April Favourites 2012

Today's post is for my April favourites. I hope you enjoy the video :)

Thank you for watching. xoxo, Joy

Project Empties #12

Today I thought I'd share the products that I've used up this month.

Superdrug Tea Tree Oil

Review: I use this topically on any blemishes. It has a strong tea tree smell, which I don't particularly like. I like to mix this with other oils, such as the Superdrug Vitamin E Face Oil, when my skin is feeling particularly spotty and dry, as the combination moisturises the skin and combats blemishes together.

Would I repurchase? Yes

Murad Hydrating Toner

Review: The toner had a pleasant, peachy scent, which wasn't overpowering. The spray nozzle dispensed a nice amount of product with each spray and I found about 5 spritzes gave a good covering on my face. I didn't feel like this toner hydrated my face significantly, but it was nice to spritz on my face as a 'pick me up'. 

Would I repurchase? No

Murad Refreshing Cleanser*

Review: I really rate this cleanser. It smelt fresh and left my face feeling fresh and soft. It lathered up nicely, but never left my skin feeling tight or dried out, which is great.

Would I repurchase? Yes

L'Oreal Everstrong Shampoo*

Review: Here

Would I repurchase? Maybe

Soap & Glory The Righteous Butter

Review: I was gutted when I finished my tub of this, so I stole my mum's tub when I went home for Easter! I still love this moisturiser so much. It smells amazing and the scent lingers on the skin. My skin felt soft and moisturised after use, without feeling greasy.

Repurchase? Yes

What have you finished this month?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy
*I was sent the Murad Cleanser as part of a giveaway prize and the L'Oreal Shampoo as part of the Elle Magazine Trial Panel. This does not change my opinion of the product and my reviews, as usual, are 110% honest. I am not affiliated with Murad or L'Oreal.

Free Liz Earle

Just a quick heads up everyone in the UK! 'Red' Magazine is giving away a free 30ml Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish and muslin cloth with the May issue! The magazine costs £3.90, which I think is pretty dear for a magazine, but the 30ml tube usually costs £5.50 so you're saving £1.60 :)

The little 30ml tube is great if you need to restock up on your favourite cleanser, great for travel and/or is great if you're interested in trying it but don't want to commit to a larger size! I personally love this cleanser and this magazine freebie has come at a perfect time as my current tube is on its way out! Check out my Cleanse and Polish review here!

Has anyone else picked up a copy? I've bought two!

xoxo, Joy

Models Own Ibiza Mix

I showed this polish in my last post/video and I am so in love with it! Ibiza Mix has a clear base with lots of multi coloured glitters.

From the macro shot above, you can see that there are hexagonal glitter pieces and smaller hexagons and circles. As I mentioned in my haul video, the polish is very similar to OPI Rainbow Connection, however the colours are different. There are lovely blues, turquoises, purples, golds, etc. in Ibiza Mix whereas Rainbow Connection has colours more along the lines of pinks, greens and silvers.

Please excuse the cut on my pointer and my horrible cuticles!
On the nails: Thumb - One layer/ Pointer - Two layers/ Middle - Three layers/ Ring - One layer over Models Own Utopia/ Pinkie - One layer over Orly Black Out

As you can see, with one layer, you get a nice spattering of glitter but the polish is easily buildable. Just ensure that each layer is completely dry before doing the next one. It looks lovely layered over pale polishes and dark polishes, so it's great as a versatile glitter topcoat. I found that if you brush the topcoat on like a normal polish, it doesn't deposit the glitter very well, so careful placement is needed. Unlike other glitter polishes, I found it really easy to remove, which was a pleasant surprise!

I actually bought another glitter polish today, which I will show you soon. I seriously need a slap on the back of my hand for buying more! But I'm so obsessed with nail polish at the moment, especially glitter polishes!).

What do you think of Ibiza Mix? What are you favourite glitter polishes?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Small Haul

Hi everyone! I uploaded a small haul to Youtube today and thought I'd post it here too.

Why does Youtube always choose the least flattering shots to use as a thumbnail image? Lol
I am rather enjoying making Youtube videos, as I can ramble for England and sometimes find it a bit more fun talking than typing. I also love playing around with iMovie! I definitely want to upload videos more frequently, but I was wondering whether that would be something that you want to see or not?

Thank you for watching. xoxo, Joy

DIY Make Up Brush Guards

I don't own a brush roll so when I travel I put my brushes straight into my make up bag. It's not ideal, as I have found the bristles of the brushes sometimes get splayed, become temporarily weirdly shaped and sometimes get caught in the zip if I forget to put them at the bottom of my make up bag!

I saw a blog post a few months back about looking on eBay for 1m rolls of the brush guard material to DIY. If you search 'make up brush guards' in the search box, it comes up with premade ones and 1m rolls. I opted for a 1m roll as I love a bit of DIY and figured you would probably get more for your money.

In total, I paid 99p for the 1m roll (including postage and packaging - Bought from here) and made 16 brush guards from it! You can buy brush guards online for between £5-6 for 5 (extortionate?!).

They're super easy to make, as you literally just need to snip the material to the length you want. However I was procrastinating and decided to film a quick tutorial for them. You can find the tutorial on my Youtube Channel here.

How do you store your brushes when you travel?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

Hi everyone! Happy Easter! I hope you have an eggcellent day! Hehe :) I just wanted to quickly say sorry I haven't posted here in a week! I went away for a few days with my family and decided that I just needed some space to clear my head after a stressful term at uni, so my laptop stayed firmly shut in my suitcase.

Today I have a quick review of the Revlon Lip Butter in Sweet Tart. I bought it a few weeks ago and have been wearing it pretty much every day since.

In natural daylight

With flash

- It is a lovely bright blue toned pink colour. It kind of reminds me of a glossier and slightly sheerer version of MAC's Pink Nouveau (Swatch of Pink Nouveau here). A perfect shade for Spring/Summer!
- It has great pigmentation. One coat gives a lovely, subtle pink shade, but the colour can be built up for a brighter pink.
- The Lip Butter is lovely to apply. It feels moisturising on the lips and doesn't leave my lips feeling dry.
- The wear of the Lip Butter isn't anything outstanding. It lasts for a few hours, but comes off easily with eating and drinking. So more applications are required to keep the colour going, which is rather annoying as you don't get a lot of product.
- I really like the packaging. I think the quilted detailing is cute and it's so handy that the top of the lid is clear, so that you can see the colour.
- I was a little disappointed that you only get 2.8g of product! When fulling twisted up, you only get about 2cm of product.
- Cost = £7.99 each, which I think is pretty steep! Especially in comparison to the Revlon Super Lustrous Lipsticks, which are only £7.49 each and you get 5g of product (almost double!).

Have you succumbed to the craze of the Revlon Lip Butters? What shades do you have?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy

Jelly Belly

You may have seen my post a few weeks back about my new summer sandals from Miss KG (Here and worn in an OOTD here). Well my jelly shoe obsession has continued! My mum and I were shopping at the weekend in a different shopping mall to the one we usually go to and decided to go into Matalan after having not been in for a few years as we don't have one that near us. It was lucky we went in because I chanced upon these beauties.

They're a lovely navy rubber shoe, which I think makes them look quite similar to the Vivienne Westwood x Melissa jelly shoes due to the peep toe. They are from the children's department, but they come up pretty big as I bought a size 3 even though I'm actually a size 4 and they fit like a dream. They're super comfortable and don't rub or cause blisters like the Miss KG ones did. And the best thing about them is that they only cost £4!!!

What do you think of jelly shoes? What shoes will your be sporting this summer?

Thank you for reading. xoxo, Joy