Project Empties #7

I haven't finished much these past few months. Although I'm not sticking to a strict 'Project 10 Pan', I am actively trying to use up products that I have before buying more.

TIGI Bedhead Foxy Curls Shampoo

Review: Here

Would I repurchase? Yes

The Body Shop Coconut Body Butter

Review: This smells so amazing and leaves my skin feeling so lovely and soft! It isn't overly greasy, yet it is extremely moisturising. The scent lingers on the skin, which I really like.

Would I repurchase? Yes

Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2in1 Face Wash and Mask

Review: This is a nice creamy face wash, which is gentle enough for every day use (unlike many cleanser aimed at acne-prone skin), however I don't feel it made any difference to any spots or blemishes I had during my breakouts. I preferred using it as a face mask and leaving it on for about 10 minutes when I was feeling a bit spotty. My skin was left feeling soft and clean, without feeling tight.

Would I repurchase? Possibly

Boots Cold Cream

Review: Here

Would I repurchase? Yes

Neutrogena Multi-Defence Night Moisturiser

Review: Here

Would I repurchase? No

Finished Items: 5

Accumulative Finished Items from December 2010 to October 2011: 32

What have you finished recently?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

October Favourites 2011

I don’t have many favourites this month, as I have been trying to speed up my morning routine and have been using the same few products all month. I also haven’t bought any new make-up for a few months now and I am actively trying to minimise my collection.

MAC Studio Fix Fluid – I bought my first bottle of this almost 5 years ago and used it every day. During the past few years, I’ve opted for lighter coverage foundations and reserved this for nights out and days where I needed my make-up to last. Over the past month or so, I have been choosing this as my go-to foundation and I have rediscovered the love I had for it back when I first bought it. It leaves a lovely matte finish, which I am aware that a lot of people dislike. I find it can look natural if you only use a pea sized amount of foundation. It lasts all day on my skin and doesn't leave me a oily mess by lunchtime. I have the shade NC15 and it is a perfect colour match. This is love.

Layering Different Mascaras –Recently I’ve been forgoing eyeliner in a bid to speed my up make-up routine and instead I have been applying lashings (excuse the pun) of mascara. The two mascaras I've been reaching for the most recently are Max Factor False Lash Effect (the waterproof version) and Estee Lauder Double Wear Zero-Smudge Lengthening Mascara. By mixing a volumising mascara and a lengthening one, they have made my lashes look super long and voluminous. I love that they’re both waterproof/long lasting formulas, which means that I don't get an unsightly raccoon look and they hold curl wonderfully. The combination of these two products, along with my Shu Uemura eyelash curlers, have rapidly become holy grail status.

Topshop Neon Rose – I have been using this cream blush so much over the past month. I love that I can just use my fingers to apply it and I love the matte, powdery finish. It’s a gorgeous colour, which leaves you with a pretty flush to the cheeks. Although, be aware that it’s very easy to go overboard with this blush and you could end up looking rather clown like! (See here for swatches and to find out what it is a potential dupe for).

What were your favourite products this month?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

4 Week, No Heat Challenge

Earlier this year, I saw a few posts and videos from a number of people saying that they were doing a 'Heat Free Hair Challenge'. CosmeticsCharlotte72 did a great summary video of her experiences and some tips here and Hannah from beautylishious did an amazing series on ways to style your hair without heat.

I am trying to grow my hair at the moment and in a bid to get healthy hair, I thought this would be a good challenge to attempt. I have terrible willpower, but I am going to try this challenge for one month and update you about how I get on! This is how my hair looks air dried and I guess this is how my hair is going to look for the next 4 weeks:

Please excuse the cheesy grin! It's probably because I'm wearing one of my favourite t-shirts of Danny Robert's Chanel girl illustration, which I bought from Fritha's blog sale :)

I thought I'd also throw in some 'hairspiration' pictures of people that give me hair envy...

Photo: Mariannan

Photo: Leblogdebetty

Photo: Tumblr

Photo: Google Images

Photo: Google Images

Have you ever attempted the '4 Week, No Heat' challenge? How did it go for you? And who gives you hair envy?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

NOTD: Blue My Mind

2 coats of H&M Nail Polish in 'Blue My Mind'

This polish has rapidly become one of my favourites! It's a gorgeous, bright cornflower blue. Annoyingly, I found this quite difficult to photograph the colour accurately. I always receive lots of compliments when wearing this! :) The formula was a little bit gloopy, but I still found it pretty easy to apply. The first coat was a little streaky, but became a lovely opaque colour with two coats. I find this lasts well on my nails, experiencing few chips and only minor tip wear.

