UK Beauty & Lifestyle Blog

Batiste Cherry // Fruity & Cheeky

We've all come across Batiste in our day to day lives, who hasn't used it? It's every girls..or blokes must have for instant refreshed hair. Previously I've reviewed and confessed my love for their Deep & Dark Brown dry shampoo, now I've been testing out the cheeky Cherry number. Cherry Batiste is one of the latest and there's soon to be another. But has this cheeky can lived up?
Like most from the Batiste range this dry shampoo sprays out a white powder, white powder means a lot more work to make sure you aren't walking around town with grey roots. A personal worry of mine with whatever dry shampoo I use, a reason why I love the tinted range. However, this dry shampoo doesn't leave me grey and massages in easily. I'm lucky to not have overly greasy hair, however it's peace at my mind and refreshes in between every hair wash. I would never have the time to wash my fairly long hair every single day, blow dry and straighten it!? Using this gives me an extra day on top before I have to wash, sounds disgusting but my hair felt amazing, smelt amazing and looked full of volume.
The scent, which is the most important thing about trying different Batiste cans. I love the cherry scent. It's refreshing, it's summery, it's clean and lasts till the next day. I'm a huge fan of fruity fragrances. It still has the typical Batiste scent to it, just a lot sweeter. Cherry is a winner in my book, especially with the cute packaging, perfect product to get you in a summery mood while the weathers this bad.

Disclaimer: This was sent to me, however I only accept products I'd buy for myself and fit my blog. My opinion always stays honest.
Disclaimer: press sample, for review consideration only, no payment received. see disclaimer page for more.

Denman // D3 Zebra Hairbrush.

The D3 brushes from Denman are always popular in the blogging community, I always read reviews about the fabulous scented brushes they do, however being a girl who loves her animal print, I was excited to try this one out.
The D3 Zebra hairbrush is available in Blue, Purple, Pink & White, retailing at £8.68. A little more expensive than the classic D3 hairbrush, but a lot more attractive.
The D3 brush is much heavier than the first Denman brush I used, The Tangle Tamer. However, having a rubber handle makes this brush incredibly easy to hold and have a good grip while you blow dry your hair. Now I'm always one of those people who hates blow drying her hair, because I'm not the best and it's takes ages before seeing static hairs. Using this brush is perfect, it's anti-static.
My hair routine consists of me using The Tangle Tamer, followed by the D3. To give me smooth, silky, tangle free hair and is perfect for styling my side fringe.
The bristles of this brush are nylon, 7 rows of nylon bristles are set in Denman's famous anti-static rubber pad. Which grips your hair to the maximum, without pulling your hair. I'm not the only one to notice how the condition of my hair has improved since using both Denman's and a reduction in the amount of hair on the brush afterwards.
These brushes are amazing for my long hair, especially as I'm still growing mine. I haven't found a single fault with this brush, it's not too heavy, it's very sturdy, it doesn't leave me with any static hairs and I love the print. If you aren't a fan of the zebra, there's the original, scented, diamante, leopard and kisses.
I wouldn't use any other brushes. Everyone needs at least one Denman in their life.

Disclaimer: I was sent this brush to review, however this does not change my opinion on this product. I am not paid for any of the links above. They are there for you.
Disclaimer: press sample, for review consideration only, no payment received. see disclaimer page for more.

