UPDATE: Be Beautiful Skin & Body Care

Hi all! I feels like I've been pushing back the launch of the first product from the Be Beautiful range for like, well, forever! Everything has been ready and raring to go for about 3 weeks now apart from these sodding labels. When the first batch came they were totally wrong in terms of their size so they had to go back and be redesigned to fit the pot properly. This took absolutely ages. 

Now they have been re-done and should be correct and my printer sent them to me first class on Saturday morning meaning they should have been with me this morning ready for my launch. Shock horror, they haven't arrived. Fingers crossed they should be here tomorrow. 

The postman said there is a chance they could be delivered by courier later today but I doubt it as the package won't be that big.

Like I said, literally everything is ready to go, all my raw ingredients are here, all my packaging is here, the online shop is prepared and ready to go, paypal is set up. The labels are literally the last thing! :) I some how think them not coming today is some sort of omen warning me I shouldn't be launching them on halloween! lol

Anyway, I will keep you all updated. If you want regular updates you can 'like' my facebook page which I regularly update. 

Have a good day! 

Rebecca x

In the nude... With glitter!

I'm getting into a bit of a habit of doing my nails whilst watching the x factor and tonight was no different. On Wednesday I received a pot of glitter from my friend Steph in America (to read about our make up swap have a look here) and I figured that it could totally be used as a nail glitter to create a similar look to the shellac manicure I had a while ago. 

The nude nail varnish I have on underneath is one from the shop Kiko in Spain. I applied a base coat then two coats of the nude, applied the glitter on my ring fingers (again, like Kelly Rowland's nails on the X factor the other week) and then applied a top coat. 

I really like it and thinks it looks really effective. I heard a cute story about a girl who did this for her wedding day. She just had a french manicure then on her ring finger she had glitter, it was her 'special' nail for her wedding :) 

Anyway, this is a super quick post but I'll be doing quite a long one tomorrow on either the physicians formula liquid eye liner I received from America or maybe a DIY micro-dermabrasion recipe, I shall decide tomorrow! :)

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend. 

Rebecca x 

Nanoblur Review: Includes Swatches With Lancome, MAC & Bare Minerals Foundation

I mentioned in my wish list this week that I was interested in trying the Nanoblur skin corrector for myself to see what all the fuss was about. On the same day my mum managed to get me some from the Boots she works at and I couldn't wait to give a go. 

I've heard really mixed results about this product so I decided to test if along side with some of the foundations I use most often. The problem that most people seem to encounter is that the nanoblur doesn't suit or mix well with their foundation. Some work some don't so here is my verdict with three of my foundations. 

Just to add before we start, I tried this on my face first and then on my hands for the review because it showed up better. I had exactly the same results on both my hands and face. 

1. LANCOME & NANOBLUR

Nanoblur Underneath Lancome 

Nanoblur over Lancome

According to the instructions when using a liquid foundation you are supposed to apply it over the top of the foundation. I tried it this way and then with it underneath to as if it was a primer. Neither resulted in a nice appearance. When used as a primer the foundation stuck and went horribly tacky. When used over the top of foundation it watered the coverage down and made me look like I wasn't really wearing anything. It seemed a bit pointless to be honest and didn't really give me the 'photoshop' appearance. 

2. BARE MINERALS & NANOBLUR

Nanoblur under Bare Minerals

With mineral and powder foundation nanoblur suggests you apply the nanoblur first then sweep your mineral foundation over the top. This was by far the best effect and it made my skin look super smooth. That said, it still wasn't as good as I was expecting. 

3. MAC & NANOBLUR

The final foundation test was with my MAC foundation. The results were pretty much the same as with the Lancome foundation. When it was applied underneath it got stuck and looked patchy. When applied over the top it watered it down again and looked like I needed to add even more foundation. 

To be honest I'm pretty disappointed with this product, it's most certainly not the holy grail that every one has been talking about and definitely not worth the £19.99 price tag (I got discount but it still worked out at about £16). When I'm having a no make up day it does smooth out my appearance a bit but nothing amazing. I wouldn't buy this product again and I really wouldn't recommend you trying it either, it's a waste of money for a yet another beauty fad. 

Have any of you tried nanoblur yet? What was your opinion on it? 

Rebecca x

The Make Up Swap: From Florida With Love!

I mentioned a while back that I was currently doing a make up swap with a lovely lady over in Florida called Steph. Well, yesterday I screamed with glee when my American package hit my doorstop. I was so excited to try out some new products from the states, I think they have such a bigger choice and selection of beauty products and cosmetics so you can imagine I was bit like a kid in a candy store when it came - the dog was wondering what I was so excited about...

