Lush 'Marilyn' Review.

This is another product which i received for Christmas after much deliberation whether to get it or not.
This is meant to be a really intense treatment to pick every ounce of blonde out of your hair and bring it out. Being a salon blonde, I'm always looking for things to prolong my colour or make it more noticeable.

It says to apply it to dry hair, before washing and leave in for a few minutes to sink in. Just like 'Big' it isn't the best of scents, it's also really runny which makes it slightly difficult to apply. I did mine over the sink to catch all the drips. There is still a creamy feeling to i, despite its thin consistency. It's the consistency of a watered down conditioner, which is what it is... really.
I applied a thin layer all over my hair, and left it for about 5 minutes before rinsing it out, followed by shampoo and conditioner. I would have liked a thicker layer, but i have to say, this product doesn't go very far. And for the price it was, making it last is a little difficult, so i tried to use as little as possible.

This is after one use, which is just under a third of the product. I think it would be more affective with a thicker amount on, for people with really long hair, you're looking at using half to a full pot of this stuff with every use.

The effects;
I washed it out with Tresemme's Blonde Thrive products, which I've always thought worked really well for coloured hair.
It definitely lightened my highlights, but for the rest of my hair i didn't see much of a difference, which is a natural dirty blonde. With constant use it is likely to have better effects but for the amount you need to use, versus the price, I'm just not willing to put it to the test just yet.
For those with coloured blonde hair, or sections of lighter colour, this is a good product to maintain and brighten the hair up a bit. But it isn't the best thing to get.
In terms of feel, i can't really determine the full effect because it's followed by two other products, it was soft, shiny, but no different to when i just used my normal products.

If it were ever to go down in price, i might consider buying it to use it more frequently, but with the price/amount needed now i won't be repurchasing, because to me it just isn't worth it.
A bit of mixed feelings on this one, but basically, if you're willing to spend the money then this is worth getting, maybe not if you're just in it for a couple of uses though.

Lush recommends using it before their 'The Blonde' shampoo, which i haven't tried, maybe this could heighten the benefits slightly. But that's an experiment for another day.
It retails for £7.60, which doesn't sound much but still, that's just over £2.50 a use, if you manage to get 3 washes out of it, which to me is a lot. I'm ever so slightly tempted to pick up another and use it slightly more... I'm sure you'll be hearing from me if i do.

Let me know if you need any more info!

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NOTD & more nail varnishes.

Another Model's Own winner... I am fastly growing to LOVE this brand. But then, i shouldn't really be buying more nail varnish...

Model's Own - Lemon Meringue

I applied, i didn't really like, but it was OK. Then i liked it more and more.
I've always liked the white nails trend but thought it was a bit too just white... this is on the same track but isn't as one toned.

Saying i can't buy anymore nail varnishes doesn't mean i didn't. I'm more of a nail varnish than eyeshadow girl, so this suited me more than the Urban Decay palette.

Absolutely Alice, Thanks So Muchness!, Off With Her Red!, Mad As A Hatter.

As so many others have said, it is a little disappointing... There really was an opportunity for some truly unique shades (it's Alice In Wonderland after all), yet two are just red, and not even crazy red.
Saying that, i don't wear red nails, so i had my crazy;

Off With Her Red!

I like it, and if it wasn't for those two odd looking nails at the end (I don't even know why) then it would like sophisticated cougar. So far it has worn well.
I'm more looking forward to trying Mad Hatter, but have become a little afraid of glitters.

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A step in the right direction

Superdrug Dare magazine, the Jan/Feb 2010 issue.


Like me, you might just flick through this, have a glance at the pictures... Well, for this issue why not have a detailed look into page 41;

Hi!

Yes siree, i have bagged my position in the Dare magazine.
I was sent the Vidal Sassoon product to review, and had to give my opinion in 100 words or less. I ended up sending a longer version for them to pick at...
Here is the finished product.
So, it might not be a 4 page editorial or anything, but i am proud of this. It's a nice little beginning, hopefully to grow from here.

So, go get your copy (they are free after all...) and cut out to begin your shrine of my journalistic abilities, hopefully I'll be allowed a few more words soon.

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Random but needed...