I now have 3 H&M nail polishes and love them all! H&M nail polishes are great quality for a great price. I'm definitely going to pick up some more. Does anyone have any recommendations?

xoxo, Joy

Review: Boots Cold Cream

What they say: (From Boots.com) Boots Traditional Skin Care Cold Cream is ideal for cleansing and softening your face and hands. It is Lanolin-Free and dermatologically tested, and has been formulated and produced by Boots Skin Care specialists from traditional ingredients.

Price: £2.42

Swatch:

What I think: I initially bought this on a whim. I needed a new cleanser and was a bit low on funds (damn student loan), so I picked this one for only £2.76! I was so surprised at how well it worked. I've been using this for a while now and this has become a vital part of my skincare routine. I use this with a muslin cloth to remove my face makeup (I use a separate eye makeup remover) and repeat this step twice. This takes off my makeup so effectively, including heavy duty foundations like Estee Lauder Doublewear. The second time I use this, the muslin cloth has barely any makeup on it, showing that it removed my makeup well in one use.

The feel of the product is weird. It's really greasy and after a bit of massaging into the face, it almost start getting tough to blend (a little bit like MAC Face and Body - If anyone has used that, hopefully you'll know what I mean). In my head, I think of it as the cleanser drawing up the makeup, binding with it and making it easier to cleanse off...

This cleanser is super rich and while I am acne prone, I never found that it broke me out. It leaves a greasy residue on the skin, which I hate. I find that if you don't use a muslin cloth to remove this, your face is left feeling extremely greasy, but using a cotton wool ball and toner normally gets rid of it too. I think this would be great for dry skin, since it's so moisturising and I feel that it would also work for people with oily skin, but you would have to be a little bit more careful.

The product smells so weird. I'm not very good at describing smells, but it's kind of floral-herby... My mum used it earlier this week and she also thought the scent was rather gross. I will admit, after a while you do get used to it. Just don't put the pot to your nose and whiff it!

The tub is so unbelievably unhygienic. The tub is pretty deep and gets narrower towards the bottom, so you literally have to shove your whole hand in. If I wasn't as lazy, I would use a spatula or something to spoon it out. I also manage to get the outside of the tub pretty dirty too.

I would repurchase this, because although it has it's bad points, it removed my makeup really well without breaking me out. I'm tempted to try the Ponds Cold Cream, because it's not that badly priced and if it's good enough for Kylie Minogue, it's definitely good enough for me! Also, hopefully it will smell nicer!

I know a lot of people avoid own brand skincare, but I would recommend giving it a go. In the end, there's no harm in trying it and if you don't agree with it, you haven't spent/wasted that much money. If you do, then you'll have found a great priced skincare product.

Have you ever tried this/any Cold Creams?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Finally

I finally have internet at my new flat!!!! I moved into my new flat on September 10th, and we chose and purchased our internet package on September 16th. We were supposed to get the phone line reconnected and the internet on October 4th, but after a little drama and confusion, we finally got it today! I have been going a little stir crazy without internet and my poor little Blackberry has been struggling to keep up with my intense browsing. Oops!

It feels like ages since I’ve blogged and boy have I missed it. I’ve also got a tonne of old posts and Youtube videos to catch up on. I haven’t been on Google Reader for just over a month and I have a few thousand posts to catch up on!

Just a quick update of my life over the past six weeks, I have:

Moved

I moved into my new flat in Birmingham at the beginning of September and this is the gorgeous view from my bedroom.

Macaroned

I have recently become increasingly obsessed with macarons. I tried to make my own last month, and while they tasted nice, they looked proper ugly. I recently found an independent cafe in Birmingham that sells them and stumbled upon Marks and Spencer's creations. Nom.

Globe-trotted

Globe-trotted is a major exagerration, but I have been to a number of different places within the UK recently for a number of reasons, including Oxford, Uxbridge, London, Birmingham, etc.

Won

I was lucky enough to win this beautiful makeup pouch by Stephanie Johnson in SparklemissA’s giveaway on Youtube. I love it! I transferred my contents from my old Cath Kidston one the moment I opened the package!

What have you been up to over the past six weeks? I look forward to catching up on all the posts I missed over the past few weeks! :)

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy