One of them things you don't REALLY need - Velvotan Fake Tan Folding Back Applicator Review

Whilst ordering some more of my favourite fake tan the other day, I saw this little contraption come up on the same page, and I thought, despite how much of a novelty product it seems, how kind of brilliant the idea behind it was. 

Velvotan Folding Self Tan Applicator- £4.99- Feelunique

But what did I really think of it? The concept, and the idea is pretty good, and I can imagine, quite the money-maker! However, the design just isn't quite there yet, it's too flimsy and small to get an even finish on your back, and takes so long to use, that by the time its even, your tan has actually dried, and gone a little "crumby" - it wasn't pretty!  I like the fact that it folds, and has a replacement pad, for ease of storage and use, but out of storage, it just isn't worth the money.



So I'm pretty sure you can all guess whether or not I think this is a total novelty? So much so, I wish I'd have spent my money on five bars of Dairy Milk from the pound shop. But let's be serious, chocolate is welcome anytime, anyday. (Is that some Dairy Milk in the fridge??? BYE!)

Favourite Things #3

(Insert typical British comment about how brilliant this sunny weather is...) Thanks to the much welcome sun finally making it's appearance, I thought I'd fill up my little wicker basket with tons of beauty products, my camera and get outside to take some pictures. This time my favourite things post seems very much summer orientated, and has more fake tan than I think most people own. Hey, the things you'll do when you aren't blessed with olive skin...

Xen Tan Moroccan Tan- Okay, the story behind this tan, I bought it WAY back in Winter '12 when it first came out, and being nervous that it was going to be way too dark, I ended up sticking it in a storage box and overlooking it everytime I applied a fake tan. So about a month ago, I thought sod it, I need to give it a go, right... So I did. I left it on for about five hours, when the tube says three. However, it hardly developed and I was left the same colour as I was previously. I tried it again a couple weeks ago, and decided to sleep in it, and after a doctor's appointment the morning after, it had been left on for about 14 hours, and this time, once washed off, I was left with a beautiful olive, natural deep tan (not as dark as most people make it seem, however.) with zero streaks, and I smelled like a holiday, thanks to it's lovely coconut scent. It wore quite well too, and lasted about a week. I'll get a full review posted of this at some point...

This Works Perfect Legs Gradual Tan- To keep up a tan, I moisturise and exfoliate regularly so that the colour fades evenly, and to keep it looking glowing, about 4/5 days into the tan, I top up with a gradual tan. This Works Perfect Legs products are packed with vitamins and other fancy-shmancy ingredients which help even out skin tone, and cover bruises and blemishes. I often get a little nervous about fake-tanning my legs, as after shaving it often settles in pores and just looks horrible. This doesn't, and makes me feel as confident as those women that seem to jump around like kangaroos in Veet and Bodyform ads.

LDN: Skins Lotion TONE 1- ANOTHER TAN? GOD, SHE MUST LOOK LIKE AN OOMPA LOOMPA? No, I use this one for the upper half of my body in the middle of the week. It has a slight tint, making it easy to apply, and it smells divine, leaving me smelling my own shoulder all night when I've applied this. It is a gradual tan, and just leaves your skin moisturised, and keeps up the "moroccan" olive glow which comes from the Xen-Tan offering.

(Just to add, I apply tan ALWAYS with either a mitt or latex gloves, which I buy from my local chemist. This avoids stained palms, but always remember to use the remaining product leftover to graze over the tops of your hands...)

Diorskin Forever Foundation in 020- Another product which got slightly abandoned from fear of it being too dark, and guess what, it wasn't! I've rediscovered this baby, and I'm loving it even more this time round. It's a wonderful foundation, definitely not popular enough for how brilliant it is. It's a medium coverage, long-lasting, natural matte foundation which manages to blend in perfectly, and makes your skin look fantastic! Another Dior product getting raved about from me... I just LOVE Dior!

Clinique Chubby Stick for eyes in Ample Amber- I bought this after seeing it on LLYMLRS' blog, as I thought when they first came out that none of the shades were very wearable, but this is a gorgeous shade, described perfectly by it's name, Amber. It's a lovely warm shade, and looks amazing on its own, but also works fantastic as a base colour, for the rest of the shadow to cling to.

