Sugarpill Sparkle Baby at CutECOsmetics

CutECOsmetics are a small, family run business who sell the best in cruelty free cosmetics with many of those products being vegetarian or vegan too. As well as holding organic and fairtrade brands they are one of the few UK stockists to house Sugarpill Cosmetics.

Christmas is coming and everyone is getting excited about sequins, glitter and sparkle and one product which will not disappoint is The Sparkle Baby palette from Sugarpill. It is made up of 4 high shimmer eyeshadows which are described as follows:

• Kitten Parade: Soft coral with super fine rose gold glitter, gorgeous as a highlighter too!
• Frostine: Pastel purple, a frosted Parma Violets shade.
• Candy Crush: Icy mint green with a pretty shimmer, would go great with Elsa’s dress in Frozen!
• Hotsy Totsy: Hot pink with iridescent, blue toned shimmer, love it lots? Pop it on your cheeks too!

So here is the palette and the swatches, just so you can see how cute and sparkly it really is!

How divine are those shades, especially the rose gold?  

The palette launches on CutECOsmetics from 7th October at a super sweet price of £24.95, individual shadows of the collection are available for £8.95 each.

You can shop CutECOsmetics here

Skn Clinics

I am one of those lucky ones who never really suffered with breakouts at school, I get the odd spot now and again but other than that ive been quite lucky. The same cannot be said for my younger brother and sister who when they were younger and for my sister, even now had bad skin. Both suffer from breakouts, in the same place funnily enough, on both cheeks. Growing up the main spot treatment everyone used to turn too never really did anything for my skin, if I did get that dreaded one spot, which would be huge and on the end of my nose or right in the middle of my forehead, I always slapped Sudocrem on it and away it would go, but not everyone is that fortunate.

These days there are so many options for people to choose from when it comes to Acne treatment and there is just so much more advice out there for people. Skn Clinics offers a huge amount of treatments for Acne Scarring. 

Acne scarring occurs in the dermis, which is the area of skin immediately below the surface that acts somewhat like a cushion. When people suffer with acne, the dermis becomes inflamed as the body attempts to repair the wound created when scaly skin, pimples or blackheads are burst or otherwise removed.  

Is the apparently explanation as to what it is and I know for some family and friends, it has made them lose their self confidence because they constantly believe people stand and stare at them, knowing there is something that can be done, really pleases me.

At Skn Clinics every treatment is different for each person and a consultation is offered with trained and experienced skin experts to help the patient decide. In some cases, combining multiple treatments may have the best effect. I have been reading through some of the stories from people who have been having treatment and the results are amazing, ive even emailed one of them to my cousin who had the worst acne I have ever seen in someone right up until she was in her late 20's and she used to pack on her make-up so people wouldn't stare at her, now I am hoping she will read the article I have sent.

Have you ever had this kind of treatment?

*This article contains a sponsored link

Studio Make Up Brush Set

My Goddaughter turns 16 in a months time and she is at that age where make-up is a big part of her life. She is discovering what she likes, what she doesn't like, what works for her and what doesn't and like most 16 year olds money is not something she has a lot of.  So when I asked her what she wanted, she mentioned she would like a few bits of make-up and some brushes.

So I've decided to make her up my own version of a beauty box full of products I think she would like and shades that will suit her, please feel free to make some suggestions for brands and things I should definitely include, but when it comes to brushes, Superdrug have some amazing products this today is one I am going to rave about.

Available now for just £5 and yes I did say five pounds, this complete set of brushes from Studio could be yours and they are ideal for my goddaughter, though it will admit I am toying with keeping them for myself! In this set there are five brushes, so that is a whole £1 per brush and they comprises of:

• Eyeliner Brush
• Angled lip brush
• precision eye brush shadow brush
• Blending eye shadow brush
• Powder brush

These brushes were created in collaboration with a professional make up artist and they make an absolute wonderful starter kit.

What do you think to these brushes?

Make-up by Lush

Did you know Lush, the shop we all know and love for bath bombs and Snow Fairy also did make-up? Well as part of Vogues Fashion a Night Out (VFNO) I went along to Lush in South Molton Street here in London to watch a make-up demonstration by Lush Colour Expert Charlotte Howe, which was well and truly fascinating to firstly see everything applied right in front of me and secondly to ask for advice and many many questions as I could possibly think of.

After the event, those present were given the chance to choose their own product, quite a trauma when presented with so many colour options and choices, but in the end I opted for an eyeshadow called Sophisticated which is described as being:

"A shimmering taupe cream eyeshadow made with soothing and enduring ingredients for those times when only a refined appearance and attitude will do. The ultimate all-rounder and can be used wherever you want to highlight with a shimmering bronze. The colour will last and last: like all our eyeshadows and liquid eyeliners, it is made from a softening base that carries the colour wonderfully".

Being from Lush it is naturally full of amazing ingredients, yes even in their make-up range and not a single part of it is tested on animals. The inclusion of:

• Cupuacu butter is a soft and nourishing emollient and easily absorbs water. It stabilises emulsions and moisturises the skin. 
• Fresh Rose Petals which are said to be astringent and gently tone the skin, which is why we use fresh rose petal infusion to condition and soothe. 
• Jojoba oil which is an excellent moisturiser and a softener for skin 
• Almond oil for its conditioning effect on skin. It helps to moisturise and hydrate and is packed with vitamin E 

As for the shade, well it is a gorgeous warm shimmery brown, perfect for day or night. I dab it on and blend with my finger.

If that isn't enough, a few days after the event, I went back. I had been torn between sophisticated and a lipstick called Perspective. Yes, a lipstick, a liquid lipstick to be precise and it is absolutely lovely:

So Perspective is described as being:

"A rosy nude long-lasting lipstick for a new look that's subtle and natural. This is a great all-rounder, as - like all our lipsticks - this can be used as an eyeshadow, blusher or highlighter for a natural glow. They are made from the same base that mixes moisturising but easily-absorbed jojoba oil with candelilla and rose waxes. Together, this terrific trio help carry the pigment and lock in the colour without drying out the lips."

As you can it is most definitely a rosy nude and when applied to the lips, it is really moisturising, as though you have applied Dr Lipp over the top of your lipstick and as the colour slowly wears off, and I mean slowly, your lips still feel soft and smooth.  As it says it is full of ingredients to keep your lips feeling moisturised and they include Organic Jojoba, which is an excellent moisturiser and a softener for skin. Due to jojoba oils affinity with our own sebum, it is more readily absorbed and tolerated by the top layer of our skin. In cases where excess sebum is present, jojoba oil can help to dissolve and clean it away.

As I have said, this lipstick is long lasting, I can apply it in a morning before going to work and come lunchtime there is still a hint of colour on my lips, to the point where I am happy to just apply some lip-gloss or balm over the top rather than have to re-apply the lipstick.  Priced at £14.50, for me this is an absolute bargain and it comes packaged in such a cute little bottle, it is hard not to love it.

Have you ever tried any of the make-up on offer from Lush?