Top 5 Products for Glowing Winter Skin

Ack, doesn't Winter really take it out of your skin?! It seems that, every year, as soon as the air gets colder and the wind picks up a bit, my skin begins to turn to stone. Dull, rough skin isn't a good look in any weather and I refuse to spend the festive party season looking and feeling like sandpaper so I've done something about it. Next week I'll be sharing with you my ultimate winter skincare picks, but today I'm feeling all festive so I thought I'd share with you 5 favourite products of mine for a glowing winter complexion, for face and body. 

Nip+Fab Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing Pads

Words cannot express my everlasting love for this product. I've been using it since it first launched. This is an exfoliating product designed to even out the skin's texture as well as brighten skin tone. I tend to pair it with my Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant a couple of times a week to really smooth things over but, after cleansing, I always swoosh one of these badboys around my face before toning, moisturising and applying makeup. Makes for a super smooth base. 

Superdrug Vitamin E Sugar & Oil Scrub

Superdrug's own branded products are regular in my routine now, and have been ever since I became vegan (almost) 2 years ago. Their Vitamin E range is a particular favourite of mine. In the past I've stuck religiously to Soap & Glory scrubs, and I still do use them, but this is a fantastic budget option. It's grainy, silky and really gets the job done. My skin feels glorious after I've used it and it really helps buff away that nasty, dull layer to make way for...

Tan Organic Self Tanning Oil*

New favourite fake tan alert! Confession; I've had this product for ages, but never actually got around to using it regularly until the last couple of months, due to a seriously busy year of exams, graduations and moving house. This product just refuses to streak... ever. It's an oil so it smooths on really easily and gets into all those awkward bits with little effort. It's also really quick to sink in. It's made up of a blend of organic, eco-certified oils and gives a wonderful subtle glow after a single application. Totally buildable though, if you desire a deeper colour. For me, it just takes off that pasty winter tinge. Usually I'd prefer a more olive toned product, while this one is more gold, but I find that nowadays I don't desire such a deep colour. Perhaps I'm getting old. 

GOSH Cosmetics Giant Sun Powder

I'd be nothing without this huge compact. Can you believe that I've managed to use one up already? My favourite way to use it is to dust it over my shoulders, chest and legs (if I've dared to expose my pins, that is) ready for a night out. Great for when you haven't had time to tan and gives off a lovely, subtle shimmer. I also like to use it on my cheeks if I'm going for a more bronzed look (which is usually the case for me, I love my gold and brown tones). On darker skintones it would also make a brilliant highlight. 

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

I'm sooooo late to the Too Faced party. I've heard cruelty-free bloggers across the board rave about this bronzer so I gave in a purchased it a couple of weeks ago. No word of a lie, I've used it almost every day since (well, the days I've dared brave the weather and venture outside, that is). It's the most amazing, blendable contour shade but it's also great for dusting over foundation and powder for a deeper colour. Because it's matte, its lovely for daytime wear, when you don't really want too much of a shimmer. My guess is I'm preaching to the converted here so I'll leave it there. 

For a more thorough round-up of my Winter skincare essentials, stay tuned for next week's post. With everyone gearing up for the Christmas party season, I thought we could all use some extra glow this week. I also wanted to officially give the finger to this nasty stormy weather we're currently having in the UK. Desmond can officially do one. My skin is armed and ready! 

What are your top products for the perfect winter glow? Do you reach for the bronze when the weather gets rough?

Tropical Summer Nails ft GOSH SS13

Hello lovelies!! I had intended to post this YESTERDAY as I haven't done a Monday Manicure post for a few weeks but, although i had all the photos done in time, my efforts were thwarted by a migraine and I ended up having to have an early nap instead. Boooooo! Anyways, I've been going a bit crazy for my Limecrime Velvetines in Suedeberry on my lips this week (if you still don't know what that is see my post Here) and it inspired me to pull out a couple of tropical nail colours that I received from GOSH Cosmetics new SS13 Collection and go bright on my nails as well!!

I suppose I have featured these polishes briefly on this blog before but no way did a quick swatch demonstrate them in all their glory and this is the first time I have given these two colours, in particular, their chance to truly shine!! Tropicana* is a hotter than hot orange toned coral/red shade and I chose Greed* to go along with it as an accent to add a bit of extra sunshiney SPARKLE!

