Favourite Things #5 - The First in a Long While

It feels like an absolute life time since I last shared my favourite things with you, I think mainly because it IS a life time since I did. Let's not look at dates or anything, it could prove a little scary.

Anyway, I thought I'd share which have probably been the most-used and popular products in my regime through the past few months...

Avene Thermal Spring Water - Not the first time this stuff has featured on my blog, but since I've been using it religiously as part of my cleansing routine (which, yes, was one of my New Year's resolutions!) I've noticed a visible difference in my skin, and the hydration levels, too.

Clarins Blue Orchid Face oil - I bought this on a bit of a whim when it was 20% off in Debenhams, because after trying my Aunty's Sanctuary version, I found how bloody amazing oils are for Winter month hydration! This product, has in my eyes, been dubbed my winter skin saviour, and has made me (cough) dislike, Hydraluron. (Blasphemy!)

Kiehl's Creme de Corps - at first, I was apprehensive, and thought, it's just a body lotion, but BOY was I wrong... It's a thick, not strongly scented lotion, which leaves your skin hydrated for days, gets rid of the winter dryness, AND, leaves your skin with that glow that you only ever seem to see on Victoria's Secret models. All in all, I think I've been converted from Soap and Glory.

Bioderma Sensibio - don't think this one needs an explanation, does it?

Chanel Le Vernis (Rouge Noir) - As a rule, I tend to stay away from dark nail polishes, as I've just never found the perfect one, but now I have. Rouge Noir, is a perfect deep red, a classy, dark nail polish, more class than trash (I had to get that one in there, apologies.)

OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil - I've had a ton of cuticle oils, and I find them to be a necessary part of a manicure to make sure the polish lasts longer, and to keep nails/cuticles hydrated. This one, is so far the best I've ever tried, it smells so fruity, and is a thick oil, which goes quite a long way, meaning, a day and night application every day doesn't leave the bottle empty within a couple weeks.  

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder - I've heard mixed reviews about this product, but unsurprisingly when miss Zoe Newlove said she loved it, I thought, yep, I don't need any more convincing. I bought it with the LM fan brush, and it really is fantastic for brightening up the under eye area. I've used it on a few occasions without any concealer and it really does make the difference that other translucent setting powders just don't offer. All in all, I LOVE this product, and don't know how I ever lived without it.

Blistex Relief Cream - Completely not-glamourous but most definitely my secret weapon during winter. Having full lips, they tend to be more prone to being dry and flaky during winter, which, face it, is disgusting. So when I discovered this (years back) I felt as if I had found something revolutionary. You only need a teeny amount of this medicated balm, and I must be on my fifth tube throughout the years, it's simply amazing, and dare I say, a holy grail lip product of mine...

This Works Deep Sleep Pillow Spray - you all know about my struggles with anxiety and depression, and when I was suffering seriously badly, this time last year, I didn't sleep at all, and suffered with serious insomnia, so I have tried every sleep remedy you can think of, every pillow spray, by numerous brands, and I have NEVER come across one which works as well as this. In my opinion, it is like taking a sleeping tablet, leaving you relaxed, soothed, and drifting off within about ten minutes of having sprayed this on your pillow. It also doesn't leave any residue or marks on your pillow... Bonus! (Can't recommend the rest of the deep sleep range enough too, but it would have proved a fair job photographing them all!) 

Hair Bobbles With No Kinks? - Invisibobble Review

Anyone will understand the pain of wanting to scoop your hair back in a bobble, to keep it out of your face, but not wanting to develop the dreadful "kink" which appears every time you remove a hair bobble. Although I think that the never-ending war of bobbles and kinky hair has now been won. Introduuuuuucing (I can't help but think of a WWE-esque narrator now) Invisibobble...

My Aunty has already pinched one out of the box, and that's why there is only two pictured! Naughty...

The idea of Invisibobble, is that they are a "traceless hair ring" which means that they will not leave a mark in your hair, they also are caring to the hair, and helps to avoid headaches (I've never found this with any bobbles, do they seriously cause headache?!)

So, does the Invisibobble live up to its claims?