I am currently on the lookout for a new phone, i was hoping for an iPhone but seeing that they are ridiculously priced for poop tar riffs i have decided against that.

Right now I'm thinking a Blackberry Curve or Bold on Vodafone (£25 a month for unlimited texts & internet plus 300 mins.).

I was hoping some of you might tell me about your tariffs and what you get for them, for what price etc etc...

Or if there is an equally good phone you could recommend, I'm hoping to have it by March.

Basically, i would like

• Unlimited (or very high amount, i.e. over 1000 texts)
• Unlimited internet.
• At least 200 mins.
• Nothing over £30 a month
• Preferably an 18month contract.. but would settle for longer.

Any advice?
Thankyou :)

Phoebe x

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L'Oreal Matte Morphose Foundation Review

This was sent to me on behalf of Glamour, for a reader trial thing, i wasn't intending to review it on here, but i was quite impressed and figured a few of you might like the info.

This is the L'oreal Matte Morphose foundation, basically the L'oreal version of Maybelline's Dream Matte Mousse.


When the DMM came out, it sounded perfect to me; flawless coverage, matte complexion.... But then you apply it, and any dry spots you have become enhanced. It might offer good coverage for skin tone and colouring, but when it came to dry skin, this wasn't a good product.

That is where this foundation differs, when i began using it, i had a breakout on my chin, i tentatively applied it to the area, with little hope of it not drawing the eye to it, but i was pleasantly surprised. It covered it well and and i didn't notice any drying at any time during the day.
It blends incredibly well, and has the feel of a primer, silky but matte.

It gives great coverage, particularly in terms of skin tone or discrepancies in the tone of your skin. While it offers great coverage for blemishes, to me, there is nothing that will make them totally disappear.
It is combined with a primer, which is noticeable as my blush seemed to fair better with this than when i just wear tinted moisturiser. There is also 'light reflecting pigment' somewhere in there, which i personally didn't reap the benefits from, apart from maybe being slightly (and i mean slightly) more dewy than other matte products.

The bad point... As i said, it doesn't dry out blemishes - at least for me - but after wearing it for3 days straight, i did notice my skin start to dry out when i wasn't wearing it. Once the stuff was on, my skin was of a smooth complexion, but i noticed dry areas breaking out when i wasn't wearing it.
For this reason, i wouldn't recommend it for everyday wear, but i really like the finish it gives.

It advertises itself as a 'souffle foundation', to me this has the exact same consistency to DMM, with the DMM being a little more creamier.

Overall it is a great product, but maybe not for everyday use. Although, all skin is different! So maybe it will work for you.
This isn't yet out in stores, but i imagine you'll be seeing a promotion of it in the next issue of Glamour magazine.
It is due for release in February, retailing at £12. I personally wouldn't pay that amount for it, but for die hard matte fans, it is worth the money.

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The 'Big' Bandwagon

You've seen this a million times, but as it is fast becoming a favourite of mine, i felt i had to share it with you. If any of you actually read to the end of yet another Lush post - bravo.

Not to sound too pretentious, but i wanted this ages before the bandwagon was built, i just didn't want to spend £10 on something I'd heard relatively nothing about.
The transformation came from MakeupbyTiffanyD (on YouTube) in one of her favourites videos, so it was added to my Christmas list.

Even as the reviews began rolling in, i was still a little unsure of the product - basically rubbing salt into my hair..? Erm..


I take just as much as i would with a regular shampoo, but really focus it onto the roots, using my Toni & Guy hair washing training ;) to massage it in. I always make sure to wash it out very thoroughly, before following it with my regular conditioner on the ends of my hair.
It gives a literally, squeaky clean feeling, and even in the shower, feels almost dry compared with every other shampoo I've ever used.


Once out of the shower, i comb it through as usual, coating the hair with serum, but avoiding the roots.
It left my hair super shiny, and it felt clean. It felt like there was no product, nothing there weighing the hair down, which contributes to volumised feel.
For my super fine hair, any volume is a plus, but i feel like this adds a substantial amount. Granted, it is a bit hit and miss, sometimes there won't be that much volume, but i figured it's the way you use it, so i just need to work out the right way.

