogging in the New Year!

Happy 2014 Everyone!

Rosie x

PS Please note these images are not my own

I Am Alive!

Hi Everyone,

My BIGGEST apologies to you all for not having posted anything at all in over a month. If I'm perfectly honest, I was incredibly busy at work for the first few weeks (I got promoted, yay!) and also feeling a touch of the Winter Blues, and once I went a couple of weeks without posting anything I think I was mentally putting it off!

It took this weekend and the support of my lovely boyfriend to convince me to get back on the wagon, and I was so heartened to see that I have even more followers than before which gave me all the encouragement I needed to carry on blogging! I wonder if any of you ever feel a bit overwhelmed by it all and take a break from your blog? I'm hoping this will be just the boost I need to make my blog better and more regular as we go into the new year.

Another slight update on my life is that I am moving house, which has been beyond stressful and yet another reason why blogging has not been at the forefront of my mind. We are spending Christmas in our lovely flat, before moving in with my other half's mum for a few weeks until our new place is ready. All the moving is already proving to be a challenge and I am having to get used to the idea of living out of a suitcase for the foreseeable future!

Anyway, I don't want to ramble on too much but again my apologies for the radio silence, and hopefully this post will be the first of many in the coming weeks and months! Thanks to all of you for still following, you're the best.

Rosie x