♥ Guinot Masque Essentiel Nutrition Confort

Guinot Masque Essentiel Nutrition Confort

This was a face mask given to me in the goodie bag from #bbloggersxmas event (see here). Don't let the picture fool you, it's a super small sample size of 3 ml, so that will be about 1-2 uses. I decided to try it this morning when I had a shower, and first impression was- I really like it!

Of course, I had to do an ingredient check before using it, no mineral oil, and pretty good ingredients. However, when I googled this product and read ingredient lists provided online, it is said to contains Petroleum (even before water.. eerr!), And Mineral Oil. I am guessing, and hoping, that the one I got has an updated ingredient list .

As I said, first impression was.. "wow, love this". It looks sort of clay mask-ish, but it was very easy to apply and spread well. When on, it had a cooling feel which I am sure which was down to the Menthol it contains.

Now to the problem. This-does-not-come-off. Fellow bloggers who got this in the bbloggersxmas goodie bag (see here), please tell me if you was able to wash this off. It was like when you apply a zinc cream or something to your skin, it completely repelled the water- and I was actually not able to wash this off (lol). I ended up using paper tissue to "scrape" it off, only to be left with a white residue on my skin making me look like a corpse. After that, I had to wash twice with a shower gel!

Has any one else tried this? What are your thoughts??

xx

(*)

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♥ Mulled Wine: EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 5

Mulled Wine: EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 5

So I couldn't wait to try out the Sleek Sparkle 2 Palette Limited Edition. It was in the very generous goodie bag from yesterday's event (see previous post). The shades that immediately caught my eye were the plumish shades. I thought this would go really well with my Xmas/Winter makeup series too.

I used four shades for this look. The one called "Mulled Wine" on my lid, "Festive" in the crease, "Illusion" in the corner of my eye for definition and "Chocolate Penny" in my tear duct. Most of the shades have glitter in them, and I love that the purple shadows have got golden glitters.

I have actually been wanting to do a smokey, plum sort of look for long, and I am quite happy with how it turned out!

I also took the change to try one of the moisturisers from the goodie bag, and Twisted Sista Curl activator for the plaits in my fringe.

Again, from the left. Chocolaty Penny, Mulled Wine, Illusion and Festive.

I am sooo excited about this INIKA certified Organic Black Eyeliner. The funny thing is I've run out of my old eye liner pencil, and been using my crappy "back up" from Primark. As you can see in my FOTD, it's really pigmented.

Have you tried this Sleek Palette?

xx

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♥ BbloggersXmas Event

BbloggersXmas Event

I can't believe I managed to get this post up already! Today I went to Lola & Victoria's #bbloggersxmas event. It was in London, at Canary Wharf in Rebook bar. The picture below is of the view from the bar. Big thanks to Lola & Victoria for a great event, well planned and at a great venue. Not to mention a maaassive goodie bag!

I met loads of lovely bloggers, here are EpiphannieA, Natalie from Beauty Pulse, Sorry I didn't catch this lady's name (if you see this, comment and I'll change this), Stephanie, Kawaii Nails. I do realise I've named some people by their name, and some by their blog sorry!

The massive goodie bag! It took ages to unravel everything, and I don't even have space for this many products :o 

 I know everyone might not be fine with people uploading pics of them.. so if you are in any of the pics below, and don't want to be, I will deleted asap :)

Me & Abi

Coppergarden

Minty Essence & Abi

Oh, and I also met lovely Grace from Allthatslap, Mez from Mezmadeup and Ronke from Ondolady 

Sorry if I forgot someone, if I did, just comment and tell me your blog link :) 

xx

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♥ New in: Coconut Conditioner and Pure Argan Oil

New in: Coconut Conditioner and Pure Argain Oil

Here are some stuff I bought a few days ago. You've already seen me use the Argan Oil in my DIY luxurious Argan & Rose facial oil. The Inecto Pure Coconut Conditioner was cheap, and I bought it when I got some more of my Tresemme Naturals conditioner, just to try!