I love love love these colours! It's a pity I still don't have much of a tan to set them off really (working on that). Tropicana applies very opaque from the first coat, although I did two to be on the safe side. I used my Ciate Paint Pot in Sand Dune as a base for two coats of the gold glitter polish. I might just add that I find GOSH polishes to be very thick in texture which is great in terms of colour payoff but, in my experience, each coat needs a little extra setting time before adding the next. Same before adding topcoat, or it just seems to clump and pull the polish off the edge of the nail. As always I finished with lashings of Seche Vite!

Coral and Gold are two of my favourite colours for summer. I just love warm, orangey, sunshiney hues when the sun comes out. I know it's a bit of a no no to match nail polish to lipstick these days but I just couldn't help myself. These colours set Suedeberry Velvetines off perfectly! 

I did do a post about the full shade range for the GOSH SS13 collection Here with information on all shades, prices and stockists so be sure to check out the other shades in the range!

What are your perfect Summer nail colours??

The Highlight(s) of my Summer

Good evening beauty seekers!!

Another slightly late offering today. I've spent most of this weekend trying to rearrange my makeup and skincare storage so laptop time has not been that much of a priority. I hope to have a post up next week to show you my new makeup set up and storage solutions but, in the meantime, I wanna keep with this week's summery theme (finally, some sunshine at last) and instigate a bit of chatter about sunshine of the facial variety. Namely, highlighters. I own a few highlighters. Recently I've been on a quest for glowy summer skin and, after experimenting with the different highlighting products in my collection, some definite favourites have emerged. So I thought I'd pen a little post to tell you why I love them and why there is room for all of them in my life. 

This HUGE compact from GOSH cosmetics is just beautiful! It is actually a super-shimmery bronzing product which is a deeper golden shade than the other products in this post. It is designed for use on both the face and body and looks gorgeous when swept over tanned shoulders and decolletage. On my face, I only tend to use it as a highlight when I'm tanned due to the colour. At other times I'll use it as a bronzer. It swatches a lovely molten gold sheen and is so pretty!

Aurora is the latest edition to my highlighter stash and the only cream product featured in this post. I worship at the alter of Illamasqua. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that they are my favourite makeup brand of late. Their Gleam Highlighter packs some SERIOUS pale gold shimmer but without being glittery. The cream formula is quite dense but lights up my face when I dab it on my cheekbones, the bridge of my nose and cupid's bow with my finger. As it is a cream product it doesn't really 'set' as such so I sometimes feel the need to pat a little translucent powder over the top of it but this highlighter gives the best glow out of the bunch with minimal amount of product needed. I've been using it the most with their SOPHIE and Rude blushers.

I love budget products that really perform and MUA seem to be very consistent with the quality of their products lately! This little beauty costs just £3 and, in my opinion, performs to the same standard as any of the other high end products featured in this post! This product is actually quite pink in tone which I like, as it makes it different from all the others. The consistency of the powder is so soft and buttery and a pleasure to apply and blend. It's more subtle than Aurora (probably down to it being a powder product) but you don't need a lot to give the prettiest glow to the face when applied in all the same places. I must try more of their Undress range if this is anything to go by!

I couldn't not include this one as a favourite highlight product, could I? MAC Mineralise Skinfinish in Lightscapade has caused so much hype in it's time and it was a bandwagon I was happy to jump on. I don't use this product in the same way as I use Aurora or MUA as it's just not as RAWR. I love to use this to give a more glowy finish to my regular powder. A sweep of this on a big brush all over my face just gives my makeup a warmer, more glowy finish. I know a lot of people have complained that the new version of Lightscapade doesn't have the same veining and WOW factor of the original version but I love this compact for what it is, which is a beautiful, beige toned highlight that gives a stunning soft glow to my face. This may be a good one for those with oilier skins who would probably benefit from a much more subtle shimmer highlight. 

 L-R: GOSH, Illamasqua, MUA, MAC

So those are my current favourite products for highlighting. I do have other highlight products. I have the Sleek Glo highlighter (I wrote a post on it a while back which can be found Here) which is very similar to the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick and also the highlighter that comes in their Contour Kit as well as the BeneFit High Beam. To be honest I'm still to master the art of contouring my entire face but I'm really enjoying experimenting with different highlighted effects for the new Summer season now that the sun has FINALLY got it's hat on. HURRAH!!

