LVL Lash treatment and review

Look! lashes!! I know big lashes are no new thing, but I have been seriously obsessed with having huge lashes since I was 13 years old. When I was on holiday I was lucky enough to meet a lovely 18 year old who took me under her wing and taught me how to "properly" apply mascara.

 I have spent over an hour doing my mascara on more than one occasion. I'm definitely a lash perfectionist and want them long and separated. 

So one day I went to my boyfriends house and saw his sister. Her lashes were twice the size as usual AND she had no mascara on. What is this sorcery?! I needed it yesterday! 

LVL lashes. LVL stands for "Lengh, volume and lift" and as you can see from my before and after, I think that's a pretty accurate description. The treatment took around 1 hour, and I had to have a patch test done at least 24 hours beforehand. 

From what I could feel, my lashes were tinted and then shields were placed on my eyes. My lashes were placed on the shields and the treatment applied. It sounds painful but I felt nothing at all and the results are amazing.  My therapist is called Emma and she's pretty damn fabulous herself too in my opinion! This little statement is taken from her website

http://www.mybeautybyemma.co.uk/lvl/

"LVL is a revolutionary treatment that provides you with longer looking lashes without the need for lash extensions. LVL which stands for Length, Volume and Lift uses an innovative technique to gently lift and straighten the lashes, giving your lashes a thicker and more voluminous look. The results are immediately visible and it is a low-maintenance and long-lasting treatment with the results lasting up to 6 weeks. The treatment takes approximatley 45mins-1hour and includes an eyelash tint."

The treatment cost £40 and is worth every single penny. This is seriously the best thing that has ever happened to my makeup and eyelash life. I can achieve the same long lashes with minimum time and effort, and can even go without mascara at a push. It's like I've got my lash extensions again, only better (no pain, no ruined lashes, no crossed lashes, I can actually wash my face properly etc)

Honestly I would recommend this treatment (and Emma with it)  to anyone who likes the longer lash look. I am definitely a convert and will be getting them done on a regular basis from now on. 

Here's a nice side view for you! (Ignore my red skin I had my brows waxed, pale ladies feel my pain!) 

With mascara..

2 weeks on and still fabulous 

For information and booking enquiries, please see Emma's website 

 

http://www.mybeautybyemma.co.uk/lvl/ or Facebook page Emma Nixon ( Beauty by Emma) 

1 minute review - Loreal infallible 24hr matte primer and foundation

My favourite foundation that I have found in my 25 years on this earth is Estée Lauder Double Wear. . I bought mine from a cosmetics company outlet so it could be a shade lighter, but apart from that it's perfect. Heavy coverage, can be set to matte and extremely long lasting. This stuff isn't cheap so if anything comes into the drugstore market promising any of these things I'm interested. 

Sadly, this time I was disappointed. You win some, you loose some. (Friendly reminder, what doesn't work for me, may work for you... This is my experience with the products) 

These were on introductory offer at boots (I think) for £5.99 each and it was 3 for 2 so I splurged. They are meant to be used together and have nifty instructions on the back for the best way to apply. 

The primer? Who knows. I'm not sure if any of them do what they say they do... Except porefessional which DOES reduce the visable pores on my face anyway.. This one does not claim to fill/blur your pores and thank god because it seriously doesn't! Does it make my makeup last longer? Guess I'll have to try it with a different foundation before I really know. 

The foundation. Sad face.Now I don't know if my skin just rejects this stuff (combination sensitive) , or if it doesn't agree with my moisturiser or what, but it just would not blend properly on applicaton. Like from far away it looked like it blended but up close it was forming into weird patches that are hard to explain. People who wear glasses; you know how the foundation sits on your nose weird and sort of rubs off where you glasses are over the course of the day? Like that only in multiple places. When I try to blend it, it just rubs off!! 

This gets worse during the day. It's medium coverage but my pores are on full display by lunch time, with random patches missing/ redness showing through. Waa. Not happy. 

