Queens Cosmetics Eye Pencils £6.75

I really like to use eye pencils on the waterline (the bottom inside) of my eyes but as I wear contacts and have quite sensitive skin anyway, it is it often leaves me with dry, sore eyes. Queen cosmetics are the experts on creating skin and body care for those of us with sensitive skin and they have won a host of awards to prove it.

What attracted me to Queens eye pencils was not only that they were for sensitive skin but also the fabulous array of colours on offer. You can get the staple black, brown and blue but also a grey, green and violet. The grey is perfect for the day when black is too heavy or for creating a smokey eye look. The green is a favourite of mine as it brings out the green in my eyes and so does the violet, plus they both make an eye catching change to black or brown. Long lasting, super easy to blend and won't irritate your eyes in the slightest.

Aspinal of London

Aspinal of London have once again given me serious bag envy. Some people are shoe people, I am most certainly a bag person. Any type of bag as long as its well made and gorgeous gets me green but cosmetic bags I have a real weakness for. Their Barbarella Classic bag is my ultimate 'big bag' ever and the new range of Hepburn Cosmetics bag are breathtakingly stunning. As with everything Aspinal makes its all in the details and luxurious materials used. Textured ostrich print Italian calf leather and features an Aspinal signature silk mix interior lining completed with a Swiss made zip and Aspinal signature hardware. I want one badly. 

HD Brows Palette £19.95

I think I have bored you all enough with my quest to get the perfect eyebrows so you will be pleased to know that the search is finally over. HD Brows have been building a reputation for the best brow treatment available and using the knowledge they have gained over the years created the ultimate eye and brow palette.

Eyebrows are so important in creating a polished look and it is so easy to get them wrong. Eye pencil that is too dark or too thick will look like it has been applied via a Sharpie and makes you look like a budget Barbie. 

Available in three different sets, each palette contains four shades that will define your brows and compliment your colouring. The powders are long lasting and I find a lot more natural looking than using a pencil. It is easy to build up colour on your brows and you can blend the shades to get a perfect match. Unlike a waxy pencil the colour won't melt and rub off but will stay put all night so you can get up to whatever you like without trips to the toilet to reapply makeup (something I have never been keen on). 

The amazingness doesn't just stop when it comes to your brows. Yes this will be the product that you will keep on going back to for your eyebrows but it will also become a staple in your makeup bag for its eyeshadow achievements. The four shades can be used to create a delicate daytime look and then built up to create seductive, smokey eyes. 

Models Own £5

Models Own have the most amazing arrange of nail colours and I really love how their website is set out. It may only seem like a little thing but I have been put off buying something online before because the website was too disorganised and difficult to navigate. It took me so long to decide on which colours to go for but after much careful deliberation the first one I picked was Juicy Jules.  

A clear varnish packed full of rainbow glitter the possibilities are never ending. As a polish on its own it works great to just give your nails a bit of sparkle. I don't really like varnish on my finger nails because my nails grow so fast I think they look a little fake when I apply varnish on them, especially a dark colour. Juicy Jules is perfect though as it gives them an eye-catching effect that is suitable for daytime and nighttime. the fun doesn't stop there though as you can use it over any colour to instantly it give some fun factor or get as creative as your imagination allows and use the glitter to add streaks, dots and glittery tips to your nails. 

The other colour I went for was Peacock Green. I was a little unsure about it as I recently tried a dark green colour on my toenails and someone said my feet looked cold but the colour was calling to me. I was so happy when it arrived as I had been right to take a gamble.  Its a mixture of blue and green shimmering tones which after two coats looks fabulous and luxurious. 

Competition

The Urban Retreat Beautique have teamed up with glamorous British designer Maria Grachvogel to offer one lucky winner the ultimate, head to toe make-over prize. This incredible prize, worth up to £2,000, includes  a day of pampering at Urban Retreat’s flagship Super Salon on the fifth floor or Harrods followed by an afternoon choosing the dress of your dreams from Maria Grachvogel’s coveted collection.


