Along Came Betty

I recently had my birthday and from one of my friends I received a body scrub and moisturiser from a brand called 'Along Came Betty'(available in tesco), it's similar to Soap and Glory but cheaper (I mean that as a good thing!!). I've been using them for about 2 weeks now so I thought I'd tell you what I think about them.

First is the body scrub and the first thing I noticed was that it's in a tube not a tub which I find much easier to use when I'm in the shower. It smells amazing and because it's a mix of sugar and non natural beads it doesn't completely dissolve when applied but is no problem to wash off when you're done. It also doesn't leave an oily/cocoa butter residue on the skin which I like because I find that a bit sticky when you get out the shower. I have very dry and flaky skin on my legs and this scrub really helps with that but is also not too abrasive and unlike the previous sugar scrub I used doesn't irritate my skin.

The other 'Along Came Betty' product my friend gave me was the moisturiser and as I just said I have very dry skin on my legs so wanted to try this product to see if it helped. It's in a pump bottle and had the same or similar smell to the scrub which I love. More important than the smell is whether or not the product works and I am pleased to report it does! It has the consistency of a light moisturiser but works as well as a body butter without leaving as much of a residue. It feels slightly sticky when it's applied but once it's absorbed (which it does quickly) that goes away.

All in all I love these two products, think they work brilliantly and will definitely be repurchasing with my own money when they run out. 

Body Shop Lip Gloss

When I was at my friend's house the other day I saw this lip gloss on her bedside table which was from the body shop, as soon as I picked it up she told me to keep it as she never uses it. It's a really pretty peachy-coral pink with very fine gold glitter which adds a gorgeous shimmer when on the lips. On The Body Shop website it's called no.18 Tropical Pink, although it only has the number on the tube.

I love the applicator as it has a hole in the middle which allows you to apply a good amount of product and it is also pointed at the top which means it can be applied with accuracy where needed.

As for the consistency it's thick but not sticky and the glitter doesn't feel 'grainy' on your lips like some lip glosses with glitter in do. It also lasts a reasonable time with good colour pay off for a lip gloss. It also smells like grapefruit which I really love. I like this lip gloss but I don't think I'd pay the £10 for it, it's really nice and I love it but I wouldn't spend £10 for it when I could get one for less from maybelline or rimmel etc.

Hair Envy

So I'm a bit obsessed with YouTube and Blogs and one of my favourite YouTubers/bloggers is Zoella, click on the link and you will notice she has the most amazing ombre hair.

taken from Zoe's blog post about her hair

I have loved ombre and dip dye for a while now and last summer I really wanted to dip dye my hair purple but my parents annoyingly said no. This summer I have rekindled my love for dip dye, with the help from another YouTuber/blogger SprinkleOfGlitter, who recently bleached her hair blonde and then dip dyed the ends pink. I think her hair looks flipping amazing too!

taken from Louise's blog post about her hair

I'm not sure I'd be able to take the plunge and ombre my hair using bleach, it's all a bit too permanent and expensive (I'd be even less sure about doing it at home) if you ask me, especially as I'm trying to grow my hair long and if I don't like it the only way to really get rid of it is to cut it off! I really want to dip dye my hair though as I think it makes boring hair (like mine) look way more interesting and is so perfect for the summer and much easier to do at home. Plus because my hair is relatively dark it will wash out in only a matter or 2 or 3 weeks, which means it will be back to  normal in time for school and is perfect if it goes wrong (some would say a pessimistic attitude, I'd say, knowing me, a realistic one!) so why not just go for it?!

Ultimate Waterproof Mascara Test

So Wednesday was my last day of school for year 10 (finally!) and because it was so hot and sunny (a rare thing in England!)my friends and i were all going to one of my friend's houses to go swimming in her pool. I decided this would be the perfect time to test my new Maybelline falsies waterproof mascara to see how waterproof it really is!

The packaging is exactly the same except the writing is in blue. As for the wand I find its not as 'fluffy' as the non waterproof version and looks a bit neater than the non waterproof version, apart from that it's the same size and has the same spoon shaped brush.

I applied the mascara before I went to school at about 8 o'clock in the morning, I only applied one coat so it looks like it doesn't give as much volume as the non-waterproof version, it does you just have to spend longer working with it, and i didn't want it to look like i was wearing loads of mascara anyway.

My intention was to take several pictures throughout the day of how the mascara was holding up, we finished school at 12 o'clock and I meant to take a picture not that it would have looked much different to the original one but when I got to my friend's house I completely forgot! Anyway I didn't take another picture until 5:30 after swimming for over 3 hours, I tried while in the pool not to rub my eyes as I knew that would cause smudging but I could help wiping my eyes a bit, and I'm convinced this is what caused most if not all the smudging.

I found that the mascara at the ends of my eyelashes had pretty much all come off but as I said before I think this was caused my rubbing my eyes. My eyelashes also look a bit clumpy but this is mostly due to the fact that I was still quite wet from being in the pool.

Overall I am very impressed with this mascara, it applies and gives the same amount of volume as the non-waterproof version, but is almost completely waterproof, it is also not a total pain in the ass to remove!

Summer Lookbook: Playsuits

I love playsuits for the summer and on holiday. They're much easier than dresses as there is no worry of them blowing up in the wind and flashing random people, you can also wear them shorter than dresses for the same pant flashing reason.

I bought my first playsuit from new look 2 summers ago and its still going strong.It's bright blue with small red, yellow and white flowers. i love this as its easy perfect to slip over bikini's and is cool too wear when its hot.