Weekly Haul // Primark, SugarHill Boutique & Boots

Hi lovelies, a small haul from me for this week, I ended up in Boots after getting my eyebrows waxed and hairdressers and wanted to just browse, next thing I was picking up a few items. I blame the weather for making me feel yuck again, a little retail therapy makes us all feel better. I also thought I'd include the items I picked up Sunday, a very small trip to my local Primark which I managed to pick up the items Bristol didn't have. Plus my lovely items I picked from my win from Sugar Hill Boutique. One has already been used in an OOTD. 
Used already and I'm in love, I'll review this in a short while. Just wow! I didn't know you could ever feel like this about a foundation!? This is usually priced at £10.99, it is currently  £6.99, well worth a try.
I've read about this ages ago, however I always forget, so when I spotted this I had to pick it up. The price was missing, so to find this is only £4.99 was great. It is polish remover, however it is 'magic' you hold your finger into the sponge. I will test this out soon. Note it does not smell of vanilla. Shame.
The whole range is £1.99 in Boots, so it was about time to pick one up. The bigger size bottles are £3.99. Both have £1 off at the moment.
My items came with this cute shopper bag. I love the anchor print. Such a lovely touch. 
My new favourite item in my wardrobe, which I featured in my last OOTD.
Fits so perfect and can be tied higher. I'm hooked on Sugar Hill Boutique now, I can see why the 'celebs' love it so much.
These shorts are so out there for me and I love them. I have to feature them in an outfit of the day, they fit so nice!
The cutest Primark top in history if you ask me and such a bargain. I had to get it since it was the only one there. ;)
The last item of my little haul, I'm addicted to sheer shirts and I've had a few of Primarks sheer shirts for this summer. This design is pretty busy and I like it, some will hate it. They had so many patterns.
What have you been buying?

Revlon // Lip Butter in Sweet Tart

I caved in while shopping in Cabot Circus the other week, the product that everyone and their Nan has been talking about. I'd heard so many mixed reviews about this product and didn't want to go Lip Butter crazy. Now I wish I had, since the 3 for 2 offer was on. These Lip Butters are one of the blogging hypes I can say I do in fact love too! Staying power of a sheer lipstick and lightness of a lip balm, what a perfect product.
Sweet Tart was the first shade I picked out, in my local Boots, colours are limited, thankfully Bristol has the whole range. I'm on such a bright and bold lip craze at the moment. I used to be so boring with my lips. It's a pretty out there,   bright pink when built up, though lollipop is brighter. I've worn this pretty much every other day. The finish is super glossy, one of the main reasons I love it. I get dry lips, Lip Butters are the miracle product for me. Gorgeous colours, great pigmentation, buildable and non lip drying. 
This Lip Butter has no glitter, Sweet Tart is going to be my go to summer lip. Personally the staying power is amazing, the gloss stayed for a few hours, the colour lasted a good 8. While being so glossy, Sweet Tart doesn't feel at all sticky. I was surprised at how well it stayed put even after eating and drinking. 
The packaging of the Lip Butters is pretty, I love the sort of quilted look. They look more expensive than they are and are really sturdy. The lids won't come loose in your handbag. You can see through the top of the lid what the actual product is like. I didn't bother swatching, the testers were a right mess.
Disclaimer: purchased by me. Will purchase again.

How to // Moustache Nails.

Hi lovelies, as promised here's my how to for the Moustache nails featured in my  latest OOTD. I'm in love with them and they really have received so many compliments and looks out and about as well as on here and twitter. They're super easy and you don't have to be amazing at nail art. 
The moustaches are actually nail decals, I purchased mine from a lovely eBay seller. I highly recommend her. Even when nail wraps claim to be thin, they still lift up after a few days when on your hands. However with nail decals, they are just like another layer of polish that you then, top coat over and you're ready to go. 
What you will need:
How To:
Step 1. File, shape and paint your nails any colour you like. I picked a nude polish.
Step 2. Cut out all moustaches as close as you can get, this is fiddly. Mine aren't perfect.
Step 3. Then place one at a time into a very shallow bowl of water, wait for 30 seconds and you should see the decal lift off the paper. Lift it out before it comes off completely. You don't want to ruin it.
Step 4. Place your decal onto your nail into position. Leave to dry. It won't take long. Then repeat for each one.
Step 5. Once completed, top coat over and your nails are complete. I used a top coat that needed to be cured with a UV light. 


Disclaimer: all items shown were purchased by myself.

