montagne jeunesse face masks

Hello my lovelies! I was recently sent a whole load of Montagne Jeunesse face masks to try out so stick around to hear my thoughts. I've been using face masks for a number of years now (since I was eleven!) and I have to say I think they are my favourite method of keeping my skin in top condition. I will be doing another post including some more reviews but for now I will keep it fairly short and sweet.

CRYSTAL MASQUE

Smells amazing! If you were to put the yummiest smell of melting sugar, honey and toffee together in a packet this is what you would get. This mask is a little different as you first have to soak the packet in hand-hot water for a minute, a pretty cool concept as it goes onto the skin nice and warm. It also has tiny granules of sugar in so that once the time is up you can exfolitae too.

Add a sparkle to your skin with our warm exfoliating Crystallised Honey and Passion Flower masque. This sensational skin treat conditions and leaves your skin feeling silky smooth.  

SAUNA MASQUE 

 

This one also smells really sweet but in a more subtle way than some of the other masks. Just dab some water on your face and then massage the mask into your face. It's really quite amazing and warms up straight away with contact on damp skin, it actually feels like a mini sauna on your face! Definitely one of my favourites mainly for the novelty aspect.

A warming feeling as comforting as a cuddle – this masque heats on contact with damp skin. It’s simply heavenly. The texture is divine – thick and luxurious. You can feel the heat penetrating the skin as you relax. Your skin is left so soft and radiant.

MUD PAC 

If you have a look at the packaging that's probably as close as I'm going to get at trying to describe the scent. As you can see it's based around a fresh marine smell which is hard to put my finger on but definitely very fresh and uplifting. Perfect for if you are feeling a bit groggy and need waking up, I'd recommend getting up fifteen minutes early in the morning so the minty mask wakes your skin up.

Deeply cleanse your skin. When you tear open the sachet you are flooded with the fresh fragrances of Lavender, Sweet Seaweed & Dead Sea Minerals. Lavishly apply and relax as impurities are drawn out and blocked pores opened for a deep clean. 

The sachets cost roughly £1 an are usually available in Asda, Boots, Claires Accessories, Co-op, Holland & Barrett, Morrisons, New Look, Sainsburys, Savers, Somerfield, Superdrug, Tesco, Wilkinsons or on the website. Montagne Jeunesse are also passionately against animal testing.

from flab to fab - friday update! (2)

I haven't got too much news on the dieting front at the moment because unfortunately I've been a bit ill! However I've been keeping to using the Rodial Crash Diet Sticks which I am very impressed with so will just include some thoughts of those for now and expect all to be back to normal for next weeks post! I've been bad at dieting this week, I just completely lost motivation but I guess in some weird way it helps to see if there is any difference just using the products without actually dieting as such.

I wasn't expecting great results from the Crash Diet Sticks or the toning gels as I always thought that just dieting and exercise would work fine. However I've been completely proved wrong and given a bit more cash in my bank balance would definitely repurchase some of the products. The sticks have completely reduced any bloating to the point that I now have a flat stomach, they are literally worth their weight in gold when used just before you jet off for your jolly holidays, I will include an in depth review of these along with the Rodial Crash Diet Smoothies in next weeks post!

Measurements before I started the programme (three weeks ago):
Waist: 29.5 inches
Hips: 39 inches
Thigh: 24.5 inches
Arm: 11.5 inches

Measurements two weeks ago (one week on):
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Thigh: 23 inches
Arm: 11.5 inches

Measurements today (three weeks on):
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Thigh: 22 inches
Arm: 11 inches 

So that's another inch of my thighs and half an inch of my arm, impressive!

I'm going to try super hard next week to exercise and firmly stick to the Rodial routine including using the Crash Diet Smoothies. My goal is to lose another two inches from my waist, hips and thigh areas which will take a fair bit of hard work. I will also be trailing out the Slimfast Shakes so will update on those in a few weeks soon. Sorry for the ramble but I just wanted to keep you all updated on what to expect.

If you have any suggestions for the plan then please let me know, I'd love to hear any ideas!

the talk pr and boudoir pr press days

I recently headed to quite a few events in London again and thought I'd do a little round up post of the day. I hope you guys like these posts as I thought you'd all appreciate a little nosey at the fun we have. I know the odd person seems to think it's showing off which makes me cringe beyond belief, that couldn't be further from the truth. I genuinely feel so lucky that I get to go to a couple of blogger events per month, I definitely love meeting up with the lovelies that I've met through blogging. The following pics were taken at two different press days so I thought it would be good to give you all a quick overview of brands that I will be posting about soon, there will also be lots of fashion related pictures from the day over on my other blog - away with the fairies. I know my blog is in need of a little spicing up as it's been centred a lot around reviews lately so hopefully these kind of posts break it up well, let me know what you think. And if you have any suggestions for posts which you'd like to see then drop me a line here.

