Guest Bloggers Needed!!

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Calling all bloggers!!

This week someone asked me after all the products I have tried which would be my 'Must Have'. I found this quite difficult to answer but my answer was..... you will have to have to read my upcoming post to find out!!

This got me thinking, as bloggers we try lots of different products some good, some bad. We may not be beauty 'experts' but I think we have a good knowledge of which products are worth buying.  With that in mind I want to start a new series called 'Bloggers Must Have', where guest bloggers take turns in writing a short post on the one product they can't live without. It can be makeup, skincare, haircare or anything you could not cope without.

If you would like to take part, comment below, tweet me or email me and I will get touch.

Stay Beautiful,

Jane xx

Boudoir Prive - The Launch Box

A few days ago I received my first Boudoir Prive box. I like many others was very excited to see what they would offer, especially after a big twitter campaign to get people signed up just when everyone was a little disappointed with Glossy Box.


Boudoir Prive had promised 5 or 6 products for £10 that would be deluxe samples of luxury products. The products will cover Skin Care, Body Care, Hair Care, Makeup, Lifestyle and Fragrance. Some brands may be know, others maybe new.


So the little pink box arrived with a little hand written note and a pink box wrapping up the treats.

Inside the box was a little note explaining all the products.

I received:

2x sachets of Bloom Tea
2 x perfume samples from Etat Libre D'Orange
Sample pot of Babor HSR Lifting Extra Firming Cream
100ml bottle of Sachajuan Hair Repair
Sample tube of Jane Iredale PureLash Extender and Conditioner
Bottle of Olavie Antioxidant Body Butter




So the important bit, what did I think? 
Well to be honest I was a little disappointed. I like the concept obviously, I also like the idea of being introduced to new products (Babor was the only brand I knew) but I was a little disappointed on the product sizes. The Babor and Sachajuan samples were good sizes but the others were tiny. I know they are expensive and I'm sure they warrant the £10 but I was disappointed. 
I hate to be negative and actually after reflecting on it after a couple of days I think Boudoir Prive could be a real compliment to Glossy Box. If they can continue to provide lesser known luxury brands in decent sized samples it would sit nicely with Glossy Box providing samples of well known brands.


Let me know your thoughts,


Stay Beautiful,


Jane xx


P.S If you would like to see what Glossy Box has to offer see my post on last months box here.


P.P.S I would just like to add if you haven't checked out Boudoir Prive on Twitter or Facebook then do, the one big plus is their customer service and joining in with the beauty community.
The blog is good too!

Mini Series: Get The Ibiza Look- Instant Tan

The last post in this series look at creating a gradual tan, this time I looked at creating the Ibizian tan in an instant.

This week I was kindly sent Bronze Ambition Sun Kissed Instant Tan Mist to try and I had brought the Bourjois Delice de Soleil Bronzing Powder Mist last weekend, so decieded to try and compare both.

Bronze Ambition Sun Kisses Instant Tan Mist claims to give a glowing tan which dries instantly while also leaving a moisturising finish. It also has 360° technology meaning you can hold it upside down and it still works. 

There is no claim to how long the tan will stay but it does say it is splash resisitant and can be washed off using soap and warm water.

Bourjois Délice de Soleil Bronzing Powder Mist claims to give a bronzed effect lasting up to a day, dries instantly and is good for the skin.

The Tan Test

Warning: Bare Legs on Show!

These are my legs before, I do have naturally olive skin and have a little extra colour from the St Tropez Gradual Tan.

Although both sprays say they don't need rubbing in, I found the tanning mitt came in helpful to give a more even coverage and it was hard to not accidentally hold the spray on one point for too long.

They did both dry instantly and I had no rub off onto my clothes which I was impresses with. 

Smell wise, Bourjois had a nice chocolate scent and the Bronze Ambition had a fragrance that I can't quite explain but it wasn't unpleasant.

In terms of colour, the Bronze Ambition was defiantly my favourite, the spray is dark brown (as shown in the pic above), whearas the Bourjois was orange.

Below you can see the results, my left leg is using Bronze Ambition and the right is Bourjois.

As you can see both gave a good coverage and colour, the picture doesnt show so well ( I am saving for a new camera!) but the Bronze Ambition defiantly was darker and the Bourjois I found did give me an orange tinge which I wasn't a great fan of.

This picture is 24 hours later and wearing jeans all day (thank you British weather!!). I was impressed with the Bourjois as it had stayed put, although a little faded. The Bronze Ambition had kept some colour but had started to go patchy due to my jeans but as it didn't claim to stay didn't mind too much.

