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"Fashions fade, style is eternal." -Yves Saint-Laurent

Wednesday 1 May 2013

Cute vintage inspired "1930s-esque" beauty products!! :3

Cute vintage inspired "1930s-esque" beauty products!! :3



Products:

  • Soap & Glory (Found in Boots, Ebay, Amazon etc.)
  • The Beauty Parlor (Superdrug, Ebay, Amazon etc.)
  • Along Came Betty (Tesco, Ebay, Amazon etc.)

I am absolutely loving the vintage style! I think it looks so beautiful and glamorous. Although I admit I love Soap and Glory and have done for ages, there is no denying that it is pretty expensive!! When I buy soap and glory, for me, it's like a treat so I have been on the search for some cheaper alternatives and have not been dissapointed.
As you may seen from above, my collection is growing and the products are all such great quality and make a different. This blog is to show you that you money doesn't decide how good the product is and sometimes it just takes a good old hunt to find products that are incredible but most importantly... work!

I will also point out my personal faves and why! Hope you enjoy! :)

                          
                                       Soap & Glory

Here are some of my Soap & Glory products. Unfortunately I had others such as the sugar crush body scrub and body cream (which smell incredible btw!) and I've never been much of a fan of the lime scent but they smell incredible like limey-citrussy sweetness! NOMS! :3

In the picture above is: A Soap & Glory bag, Clean girls body wash, Breakfast scrub(Which I have had tubs of!), Hand food hand cream, Hand maid sanitizing gel, Set of miniature S&G sprays: Glam-a-lot, Girligo and Mist you madly, and the XL Lip plumping gloss.

First things first, it's hard to pick favorites but the breakfast scrub is soo good so I will mention that first. It's the kind of smell where once you smell it, you'll find it hard to stop. It smells of syrup and oats. So good infact, I felt the need to actually taste a bit to discover that behind the strong soap taste it actually tastes sweet, hehe! It is my favourite body scrub to date me thinks! :)



However I do really love the sugar crush collection as well for the body. I bought the XL gloss thinking that it would be pretty pointless buying their original plumping glosses when there is a better one for a little more so I caved in a bought it. It smells really nice and makes your lips really numb(No surprise!) but I do seem to notice a pretty big difference so I personally think it works. I really want to try their actual makeup cosmetics so somewhere along the line their may be a few reviews for that. :)

The body wash, the hand cream and the hand sanitizing gel all have S&Gs typical scents which smell really nice and leave a nice scent to your body though if you are not a fan of perfumed products I wouldn't recommend because S&G have their products perfumed quite strongly. As for the perfumed body sprays, they all smell lush and beautiful. My personal fave is Glam-a-lot(the purpley bottle) as it smells sweet but not too overpowering so the people around you shouldn't find it too sickly. Girligo is a spray and lotion in a bottle(the pink bottle) so it is for spray on the skin(not clothes) and this would be lovely for the summer as it smells really fresh and feminine  Lastly, Mist you madly is a florally, super girly scent which is also great for spring/summer time and is a nice everyday scent.


                                                The Beauty Parlor


I plan to hopefully buy more but so far this brand nice. Again I have more of the items stored away somewhere in my bedroom but I can hands down say that out of all of the products I have tried, the salt scrub is amazing and is by far my favourite salt scrub alternative so far... not to mention its interesting NEON YELLOW colouring! :D

It's even brighter in person but no worries, it doesn't dye your skin if you wash it off properly which doesn't take much. It leaves a kind of oily/soft lotion on your skin once you have washed off all of the salt pieces and the oil really gets absorbed into the skin nourishing it so that you skin feels completely renewed. Your skin absorbs best when its warm and I love this because you cant lotion in the shower so this allows your skin to absorb the moisture whilst your skin is heated by the water.


The chocolate face mask is nice too and for the price you cant really complain too much. Saying that though I was a little dissapointed with this product. It has that artificial chocolate smell so it doesn't really smell too much like real chocolate but it leaves your skin really softly fragranced and your face feels smooth after using. Its of quite a sheer formula so it is not really thick and creamy like the highly famous 'montagne jeunesse' facemasks. Heres a picture..


