Life sometimes...

Firstly my most humongous apologies for being absent from the blogosphere... You know when life just gets in the way? That happened! I returned to my normal job in the bank after going away on a secondment, got a new boss and life went super crazy! A bout of glandular fever followed and a car crash later and I was ready to see the back of 2014! 

Anyway despite some upcoming visits to have my back and sciatic nerve sorted life's getting back to normal... And by normal I mean my fiendish make up and beauty shopping ways have returned!

I was lucky enough to end 2013 with a long awaited trip to Florida which of course meant some serious damage in Sephora... 

So expect a shed load of reviews, some make up how-to's and skin care news! 

Much love, 

SJ xxx

Topshop Eye Crayon in 'Marble'

So last week I was lucky enough to be working in the center of town which means I get to park and wander through one of the largest shopping centres in the area I live in...shame...

I popped into Topshop with the intention of browsing their nail polish but I just could not decide on a shade and so decided I should pick up one of these eye crayons instead! I've had my eye on them for ages, particularly this shade 'Marble' and as a eyeshadow and cream shadow lover I threw caution to the wind and handed over 6 of my finest English pounds for....a crayon?

This isn't just any crayon though its super super super soft and glides on without tugging at your eyelid at all! Colour wise it's definitely in my 'shimmery neutrals' arsenal now and does a brilliant job of perking up my peepers!

My only 2 concerns with this product are that after only a few applications it had worn down to a stump... No problem I'll just sharpen it... Except I'll be damned if I can find a sharpener big enough for this bad boy!

Thankfully a local stationary shop came up with the goods and super jumbo size crayon is now back in business!

Much love,

SJ xxx

February Favourites 2013

A little late to the monthly favourites party this time but finally here are my February Favourites!

First off I'll start with hair care... My hair had slowly been looking duller and duller as my old highlights grew out and before I knew it I realised it had been 3 months since I'd sat my ass in the hairdressers! Oops... Anyhow after a quick berating for not coming back sooner my stylist Lauren then said my hair was in much healthier condition than normal and asked what I'd been doing... The only thing I have changed is I have been using Ojon products since running out of my beloved Bumble and Bumble Creme De Coco! Both are owned by the Estée Lauder group and I picked up the Ojon Ultra Hydrating Shampoo on my February visit to their factory. Since using my hair has been softer and more manageable and it would appear much healthier! Well now I have whole head of blonde highlights to take care of so luckily I have a nice stash of Ojon shampoos, conditioners and masks to keep my newly coloured locks safe!

Next up is my favourite fragrance for February, the Michael Kors 'Island - Very Bali' perfume. It's a very clean smelling scent but there is a musky floral hint to it which makes it very wearable for this time of year.

Moving on my next favourite is a bronzer that I again picked up in February's Estée Lauder trip and its the Pure Color Illuminating Powder Gelee in '01 Shimmering Sands'. This is such a pick me up at the moment as I am finding it completely depressing being a pale face! I tan really easily and spend a lot of time outdoors at weekends and so a little colour on my face is imminent but until then this will have to do! It must be used sparingly though, use a heavy hand and expect to look like your little 5 year old sister did your blush! This does apply like a dream though and gives you a rosy and dewy look to your complexion. You would expect it to be glittery given its gold colour but it really isn't at all!

Twice a day every day since its purchase I have also been slapping on this Clinique Repairwear Deep Wrinkle Concentrate. Now that I am 2 years off 30 I am stepping up my prevention of the dreaded wrinkles and have started to use this on my forehead and around the eyes where my skin will naturally crease if I laugh or frown... So far so good some of my new work colleagues guessed my age to be 22 today, I like them already! The consistency of this cream is good, a little goes a long way and there is no awful scent to contend with and I have noticed that my forehead looks a tiny bit smoother but I'm carrying on with this as it takes about 8 weeks to really see a difference and this is more prevention for me really!

I have also been loving my MAC Lipglass in 'Casual Air' this month. It's a totally wearable light pinky nude colour that layers well over most nude lipsticks and I have found myself reaching for this pretty much every work day!

And finally I am still besotted with my No7 Total Renewal Micro-Dermabrasion Exfoliator. I pop a thumbnail sized blob of this onto my fingers and sweep in circular motions around my face avoiding the eye area just to sweep away dead skin cells. The micro-crystals do a good job of this and after each use I am left with baby soft skin!

Have you tried any of these products? Do you love them too?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Huge Haul! Estée Lauder, MAC, Bobbi Brown, Ojon, Origins & more!

Lucky me I've been to the Estée Lauder factory again and I thought I'd share with you what I picked up this time!