So hard to show in a photo! Plus from far away it's fineish, it's just up close that's the real problem. 

It's such a shame as for me the colour was near perfect. I'm a NC15 in MAC and got the shade "porcelain" which is the lightest that they offer. 

It's left me wondering, what does everyone else think? 

MAC Cinderella collection - First impression

I love Disney. LOVE Disney. I would go Disney World/Disneyland every year if I could ( and yes there is a difference between the two) In fact, scrap that, I would live there.

I'm also a sucker for their merchandise, so when a collaboration with MAC for the new Cinderella film was announced I know I would be first in line. 

How pretty though?! 

I was online the morning of the UK release, refreshing my page like a mad man from 6am. Frustratingly, the collection came out at some entirely random time, like 9:10 am or something. 

Luckily my persistence paid off and I managed to get everything I wanted. I had obviously studied the collection and swatches beforehand and the main thing I really wanted was the eyeshadow palette, "Stoke of midnight" 

It didn't disappoint and is beautiful. Only one of the colours is actually limited edition and that's the black shade, with flecks of glitter. I know some people were put off by this as it may mean duplicating shades in their collection, but I only have a couple of MAC eyeshadows so this was not an issue for me. Usual MAC quality, pigmented and buttery ( not as soft as Urban Decay but enough to keep me happy)

Here are some swatches on my super hairy bear arm 

The first two don't show up because I'm so fair so please excuse that. They work lovely for an inner corner highlight on my eyes though. 

Next up is the lipstick in "Free as a butterfly", which I'm sorry to say but I was very disappointed with, to the point where I considered returning it. In the tube it looks like a brownish nude, but watched it's so sheer it looks just like shine. Literally. The only reason I didnt return it is because the packaging is so pretty, and if I can get over that and decide to get rid of it, I will put it on EBay instead. 

I don't know. I guess it just wasn't what I expected. 

The last thing I ordered was the "Beauty powder" (whatever that is!) in "Mystery Princess". I had studied the two face products and had chosen this one as it has a more champagne tone and on my fair skin I can use it as a highlight. I'm really happy with this! It leaves my skin with a glow without being too glittery or shimmery and I can get away with being a bit heavy handed without looking mega shiny. 

The finish on the packaging is super reflective and makes photographs very hard so please excuse that!

And a swatch

Overall I'm really happy with the collection and glad I managed to pick up the products that I wanted, even if the lipstick isn't really to my taste. 

Honestly though, Disney and makeup are my two favourite things so I think they could have thrown anything at me and I would have loved it. I can see why some people are disappointed as a lot of the products/ shades are just repackaged which is a little lazy in my opinion. I have also seen photos online of brushes that we didn't have, so that would have been lovely if us in the UK would have been given the change to purchase those. 

Here is a look I created with "Stroke of Midnight" eyeshadow palette. 

As "Coffee break with Dani" would say.. Welcome to mah face! 

Have you tried anything from the MAC Cinderella collection, and if so, what are your thoughts? 

Xxx

Latest in Beauty - The Glamour Spring edit box

So.. I've been seeing this box everywhere but I'm meant to be cutting spending and being good so I held off purchasing. I also saw in the photos that it had another red nail varnish and gloss in so that put me off..

Then I found out that red is only one choice of three colours, and that the box includes a 12 month subscription to Glamour magazine. SOLD. 

I ordered this online for the bargain price of £16.99 and it only took 3 days to arrive. Considering the cost of a 12 month subscription to Glamour is more than that, I'm already happy. 

Here's what the box looks like open

Comes with cute and informative cards as well as discount codes for all brands included and my exclusive code for the glamour print subscription

First thing I noticed was the lipgloss from Rimmel. It's a really nice colour but I just don't use lipgloss. Will pass this on. 

Second I noticed the Moroccan oil hair mask which I'm looking forward to trying, as I mentioned in previous posts I do a hair mask at least once a week so it's something I love to recieve. 

