The Glueless Scr4pbook.

I recently got hold of a slightly older Chanel release which I was pretty happy about because I have tried this before when I was a lot younger and had no idea how I would like it now so I've been giving it a little test run recently and here are my findings.

Chanel Vitalumiere Satin Smooting Fluid Make Up (RRP £36 for 30ml). This foundation has an SPF of 15 and says it is an "Anti-Fatigue" foundation hence the luminous finish, I would say this is a light to medium coverage foundation and I personally wouldn't say it was buildable because of the finish. 

It is definitely a very luminous finish foundation and I wouldn't really recommend this for people with oily skin (I have oily skin myself and of course if that is the dewy, glowy look you are going for like I do when I am tanned then by all means it is a great foundation) I would say this is more aimed at slightly mature skin which needs a youthful glow and for those more oily I would suggest the Perfection Lumiere Velvet as the finish is matte but the formula still has Illuminating properties.

The luminosity is this foundation is very natural looking, no glitter or shimmer at all, just a very healthy finish. It is an easy to blend formula (with either a brush or a sponge), sinks into the skin well without creating those 'foundation pores' and overall is a very seemless natural looking foundation.

I hope this was helpful.

I have had this Pressed Powder by Nars (RRP £24) for a good 4/5 months now and since I actually hit pan a while ago I thought I better review it for you guys because I am obviously a really big fan. You know when something just becomes part of your daily routine and you take it for granted, that is what happened here so I needed to give this staple powder some room on the blog.

As I say I have had this for months now, I actually ordered it on a whim, I needed a new powder and hadn't tried too many Nars products so I thought why not?! I didn't even like this in the beginning, I continued using my Soap & Glory One Heck Of A Blot until I decided that I needed to use it to get my money's worth and then ... I fell in love. 

I got the shade Flesh which in all honesty is a bit too pink toned for me (I'm definitely more on the yellow side) but it is such a sheer formula that the pigment doesn't show through at all, it's extremely finely milled and silky to touch, it dissolves into the skin without settling into pores or fine lines and doesn't feel or look cakey. I would say it keeps my (oily) skin shine free for around 4 hours which is pretty good going. I'm really happy I ordered this and I would really recommend it, it's definitely worth the extra pennies in my eyes.

My love for & Other Stories just cannot be explained in words, I have just recently fallen for everything about it, the clothes, the accessories, the beauty, the jewellery, everything! As part of their beauty range they have around 15 scents of their own creation, all packaged in sleek black and white containers, the packaging alone is enough to start me drooling...

But anyway my favourite scent from the range is one named "Punk Bouquet" which is a 'Frothy vanilla soda on a rebellious rose bouquet' to quote the packaging, a very gentle light floral scent which just smells fresh and clean and I can't get enough of it, literally.

It all started with a Hand Cream (£4), when I got home and fell in love with it I needed everything, so I ordered this lot and its all so reasonably priced too. 

Above: Hand Lotion 250ml (£5), Body Wash 350ml (£5) and Body Lotion 350ml (£7).

I also managed to get this Primer on sale from £15 to just £5, if you haven't visited an & Other Stories yet, make it your mission in life, or just try the website which is amazing too.

Since the Summer is definitely nearing an end here in Britain I thought I had better dedicate a post to these gorgeous smelling candles that have been keeping me happy all summer. I am a huge fan of Yankee Candles all year round but I go especially crazy for their seasonal scents and this summer they brought out "Summer Scoop" which is based on the scent of strawberry ice cream, as as always they did not fail to deliver on the scent front, it smells exactly as you would expect, sweet, vanilla, strawberry, summer, amazing.

I usually tend to get the traditional jar candles but this time I picked up the box of Tea Lites because it was so much cheaper and I have so many cute candle holders that never seem to get any use. It's actually great value for money, for 12 candles I paid £5.99 and each candle burns for around 4-6 hours. They of course had the samples candles, tartes, small medium and large jar candles available too, I'm pretty sure it will be disappearing soon if it hasn't already, so get them while you can they're amazing.