The competition will run until midnight on Tuesday 20th December 2011 and all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer one simple question.

Malida

Malida have brought a fabulous range of spa products from Thailand into our bathrooms and I for one am loving the results. Thailand is an excellent place to source beauty products as they have an abundance of natural resources such as flowers, fruits, herbs and plants which make this collection one to be lusted over.  

I got to try the hand cream and hand shower from the rose collection which was subtly fragranced but deeply moisturising. The aqua body oil which was an absolute revelation, it melted into my skin so quickly and afterwards I felt so smooth and nourished.  

The ginger and grapefruit body scrub is one of the fruitiest and loveliest scrubs I have ever come across. All the products are very reasonably priced so you can treat yourself to some luxury without feeling it in the purse department. 

I am really excited about the new Tesco beauty products

Along Came Betty is a glamorous range of body and skincare products, inspired by 1950s screen stars and beauty icons. This beautifully packaged and gently scented bathing range provides the perfect pampering solution for you, as well as making great gifts for friends. So Much Bubble Skin Softening Bath Soak 400ml, £3.99Pour this sweet scented soak into running water and sink into the cleansing, luxurious bubbles. To the Skin and Beyond Ultra Rich Body Butter 225ml, £4.00 Apply this satiny smooth body butter to cleansed, exfoliated skin to lock in moisture and leave your skin feeling silky soft and smelling divine. Hey Sugar Sugar Easily Spreadable Body Scrub 325ml, £5.99 Massage this super buffering scrub into damp skin, while showering or bathing to allow the oils to penetrate the skin and sugar to scrub, leaving skin clean and soft. Clean Around the Clock Soft Skin Shower Wash 200ml, £2.99 Lather up with this creamy shower was to dissolve dirt and leave  skin feeling radiant. Other products in the range include: It’s a Skin Thing Ultra Light Body Butter, £3.99, Say you Scrub me Scrubby Skin Polish  £ 3.99 and The Big Scrub Mitt £2.00.

Nip + Fab Sheer Make up Fix £14.95

The Nip + Fab products have been so popular they normally sell out before they have even hit the shelves. My two favourite products are scrub fix and lip + nip fix so of course I wanted to try the makeup fix when it came out. Primers have been huge this year and I have tried some really great ones so it had a lot to live up to. It doesn’t have such a velvety feel as some primers but still feels soft as you apply it. It certainly kept my makeup on for longer and I didn’t have a shiny forehead after a day’s work as usual.  

Living Nature Gentle Makeup Remover £11.75

The older I get the more sensitive my eyes seem to get. If I have been out for a night with thick eye makeup by the time I get home my eyes are always desperate to to be cleansed of all makeup. The gentler the makeup remover the better and the one from living nature is lovely and gentle without losing its removing power. It contains witch hazel which is an anti-inflammatory, just the thing to sooth my sore eyes. It also contains a host of other lovely natural ingredients to cleanse and clean my skin of all makeup. With some eye makeup removers you have to wipe your eye several times to get all eyeliner and mascara off. With Living Natures makeup remover I only need to soak my eyes with a makeup pad with the remover on, a few gentle sweeps and my eyes are clean and fresh. As I haven't had to scrub at them they don't get irritated making my sore eyes worse. Even if you don't have really sensitive eyes you will still be impressed with how well Living Natures makeup remover cleans up your eyes at the end of the day.

Kerastase Elixir Ultime £26

I have not been looking after my hair as best I can recently and as a result it has felt quite dry and damaged. I decided it was time to give it a bit of a treat and went for Kerastase Elixir Ultime, it was the sleek packaging that got me, and it just looked really luxurious. It’s quite unusual to apply a product before you wash your hair and I thought it would just wash out without really doing anything. I was wrong though as my hair felt much more nourished and not about to break if it gets lightly tugged. As my hair is quite thin when I left it on after washing my hair as a leave in treatment I found my hair got greasier quicker. Normally I can leave my hair a day in-between washing but if I use Kerastase I have to wash my hair everyday. It has certainly made an improvement on the condition of my hair and a little goes along way which is helpful as it’s not the cheapest product. 