Anyway, this is just a super quick post to show you what I got as I'll be doing individual reviews of all the items I got (trust me, they are well worth the full review!) 

Sonia Kashuk Brush Set - By far my most favourite item off Steph, I literally can't tell you how soft the bristles are on these brushes especially the large powder brush! Other brushes included 2 brilliant fluffy brushes for blending, one smudge brush and one short eye liner brush. The quality is amazing and I've already been playing with make up with them already. So chuffed with them! 

Make Up Forever Glitter #11 - How shiney and lovely? Like seriously? I literally cannot WAIT to wear this all over my lids for Christmas, I need an event to wear it too! I put a bit of eyelash glue on my lid and patted it on and it looks stunning - so pretty and sparkly! I absolutely adore this and would love to get some more colours. I sense and eBay splurge coming on...  

Physicians Formula Liquid Eye Liner in Extra Black - Again, I totally adore this product. The nib is so fine its perfecting for creating a beautiful winged eye etc. I really hope I can find a way to get another one of these once it runs out. It claims to enhance lash growth too which I'm no so sure about but regardless it's a FAB little product that has taken pride of place in my make up bag! 

NYX Jumbo Pencil in Purple - I used this earlier this morning to create a line under my lower lash line and it looks lovely, really different. The pencil is just the right softness so the colour smoothes on without dragging the eye - love it! 

I'm so chuffed with the things I got in my package I hope Steph enjoyed hers too, I sent over some Barry M stuff and Max Factor as well as a Sleek palette and some other bits! Look out for the full reviews of the individual items some time over the next week or so! 

If you want to try your own make up swap there are plenty of lovely US ladies waiting for a partner on beautylish on the thread I created (god I make it sound like a dating agency) and you can also follow me on there! 

Also, just before I sign off, MASSIVE congrats to all the winners at the cosmopolitan blog awards last night, truly worthy winners! I can't wait to see everyone's pictures from the event, was very sad I couldn't make it! Thank you to everyone that voted for me, just to be short listed was an honour! Enjoy the rest of your day!

Rebecca x

Wednesday Wish List 25/10/2011

The weeks seem to be flying by at the moment and my wish list is getting rather large now so it's a bloody good job Christmas is coming up! There's been a flurry of new products this week and there have even been press releases of the spring/summer collections (let us enjoy Christmas first please!) 

Before I start, I thought I'd give you all a quite update on the body scrubs. Unfortunately there was some confusion over the labels. When they arrived they were way too big for the tubs so I've had to have some more remade and printed (which is a looong process). Hopefully they should be here later this week and I really want to get them up and running by next Monday. Everything else is in place, my soap kitchen is fully stocked and raring to go! If you want to learn a bit more about the scrub you can read  my original post here. I really hope everyone likes them and so far the responses to the samples I sent out seem to be positive! 

Anyway, on to this weeks wish list...

Nanoblur Skin Cream 30ml £19.99 Boots - You can now buy nanoblur from the UK! The 'photoshop in a bottle' has finally winged its way over the pond. There have been really mixed reviews of this from the blogging community. Some people absolutely love it, some hate it and think its a waste of money. Either way, I'd love to try it out myself. If it does what it claims to do then I'm on board! 

Urban Decay All-Nighter Setting Spray £19.00 HQ Hair - With the party season coming up I'd love to find a facial spray to make my make up last a bit longer. Again, there have been pretty mixed reviews on this (if you've tried it what did you think? Did it work?) I hope it's not a gimmick and that it truly does work, especially at £19.00!

Stila Lip Gloss Set £10.00 Boots - I can't get over how good value for money this is! A tenner for 3 of the most popular lip glazes from the Stila make up collection. I've gone for the cool set but the warm set is lovely too!

What's on your wish list this week? Let me know by leaving a comment below! 

Rebecca x

DIY Cotton Moisture Mask

I've mentioned a few times now that my skin seems to be particularly dry at the moment, especially around my nose and lips so I decided to try out a new face mask I've been wondering about to see if it could help. 

The main ingredient in this is coconut milk. I chose to use coconut milk as its known for its soothing properties and to help restore moisture to tired and dehydrated skin so it sounded perfect for a moisture mask! I've also chosen to use manuka honey for its antibacterial properties to help with blemishes etc. 

So for this recipe you will need: 

1 tablespoon manuka honey

1/2 tine coconut milk

Vitamin E liquid or capsule 

Cotton wool pads 

Method:

Mix the manuka honey into the coconut milk until its well combined. 

Drop your vitamin E capsule liquid into the milk and stir until well mixed again. 