MAC Art of the Eye Collection (Rimal Dahabia palette)- In particular, the shade I've been using the most is Shroom, a colour in MAC's permanent collection, but a new discovery for me, and it makes the most perfect inner corner highlight colour, and seriously finished off any eye-look, by brightening the eye area and making it look just a little more glamorous. (I feel like that whole statement came off a little "I think I'm a Kardashian." but just to clarify, I very much dislike the Kardashians, so I apologise...)

John Frieda Frizz-Ease 3 Day Straight- Being a curly girl with very thick hair, it does become occasionally hard to manage, but I've started using a very small amount of this spray with my usual Neal and Wolf Heat Protectant, and it manages to keep my hair a lot less frizzy, and minimises styling time across several days. 

Avene Thermal Spring Water- Technically an empty bottle now, but it shows how much I've been loving it! I won't waffle, as the review is here.

Bourjois 1 Seconde Polish Remover- Yes, I'm very late to the party with this one, but I must admit, that I'm kind of loving this. Despite the weird sensation of sticking your finger in a foamy hole (avoid giggles!) and its one second claim this is quite the revolutionary product. It's much tidier and easier to use, as well as minimising the need for packs of cotton wool and nail polish remover, it's kind of brilliant... 

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File- Another anti-waffle product, as the review is here.

Wishes and Wants #5

Oh, here we go... More things I want? My ever growing lust list, is doing just that, growing...

These are a few things I'm lusting after...

Chupi "My Heart is Open" ring in Gold 

MAC Lipsticks in Pure Zen and Pink Nouveau

Chanel Le Vernis in Ballerina and Tendresse

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder in No 1 

Shop Dixi Echo Clear Quartz Rosegold Necklace

CND Solar Oil

The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

Top of my lust list is this gorgeous delicate open heart ring by an Irish jewellery designer, Chupi. Isn't it just gorgeous? Another jewellery piece from the brilliant Dixi, a brand which sell the most perfect bohemian and festival inspired jewellery, is the rose gold quartz necklace. You can find tons of variations on these quartz necklaces everywhere, but this is by far the prettiest, with its rose gold accents instead of silver. 

MAC Lipsticks again, I'm telling you, they're like a drug! Pure Zen is a beautiful nude shade, not too pink toned, and not too "concealer lips" so it looks ideal for me. Pink Nouveau is something totally out of character, as I hardly ever wear pinks, but I'd blot this on to leave my lips with a subtle pink sheen. And more Chanel  Le Vernis again? More beauty drugs... I promise these aren't the same shades, Ballerina is more of a milky/french manicure type shade, whereas Tendresse is more of a sheer pink. Both are my favourite types of polishes, and I tend to favour a sheer pink/nude feminine shade over a bold shade in the summer months especially.

Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder has been popping in and out of my mental wishlist (I sound cuckoo!) for some time now, I guess it's one of those that you just have to try products. I'm looking for a new cuticle oil, and provided that CND Solar Oil is used by a lot of beauticians and after application of Shellac I thought it would probably have the most benefits for my nails. Who knows? Another to give a go...

It's no secret that I'm a little bookworm, I have been for as long as I can remember, and surprisingly, I still haven't read the Notebook, or any Nicholas Sparks novels for that matter, so I'd love to get my hands on a few to read. Seeing as I know have a new lamp in my bedroom, I can finally read at bedtime again, woohoo!

And a little less realistic, but still completely on my "please be mine" radar....

AllSaints Walker Leather Jacket

Mulberry Alexa in Black 

Canon 650D

Yes, the jacket has popped up before on my wishlists, but provided I'm a big biker jacket fan, I NEED this real leather one to be gracing my wardrobe soon. Mulberry bags and I have an odd history, I haven't actually owned one, but when I went into John Lewis last year, I tried to take one off the shelves to look at it close up... Little did I know it was hooked up to an alarm system which just started blaring across the whole floor. I was dying of shame, I didn't know whether to run or stay there... Totes awkward... 

