Giving Moroccanoil Competition - Redken Shatterproof Shine

How did every body's long weekend go? Mine was hectic to say the least. To put it this way, I'm glad to be sat down at my laptop watching Despicable Me with some cake and lemonade. Rock and Roll...

Without a doubt, when I think of hair oils, Moroccanoil is the first thing I think of. With it being my first foray into oils on my hair (well, all oils for that matter) and being one of the greatest things to ever happen to my hair, I truly thought it would never have any competition. But after voicing my opinions on being in a beauty rut, and coming across a silicone free formula by Redken, I ventured out into the land of hair oil, and was pleasantly surprised.

First of all, how gorgeous is that diamond inspired bottle? It isn't completely opaque though, if you hold it to the light you can see how much product is left - genius! Much unlike Moroccanoil, Redken's Shatterproof Shine has a dropper in the lid to get it out the bottle, and I have to admit, this is the one thing I don't like about this. Given its very runny texture, it has a tendency to get a little messy at this point. Pumps are much friendlier for hair oils. Companies, take note. 

The oil itself has a gorgeous scent, (which my non-technical nose would suggest to be apricot) and luckily, it disappears as soon as the oil has soaked into the hair, meaning you're still left with the clean, fresh scent of your shampoo. Whether it's used on damp or dry hair, this soaks in instantly and leaves behind tame, frizz-free locks with a beautiful, natural shine. I tend to use one dropper pre-blow dry, and two droppers post-blow dry and have found that my hair requires little/no styling afterwards, which is where Redken wins in the hair oil stakes. Whenever I've applied a lot of Moroccanoil, I have to wait overnight for it to soak in, Redken's is much less high-maintenance, and will leave hair looking healthy and conditioned immediately.

If we overlook the poor applicator it's very very possible I just went and found a new favourite hair oil. I would truly recommend this to anyone in the market for a new hair oil, and given it's only £23.95 at the moment on FeelUnique, it would be wrong to say no, right?

Have a great week guys! Hopefully I'll be back to regular posting soon as that camera of mine starts working again.

Getting Rid of Dark Circles? - Strivection Dark Circle Corrector

Eye-bags and dark circles don't make eye shopping easy, do they? Buying a cream to moisturise the area usually does just that, moisturise. Then what happens to the dark circles and anti-ageing? I'm 110% sure that I hate shopping for new eye creams, it's too difficult to decide what I want, and to find the perfect one without spending a near fortune. So I usually source an article online about eye-creams and see which one gets the best reviews, it's not scientific, but it sure does work for a lazy soul like me. This time, I found Strivectin coming out on top... 

This is a brand I know very little of, I've never tried anything by them before, and I honestly had no clue where even stocks their products. A little scouring on the net had me finding the Get Even Dark Circle Corrector on a site called "Salon Skincare" and with them having it discounted, I stuck this little pot in my basket quicker than I knew humanly possible.

It is the NIA-114 chemical which apparently does the brightening. And I definitely will not be getting all scientific on you, as I simply have no idea what I'm talking about. But I've had this since about March now, and have been using it twice daily to some results. I feel like my overall eye area has definitely been brightened, but not as much as I'd like it to be, and much unlike other eye creams I've used as a treatment, this one does have moisturising properties, so still keeps the delicate skin around the eye area looking soft and supple.

The texture of the cream is very silky and lightweight, meaning its the ideal cream for me. In the past I've used thicker creams, and they tend to feel tacky on my skin, at what point they usually get thrown away, as I hate my skin feeling sticky. This is perfect for day use, given it's so light, this doesn't make concealer sit funny around the eye area, is meshes with the skin as if you haven't just doused your eye area in dark-circle cream. A little goes a long way, and I'm only just about to run this down after using continuously for nearly 5 months.

I'm still unsure as to whether this will be a repurchase for me immediately, the results from using this weren't spectacular, but the texture was. I'm sure I'll decide to try something new then regret it and return to a brand new tub of this. I guess we'll see...

What are your favourite eye creams? New recommendations for these are ALWAYS welcome.

Glowing Skin - Eucerin Even Brighter Range

It's very much starting to feel like I talk a lot about glowing skin and how to achieve a beautiful complexion recently. So who am I to mess with my current streak? Here's my current moisturiser duo that's helping me on my way to perfect skin, minus the make-up... 

Honestly, I'd never tried Eucerin before these products. I knew very little of them as a brand and stuck to brands like Kiehl's and Bioderma cause I was too damn lazy to branch out. So I decided to suck it up and try something new a few months ago, and since then, I haven't looked back. The Even Brighter range is designed to even skintone and reduce any hyperpigmentation in the skin. 

The moisturisers themselves, are as you can see, very thick. Despite this they apply like a dream and don't sit heavily on the skin, and they're usually quickly absorbed, leaving behind a natural looking sheen to the skin. The day cream especially, has immediate effect, hydrating and plumping the skin to look perfectly dewy, and almost good enough to get away with zero foundation. When used together these are a force to be reckoned with. These will keep skin moisturised and the skin-tone even, whilst the day cream works extra hard, having an SPF of 30, this is the ideal moisturiser for sun protection and preparing skin for make-up.