                                
                                    Along came Betty


This brand is absolutely incredible!!! Unfortunately for some reason  the prices have gone up for this brand but I got the products at the introductory prices. This brand actually works and I am really picky! I kid you not... this brand is actually the closest one to soap and glory and is just as good(no exaggeration)!

I have break outs quite badly and have some scars for previous breakouts and you can notice a difference instantly when you use the 15 minute detox and the hot cloth cleanser! I like to team the two together when my break outs are super bad but they work amazingly on their own. The have a peachy creamy scent which is lush and not sickly!
The cream of all creams is incredible and you get loads for the price! I haven't bought the body butter from the brand but I would recommend buying the cream of all creams instead because I like a slightly thicker formula for my lotions but I bought it(me buying almost the whole brand!) thinking it was a light formula because of the amount of product and the fact that there was a body butter which was practically the same but it is very thick and is the perfect consistency! It doesn't feel greasy at all and settles into the skin so well leaving it really moisturized that lasts.
The face wash is really nice and your face definitely feels fresh afterwards. The body and face scrub are both really finely grained for it is perctly for a gentle exfoliated that actually works! The body spray smells nice for the spring but I probably wouldn't purchase again as i'm really picky with fragrances and this just wasn't really my kind of smell but on others it would smell nice. The hand cream is quite light and has a nice gentle fragrance but I wouldn't recommend if you want a rich moisturizing hand cream. I would say  this is good if you already have soft hand but want to maintain the moisture. Finally, last but not least the toning lotion. This is a lovely cream and does the trick! It makes your skin SOO soft!! It also dries quickly so you can avoid that horrible "Struggling to pull your jeans up because of wet legs" dilemma :)

Hope you enjoyed this very long blog post! :D I will try and make them a bit shorter and to the point in the future but if you are reading my blog posts, next up will be an MUA lipstick collection(I have them all apart from two! :D) haul and other MUA products soon! :D 

Hope to see you all soon! xx :) xx
Please follow and I will hapilly follow you back! <3







Monday 19 November 2012

Birthday haul!

                                        Birthday haul!  

Hello lovelies, so it has recently been my birthday and I've been out spending some of my birthday money. For my birthday I only asked for a few things and wanted the rest just money meaning my haul will be things that I actually got for my birthday and things that I bought the following day. Hope you enjoy! :D 

First off, I got a pair of White Doc Martens rip offs. Next to them are my Real Doc Martens in grey which I adore. I had always wanted a pair of Real White Doc Martens but they were so expensive, then I came across a pair of brand new reduced grey ones which was love at first sight and I actually preferred them to white. There was only one pair in the whole shop and when I saw that they were in my size I grabbed them instantly! I didn't even realize that they had grey and never even thought about it! But they look amazing and tie almost any look together perfectly.
As for the white rip offs, they were from another one of my local shoe shops and they too look amazing in any season! 



Next are brushes from the "Real Techniques" Collection by Samantha Chapman from Pixiwoo on Youtube. I got the "Core Collection"(the orange face brushes), the "Starter Set"(the purple eye brushes) and the "Stippling Brush"(the pink brush). These brushes have been madly raved about throughout the internet beauty world and now I know why! They apply your makeup in the quickest, most flawless way and it looks like you have spent ages doing your makeup! These brushes are the secret to perfect makeup guys!




Next is something that I bought and it is really affordable. It is the Cosmopolitan beauty blender. There are many different brands of beauty blenders for instance MAC do one. But this does the job perfectly and why spend lots of money on an expensive one when they are just as good? 



Then I got the Soap & Glory Scent - Sationalism Gift Set from boots. These are lovely sprays to spray on after having a bath or shower. The middle spray is a spray on moisturizing scent and the other two are just body sprays but they smell amazing! 



I got two cable knit hats. The wine coloured one on the left is from Topman and the black coloured one on the right is from primark mans section. These keep your heat so warm! My only issue is that the wine coloured one is quite small(and my head isn't big) and the black one is quite big(and my head isn't small either), other than that they are fantastically stylish for the winter when you have your hair down and messy. 