I bought this last year from H&M for my second cousins' christening. its much more dressy but still cool and practical for the summer. i ususally wear it with a thick, stretchy waist belt but i couldn't find it, a thin one looks okay too, it just adds a bit more shape and brings in the waist.

I bought the next playsuit from boohoo a few weeks ago in preparation for our holiday, it wasn't what i was expecting and is different to all my other dresses and clothes but i really like it. It's high necked and also kind of halter necked (picture below, sorry i'm awful at describing!) and has a small slit down the back. i tried it with a belt but i think it looks better without.

rather than my shocking attempt at describing the neck bit...

This next one was a bargain and a half from primark at only £5 and i absolutely love it especially with a thin coloured belt. It's got sort of dungarees style straps (again, picture below due to crap explaining skills).

My most recent playsuit purchase was from USC, i typed in republic.co.uk and it redirected me to the USC website and a brand called @republic, as the republic one has now been closed since the chain went into administration. Anyway USC had a huge sale and this playsuit was reduced from £22 to £5. I tried this with and without a belt but think i prefer it with, although if you were on the beach or something it would be fine without.

apologies for the hanger string thing, only just noticed and already its annoying me!

Summer Makeup Haul

oops, so the other weekend i went shopping in superdrug and this happened...

Someone needs to stop me going in there! i honestly think i have a makeup addiction, although i am mostly pleased with these purchases.

The first things i picked up were some Barry M nail varnishes (not that i need anymore!) but i did get them even cheaper than they normally are as superdrug were doing 3 for 2 on all nail products.

Mint Green, Greenberry, no name (just the pink limited edition one), Peach Melba, Matt White

I love all these colours especially the Gelly Greenberry one which is actually much more greeny turquoise than it comes up in the picture. Even though the white is called 'Matt' it is in fact quite glossy which is nice because otherwise you risk getting tippex effect nails which is never good!

I also finally got round to buying the Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover which is BRILLIANT! i wouldn't say it works in 1 second but it's definitely brilliant and works better than any other form of nail polish remover i've tried! Its basically a sponge saturated in nail polish remover so you put you finger in and twist then pull it out (this all sounds very shady-its not!!) and the nail polish is gone. Plus it was part of the 3 for 2 deal at was very reasonably priced to start with.

I needed a waterproof mascara for summer and when i went to the Maybelline counter and saw that they were doing 2 for £10 on selected make-up so i also picked up a coral pink lip gloss called 'Glorious Grapefruit', i love this on its own to add shine or on top of a lipstick. The mascara i got was the falsies volum' express in waterproof which i actually think allows you to build up more volume than the regular formula.

The lipstick i bought was from MUA for only £1! It's shade 16 and called Nectar. I love it with the lip gloss that i bought from Maybelline.

I made a bit of an error with my next purchase, i thought i was buying a waterproof liquid liner (from miss sporty) to combat my oily eye problem, but it turns out the one i picked up isn't actually in the waterproof formula *facepalm* however it was only £1.76 or thereabouts and seems to be quite long wearing and smudge resistant!

And finally to take it all off with i bought the L'oreal Paris make-up removing water, which i saw Miss Glamorazzi talking about in a youtube video, she compared it to the much loved Bioderma which i have never had the opportunity to try plus it's a fraction of the price at only about £3.70. When i tried i discovered it removes all traces of make up and leaves no residue on the skin, i predict that i will forever repurchasing this product!

[disclaimer- this is not me trying to show off or anything like that, it's just showing you some products i've bought and what i think of them]

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint

I have such a love-hate relationship with these nail varnishes. On one hand they have amazing colours, the finish is brilliant and they are such a good value at just £3.99 each.
Then on the other hand they take ages, and that's not just me being impatient i really do mean at least an hour to dry and even then they can still get moved around and smudged. Then once they are dry they chip almost instantly which annoys me no end as i'm slightly OCD and a single chip makes me want to pick all the polish off instantly!

The real issue with the drying time is that one coat would dry reasonably quickly however for these colours to be opaque and have the amazing gel effect finish i was talking about you need at least 2 coats which takes ages.

I have 5 of these nail varnishes and am rapidly building up a collection, i can't help it, the colours just draw me in! Every time i go to superdrug i'm straight to the Barry M counter however these polishes are so popular they are always sold out of the best colours, so i get what i can when i can find them. Another thing i love about these polishes is the names, all fruits, fickle i know but i can't help it!

Overall i would recommend these polishes because once you get over the ages they take to  dry, they really are amazing colours and the finish is next to none that i've ever tried before.

left to right; Mango, Papaya, Grapefruit, Satsuma, Blueberry

I love this colour, its so bright and true to the colour in the bottle but stains your nails unless you wear a base coat which i unfortunately don't own.

I absolutely LOVE this colour it's even more amazing than it looks in the photo or in the bottle. it's a beautiful peachy-coral that looks amazing with any colour clothing and gives you a slightly glowing tanned look.

This is the most worn shade of all 5 as i've had it the longest, its nothing truly amazing, just a very pretty, wearable and summery pink.

I was slightly disappointed with this colour, i haven't actually worn it yet but when i tried it i discovered it comes out a different colour to the amazing creamy reddish-pink that it looks in the bottle.

I really like this pastel blue colour but it has a tendency to get small air bubbles when applied, i haven't experienced this with any of the other colours in this range or any other brand of nail polish however i  have heard of other people having this problem with this particular one so i think it must just be an issue with the formula.