Inside my Christmas Gifts 2015

  

Gather around my little beauty junkies, fancy a peak inside my Christmas presents? 

I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas and you're still in holiday mode. I know I am (hence why things have been a little quiet over here lately). Normal service will resume soon but in the mean time here's a little something to whet your appetite. It's become a bit of a tradition to share my Christmas gifts, we do all like to have a nosey don't we, and as always I've left of the pjs and socks.

I won't go into too much detail now, after all, this is my blogging material for the next few months! Plus, I haven't had time to 'play', I'm still in greasy hair, all-day-pjs mode. I'm beyond excited about the Tarte Holidaze Collection QVC! It had sold out pre Christmas and I thought I'd lost out,  fortunately Santa came through. It's a bumper collection of 16 Amazonian Clay Eyeshadows, 4 Amazonian Clay Blushers, Mascara and Lip Creme. I guarantee you I'll be raving about this next year! It wouldn't be Christmas without a little Liz Earle under the tree and I was lucky enough to get more than a little. This bumper collection of skin and body care wonders will keep me going until summer. There was some lovely surprises too like the Leighton Denny Front Row Collection and Nars Illuminator in Org*sm, which amazingly I've never tried.

If you share your Christmas gifts, big or small, please leave your link in the comments so I can have a nosey too. For now, it's back to the sofa.

Fuss-Free Fool-Proof Tanning

The quickest, easiest, most fool-proof tan I’ve ever used.

Over the years my love of tan had dwindled. I’m normally pretty happy to embrace the au natural look, but there’s something about party season in Newcastle to make you feel very pasty. The problem is, the faff puts me off! Enter James Read Instant Bronzing Mist.

When it comes to tan, James Read is the man! His Sleep Mask Tan, hands down the best facial tan I’ve ever tried. But bronzing mists, however, are a tricky beast to master, but I honestly couldn’t face the latex gloves, tan mits, ronseal coloured lotions and potions – spray and go sounds better to me.

So this is how you use it. Stand in the bath. Sray it all over your body. Done! Seriously that’s it. I sprayed it on in a pretty cack handed manner and fully expected a patchy, streaky dis-aaaaar-staa, but somehow I ended up with an even, all over, golden tan. The spray is more of an ultra light mist that disperses evenly and widely (if that makes sense) so it covers quite a generous area with each stroke. You can even spray it directly on face, hands and feet – just make sure you moisturise your knuckles, elbows and toes. It absorbs straight into the skin and is completely clear. It was dry before I even got out of the tub. I got dressed and left it on overnight. Like every other tan, it did smell biscuity, but it didn’t transfer onto my clothes or bed sheets.

I wanted to be able to walk into work the next day and not have everyone think – she’s been tango’d. I might be a northern lass but a full-on mahogany glow in the middle of winter aint my thing (any more). Thankfully I got an even, all over, natural glow. It was noticeable but not in-yer-face.

For fuss free tanning during the festive season crack out the James Read Instant Bronzing Mist £25 ASOS | Space NK | QVC

Brows with Benfit(s)

Scoring the perfect brow is a fine art and no one knows this more than Benefit. From grooming to styling they’ve got brows down. So imagine my delight when this dropped through the door…

The Curious Case of the Brow Dilemmas is the ultimate capsule brow wardrobe with everything you need to arch out the competition along with a VIP card which entitles me to free brow treatments at Benefit Brow Bars – Christmas has well and truly come early. It took me all of about 5 minutes to make my first appointment.

Benefit Brow Grooming  

Repeat after me - taming of thy brows is essential. I’m definitely guilty of letting the bushiness get out of control. No excuses now! I didn’t drop the “VIP” when I booked my appointment, to properly review the service l wanted to make sure I was getting the same treatment as everyone else. I’m always a little nervous letting someone else loose on le brows, but with over 10 million groomed, I was in safe hands. I went for the full works – waxing, dyeing, shaping, and trimming. I told the girl I wanted to keep them thick (about a hundred times) and I wanted to take my arches a little higher, with slightly more of a point, if poss! The dye made such a difference. I normally skip this part since mine are already pretty dark but the tint helped create the illusion of more fullness and ultilised my little baby hairs to take the brows higher. Through waxing and plucking I got a nice, clean shape. I still looked like me, just better. The service is super efficient and I was done in 30 minutes. Guess what, at Benefit, everyone is a VIP. Find your nearest Benebrow Bar here
 

Brows styled with BrowZings and Gimme Brow Dark

Brow Zings £24.50 here

Brow zings, where have you been all my life? I don’t know how I’ve never used this. I guess I went from pencil’s to HD Brows and Anastasia Beverly Hills and somehow skipped this one. BIG mistake! Wax on one side, powder on the other, some handy little grooming tools, it’s everything you need in one tiny palette. The wax gives the powder something to adhere to (genius) for a bigger, bolder, beefed up and super long-lasting brows.