ABOVE L-R back row: Ojon Full Detox Shampoo, Ojon Revitalising Mist, Ojon Rare Blend Oil, Origins Rich Rewards Intensive Moisture Treatment for scalp and hair, Prescriptives Calyx Exhilirating Body Lotion, Bumble & Bumble Quenching Masque for terribly thirsty hair, Estée Lauder Sensuous Body Lotion and Shower Creme.
L-R front row: Estée Lauder Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme Compact Make up in 'Outdoor Beige', 2 x Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair, Estée Lauder Signature Satin Creme Blush in 03 ' Nude Light', Estée Lauder Resilience Lift Extreme Ultra Firming Creme Compact Make up in 'Pebble, Estée Lauder Sensuous Eau De Parfum Spray, 2 x Estée Lauder Re-Nutriv Intensive Age Renewal Creme

BELOW L-R back row: Estée Lauder Double Wear in 'Dawn', Bobbi Brown 'Pretty' Palette, Bobbi Brown Rich Colour Gloss in Angel Pink, MAC Cremesheen Glass in Fashion Whim, MAC Lip Pencil in Stripdown, MAC Cremesheen Glass in Right Image, Estée Lauder Pure Color LongLasting Lipstick in Melon Shimmer, MAC Glaze Lipstick in Hue, MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Creme D'Nude
L-R front row: MAC Extra Dimension Eyeshadow in Havana, Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay In Place Shadow Creme in Smoky Twilight, Estée Lauder Pure Color Eyeshadow Duo in Black Chrome, Estée Lauder Pure Color Intense Kajal Eyeliner in Blackened Black, Origins Peeper Pleaser in Twinkle and Estée Lauder Pure Color Gelee Powder Eyeshadow in Cyber Ruby.

Is there anything you want to see an in depth review on or a make up look using any of these products?

Much love,

SJ xxx

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Brush Review

Firstly I must admit to being off on another work related jolly last week to Essex. Chelmsford to be exact, a 5 day intensive course that left no time for anything other than crashing out in my hotel room with room service and chilling in a nice bath... My only frolic was popping into Superdrug to pick up the MUA Undress Me Too palette for which you can read the review here.

Monday however sees me take what will probably be one of my last trips away before I set up a permanent base with my job! I am so happy about this! Staying in hotels does nothing for your waistline and its heartbreaking missing out on special occasions back home and things like valentines day... Sob sob can you hear the violins? So my last stop for a while will be in Birmingham, a shopping Mecca and somewhere I have stayed countless times before with work so I'm looking forward to a bit of post work retail therapy in the Bullring!

One thing I will definitely be taking with me on my travels is this Boots No7 Cleansing Brush £15 (currently out of stock on the Boots website but may be available in stores! NOTE this is an introductory offer and normal price is £24.95)... To date the most affordable alternative to a Clarisonic that I have come across. I picked this up a couple of weeks ago and it has accompanied me to Gloucester and Essex and is definitely coming to Birmingham! If you read my review of the MUA Undress Me Too palette you'll know that I love the idea that I can travel with these cheaper products as it lessens the worry that they will break in transit or I leave them somewhere and although I soon won't be doing a many trips away these things are still really handy to have.

Now I can leave my Clarisonic safely at home and transport this No7 beauty in my case. In terms of comparison the Clarisonic certainly wins but I would expect it to given the price tag! However the No7 brush is a super alternative for the money! Even at full price it's tons cheaper and the product has so many similarities its the perfect solution if you want to test out using a cleansing brush before purchasing a Clarisonic, or for travelling like me and mostly if the Clarisonic is just too expensive!

The brush itself is very soft and it has 2 speed settings so you can control how you treat your face. It's also shower friendly although wont take being submerged under water! Battery operated by 2 AA batteries you actually get 2 in the box, it's fairly noisy but no more so than a good electric toothbrush! I have been using this with my gel cleanser 3-4 times a week as working away I have been mainly city based and I do love a good scrub clean!

After use my skin feels fresh and clean like it does after a mini facial and very much the same as after using my Clarisonic. A fantastic alternative in every way I highly recommend picking this up now whilst it's on offer if you can! The No7 counter also advised me there are plans to sell the brush heads separately as well so that you can replace them otherwise you can remove them very easily for cleaning .

What do you think of this as an alternative? Have you picked one up already or are you tempted now?

Much love,

SJ xxx

MUA Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches!

So this week MUA released its answer to the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette, very appropriately named the Undress Me Too. A very well made dupe much like its predecessor the Undressed palette which was widely respected as a dupe for the original Naked palette so I had extremely high hopes for this!

It certainly didn't disappoint! Like other MUA palettes it is such good value for money priced at £4 for 12 eyeshadows! This is brilliant because we can't all afford to fork out £36 for the Naked 2 and for the price you get so close to the Naked 2 colours i think this will become an absolute staple in my make up bag! I often have to travel and I do worry what would happen if I lost my Urban Decay beauties or they broke in transit so to take along a dupe knowing I can replace it for £4 is just amazing!

The colours all have names which I love and it fills me with a little hope that MUA may release some of the shades as individual shadows that we can purchase rather than repurchasing the whole palette.