A while back now I placed an order on the YSL Beauty website because I had been wanting one of the Rouge Volupte Lipsticks forever and was browsing the site when I saw a shade that interested me, I chose shade number 7 Lingerie Pink (£22.50/ 4g), which is a true Barbie pink shade, and reminds me slightly of my favourite mac shade Creme Cup, I have since fallen in love with the lipstick and have mentioned it in my recent '5 Things Pink' post, it is so moisturising and creamy, the original colour payoff is great but due to the creamy texture the lasting power isn't so amazing (I like carrying around my lipstick to reapply during the day anyway, I always do so this doesn't bother me), the only bad point I could mention about this lipstick is the scent which is sweet and most people would probably like it but I can't like it, it's not overpowering at all so I of course still wear the lipstick, but a simple vanilla would have been better in my book. All in all I would highly recommend them.

Anyway the main focus of this post is to tell you how pleased I was with the service from YSL, I only ordered one item worth £22.50, I received free postage and the delivery came in 2 days, I also received 3 samples, a 1.5ml spray sample of L'Homme scent for men, a 2ml sample of the Shocking Mascara and a deluxe sample Rouge Pur Couture in the shade 9, I was really impressed and it was well worth forfeiting my Boots points for. 

I will definitely be ordering directly from their site again, have you ordered anything recently?

Bourjois has recently brought out a 3rd shade in the famous Delice De Poudre Bronzer, this time it is actually a duo, one side a bronzing shade and one side a highlighting shade, still with the same chocolate scent as before. The Bourjois Delice De Poudre Duo (shade 55) retails at £7.99 for 16g, which is great value for money in my opinion.

Now a lot of people have referred to this as a contouring kit, I don't personally think it is as the bronzing shade is far too red toned to use as a contour in my opinion. The Bronze shade in the duo is closer to the original 52 shade, ever so slightly deeper than the original 51, and the highlighting powder is a beautiful pearly champagne shade which really reminds me of Nars Copacabana in powder form, both are swatched below in natural light.

The consistency of the powder is very lightweight, "finely milled", doesn't feel heavy on the skin when layered up, doesn't cake or go patchy, for the price I think these bronzers are great.

I am already a fan of the bronzer, and I can say I now love this too, it's really handy to just stick in your bag, the highlight is really pretty, natural looking and long lasting. The only thing I would say is that the pan is too slim for the divide of product and I personally would have rather paid a little more for a little more product so that each colour were more accessible individually. With a tapered brush like the Real Techniques Blush Brush you can almost seperate them but any huge bronzer brushes have no chance.

I personally have tried swirling them both together which give the face a gorgeous sun kissed glow, and I have mainly been using the RT Blush Brush for the bronzer and doing the 3 motion down my face, and then I have been using the RT Setting Brush for the highlighter on my cheekbones, bridge of my nose and brow bones. I really recommend trying this out but if you are looking for a contour I wouldn't recommend this shade as it is designed to give the face warmth, and for a contour you are trying to create shadows which are dark.

Have you got any tricks on ow to use this Duo?

Continuing my 'Five series' which started with 'Five High End', I have chosen five of my current favourite Pink Things to share, since Pink is my favourite colour (well, and black) it was pretty tricky to narrow it down but I think I came up with the best of the bunch.

1. YSL La Laque Couture Nail Lacquer in the shade 48 Rose Scabiosa, I have spoken about this a million times already but I thought it deserved another mention, my love for this colour and formula is never ending and I hope it's still available because I am nearly out. The brush is flat and wide so two strokes and everything is covered, the formula is highly pigmented and not gloopy at all, I find I get great coverage from just one layer and two is just perfect. As for the colour, it's is a beautiful blue toned pink, kind of a bubblegum pink with a hint of lavender and I love it.

2. Revlon Highlighting Palette in the shade 020 Rose Glow, I bought this when it first came out a few months ago and I thought I had made a mistake because I was going to go for the bronze shade (I already have the Bobbi Brown version so I decided not to) and thought the pink might not be as useful, but I was wrong. I love using is on days where I don't bother with bronzer, the brown tones at the bottom of the palette are enough to give me warmth and the pink highlight shades work really well with my pink blushers. It is pretty glittery but to be honest I don't mind because you don't use a lot at all.

3. Nars Matte Multiple in the shade Anguilla, to be honest I was quite unimpressed when I first got this because I thought it just wasn't worth the money but it has definitely grown on me, I'm still not sure about the price tag but I have been using this almost every day for the last month and I've gotta say I love it, I love the shade for my pale skin, I love the formula creamy and easy to blend and I love the finish which is matte but still with a healthy glow to it. Not great on the lips but I have plenty of lipsticks!

