Sunglasses by Affliction

I have always found it really hard to find a decent pair of sunglasses, ones that I am happy with, that I think suit me and ones which aren't some kind of weird shape or that make me look like a fly – you know where the eye bits are really massive.

Good old TK Maxx have some right old bargains to be had, whenever I pop in I never ever elave empty handed, it is far too tempting, especially where handbags are concerned.  With Summer round the corner, my local one now has a massive rack of sunglasses to tempt you in and I thought as I was in I would have a look.  Naturally there was all kinds of weird and wonderful shapes on offer, all the colours and patterns you can think of and I actually managed to find some that I liked and here they are

What I like about these glasses I the design on the arms, that was the first thing I saw and when I tried them on, I happened to like how they look but there was one problem, they are technically male sunglasses, though to me they are too good an opportunity to miss when you like something and they were on offer from £99 to £19.99 – BARGAIN!! And they give 100% UV Protection    The only downside is I couldn't find the matching case and nor is there a cleaning cloth, but I have this funky yellow striped cover to keep them in and I use my glasses cloth to clean them.

What kind of sunglasses do you go for?

 Do you have a favourite pair/brand?

La Roche-Posay Rosaliac CC cream

Over the last few weeks, I have been lucky enough to try out La Roche-Posay Rosaliac CC Cream and I have to admit then I read 'one shade fits all' claim, I was quite sceptical, more so because I have quite pale skin and some of the BB Creams I have tried have looked a tad orange on me and having yet not found my perfect foundation for that very reason, I was slightly apprehensive about trying it.

I am not overly familiar with La Roche-Posay and to date have only used their Thermal Spring Water which I have to admit, I do adore and reviewed HERE and I hoped that I would love the CC cream too.  The one reason I wanted to love it is because of its claims to cover redness and those of you who read my blog will probably have noticed that I tend to suffer with flare ups of Rosacea which can be more than annoying and rather than slap on a lot of make-up to cover it, I like to try and find something else that works just as good with minimal coverage.

So, as soon as I squeezed the tube onto my fingertip I was surprised to find that the CC cream wasn't orange looking, it looks much like a tinted moisturiser, quite average.  Having applied it with my fingertips I immediately hated the look, the coverage for me was far too heavy and that orange tint looked certain to appear, so not wanting to be too put off, I grabbed my buffing brush and began to blend it, starting with my cheeks.  Having done so, I was surprised at how different the CC Cream looked on my skin, it was nowhere near as orangey as it was before I started buffing and instead it gave really good coverage and something I would happily wear on its own without anything else on top.

Hopefully you can see the difference it has made.  The top photo showing the redness on my cheek, the second is just having applied it with my fingers and the final photo shows the finished look having used my Buffing Brush.

This CC Cream has worked wonders on covering my redness and it doesn't cling to any dry patches that I have by the side of my nose which I am really happy about and it also works wonders to conceal those under-eye shadows when you have had a restless night.  It is definitely something I would feel comfortable wearing on its own, which for those hot summer days is ideal and as an added bonus this CC cream also has SPF30.

For me, this is a fabulous product and one I am enjoying using, it currently retails for £19.50 in Boots and is widely available online.

Have you tried is CC Cream? Did you like it? 

Do you have a favourite CC cream?

Nailing it with Ted Baker

Spring has arrived and summer isnt too far away and now is the time to ensure hands and feet are in the best condition we get them in so we can be wearing cute sandals and flip flops with toenails being painted some amazing shades and the same for our fingernails as the darker winter shades are final stored away and out come the lighter, happy bright colours.

With that in mind, Ted Baker have a list of beauty tools exclusively available in Boots that we need to use to achieve that beautiful manicured nail and pedicured foot look.

Teds New Buffer* which is a clever four sided nail file, comes encased in the beautiful foxglove packaging and it allows you to file, smooth, buff and polish in 4 quick steps.  This file is so handy, since I got my hands on it i have used it a lot and for £5 it is an absolute bargain.

Next comes Ted's nail clippers* which again have the same print packaging as the nail buffer and they have been designed for accuracy and ease to leave your nails looking trim and beautifully neat. Priced at £6 these clippers are a lot smaller than ones I am used to using, that said they fit perfectly in my make-up bag.

No Ted Baker collection is complete without some stunning nail polish and this time we have a set called Delightfully Dusk* which are described as being an iridescent pair of precious metals , Silver lining is a lustrous shimmer that when coupled with the prettier-than-pretty Delightfully Dusk, is designed to make you shine.  The photo below shows Delightfully Dusky which is such a beautiful dusty pink colour and when it catches the light, not only is it really sparkly, but there are also hint of silver too.  This duo is available for £8.50

What do you do to ensure your nails are in tip top form for the start of summer? Do you have any hints, tips and secrets we should all know about?