I have swatched the shades for you below and as you would expect from MUA if you have tried their products before, the eyeshadows are very pigmented for the price which for me is a major selling point! I have named the shades from left to right with the top row first with the swatches following the same pattern;
L-R top row Naked, Devotion, Shy, Fiery, Lavish, Dreamy. L-R bottom row Tranquil, Exposed, Reveal, Wink, Obsessed, Corrupt.
My favourites are Tranquil, Reveal and Wink. Lavish seems like a really good matte colour for brow filling if you have light brows and Corrupt the matte black colour is amazing as an eyeliner on an angled brush! I'm so sorry for the poor quality of my swatches I am away with work and the lighting in the hotel room is awful!

The packaging as always is simple but effective in a white case as opposed to the usual black... I can see this may get slightly mucky in my grubby little paws!

Do you love MUA and their amazing dupes? Have you picked up this palette yet?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Mini Boots Haul

Before I left for Gloucester last week I popped into boots to pick up some toothpaste and I just couldn't resist a wander through the beauty and skincare aisles.

I firstly stopped off at the La Roche Posay section where I picked up the Effeclar A.I. which is a cream for use on skin imperfections and spots etc. I'm super lucky I rarely get spots and have clear skin without much redness but it is oily sometimes and I get the occasional spot when I've been stressed or tired. Hopefully this will mean any new zits get zapped straight away!

I also picked up the Effeclar K an anti relapse product for oily skin. I'm hoping where I have nailed my skincare regime this will help keep the oily areas at bay!

Finally an absolute bargain! This cleansing brush from Boots No7 brand is clearly their answer to the Clarisonic and is currently on offer for £15 as an introductory price as it will normally be £24.95! Still an absolute bargain if like many, you can't afford to shell out for the Clarisonic! I've been using this whilst in Gloucester and so far so good, it's battery operated and has a really soft brush head and I did feel truly clean afterwards! You get what you pay for though so I wouldn't say it is necessarily as good as the Clarisonic but for the money you pay it's a real bargain and the perfect answer if you want a Clarisonic but are trying to save your pennies! Hurry whilst they are still in store and online here

Much love,

SJ xxx

MACs Supreme Sheen Lipstick in 'Insanely It'

Firstly I must apologise for the lack of posts this week, as I mentioned sometimes my work takes me away for several days at a time and this last week I was sampling the delights of Gloucester! Unfortunately the hotel wifi connection was not working so all week I have been writing posts and not being able to put them up!

Next week I am working in Chelmsford in Essex all week and this time I have checked, checked and double checked that the hotel does indeed have a working wifi connection! Being away all week does mean I am going to be missing my first valentines day with my gorgeous boyfriend which is so upsetting but to lessen this blow I have booked myself into a hotel that is also a spa and is a wedding venue as it was built in 1879 and so is full of Victorian features! Also due to a mess up with the booking I've now been upgraded!

So a few weeks ago I posted a huge haul from my trip to Estée Lauders factory shop. I promised you I would feature the lip products I picked up with some swatches. And here it is! I decided to create a look for the brightest of the colours I picked up as the others were all pinky nudes (in my comfort zone) but 'Insanely it' by MAC is far from pinky nude. A bright pink, it's super noticeable straight away!

The rest of the look was completed using Estée Lauders Double Wear Foundation in the shade Tawny, Rimmels Stay Matte powder, a Boots No7 blush from a Christmas gift set, Collection liquid eyeliner in black, Sleek brow kit and MUA's Heaven and Earth palette with a slick of Benefits They're Real Mascara on the lashes!

What do you think? Soft eyes and a bold lip, winning combination?

Much love,

SJ xxx

January 2013 Favourites

Well thank god January is over for another year! Of all the months in a year I find January to be my least favourite! Everyone's overindulged and overspent at Christmas, Christmas is now very far away indeed and just in general it's cold and miserable!
So what beauty bits have been getting me through this drag of a month I hear you cry?!
Well first on the list is Avon's Advance Techniques 360 Nourishment Moroccan Argan Oil leave in treatment. A little goes an awfully long way with this little bottle of pleasure! I like to use just one pump and rub between my hands and work it into my hair starting at the ends where I have the most damage. I always enjoy the days that I use this because my hair just feels...better! It's softer, more manageable and shinier than its been in a really long time. Too much of this though can weigh your hair down so use sparingly for best results! You can pick this up from your local Avon Rep or from their website normally £5.50 it's currently reduced to £3.85! And if you spend £20 or more you get free delivery!
Next up to the stage is The Body Shop's Mango Body Mist. A long time devotee to their Body Butters the Mango scent is my favourite! I've been using these sprays for nearly a year now and I always repurchase this one. I often use it combined with the mango Body Butter and it just gives a lovely sweet fruity scent and its highest praise was given by my friend Emma... SJ what have you sprayed? I don't know what it is but it smells like I want to eat you... Currently £5.25 these come in a variety of scents or 'flavours' if you're my friend Emma...