Next up is the Beauty UK brow kit. Seeing it in photos, I was concerned that even the lightest color would be too dark for my brows, but having swatched it I think it will work well. I love the cute little brush and mini tweezers that come with it too! 

Then it was to the Revlon Colourstay nail varnishes! I hardly ever paint my nails anymore. Nail varnish does not stay on them for more than an hour. I've tried everything! So I wasn't too excited to recieve two in this box. However, as I received a lovely blue colour in "Full House" (rather than the dreaded over supplied red) and also as its a new gel formula, I'm going to give it a try and see if it lasts any longer than regular polish. So here's my beautiful blue shade, and the diamond gel top coat 

Then we had the item I'm most looking forward to trying, the Kiko eyeshadow long lasting stick. We have a Kiko in the Stratford Westfield shopping centre where I spend far too much time, but I always just walk past and I'm not sure why? Maybe just because I wouldn't know where to start, so I was excited to recieve a product from the brand in this box. I received a beautiful gold shade in 07, which looks like it's going to be perfect all over the lid. 

Next to grab my attention is the Model co. Creme rouge cheek and lip in "just peachy"  I'm a tad frightened of cream cheek products as I'm a powder girl, and often forget to put them on before and then we have some terrible mismatched cake face going on as it sort of curdles on my face. Not attractive. I'm also not usually a huge fan of peach colours but to me this is more of a deeper peach so I like it! Very generously sized, I'm going to attempt to use it as a blush as well as to chuck on my lips before dashing out the door to work so that I don't look like a dead person ( I'm very pale and my lips naturally have NO pigment)

They chucked in a free perfume sample for good measure. Not for my taste but smells like something my mum might like so I'll give it to her 

Finally, the Nuxe Creme Fraiche 24hr smoothing and rehydrating fresh mask. I've received this before in a beauty box and I love it. I have combination sensitive skin and this is wonderful for when my normal oils or moisturisers just aren't doing it. I get fine dehydration lines on my forehead so tend to keep this in my bedside unit and slather it on every couple of days before I sleep and it asks to make a big difference. It has a fresh non offensive sort of dairy type smell, which sounds weird but I promise you it's not. You don't have to wash it off either of you don't want to, which is good for me as I do like to use it as a overnight treatment for my face. Here's what it looks like

And that's everything! For the price I don't think you could get better. It's a fantastic deal. All products (expect the perfume) are full size and (including the subscription for Glamour normally £24.99) the box is worth a whopping £99 which is a bit insane for £16.99. 

If you're a fan of any of the products and/ Glamour magazine I would definately purchase one of these while you still can as it really is a steal

The Glamour Spring edit can be found here; http://www.latestinbeauty.com/glamour/

Calling all "Balance me" fans! Glamour magazine UK collab

The brand "Balance me" has collaborated with Glamour magazine (UK) this month and is giving away 1 of 4 possible samples with each magazine purchased. The magazine is only £2 so to get a decent size sample with it is a bargain in my opinion. 

The choices are 

And I went for the face mask as I'm always looking for pamper type treatments! 

 

I've only ever tried the wonder eye cream from this brand and was very impressed so looking forward to finding out want the mask is like. The products are 98% natural ingredients and the brand is cruelty free 

Which one of the four would you choose? 

My milk_shake brings all the boys to the yard...

*cough* Ahem.. I couldnt resist.. sorry not sorry.

Anyway, the milkshake that is drawing my attention is milk_shake hair products, specifically their conditioners. I learnt about the brand by stumbling randomly accoss You Tuber Hollie Wakeham, who is also a hair dresser. I believe it was her who described these products as the best kept secret in hair care, and I have to say I agree!

I love any products that smell sweet as a rule, and this is literally the nicest smelling brand in the world. As the name suggests, the products smell of vanilla strawberry milkshake and are just as delicious (not literally, don't eat them please). 

The first thing I tried was the "Leave in conditioning whipped cream" (£11.99) that comes straight out of a spray can with the consistency of (I bet you can guess) It makes my hair soft, aids towards detangling and the scent lingers in my hair. Safe to say I never looked back and this is now an essential in my hair care routine. 