Lastly Bronze Ambition is £4.99 for 150ml and is available online, Poundland and Bodycare. Bourjois is £7.99 for 75ml.

Overall my favourite was Bronze Ambition, it is great value for money and gives a nice dark natural looking tan.

Stay Beautiful

Jane xx

Recycle your Glossy Box

Just a quick post today!


I had been trying to find cute and practical storage for my makeup. It needed to be compact as my new house will be smaller and therefore my makeup will have less space despite growing in size since I've started blogging!!


Today I was having a tidy up and I felt bad throwing out my GlossyBox as it looks so pretty. I decided to use it for storing my nail varnishes. I think I might start using them for my makeup after every month as they hold quite a lot!

If you have any ideas of other places to look for cute makeup storage let me know!


Stay Beautiful


Jane xx


P.S If you haven't discovered GlossyBox yet read my post on it here

Umberto Giannini Painted Lady Palette and Gift Sets

Today I am off to the hairdressers, which I am very excited about as my roots need doing badly!! As some of you may know my hairdressers is Umberto Giannini and I have been going there for over 5 years. During this time I have watched their haircare range grow and develop and produce really good haircare products. Therefore I was really excited to find out they were launching a makeup range in September.

Umberto Giannini have collaborated with BAFTA award wining make up artist Paul Gooch to create a goregous Painted Lady range. 

I was very lucky to be able to try the Painted Lady palette and the duo shadow that will come with some of the gift sets.

The palette has 8 eye shadows and 4 lip colours, they are all dark tones so perfect for Autumn/Winter and a great price of £10.

As you will see the eyeshadow don't have the strongest pigments but still work nicely and I really like the lip creams they have a much better pigment and are really wearable colours.

The shadow duo available with some of the gifs sets and are great for a dark smokey eye in Winter.

The gift sets look like great gifts for Christmas ( I know it's early I'm sorry!!), I am really excited to try the false lashes and nail wraps!

The palette and gift sets will be available from Boots in September, they are defiantly going to be on my Christmas list!!

Stay Beautiful,

Jane xx

Mini Series: Get The Ibiza Look- Tan

Today is the first instalment of my 'Get the Ibiza Look' series. The reason for this series is today I should be flying out to the White Isle, however, I just sold my house and about to start living on one salary and therefore have had to be sensible with my pennies :(


I was hoping the British Summer would give my tan a boost and make up for not having the Ibizan sun however as always the British Summer has let me down so I am going to have to fake it!!


I must admit I am still a self tan virgin, I have a bottle of St Mortiz waiting to be used but if I am being honest I am still a little scared I will end up looking like an orange mess!


Previously I relied on one sunbed in May/June (I know these are bad for you but I am lucky that my skin is olive and holds its tan. One sunbed lasts me all summer as a base to build on) and Johnsons Holiday Skin (around £7). I  think the formula must have changed as it smells horrible (almost like plastercine) and instead of giving me a 'holiday' glow makes my skin have a slightly orange colour. 


On the trip to Boots the St Tropez section caught my eye ( it was on offer which helped!). I was still a little hesitant on trying a full self tan so decided to try the Gradual Tan Everyday Body Moisturiser (Normally £14.30, currently £9.53 at Boots). I was a little unsure if I would end up with the same issues as the Johnsons Holiday Skin but as it was a tanning company I was hopeful for a better result.

WARNING: Bare Legs Shown below!!


Before

After a week of using it every other day

The camera doesn't show the best picture but I am really pleased with the results. My skin looks tanned not faked much better then Johnsons, I also like the fact that I use very little product compared to the Johnsons lotion to achieve this result esp. when it is double the price. The best thing about it is the smell, it actually has no fake tan smell, it smells really nice. I can honestly say I love this St Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Moisturiser and it has a permanent place in my bathroom!




Stay Beautiful


Jane xx


P.S If you are are unsure on how to apply tanning products the St Tropez website has some great video tutorials.

My Cupcakes!!

Yes I know another cupcake post!! I do love them!!

This weekend I decided to get back in the kitchen and make some cupcakes of my own. I also decided to attempt to make Oreo cupcakes. I did google for recipes and then gave up and just made normal vanilla cupcakes and added crushed Oreos!


They turned out alright actually so I made one batch of Oreo and one batch of normal Vanilla cupcakes.


Here is what they looked like, I think I may go on a cupcake decorating course as mine never look as good as the professionals!

I would love to say I shared them all with my friends but truthfully the Oreo cupcakes went to a friend and the Vanilla cupcakes went in my tummy!! Shhh don't tell!!!




Stay Beautiful


Jane xx


P.S if you would like me to add the recipes then please comment below and I put them up.