Onto the scent, Lush is famed for its gorgeous scents, you just need to walk past the store to get a good sniff. This product falls short in that area. It smells pretty horrible, not so bad that you can't bare to use it or anything, and i haven't noticed it lingering in my hair - but if you're going in for the scent, then maybe avoid this one.

The above picture is after two uses, and trust me, this was full to the brim. But like i said, you don't need anymore than a regular shampoo, so i can see this lasting.
I only use it once a week at the very most, because I've heard it can become quite drying to the hair - for obvious reasons - with regular use, and also strip your hair colour, so just be careful there.
I could hazard a guess at saying this works by stripping every bit of moisture/oil from the roots, so that it still remains healthy, which is why it would dry the hair out. I'm being careful with how often i use it to avoid these circumstances.

So i got this for Christmas - but I've looked the price up for you lovely people, and it retails at £9.90 for 330g. To me this is a good deal, primarily because of the rate you're going to get through it, but, if you're still unsure, Lush are currently doing a 'Heads, Shoulders, Knees & Toes' set which includes a sample of Big (among many others) which you might want to get before committing to the full price.

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NOTD

Models Own - Disco Mix

The first coat got me a little worried, it was just clear nail varnish with a few glitters in it (maybe for those glitter phobes that still want some sparkle?!) but this is two coats of the stuff and it's perfect.
Some nails do have three, which makes it even more intense. It wears well, it is exactly what you see in the bottle, and is just the right amount of bling for me.

Models Own's site, does three polishes for £9 and they have an amazing selection. I picked up two others on their Monday Madness deal (10% off and free delivery) so it might be worth waiting for another offer like that, follow them (@Modelsownit) on Twitter to hear about them.
I'm sure the others will be appearing here soon enough!

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200 Follower Contest! [CLOSED!]

I'm sure you know what's coming...
I reached 200 followers, and i couldn't be happier! Well, unless i reached more, but it would just become mind boggling. Serious.

So you obviously deserve a mountain of thanks for listening to what i have to say. Also extra thanks to those who have ever helped me out on Twitter, spreading the word of my blog!
I'm still loving blogging, just because i don't blog as often as i used to, doesn't mean I'm finding it any less enjoyable, just running out of things to blog about!
Every comment, every follower, every tweet in my direction (!) is appreciated, so seriously, hand on heart - THANKYOU!

As my thanks, I've picked out some of my favourite products to reward you with (well... obviously just one of you, but I'm sure there will be more than another contest at some point in the future).
These are all products that i love, and have been using for a while, minus the lip glosses, but they're just more of a gift for you!

Contest prizes are;

• No7 Blend and Contour eyeshadow brush. I use this almost daily if I'm applying colour to my eyelid crease, it picks up just enough product to not over face the eye.
• E.L.F Healthy Glow Bronzing Powder in 'Luminance'. This is another daily product, which i use as a highlighter. It isn't all that long lasting, but it gives a great glow.
• Barry M Nailpaint in '293 Grey'. My first successful grey nail polish! Definitely more of a winter colour, but i found myself bringing it out in summer because of how much i liked it!
• Maybelline Colossal Lash Mascara. Honestly, the best mascara i have ever used. Primarily because it gives a great thickening affect with just a couple of coats.
• ColourWorks Juicy Gem Lipglosses. These aren't a favourite, but i have used one in the past and i do really like them!

All will be sent out to the lucky winner!

Onto the ruleys:

• You must be a follower of this blog (it is to reward my followers after all.)
• For one entry, leave a comment below asking to enter you, along with beauty advice, or a product you swear by - just to give me some info!
  E.G. "Enter me please! I love the Colossal Mascara because of its ability to thicken my lashes!"
• For two entries, post about the contest on your blog/twitter and link me to the post/tweet in the same comment as your entry.
• Winners will be chosen using a random number generator, if you have two entries, that will count as two separate numbers. When i get the number, I'll just count from the beginning, up to the winning number!
• You can come from anywhere on this planet! I will ship anywhere in the world, free of charge of course.
  
• Contest will close at midnight on Weds 20th January, although i may allow a few cheeky entries close after. I'll try and get the winner up on the Thursday.

I think (i hope..) that's all!

Good luck & another thank you!

