Smashbox and Bumble and Bumble Blogger Event | Cardiff

On Saturday 21st February, I was lucky enough to attend a beauty event in Cardiff with Smashbox and Bumble and Bumble. This was my first beauty blogger event so I was pretty excited. At the event we were all seated at the Smashbox stand in Boots, Queen Street while we gathered and chatted. To start of with we watched a demonstration by Bumble and Bumble where they used a number of their products on a hair model whilst talking us through what each product can do for your hair. My favourite product mentioned was definitely their All Style Blow Dry Creme - a creme for oil-prone hair which reduces frizz and creates healthy looking hair for a perfect blow dry. It even has invisible microfine oil-absorbing powders to help extend the life of your blowdry which is amazing. Following this, we were given the chance to take some photographs of the stand and their products. We were then seated for Smashbox's demonstration where Jade, a Makeup artist at Smashbox created a smoky eye makeup look on the same model. She ran through each product, letting us test each one as we watched her build up a fantastic look using their products. After the demonstration each of us were colour matched to a suitable foundation which we could add to our goodie bags. The event was really interesting, having the chance to look at products I wouldn't have previously considered buying or using as I was pretty unfamiliar with Smashbox's products. My favourite products used to create the makeup look were definitely their new Double Exposure Palette, where you can use eyeshadows wet or dry - it's actually amazing, and their new Photo Finish Primer Water, which primes the face ready for makeup application and you can also use it as a eyeshadow primer to improve their staying power. The event ran for around an hour and a half and I got the opportunity to meet like-minded bloggers who were really friendly whilst being able to explore new and exciting products from Smashbox Cosmetics and Bumble and Bumble Haircare. 

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What was in my Christmas Lush Box?

This Christmas I was very fortunate to have received this beautiful LUSH gift box given to me by my boyfriend's parents. I always enjoy wandering around lush at Christmas time to see what new products they have brought in for the Christmas season, especially their gift sets. I was so excited to try these products when I opened up the box. My boyfriend helped choose the gift box he thought I would prefer and he chose very well!

Firstly, let's just take a minute to appreciate the packaging of this gift set, I think it's lovely - so bright and it draws you in! The box comes with a green pom-pom bow and a little booklet showing you all the products that come inside the box. The first of which is;

1. So White 100g - Now I haven't smelled this shower gel before, although I have owned LUSH's Snow Fairy and to be truthfully honest I wasn't a massive fan - I just found the scent too overly sweet for myself. However, when I smelled this shower gel I was in love. It smells of apples and provides a crisp and clean scent - an ideal scent for a wake up shower on these early January mornings.




2. Rub Rub Rub Shower Scrub 130g - Considering my love for LUSH products I had also never tried a shower scrub. This shower scrub is bright blue and smells amazing! It is enriched with mineral salts and fragranced with jasmine to make your skin soft and smell incredible!




3. Baked Alaska Soap 120g - One of my favourite products in the gift set, this soap provides a fresh feeling like no other. It smells of lemon and grapefruit, giving you that clean, refreshing feeling with every use. I am so attracted to this soap because of it's incredible colours.




4. Santa's Lip Scrub 25g- Definitely my favourite product in the box. I had been wanting to try a lip scrub forever and had always had my eye on 'Bubblegum'. However, when I saw this product was included in the gift set I was over the moon. Smelling of fizzy-cola and tasting amazing whilst making your lips soft and kissable is a perfect combination. Absolutely in love with this lip scrub.




5. Million Dollar Moisturiser 10g - Even though this product is pretty small (tester size), I think it's ideal for trying something new. As I have oily skin, I am bad for often not straying too far away from my usual skincare products. However, the product itself is made up of honey, shea butter and jojoba oils which will make your skin super soft but it also has UV protection which is a bonus. I am excited to try out this moisturiser and let you know what I think!

Well that is it, a little look into the LUSH gift set I received for Christmas! I was extremely happy and grateful for receiving this as I absolutely adore lush products! So excited to get using them in the shower now!

Did you get receive any LUSH gift sets for Christmas? Or pick any up in the sales? Let me know, I'd love to see what you think!

Emma x

My Current Winter Beauty Essentials

In the winter months I find myself picking up products and using them everyday, so I thought I'd let you in on my go-to winter essentials and why I love them! Here goes...

1. Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette £37.00 - This palette is a lot of people's staple nude palette within their makeup collection, it is mine. This is because it is such a versatile palette with so many options to create numerous looks. I find myself picking this palette up most days, mainly because all the shades are in one place and the colours really lift my eyes. The palette contains a number of shimmer, satin and matte shades. The Urban Decay Palettes are definitely worth their price tag!

2. Bourjois Bronzing Powder/51 £7.99 - I have tried numerous bronzers over the years, some have to been to muddy, too dark, too shimmery or too orange toned. However, Bourjois have got it spot on with this bronzer. It's dark enough to create a instant summer glow on the face but light enough not to create a muddy look. I use this bronzer every day, with a sweep under the cheekbones, along the temples and under my jawline in order to create some warmth on my face after applying my foundation. The packaging is creative making the bronzer look like a bar of chocolate and I think it even has a hint of chocolate scent!

3. Dove Instant Hydration Nourishing Lotion for Normal Skin (250ml) £3.99  - I'm often wary of using lotions because I often find them greasy. However, I started using this Dove lotion a few months ago after I had spray tan in a bid to prolong my tan and ever since I  have re-purchased it about four times since. I often like to use a moisturiser when I get out of the shower especially in the winter months when my skin feels drier. This Dove lotion smells fantastic, its moisturising and non-greasy, ideal for applying in the morning and you're able to get dressed straight after application.

4. L'oreal Paris Contour Parfait Lip Pencil in 656 Honey £4.39 - I picked up this lip pencil by L'oreal because I wanted to try a nude lip liner and have found myself reaching for it most days. I love the nude matte look it creates and reminds me very much of Kylie Jenner's famous nude lip. It's a lovely wearable everyday lip.

5. Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch £25.00 - With the winter weather making my skin look dull, I'm often in search of a product which can brighten up my face and add a bit of radiance. That's exactly what Touche Eclat by Yves Saint Laurent does. I use it under my eyes and across my cheekbones to brighten up my under eye area and add a subtle highlight to my face. I have it in colour 1.5 which is perfect for my skintone.

Hope you enjoyed this post, let me know what your beauty essentials are at the moment!

Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette and #LipHug Lipsticks

Yesterday the Makeup Revolution Ultra Blush Palette in 'All About Pink' arrived at my door after I'd ordered it from MakeupRevolutionstore.com a few days ago. Along with it came two #liphug lipsticks in 'We have come too far' and 'To Get Lucky'. I'm overwhelmed by the quality of Makeup Revolution Products considering their extremely low price tags.

The packaging of the Ultra Blush Palette is sleek and black and comes with a large full sized mirror inside which is really handy. However, the only downside to this lovely packaging is that it loves fingerprints. I love the wide selection of blushes on offer - both cool and warm toned  matte pinks and even two light shimmer shades on the far right which are ideal for highlighting the tops of your cheekbones. Each shade is extremely pigmented so apply with a light hand. The palette retails at £6 and you get so much for your money with fantastic quality product.

In addition to the Blush Palette, I had ordered two #liphug lipsticks from the website. I was really excited to try these after reading a great review of them from 'Magpie Jasmine' (you can read that review here). I decided on the shades 'We have come too far' which is a lovely red berry shade (top swatch) and 'To get lucky' which is more of a purple toned berry shade (bottom shade). Both shades are perfect for winter time and they are extremely moisturising but without too much of a glossy finish which I dislike. These #liphugs are priced at £2.50 each. What a bargain!

Makeup Revolution are bringing it at the moment with their fantastically high quality products and low prices. They are soon becoming my favourite drug store make up brand! What is your favourite Makeup Revolution product? And have you tried any of their blush palettes? Let me know!

You can find #LIPHUG Lipsticks here and Ultra Blush Palette in 'All About Pink' here.

Emma x

Tanya Burr Lipgloss Collection

I know I'm pretty late on the bandwagon with this one but better late than never ey? There was so much hype surrounding Tanya Burr's lipgloss and nail polish collection that launched last year and rightly so, these products are lovely!