A Giveaway with Cohorted!

I've teamed up with the lovely people over at Cohorted to bring you this really exciting giveaway. Cohorted, for those of you who haven't yet come across it (where have you been) is an online shopping experience, which holds 'cohorts' - this is a product which is available to commit to buy for one week, and when a person or when people commit to buy the item, the price will then drop by a certain percentage. So, the more people who buy the product, the cheaper that product gets.

There is always a starting price which is below the RRP, so whatever happens and whatever the final price is, you will always end up with a bit of a bargain. 

On the Cohorted Launch night many of you were lucky enough and quick enough to see the Naked Palette 3 EyeShadow Cohort which sold out in the first 4 hours and paid just £18.50 each. Real Techniques Core Collection Kit sold out and closed in the first three hours of going live and again people paid just £12. Since then there have been other amazing and crazy bargains, one happening right now is this:

To celebrate their launch, they've given me a fantastic trio of prizes to giveaway to one reader and it is only open for one week - a bath and body hamper which includes:

• Kneipp Pure Bliss Bath
• Crabtree and Evelyn Citron, Honey and Coriander Body Lotion
• Alba Botanica Natural Hawaiian Body Scrub Revitalizing Sea Salt

To enter all you need to do is complete the entry form below

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Santigolden Age by Santigold - Smashbox Cosmetics

I as very lucky to have been invited along by the lovely people at Smashbox to see and try out their limited edition launch.  Collaborating with Santigold, the idea has been inspired by the idea of a post 2012 Golden Age, where the earth as we know it ceases to exist and thus reinvents itself as a balanced, utopic mirror image, a world where the earth, stars, humans and aliens co-exist harmoniously.  

The range features a stunning array of colour, Aztec inspired designs and some of the funkiest and most colourful looking packaging I've seen in ages!

The collection includes:

Eye shadow Collage - This features Santigolds distinctive collage art and include 5 shades of the luxe wet/dry shadows to mix and match any eye look. The palettes have two different shades -Earth As We Know It which features shades such as apple green, dark matte blue, raisin with rosegold pearl, a soft sparkling cream and a dark sparkly forest green. Then we have Apocalypse Now which features a shimmery teal,sparkling pewter, matte black, shimmery oyster and a bright golden orange.

As you can see they look absolutely stunning and are nothing like I have ever seen before and I was given Apocalypse now and here it is in all its glory.

There is no denying that these are most definitely bold and bright colours and whilst I do not want to swatch it to ruin the design, initially the brightness did scare me slightly, after all I like and favour the nude naked look and this will take some getting used too.  These palettes will cost £25 each.

Be Legendary Lip Gloss is also part of the collection and it is described as being a one of a kind lip gloss which can be worn alone or layered over other shades to give them a new life.  The one thing I love about these glosses is that they are not sticky at all, they are come in two different shades All Gold E'rything which is a sheer copper sparkle and Hot Lava which is an orange red.  The shade I was given is Hot Lava and admittedly not a shade I would choose personally, but actually I've come to really like it and it goes really well with most of my lipsticks. 

Again the packaging is stunning to look at it, not only the outer box packaging but the actual gloss tube itself.  These glosses will have an RRP of £15.

Also within this range is a Be Legendary Lipstick Ring which is a Smashbox First which is a snake pyramid ring adorned with Swarovski Crystals and inside has a limited edition Coral Be Legendary Lipstick inside. This has an RRP of £39.

Image courtesy of Kimberley from www.kimberleysbeautyblog.com

The final item is a Double Ended Limitless Eye Liner which will be available in two shades so you can mix and match the bold colours. The choice is from either bright blue/soft gold or bright yellow/mint green and again not the sort of colours I would ever think to wear, but seeing all the lovely girls from Smashbox wearing the bright blue and looking absolutely stunning did make me wonder if I could pull it off myself.  These liners will have an RRP of £15.

Image courtesy of Smashbox

There is no doubting that this is a bright, bold and very unusual group of products and they most certainly are eye-catching and it is everything you need for experimenting with new bright bold and brash shades.  For me the packaging really makes this collection, I absolutely love it and know that once it hits the shelves later this month, it will stand out. 

The Santigold collection launches online on 14th May and into Smashbox counters on 28th May.

What do you think to this collection? Is it something you want to try?