Inecto Pure Coconut Moisture Infusing Conditioner:

On the bottle: "Contains 100% pure coconut oil to smooth and nourish dry/damaged hair. Super-rich, yet light formula will leave hair glossy, shiny and superbly soft and manageable. "

Ingredients: The top ingredients are water, cetearyl alcohol,steralkonium and cetrimonium chloride, coconut oil. Pretty basic, and what I'm looking for in a cheap conditioner. It doesn't contain any silicones, mineral oils or parabens.

MIAFLORA Moroccan Argain Oil:

On the bottle: "Sourced from Morocco, Argan oil contains Vitamin E, essential fatty acids and protective antioxidants. Argan Oil helps to nourish skin and hair naturally, while also assisting in free radical protection."

Have you tried any of these?

Have you tried Pure Argain Oil?

xx

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♥ Gym Day- What to eat?

Gym Day- What to eat?

After way too long, I finally went back to the gym yesterday. I enjoy going gym, and I don't struggle to do what I have to do when I am there- but I literally hate taking myself to the gym lol!

Anyway, this is what I had to eat, I thought I'd share it in my blog since both the breakfast and lunch are cheap, easy to make and healthy!

Breakfast:

• Freshly squeezed orange juice (I used 5 clementine sized "juicing oranges")
• Fruit salad containing banana, apple, orange.
• Two scrambled egg, boiled would have been better but I was being impatient.

Lunch (After work out)

• Nourishment drink, contains a lot of vitamins and protein, but is by no means healthy. 
• Tuna salad, salad, avocado, tomatoes, feta cheese, salad cheese and tuna.

When you go gym it is important to eat a lot of protein because that is what your body will use to actually change and build muscle. I thought these meals were great to share because I naturally eat a lot of protein, meaning I never though "let me eat this because I've been gym, and it contains protein". Egg, tuna, avocado and the nourishment drink contain a lot of protein :)

What do you eat when you go gym??

xx

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♥ EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 4

EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 4

Oh my god guys, I do realise how similar this one is to my Pt. 3 look. That was not intentionally as I just "improvise" and do whatever comes to mind. Only when I was going to upload the picture, I saw the old one and realised I used the exact same colours. Funny thing is I didn't use the same products at all.  Anywho, here is pt. 4!

For this look, I used:

• All eyeshadows- My Elf Palette
• Liquid liner- Company Magazine
• Mascara: Boots Natural Collection & Loreal Telescopic
• Eyeliner: Primark

 This EOTD looks so different in the picture taken with flash, to the one taken without flash (the one just above). Personally I think the flash picture looks nicer.



See the other parts here:

• Part 1 (Featured on HelloCotton)
• Part 2 (Featured on HelloCotton)
• Part 3

Which look out of the 4 do you prefer so far?

xx

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♥ FOTD- Studs & Tom Ford

 FOTD- Studs & Tom Ford

Hello Everyone! Again, Blog is getting neglected as soon as I don't have a lot of time on my hands. The funny thing about that is that I always create new material for my blogs, so I literally looked through my iPhoto and realised I had loads of pictures for future posts- just haven't taken the time to edit and upload!

Anyway, this FOTD is from a few days ago, this is pretty much my every day make up, but with some eyeliner as well. Love my new cardigan (see it in this haul)!

|| Bronzer- The BodyShop || Eyeliner- COMPANY Magazine || Mascara- Loreal Telescopic || Lipstick- Tom Ford, Harrods (*) (Review coming soon) ||

What's your every day look? :) 

xx

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♥ DIY: Luxurious Argan and Rose Facial Oil

 DIY: Luxurious Argan and Rose Facial Oil

Another DIY guys! I have shared another DIY facial oil not so long ago. That one was meant to be very affordable, but still nourishing and effective. I've been using that one ever since I posted it on my blog, but as it just finished- I decided to make a different one this time. Having been curious to try Pure Argan Oil for quite some time, I finally gave in and decided to get it today.

