Kiko Palette 01 Lounge Warm Tones

Having had my eye on this Kiko palette for some time now, when I was given the opportunity to have a little Kiko shopping spree in their new Regent St store, this Kiko Lounge Warm Tones Palette* was the first product in my basket.

Containing six of the most stunning complimentary warm shades I have laid my eyes on in a while, this Lounge Warm Tones Palette is a dream. Six incredibly pigmented shades in the form of satin matte and shimmer formulas, all of the shades are equally incredible worn both alone and smoked up together. 

I find it hard to pick a favourite of the six shades as their all nicely safe, but the Aubergine and Bronze tones really stand out to me as potential favourites, if I had to choose. 

My least favourite shade is most likely the pearlised Cream tone in the centre of the palette, which although it does look beautiful all over the lid as a base shade, it doesn't quite excite me how the others have done and the swatch also appears a little bizarre to me, as if it's two shades not quite blended together.

Taking into consideration that each of my swatches are one ever so slight press of the pan, these Kiko eyeshadows are extremely pigmented and with the price point of just £16.90, in my current opinion, these are second to none and are extremely reminiscent of a high end quality.

Available in store and on the Kiko website, if you're on the market for a warm toned palette, I really can't recommend this palette enough.

Do you have any Kiko recommendations?

Read more

Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways- Rockabilly Glam

My fourth look for Umberto Gianninis 7 Days 7 Ways has been named Rockabilly Glam and is very much something I would and have been known to wear. 

Slightly more edgy and undone that a usual bouffant updo, I recreated this look by taking the top section of my hair and giving it a good backcomb, followed with a little bit of Backcomb In A Bottle for extra hold. Once the hair began to stand up on its own, I then used my hands lightly to pull back my hair, along with as many frizzy bits as possible and then pinned the hair into place with some kirby grips. With the hair having a fair amount of secure hold to it at this point, it's easy to manoeuvre and neaten up sections if need be. With the remaining hair that's falling, I ran a curling wand through it and finished by spraying with Umberto Gianninis Glam Hair Rock N Roll Hairspray, brushing the curls through to be a little looser. 

In need of a blow dry, my hairs ever so slightly frizzy at the moment, but apart from that, I'm really pleased with how this look turned out. It's an easy day time style, but I love that it can also be made into something a lot more glam, similar to the Messy Boho look.

Backcomb In A Bottle, as well as the rest of the Umberto Giannini range is available to buy now in Boots.

What do you think of this look? Is Rockabilly Glam a look you will be recreating?

*This post is in collaboration with Umberto Giannini  

Read more

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz- Brunette

Anastasia Brow Wiz is a product that's been on my wish list for some time now, but until Cult Beauty popped up on my radar, I wasn't too aware of where stocked it and in turn, never had the opportunity to try it.

As the latest addition to my ever growing eyebrow collection, Anastasia Brow Wiz is the pencil I find myself reaching for when I want a really natural looking filling in of the brow. 

Incredibly skinny, the fine Brunette toned eyebrow pencil works to give whatever look you're going for on your brows with a really easy application. I personally enjoy applying it with quite a light hand to more sparse areas to create tiny hair like strokes to build up and intensify my brow and find it works beautifully.

Although it's easily accessible and you don't need to go heavy with it all, coming in at 0.08g, there isn't as much product as other eyebrow products I have used and so as much as it is probably my favourite eyebrow product, I don't find myself using it every day at risk of using it up too quickly.

Retractable and double ended with an eyebrow brush on the opposite end to brush through your brows before and after application, I can't get enough of Anastasias Brow Wiz and can definitely see why it's named a cult product.

Available to buy on Cult Beauty and available in five shades, Anastasia Brow Wiz costs £15.50.

Have you tried Brow Wiz? What's your go to product to fill in your brows?

Read more

Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways- Runway Ready

My third and so far the most creative of hairstyles in the Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways campaign is Runway Ready and although I've taken inspiration from Tali Lennox selfie, I've definitely played it down a little as I'm not sure my hair could take extreme backcombing all over at the moment. Instead, I decided to wear it as more of an updo and something close to the backcombed beehive that I've worn for work in the past.

With nothing more than a backcombing brush and a fair amount of Backcomb In A Bottle needed for this look, although it can be time consuming depending the length and thickness of your hair- it's really, really easy. I took small sections of my hair and backcombed from around the mid lengths of each section to the root in the direction I wanted the hair to go, until the section pretty much stood on end, making sure to give each backcombed section a spray of Backcomb In A Bottle to ensure that it held and stayed standing up. When the majority of my hair was backcombed until it couldn't possibly take any more, I simply moulded it into shape with my hands and clipped it into a roll in the back, spraying down on any hairs that were too flyaway due to my layers. 

 With the vast amount of Backcomb In A Bottle and extreme manual backcombing, although it may not look as if it's super secure, it certainly is and didn't budge or change shape for a fair few hours.

As I mentioned before, this look is something I have worn before and think a style similar to this is perfect glam look for the party season.

Umberto Giannini products are available to buy now in Boots.

What do you think of this Runway Ready look? Is it something you would wear day to day or do you think it's best left at the runway?