Traceless? Yes, it is completely traceless, I have tried it in both my naturally curly hair, and my blow-dried straight hair. Both times it had no kinks, and my Aunty with thinner hair than me, also tried it and was left with no kinks. Whether it refers to it being IN your hair, I don't know, but it isn't very attractive, but in my eyes, neither is a regular bobble.

Caring to the hair? This works because there is no metal, and the ends are sealed together so that it won't snag your hair. It is tons better than even the metal free bands I've used in the past, which still pull out strands of my hair. When I take one of these out, it slides out with ease and pulls zero hairs out with it.

Avoids headaches? I can't put this one to the test, as I only get headaches from reading without my glasses, and I never have a bobble so tight that it would cause headache. But I can imagine how this would avoid headache, as the weight being evenly distributed  means your hair feels a lot less restricted and a lot less "slicked-back."

I now sleep in these, by putting my hair on the very top of my head and sleeping like this means I don't lie on my hair giving it awkward kinks, neither do I have bobble kinks. Win, win...

They also claim that these have a bracelet feature, meaning when you're not wearing them in your hair, you can wear them on your wrist. Which is fair enough if you're 12, but in all honesty, I'm turning 19 very soon, I shouldn't be wearing a telephone cord shaped bobble on my wrist.

Being as partial as I am for a ponytail at the top of my head at the end of the day, these are an absolute saviour, and are one of the best bobbles I have tried, have zero gimmicks and fully live up to the claims Invisiboble makes.

Invisibobble is available from Feelunique, and is £3.75 for three hair rings. Find here.

Balmain Nail Couture Collection - The Ultimate nail varnish extravagance

When huge designer houses decide to do beauty products, this is exactly what you'd expect them to look like... 

Cue... 

Balmain's beautiful, extravagant, minimalistic offering... 

I was drawn to this like a squirrel is drawn to nuts, the colours in the box are all wearable, and would be ideal for someone starting off at branching into nail polish, thanks to the "suitable for every occasion" fashion shades. I'm the biggest fan of classic shades like these, and hardly ever wear glitter, or holographic nail polishes, so for a collection to come out, with shades this beautiful, I couldn't say no, could I?

The packaging of the box is literally the epitome of elegance, a simple, monochrome box, with the Balmain logo adorning the top, and the polishes themselves follow this theme, being simple, monochrome, square shaped bottles. (3,2,1 and swoon...)

The polishes themselves are actually really good quality, and have lasted a very long time in comparison to other designer polishes, cough, Chanel and YSL. The brushes are quite a wide fan-type brush, reasonably similar to that of Essie and Dior, meaning you can apply the polish in one swoop, especially with the curved tip, which seems to just follow the curve of your cuticle perfectly. Much unlike most nail polishes now, all three of these shades are opaque in two coats, without being excessively gloopy and thick in consistency.

I didn't actually get chance to take any pictures using a proper camera, so I've decided to sneakily use these that I posted on my Instagram. (Left to right, Noir with Mat Top Coat, Rouge, Nude)

So all in all, this is one of my favourite things of the moment, I'm falling in love with this beautiful collection, and couldn't recommend it more to people, you should all get one, because, well, I insist.

Getting Curly with Paul Mitchell

Hola ladies. How are you all? I'm feeling excessively excited by the fact that I now have Photoshop on my new laptop, and that I can return to regular posting. I'm still getting used to having a newer version, but I'm like a kid at Christmas. Granted, a very technical and Photoshop-intelligent kid, but a kid all the same...

After getting in touch with the lovely Sarah, at Paul Mitchell, she very kindly offered to send me some of the new curls range to try out, and to my surprise, these full-size bottles arrived a couple days after getting in touch with her. It was quite a while ago now that I received them, and I wanted the chance to fully review them after using them for a longer length of time.

In general, the packaging of Paul Mitchell products are professional and clean-looking, matching the company well, given this product isn't available to buy at a lot of stockists, and most, being salons. Each product has detailed instructions on how to use them, making them easy to use for even the most novices, to the most expert hairdressers.



