Ombre Update And New Products

Well it seems my Ombre post was my most popular ever! Thought I'd keep you up to date with how it's doing, the semi permanent dye seemed to fade reeeally quickly so I popped on some L'oreal dye, Excell 10 in Frosted Blonde. A few of you have asked so here is what I would recommend doing, but this is a personal process so I do recommend reading my previous post for more details

1. Test a strand with bleach mixture, find the correct time for you by washing off the bleach and then blowdrying the hair (because who really has the time to air dry?!), if not light enough apply for a bit longer and wash and blowdry again.
2. Add a blondey light brown (turns out ashy shades work quite well) to counteract the brassy gingeryness
3. If you like it, do it to the rest of your hair!

I was asked if I applied the blondey light brown dye all over, no, I just applied it to the bleached ends, but I did take it a bit further up so it looked more gradual

Here it is a few weeks on...

And those products I've been loving??

 The Porefessional and Rimmel's Lasting Finish Foundation

I used to hate the Porefessional but it works quite nicely with this foundation

 MAC Cream Colour Base in Luna

I LOVE this so much, it looks quite dirty but it makes the perfect highlighter, love it especially with the foundation!

Natural Collection Apple Blossom and Max Factor cubey lipglossy thing in Soft Rose

On their own these products (for me) are a bit nothingy but I love the combination they make together. It really reminds me of YSL's Rouge Volupte in Sensual Silk (which I have but I have to ration it because THEY DISCONTINUED IT!) and MAC Hue. I'll do a comparison post soon! 

Here's all the products together, taken using hipstamatic

I'm loving brown smokey eyes at the moment, maybe I'll do a post on that too!

Love Sophie xx

Oh Hello Free Make Up!

Hey lovely ladies :)

I've been a terrible blogger lately but I wanted to tell you about this, this is one for all you Benefit/Elle lovers out there!

I love Elle magazine and I buy it every couple of months, as it is quite expensive. So when I saw the offer of 6 issues for £6 + free Justine Case travel kit I had to subscribe. My Justine Case arrived 6 days after I ordered (I reckon the people at Elle have a thing for the number 6!)

The offer ends on the 10th November and it is payable by Direct Debit


So until March I'll be enjoying my £1 Elles (and making sure I cancel the Direct Debit of £16.80 for the next 6 before then!)


Click here to view the offer



Have a lovely evening
Love Sophie xx

Loves And Hates Of August

Wowee I can't believe I've been blogging for over 3 months! Anyways, on to my loves and hates

Loves

Models Own Nail Polish in Purple Grey - £5

I bought this in the Models Own Sale they had last week, and I love it. I love the colour (it's apparently a dupe for Paradoxal, not quite but not far off) Quite a bit of tip wear, that's after one day, but they did endure a long day at work. I wouldn't pay the full £5 as the fact they can sell them for £2.50 in the sale shows that they're not worth that much

Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat - £4.49

I bought this with my advantage points so it was essentially free. AMAZING product, goes on shiny and dries super fast to a beautiful matte finish. And so smooth to touch!

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse - £2.49

So totally deserving of the hype, this product is so so good. It's a greeny browny mousse that looks like chocolate and gives an instant brown tinge. After an application (well, my idea of an application is do it, let it dry, do it again, sleep and hope for the best in the morning) this is what it looks like compared to my natural skin colour (my legs the pale one), NO ORANGE IN SIGHT!

L'oreal and Prestige Lip Pencils - between £3 - £4

I love love love these. Nude lip pencils are so much easier to come by than a good nude lipstick, as there are much more pinker tones which suit me more. Also I have a slight loss of pigmentation around my lips so these are great to fill that in

Hates

Garnier Pure A Intensive Night Gel - £4.49

Ah! I thought I would persist with this, but it has made NO difference whatsoever despite all the rave reviews on Ciao. I bet Garnier uploaded them. . 

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mist - £2.49

I couldn't get on with this. I had to use it in the shower and I felt like Ross in Friends with the spray going everywhere (love that episode!) And it didn't rub in. In fact I was so scared of it drying streaky I washed it off. The mousse is a billion times better.

Benefit The Porefessional - £23.50

 I won't go on too much about this, as I've already done a post. All I'll say is that's £23.50 I'll never see again

Let me know if you've got any loves or hates, and if you love or hate anything I do!

Love Sophie xx

Review: Benefit's The Porefessional

Hey lovely ladies!

Oh man I wanted this to work so bad, but it wasn't to be. This is what the Porefessional claims;

Quickly minimize the appearance of pores! Apply this silky, lightweight balm for translucent pore coverage and smoother-than-smooth skin. Pores now you see 'em, now you don't! Complements all skin tones

I don't know, maybe my pores aren't that big in the first place but I noticed NO difference. I do quite like the feel of it (that'll be the silicones!) and it smells okay. It actually smells just like E.L.F's Sugar Orange scent they use in EVERYTHING. It doesn't make a difference when applying foundation either. Hmm. 