4. YSL Rouge Volupte  in the shade 7 Pink Lingerie, a soft, creamy mid toned baby pink which is perfect for pale skin tones, applies perfectly (it does sit in the creases of your lips a bit because of its thin texture) beautiful packaging and a shade that goes with every make up look so it's easy to just throw on without a thought.

5. The Moleskin Notebook Duos, a kind of random one here but I just love these books, I love the black ones too because they are just classic but this pink one (the shade of the Rosé Scabiosa polish) and the Raspberry coloured one it came with make me happy, I love stationary and I love these, expensive but I'd say worth every penny.

Bobbi Brown is a brand I have always heard so many good things about and yet I still only actually own one product from the range (the original shimmer brick), I have tested a foundation that is raved about by many but I wasn't wowed, and I have been after the corrector for ages for my dark circles but after getting my hands on the Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage I didn't feel that I needed it any more.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of the Creamy Matte Lip Colors recently so I thought I'd just share my thoughts about it.

Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte Lip Color, 3.6g, RRP £19.50, shade  11 Razzbery.

Firstly, the packaging is perfect just simple black and white, very slim design and the lid clicks on firmly so I love everything about the packaging. As for formula, I also love it, it is creamy like the name says, hydrating on the lips, doesn't go powdery or settle into the fine lines and even though it does leave a stain on the lips (which is good because you don't need to reapply often), it is really easy to remove.

The finish of this lipstick is supposed to be matte but I would say it is more of a satin finish,there is no shine as such but you can still see the moisture on your lips when it is applied, which personally I love, I find it does make wear time a little less (about 3 hours in my experience) but I prefer my lips feeling hydrated than completely dry.

As for shades, I have the shade Razzberry which is a perfect name because that is exactly how I would describe the colour, a warm pink raspberry shade which is perfect for Autumn/Winter. There are around 15 shades in the line and some of them are the new Nude shades for A/W 2014 which I would love to get my hands on too.

The pigment of these lipsticks is amazing and I have found they layer really well with other matte and satin lipsticks, I have been wearing this layered over my Tom Ford Nude Vanille for a less intense look because Autumn still hasn't arrived in the UK yet. Overall I would definitely recommend these lipsticks and I think the price is pretty reasonable for a high end brand.

Swatch: Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte Lip Color shade 11 Razzberry (no flash).

I've been picking up a few home bits recently, and my nan has kindly given me some really nice stuff to so I wanted to do a quick post about it.

I have been after a decent brush to keep in my hand bag at all times (oily girls who need a powder fix frequently will understand) and after visiting my local Chanel counter quite frequently for the last few months I got extremely attracted to their Les Beiges Retractable Kabuki Brush (£35), which as you can tell from the name is actually designed to be used with their Les Beiges Powder (which is also on my wanted list).

The lady on the counter also showed me the other Kabuki Brush in the line but I was swayed in the favour of the Les Beiges brush because it is retractable which is perfect for the purpose I required, the other brush she showed me was a gorgeous quality but very standard kabuki which was not retractable but did come with a little velvet pouch to keep it in, I decided on the Les Beiges purely for practicality. The Les Beiges brush comes in a metal case with a lid which is perfect protection for on the go.

It is a very high quality brush with extremely densely packed synthetic bristles which helps it to pick up the perfect amount of product, because the bristles are so dense it does make it tricky to cover large areas quickly but as I don't use this as my main powder brush this doesn't effect me greatly as it is great for touch ups to the T zone or cheeks. Before buying this I read quite a few reviews that said it was very difficult to wash and took forever to dry out again, but I can safely say that in my experience this is not true, I wasn't his brush the same way I wash all my brushes (with Dr Bronner original scent liquid soap and warm water) and at the same time and it cleaned up like new and dried in the same time as the rest of my brushes.

Overall I would say this is an extremely luxury product and I know I could probably picked up one a lot cheaper, like maybe the Real Techniques Retractable Kabuki, but I felt like a treat, so this is definitely not something you need in your life but I do recommend it if you are a Chanel junkie or just generally feel like treating yourself to something really high quality and long lasting.

I've been having some crazy skin lately which is really bugging me because I don't know what's causing it, I always have generally dodgy skin but recently it's been worse and more long lasting so I thought I'd share all the bits that have been helping me through it.

