Product Review - Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Buttercream

With the cold weather coming around the corner, it's time for body pampering products galore!! I needed a new body butter and Soap an Glory had a 'buy one get second half price' offer in Boots so I decided to pick one up. 

Soap and Glory Mist You Madly Body Spray Review

Product Review: Palmer's Coco Butter Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks

 

I discovered what those weird bumpy scar-like lines on my thighs are about a year ago, and have been haunted by their appearance and existence ever since. The truth is, everyone has stretch marks. They vary in size and colour which is why some people may not think that they have them. If you are lucky enough to be one of those people, then I envy you. I have tried moisturising daily with a body butter to try and reduce their appearance and I have tried scar serums which also claim to do so but they all failed me.

Review: Borghese Fango Mask

Since it is raining cats and dogs outside, I think it's time for a new blog post from me. I've been wanting to try this since I heard about it from Fleur (Fleur de Force).

Product Review - Lush 'Sun' Perfume

A while ago, I walked into Lush looking for a new summer fragrance. As expected, the sales assistants were extremely friendly and one of them helped me pick out the perfect scent. After 15 minutes of strategic sniffing, I settled with 'Sun'.

My best description of 'Sun' is the smell that stays on your fingers after peeling oranges (very intricate I know). I've never seen similar scents in perfumes before so I decided to give it a try.

Product Review - Boots Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz

  
I've always wanted to try the Caudalie Beauty Elixir but £10 is a bit steep for a bottle of toner or 'nice smelling water', so I decided to opt for Boots' Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz £3.49.

I don't normally look for much in a toner, anything that's alcohol free works for me! But after seeing multiple positive reviews on the product I wanted to see for myself whether it lives up to the hype...
Besides, how can you pass up a toner that claims to be '100% organic rosewater'?

Product Review: Caudalie S.O.S Eye Rescue

So because I have been using the Artistry by Amway replenishing eye cream for the longest time (I mean like since I started using skin care, so maybe 5 and a half years ago), I decided it was time to try something new. I first heard about this from Ruth (a model recommends) on her blog. I was intrigued because it looked like it would be a good one to switch to. Going off into a bit of a tangent, if you like to find out about beauty products that are not really talked about that much then I highly recommend checking out Ruth's youtube channel or blog!

The Blam Mary Lou-Manizer DUPE??

Yes, I think the E.L.F healthy glow bronzing powder in Luminance is pretty similar to M L-M when applied to the face. I must confess that I don't have M L-M but from all the reviews online (blogs and youtube), the E.L.F one does look like a good dupe for it. Both a golden shimmery powder.

Balance Me Limited Edition Shine On Tinted Lip Salve Sheer Raspberry Swatch

From the August 2013 edition of Glamour magazine

Swatches+Review: MUA Single Eye Shadows

(From left to right) Shade 5, 7, 8

(From left to right) Shade 10, 19, 20
 

It's about time for me to swatch and review these exceptionally affordable eye shadow by Make Up Academy. I have 6 to swatch and talk about. For starters there are only 2 finishes: matte and pearl. Here I have 4 pearls and 2 mattes. For the money you pay the quality of these shadows are so amazing with the exceptions of some lighter matte shades (I had shade 17, a matte beige, before but I really did not feel that I need to keep it since it looked like nothing on the lids and it is quite a dull beige unlike something that has a pinky undertone which can help to brighten the eyes).

Product Review: Seventeen On The Spot Foundation

I was really looking forward to trying this foundation because I suffer from acne and I was hoping this to be a comfortable one to wear plus at the same time provide treatment to the acne.

Product Review: Skin 79 Super+ BB Cream (Hot Pink)

I know, I know! I am so late on this bandwagon but I've actually had this for so long.

Product review: Garnier 2 in 1 make-up remover

My thoughts on this make-up remover that I've been using for the past month or so.

First impression: Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse Foundation

This is a sample size I received from I believe last month's edition of Glamour magazine.

Product review: Nivea Oil Free Day Cream

I have recently finished my second tube of Neutrogena oil free grapefruit moisturiser and I wanted to try something new. I was strolling down the skincare isle in superdrug and came across this.

Product review: Percy and Reed volumising no oil oil

I got this from an edition of Glamour magazine a while back (more like quite a while back).

Product review: mud therapy by superdrug deep cleansing mud mask

About a month ago, I bought this budget mud mask in Superdrug while I was originally there to pick up some essentials (but we all know those turn into sprees). So here are my thoughts on this mask.

Product Review: Poundland Body Lishuss Body Butter

Tips for oily/combination/acne-prone skin

I know that the excess oil, the acne can be a pain in the backside especially when you have tried so many products but the problem is still not being solved. I've been there, too, and I am still suffering but my skin has definitely improved after I started this regime.

Bioderma Cleansing Water dupe??

Yup, I will be reviewing the L'Oreal micellar solution. I do like the Bioderma one so I thought I would try this and give a mini comparison since I saw this on half price and I needed a new makeup remover/toner.

Product Review: Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Cream Shadow Stick

 

Whilst I'm still quite young, I haven't tried many high end products and I got really excited when I received this gift from one of my good friends for my birthday.