Barbara Daly Lip Boost Lipstick

Barbara Daly make-up isn't something I have ever used before, though I do from time to time see it in my local Tesco Superstore.  A few weeks ago, I decided to randomly swatch one or two items to see what they were like, I didn't need anything else in the store and the specific item I went in for was out of stock, so I had some time to kill waiting for a friend - always dangerous!

Anyway, the one item I was drawn too was the Barbara Daly Lip Boost Lipstick in the shade Damson. What drew me to it was the sleek looking silver packaging and like a magpie to anything that is shiny, my attention was well and truly caught.

Described as follows:

"Lip Plumping formula. Wear this lipstick on its own during the day, or apply lip gloss over the top for a more polished evening look. The innovative square tip helps you a achieve precise and accurate application"

The shade itself is really stunning,  I love how creamy the formula is, how easy it is to apply and how it can be worn alone or with gloss to add that little something extra. You can also either apply just the one coat to your lips for a light covering as the bottom of the two swatches shows or if you want to the build the colour and have something a little more dramatic then the other swatch shows what th shade looks like after two coats and for me the difference is really noticeable.

I wear this shade most days at the minute, it has become one of my favourite lipsticks and I get a good 4-5 hours wear out of it before I need to re-apply which is better than MAC Creme Cup which I reviewed recently.

This lipstick and others from the range have an RRP of £7.00 which I think is quite a bargain and it has made me want to try other products from the Barbara Daly Range.

Have you ever tried anything from the Barbara Daly Range?

You know you're a Beauty Blogger when...

I thought this might be a fun post and I am sure many of you reading this can add to it in the comment section... You know you're a Beauty Blogger when...

* The last thing you do before going to bed is check your social media, emails and comments 

*The first thing you do in the morning before getting out of bed is check your social media, emails and comments and double check after getting out of the shower before getting dressed

Source

*You buy a new product you have been lusting after for ages and can't use it immediately because you need to photograph it

*You have products in a *to review* box which contains all the new purchases you have but cannot use until they have featured on your blog and photographed them

*Your Camera is added to the list of things you cannot leave the house without

*You take random photos everywhere and of everything just incase you can use them for a future post

*When the sunshine comes out, you grab everything within your *to review box* and spend as much time as you can taking photographs

*You have a carrier bag in your bathroom/bedroom for empties to blog about

*Your food is more often than not served cold because after cooking it you have spent 10 minutes in the kitchen photographing them before serving and putting it on Instagram and Twitter

*You arrange to meet friends near Boots, Superdrug, Debenhams etc... arrive early just so you can 'nip in' and swatch things

*You have notebooks, post-it notes, pieces of paper everywhere filled with scribbles of blog ideas that come to you at random moments throughout the day/night and in the weirdest of places

*You can't walk into Boots when a 3 for 2 offer is on and leave with less than 6-9 items

*You can't walk into Boots, Superdrug or any other department store without swatching every new item, regardless of whether or not you would actually buy it

*You know what the Beauty Blogger Claw means

*The postman complains about the number of packages he has to deliver to you and assumes you have a shopping addiction - unlike mine who now knows what I do because he Googled BeautyqueenUK which appears on most packages!

*When a friend says they have ordered a new MAC, you immediately check to see if you have missed the launch of a new lipstick or collection rather than the Apple Website

*Your cats are no longer camera shy and accept that everything they do is cute and you will photograph it

*The word Beauty Box has you all excited

*If it has the words 'Limited Edition' you need to have it

*The idea of putting things such as Bee Venom, Snail Gel and Horse placenta on your face and body is secretly exciting

*You quite happily buy 4 issues of one magazine to get all the freebies

*You plan your spending bans around IMATS and New Releases

*You can tell what shade of lipstick a celebrity is wearing without having to Google it

*You know what #BBlogger means and you hashtag it for everything

*You find it is acceptable to have 5 lipsticks, 4 hand creams, 2 empty Lush pots, mascaras, 7 lipglosses and a billion perfume samples in your bag because you might just need them

*You can use your iPhone to apply your make-up perfectly

*You get home to a Royal Mail Card you feel angry and obsess about what is in the package and the following morning are outside the Sorting Office before it has opened

*You refer to other Bloggers at events by their Blog name rather than their actual name - I am always doing this!

*Your recycling pile begins to look something like this at the end of each week

Source

* When booking a holiday you look to see if there is a Sephora 

*You to-do list actually contains items of make-up you need to buy as opposed to things that need to be done

So there is my (little) list, have I missed anything that you feel should be added? What would you add to this list?!