The Boudoir PR Press Day -

The fun was mainly had when most of the girls had a chance to get coloured hair extensions put in. I unfortunately had my hair up that day so missed out! The extensions are synthetic and just clip in like normal ones but are long wefts rather than streaks. I personally love how Katie got hers done, reminds me a lot of the my little pony colours..

Then everyone got their nails done with the Nail Rock Nail Wraps which I feature in a post just the other week, here. They are so fun and unique looking, I definitely think they will become hugely popular soon! Thanks to Alex and Charli for the hand modelling :)

The Talk PR Press Day -

 Lippie touch ups by Lipcote were my favourite bit about the event as my lipstick was just starting to fade away. I had already heard of the brand as I remember my mum used to use Lipcote to seal her lipstick years and years ago. The brand has been brought right up to date recently though with cool artwork and a vanilla flavoured version. Keep a look out for a review soon!

And finally were manicures by Nail Ease.. they are different to the Nail Rock Wraps (mentioned earlier) as they are actual nail varnish that are a lot more pliable and ideal for using on the go. I wouldn't compare the two brands as the wraps are completely different, but I would say that if you are a nail polish addict like me yet always forget to apply it the night before you are off to work then these are absolutely perfect to apply on the train, all you need is a nail file!

I had a fab day and almost forgot to mention the little Starbucks meet up that me, Sabrina, Maria, Charli and Alex had beforehand which was lovely too.

the first uk glossybox!

As I'm sure a few of you already know, the GlossyBox has been the new hot topic among beauty bloggers lately. Most of us have been really excited about the opportunity but a fair few have been slightly sceptical about the whole thing and backed out of signing up, but they've really missed out on this month's fab box! But don't worry, I've heard that next months box will be equally exciting.

All boxes will also be sent out by tracked delivery, meaning that they will arrive separate to your normal post. If you ever have any problems with your package the GlossyBox team are super helpful on twitter, or you can just pop them an email.

Initially the box comes in a standard cardboard package with GlossyBox printed on the side and a pattern of their logo. Inside that box is a lovely little pink box with your products for the month wrapped in tissue paper and tied up with a ribbon, I am beyond impressed with the packaging, the smallest of detail has clearly been well thought out to make it feel like a mini birthday each month. I'm definitely going to keep the pink boxes to store make up in, or to even use as gift boxes!

As you can see there are some great products in the box, including a full size Nars Orgasm Illuminator, happy days! I'm also completely in love with the All for Eve (by Daniel Sandler) lippie too - it reminds me of Lady Danger by Mac. I will probably do mini reviews of everything in the blog post of next months GlossyBox overview.

Which brings me onto my little video..




http://www.glossybox.co.uk/

from flab to fab - friday update!

So I'm already a week into my diet/fitness plan, I've been doing an average of 6 mile bike rides on the weekends, exercises on the wii fit and my pink stepper, drinking plenty of water and applying the Rodial slimming products every night.

I had a very cheeky Mcdonalds yesterday but apart from that I've been eating well and sticking away from fatty foods as best as I can. However I am super pleased with my results so far and I'm going to share my measurements with you all purely because it helps you get a better idea of my body shape and the results you may expect if you are a similar size. Obviously if you are larger you will probably lose inches a lot faster. And just so you all know I am roughly 5'9'' and on the large size of a size 10. I'm not paying attention to my weight as such because I find it changes constantly so getting the good old tape measure out is my preferred method of tracking my progress, and every few weeks I will be keeping an eye on my BMI.

Measurements before I started the programme (one week ago):
Waist: 29.5 inches
Hips: 39 inches
Thigh: 24.5 inches
Arm: 11.5 inches

Measurements today (one week on):
Waist: 28 inches
Hips: 38 inches
Thigh: 23 inches
Arm: 11.5 inches

Pretty amazing right? That's an all round loss of four inches already, in just one week of moderate exercise and with help from the following Rodial products:

I've definitely felt a big difference in how firm my thighs and tummy area are feeling. I have just been applying the products once per night as directed. They are all a gel consistency and smell really fresh and lovely, they don't feel sticky whatsoever and just sink straight into my skin which is always a bonus. The Crash Diet gel is meant to show main results after two weeks so by next week I should have a full picture on how well it works, but the Tummy Tuck and Arm Sculpt will take a little longer to see results as they are meant to be used for eight weeks.