Product review: NYC show time volumising mascara

 

I was interested in trying this after reading Khila from Miss Budget Beauty's blog post.

Product Review: L'oreal Lumi Magique Foundation

I got this in Hong Kong so the name and packaging is slightly different. Instead of being called Lumi Magique, it's Lucent Magique. The glass bottle of the Lucent Magique is also taller than the Lumi Magique. But essentially they're the same product.

Quick Tip - Stretching Out CANVAS Shoes

Ever bought an awesome pair of shoes because it's on sale, knowing that it's a size too small for you? I did...
I knew it wasn't my size but I kept saying to myself that I need them and it'll be fine. Then I went home, put them on and guess what.... they hurt my toes A LOT.

Thankfully, I know a good old trick that would stretch out canvas shoes easily.  
Just put the shoes in the microwave for 30 seconds. When you take them out, they should be warm to the touch. Put them on and wear them around for a while to break them in and they'll eventually mold to your feet. Once they cool down, they should fit your feet nicely. If it doesn't work the first time, put it in for a minute or so again and it should work.

Remember, this only works on CANVAS shoes. You don't want to risk burning your expensive leather stilettos. They also shouldn't cause any sparks on the metal eyelets so don't worry. However, keep an eye on them in case anything happens. You don't want to end up burning your new shoes!! 

Hope this was helpful, and have fun with your new shoes!!

xx Tiffers

Spring/Summer Beauty Picks 2013-Body, Face and Hair

BODY, FACE AND HAIR

Spring/Summer Beauty Picks 2013-Lippies

LIPPIES

Spring/Summer Beauty Picks 2013-Eyes

EYES

Spring/Summer Beauty Picks 2013-Nail Polishes

Spring is here and summer is also just around the corner. All things beauty that I love for these 2 seasons of the year.

NAIL POLISHES

Product review: Rimmel clear complexion clarifying powder with natural minerals

What it claims to do:
"Pure and shine-free finish for up to 5 hours. Clariflies skin thanks to PureSkin complex known to minimise skin breakouts. Controls shine and mattifies skin. Dermatologically tested."

How to - Ombre Hair (with bleach)

A while ago I ombred my friend's hair for her and I decided to show you guys how we achieved a natural looking ombre effect.

The one thing that I hate most is seeing people with badly ombred hair. Their hair ends obviously shows a clear line of where they had bleached their hair. That is not ombre... that's colour blocking... in your hair. Ok rant over.

So how did I get it to look natural? I sectioned her hair off into different parts and left the dye in for different amounts of time.
Following the above picture:
Red ---> 60 minutes
Blue ---> 40 minutes 
Green ---> 20 minutes

After leaving the bleach in the red section for 20 minutes, I brought the bleach up to the blue section. 20 minutes after that I did the same with the green section. (If that made any sense whatsoever)

So hopefully that helped and have fun with your ombre hair!! :D

P.S. I used the Jerome Russel B Blonde powder bleach mixed with their cream peroxide.

-Tiffers xx

Product Review - Live Colour XXL Colour Intense Mystic Violet

I dip dyed my hair purple a while ago and did a post on it (here). I wanted to do a separate review on the hair dye because that post was getting too long and I couldn't really include it in there.

This product retails at £5.59 in Superdrug which I think is a decent price for a hair dye. It claims to be 'waterproof' and therefore is longer lasting.

I had bleached my hair prior to applying the hair dye because I didn't think the dye was going to show up on my dyed black hair. My hair was a bright ginger colour before I dyed it and unfortunately it showed up darker than I wanted it to be. The colour blended in with the rest of my hair in dull lighting (indoors) but underneath sunlight, it shows up as more of a wine colour rather than a deep purple that I had originally wanted. 

As for the lastingness, it did wash out a lot in the first few washes. I could see a lot of colour washing out of my hair but ultimately that made the colour more vibrant (but more of a red). Unfortunately, I had to swim once every week after I dyed my hair which caused it to wash out even more quickly. Immediately after I swam the first week I noticed a significant difference in the colour. Eventually, after 2-3 weeks it turned into more of a dull reddish-gingery colour.

Of course, I didn't take any photos of my purple hair and now I've chopped all of the ends off. But overall the colour lasts a decent amount of time considering purple/red is a very hard colour to maintain. One main tip is to try to wash your hair with cold water and also to avoid swimming to keep the hair colour in for as long as possible.

-Tiffers xx

How to - Dip Dye / Ombre Hair on Dark Hair (COLOUR)

A while ago I decided that I wanted to dye my hair purple but was too much of a wimp to go around school with a full head of purple hair. I mean, have you seen Katy Perry's hair? It's to die for!! She pulls it off so effortlessly as well!!! *goes cry in a pillow*

Anyway, I decided to go the safer route and dip dye my hair purple instead. Now this was very hard because I had just dyed my hair black a month ago. Yes, BLACK. The hardest hair colour to dye over... it's literally impossible. 

Step One - Bleach (lots of it)
Before I could dye my hair any colour, I had to bleach the heck out of it.  Different hair dyes have different amounts of bleach in them and therefore work differently. Unless you are 100% sure that the dye will show up over your natural hair colour, I recommend doing this if you have naturally dark coloured hair (e.g. medium brown to black hair) or if you want a very vibrant colour payoff.

The bleach that I used was from the Jerome Russell B Blonde line. I mixed a packet of the powder bleach along with their developer, and applied it onto the ends of my hair. Since I was going to apply another over it anyway, I didn't make any special effort to blend the colour in. 

I basically applied bleach on the red areas in the above picture. As you can see I applied it in streaks so that I wouldn't end up with a straight line of where the bleach stops in my hair (this is very important!!!). 

Since I had a limited amount of time, I put my hair in a plastic bag and blow dried the ends for 30 minutes (this causes the bleach to develop faster). I recommend leaving the bleach in for 60 minutes and blow drying it during the last 10 minutes for optimal results. After I washed the bleach out, I was left with ginger ends. Bright ginger. 

Step Two - Colour
Finally, onto the actual hair colouring. I used Live Colour XXL Colour Intense in Mystic Violet (review here) for the perfect purple shade. Obviously you can use whatever hair colour you desire. I simply followed the instructions that came with the dye but only applied it only to my ends. Waited for 30 minutes and... TA DAA!! purple ends :D

Unfortunately I was silly enough to not take any pictures of my hair before and after. Now I've chopped it all off so I'm left with no evidence whatesoever. If you're interested in how long the colour lasted on my hair, I've done a review on the hair dye here. Anyway, I hope you found this helpful and have fun dip dying your hair!!

-Tiffers xx

~DISCLAIMER~
If anyone's going to follow this, it WILL be very damaging to your hair, especially if you bleach it. My hair is comparatively strong (and doesn't take dye very easily), but it still felt dry and strawy after the first few washes. I strongly recommend using leave in conditioner as often as possible after doing this.

Product Review: Maybelline eyestudio 24 hour colour tattoo

Product Review - Maybelline Magnum vs Colossal

My current favourite mascara combination has been the Maybelline Magnum and Colossal (applied in that order). I have very thin and short lashes, and when I say short I mean VERY short (they're practically invisible!!). They also stick out straight or droop down which really doesn't help with my hooded eyelids. So naturally I have to apply quite a lot of mascara to get long and luscious lashes. I've tried quite a few of high end mascaras (which I 'borrow' from my mum) but they never really impress me that much. I find drugstore mascaras work much better on my lashes (and my purse!) and I was delighted when I found out about this perfect combination. 

When I first tried the Colossal mascara, I wasn't looking for much (I just wanted a waterproof mascara). So I was pleasantly surprised when it naturally lengthened my lashes and didn't clump up at all. This mascara features quite a big brush which does get annoying when trying to apply it on your lower lashes. It thickened my lashes and lengthened them slightly. A second coat is necessary if you're looking for a more dramatic look. However, it tends to clump your lashes up when you apply a second coat. For people who prefer much more dramatic looking lashes, this might not be the one for you. Lasting wise, I never find any of Maybelline's waterproof mascara's smudging on me. It definitely lasted for the whole day for me (it didn't even run off when I took a shower!!)

Overall, it's nice but doesn't do much compared to other drugstore mascaras.

As for the Magnum, it features a thinner and slightly curved brush, which I think helps curl the lashes. I can apply this without curling my lashes beforehand and it still gives me nice and perky lashes. It lengthens and thickens beautifully which I absolutely LOVE. What's better is that it doesn't clump on me even on the second coat. The first coat gives you natural looking, but long lashes. For a more dramatic effect, applying a second coat definitely helps. However, I would stop there because a third coat seems to be pushing it and it doesn't do much (other than making you look like you only have three lashes).

I definitely prefer this over the Colossal, but the two applied together gives me the perfect effect since one is more volumising than the other one.

xx Tiffers :)

Drugstore Products I Want to Try!!

Everyone's been having the winter blues and as usual, and I've been craving to go on a massive shopping spree!!! Drugstores have been releasing new products lately that I really want to try, so hopefully this would lighten up your mood!! :) 

I saw this in my local drugstore the other day and it reminded me of YSL's lip stain. I've always wanted to try it out but the price is a big turn down, so I was delighted when I found out about this new product. The red shade 'Endless Red' (how original) really caught my eye since I don't have any red lip products. Reviews online seem to be quite widespread: some people say it's a lovely stain with high pigmentation but some say the complete opposite. I guess it depends on the shade (?) Unfortunately these haven't been released in the UK yet but hopefully they will soon. They retail at around $9.99 in the US.

The Maybelline colour tattoos have been out for quite a while now, but I never got one because it didn't seem like a necessity. Everytime I go to Boots I swatch it but then somehow convince myself that I don't need it. It does seem to be very long-lasting and pigmented which is always nice. I wish they would make more shades because the ones they have now are quite peculiar.

Filling in my brows is probably the most important part of my daily routine. However, all I've been using is a dark brown eyeshadow from Natural Collection. It's working well but this brow kits seems to be perfect for brow lovers like me. 

xxTiffers