An exciting Liz Earle announcement- Sheer Skin Tint

I was extremely excited to receive an email from Liz Earle earlier today with an announcement that they will be making the foray into colour and will be launching a Sheer Skin Tint in September. For many years, Liz Earle customers have been requesting this product and for the past three years they have been creating and perfecting it.

The only teaser we've been given!

Liz Earle are known and loved for their fantastic skincare range and in 2010 they launched their Naturally Active haircare range which has also been a huge success. I think that this move into colour and make-up could be really exciting for the brand and I am ridiculously excited to find out more and to try the skin tint.

If you want to register to find out more about the product as soon as more info is available you can sign up here.

Wilkinson Beauty

Just a quick post for you today as I'm very ready for bed! A few weeks ago I was emailed about the new range of beauty products that Wilkinson is launching over 2011 and 2012. So far the Skincare, Shaving, Washing & Bathing and Male and Female deo ranges have all been relaunched and I was sent a few of the products to familiarise myself with the range.

As a student I used to love Wilkinsons. It was so great for buying cheaper beauty products and the homeware was visited regularly during my 3 years at University. In terms of first impressions of the Wilkinsons beauty brand, I am very impressed with the packaging. Even more impressed when I discovered the price of the products.

♥ Cleanser/toner- 98p
♥ Wax strips- £1.77
♥ Body spray- 47p
♥ Hand cream- 59p

The products are so cheap and by looking at the packaging I thought the products would cost more. I think Wilkinson's have done a fantastic job with it. I've only tried a couple of the products and haven't been overwhelmed by their performance- nevertheless they do the job and for that price they are great for someone on a tight budget. Whilst this probably isn't a product line I'd be buying from regularly I am very impressed with the value for money and am interested to see what else Wilkinson will be coming out with over the next year or so.

♥

100 Things: 41-50

Here's the next installment in my 100 Things That Make Me Happy series- click here to view 1-40. Do let me know if you're doing it too!

41. Center Parcs

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42. A great dream

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43. Silly in-jokes

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44. Stewie Griffin

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45. Getting ready for a night out

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46. Crème Brulee

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47. A trip to the beach

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48. Dancing

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49. Tanned skin

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50. Old photographs

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Current skincare routine

I have been a terrible blogger recently and can't believe how long it's been since I posted! The past couple of weeks have been pretty hectic so I've neglected it big time, however I plan to do some catching up this weekend.

First up is my current skincare routine. I've been using these products for the past few months and they are working really well for me.

1) There are two stages to my cleansing routine- I use the MAC Cleanse Off Oil to take off my make-up. This is my second bottle and as you can see I'll be buying my third soon. I just massage this into my skin and onto my eye make-up, and then rinse off with warm water which turns the oil into a milky formula.



2) The next stage involves my recently acquired Clarisonic. A couple of months ago I was asked to help judge one of the categories at the UK Beauty Awards- this year the Beauty Awards are involving bloggers in the judging so it was really exciting to be asked. I helped judge the Best New Appliances category so was sent a box full of goodies to try out and I was so happy to see the Clarisonic Sonic nestled in the box as I've always wanted to try it but just couldn't bring myself to pay the money for it. Even though the Clarisonic arrived with a few different cleansers I prefer to use it with the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish. I massage the cleanse & polish into my damp skin and then use the Clarisonic for a minute before removing any excess product with a muslin cloth. It leaves my skin feeling so clean and really refreshed.

3) After cleansing it's rare that I will use a toner- if I do I will use the Liz Earle Tonic Spritzer (which I also keep in my bag as it's great for freshening up). I have been using these two moisturisers- the Liz Earle Superskin Moisturiser and the Embryolisse Lait-Creme Concentrate. I use the Liz Earle more often and then the Embryolisse a couple of times a week when my skin feels it needs some extra help. Both products have no scent and absorb really quickly into the skin.

4) Finally I use the Clinique All About Eyes under my eyes- I got this free with Glamour magazine and love how soothing it feels. You only need a tiny amount of product too so it lasts a long time.

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Oh Hi Shiny New Kindle

After my post asking for your help on whether to buy a Kindle I decided to go for it and ordered myself one. I ordered the WiFi version rather than the model with 3G for £111 and also bought this gorgeous pink leather case.

I have only been using it for a short time but I am really impressed with it. My main worry was that I'd feel like I was reading off the screen but it isn't an issue at all- the screen has no glare whatsoever and is just like reading a page from a book. I love the button for turning the page and it's really handy when standing up on the train with only one hand free to hold it.

So far I've only downloaded one book which was free (One True Love by Barbara Freethy) and am reading this at the moment. However I need recommendations for more books! I will of course be checking out Judging Covers for some ideas but I want as many as possible.

So please- drown me in book recommendations! Which have been your favourite reads so far this year?