Despite already having a camera, it isn't a full DSLR, so that's my excuse for wanting a new one. I did Photography at College and I enjoy it a lot more now that I'm not being graded on it, so I'd love to have one of these! 

I shop a lot/Haul

You all must know by now that I shop, a lot. I've bought a lot more than this in the previous month, believe me, but I thought I'd show you some of the more interesting things... I think I may make hauls a regular thing on my blog. My Instagram pictures of tons of beauty products tend to be popular, so I may just bring them over here. Think I may do them every month around the time of my Favourite Things posts, and the next one will be after my Birthday, so hopefully that'll be an exciting one. (Fingers crossed...)

Given that Boots had "buy one get one half price" on all cosmetics, it'd be wrong to not buy myself some new Essie polishes wouldn't it? I'll just keep telling myself that... I picked up "The more the merrier" a beautiful bright lime green shade from the summer collection, and Splash of Grenadine, an opaque purple with slight pink-tones. Both are equally beautiful and very summery, ideal for this beautiful weather!



MAC YOU GET ME EVERYTIME! Okay, so I may or may not have treated myself to a new quad, no biggie... Left to Right, it's Nylon, Naked Lunch, All that Glitters and Mystery. I also picked up Vanilla Pigment. As you can tell, this quad, my 217 and myself have already been on a date (wink, hubba hubba...)

I couldn't resist posting more pictures of these beauties by Chanel. How I managed to stop myself at three, I really don't know. Despite my Chanel Soleil tan de Chanel, these are my first Chanel makeup purchases, and I decided to get something classy, and elegant, given that Chanel is almost like the God of elegance in beauty. I decided on the Rose Cache Le Vernis, and the Rouge Allure in Evanescente, a beautiful pink/nude which is a "your lips but better shade." I'm going to save both of these for my upcoming birthday to make me feel extra special. Chanel, I do believe you have started a love affair...

With all that nail polish, I need a new remover, right? I'm loving this one at the moment! The scent is very strong when you open the tub, but the scent which tends to linger on your finger tips is really quite lovely, very floral and summery.

I can't think of a snazzy title - Estée Lauder Eyeshadow Duo in Raisins Review

I was looking at my blog stats and all that boring stuff a couple days ago, and I noticed that someone had gotten to my blog by looking for Estee Lauder's Raisins eye palette, however I hadn't actually reviewed it, so I thought, given how beautiful it is, and how amazing it looks in the sunshine, I would review it for whoever was looking for a review... 

The typical Estee Lauder gold packaging is the epitome of elegance, it looks so much better and feels a lot more luxurious than brands like, for example, MAC or Bobbi Brown. I find it can be a little stiff to open sometimes, but I'd sooner have it hard to open than easy, as knowing my luck, it'd pop open and I'd find it in crumbled pieces.

I like palettes with mirrors on the inside of the lid, they make them much more travel-friendly, and it always saves bag space when you don't need an extra mirror as well as your make-up. But, onto the product itself... the shades are a pink-toned champagne colour, which when applied on the lid, thanks to its very subtle shimmer, looks more like a beautiful gloss finish than glitter, and a rich cranberry/blackberry type colour, also with multi-tonal shimmer running through it. Both shades are perfectly soft and easy to apply, have zero fall out, and are highly pigmented. As with most shadows, the colours are much more vibrant and last a lot longer when used with an eyeshadow primer (my primer of choice being Nars Pro-prime Eyeshadow base) but even when used without a primer, they last a long time on my non-oily eyelids. The only fault with this palette is just how pigmented the darker shade REALLY is, it's so dark that it's very easy to overdo it, so making sure you apply layer by layer, and with a very good blending brush is a necessity.

This palette, is overall, pretty impressive. I bought it for the gorgeous shades, but didn't particularly have high expectations, and I've been blown away by just how amazing the quality of the shadows. As with most palettes now, I haven't even touched the dinky little applicator that comes with it, but when websites like Crownbrush are around, you can get professional quality brushes for such affordable prices, that you do not need to consider these (excuse my French...) crappy foam applicators.

Hope you're all loving the sun, but make sure you know you're SPF, UVA and UVB are protecting your skin, we don't want any horrible symptoms of sun damage, do we?

Lots of love.