What are your favourite Summer makeup effects?? Do you rate any of these products?? What are your favourite ways to achieve a glowing complexion??

GOSH SS13 Ctd... Special Edition Nail Colours

 Hello again my lovelies!

Tonight's post is a continuation of last night's preview of the GOSH Cosmetics SS13 releases, but this time i'm focusing only on the new Special Edition nail polish shades they have come up with. Until this week i was a GOSH polish virgin so have thoroughly enjoyed playing with these shades and thought they deserved their own post so that you can become better aquainted with the shades, names and swatches. I'm really loving these shades. Not all of them are obvious Summer colours but work really well together as well as individual polishes. This will be an EXTREMELY photo-heavy post just because, once i started taking photos, i just couldn't stop! They really are that pretty!!

 The collection includes 6 brand new shades: 4 glossy block colours and 2 stunning glitters. I think the coloured polishes just SCREAM nautical, especially when you combine them (think MAC Hey Sailor collection packaging here). 

Here are the shades and their names....

Venus*

 A Tiffany-esque minty green/blue which is bang on trend. I can't get enough of mint green polishes lately. There are so many out there at the moment and i must own about 7, all very similar yet subtly different. This one is also unique in my collection.

Greed*

A chunky metallic gold glitter with the most beautiful little yellowy sparkles. The glitters are bigger in size than any other glitter polish i own and would work as an accent on top of another polish as well as by layering glitter on glitter to create some seriously bling nails. The glitters are suspended in a clear polish which has a slight golden sheen to it.

HighSchool Flirt*

A creamy, chic pale nude which is glossy and opaque (even after a single coat). It's pretty neutral in tone but looks quite peachy in certain lights. Would look nice both on its own with a tan or as a base colour for a glitter polish.

Girls on Film*

This polish is visually STUNNING! These photos really don't do it justice. The glitters are predominantly a pale pink shade but combined with smaller multicoloured shimmers in a clear polish. I suppose the name is indicative of Hollywood, Diamonds and screen sirens and it definitely makes me think of Monroe in 'Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend'. As with greed, this polish looks beautiful layered over a base colour (such as Highschool Flirt, as you'll see in a second) but for maximum impact it could also be built up.

Tropicana*

It wouldn't be Spring/Summer without a va-va-voom coral shade, would it? Well this is a dramatic orange-toned coral that just screams of the upcoming season. Perfect with bronzed holiday skin! I'll be teaming this with my MAC Vegas Volt lippy once the sun finally decides to put its hat on more permanently.

Tilted Blue*

This is the one which may appear to be a little out of place for Spring/Summer but this was actually the one i just HAD to put on my nails straight away! It's an inky navy blue which fits with my nautical theory perfectly and i think that's why it has a place in a Summer collection. It works particularly well with the nude or coral shades or accented with Greed (i love navy and gold as a combo). 

 

Onto the swatches....

I had to get a bit creative for this combined swatching. what with there being 6 polishes and me only having 5 fingernails... So i doubled up on a couple of the shades to show how the glitters could be used with the other plain shades. Girls on Film looks a little pinker in the flesh but, otherwise, all other shades are quite accurately represented. 

These polishes actually apply VERY well. What really impressed me is that i only needed a single coat to produce the colour payoff pictured above (obviously the glitters count as an extra coat but you get what i mean). I applied this mani last night and it has lasted well through a day behind the bar today with only some minor wear to the very tips of the nails, although i'm sure it would last longer with 2 coats. I just used one in this case to demonstrate the opacity and quality of the polishes. I finished each nail with a coat of Seche Vite, but the polishes on their own are also VERY glossy.

All of these polishes, along with the other products from the GOSH SS13 collection (all detailed in my previous post) will be available in selected Superdrug stores and on Superdrug Online from the 13th March.

What are your ideal Spring/Summer nail colours?? Do you rate GOSH polishes?? What other shades do i need to add to my collection?? 

GOSH Cosmetics SS13 Collection

Good evening beauty seekers!

