Review: Model’s Own Fruit Pastel Strawberry Tart

I couldn’t quite decide if I was more sceptical or excited when I first heard about the Model’s Own scented nail polishes. I’m a huge Model’s Own fan and love their regular nail polishes as I’m always guaranteed a great colour pay off, a lovely glossy finish and they tend not to chip right away on my nails unlike some other polishes. I decided the only way to find out if the scented polishes were any good was to try myself! I opted for Strawberry Tart as I was missing a good pastel pink from my collection and I think it would be the scent I would personally find most pleasing. The polish is also available in 4 other shades / scents; Apple Pie, Banana Split, Blueberry Muffin and Grape Juice. You can buy the set of 5 for £20 currently on the Model’s Ownwebsite which is good value seeing as they are usually 5 squid each!

The polishes come with a little scratch’n’sniff on top of the bottle which I thought was really cute and was something I loved as a child – in a way it reminded of those scented gel pens you could get, I don’t know if they are still around but I loved them when I was younger!

The polish applies well, although I did need 2 coats which is no big deal as I usually do around 2 or 3 anyway.  It’s a very light but bright pink, I guess you could call it ‘bubblegum pink’. One thing which was strange was that my friends and family commented on my hands looking quite tanned which was weird as I am basically Casper when it comes to being pale. It must be the particular shade of this polish, no complaints!

Now, does it actually smell like strawberries? Err…vaguely. The polish itself doesn’t have a particularly strong scent. When it dries there is definitely the subtle scent of strawberries but this didn’t last any longer than a few hours and wasn’t particularly strong. Let’s face it though, how many of us go around smelling our hands all day? Weird. At the end of the day I guess the ‘strawberry scent’ is a bit of a gimmick; it’s a nice idea but I don’t think it really translates into real life very well. Still, this is a lovely shade and a great addition to my collection. 

Review: Lush Therapy Massage Bar

Whilst in town the other day I decided to pop into Lush before lunch and take a quick gander at the Massage Bars as I have heard quite a bit about them. They were stationed right at the front of the shop and the assistant explained they had been very popular recently; it was soon easy to see why. I smelled a few of the different kinds but settled on the ‘therapy’ bar as some of the others smelled a little too fruity, or even medicinal, for my liking.  The fragrance of this bar is rather subtle but pleasant; shea and cocoa butter are the first smells to hit but there is also the addition of citrus oils, neroli and lavender that comes through. It’s recommended especially for pregnant women and those with scars or stretch marks as it is said to help both prevent them and fade them.

These bars have recently had an overhaul to their formula. The lovely assistant explained the change in formulas in ‘chocolate terms’; the old formula was similar to that of a dairy milk, whereas the new formula is more akin to an aero bar. I thought this was an Interesting and effective of describing the alteration! Another little fact told by the lady in the shop is the reason for its shape is to do with it being particularly great for pregnant women; for every four babies born one has a ‘outy ‘ belly button which is why there are three indented dots and one sticking out of the bar. Fascinating and cute!!

And the most important factor of all; this product works. Like, really works. I have had dry skin problems all my life and have went through every moisturiser and body oil there is out there (well, it seems like it) seeking soft, silky skin. I rubbed this on after a bath before bed and it melted in instantly as my skin was still quite warm. It does take a little while to sink in so I would recommend being careful with it rubbing on clothing, bed sheets etc. My skin soon felt silky and had a glow about it I hadn’t seen since before winter set in and took its toll on my skin. I’m not sure if this product is worth the £6.50 price tag…I do enjoy it and personally I like the smell of it but it doesn't seem to be lasting very long. Perhaps I shall be keeping this as a treat!

Ramble & Chanel Goodies

Hey lovelys! Firstly I want to say sorry for being the worst blogger in the world - this is only my 4th post and already I have been absent for a month. Things have been ridiculously hectic over the last few weeks, I've spent some time away from home in Cornwall with some of my family which has been lovely and then returned to attend T in the Park festival which was amazing, although I did catch a nasty cold and have been recovering since! Needless to say, I am definitely back for good and back into the swing of all things blogy (is that even a word?!).

I'm going to start today's post with a little bit of a ramble and book recommendation, which if you can't already tell from the name of this blog is something I like to indulge in fairly often! For my birthday in June I was given money instead of traditional 'present' gifts from many people, which on one hand is nice as I can buy something nice for myself which I've had my eye on for a while! I was considering buying a kindle with this money as I enjoy reading and I think it would encourage me to read more often. However, it was pointed out to me that I could just use the money to in fact buy more books instead of a kindle which was a valid point I must say, especially as many of the books on my wish list aren't available as ebooks yet, thus making my purchase of a kindle a little fruitless! What do you guys think about kindles? Do any of you have one? I would love to hear your thoughts! Taking my friends advice and just buying books instead, I ordered Lauren Oliver's Delirium and absolutely loved it, it was so hard to put down, I think I was addicted at one point during reading! It has been dubbed in some places as 'the new Twilight' as it is set to be a trilogy and there is the possibility of it being adapted into a film, however I cringe a little at this as I feel it is much better written, has a much more captivating storyline and perhaps my impression of Twilight has been tainted due to the overly enthusiastic fanatics and badly made films (I have actually read all of the books and enjoyed the first one especially, the others not so much!). I will definitely post a full review of Delirium of anyone is interested? Although I am sure there are many reviews available in all the usual places.

