My holidaaaay: Turkery OOTDs :)

I have been SO caught up in Olympics fever I have put blogging on the back burner since it's been on - Team GB are doing SO well and I am addicted to the gymnastics. But here are some snaps from my holiday to Turkey which I thoroughly enjoyed! Hope you enjoy having a wee sneak peak too! :)

Pool pics - chillaxing with cocktails and a kindle! :)

Left hand photos - on a moonlight boat tour, then bottom right - sitting on the beach at night. :) 

 On a jeep safari tour.

Food (nom!) and posage!

Scott and I. <3

Here's an example of the temperature:

Look at the time... and look at the temperature!! Mental.

And here's a comparison of me on the plane there, and me on the plane back:

Think I got a decent tan! Hope everyone else has had good holidays. Has anyone else been to Turkey? Hope you liked some of my outfits! =p

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Stila, Dior and Philip Kingsley goodies! :)

So I'm back my holiday from Turkey and it was HOT! Hahha. I'll do a post of some of the outfits I wore over the weekend, but right now I'm too excited because I got a little Escentual.com haul!

I bought a voucher for the site off of BuyaPowa about six months ago, and promptly forgot about it. Until August 1st, when I went to check it, and found out it said 'valid until August 1st' but apparently that did not mean INCLUDING that day as the voucher was already invalid. BOO! I was gutted, but tweeted Escentual and they extended the voucher for me, YAY!

I placed my order at 4.30pm yesterday, with free postage, and it arrived before midday today.  AMAZING service. Really chuffed. Here's what I got:

Stila Beach Collectable Palette in Living the Life in Laguna (£10), Philip Kingsley Elasticizer 75ml (£12.20), Dior Addict Extreme Lipstick in 536 Lucky (£22.80) and Stila Smudgepot in Kitten (£13.00).

Exciting stuff!

I will probably be doing reviews to follow, but here's some close ups and some swatches:

The Stila Palette:

 The four eyeshadows are:

Top left: Sand Dollar

Top right: Sunset

Bottom left: Cove

Bottom right: Bonfire

And then it's the blusher: Seashell

And the bronzer underneath: Pacific Coast Highway

Taken in natural light

Top pic, l-r: Sand Dollar, Sunset, Cove, Bonfire

Bottom pic, l-r: Seashell, Pacific Coast Highway

Kitten Smudgepot:

Dior Lipstick:

What do you think? £50 voucher well spent? Even if I did got a bit over haha. I'm especially excited to try the PK Elasticizer, my hair neeeds it! Have you tried any of these products?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation Review

I am such a novice when it comes to face base, I never really knew what I was doing when I was younger, and throughout my late teens and early twenties I just used a tinted moisturiser. Then I swapped to BB Creams and although I'm still a fan of them, I was looking for a bit more coverage. So I purchased my first high end foundation - Jemma Kidd Light as Air (reviewed here). I liked it, but for £25 for a half empty tube I didn't think it was fantastic so won't repurchase it.

I have used Bourjois Healthy Mix before when I was younger and did like it, and I know it's raved over, but whilst perusing Bourjois on my recent drugstore visit, I decided to go for the newer 123 Perfect Foundation, with its promise of  'a rested yet radiant complexion and a flawless, even result for up to 16hrs', with 24 hour hydration and SPF10. (Bourjois website).

Unblended on right, lightly blended on left.

Pros:

• I picked shade No52 Vanilla and it blends perfectly with my skintone.
• It is easy to apply and blend, I use my Sigma stippling brush for the best affect.
• It did even out my skin tone as I have discolouration on my cheeks, and it covered my pores well.
• I didn't feel I needed a powder after this, and I have combination skin, but I always apply bronzer anyways. You could probably go without.
• It definitely was long lasting, although probably not 16 hours (I always use a primer anyways)
• Bourjois is cruelty free.

Cons:

• It's a liiiiittle runny but that doesn't bother me too much. 
• I'm not sure  it was effective at covering my dark undereye circles, I still could definitely not go out without my trusty Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer on top.