The Porefessional - £23.50

And I'm a bit sceptical about the 'complements all skin tones' bit. As it's slightly peachy tinted I think if a darker skinned lady were to use it it would turn their skin a bit ashy. I'll test it at some point on a friend! You do only need a blob though

 

It feels like I've spent £23.50 on an extra step in the morning that isn't really necessary. I'm going to keep on using it to see if I can learn to love it, but it's not really something I'd recommend, especially considering there's cheaper things out there that do the same job. While I'm here have a FOTD, you can see that the Porefessional is nothing special, it's the MAC Face and Body that gives me a smooth glow

 What products do you have that don't live up to their claims?

Love Sophie x 

First ever FOTD

Hey lovely ladies,
Be prepared, I am about to show you my first ever FOTD. They're quite scary really :s I haven't taken this many pictures of myself since the myspace days (which I try to forget. . )

Tell me what you think? More FOTDs or can you not bear to see my face?

Face

• Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation
• Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer
• Topshop Lip and Cheek stain in Bitten Berry
• Light dusting of Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals
• MAC Blusher in Harmony

Eyes

• MAC Paintpot in Bare Study
• Benefit Bad Gal dipped in MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack to make it last longer
• L'oreal Voluminous Mascara

 Lips

• Topshop Lip and Cheek Stain
• GOSH Darling

So what do we think? Yes or no to FOTDs?

Have a lovely day!
Sophie xx

Loves And Hates of June

Wow can you believe we're past halfway through the year? Me neither! Anyways, let me introduce you to my first ever Loves and Hates of the month!

Loves

 The Body Shop Body Butter in Passionfruit. I bought this for £4.50 (including Membership Discount) because at the moment selected 200ml Body Butters are only £5 (they're normally £12.50!) This is so delicious and I just want to eat it up

Collection 2000's mineral foundation. This is my first ever mineral foundation and I think for the summer, I'm converted. This is such a lovely formulation and I am a freckled faced girl (and no, I don't like them) and whilst this doesn't cover them it does blur them so I'm left looking like I've been photoshopped, it really does make your face look flawless and glowing. Love it!

Cutting up men's tshirts :) Now I love a baggy tshirt, but they really are pretty much impossible to find. Primark has a few, but they always practically see-through and show your bra and they're always not quite right. Everywhere else just seems to have 'stretch' tshirts. I don't want fabric clinging to me in the middle of Summer! So I bought these two t-shirts from H&M for Men, and cut the neck off. The striped one was £2.99 and the nude behind was £3.99. I wear them off the shoulder and you can't see my bra through them, perfect!

Vintage-style handbags. Now I have quite a few of these and this is my newest addition, which went shopping with me today in Oxford Street :) I bought this off Laura's blog sale and it was a bargain and it has so many pockets!

Mixing lip colours. I've always loved doing this, I think I'm one of those people that can't stop when it comes to make up! This is Gosh Darling mixed with Revlon Colorburst in Coral. A lot of people say they find coral difficult to wear and whilst I think that this coral is very wearable, dabbing it over the top of Gosh Darling (or any other nude) gives you a subtle lip colour that isn't your average pink, yet it still remains not too out there!

Hates

Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Tutti Fruity. Now don't get me wrong I usually love these nail varnishes, but this one is just terrible. The colour is lovely yes, but it chips like nobody's business and it bubbles. Yes, bubbles. I currently have bumpy chipped nails, it really isn't a good look.

These two glosses I have to admit, I got free as at Boots and Superdrug at the moment you get one free when you spend over £4, but I still can't love them. The best thing about them is their names, but apart from that, they last a matter of seconds, they taste disgusting and no matter which one you use they all look the same colour. 

Topshop Liner. You can read my full review of Topshop make up here, and if you've read it already you'll know I hate it. This liner is SO bad it's so difficult to use and the liner is terrible, really thin and yuck. The only thing I use this for is dipped in MAC Fluidline when I can't find my eyeliner brush but apart from that it's no use and I will never buy it again.

Benefit Bad Gal. You can read my Benefit Rant here and my speedy review of this here, I take it back, this liner is not fab and I would never ever buy this. It is a complete waste of money as it just doesn't do what it says it will and it doesn't last on your waterline, or anywhere else for that matter!

Hope you enjoyed reading this, sorry it was quite long, are you loving/hating any of these products?

Sophie xx

Sophie's Experiences With Benefit and MAC

Hi everyone,

I suppose this is going to be a mini rant and I've been wondering for days as to whether I should post this or not as it may be a little controversial. The bottom line is, I hate Benefit make up.

Seriously though, it's MAC every time. I have never had a problem with MAC make up. The colour pay off is nearly always exactly as I expect, the quality is second to none, and the pricing to me seems fair. Sure, 12 quid or so isn't cheap for a lipstick, but they really are investment pieces. I used to use their Studio Sculpt foundation (it's too hot for it now) and despite being a very high coverage, it never broke me out in spots and after 6 months of use there's still enough for next winter. 