Ojons Glossing Mist is also a firm favourite this month, a beautifully light mist this adds instant shine to your hair without it looking greasy and although the smell is not to my taste it really does deliver on what it says on the bottle which is 'a lightweight mist of pure shine'
Two products from Rimmel made the cut in January, as always Rimmel Stay Matte powder which I just can't live without to set my make up especially with my oily Tzone! The other product is the Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal eyeliner in 005 Nude. The perfect nude for my waterline! I hate wearing bright white eyeliner on the waterline it just makes me look scary and a bit deranged! This nude however is so natural and I just look more awake with it on!
Natural Collections waterproof mascara in black also gets a mention this month. Having left it at my boyfriends I'd almost forgotten about it but when I stay there every time I reach for this and it does a decent job, no flaking and is easily removed. It even survived a snowball to my face from a 6 year old...
Also in permanent use at the boyfriends house is Sleeks Au Naturel eye palette. I have had so many good looks out of this, its so versatile and definitely deserves a place this month!
Adorning my nails is Boots No7 Speed Dry nail varnish in 'Iced Mocha' a beautiful bronze, it's elegant and lasts a good 3-4 days without chipping!
Ahhh and now to Benefits They're Real Mascara. Our affair has now been going on since Christmas Day and I think I may be wearing it out!!! I have loved every minute with this mascara!!! It was unexpectedly put to the test recently when in a rather spontaneous act for me, I decided to get into a hot tub at my friend Beth's house! Lucky girl has a 12 seater tub on the decking in her garden so of course 11 people and 3 rubber ducks got in to enjoy an evening of drinks and laughter.... I was super hesitant oh my goodness I thought, there goes my mascara... And then it rained! Full on threw it down and blew a gale to boot! Warm from the neck down my poor face felt like it'd been slapped with an icy fish! After 10 mins I went inside to inspect the damage, fearing the worst after seeing my friend Hannah retire to the safety of the living room before me with mascara running down her cheeks... But there mine was still in tact and not budged... Think it's more than an affair now I am full on in love!

Have you used any of these? What do you think of them?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Huge Estée Lauder, MAC, Clinique, Origins, Smashbox, Ojon Haul!

As I mentioned in my last post Saturday was the day of my long awaited visit to the Estée Lauder Factory Shop! To explain a little further, I live about 30 minutes from one of Estée Lauder's factories/laboratories and every so often they kindly give their staffs friends and family access to visit the shop on site. You need to be given a ticket from an employee to be able to visit.
I was lucky enough to get a ticket for any Saturday in January so of course I waited until after pay day so I had a little extra to spend! Most of the items available in the shop are either old lines, limited editions, or discontinued and end of line although there are also current items some maybe discounted simply because they don't have a box or they may have been repackaged or redesigned. A lot is heavily discounted as you will see below. The picture is a selection of some of the bits and pieces I picked up....



As you can see its a fairly big haul but there is still other bits I haven't included simply as they are end of line or not particularly interesting!

I have tried to list them from left to right from the top on each row and swatches will follow in another post!
Ojon Damage Reverse travel kit, Clinique Repairwear Deep Wrinkle Concentrate, Good Skin Labs Filextra, Origins A Perfect World UV SPF35 Face Protector, Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Smoothing Glaze, Estée Lauder Pure Colour Powder Gelee in 01 Shimmering Sands, Smashbox Photo Op Eyeshadow Palette in Muse, MAC Big Bounce Shadow in Trophy, Estée Lauder Idealist Pore Minimizing Skin Refinisher, MAC Lustre Lipstick in Syrup, Estée Lauder Double Wear in Dawn, MAC Mineralize Skin finish in Lightscapade, MAC Pearlmatte Face Powder in Flower Fantasy, MAC - Future Length Lash Serum, Supreme Sheen Lipstick in Insanely It, Lipglass in Casual Air, Pro Longwear Lipglass in Patience Please and Clinique Defining Power Mascara in 01 Black Onyx.

Can't wait to use these! Is there anything you want to see a more in depth review on?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Marks And Spencer's Beauty Hall

This week I went to meet a colleague for a coffee near to her home as we are currently undergoing some training together and it's handy to be able to check in on each others progress ya know? Check that your not feeling left behind and swamped down with work!

We decided upon a Marks and Spencer's cafe for our little rendezvous and after wandering through the huge building right to the middle to get to the cafe part we sat down to warm our tums with some hot chocolate for my friend and a hot lemon concoction for me! Toasty and warm and feeling rather smug about being spot on with our work and the progress we'd made we happily parted ways to go to our cars, my friend left to go out one exit and I went the opposite direction to an exit near to my car.

My exit route was of course delayed when I saw the signage happily pointing me towards the Beauty Hall and I remembered that last year sometime the Marks and Spencer's beauty sections had all been revamped! Chomping at the bit with curiosity, it's not often I go to Marks and Spencer's you see, I power walked as fast as my little legs would carry me to sneak a peak!

Wow! I was so pleasantly surprised, well lit counters with staff on hand to help you with their own brand make up which also includes a mineral line, there was a wall of perfume displaying all their different scents which incidentally are normally what I go in for! The small 100ml bottles are just right for air travel yet reasonably priced so you wouldn't be devastated if it broke in transit! There is of course all the old faves like Royal Jelly for your Nanny at Christmas but there's also a huge range of other brands as well!