Check out my other Facial Oil DIY here.

Here is my Argan Oil & Rose Oil luxurious facial oil recipe:

• Amber Glass Bottle with dropper- Neal's Yard Remedies £1.50 here
• Roughly 35% Hemp Seed Oil- Good Oil £4.99 for 250 ml. here
• Roughly 65% Argan Oil- Mia Flora £7.99 bought from Holland & Baretts
• 10 drops of pure Rose Absolute essential Oil (*)- Neal's Yard Remedies £16.75 here
• A squeeze of Vitamin E- Holland & Barett Vitamin E Oil £7.65 here

Rose oil is very different to any other essential oil I've tried. Except for being a whopping £16.75, it is a dark orange oil that I am guessing is very thick, since it's quite hard to get out of the bottle. I tried to show you in this picture what it looked like, seeing as I held it with my left hand while pouring it- the pics slightly blurry!

So far I absolutely love this mix. I have to say the Rose scent and the fact that it contains Argan Oil makes it feel soo nice. It's also slightly thinner than my last one which is nice when you use it on your face. Oh, and I got the Rose Oil from the NYR massage event I attended recently, read my post on that here.

Do you use facial oils?

Have you tried Rose Oil before?

xx

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♥ Queen Amina Shea Butter Review

Queen Amina Shea Butter Review

I got this Shea Butter from my lovely Aunty who recently attended a networking event. I think she told the man who sells these products that her niece has a blog, and he offered to give her some Shea Butter that I could review.

It isn't a Shea Butter mix or whipped or anything, so it is just Shea Butter. In the past, I have done a few post on Shea Butter (read my most recent one here), and I have tried a few different brands. This actually really surprised me positively.

I'm not going to review Shea Butter on it's on, you'll have to read my previous post for that. But what I love about this product is that it is very creamy, not sure if he has melted it or anything- but compared to the other Shea Butter I have.. this is soo soft and easy to work with.

There is a mention of this on their facebook page saying: "Queen Amina Organic Shea butter is handmade and the technique used produces a sublime softness creating an experience only royalty can describe and certainly, Queen Amina would have said the same."

I used it on my face this night actually, since my DIY facial oil had just finished! It was greasy when applied, obviously, but when I woke up my face felt very soft!

Where do you get Shea Butter from? 

How do you use it?

xx

Queen Amina Twitter and Facebook

• Dont forget to check out my post on all the benefits of Shea Butter here
• Check out my DIY whipped body cream using Shea Butter here

(*)

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♥ Wash Day- Transitioning Diaries Pt.6

Wash Day- Transitioning Diaries Pt.6

Although I pretty much do the same every week when I wash my hair, I realised I might actually make a blog post of this to show exactly what I use, and what I do.

To start with, I wash weekly. I use shampoo every week but don't really deep condition too often. Check out my DIY deep conditioner here and my DIY protein treatment here.

So what do I do?