*This post is in collaboration with Umberto Giannini

Read more

Aromatherapy Associates Miniature Bath and Shower Oil Collection

Over the past month, I've found I've needed a little more relaxation than normal due to a few different factors and have found myself reaching for the Aromatherapy Associates Miniature Bath and Shower Oil Collection* of an evening, usually when running my bath.

Previously to trying these, I'd heard amazing things about the brand but definitely underestimated how luxurious and relaxing the products would actually be. Intensely rich and and calming, Aromatherapy Associates offer an oil for practically everything and this collection contains Relax Light, Relax Deep, De-stress Mind, De-stress Muscle, Revive Morning, Revive Evening, Support Breathe, Support Equilibrium and Support Lavender and Peppermint. 

Alhough you are meant to use the whole miniature bottle in the bath, I have often found myself just using half of a bottle and even just a little dab of oil onto my wrists when I need a little bit of calming. In my opinion, the majority of the scents are absolutely divine, but as with anything, there will definitely be scents that you react better towards. 

Aromatherapy Associates is such a luxurious brand and if you're looking for a calming body collection or even a perfect gift for someone over the festive period, I can't rate their products highly enough.

Available to buy on the Aromatherapy Associates website, Cult Beauty, Beauty Bay and Look Fantastic as well as in their South Kensington store, this Miniature Bath and Shower Oil Collection costs £32.00 for 9 3ml oils. 

Next on my list is the De-stress Muscle Gel, have you tried anything from Aromatherapy Associates?

Read more

Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways- Messy Boho

My second look in the Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways campaign is the perfect look to continue on from my previous hairstyle of Free Flowing Texture and has been perfected named Messy Boho. With the perfect amount of texture already running through my hair, I decided to leave out as much heat styling as possible, just running through a few sections of hair with one clamp of my waving tool, covering only a few inches of hair per section.

After my hair had a revived wave running throughout, I took to my Umberto Giannini Backcomb In A Bottle to spray generously all over, tipping my head upside down to get to access to the roots as much as possible. Following with ever such a light backcombing to the roots throughout my crown area, I then made sure I had two kirby grips to hand and from my side parting, pulled each section over and pinned into them place. I wasn't too tidy with this at all and didn't form perfect sections as I wanted to achieve a messy boho look as opposed to anything too prim and proper. 

Though slightly frizzier than I wanted, I really like this look and love that it can be worn as a really casual style or more delicately dressed for a more formal occasion. It's a hairstyle that I've worn frequently in the past, but I find that Backcomb In A Bottle sprayed onto a heat created wave works perfectly to create a texturised look and so I much prefer this quick and easy technique.

Umberto Giannini products are available to buy in Boots.

What do you think of this Messy Boho look? Is it a look you would rock day to day?

*This post is in collaboration with Umberto Giannini

Read more

Maxfactor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadow- Bronze Haze

Previously to picking this up, I can't say I'd ever come across any of Maxfactors Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadow sticks, but I'm so pleased that I popped Bronze Haze into my basket on a 3 for 2 whim, as it's a really lovely and easy to use product and perfect for both day and night wear.

Bronze Haze is a double sided eyeshadow crayon, that is made up of 2 steps; a rounded shimmering Gold and more of a pointed Bronze tone. Created with the idea that you would use step one as an all over colour with step two in the outer corner to create a smoky look, I love how the colours blend together and have really enjoyed wearing it for a more subtle, softer look. 

Very nicely pigmented and very easily blendable, Maxfactor Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadows are available in eight colour varieties costing £6.99 each and can be purchased in Boots and Superdrug. 

Have you tried any of the Smoky Eye Effect Eyeshadows? Which one is your favourite?

Read more

Umberto Giannini 7 Days 7 Ways- Free Flowing Texture

I was recently invited to join in with the Umberto Giannini campaign '7 days 7 ways' which surrounds their fabulous Glam Hair product range and is all about creating 7 different looks with the Glam products, over 7 days. Following the brand ambassador model Tali Lennox and her seven selfies of the looks, I've signed up to create my take on the looks that she has rocked over the next week.

The first look that I had to recreate was based around the Free Flowing Texture theme, which is personally one of my favourite kind of hairstyles to wear day to day. Pretty undone and super texturised, it's a really easy hairstyle to wear and is definitely a lot more me than a really finished waved look. 

Washed and rough blow dried with Umberto Giannini Ditch The Dirt Shampoo and Conditioner, I started of by using both a flat iron and a large hair waver on my hair to create a range of different sized waves and texture to my hair. After heat styling my hair, I then went on to spray a pretty generous amount of Backcomb In A Bottle to my roots, making sure that I sprayed the product from a distance to avoid any product overload, but also to ensure maximum coverage, which I exaggerated by also turning my head upside down. Following the spray, I then went in with my hairdryer to set the product slightly and to further ensure maximum lift at the root and after dressing it and calming any unwanted frizz, I was left really pleased with the final result.

I really enjoy wearing this style and love how much body and volume my hair carries with it. What do you think of the Free Flowing Texture look? Will you be picking up a Backcomb In A Bottle to recreate it?

Umberto Giannini products are available to buy now in Boots

*This post is in collaboration with Umberto Giannini

Read more