Suddenly I was faced with a sizeable display of Leighton Denny nail varnish! The top coat is to die for by the way! There was a good range with everything from colour to cuticle treatments!

Turning around the corner I revelled in shelves full of Ren skincare and Nuxe products topped off with a further display for hair care housing the likes of Philip Kingsley's Elasticizer!

It took all my self restraint not to pick up some goodies on my journey through these aisles, there were so many lovely products but I knew I had to be good for on Saturday I was visiting the Estée Lauder Factory Shop! You need a friend or family member that works there to get a ticket and I'm lucky enough to come buy one a few times a year so my hard earned and saved pennies stayed in my pocket!

A little late to the party but I loved browsing this little slice of beauty heaven and next time my mum wants to go to Marks and Spencer's instead of getting my dad to take her I may just pop along with her and let her leave me in the crèche...ahem, sorry, Beauty Hall!

Have you been to your local Marks and Spencer's Beauty Hall lately and loved it?

Coming up next I'll be telling you what happened when I was let loose in the Estée Lauder factory shop...

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Much love,

SJ xxx

Cosmopolitan Beauty Magazine Special

As most of you will know last week I had to work away in Milton Keynes (result! our hotel was opposite the maaahooosive shopping centre and the Debenhams had a MAC counter!) now unfortunatley this did involve a rather long drive, 2hours 30 minutes to be exact. Being Miss organised I naturally had my iphone stocked full of good tunes and snacks and drinks a plenty just in case but sometimes you just have to make a stop to go to the ladies room... of course I had flushable disposable toilet seat covers so no big deal and I got ready to hop back into the car but something made me wander into WH Smiths. I thought it would be nice to have a magazine to read in the bath or if I couldn't sleep and had finished the one I packed into my bag. Browsing the shelves I spotted this little ahem... Beauty!

I did um and ah about the price tag...£5.99 for a magazine?! But there's 178 pages in this bad boy solely dedicated to my favourite topic...normally I'll pay £2-3 for a mere 5-6 pages so I figured cost per page I was winning!
It took me a while to read through these 178 pages so do forgive me for not having reviewed this until now! It's the first ever issue of Cosmo Beauty and its also matched with a sister issue Cosmo Body which I also picked up! The body issue is dedicated to health, well being and exercise and costs slightly less at £4.99 although is actually a thicker volume than its more expensive Beauty counterpart but on closer inspection its just thicker paper for the pages! As someone who is trying to be more healthy this year it's definitely something I feel is worth reading and we all know that beauty starts from within! A healthy diet and exercise can work wonders for the skin hair and nails!

So back to the Beauty issue! Cosmo claim to have tried and tested gazillions of products, collated the best advice, treatments, make up, products and hairstyles to ensure the next 12 months will be beautiful!
My particular loves from this lovely little magazine were the Your Year In Nails feature on page 35 separating select colours into seasons and although I'm not one for limiting myself to reds in the winter and pastels in the summer I definitely spotted a few I wanted to add to my collection. Barry M Strawberry Ice Cream for spring, Essie's Bachelorette Bash in summer, O.P.I Nail Laquer in Glitzerland for autumn and Butter London Laquer in Big Smoke as a winter colour!
For hair care I was particularly interested to read 'Get long hair fast' to glean some tips to help my GHD ravaged hair grow faster!
One of the highlights I felt though, as this really stood out, was page 134's '82 Brilliant Beauty Buys You'll Adore'! Covering everything from make up to cleansing and anti ageing and sun care this glorious article offers premium and budget options where possible meaning even when we're in need of a beauty recommendation we can still work to our own budgets! So now when it's the end of the month and I've spent too much money (Chanel, I am looking at you with your tempting spring collection!) I know I can look to this for a beauty recommendation to suit the money, or lack of, in my account!
Finally on a similar theme if saving money is your New Years resolution then '40 Ways To Get Beautiful On A Budget' is for you! It lets you know what to spend on and what to save on!

No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask

So now I am most definitely back from my work travels! Thankfully we made it through the snow and were safe and sound before the worst of it hit!

Today I want to tell you about a lovely product that has been perking up my skin no end since its trial on my trip away! It's the Boots No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask, purchased as an alternative to the Origins Intensive Drink Up mask. Now I love my Origins mask but it can be a little pricey and as those generous lovelies at Boots were dishing out No7 vouchers a couple of weeks ago I thought I would pick this up and use this in conjunction with my Origins to make it last longer otherwise with all this insanely cold weather I'll be slapping a mask on almost nightly to rescue my winter skin!