Spring Loaded Frizz-Fighting Shampoo - £14.95

I have to admit, I was left a little curious by this one, as I didn't particularly understand what difference a shampoo could make to the definition and anti-frizz effect of my curls. Especially given that when I use shampoo I use it only at my scalp to cleanse without stripping the rest of my hair of any moisture. I found that this foamed up well, and smelt of cleanliness, leaving my hair feeling clean and clarified. However I'm not sure what this added to having "zero-frizz" seeing as I've always used it with other conditioning products, and my full curl maintenance routine.

Full Circle Leave-In Treatment - £14.95

Something I'm in no way used to, is using leave-in conditioner, I've always thought it'd leave my hair lack-lustre, and a wash out option is always much easier to get hold of. I was pleasantly surprised by this, and when used on the mid-lengths to ends of my hair, left it moisturised and eliminated any dryness that came from using only shampoo previously.

Ultimate Wave Beachy Texture Cream Gel - £11.95

This was also something I was a little surprised by, given most products for a beach hair look, (sea salt sprays) usually come in the form of, well, a spray. But, once again, I was left completely surprised, and favouring this over the infamous Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray. I found a small amount of this on my wavy hair left me with texture, without looking like I had used a lot of product, and feeling like my hair needed washing immediately.

Twirl Around Crunch-Free Curl Definer - £18.95

As the saying goes, save the best for last, and that is indeed what I have done... The total winner of this collection is the Twirl Around curl definer, not only for the brilliant swirled product inside the bottle, for how simply incredible it is once out of it. Looking up close, the swirls look like a combination of cream and gel, and the bottle tells you to emulsify it between your fingers before you apply, I always do this, and put some on the outside of my hands too so that when I fluff my curls up, they all get a generous amount of product. With the majority of curl definers, they leave your curls defined, but, looking wet and feeling crusty, Paul Mitchell's offering does neither of these, and is slowly becoming my holy grail product for achieving perfect curls.

Hope this post has helped some of you fellow curly-wurlys that are finding products to make hair maintenance a little easier. I know personally how hard it is to control the 'fro. But definitely be sure to embrace it...

A Pretty Haul of Sorts...

Technically, this post includes lots of things I haven't paid for, so does this still make it a "haul"? I don't know, but just to clarify, I did not steal them... 

Space NK, meet my currently empty bank account. I LOVE a little Space NK shop, and I needed to stock up on my much-loved Touche Veloutee, which by the way, lasts FOREVER. I also needed a new serum and body lotion, so I got these two Kiehls products for the first time. I'm loving them both so far, and I've never had a lotion that did anything but moisturise, so this is quite a wonder really, details will come in a post soon ;-) 

My Aunty went away to Portugal a couple weeks ago, and despite being offered the chance to go, I was excessively excited to spend two weeks home alone, because, I cannot lie, I love my own company. (I'm so shallow.) She bought me Calvin Klein Euphoria and MAC's Hue lipstick seeing as I didn't go, pretty win-win, if you ask me.

I broke two nails and so them gorgeous long babies I was donning just had to get cut down, I decided to stock up on Avoplex in hope of encouraging a little growth. I'd also had my eye on OPI's Bubble Bath for quite a while, given its a sheer pink (you all know they're my favourite nail polishes now, right?) so whilst placing a cheeky Amazon order, I caved. I also repurchased matte nail envy, which hadn't arrived when I took these.

Favourite mascara ever repurchase, Dior Iconic Overcurl, bought with £15 in Debenhams points. Score! I also bought the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder and fan brush upon recommendation from the forever flawless Zoe Newlove.

Seriously exciting acquisition in the form of a YSL Blush Radiance palette, and a YSL Glossy Lip Stain that I won from the incredibly lovely Dave Lackie, editor of online beauty magazine, Beauty: The Guide. He has tons of awesome beauty giveaways on Twitter, and even more incredible beauty advice, straight from the experts. I insist you go follow him straight away on @Davelackie.

Following Dixi jewellery on Instagram and Twitter is dangerous for the bank balance, but good for the soul. Last weekend they shared a flash discount with me, for 20% off, so I caved, buying the ever so beautiful and elegant moonstone midi ring, rose gold thumb ring, and rose quartz necklace. Totally gorgeous, right?

Hope you've liked this little post (apologies for the occasional bad quality photo) I will be coming back soon with more posts, given my new laptop will very soon have its presence graced with Photoshop. I cannot wait to be back to posting on a regular basis.