And lastly just a little something for my room for when i'm in the mood, I purchased a sampler Yankee candle in the scent "Bermuda Beach" just to freshen up my room a little on a day-to-day basis. I sat there frustrated for ages to try and sum up what it smells like and I don't get how I missed it's obvious scent!, it smells just like watermelons and pina colada(two very recognizable scents)!  I purchased 3 other Yankee Samplers for Christmas in my Christmas haul part 1 on my last post, part 2 will be HUGE and coming soon after I re-visit town! :D

I hope you have enjoyed my Birthday haul! It's not the biggest haul but that's purely for the fact that I have been saving and spending a lot on my Christmas haul. Let me what you think of the products! :)


                                                            xx Toodlelou xx






Wednesday 14 November 2012

Christmas Haul

Christmas Haul:

I am so exited for Christmas, in my opinion, it's the best time of the year! The beautiful scenery, the blast-from-the past Christmas songs, the warm spicy smells, there's just so much to say that I would literally be here for ever typing, though, one of the best things is the company. Getting to spend the time with the family as a whole and sharing the same Christmas memories is one of the best parts. 

Having said that, I have a big family guys! For me, Christmas usually consists of family members arriving at the worst times when we haven't even got dressed for the day, squeezing 20-30 people round a 10 person table, and having to literally push ALL the furniture aside so that the only space to get a seat at the table is by going under the table itself...yeah, Christmas for me has always been a little hectic, and it's been the same every single year to the point where Christmas is actually becoming a slight dread. As for my boyfriend, he doesn't have a particularly big family, either way, we have both never been able to enjoy Christmas to it's full potential.

So, we came up with the idea to spend Christmas just the two of us together (afterall you do spend christmas with your loved ones) and do our own thing to make it something that we can look forward to every year with lovely memories. Of course we will still go through the chaos of our family Christmas dinners as every year, but in the upcoming to Christmas everyone can make Christmas special in their own ways and that's what I love about it! I want Christmas to be different this year from the others and something that will only get better and better as the years progress. 


                                                                               Image from: armathwaite-hall.com


So now, i've decided to start buying my own Christmas deccies and items and me and my boyfriend plan to go to a meal and many other places to make it just that bit more special. We spend most of the time in my room anyway so we are going to completely transform my room to make it Christmas cosy, snuggle with some Christmas films, have some lovely food and spend the rest of Christmas in the toasty warm just like people should :)
I have several shopping trips planned to get all the Christmas stuff for our Christmas. I mainly just got room accessories today. I'm gonna leave food and bits until last.
Here is my haul so far:


First off I went and had a look in Clinton's as we don't have a Yankee candle store where I live, though there are a few shops that sell them, and I picked up three samplers to look pretty and fill the room with the smell of Christmas!:

  (L-R: Black Cherry, Christmas Eve & Christmas Cookie)
Black Cherry smells very true to the name, there was a "Cherries on snow" candle as well which smelt similar but I definitely preferred the smell to this one as it's a bit sweeter and spicier whereas the other had more of a morello cherry smell about it. Christmas Eve is probably my favorite Yankee candle at the minute!  I was never really a fan of spicy smells and whenever looking for a candle or perfume, I would absolutely 100% go for something really sweet. But this candle for a Christmas candle is actually quite sweet but not too overpowering, and it has a Christmas spices smell to it aswell without the cinnamon(which I am not always too struck on in candles), i'd happily burn it all year round because it's just such a cosy toasty smell that I can't wait to burn on Christmas's eves :D and lastly, Christmas Cookie, this is probably my second favorite at the moment and as i'm sure you can tell, my inner sweet-loving self straight away grabbed it off of the shelf! But without regret, I am so happy I did as it really does smell like freshly baked Christmas cookies. I think I have gained a love for scented candles recently, especially Yankee candles as they smell gorgeous and are very true to the name for most of the time. These candles were all £1.80 each and came to a total of £5.40 which is a bargain for three Yankee candles!! They should last a good deal of time too and they should last me for Christmas! :D



I also picked this candle up from Primark. They had a variety of candles there but this one took my fancy the most. There was one in a red Christmas jar called something "Vanilla" but it just didn't smell very Christmas-y so I just stuck with this one as it actually does smell Christmas-y. I am considering buying  another as they were only £1!! and it smells amazing, it literally somehow smells like a cosy room with a hot fire on a Christmas day in one candle! It has like a burning wood and spices smell to it.. it's just amazing!