Normally my skins quite oily so winter always catches me unawares and before I know it I have dry patches! I must say that on purchasing this mask it swirled round in a beautiful patter in the packaging however obviously travelling did not agree with it and it seems a little scrambled.
Designed for dry/very dry skin this mask has been 'created to help your dry skin behave like normal skin' so with cheeks as red as Rudolphs nose from walking back to my hotel that night I quickly pulled this out of my bag of tricks and descended on the bathroom, cleansing first to take off all my make up. For best results the bottle suggested sweeping generously over your face avoiding the eye area and leaving on for 3 minutes before rinsing off or using tissue to remove. It also suggests 10 minutes for a more intense treat.
I quickly pumped 3 larges pumps into my hand...it was as if I could feel my skin getting drier than a camels bottom! Quickly massaging it on it instantly felt soothing. The smell was pleasant a bit like sun cream and baby lotion but wasn't overpowering. Face mask on, pyjamas on, room service ordered... WORLD SAVED! Or at least it felt like it! 30 mins later I still had not removed the mask but the threat of room service knocking on the door was imminent so I took myself back to the bathroom to tissue off the mask before rinsing except there wasn't a lot to tissue off! My thirsty skin had drunk the lot! So I rinsed my skin and patted it dry and took it for closer inspection to the zoomy mirror thing. So far so good, redness gone! I touched my cheeks and they felt lovely and soft. It hadn't left me greasy at all! Bargain! And the best surprise was the next morning when I applied my make up it left me with no cakes dry patches at all!
I also used this again last night as I knew I had to spend several hours outside today in the cold and wow when I got back no dry patches and it didn't feel like I'd subjected my skin to the Arctic!

A lovely product I intend to keep using this winter!

What are your favourite winter skin treatments?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Clynol Colour & Care Enrich Shampoo

Now when it comes to hair care I'll admit to being easily pleased... A pleasant scent and a soft mop of hair on my bonce is enough for me! Enter stage left Bumble and Bumble Creme De Coco shampoo... Exit stage right out of the shower a happy SJ with hair smelling of coconut! This shampoo even made it onto my 2012 favourites list... So if it isn't broken why am I fixing it?

In my last post I told you about my work trip away so now i am sat in my soft hotel bed that's just asking for me to bounce up and down on it and I've spent the last two nights testing some lovely products I brought along!

Originally I packed some Clinique Happy fragranced shampoo but at the last minute I threw this little Clynol number into my bag. Discarded in a draw from a Glossybox last year being so happy with my Bumble and Bumble I had no use for it.

Having extremely heat damaged hair that's had a 9 year relationship with GHD's and every 8 weeks is subject to course of bleach and blonde highlights i really should take better care of my colour!

Stepping into the power shower in the hotel bathroom my hair was drenched in seconds. I poured on a generous 50 pence piece sized blob of the Clynol Shampoo onto my head and lathered it up a treat...

The first thing that struck me was how easy it was to work this through my hair without getting my hair horrifically tangled like it normally does under a forceful shower! I was so impressed I almost didn't notice the lovely smell enveloping me behind the shower curtain. It smelled a little like what would happen if Ghost perfume and Fairy Liquid had a baby! Beautiful but clean smelling! I like....

Now this shampoo is supposed to give diamond like shine on account of the 'liquid jewel extract' in it and its also to prevent fading thanks to its dedicated UV filter... Um well it was snowing so no chance of that today! But my hair was much more shiny than it normally is without my Ojon Glossing Mist.

All in all really glad I tried this and exceptionally tempted to purchase a bottle of this lovely goodness! I think though I am going to save this beauty for when my hair is freshly coloured and concentrate on using up 2 bottles of damage repair shampoo to try and rescue my heat tortured locks first! Definitely a well earned 4.5/5 for this shampoo though!

Much love,

SJ xxx

A night or two away...

Luckily my job involves a fair bit of travelling which normally means an overnight stay or 5 in a hotel. Now don't get me wrong I miss my boyfriend like mad and would much rather have him there with me, there's something about being in a hotel...you know what I mean! But occasionally i use these little trips away to relax in the evenings just on my own. Normally I get to use a gym and go for a relaxing swim, steam room and sauna before retiring to a posh hotel room with a big double bed (starfish alert!). I'll order myself something scrummy from room service and I always take a big bottle of fizzy peach water with me (I don't drink alcohol, messes up my skin and I hate the taste!) and after having my dinner I'll go for a nice long shower or a bath and believe me this is where it gets good...

I pile into the shower with a good shampoo and conditioner and give my hair a really good lather, think the old herbal essences ads, and whack on a conditioner before wrapping my hair in a turban whilst I concentrate on the rest of me! Tomorrows shampoo and conditioner of choice are a Clinique Happy set that are travel friendly sized and came in a set early on in 2012 and I just haven't got round to using them yet.
Keeping on the travel friendly sized theme I will then be reaching for my Body Shop White Musk shower gel, from a conveniently timed gift set my brothers lovely (hopefully sister in law to be, hint hint lil bro!) girlfriend, Hazel, bought me for Christmas.
After washing out all the conditioner and drying off I like to slip into either a fluffy white towel bathrobe or some lovely silk pyjamas and do a full on face mask or treatment! Now when I go away I like to use the alone time to test new products so tomorrow I am taking a very special additional make up bag with me containing different lotions, potions and treatments to try. Tomorrow nights post will reveal what they are!
So with face mask on and body lotion rubbed everywhere I can reach I'll be painting my toes next. I have opted for this nude 'No 7 Stay Perfect' polish, classic and timeless in colour these polishes last really well on toes! I'm currently wearing it on my fingers for that 'just manicured' look.
So after completing these I wait for them to dry before popping on my moisturising booties and settle into the big comfy bed with a magazine and a peppermint tea and have a face time sesh with the boyfriend... Blissful pamper night completed...

