Murad Balance and Protect Travel Kit

As you read this, I will be in France for a few days and the stress of deciding what I need to take with me has arrived.  I am only doing hand luggage as it is which means I can't take numerous pairs of shoes (always a good thing) and the crazy liquid limit always annoys me!

The lovely people over at Murad sent me one of their 'Travel Light, Stay Clear and Bright' travel-sized skincare sets which are exclusive to Marks & Spencer and cost just £10! There is a choice of three different sets:

• Smooth and Soften Travel Kit - Tackles fine line and wrinkles
• Youthful You Travel Kit - Firms and Brightens the skin
• Balance and Protect Travel Kit - Balances oily, blemish-prone skin.

I was sent the Balance and Protect Travel Kit which arrives in this cute little bag, which you can see below.  What I instantly liked about this kit is that it is travel handy and you can see everything in it and you don't need to faff about getting all your liquids out because it is all within the limit.

Within this kit you will find:

Clarifying Wipes x 5

Clinically proven to keep skin clear by removing dirt, bacterial and excess oil.  To use, you simply wipe over your face and neck

Oil-Control Mattifier SPF15 P++ 10ml

Immediately mattifies the skin and controls oil for up to 8 hours.  To use, you massage evenly over your face and neck

Skin perfecting primer - dewy finish 5ml

An oil-free, pore-minimising formula which can be used under or in place of foundation. To use you apply after moisturising by smoothing a pearl sized amount over your face.

Working together these products claim they will:

• Reduce excess oil and leaves a matte finish
• Restore skin's smoothness
• Give a radiant glow
• Minimise the appearance of pores

For just £10, I think this is a bargain and I am looking forward to seeing how my skin reacts to it whilst away.  Finally this kit is:

• Hypoallergenic
• Dermatologically Tested
• Suitable for Vegetarians
• Skin Type it is for -  Oily

What do you think to this travel kit? Have you tried it or any other Murad products?

{Guestpost} - Top 3 Summer Foundation and SPF Cream Essentials

Hello everyone, I'm Maria and I'll be taking over Rachel's blog today! Before I get into my top 3 summer foundation and SPF cream essentials, I'd like to thank our kind, lovely Rachel for letting me guest post on her blog. You are a doll!

Since we're already in summer, rain or no rain, we should highly consider stepping up on our solar protection, the damaging sun rays cause nothing but wrinkles, spots and pain and no matter what age you are, you still need a great sunscreen cream.

As a person with sun allergies and sensitivity, I live in SPF creams all year around, I've tested many of them so today I?m here to talk about what worked best from my point of view.

If you never leave the house without foundation, like me, here are my top 3 picks for foundation with a high solar protection factor added:

Adding layers of sunscreen followed by foundation can feel pretty heavy on your skin, but luckily Shiseido makes an amazing sun protection liquid foundation that keeps your face flawless and protects it from the damaging sun. This is my all time favourite as it worked great and had a pretty good coverage.

Le Blanc by Chanel also has a good level of sunscreen and a bit of coverage, it?s just perfect if you are going for a natural, dewy look.

Clinique's Moisture Surge CC cream is also a great pick, somewhere in between the two previous ones as far as coverage goes, and it comes with SPF 30, which is just perfect for your face.

Now if you don't care much about coverage, or foundation at all for that matter, it's ok, you don't need to wear it. But you do need to protect yourself with a good sunscreen.

The best sunscreen for sun allergies that I have tried is the La Roche Posay Anthelios SPF 50. It protects you from the sun even in the middle of the day, but I must admit I don't love the smell of it too much. It doesn?t remain on the skin though, so don't worry.'

Even if it?s just SPF 30, Dermalogica?s sunscreen is a very effective one. I enjoy the refreshing feel and the clean scent of it also.

Another good liquid SPF 50 sunscreen is the Pure & Free liquid daily sunblock by Neutrogena. Liquid sunscreen is perfect if you have oily/combination skin, but if your face tends to get very dry in the summer, you can go for the cream version of the ones I mentioned.

I hope you found this helpful, thank you beautiful people for reading and thank you Rachel again for having me. Never forget your sunscreen!

Love, Maria.

{Guest Post} Pixi Silky Eye Pens

Today's Guest Post comes from the lovely Karen from A Delicate Rosie Beauty.

I'm no stranger to raccoon eyes. I have slightly oily eyelids which usually results in whatever eyeliner I'm wearing migrating from my lash line to under my eyes within about 30 minutes. For years I had given up on wearing anything other than powder eye liner because every time I tried a pencil co-workers would look at me in horror and beg to know why I as crying. 

However, I found these Pixi Silky Eye Pens last year, and it's been a game changer for me. These don't budge. The colors are gorgeous, and they're fairly inexpensive. The only eye liner I've found that's even better at staying put is Chantecaille's 24 Hour Eye Liner pens, but those are more than double the price of these Pixi eye liners and Pixi offers a wider range of colors. Needless to say I'm a fan. 

Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pens in Bronze Beam and Cafe Gold

from left: Bronze Beam, Cafe Gold

cute green floral design

Swatches from top: Bronze Beam, Cafe Gold

Look at how pretty these colors are! Bronze Beam is a limited edition so it has slightly swankier packaging. It's a shimmering bronze that just adds a subtle pop to your eyes. It's gorgeous. Cafe Gold has more glitter and is an antique gold. I love it. It reminds me of a few higher end Chanel liners I've had in the past....except unlike those it stays in place. These last all day on me without traveling. Thank goodness. 

These each retail for $12. I purchased them at Target, and I've been using them every day since. I use these with Chantecaille's Wild Horses palette for a subtle smoky brown eye, but these could be used with Urban Decay's Naked palette or any brown/bronze eye shadow combination. They're gorgeous, but most importantly they don't melt off of your face.

20th anniversary of the Diet Coke hunk

I bet that got your attention! We all love the adverts right, go on admit it... the Diet Coke Hunk especially Andrew Cooper (yep Google him). Well imagine my surprise when I was told that it was the 20th Anniversary celebration of the Diet Coke Hunt - TWENTY YEARS!!

So, in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Diet Coke Hunk, a Flirt Machine was unveiled at the Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour. However, this was no ordinary vending machine, has a real life Diet Coke Hunk inside, he gives out prizes for any those who get him hot under the collar with their flirting skills! Prizes included cans of Diet Coke, bunches of roses, tickets to climb Up at The O2 and passes to travel via the Thames Clippers.

Unveiled at the Katy Perry Prismatic World Tour concert, the Flirt Machine is no ordinary vending machine as it contained a real life hunk inside, who was dishing out prizes to anyone who could get his pulse racing with their flirting skills.

The video has just been released (enjoy!):

Diet Coke surprised visitors at The O2 in London last week by unveiling a vending machine that was more than meets the eye, as it contained a live Hunk who dished out prizes to anyone who could successfully flirt with him.