What I find with MAC is that what you see is what you get. The packaging is sophisticated and their claims are believable and realistic. And to be fair, when was the last time you saw a review for a MAC product? I don't think I've ever seen one. You get MAC Hauls, sure, but I believe that's a testimony as to how great they are, they don't need to prove themselves, everyone knows that if you buy it with MAC, you're not gonna be disappointed.

For example look at the description of their normal liner

Eye Pencils are formulated to provide rich, consistent colour using ingredients that have virtually no irritancy potential. They are comfortable to apply and sharpen to a fine point to allow for a precise application. Eye Pencils can be used to create a sharp line or a softer, smoky effect. They are long-lasting and won't cake or streak.

There's not a trademark sign in sight and no false promises, and I can honestly say everything they say is true about this product.

But moving on to Benefit. I've always wanted to be a Benefit girl. Benefit girls are pretty, they don't need serious make up, they're fun and they kid themselves that Benefit is just amaaazing. But I can't agree with that. I thought I'd give them a chance, I mean they kindly gave us all free pencils with Glamour this month, but I don't think I could ever pay for a Benefit product. Ever. Here are my reasons, and please feel free to disagree with me, I want to know your opinions, and if you like try and convince me they're fab.

•  They're expensive. To me, £14 for a poor quality eyeliner (more about this later) is disgusting. And I don't like their obsession with adding that 50p on most of their products
• You're paying for the packaging, which don't get me wrong is lovely, the names are great, but the quality. . 
• Oh dear the quality. If there ever was a company who's products did almost the opposite they were meant to that's Benefit. Bad Gal liner promises to be 'Dark, Smoky and Mysterious'. Who are they trying to kid? If they mean a terrible grey shade when they say dark, annoyingly smudgy in an im gonna end up on your cheeks by the end of the day kind of way when they say smoky and a 'woah that sure is some straaange eyeliner that girl's got on' when they say mysterious then they've got it spot on. And don't get me started on Bad Gal mascara. Disappointment in a tube.
• The Benebabes. Ok I know there are some right nasties out on those MAC stands, but Benefit takes the biscuit. Never before had a woman made me feel so out of place, so awkward and so intimidated until I went to a Benefit stand. I'm sure there are some lovely Benebabes out there, but I've yet to meet one. I once had my make up done by them. Never again. I don't know how anyone could mistake me for a dark orange when I've been known to purchase NC15 at MAC.

 

 All in all, the products in general just really don't appeal to me. They have no lasting power whatsoever, they're ridiculously overpriced and as kitsch as their products are (did you know Benetint was developed to go on strippers nipples?!), I will always always be a MAC girl at heart.

Love Sophie

xx

PS Are you a Benefit Gal or a MAC Lady?

Freebies :D

Now what beauty blog doesn't have these Benefit goodies at the moment?

Yep, I'm talking about the ones that come free with this month's Glamour, and I kind of bought all 3. I was too embarassed to buy them all from one shop so 2 are from WHSmith and one is from a local newsie, which was a right pain, more about that later.

(Oh and if you're wondering, that nail varnish was also a freebie, it's the Nails Inc London that came free from Boots when I bought two 500ml coke bottles!)

So here are some swatches for you, the first is normal and the second image is when I rubbed them in, as all 3 are designed so that you can rub them and smudge them about a bit)

Ok, so what did I think? The liner is fab, was expecting a bit more colour pay off as I wanted a real 'carbon' black style but when it comes to smudging, it's great! It gives you a real smokey eye in seconds.

The eye brightener? Yep I liked that too. To be honest for me it's not entirely necessary, as using bare study by MAC kind of does that eye brightening job for me, but it makes a good highlighter for the cupids bow and underneath eyebrows. And my goodness the smudging is heavenly, it rubs in like a dream!

And lastly mister It Stick. The one that nobody wants :( I don't see why though, I have to admit that at first the colour put me off, a bit too cheapo-foundation-orange for me. Until I rubbed it in. Again, it rubs in so well, I thought I'd have a play with it and it covers under-eye circles, makes a great eyeshadow primer I find, and neutralises the eyelid.

Go buy all 3 now, it'll only set you back £6!

So anyways, as I was saying the newsagents trouble. . well of course they would only accept card if I spent over a fiver, so I picked up a Grazia and a More as well. I don't buy more any more (hehe), it's gotten too expensive but I realised my purchase was worth it when I got home to discover I could get a free Dazzle Dust and this is the shade I bought, in Chocolate

One word; BEAUTIFUL. I'm in love. I've been wanting to buy Mulch by MAC for a while now, and whilst this isn't really a dupe as such (what do you think?) it does the job!

So that's my freebies for the time being, did anyone else get these? 

Sophie x