And lucky me this time I am staying 2 nights away so Wednesday night will be a welcomed repeat but with some slightly different products!

What are your travel essentials for short breaks away from home? Do you love these little routines as well?

Much love,

SJ xxx

2012 Favourites

Personally I loved 2012, I had an absolute ball with my friends, we laughed we cried (often with more laughter) and had a very memorable holiday celebrating the wedding of the century!

Having been such a jam packed year socially I had to up my beauty game somewhat! Like those afraid to attend multiple social occasions in the same frock I like to be experimental and outgoing with my make up and constantly look for the latest lotion potion or contraption to go for a better look than before!

Below are what I have picked to be the best of all the products I tried, tested and loved last year!
Some are firm favourites and have been for years and others are new discoveries that have gained themselves a coveted spot in my make up bag or skin care shelf. I've placed my faves into categories as ever the OCD and list maker I just find this methodical and easy. So here goes I recommend you have a cup of tea and a digestive... we could be here a while...

Favourite Nail Polish
Essie 'Fiji'
A beautiful pale pink shade this has literally been my go to colour all year! It takes a couple of coats to get a fully opaque look from this polish but it is just so easy to wear. The formulation is lovely and the new wider brush makes for an even application. Covered with a quick slick of Seche Vite top coat I can normally get a good 4-5 days wear out of this without so much as the tiniest of chips appearing.

Favourite Eye Product
Maybelline Colour Tattoo in 'On and On Bronze'
This one was a no brainer for me! It hasn't left my daily make up bag since I parted with my Boots advantage card points to buy it! A gorgeous bronze cream shadow this really is a lifesaver on those mornings where I just don't have time to anything more than a quick 10 minutes to do anything with my face. This gives the effect that you have spent a great deal more time than you actually have and is easily applied using your fingers or a brush whatever floats yours boat.

Favourite Foundation
Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation
This accolade had to go to Rimmels wake me up! Whilst I've enjoyed flirtatious with maybelline super stay and numerous bb creams many of which I have loved this product comes out on top! I've reached for this almost daily for the dewy finish it gives and the drugstore price tag just means is has winner written all over it! I wear the shade 201 classic beige in case you were wondering...

Favourite Lip Product
This was a real tough one but the winner has to be Tarte Maracuja lip gloss in the shade 'Casey'. A beautiful nude colour this is a my lips but better shade with a minty taste. It's not sticky, it's long wearing and this particular shade goes well with any look!

Favourite Mascara
Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black
I have loved this mascara for many years now and I still love it now even though I am currently having an affair with Benefits They're Real! This is the mascara I used most this year and still the one I turn to for my day to day look. It's large, thick brush separates the lashes and adds volume and length without clumping. On first use of a new tube this is very wet so I always like to start a new one before I reach the end of a tube I'm already using. The best thing I love about this mascara though is that it stays black, at the end of the day it hasn't greyed at all.

Favourite Blusher
Tarte Amazonian Clay 12 hour blush in 'Adventurous'
Tarte is a brand I only just discovered in 2012 and man am I glad I picked up this little beauty! A shimmery rose colour this blush, whilst it looks darker in the pan, actually gives a very natural 'glowy' flush to the cheeks. It's shimmery without making your cheeks sparkle like a glitterball as the shimmer seems very finely milled. Although a discovery made in the later part of 2012 it's spot as top blusher this year is well earned!

Favourite Primer
Mac prep+prime
Now I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea but something about this primer just works for me to keep my make up in place. Only needing the tiniest pea sized amount I dot this over my face, buff in and after 5 mins I have a perfect base to work with.

Favourite Brushes
Real Techniques
I love love love these brushes! Shown in the picture is the core collection, my favourite being the buffing brush which I find very multipurpose and have used it for everything from blusher to bronzer and also foundation. Soft and long lasting when taken care of I reach for these brushes every single day!

Favourite Fragrance
Michael Kors 'Very Hollywood'
As you can tell by the empty bottle this bad boy did not stick around for long! I wore this all through the end of summer into winter so it really is a scent I will purchase again. Normally I opt for a lighter, more floral fragrance in summer and the. Something a little deeper in winter but this is just the right balance to wear at any time I think.

Favourite Hair Care
This year I have loved Bumble and Bumble, and in particular the Creme de Coco shampoo and conditioner. I have quite dry and damaged hair so I always use a conditioner and I have repair masks that I love to slather on for a deep treatment but this shampoo is quite the cleanser. My hair always felt so much cleaner after using this, it's been a week since this last bottle finished and I'll be honest, I miss it! Maybe it's the clean feeling or the lovely coconut smell that reminds me of somewhere far away from my work desk but I am hanging on to the last bit of the conditioner until I can stock up on these again!