Here it is on my face with no other makeup (ugh):

So it's done ok with my discolouration and pores, still got a wrinkly forehead and dark circles tho!

 

On the whole, I like it and would recommend it. What do you think? Have you tried this foundation? Should I have stuck with Healthy Mix?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Smile Enhancing Lipglosses

I recently bought two smile enhancing lipglosses, actually a coincidence, it's not something I usually look for in a lippie but hey ho.

The first was a random purchase in Watt Brothers whilst I was looking for toy soldiers (don't ask). They had a big Sally Hansen display and this lipgloss in shade 'Gleaming' was only like £2. Please note I purchased this BEFORE making the conscious decision to go cruelty free, I am aware Sally Hansen test on animals and won't be purchasing from them again.

Anyways, the product is fairly average. I always thought a blue tone was needed in lip products to make teeth appear whiter, a la Benefit's California Kissin'. However, this was too pale and pink and did not appear to make my teeth appear any whiter than normal.

The second product I bought just recently from Bourjois, and it's quite quirky. It's called Smile Enhancing Gloss in shade 05 Framboise Hollywood.  It's double sided, with one side as a lipgloss and the other as a teeth whitener. I'm not exactly sure how the teeth whitener is to be used, like if it's to be left to dry or not used within a certain time of eating, and I can find no instructions on it.

However, the concept is pretty fun, even if I do get a few funny looks when applying it in the pub toilets. I can feel the minty effect and I do feel like it temporarily brightens the teeth and besides, the lipgloss colour is divine!! Give this one a try I think.

It's actually a lot bolder in real life, quite a bright, deep pink.

And here's the swatches on my hand also:

Sally Hansen on left, Bourjois on right

Have you tried any of these products? Have you found any lip products that really do make your teeth appear whiter?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

17 Cosmetics Fest-of-All Freebie. :)

So I recently repurchased one of my favourite mascaras of all time and DEFO my favourite drugstore mascara - 17 Peepshow. I reviewed it here, but here's a quick reminder of it's luciousness:

Lovelovelove.

Anyways, so if you spent more than £6 on 17 Cosmetics, you got a free goodie bag. Peep Show is £6.99 so I scooped up my freebies and headed off to the cash desk.

So here's what I got:

An eyeliner, a nail polish and wash off tan. Unfortunately, I doubt I'll be using the kohl or tan, as I use gel eyeliner now and don't ever wear wash off tan. I really like the nail polish tho, 17 nail products are usually good and this one is no exception.

For some reason, this colour refused to photograph well! My camera couldn't focus on it at all. It's a bright corally orange, with a slight shimmer. This was with two coats, one coat by itself was quite pale:

Cute, huh?

So remember, if you're planning on popping into Boots, spend more than £6 and you can pick up this cute wee set. Bargain. :) Have you seen any other good deals like this recently?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥

Primark Bargains: Dip Hem Dresses :)

During my hiatus I bought two adorable dresses from Primark I've been dying to share with you guys. They both feature dip hems, which I was initially unsure of as a trend, but I now LOVE. They still show a bit of leg but are very flattering and still dressy!

**Sorry the photos are such poor quality, using a new online 'photo collager', any suggestions for a good one?? :(**

Here's the first one, it's more of a casual dress:

It was £10.

I can imagine wearing this one holiday, over a bikini, heading to the beach. What a bargain! It's a bit long for me tho haha. It ties up with a rope halterneck.

The second one is a bit dressier:

It was £17 I believe, which is expensive for Primark but not in general. It's also a bit shorter at the back than the first dress, which is good for a wee smout like me! I wore it recently to my boyfriend's Graduation (Congratulations Scott Reid BA with Hons!!! =p)

And a wee extra that I picked up that I thought was cute, a wee playsuit - £7, I think! :)

What do you think of them? Do you like this trend? Have you seen any lovely versions in other stores?

Let me know!

~ Lauren ♥