Phoebe xx

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A haul post was needed.

Being stuck inside does allow the mind to wander. Specifically to online shopping, i wouldn't have bought any of this (minus the scarf) if i hadn't been bored. But this is no problem for me!

The first order of business was E.L.F, i specifically went on to get their brush cleanser, the spray one. It's no longer there, not sold out, just plain not there, I'm going to contact them to see if they'll be restocking, but as it has been completely removed from the site, i won't be building my hopes up.
(**Update - E.L.F will be restocking the brush cleanser sometime in February)
Instead i got;

Brush shampoo & Mineral lipstick in 'Party Pink'
It's a pink toned, 'my lips but better' lipstick and i love the quality, I'm going to deliberate over others to try - any recommendations?

Topshop's finest;

Snood £16

I have wanted a snood ever since i first saw them. I'm apparently very picky and they were all either too expensive for what they were, or horrible. I immediately picked this up and have worn it all day today. It's yummy.

My burger sponge - every house should have one, brought on after watching Juno, but not having a phone socket to accommodate the burger phone in my room.

Again, after being stuck in the house it has led to hours of scouring the Internet for random things. This has transformed me into a 'LOLcats' fan (mostly Bickyyy's influence). So, this got me subscribing to the site, filling up my blog updates with funny kittehs, announcing my conversion on my other blog and buying their book;
One of my faves;

Finally, i was sent a gift from Superdrug, I began blogging for them over the summer and have received numerous products since, mainly only being shown on their blog.


But in this package was a Revlon nail varnish in Plum Night - I can describe it as an aubergine colour, that's exactly what it is when there's enough coats on it, I love it. It's another sophisticated polish, and i have always loved Revlon's polishes!

This was after a good few days of wear... and working.

I'm trying to restrict my buys now, in a bid to get a new camera for my travels.
If my brother manages to give me a copy of them before he leaves, I'll post some of our snowy pics from today, he's quite the photographer! I fell over six times on our walk today, he fell over none. So much fun though!
I'll leave you with my own snowy picture, i love the trees when they're like this!

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Vichy Skincare

I was kindly sent a set of products from the new Vichy range to review on behalf of L'Oreal. Of course I'm happy to trial any new skincare in a hope of finding a miracle product.


Having never heard of the brand i did a little research before i received my products; it is sold exclusively in chemists (..drug stores) which hints that i might not be their target market. From the scents and packaging i would say it's aimed at the older generation, and not for serious skincare buffs.

I received three of their products, the cleanser, the body milk and the facial moisturiser.
I have to say I'm not a fan of the packaging. Although the designs are nice, they are all exactly the same, bar the name of the product. The instructions on the back all say to apply to specific area of skin day or night for soft results. I would prefer more detailed instructions from each individual product and what to expect.

So, the cleanser;
I was a little disappointed with this. Initially i loved it, it left my cheeks really soft, but to me this just seems like a glorified soap. It gave the same tight skin feeling that soap leaves me with and apart from the softness after applying moisturiser, there was no noticeable difference to my skin with multiple use.
For those who prefer liquid soap as a face wash, maybe this could work, but for me i would like something a little different.

The 'Facial Emulsion';

This is just your basic facial moisturiser. It holds the same scent as the cleanser, when used together the results are pretty good. Really soft and smooth skin, the use of both did seem to calm some of my blemishes for a short period. It's a good moisturiser, it definitely does the job for me, but doesn't offer 24hour moisture. I would opt for this in the morning rather than at night.

The Body Milk;

This was my favourite of the three. It is for all over the body, and as suggested by the name, it's very runny. A little goes a massive way and this offers great moisture that lasts a lot longer than the face moisturiser. Whats more, i would hazard a guess at saying this would be perfect for sensitive skin (don't hold me to it, i don't have sensitive skin!) as when i applied immediately after shaving there was no tingling sensation that i get with a lot of moisturisers.
It's likely that I'll be repurchasing this one!

Overall, these would be perfect for those who want to take care of their skin, without spending a fortune on the new fad product. These seem to be timeless products that do what they need to without piling on chemical tongue twisters.
As i said, these can be found in chemists and depending on the product, retail in the £4 to £8 mark.

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