Elemis Aching Muscle Soak £32.70

Although it makes me sound like an old lady, I do have problems with a few of my joints, they are quite loose and tend to dislocate very often. Anyone that has ever had a dislocated shoulder or hip it’s not a nice experience and can tend to be quite painful. One of my favourite things in the world when my joints are painful is slipping into a super hot bubble bath with a good book. I am always suspicious of products that claim to ease sore muscles as more often than not they don’t. It does smell slightly of Germaline but I like the smell as it reminds me of being at my Grandmother’s house, she used to smear it on any cuts when I inevitably fell over trying to run faster than my legs would allow. Bubbles aplenty came from three capfuls which is always a good start. I relaxed in the hot water, thinking about childhood memories and not about my aching bones, which is a start. The muscle soak wasn’t a complete reprieve from painful joints but it was certainly a lovely relaxing experience and one I will be recreating again.

Another bath foam I have been using recently is Sainsbury’s Blue Bath Soak 61p and I only picked it up because it was cheap. I love it though because it smells of cool water by Dafadoff which is my favourite man smell in the world. 

Scented Nail Wraps £5.95

The first scented nail wraps have arrived and even better they smell like rose wine. The people at Gallo have teamed up with the people at Sphix to create these great scented wraps. The advantage of using nail wraps over varnish is that you get a completely faultless finish and I find they are much quicker to use and last longer. The scent is thankfully full of fruity smells as I was slightly worried that the odour would be slightly sickly. Perfect for a girly night in or a night on the town, your nails will certainly be a talking point. 

Benefit Watt's Up £24.50

In my continued quest to try ever product Benefit does I recently got sent the new highlighter Watt’s Up. The packaging as usual with Benefit is far from boring but it did take me a minute or two to figure out how to use it. I thought maybe the sponge bit at the end allowed the product to seep through it and started to pump it against the back of my hand. After realising my stupidity I took the top off the other end and was greeted by the pearlesant coral coloured highlighter. The trick is to apply a couple of dabs of the product and blend with the soft sponge end. I like to use it at the top of my cheeks and brow bone for a sculpted look. A smear under your eyebrows also lifts the eyebrows up and makes you look more awake. Like all Benefit products it has great staying powder and you only need a little bit to completely lift your look. I also mixed a small amount of Watt’s Up with some foundation and it gave my skin a lovely healthy glow. 

GOSH Nail Glitter £3.99

Nails are big this season, from patterns and prints to glitz to glitter, the more dazzling the better. I love these GOSH pots of nail glitter as they are really well priced and in some lovely colours. You can apply them by slicking on some clear nail varnish and before that goes hard dipping your nails into the little pot. To finish just dust off the excess with a makeup brush and marvel at your sparkly nails. To add even more glamour paint your nails with your favourite colour varnish and dip the tip of your nails into a contrasting colour glitter. For exclusive news and offers from GOSH just 'like' their Facebook page. 

National Wedding Show

I have had a really busy couple of weeks and so haven’t been posting daily on here like I normally do. I have been introduced to some great beauty products though so have plenty to write about over the next couple of weeks.

My beautiful sister is getting married next year so asked me along to the Wedding Show at Earls Court the other weekend. It was a lovely day and I got quite emotional seeing her try on headdresses. I was exhausted getting the train back but it gave me time to go through all the goodies I got.

I bought some Helen E Cosmetics as they were such a bargain, £10 for a foundation and concealer set, an eyeliner, lip gloss, eye shadow and mascara. The foundation is unusual as it is meant to be perfect for any skin shade. When it was tried on my sisters skin it did blend really well although she didn’t like the feel of it at first. The eye shadow is a lovely glittery gold that will be perfect for parties. All in all not bad for a tenner.