I've also been using the Bliss Fat Girl Slimulator which I cannot recommend enough! I use it every time I'm in the shower or bath and I think it's been a big help with toning my thighs. If you are on a budget and can't afford all of the various lotions and potions definitely have a look at buying this on the Bliss website. 

I'm also going to be starting a course of both the Rodial Crash Diet Smoothies (which have had reviews of dropping a dress size in 2 weeks!) and the Crash Diet Sticks. I'm going to start off using the sticks to review and once I've used those up I will move on to the smoothies. I will update again on Friday with more detailed info my exercise routines, but so far so good!

nail rock leopard print nail wraps

The other day I tried out some nail wraps for the first time by Nail Rock and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to apply. I'm going to do a tutorial video soon on how to use them but basically you just pick the correct sizes from the sheet and stick them half on from the cuticle area, you then use a hair dryer on a low setting which melts them slightly and just rub over any air bubbles to smooth them down. After they are applied, depending on your nail size, you will probably have to snip any excess off the end with nail scissors and then file in a downwards motion to smooth the edge and make the wraps blend with your nails. The process is a lot easier with longer nails and as mine were short at the time it took a little longer than usual. But for a first attempt I think I did pretty well! It took around 40 minutes to complete both hands but with a bit of practice probably half that.

I wore them in London for a few events the next day and the got a handful of compliments which showed the effort was definitely worth it. I did actually end up removing them a few days later but only because I'm really bad at changing my nail colour constantly, most reviews say that they last roughly a week on longer nails. There are 24 nail stickers in a pack which means you get two sets of manicures (or even pedicures) for your money. If you fancy a different design then have a browse on the Nail Rock website as there are plenty of options.

Price: £6.65
Available at the Nail Rock website: Leopard print design

new cid cosmetics reviews

A couple of months ago I went to a speed PR event where I met six different brands and New CID Cosmetics was one of them. I was actually lucky enough to meet the founder of the brand Kelly Colman and the Creative Director Rupert Kingston so I had a chance to ask them plenty of questions which was great. I walked away from the event with plenty of things to try out but for now I will start off by reviewing three of the products..

i - blossom Pressed Powder Blush Stamp -

If like me you are one of those people that pretty much carries everything but the kitchen sink around with you this kind of product is really handy. I hate having to take a blush compact, a separate brush and even sometimes a separate mirror around in my make up bag with me, but thankfully this product has combined all three in a small compact. You simply dot a stamp of the product on each cheek and then blend with your fingers while looking in the attached mirror and then just screw the lid back on, perfect for when you are on the move. I really like the colour also, but I think it has just a tad too much shimmer which may put people off. It doesn't look quite so shimmery once it's on your cheeks but I would prefer a matte shade. There is also 9g of product which is a third more than a Mac blusher which makes it good value for money too, and they come in two alternate shades.

Price: £18.50
Available on the New CID cosmetics website, here.

i - shadow quad in 'Laguna' -

Firstly, how gorgeous are those colours! They are all very well pigmented apart from the colour in the bottom right corner which was slightly tricky to work with. The compact itself is sleek and stylish and comes with a great smudging brush to create a smoky eye.

Price: £21.50
Available on the New CID cosmetics website, here.

i - gel Long Wear Gel Eye Liner Trio in Granite, Graphite and Carbon -

And finally on to my favourite product at the moment. I've always found gel eye liner a hassle up until now; I found that lots I tried dried out far too quickly and were messy to apply. I can honestly say that even from someone who is fairly clumsy most of the time, this product is so easy to use. I love the little round pot that the three shades come in not only because it's nice and small but it also has a genius second plastic lid to completely stop the liner from drying out. I also found that the colours are so pigmented that you barely need to use any product, the tiniest amount will do the job. The brush also works well and creates a winged eye liner look quickly and easily. The liner lasts all day without smudging and for me it's an all round winner! I've also used it in one of my youtube videos, so have a look at that too, here.

Price: £21.50
Available on Feel Unique for £19.35, here.

I have some more New CID Cosmetics reviews coming up soon so keep an eye out for those. I have also been informed that the brand do not test on animals. They also have a fab range of brushes that are made from synthetic fibres on their website, here.