Next I bought some lip and nail products, but firstly i'll show you the lip products:
(L-R: Natural collection lipstick in the shade "berry sorbet" -£1.99 from Boots, 
Beauty UK lipstick in the shade "Snob" -£3.49 from Superdrug,
Rimmel London Kate Lipstick in shade number "08" -£5.49 from Superdrug, 
Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayon in the shade "Cherry red" -£4.99 from Superdrug (I has also purchased it in the redder shade called "Scarlet red" but I felt that "Cherry red" went better with my Natural collection lipstick.) 


(L-R: Barry M, Rimmel Kate, Beauty UK & Natural Collection)

I treated myself a bit here and splashed out more than i'd planned, but I am planning to wear them all. I bought the Natural collection lipstick to wear for my meal out with the Barry M Lip Lacquer Crayon over the top and I have been eyeing up this gorgeous dress to buy for the meal when I get my birthday money!(which I will most likely include in a haul), and then I bought the Beauty UK lipstick to wear for our other outings and our Christmas day in with the Rimmel Kate lipstick over the top of that.



Then the nail polishes!:
(L-R: Rimmel London 60 seconds nail polish in shade "285 Style Hunter" -£3.69 from Boots,
Miners Extreme glitter nail polish - 50p from a boot-sale (the shade has been taken off but it is a yellowish-gold glitter, sadly I think it has discontinued), Barry m nail paint in the shade "Raspberry" - £2.99 from Superdrug.

I bought these just to tie together my Christmas looks, I am going to wear the Barry m nail polish for my meal out with the Miners glitter nail polish over the top for that festive feel! and the Rimmel London nail polish to wear for my other outings :)


And lastly, a tree...







And that was it for the first part of my haul for Christmas! I really hope you enjoyed it and there's more coming soon! :) 


                                                     
                                        xox Toodlouu xox





Monday 12 November 2012

The best tips on how to make your eyes look bigger! (just using makeup)

                 Tips on how to make your eyes look bigger!!                 - Try it and see for yourself! 

Okay so my eyes look a little uneven but thats the makeup talking. The picture was taken quite a while ago on my old camera but I have so much stuff to get through for christmas and my birthday is coming up;) that you guys might just have to make-do with this one for now(also excuse the eyebrows, I was trying to grow them fuller at the time). Also this looks tonnes more effective when zoomed out but it was the only way you could see it zoomed in :) xx


1) First apply a base for your eyeshadow(I use the collection 2000 concealer to hide imperfections on the lids).
2) Apply one eyeshadow colour over the whole lid and up to the brow bone that is 1-2 shades lighter than your normal skin colour(I would recommend an off white for fair ladies like myself).
3) Blend a matte brown/grey colour into the crease and slightly above as we are going to recreate the lid using special tricks).
4) With a small flat brush, close your eyes one at a time and recreate the lid using a a matte cream shadow that is 2-3 shades lighter than skin colour(white for fair ladies, I used NYX jumbo eye pencil in milk), and apply over just the lid but going slightly above your natural crease leaving the highest bit of your earlier created crease available so that it should give the impression of a larger lid and higher crease.
5) Over the cream eyeshadow you applied to create the larger lid, use a Light shimmery eyeshadow(like a highlight) on top to set the cream and avoid putting any shimmers over the crease colour as the matte colour creates the inwards effect making the crease look more cut. Putting shimmer over the matte crease colour will catch the light and make the crease look fake. This is why we use shimmer over the lid because we want the lids to stand out and the crease to appear cut.
6) The eyes need to look precise, so use a black eyeliner and apply to the top tight line and as thinly as possible on the upper lid getting thicker slightly going outwards to give definition  Applying too thin will enclose the eyes whilst apply thinly will give definition like a most bigger eyes have.
7) Apply white or flesh coloured eyeliner on the bottom water line.
8) Apply a soft matte brown/grey eyeshadow under the bottom lash line on the outer 2 thirds.
9) Curl lashes however you prefer. ( A good tip is to apply the thinnest coat of mascara possible before curling, too much could damage the lashes) Then curl your lashes and apply your mascara after wards, this will give you a curl that will last all day
10) Apply neat generous coats of mascara.
11) And lastly define brows to frame the eyes and face.

and Voila! Your eyes will be the biggest you could possibly make them just using makeup! :D Hope this helped!