Favourite Skin Care (face)
Now for this it really was a 3 way tie!
Firstly I love a good scrub and treatment and the best I have gotten by mitts on this year is the No 7 from Boots Microdermabrasion exfoliator! Oh my goodness one use and I thought I had a new face! Honestly after using this my face just looked fresh!
Moisturisers I have been a bit of a two-timer depending on my mood using Vichy's Idealia on drier days, this little pink cream is just lovely, and L'Occitane's Ultra Matte Face Fluid which contains red rice extract and zinc to rebalance the skin for those Oily days! We all have them I am sure! Additionally the L'Occitane one is fab in the absence of a good primer!

Favourite Skin Care (body)
Although not shown I have been using Soap And Glory's Clean On Me nearly all year and the Clinique Sparkle Skin exfoliator. Both do the job and smell delicious to boot...what's not to love. This year though I am going to try and get more into trying bits for this category!

So there you have it my loves, those are my 2012 favourites!

What did you love in 2012 and what are you most looking forward to trying this year?

Much love,

SJ xxx

Really real! Really? Really!

I must of had the above exchange of words at least once a day since Christmas...

Little bro can always be relied upon at Christmas for a truly lovely present, living in London, access to a city full of some of the worlds best shopping is on his doorstep! A most generous soul he always likes to have a list that he can pick a lovely gift from so it is a surprise...all together now awwwww!

This year though I returned from my holibobs a mere 10 days before Christmas resulting in me running round like a blue bottomed creature trying to get things done. However 2 weeks blissfully shopping my little heart out in the good old US of A rendered me unable to make a Christmas list of any shape or size... Shocking I know!

You would think being a beauty addict that I would be in to trying all different brands of all different kinds of make up right? Well yes, except when it comes to mascara... I have been faithful to one product for a solid few years now! I began to get itchy feet and contemplate an alternative after seeing the launch of the Benefit They're Real in my local Boots. Well now I gazed at the display, the stunning before and after results and walked away despite the sales assistants best efforts to convince me otherwise. Later in 2012 not even the offer of a free travel size tube with full size purchase was enough to tempt me from the safety of the little dark green tube of Clinique comfort that constantly occupied my make up bag...

So I decided that, being Christmas and all and new year looming I should live dangerously and ask for a new mascara! All set to enter Selfridges and procure himself a little green tube of goodness he'd purchased for me several times before I had to gently suggest I was wanting to try something new! And so off he toddled to his nearest stockist, walked in and asked 'the nice lady with the red lipstick' where he could find the 'They're Real mascara' and happy days there it was under my tree on Christmas morning ready for me to try!

If I could rewind back to when I first walked up to the launch display in Boots I would most definitely have purchased and I kick myself now that I left it this long!

Sitting in my Christmas jumper I took it out the box and there it was a shiny grey tube and despite living in my make up bag ever since it still looks good as new! Normally I manage to get the writing on any product rubbed off within a week! Opening the bottle I saw the very same plastic wand that convinced me all that time ago that I wouldn't like it, I just don't get on with plastic mascara wands I prefer a nice big brush!

Applying it cautiously to my eyelashes I was amazed at how smoothly it went on, fairly wet and very black which I loved, the plastic wand instead of clumping the lashes together kept them separated whilst with each layer I put on the volume and length began building! Well now I was amazed and slightly in love with this mascara.

When using it though I would certainly beware of the following... I find the plastic brush a little tricky still... It's very hard and a slip of the hand and its easy to feel a little pain from this. It does also dry fairly quickly so I like to apply coats one over the other straight away. Finally it is a little hard to remove... Not really a bad point for mascara I certainly don't want it flaking off onto my face! A little Bioderma on a cotton pad followed my my normal cleanser was needed to remove it fully!

I love the results using this mascara! And people have certainly noticed a difference!

Have you tried it? If so what do you think? I would love to know leave me a comment if you have and what you thought of it!

Much love,

SJ xxx

Welcome!

Welcome to Beauty In the Bank!

My name is SJ and for my first post I just wanted to let you all know a little bit about this blog and how it came about....

Sitting comfortably?

You may be thinking what do banks and beauty have to do with each other? Well not a great deal on the surface except that my bank account suffers on a near daily basis with my addiction to all things beauty related... Thing is I actually work for a bank and owing to my endless supply of make up and skin care tips and freebies to my colleagues from the lesser used parts of my collection it was soon a case of beauty advice... In the bank!

So now I am putting pen to paper, or fingertips to my iPad keyboard if you will, to share the tips, tricks, reviews and general all round excitement that comes with finding the perfect lipstick shade!

There will be reviews, first impressions of products, a sprinkle of hauls and no doubt wish lists of wonderful products I am lusting after! I will also be on the hunt for dupes on the high street, sharing my all time favourites with you and of course tutorials and occasional 'what's on my face' posts!

Of course if there is anything you want to see or requests let me know in the comments! Thank you for reading and I really hope you enjoy Beauty In The Bank!

Much love,

SJ xxx