I then decided I wanted to branch out, but didn't want to be disappointed if the scent was different across the line, so I bought a mini version of their hair mask to try (£3.99) Luckily it is the same, and provided a luxurious weekly treat for my hair (I say provided as Im out at the moment, the heart bleeds!)

Now for the regular conditioner. I am always super unsure about investing money into regular conditioner as it literally goes on my hair and down the drain, I rarely have the patience to leave it on for the three or so minutes required for it to actually do something. Also, I discovered a conditioner from the £1 shop which is amaze, so I tend to just stick with that one. However, one day, out of conditioning whipped cream, I decided to be rebellious and order the regular conditioner along side it (£12.99). It has the same smell that I keep banging on about, and has a thinner, runnier consistency to most conditioners that Im used to, but still I love it! It makes my hair legitimately soft, rather than the overly fake silky/ borderline greasy texture my hair can get when using some conditioners (normally ones with too much silicone in) It actually feels like its making a difference to my hair thats permanent, which in my opinion is a rare thing to find.

So the bottles say that milk_shake is only found in professional salons, but I buy mine from Fragrance Direct, who kindly let me steal the photos off their website for this post, as my photography skills are really lacking.

Find the products here  http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/m1/milkshake/icat/milkshake#esp_hitsperpage=60

and heres a photo of my hair, so, you know, you know its half decent and Im worth taking any advice from

Thia post is not sponsered, and no one sends me anything so I definately paid for all this myself (unfortunately :D)

Thats all for today! On a personal note, there haven't been many posts of late as I have a tooth infection that spread to a throat infection and is generally being a pain.. pun intended. I promise when Im up and about and back at work I will get back to my regular schedule. Thanks!

Bex 

1 minute review - *BRAND NEW* Maybelline lash sensational

I'm one of those rare creatures that actually replaces their mascara MORE often then recommended. I have sensitive eyes and am slightly OCD about my lashes. Just as I'm thinking I need a new mascara this one comes out, and as it was £5.99 on offer I thought I would give it a shot. 

## this photo is stolen off the Internet and does not belong to me ###

It promises to multiply your lashes and pick up the smallest hairs to make it look like you have loads of lashes. I think it does do this.. I just prefer LONG lashes personally. It does what it says on the tin and I like the unique wand, but I think I will not repurchase once it's gone and will stick to my Maxfactor/Loreal formulas. 

Ps excuse the awful lightning that makes me look like I've never slept, I took this photo outside while waiting for the bus! 

Has anyone else tried this new mascara, and if so what do you think?! 

3 braid hairstyle! Inspired by "Into the woods" Rupunzel

So lots of selfies today to attempt to show my hair off! I went to see the new Disney film "Into the woods" yesterday and although I wasn't too impressed, I LOVED Rupunzels hair in the movie. Obviously I have nowhere near the amount of hair that she has, but I still decided to give the Dutch multiple French plait thing a try. 

Looking at photos now, I really should have left out a few more whispy bits, next time!

I started off my separating my hair into three pieces and tied them with clear elastics. 

I have a popband in the middle section because I wanted it in a bun to keep it out of the way of the side pieces so that they could be braided. 

I then French Dutch braided the two side sections. Dutch braiding is braiding the hair under rather than over. If you need to learn how to French braid, I really recommend watching a follow along tutorial on YouTube.  

I pulled out bits of the braid to make the braid bigger and add texture. 

I then took the hair in the middle section and Dutch braided that down the back of my head, continuing the braids to almost the end of my hair. I left out some bits at the front that I could curl. 

I then braided the three braids together and secured with a clear elastic, and used my Ghds to curl the pieces I left out at the front. I really like the end result of this style, and it's perfect for days when your hair feels a bit out of control or just needs a wash. 

 

I'm biased anyway as I love braids, but are you a fan of the multi braid hairstyles or do you prefer the more traditional style?