NEXT TO COME: My birthday haul! :D
Also:
NEXT TO COME:  We wish you a merry christmas! I'll certainly be splashing out a few pennies this year for christmas. Not something I have always had the chance to do, but from now onwards, i'm making sure that Christmas will always be made special! Look out for my festive hauls, recipes and much more! :D 

                                                        Toodlou!! :D xox








Thursday 22 March 2012

Smells Like Spring!...

Smells Like Spring!...

It's finally spring! Yippee! So I came up with the thought of sharing some of the best smelling fragrances for this season with you, and to make it more suitable, i've put it into two catergories, the first one being fragrances under £20.00 and the second being over £20.00 and they are all from Boots.com...


So here it is...Enjoy! :D



















On a beauty budget?...
1) Burberry for Women Eau de Parfum Spray 30ml £15.50 Save £15.50 Was £31.00

The Burberry fragrance collection evokes a timeless modernity. The smooth glass bottles are simple and elegant, reflecting Burberry's modern, but understated style.

2) Kate Moss Eau de Toilette 30ml £16.00 Save £8.00 Was £24.00
Kate Moss' signature fragrance, Kate, is a multi-faceted and memorable floral musk. The fragrance embodies Kate Moss' freedom of spirit, natural sexiness and the edgy style that makes her the ultimate modern style icon.
3) Accessorize Eau de Toilette 50ml £15.00 
New from Accessorize, Accessorize Eau de Toilette 50ml  

4)  Paul Smith Floral Eau de Parfum 30ml £11.75 Save £11.75 Was £23.50
Paul Smith Floral is a veritable ode to the 70’s “Flower Power” spirit. Floral embodies Paul Smith's unique approach to life and creativity; tradition, but with a twist.

5) Beckham Signature for Her Eau de Toilette 30ml £16.00 Save £8.00 Was £24.00
Signature for Her captures the essence of Victoria Beckham's innate fashion flair, delicate strength and femininity, her signature, in a fruity floriental fragrance full of seduction.


Don't mind splashing out a bit?...
6) Nina by Nina Ricci Eau de Toilette 50ml £36.50
Nina by Nina Ricci is a fruity fresh floral scent, inspired by the nostalgic treat of the toffee apple with its combination of tangy fruit and crisp, sweet coating.

7) DKNY Delicious Night Eau de Parfum 50ml £28.66 Save £14.34 Was £43.00
DKNY Delicious Night evokes the electric rush of possibility and intoxicating energy of a night in New York City. It is an exciting, seductive fragrance and much too delicious to resist.

8) Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette 50ml £45.00
Let the sun shine in with the new fragrance from Marc Jacobs, Daisy. Daisy is the essence of a youthful spirit: sunny, happy, free.

9) Paco Rabanne Lady Million Eau de Parfum 30ml £33.70
This perfume is ultra-feminine, glamorous and excessive…The Lady Million woman embodies the ideal woman. No man can resist her and the best won’t ever be enough for her!

10)  Vera Wang Princess Eau de Toilette 50ml £45.00
  Vera Wang Princess is a whole new spirit in fragrance. It evokes everything from the magical and the mystical, to the fearless and the fascinating - dare to claim the Princess in you.


                 
                                                            ToodleLou...xxx...

Wednesday 21 March 2012

NUDE LIPPY LOVE'!! <3

Deep apoligies for the insane amount of time that I haven't posted a blog! :I
But! I'm in desperate need of posting this one :)!
Anyways, I've travelled through town, constantly, running through swarns of needy shopoholics, and one of my biggest challenges yet, is finding the perfect nudes! So i'm going to show you the best ones I've come across ranging from skin colour nudes...to natural lip colour nudes!