♥

BM Beauty- swatches and reviews

Last month I posted an introduction to BM Beauty and promised to write a post with some swatches and my thoughts on the products.

So, here goes:

♥ Bronzer Blush Brush- I really like this brush- it's perfect for contouring and applying bronzer which is how I've been using it. The brush is made from soft synthetic fibres so it makes for a light application that you can easily build up. The brush is £14.

♥ Lash Curling Mascara- If you're after a voluminous mascara this isn't the one for you (BM Beauty have a thickening mascara which I imagine is great for volume), but it is great at seperating, curling and making lashes look super long. The mascara is £12.

♥ Bronzer in Summer Warmth & Blush in Peachy Glow- I learnt very quickly that mineral bronzer and blush only needs a light application. I didn't get on very well with the bronzer as it just doesn't work with my skin tone/colour but I really like the blush and amazingly it lasted all day long! I always find that blush just disappears on me by the end of the day but this stuck around and made it my favourite out of all the products! The bronzer is £8 and the blusher is also £8.

♥ Eyeshadows in Marble Sparkle, Platinum Tiara, Dusty Road and Her Majesty- as you can see these mineral eyeshadows are gorgeous! They are extremely buildable and the photos above were taken after a few layers of shadow so you can go wear it either very subtle, or very dramarama. My favourites in terms of wearability are Platinum Tiara and Her Majesty but I think the other two are just beautiful. Sadly I don't think I'll ever find myself wearing Her Majesty as I don't work well with pink eyeshadows but I will probably use Marble Sparkle in the corner of my eyes for a night out. The eyeshadows cost £7 each.

So overall- a really lovely set of products and a really nice brand. My favourite products have to be the Bronzer Blush Brush and the Peachy Glow blush and I would give the Bronzer a miss (obviously this is just my opinion!). You can check out BM Beauty here.

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Glamour Magazine Benefit Freebies- July Issue

Glamour magazine wins the award for best magazine freebies in my opinion- this month's £2 July issue comes with a choice of three Benefit freebies- High Beam; Posie Tint and Benetint. These aren't full sized- they are 4.0ml whereas full size are 15ml; they are a perfect size for keeping in your bag or taking on holiday.

I knew the magazine was out today and so bought two issues on my way to work- one with High Beam and one with Posie Tint. I'm not too sure about whether to buy the Benetint so am going to leave that one for now- what are your thoughts on Benetint?

I have the full size High Beam and it is one of my favourite products. I didn't really need this but it's so ideal for holidays that I was easily persuaded to get it. I haven't tried Posie Tint before but it is a very lovely pink cheek and lip stain. If you just wanted to buy one of them I would recommend High Beam as it's such a great highlighter.

Have you picked up Glamour Magazine yet? Which freebies will you be going for?

♥

Congratulations to Liz Earle!

I was so pleased to receive an email from Liz Earle to tell me they had won two awards at the Cosmetic Executive Women (CEW) UK Awards. The CEW Award nominations are proposed and judged by a panel of around 600 ‘beauty insiders’, including top experts and professionals who are all members of the CEW.

The brand won the Best British Brand Award and the Best New Haircare/Styling Product Award for their Botanical Shine Shampoo. These awards are really well deserved- I think that Liz Earle is a fantastic UK brand and their customer service alone makes them a worthy winner. Also very happy to see their haircare gaining more recognition- I absolutely adore their shampoo and conditioner and hope they expand this line further!

You can see the full list of the CEW winners here.


To celebrate winning the two awards and also getting three other finalist products, Liz Earle have put together a Best British Brand Collection kit which includes Cleanse & Polish 50ml plus muslin cloth, Instant Boost Skin Tonic 50ml, Skin Repair normal/combination 15ml, Superskin Concentrate 2ml and Superskin Body Cream 50ml. You can buy the kit for £30 and if you've never tried Liz Earle before I'd say it's a great way of getting familiar with the brand. Be quick though as the offer is only available until the 5th June!

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What's in my bag

I wrote a 'what's in my bag' post at the end of 2009 and I can't believe how long ago that was! How time is flying. It's definitely time for an updated version.

At the moment I'm currently using my Alexandar Wang lookalike bag (full post on this here) and this is what I'm carrying around in it...

♥ MAC lipstick in hue ♥ No.17 lipstick in beehive ♥ Revlon matte lipstick in pink pout ♥ Cath Kidston purse ♥ 'Twitchhiker' by Paul Smith ♥ Ibruprofen ♥ Mirror ♥ House key ♥ Cath Kidston pen holder for my... ♥ Swarovski crystalline ballpoint pen ♥ Kleenex tissues ♥ Argos receipt ♥ iPhone4 ♥ Compeed blister plasters ♥ Sunglasses (£1 from Primark!) ♥ Glasses

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