• Pre Shampoo- Using the oil mix to the right in the picture. This mix is always roughly a 3rd Castor Oil. I apply it too my scalp since Castor oil is meant to strengthen and thicken your new growth. After that I apply this oil or any other oil in my whole hair. Depending on how much time I have I either a) put cling film on it, and sleep with the oil in my hair. b) leave it in for however long I can.
• Shampoo- I use a Cleansing Cream (link), Sulfate free Shampoo (link) or if I for some reason have used Silicones in my hair (i.e when I straighten my hair using ApHogee green tea mist.) I will use a sulfate shampoo. This doesn't happen often.). See my straightened hair in this post.
• Condition- Using my Tresemme Naturals conditioner (review here). This has amazing slip so it's really easy to detangle my new thick and curly growth. I section my hair (not neatly or anything) and make sure to completely cover my hair in conditioner while sort of finger detangling it as I go.
• Drying- When I've washed out my conditioner, I gentle squeeze it to remove excess water. I then wrap it in a towel, head to my room, then take it off straight away. Now I apply Coconut Oil mixed with Peppermint oil and give myself a quick scalp massage. The peppermint oil will give a cooling sensation while your hair is drying, preventing itchiness. I then apply some Coconut oil all over my hair, and wait for it to dry!
• Finished!- For my hair to fully dry will obviously take somewhere between 3-4 hrs (never taken the time). So what I usually do is, wait for it to dry for about 3 hrs, and then if the next thing for me is to go bed, I just do a braid out and it will be dry in the morning. If I am going somewhere, I'll just let it dry as long as I can, and then apply the leave in conditioner that you see in the pic (from Curls) and slick it back in a bun. I then apply Castor oil to my edges and brush it back with a slick brush. I use Castor oil because it's thick and gives a light hold, and to prevent thinning of my edges. 

Do you have a post on your wash day?

Do you do anything that I do, or use any products I use?

xx

See my hair regime post here, with ALL products I use!

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♥ EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 3

EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 3

Here is my third Xmas and Winter inspired EOTD. Hope you like it! I suppose this is the most obvious Xmas inspired one with green, red, black and gold. These looks are you made up as I go so I will have to think hard about the next two Eotd's.

When I started doing this, I though it looked terrible and started to take it off. I proceeded to make another nicer look on my left eye, but as it turned out worse- I wen't back and tried to save this one lol!

What I used for this look:

• MUA- Eyeshadow Primer
• MUA- Green, Gold and black eye shadows from the Glitterbomb palette (see here)
• INGLOT- Red matte eye shadow & white/beige highlight colour from palette (see here)
• Real Techniques- I used all the brushes from this post LINK

Check out Xmas look Part 1 and Part 2! :) 

What do you think of this? Which one of the three do you prefer so far?

xx

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♥ The Body Shop Colour Adapting BB Cream

The Body Shop Colour Adapting BB Cream

The reason that it took me so long to review this is because I sort of have mixed feelings about it. My first impression was "wow". I blended it in to my skin, and it really did adapt!

My problem is that

a) It's the wrong shade for me, it's way too dark. Which is a shame because it is the darkest shade out of 3 different ones- so which one are black people meant to use?
b) It is veery light coverage, so much that I don't really think there is much of a difference.

You can see what you think for yourself in these pics of me. I have NO makeup what so ever, I did NOT use "soft skin effect" on my camera and it is NOT edited, not even light/contrast, temperature or anything. The difference I can spot is that my under eyes look slightly brighter and  possibly more even skin tone.

This is what I love about this! Despite this being the wrong shade for me, I think what the colour adapting really is- is that it adapts to the undertone of your skin! How cool is that :)

• It's white from the start, and if you look closely you can see small dots, they are filled with pigment and burst when blended. 
• In the second pic I've lightly blended blended it and you can see that the colour is starting to come through.
• 3rd Pic- it looks super pink/orange! 
• 4th Pic- it has MAGICALLY adjusted to my undertone (which is yellow)

Find the ingredients here: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/make-up/face/all-in-one-bb-cream.aspx

Do you like BB Creams?

Have u tried this one?

xx

(*)

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♥ EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 2

EOTD Xmas/Winter Edition Pt. 2

Here is another Xmas/winter inspired EOTD as promised, I will try to keep posting one every day. The only problem is that it is dark when I get home from work- and I don't like using the flash for EOTD's.

I really like this look, because it's different from anything I've done before, and I am using eyeshadows I hardly ever used either.

What I used:

• Viva La Diva: Eyebrow Pencil & Blue Cream Eyeshadow Stick (love this!!)
• ELF: White eyeshadow that turns pink on application (wow how did I miss this?)
• Loreal: Telescopic Mascara
• COMPANY Magazine: Liquid Eyeliner
• MUA: Eye shadow primer

What do you think of this look?