I went into Glasgow a few weeks ago with my friend so we could buy a present for our other friend's 21st! There were so many birthdays in June, I've noticed a lot of fellow bloggers had their special day in June too, so happy belated birthday to you if it has been or will be your birthday soon! We decided to get her a Ted Baker Ikon bag as she is quite a girly girl and we thought she would appreciate how cute these bags are! We also got her a Paul's Boutique purse and a photo album to put pictures from her party in. Whilst in town I decided it was time to have a bit of a splurge (or investment depending on how you look at it) and finally purchase Chanel Mat Lumiere foundation. I have previously used Chanel Pro Lumiere in the past which was a firm favourite for a while but I just couldn't afford to replace it whilst on a student budget.

I know this is a product that is raved about quite a lot and there is certainly no difference in opinion here...I absolutely adore it! I was little bit scared that it wouldn't sit well on my dry skin, however, after using it for a few weeks now I haven't encountered any problems at all and have heard it works equally as great on oily skin. I decided to get this instead of Pro Lumiere again simply because I love a matt finish instead of a dewy finish, which this certainly delivers. It isn't cakey, which is something else I feared as it does have quite a heavy coverage, but it looks fairly natural. In terms of application it blends really easily, although I have found you have to work quite quickly with it as it sets fairly rapidly. It also lasts the entire day with the exact same finish and coverage from when first applied at the start of the day which I am seriously impressed by! The only downside of this foundation that I can see is that the price means it isn't exactly affordable for everyone; I used a Boot's £5 off voucher when purchasing this which was a great help. However, I firmly believe with this product you get what you pay for and a little goes a long way.

The lady behind the counter was nice enough to provide me with two sample products as well; Inimitable Mascara and the Hydramax + Active Gel Cream. I have only tried these out once or twice but first impressions are certainly good. When I used the gel moisturiser I found it to be very nourishing and my skin felt instantly better after applying it. I don't doubt for one second that it is a fantastic moisturiser; however, priced at £44 in the UK I simply cannot justify ever buying this when the cheap Simple moisturiser I use is just as good!The mascara was just ok if I'm being honest. It is an intense black shade which is always a plus in my opinion and the brush was great for targeting smaller lashes that bigger brushes can miss. However, I experienced clumping after the first coat which is never a good sign! It also made my bottom lashes look a bit er... scary! I had to remove it from my bottom lashes even though I only gave them a scarce coating. Definately not something I'd consider purchasing, but it was a freebie afterall and I'm glad I got to try it!

Hope everyone is well and enjoying their summers so far! xx

Too Faced: Look of Love Kit

I was in town doing a little bit of shopping yesterday and making the most of the nice weather! I popped into Boots to pick up a new mascara as my usual favourite Too Faced lash injection mascara was running out. When I got to the Too Faced counter there was a special offer which caught my eye - the too faced look of love kit! I had never seen this kit before so I assume it is a fairly new addition to the Too Faced range which I absolutely adore. The kit contains a full-size lash injection mascara, a full-size shadow insurance eyeshadow primer, a small tube of primed & poreless primer, a full-size lip-gloss, a kabuki brush and a compact containing a mirror, two eyeshadows and a blusher. Priced at £36, I was almost instantly convinced into purchasing it as the contents itself is worth nearly £80 if purchased separately!

From my own experience of this product, and from reading other reviews of this product, the Shadow Insurance does exactly the same job as Urban Decay's popular primer potion! It could even be said that as it is in a tube it is much easier to get the most from the packaging as opposed to Urban Decay's rather problematic packaging that requires the effort of de-potting to the most out of it. This kind of product is what I would say is a must-have, especially if you wear eyeshadow as part of your everyday make-up like I do and want it to last all day long without touch-ups!

As previously mentioned, the lash injection mascara has been my favourite mascara for about 6 months now! It gives my eyelashes amazing length and volume without being clumpy or turning flaky! Admittedly, it does smell quite strong when applying but once applied to the eyelashes there is no smell whatsoever. It usually retails at around £16 so was definitely a great deal as part of this kit, although it does last a very long time.

This lip-gloss in the shade barely legally is possibly a new favourite. It is a gorgeous shade, doesn't feel too sticky and has a slight plumping effect. The plumping effect does leave your lips feeling a little tingly but not sore like some other plumping glosses can feel. If anything, i'd compare it to that pleasant tingle that products containing menthol gives! Apologies for the swatch, I haven't quite gotten used to using my camera for things like that!

The compact was what pushed me to buy this set! The two eyeshadows are gorgeous neutral shades which could be used both for everyday make up or for getting glammed up for evening. The blush looks a little harsh in pictures and in the pan, however, once applied it blends beautifully, although it may not be suited for all skin tones.

As for the face primer, I haven't had a chance to test this out properly but it seems to be of a nice consistency, although the tube supplied in this kit is rather small! To be fair, primer isn't the sort of product I use everyday so I'm not too disappointed!

Overall, this kit is fantastic value-for-money considering all the products it contains, which are all of great quality and that I will definitely be using every day!