Review; Burts Bees Pomegranate Lip Balm

I am a lip balm addict. It is more of a necessity for me to be obsessed with it than anything else as I have the driest lips known to man kind.
I am however, guilty of buying purely because it is cheap or on special offer which means I don’t often try the best and on goes my saga of chapped, sore (not to mention un-attractive) lips.

Burt’s Bees are a brand that have been on my radar for quite some time. Raved about in beauty magazines on on blogs as well as being widely available online and in shops I am not entirely sure what has stopped me purchasing this (other than perhaps, the price, which is a little higher than my usual lip balms).

I was sent a sample of their Pomegranate lip balm for review purposes. This is, by my reckoning somewhat of a cult product! When I mentioned it in my makeup essentials post many commenter’s said they couldn’t survive without it either and I know it has a large celebrity fan club including Glee’s Dianna Agron (who plays cheerleader Quinn).

The expectations were high.

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I love the packaging. In keeping with all Burt’s Bees products it is distinctive but not in your face. Instantly recognisable by the colours and adorned with teeny little bees.

The smell of this lip balm is AMAZING. Neither overly synthetic or too herbal (both make me nauseous). It’s 100% natural and contains the antioxidant goodness of pomegranate oil.

I HATE oily things. There is nothing pleasurable about the texture. Thankfully this isn’t an oily textured balm. It glides on and left my lips instantly smoother and far less parched. The hint on colour isn’t too harsh, but it is there enough to negate the need for lipstick, which is perfect for little miss forgetful me.

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I’ve been using this balm about a week now, and the effects are very impressive. Sometimes I find a product to be a one hit wonder, but not this one. I’m usually the first to complain about any small fault with anything (just ask my friends or colleagues) but I’m struggling with this!

At £3.99 this will be a re-purchase for sure.

Have you used Burt’s Bees? Do you have any favourites I should try?

What lip balm do you swear by?

Makeup Essentials

I’ve seen numerous makeup posts lately, and find it really interesting to see what other people swear by…usually the products they hate are the ones I love. So I’m jumping on the bandwagon, here are my beauty essentials for every day wear.

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My beauty box that seriously needs sorting out and stream-lining!

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From L-R
E.L.F. Studio Cream liner in metallic olive for smudging under my lower eye.
MAC eyeshadows in Mineralism, Ploof, Smoke and Diamonds + a GOSH eyeshadow in a smokey metallic brown.
Rimmel The Max bold curves mascara and Shu Uemura ultimate expression mascara (comp win, I can’t afford it normally!)
E.L.F. Mineral eyeshadow primer…in my opinion this works just as well as Urban Decays!
Shu Uemura under base mousse another luxury I wouldn’t usually have but won.
Babara Daly for Tesco oil free foundation. This is one of the only foundations on the highstreet that matches my skin tone perfectly!
Benefit SugarBomb blusher, I had this for Christmas and LOVE it!
MAC studio fix powder. This has lasted me forever and was well worth the money!

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From L-R
MUA lipgloss, def my go-to lipgloss as it’s not sticky and only costs £1!
Soap and Glory Hocus Focus a.k.a. my saviour!
Burts Bees pomegranate lipbalm, review coming soon
MAC lipstick in Strayin‘ from the Hello Kitty Collection

What are your makeup must haves?

xxx

CELEBRATE Sunday!

Part two of my Weekend Giveaway!

This time I’ve teamed up with the amazing Girls With Attitude who sent me some goodies to giveaway to celebrate reaching 600 followers on my blog!

Up for grabs I have a selection of false eyelashes and nail art accessories, I’m already jealous of the winner!



If you dont win, you can still treat yourselves! Girls With Attitude are available from their website (with free delivery on everything) or from Boots and Superdrug stores.
Prices start from £2.50 for Nail Art and from £5 for Lashes.

To enter, you need…

1. To be a follower of my blog

2. To leave a comment on this post and have some way for me to contact you if you win

3. Be in the UK (sorry international followers, you can still enter my Shopbop giveaway!)

4. Get your entry in before the giveaway closes on Sunday 30th January!

Super simple eh? There will be ONE winner, who I will draw via random number generator.

Who has tried Girls With Attitude before?

And what have you been up to this weekend?

xxx

The Bluebeards Revenge (a review)

So a couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of a product and left you guessing as to what it was. Today I am revealing all…

Introducing The Bluebeards Revenge.

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Originally aimed at men, the brains behind The Bluebeards Revenge discovered that it was actually women behind their bumper sales.

This is a shaving cream that claims to reduce stubble by 40% over the course of 60 days. It was first thought that women were purchasing this for their husbands but it has since been discovered that actually, they want in on the action and have stubble free legs and underarms for longer too.

The magic ingredient of this cream is Decelerine which targets hair follicle growth and weakens new hair formation. As well as inhibiting growth it is also shown to have a soothing and moisturising effect on skin.

The company use totally recyclable packaging and is suitable for vegetarians as well as been paraben free. A percentage of every sale goes to charity supporting injured fire fighers.

I was sent a tub of this to review, having worked with Nick on the blog before (wickedelic lingerie).

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If I’m 100% honest, I was incredibly sceptical. I hate shaving my legs (yet I’m not organised to remember to book regular waxing sessions) and something that could reduce the amount of re-growth really did seem too good to be true. However I was prepared to give it a go…and I’m honestly glad I did.

From the first shave my legs were smoother than they had been in a long time, and re-growth seemed to be about 50% slower than before.
I’ve used it several times since then and I remain impressed! I can really see why so many ladies are jumping on to this product.

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The cream itself is lovely. It has a smell like old fashioned soap (you know, the white powdery bars!) and a lovely iridescent sheen to it.
You only need to tinyest amount, about the size of a small almond, and it lathers up suprisingly well; better than many cheaper shaving foams I have used.

A tub will cost you £14.99 from here which might seem pricey but should last you at least 5 months (as you’ll be needing to shave less frequently and you use such a small amount!) You also get a free shaving brush with all orders, which you can use to apply the cream, although personally I go the messy route and use my hands!

For more information on Bluebeards Revenge and to learn more about it you can check out the website

So, that was a bit of an epic post for a wet and miserable (AND COLD) Tuesday. I hope everyone’s week has got off to a good start. We have cold germs in the house and I am doing my very best to avoid them!

Outfit today is my trust floral harems from Matalan and a loose fit tee from Uniqlo (plus several other additions as the day has progressed!)

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xxx

this week I love

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed this week.

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Barry M crackle effect top coat. Amazing. I’ve only tried it on one nail so far but I’m impressed.

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Kate Logan beauty products. Kate is amazing. She knows my skin better than I do. To find out more check out her website. I especially recommend the Rose skin tonic.

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Nakd cocoa mint bars. One word…heaven! Despite being all natural and raw, they taste like a decadent mint chocolate brownie. YUM.

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Herbal teas! These two are my current favourites, although I’m also enjoying Good Earth’s cool mint blend.

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Baking! The book is amazing! I love Mary Berry’s recipes, they never go wrong. Yesterday I made her banana loaf, adapting the recipe to add a good mound of cinnamon. As well as the loaf there was enough mixture to make a few cupcake sized ones, of which I enjoyed one with a mug of coffee.
I can’t remember the last time I tasted my own baking, this was a revelation.

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What are YOU loving this week?

xxx