& What is a typical Xmas inspired makeup look for you?

xx

*This picture has been edited in the left corner of my eye due to me spilling liquid eyeliner literally IN my eye (lol), and it kind off floated on to the lid. I have not changed the colours in anyway, just covered up some black spill where the eyeshadow is. (you can obviously still see some of it)

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♥ Transitioning Diaries Pt. 5- Curlies Length Check

Transitioning Diaries Pt. 5- Curlies Length Check (7 Months)

So I finally got around to do my first curlies length check. For those who don't know I am growing out my naturally curly hair (read more here). About a week ago, I actually posted a "length check" on straightened hair, but it obviously wasn't an accurate one since I've cut off a lot of dead ends, it was more so to show that it is more healthy than before.

*STRETCHED (Oh lord)

The picture below is showing some random curls, to give you an idea of what my curl pattern is like. I actually have some bigger ones at the front but I couldn't get a good picture. For people with afro hair it is common to name different Curl Patterns by Hair types like 3a-3c and 4a-4c. Not exactly sure which I would be, I am guessing 4b- 4c? If anyone think they know, please comment down below.

Obviously all curls are not the same, the one to the is actually not pulled out, its just more lose. The ones on the right, look like most of the curls on the top of my head.

To give a fair picture of how much my hair has actually grown. This is my hair pulled out and I'd say the line where my curly hair meets the straight hair is just below where my hand is, so a tiny bit shorter than it looks in the picture- pretty average for 7 months! There is no point in getting obsessed over growth so I am just happy it has grown at all.

Is this how you thought my hair looked like? (for those who have followed my transitioning)

Any transitioning or natural hair tips/products?

xx

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♥ EOTD- Xmas & Winter Edition Pt.1

EOTD- Xmas & Winter Edition Pt.1

I thought that this week I'd share some Xmas and Winter inspired EOTD's :)
For this look I used a green MUA eyeshadow and the black one is from ELF.

Not something I'd wear out but I just felt like experimenting.

What do you think of this?

xx

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♥ Contouring Using ELF Palette

Contouring Using the ELF Palette

Contouring is not something I do every day, but when I do- I usually use my NYR Organic Bronzer (review here) or this one from ELF. I am discovering new uses for this palette every single day, which is why you see me mentioning it so often lately. Definitely a great buy!

How to do a quick every day contoured look?

• You need a medium sized brush- bigger than a eyeshadow blending brush, but smaller than your normal face brush.
• To determine where to shade, suck your cheeks in and make sure you have the sort of lighting that will reveal the shadows in your face.
• Where the shadow falls on your cheek bones, that's where you apply the shadow.
• Use quite a lot, and then start blending it with your contouring brush lightly.
• Using a normal face brush (blush or powder brush) start blending the harsh lines out even more.
• Done!

Check out my contouring and highlighting chart here :) 

What do you use for contouring?

xx

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♥ Autumn Haul

Massive Autumn Haul 

Since I literally can't remember the last time I did any shopping (yeah seriously, must have been almost six months lol), and winter is practically here in London- I thought it was about time for me to do some shopping. Being super stingy, I think I found some great bargains.

I'll go through what I bought here..

1. Black & Gold Collar Necklace- Forever 21
2. Spiked Golden & Silver Bangle- Forever 21
3. Turquoise and Gold Earrings- Forever 21
4. Black Furr Collar Biker Style Coat- Primark (!!)
5. Aztec Print Burgundy Cardigan- Primark
6. White Plain Jumper (Am. Sweater)- Forever 21
7. Green Cardigan with Golden Studded Shoulders- Primark
8. Silver Studded Biker Boots- New Look
9. Burgundy Skater Skirt- River Island (Wanted the black one but it was out of stock)

Do you have any of these items? 

And what's your favourite?

xx

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