Annoyingly: Number 6 (BC Body Collection Lipstick in Pink Candy) and Number 10 (Technic Lipstick in Indian Red) may be difficult to get hold of unless you live near a BodyCare.



Tips:
  • Number 1 (Natural Collection Moisture Shine lipstick in Apple Blossom) is ooba pale and can make you look a bit washed out! So bare in mind, you could always find ways of using the ooba pale nude lips with maybe a bit of blusher to bring the colour back whilst leaving the lips pale...
  • Number 5 (E.L.F Mineral Lipstick in Party Pink) is still quite dark for an every day pink but as it is a warm pink and it is not an "in your face" pink, it looks lovely in the summer! ^_^
  • Number 7 (Accessorize Lipstick in Burnt Almond) is one of my faves and smells of Vanilla! :)
  • Number 4 (WetnWild Silk Finish Lipstick in Breeze) is like a pearly-shimmery-nudey-beige(corr.. that was a mouthful!) <--Would look beautiful on anyone!!
  • They all somewhat have a scent, apart from the Natural collection ones and the E.L.F one, but nothing too major, number 6 and 10 though are pretty perumed though :/
  • And Lastly! Wear lipstick like you wear your clothes, with pride and dignity!!.. ;D




                                                           ToodleLou!...xxx...





Tuesday 3 January 2012

LouLou's NomNoms!! :P

LouLou's NomNoms!!  :P

Firstly I just want to apoligise for it taking so long for me to upload another blog. My sisters lappy-toppy broke and shes hogged my computer since! Anyways, i'm here now!! :D
So I went on one of my trips to town and came back with some little goodies, and they really are such treats!




First of all can I just say the brand 'Soap & Glory' is absolutely amazing!! Although you have to fork out a bit for them sometimes, the majority of their products smell good enough to eat! :P They literally do wonders to your skin...





I'll start off with the two new products to my 'Soap & Glory' Collection.
  • Hand Food: The Hand Food as i'm sure you've guessed is a hand cream which simply smells divine!:) It says "Non-greasy hand cream with shea butter, macadamia oil and marshmallow". And it'll last you a good 2 years! ;) 


  • Breakfast Scrub: This smelt so good that I actually dared myself to taste it...yeahh...it tasted foul!.. But hopefully this proves how scrumptious it smells. It says "Oat, Shea butter & Sugar Body Smoother with organic cupuacu bio scrubs, bananas, almond & honey extracts.(With NEW GREAT MAPLE FRAGRANCE!) ;D     
I'd deffinatly say that if you can afford to splash out once in a while, this is the brand!


Then theres the new Vaseline! I couldn't believe it when I found out that they brought out a Creme Brulee Flavour, Ltd, as Vaseline doesn't really have that many flavours and a flavour as delicious as this is pretty shocking! Unfortunately it doesn't taste great, and I don't know if it smells of creme brulee as such, but whatever it is, it sure smells lush! :P

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula: Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Butter does taste great on the other hand! The problem with this lip butter is that it tastes so fudgin tasty that it doesn't stay on my lips for a minute! But this is deffinatly worth the money: Adds a subtle gloss, Tastes great, Smells great and Moisturises pretty well.

And the last little member from my NomNoms is the Superdrug dry shampoo in Chocolate Brownie! It isn't made to replace your normal shampoo but it is used to freshen hair between washes and it's easy to use. It deffinatly has a chocolate brownie smell but it kind of has a barbie doll smell which is kind of strange, either way, it smells so nommy! Obviously don't inhale it as this already gets down your throat a lot when using it but you will be able to smell it when you use it anyway. Sadly though it's for brunnette hair, but even then I probably perfer the Superdrug dry shampoo in Head in the Clouds which can be used on any hair colour really as long and you massage it into the hair properly.

So that's everything from my little nommies :D  Now I just want to show you these beautiful nail varnishes that I brought from BodyCare...

The one on the Left is Technic Limited Edition Holographic, The middle one is Body Collection nailvarnish in Sapphire and the one on the right is Technic crackle effect top coat in Black. I bought these all from BodyCare for no more than £1.99 each.

Hope this was helpful in some way! :)

Toodles From,
LouLou xxx