Much unlike the moisturisers, the little pigmentation stick is nothing short of a huge disappointment and a pain in the a*s. It's doe foot applicator means you can apply precisely to darker areas, but it also means it makes your skincare routine take much longer, and smells completely gross. It ran out after about a month of day and night use, and had done nothing to my skin despite reportedly being a stronger concentration than the moisturisers. Huh? Not for me, Eucerin.

Street Style on Sundays #7

Totally obsessed with complete Minimal Animal style at the moment. Not the whole "Normcore" boring style, the chic, clean-lines minimal style. (The "animal" was just me thinking I'm funny.)

You've had the slouch variety... Now the structured...

Hope you're all having a great weekend. I'm off to indulge as much as humanly possible. Champagne counts, right?!

Images are all off Pinterest.

A Haul of the Large Variety

As I write this, I sit angrily staring at my camera, that has temporarily decided to go kaput. Of course I'm not actually sitting giving a Canon camera stink-eye, I just do every time I'm stuck for words. I did promise quite a while ago to share another haul, which I just managed to shoot before my camera went to sleep. So there is some good news to accompany the bad.

Here's some of the things I've bought recently... (And pretty please do note, that some of these were birthday gifts, some bought with birthday money, a couple were gifted by companies, and some were bought with various reward cards). 

Naturally, there's a good dose of Chanel. I'm obsessed with the Destiny cream blush and the mascara, so they will be popping up here on ze blog, and on my face much more! Chanel Illusion D'Ombre in Utopia was something I felt completely smitten with, and it's pretty much the lavender version of Emerveille, but the purple tones are much more brightening on the eye area (apparently lilac lids are something we associate with children, hence the anti-ageing. Smart!)

I caved. After buying my first Charlotte Tilbury bits a few months ago, I had to jump on the Filmstar Bronze and Glow bandwagon, and BOY is it amazing. (I'll be reviewing all my CT bits on The Beauty Corner soon.) When you think Dior can't make even better nail polishes, they go ahead and reformulate to a gel-finish and release beautiful vintage red shades like Rouge 999 - I'm in love! And needless to say, I just NEEDED two more lip balms. 

I'm blaming the purchase of this wonderful bottle of Lani hair treatment on Steph, cause it's always much easier blaming it on someone else. This is an all-natural hair oil treatment, that smells like holidays, and does incredible things to your hair. I insist you try it. And as I found a LookFantastic discount code, and kept hearing about Shu Uemura's Art of Hair products, I am a bad person that doesn't need this many hair products had to make a purchase.

More hair products? I have a problem. Another oil? Yes. Neal and Wolf were darling enough to send me the blow dry balm to help me along the way whilst I'm introducing my hair to cleansing conditioner. FYI, the first stage isn't pretty, but when you get used to it, you feel like you're living a shampoo commercial. The lightening spray is 110% justified, if you could see my roots you'd be trying this too. My hairdresser is on maternity leave, so I wanted something to keep me going until she got back. Unfortunately I chickened out, and I'm still waiting on her return, just this time with about 2 inches of roots instead of 1cm. 

No haul is complete without a couple bits from Space NK. After running down my second bottle of REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal I was impatiently trying to replace it - I love this stuff! I wish I could say the same for the He-Shit tan (That was HONESTLY a typo. It seems pretty darn relevant though.) which is the worst fake tan I've ever used. It soaks through mitts, smells of biscuits, and has zero benefits, whatsoever. BOO, what a waste of money.

This beautiful necklace was my Birthday present from my Nanna and Grandad. I love it so much. Dogeared has lots of jewellery with meaning, and the packaging helps make it so much more personal. I can see this becoming attached to my neck like no necklaces have done before.

What does anyone that's obsessed with fashion do with their birthday money? Ray-Bans of course! These are the small Clubmasters, and they're the perfect mix of classic styling, hippy influences, and the ideal amount of me in the reflection. Hey!

With my Waterstones card collecting money like there's no tomorrow, I went a tad book crazy. I love reading, so I like having a good selection to choose from when I'm due a new read. I'm currently reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children, and it really isn't the best book to read in bed, but it's definitely peculiar...

Hope you're not all wasting away by the time you've reached the bottom of this post. Congratulations though, you've made it, you can go and get a cuppa now and go back to the real world.

Lots of love.

Catch-up.

Hola everyone! How's it going? I'm currently in the middle of  one big mess, as I've started decorating my bedroom. You don't realise how much hard work it is until you start and have no furniture left, do you?

Anyway, before I trail off onto a completely different topic, I just wanted to share something with you guys. I've been spending some time writing for the amazing Stephanie new site, The Beauty Corner. It's so amazing, with beautiful photography, reviews, routines and so many products to drool over. So on occasion, you can find me over there.

Here's a sneak of the first two posts I've done. (And links to both)

I've now got the Benefit BeneBalm, because of course, being infatuated with the Benetint just isn't enough for us beauty addicts.

And the Chanel Les Beiges Tinted Moisturiser I haven't stopped raving about? Here's a full review. 

I'll probably be keeping you updated here with links to some of The Beauty Corner's articles. But if you scroll to the bottom of their page, you'll find all the relevant links to keep updated on all of our beauty goings on! Also, look out for my upcoming guest post on Crownbrush UK's blog... 

Lots of love.