The Perfect Nude Nail

When I realised I didn't own the perfect nude nail colour, I went on a hunt. Luckily, my favourite nail range, the Barry M quick dry, had a couple of nude selections  and it was 3 for 2 soo...

This is the first one I tried out of the three I bought yesterday and I feel like it can't get better than this, this is the perfect nudey- beigey- pink colour, and because it's my favourite quick-dry formula I love it even more. The shade name is Winning Streak - all of the quick dry range have racing- related names which is pretty cool. I use two coats to make sure it's super opaque, over the Iron-Mani base coat, also from Barry M, and under the Seche Vite top coat, which is life.

Basically this is a staple, nude polish for a bargain at £3? £4? Less if you're me and you never just get one. Love it, over and out.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Current Cleansers

I definitely haven't got to the high- end cleanser point in my life yet. To me, if I'm washing it off my face, I don't really want to spend a lot of money, and I'll stick to drugstore options.

These are the two I'm using at the moment; I've definitely  spoken about the Body Shop Camomile Cleansing Oil before, and to be honest even though this is probably my third bottle, I'm not really sure that I love it. It definitely gets my make up off, and feels a lot nicer than a stripping/foaming cleanser. As price goes, it's fairly up there for drugstore, but the Body Shop constantly has a 30 or 40% discount, so never buy anything full price.

Secondly, the Boots Botanics Hydration Burst Triple Action Cleanser has quickly become a real favourite of mine, after I purchased it on impulse a few weeks back. When I bought it, it was half price at around £2.70 (?) so I'm guessing at full price it'd be around the £5 mark. This is really nice for morning cleansing, which is what I've been using it for. It's a gel-like texture, really light and a little goes a long way.  No offensive smell and I'm hoping that the whole "botanics" thing means it has nice ingredients.

Other than these two, I still love the Superdrug Hot Cloth Cleanser which I keep a couple of under my sink as back ups - you just can't go wrong with that one.

Thanks for reading! x

I don't understand hair products/ hair stuff I actually use

I have a strange relationship with my hair, especially recently.
After spending at least 4 years growing and bleaching my hair slowly blonder (basically I want to be Blake Lively), I have done a total U-turn in favour of shorter, darker hair, and have quite literally gone back to my roots in terms of colour.
Anyhow, even when I had longer, blonder hair, my haircare/ styling routine was pretty minimal, and how ever many hair styling products I try, I never cease to be underwhelmed.


Instead of listing all the things I have tried and do not understood, I thought I would list the things I actually do use in the order that I would use them.


1. Shampoo and conditioner. Because obviously I do need clean hair. I have no loyalties where this is concerned - whatever is on offer will do, price range pretty much 2-5£ and not above. It's basically soap for your hair right? - Why spend a lot.


2. Some form of leave in conditioner/ hair oil. I do like to use something on the ends of my hair when it is damp to further hydrate and tame while I blowdry. I'm currently using some kind of L'Oreal split end treatment cream; it's alright, nothing to write home about.


3. Heat protectant. I do see a need for this, and absolutely notice a difference when I don't use something to protect my hair when I dry/ straighten/ curl it. I have to say I have used a couple of shoddy ones which have left my hair sticky and gross, but the Vo5 one I'm currently using is awesome. It's pretty much the rules of suncream for your hair - why would you not use it?


4. Dry Shampoo. I can't live life without dry shampoo. Not that my hair is particularly greasy, but on the second day it does need a refresh, and I definitely find that spraying some dry shamps onto my scalp before bed makes it a little fresher next morning.


5. An occasional hair mask/ deep conditioner. Especially when I had longer, blonder hair I found a nice hydrating hair mask really nice to use, and definitely a good boost for the moisture and colour of my hair.




These are the 5 things I use on a very regular basis. Hairspray, mouse, texturizing spray, styling cream... all the rest of it really eludes results for me. Hairspray I often find sticky and doesn't make enough of a difference to make me want to use it much. Anything that claims to volumise/ style/whatever doesn't seem to make any difference to me if I'm honest ... I'll stick to my dry shampoo and heat protectant.
Thankyoubye


Thanks for reading!!

Sunday Chat | My face powder story

I have never been a huge face powder fan; I've had far too many horrific cake-face incidents as a teen to make me trust the stuff. But recently, especially since working in a hot office, I have realised that my skin can get a tad, erm, oily.
I love a bit of dewy-ness regardless of season, but what I mean by oily is a world away from a healthy glow, so, I started hunting for a powder.
One of my friends almost convinced me to buy one of the Hourglass powders over the summer. But, after wearing it for a few hours, I found that I wasn't as impressed as I had hoped to be for forty quid, so I gave that a pass.
For a while, I dabbled in Rimmel Stay Matte - a classic - which I found, repeatedly, was just way, way too heavy on my skin. I also have experience with the Soup&Glory One Heck of a Blot which is fairly good, but still quite matte.
It wasn't until I watched some random KatheleenLights video recently and she mentioned the Maybelline Fit Me, that I scooped this beauty out of my collection and started to use it again.
I don't know why I ever stopped using this powder, but I definitely owned it for around a year during Uni, and my compact was fairly busted, but this is hands-down the best powder I have used to date.
It isn't matte, it  definitely doesn't have sheen, it just looks how you want it to look - like your face.

If you're hunting for a new powder I would absolutely recommend giving this one a go- especially if you're on a budget. I haven't had enough experience dabbling with higher end powders, but when I do, I'll be sure to report back!

Thanks for reading :)
Lou xxx