I have been using my Garnier Micellar Water as a general cleanser and the Body Shops's Camomile Cleansing Oil as a proper cleanse which both work really well, I have been using the Lush Tea Tree Water for almost a year now and I still swear by it, it's just natural and not drying at all like you might expect from Tea Tree products and another permanent fixture in my skincare routine is the Body Shop Vitamin C Microdermabrasion scrub which has really fine beads that get right in there without being abrasive.

For the last few months I have been using the Kiehls Blue Herbal Spot Treatment which is pretty pricey for a spot gel but I have found it to work really well when used on specific areas, I have also been using these Clearasil Ultra pads which I found for £1 in my local Bargain Store, they are really strong so I don't use them very often but I like using them in the morning to get rid of any dirt that has got in my skin overnight (they have a slight sandpaper feel which is quite abrasive so I have to be gentle but it seems to do the trick). When I remember I try and use the Body Shop Seaweed Clarifying Night Treatment which is a really lightweight gel serum that is good for helping control excess oil. I also swear my the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo [+] which is a lightweight moisturising cream-gel aimed at helping problem skin, I have gone through 2 tubes of this and need to purchase my 3rd, I highly recommend this even when not used with any other spot/acne treatments. Finally as a mask I have been using the Aesop Camomile Concentrate Anti Blemish Masque since I bought it a few weeks ago and it seems to be helping a lot, the sales assistant to,d me it can also be used topically on affected areas for a more concentrated effect, it's quite expensive but you really don't need to use a lot and since it has the dual purpose that kind of brings down the price a lot.

I hope this was helpful for any of you with problem skin, do you have any products that you could suggest to me?

I have been wanting to write this post for quite a while now and I don't know why it has actually taken this long, but I just wanted to share all the information I read every month through my subscriptions.

I love magazines and I actually cannot bare to throw them out, like literally, my shelves are a fire hazard, but I thought I'd write this post for all the other magazine addicts out there because I save so much money by subscribing instead of buying them every month.

I subscribe to Vogue which is £3.99 to buy every month, or at the moment you can get 6 issues for £12 on subscription plus free Ren skincare worth £30.

InStyle is £3.90 but you can get 12 issues for £18.99 plus free Elemis skincare set worth £70.

ELLE which is £4 or you can get 12 issues for £18 plus free Clarins skincare worth £40.

I also subscribe to Allure through my iPad which costs around £1.99 a month, but the print issue costs around £4, so if you are a girl who doesn't want to carry around the actual magazine then the tablet versions also work out a whole lot cheaper.

I hope this was helpful :)

I actually had a whole load of empties this month so I will try and make this post as short as possible.

A lot of hair care, since getting my hair cut I have been researching a lot of new products and scouting the hair care aisles a lot more, this month I managed to finish off my Organix Argan Oil Shampoo and Coconut Milk Conditioner which I have spoken about before and love greatly but my hairdresser talked me into some Redken products that I am not using instead. I also finished a couple of dry shampoos the Percy & Reed one which I love the fresh smell of it reminds me of a salon and it was handy to throw in my bag, and the Dove Refresh + Care one which actually comes out pretty clear which was strange to get used to, it did work pretty well but I don't think I'd rush out to buy it again. I also used up a mini Umberto Giannini Backcomb in a Bottle which is basically what it says on the tin, a Volumising spray that I had been keeping in my bag for flat hair times, love the sweet smell too. Finally I finished my Tresemme Heat Defence spray and I like it so much I already have another one on the go.

Body wise I used up another Nivea Pearl & Beauty deodorant which is my all time favourite so far, mainly judging on the scent, and a Pink Macaroon Body Splash from H&M which I actually used as a room spray and oh my did it smell good. Skincare I used up another tube of the fabulous Quinoderm 10 spot treatment, the Tea Tree water from Lush that I have spoken about so much (don't worry I have another one already), the Garnier express 2-in-1 Eye Makeup Remover which I would recommend to everyone, it's great for the price, I would probably say the L'oreal one is slightly better but this is still a winner. I was given a couple of samples by the lady on the Chanel counter Nd sadly I finished this one, the Hydra Beauty Cream which I loved so much but the full size is eye wateringly expensive and last but not least I used up one lonely beauty product which was the L'oreal Lumi Magique concealer which I swear by, I would even go so far as to say it is better than the YSL Touché Éclat, yes, really.

Have you tried any of these products ?