Tonight i want to share with you some exciting NEW products by drugstore heavyweights GOSH cosmetics. I attended their event this week for the launch of their special releases for Spring/Summer '13, which will be released in stores from 13th March. It was a fab night with food, wine and enough makeup to take a bath in! It was EVERYWHERE! Kid in a candy store or WHAT?! 

 (Check out Grace from allthatslap photobombing me in the mirror!!)

We were basically let loose around the room to check out and play with all the gorgeous makeup! There were all kinds of products on display! There was a fantastic makeup artist on hand as well to make us all look fabulous. It would have been so easy to get carried away with all the shadow palettes, blushes and lipsticks that were scattered around, but what we were REALLY there to celebrate were THESE little beauties....

The GOSH SS13 Collection consists of the following...

6 Special Edition Nail Polish Shades

BB Skin Perfecting Kit

Velvet Touch Eyeliner in 2 New Colours

The Ultimate Eyeliner - With a Twist

and

Growth Mascara and Serum

BB Skin Perfecting Kit* - £9.99

This little compact actually comes in 2 shades: Light and Medium. The one pictured is Medium (my housemate promptly pinched the Light one almost as soon as i got it home so it was not available for photos haha). The palette consists of two shades of creamy concealer and a highlight shade to achieve a flawless face. The lighter concealer is designed to brighten and conceal the under-eye area while the darker is intended to cover up blemishes. The highlighter, which i would apply with my fingers, is great for dabbing over the cheekbones and collarbone or as a brow highlight. Such a handy little compact for carrying around. The mirror is also a great size!

Nail Lacquer - 6 Special Edition Colours* - £4.99 each

I'm a newbie to GOSH nail polishes but, given my recent obsession with my nails, i actually SQUEE'd a little bit when i opened the bag to find these! I'm planning a separate post to follow tomorrow dedicated to these little beauties so i won't say too much here other than the fact that, after an initial play, i am very impressed!!

I'll be comin' at ya with swatches and all the shade names tomorrow...

Growth Mascara* (£8.49) and Serum* (£14.99)

I am MEGA excited about these products! Finally, a drugstore alternative to all those ridiculously pricey lash treatments! Both contain an active growth complex called SymPeptide XLash and promise visible results after just 2 weeks, which is a relatively short time frame for a lash treatment. I've never actually seen a mascara that claims to promote growth so i am very interested to see how the products work together and what results they might produce. I've already started a trial of both products simultaneously so i'll report back in a couple of weeks! 

The Ultimate Eyeliner* - (£5.99)

01 Back in Black

02 Raw Grey

05 Kind of Blue

These 3 brand new shades are reminiscent of the Avon Glimmersticks (which i have always been a fan of) and twist up without the need for sharpening, allowing for precise application. The product itself goes on very smoothly and gives a great colour payoff. The major bonus with these liners is the smudger on the other end of the pencil which can be used to create a soft smokey effect as well as a precise line. It's long wearing and 'Back in Black' lasted all day on me yesterday! Back in Black and Raw Grey are mostly matte, while Kind of Blue has a slight shimmer to it. 

Velvet Touch Eyeliner* - £4.99

020 Fashionista

021 Renaissance Gold

GOSH have also added 2 new shades of their Velvet Touch liners. These give a thicker line than the Ultimate Eyeliner and are sharpened manually, but are still velvety soft and smooth to apply and contain vitamin E and Jojoba oil. They are also waterproof. 'Fashionista' is a pretty deep blue with a hint of sparkle while 'Renaissance Gold' gives a beautiful, almost liquid, metallic gold effect and will be gorgeous with bronzed summer skin

Top Row L-R - Velvet Touch Eyeliner: Renaissance Gold, Fashionista

Bottom Row L-R - Ultimate Eyeliner: Kind of Blue, Raw Grey, Back in Black

I reckon GOSH have played a blinder for the new season and i look forward to wearing all of these shades in the warmer months which i really hope will be coming along very soon and i'm very excited to report back on how the Lash serum performs! I'll see you again tomorrow with more details and swatches for the beautiful nail colours!

These products will be available from 13th March and can be found in selected Superdrug Stores as well as Superdrug online. 

What are your favourite GOSH products?? Will you be rushing out to pick up the new SS13 shades?? Do you fancy the Lash Serum??