Soak your cotton wool pads into the mixture and leave to soak for 5 minutes.  

Take a soaked cotton wool pad and peel it half. Apply to your face until you have completely covered the area. 

Leave on for 15 minutes then rinse off and pat skin dry.

This should leave your skin feelign super soft and silky. If you want to add an extra treat once you have removed the pads rub the excess milk into your face for a good 3 minutes to really work it into the skin. 

Have any of you ever dabbled in making your own skincare products? Let me know by leaving a comment below. Enjoy the rest of your day! 

Rebecca x

Make Up As An Art

This post isn't a review, it isn't a tutorial or advice it's more of a statement about how incredible I feel some make up artists out there are and how I personally believe make up should be viewed as an art form. I decided to write this post yesterday after watching the new dermablend advert featuring zombie boy. How they transformed him to appear without any hint or trace of a tattoo is absolutely outstanding. If interested you can see the video below...

This isn't a long post, it's just a portfolio of some incredible make up I've come across so to speak so enjoy! 

PROMISE PHAN of YouTube. Yes, the pictures below are all the same woman. 

JUDY CHIN & MARGIE DURAND - Creator & Make Up Director of Black Swan 

COMIC BOOK MAKE UP - Source Unknown, found on Pinterest (if anyone knows the original source please link me) 

Finally, a random one I found on the internet, really shows how make up can transform a persons face for different effects. 

Hope you enjoyed this post, what's the most amazing make up you've ever seen? Rebecca x

My thoughts on the new Barry M catalogue

I've always been a fan of Barry M for as long as I can remember. I love that they are a British heritage brand and don't test on animals. I really think they lead the ways in terms of interpreting the latest make up trends into fashionable high street products so when their new catalogue came through the post box on Friday I knew there would be some stuff in there that would make perfect Christmas presents. 

Just a couple of the products from the Barry M range wrapped up in some clear wrap or tissue paper and tied with a beautiful sparkly Christmas bow makes a wonderful yet inexpensive gift I think! So anyway, here are my thoughts on the catalogue as well as some short reviews on the products I already have and a 'wishlist' of some of the new products they have. 

Dazzle Dust - First off, who DOESN'T own one of these? The loose and highly pigmented powders are available in such a large variety of colours that there is undoubtedly something for everyone and with a price tag of £4.59 what's there not to love? They blend and perform just as well as any of the MAC pigments in my eyes (excuse the pun). I've got quite a few of these in my make up kit now but my favourite has got to be mushroom (DD51). It's a wonderful shimmering grey that I think would look beautiful on anyone. 

Liquid Eyeliner & Metallic Liquid Eyeliner - I've got the plain black colour (LE1) and the metallic pink colour (MLE6) too. They are decent eye liner but nothing special to me personally. They cost £4.79 which again isn't a bad price at all if you fancy trying out some different liquid eyeliner looks. I just personally prefer a gel. 

Wink Marker Pen - Now this I haven't seen before and it immediately caught my eye. This chunky marker pen looks easy to use to create that much sought after cat eye effect. The nib looks like a caligraphy pen! At £4.59 this is definitely on my wishlist. 

Nail Paint - I absolutely adore Barry M nail paint. They are such fantastic value for money (£2.99) and again, like the dazzle dusts, come in such a wide variety of colours and shades that there is undoubtedly something for everyone. Whenever I wear the shade dusky mauve (NP313) I always get comments on it. It looks brown then it relfects purple shimmer in the light - lovely! 

Croc Nail Effects - Barry M were the first to release the crackle nail varnish and how they have released the next generation - croc effect nail varnish. Currently it only comes in black but I'm absolutely positive this is going to be another hit, especially at £3.99. 

Glitter Nail Paints - I ADORE a good glitter top coat because I think they can totally transform a plain nail vanrish colour. I've got my eye on the Once Upon A Time (NP210) shade which appears to have candy coloured stands of glitter as opposed to dots. Perfect for jazzing up nails for the upcoming party season. The Lavender Hexograms looks stunning too. 

Fine Glitter Dust - Similar to the dazzle dusts but super fine 'diamond glitter flecks to dazzle'. The grey colour the model is wearing the picture looks stunning and I can certainly see it being a huge hit for the Christmas season. I've also got my eye on the Toffee (FGD24) and Opal (FGD21) shades. 

So that's about it really, a lovely little catalogue full of lovely little treats that I can't wait to get my hands on. Again, I love the Barry M range and really think they are one of the original brands to pave the way for affordable on trend make up. 

What are you favourite Barry M purchases? 

Rebecca x