Our goody bags were also filled to the brim with beauty products, cereals and leaflets. If you are getting married it’s a great place to get some ideas and really get in the mood for the celebrations to come. 

New CID i-flick £18.50

What a fabulous idea to have a both a liquid liner and kohl liner in one pen. I use the liquid liner to give my eyes a subtle line on the tops of my lids for the day. In the evening I add more liquid liner to the tops of my lids and extend the line out to give them sexy cat’s eye flicks. I then use the kohl liner underneath my eyes to enhance them. If I am feeling really daring I apply the kohl to the water lines and heavily smudge it under my eyes for classic smoky eyes.

Laura Geller Brow Marker

After having spent years using the same eye brow pencil I am now exploring the different options available to me. Although it’s always done me proud in the past on a hot day it can leave me with eyebrows that are too thick and uneven. This brow marker from Laura Geller rids all those problems and it looks so natural. The felt tip nip lets you create small, soft strokes so you can effortless fill in any gaps. Available in a range of colours so you can get the perfect match for your hair colour. What’s more it’s extremely long lasting and completely smudge proof. 

Beauty Truths Not Ugly Lies

Beauty Truths Not Ugly Lies in Print 

QVC are raising money for breast cancer

Next Wednesday 12^th October from 7pm to 10 pm QVC will be broadcasting a special 3-hour live show called ‘be aware, show you care’. We’ll be playing moving moments from the show and offering you the chance to buy some limited edition pieces from Bare Escentuals, OPI and Leighton Denny to name a few with every penny of the net proceeds going to helping women and men with breast cancer.

QVC tune in details below:

Wednesday 12th October, 7pm - 10pm

Freeview channel 16, Sky channel 640, Virgin TV channel 740, Freesat channel 800

www.qvcuk.com

What's with the weather.

The weather this year in the UK has been somewhat mixed. We started the year with mountains of snow, had a blissfully hot spring and summer was below par even for the UK. Now moving into Autumn, the sunshine has had a reprieve and even though the nights are cold and windy the days are so hot sunburn is a real possibility. The other week I went out to meet a friend for lunch and ended up burning my shoulders and back after only being in the sun for 30 minutes and the sky was pretty cloudy. 

I got home slightly bemused by my red shoulders and applied Queen's Sensitive Skin Oil (£17.65) not only to my burnt bits but everywhere. I have been using the oil quite a bit since I got sent it to try. I tend to apply a couple of drops into a hot bath for a decadent feel and then glide it over my skin after I have got out the bath. I have satin sheets on my bed and there is something so lovely about freshly oiled skin slipping into satin sheets that makes me smile. As it's sensitive I don't need to worry about it upsetting my skin, I even use it after waxing to get all the small bits of wax off my skin and to sooth the skin, something I wouldn't do with most body oils. The oil also helps my legs to stay moisturised as my calfs have a tendency to get quite dry. I also you it after a shower before I go out. It makes you skin look softer, smoother and devastatingly touchable.  

Although Queen's Sensitive Skin Oil was great at soothing my sunburn it would have been much better if I had avoided getting burnt at all. What I should of done and will promise to do from now on is to apply sun cream. During the summer I used Ahava's Mineral Suncare SPF 30 (£19) and I didn't even go slightly pink all summer. It easily absorbs into your skin and you don't have to spend precious time on your holiday rubbing it in and as its moisturising, my skin was left feeling soft and not greasy like some suncreams. It is water resistant so I didn't need to reapply it every time I went in the pool. It also has a great smell, it still has that summer smell you only get with suntan lotion but it also has a slight perfume. My friend is off skiing in a few weeks and asked me what beauty related products she should take. The first thing I told her to get was Ahava's Mineral Suncare as you can get really burnt whilst skiing as the sun is reflected off the snow. I would have given her my spray bottle but I am holding onto as I am pretty sure I will be needing it again this year.