My boyfriend did well and bought three of Tanya's lip glosses for my birthday, I chose 'Afternoon tea' (bottom) and 'Picnic in the Park' (middle) and he chose 'Lets travel the world' (top). There are 12 lip glosses in total, 5 shimmer shades and 7 cream shades. (Since then Tanya has brought out a few more shades such as 'Chocolate Fondu' and 'Mistletoe Kisses'). I picked three cream shades - Afternoon tea is a very pale soft pink cream shade, similar to Picnic in the Park, however it is a brighter pink. Lets travel the world is a bright orangey-red colour - great with a tan! I love these products because I often find a lot of lip glosses are quite sticky to wear but I feel these have the right consistency which make them last but aren't so sticky that they feel gloopey when you wear them. My favourite is 'Picnic in the Park', I think it's a lovely soft creamy pink shade, ideal for everyday wear, especially in the summertime. Each lipgloss retails for £6.99 and can be found at Superdrug.com and FeelUnique.com.

I would definitely recommend trying out Tanya's lipgloss range, even if your not a fan of lipgloss I'm sure you'll change your mind once you have tried these. If you have, which is your favourite?

Emma x

Mini Christmas Haul

I'm not a fan of the word 'Haul' as I think it suggests that I have bought loads of things, which in this instance is not the case. However, when I went Christmas shopping on Monday with my sister in Cardiff I did pick up a few things for myself (naughty!). Not everything in the post is beauty related but I thought I'd write about them anyway. I took about 3 trips into Superdrug during the day, I'm not a good decision maker.

Revlon ColourStay Foundation in '180 Sand Beige' - I have wanted to try out Revlon ColourStay foundation for a long time but always forgot about it when I ran out of my Garnier BB cream and therefore never got around to it. ColourStay is separated into two categories, for oily/combination skin (me), and Normal/Dry. I swatched a colour which I thought was close to my Garnier BB cream and lucky enough the second shade I swatched was a close match to my skin. The Colourstay foundation claims to be a matte, 24 hour long lasting foundation and I agree. When applying the formula to my skin, I used the Real Techniques expert face brush and it felt quite thick but blended well into a matte finish. I wore it all day, for around 9/10 hours and it was still matte with a lovely finish and had not oxidised or separated on my face. It has great long lasting power and I think it is a great foundation for £12.49 (30ml). The only downside to this foundation is that although it has glass packaging which I appreciate it does not come with a pump and therefore it is quite difficult to gauge how much to pour onto the back of your hand without producing a lot of wasted product.

Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in '205 Elusive' (no available link at Superdrug.com) - I was lucky enough to get this product free on an offer they had in Superdrug (spend £10 on Revlon and get a free Colourburst Balm). I had been wanting another matte balm after I bought '245 Audacious' a lovely bright orange back in the summer. I decided to go with Elusive as it is a soft wearable pink which I thought would be a great everyday colour. I love that they provide a matte finish, which aren't drying on lips and they have the added bonus of smelling minty fresh! These matte balms normally retail at £7.99 each.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Balm in '110 Make me Blush' - I picked up another of these balms after originally trying another of Rimmel's lasting finish balms called 'Rumour Has It'. I really like the finish of these colour sticks as they provide a slight glossy look and feel very moisturising. These balms retail at £5.99.

Real Techniques Shading Brush By Sam and Nic Chapman (£6.99) - I had yet to buy an eye brush from real Techniques (I own their powder brush, stippling brush, blush brush and expert face brush) and seen as though they were offering 3 for 2 in Superdrug I thought I would treat my sister with the shading brush and blending sponge at the same time. I'm yet to use the eye shading brush but if it is anything like the other real Techniques brushes I have used it will be fantastic quality which produces fantastic results.

Lush Reindeer Rock Soap (£3.10 for 100g) - I adore lush cosmetics and whilst in the Cardiff store I picked up a Karma Bubble Bar (£3.25 each) as I adore that scent and then was drawn towards the soaps as I love smelling them all. I came across this soap which I think smells of sweeties and the vimto drink. I used it in the shower this morning for the first time and I just can't get over how amazing it smells. I definitely recommend trying it if you haven't already!

So, they are a few things I picked up whilst I was shopping in Cardiff. Not all beauty but I think its always nice to see what other people have bought when they go shopping. Hope you enjoyed my post and let me know if you have tried any of these products and what you think. I'd be interested to know what your favourite soap from lush is too?

Emma x