Gimme Brow £18.50 here

You know I love this one. Gimme Brow took so-called “brow mascaras” by the short n curlies! It doesn’t just tint brows or comb them in place. It magics brow hairs where they don’t even exist. The innovative brush-on fibre-gel adheres to skin and hair, filling sparse patches and thickening brows naturally. The tapered brush is tinie-tiny and absolutely perfect for shaping and filling the hard to reach gaps. Fuss free and super quick - it's shaved minutes of my morning routine. For a natural, low key brow I only need this. For a full, bad ass brow, Brow Zings and Gimme Brow together are a force to be reckoned with!

High brow £16.50 here

Do you know what, I had this years ago and had totally forgotten what a visible difference it makes. I'm not a big fan of the whole concealer around the brows thing. I think it looks a little fake and, well, obvious. This is much more natural. Lifts, enhances and highlights brows in an instant.

Sadly The Curious Case of the Brow Dilemmas bumper pack isn’t available to purchase, but you can buy all of the individual items here.

Are you a Benefit Brow fan?

Makeup Geek NOW Available in the UK… NO more pesky customs charges

Stop.What.You’re.Doing. Christmas has come early.

The £5 eyeshadows that ARE BETTER than MAC are now available on UK soil. No more postage, no more two week waits and most importantly, no more extortionate customs charges. 

If you’re a youtube addict, chances are you’ve come across MakeUp Geek Founder Marlena. She’s been tubin’ for years and launched her own line MakeUp Geek – luxury cosmetics at affordable prices. The hype surrounding their eyeshadows is completely justified. They look a lot like MAC but they’re loads cheaper, and wait for it….. better!

I ordered Mocha, Cocoa Bear, Latte, Hipster and Vanilla Bean earlier in the year and was blown away by their quality (full review here). Super rich, intensely pigmented, true, vivid colours, exquisitely blendible and super long lasting. And all this for $5.99 each! WOW. The only downside – ordering form the US meant a two week wait, $9 delivery charge and £12 customers charge. Well no more! Our very own Beauty Bay are now selling MUGs eyeshadows (from £4.95), pigments and blushes. Whoop, bloody whoop! Off I go to fill my palette. Next on my wish list - Prom Night, Shimma Shimma and Creme Brulee.

Check out the amazing Makeup Geek at Beauty here 

Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield - Flawless Skin in ONE Step

I’m all about the multi-tasking, time saving, fuss free products. Who has time to faff about with five products when one will do! 

Murad Invisiblur Perfecting Shield Broad Spectrum SPF 30 is a unique multi-benefit anti-ageing serum that blurs, primes, moisturises and protects skin in just one step. In short, it’s a wonder primer!

It feels like one of those silicone textured primers, think Smashbox Photo Finish but lighter. In fact, it’s light at air. The velvety, slightly mattifying texture sinks in to reveal an instantly visible improvement to the appearance of pores and lines. It helps to blur pores but doesn’t feel like it’s sitting in them – no polyfiller here. Mattifying textures aren’t normally my favourite, you know me, I’m all about the glow but it truly makes my face look extra smooth and flawless. It provides the most perfectly silky smooth canvas for applying make up and my foundation lasts longer!

On top of all this, it’s delivering proper protection. For years I hardly worried about sun damage. Like most, I wore sunscreen on holiday but didn’t bother in the UK. That was until I put my face in one of those face analysis contraptions and saw sun damage all over the place. This contains factor 30 and for once, it’s truly invisible, lightweight and non-sticky.

I can’t lie, the price makes me wince. I was lucky enough to get this in a good bag at a Murad event. BUT when you consider it’s an anti-aging treatment, sunscreen and primer in one, it's an easier pill to swallow. Either way it delivers flawless skin in one step!  

RRP £55, currently £46.75 John Lewis | Feel Unique