OOTD // Fun at the fair

Morning lovelies, I'm keeping to blogging an OOTD on a Saturday. Recently I was lucky enough to win a £50 voucher to spend at Sugarhill Boutique. A British brand that now has worldwide stockist's. Sugarhill Boutique is full of vintage inspired shapes and prints. The brand is incredibly popular with celebrities and it's incredibly affordable. With my £50 voucher I picked out two items. The first item is featured in today's outfit of the day. The Merry Go Blouse in Mink. I just love the Merry Go Round Horses on this blouse! The quality and fit are brilliant. Their XS fit me perfectly. This retails at £36.
I paired it with my all time favourite legging jeans from Gap. They are the best jeggings I've come across. I'm the jegging queen. I've tried so many from Primark to Juicy Couture. Gap is the winner. 
This weeks nails are the Moustache decals I picked up from here. A full tutorial on my blog will be coming soon, I have some left, so I may venture into Nail tutorials on Youtube if people want?
Following the Nail topic, I'm still using Rebel Nails, the brand I swear by, they'll be featured again soon, again if anyone wants a video on how to use let me know. I feel like being creative! I have so many nail ideas.
Finishing with my two favourite rings (newlook) & wedges from Red herring, that I thought went well with the whole vintage print on the shirt.
What will you be wearing this weekend?
Disclaimer: The shirt was purchased with a voucher I won, however I did not have to feature, nor did they know I blogged. Everything else but the Rebel Nails wraps were purchased by me. This does no affect my opinion. 100% honest.

MUA // Lip Boom in Cheeky

As most of us know, MUA and Alexandra Burke have collaborated and designed the all new 'Lip Booms'. At the moment nothing on the high street can compare. Alex herself has chosen the 8 shades for this 4 in 1 lip stick and highlighting gloss duo. The purpose of the highlighting gloss is to create fuller, curvaceous looking lips and will be a SS12 product every UK beauty blogger will want, regardless of if you're a fan of Alex or not. You can always remove the packaging. The highlighting gloss can be worn alone, over the lipstick - completely, centre or cupids bow, which happens to be my favourite way!
How I got on:
Packaging: is okay, for an item that costs £3, you can't complain. I've had no problems with it, the product seems sturdy, both ends. And comes with a little 'pot' of lipstick at the end of the actual lipstick. All are clearly named. I love the shade names, no numbers, as I always forget what shades I have with most of the MUA products.
Lipstick: Wearing the lipstick on it's own gives a matte look, something that when you get dry lips like me can be off putting, but it's nothing extra conditioning before can't fix and they haven't made my lips any dryer. I love this pale pink/barbie-ish pink shade. Wearing the cheeky lip boom created a lot of compliments. The wear of this lipstick lasted around 4-5 hours. Shopping, drinking and eating. I'm always a fan of MUA lipsticks.
Highlighter: I prefer to use it on my cupids bow and extending a bit. I'm not a fan of the highlighter in the centre of my lips. A light application at the top works best for me and looks great in person. An all over gloss can work okay for the evening, however in the day, I wouldn't. The gloss itself is great, but it reduces the wear time by half when worn together, for £3 you can afford to reapply. I haven't found the gloss to be so gritty as others have found, since I apply mine mostly to the top of my lip/cupids bow. They taste great of vanilla and aren't sticky.

Will you be trying these out? I'll be buying more!
Disclaimer: I did receive this item to review, however this does not change my opinion.
Disclaimer: press sample, for review consideration only, no payment received. see disclaimer page for more.

Weekly Haul // A Collective Haul of a Shopaholic

 Yesterday I ended up going to Cabot Circus and picked up a lot of products I've had my eyes. 
While my boots I wore murdered my feet, I had to purchase some cheap neutral pumps featured below and do a quick change on the Primark stairs. Which amused Mr Security Guard a fair bit. Bristol people are so friendly. £5 pumps who can complain.
Boots sales girl bashed all high end products and confessed her love for lip butters. Lush staff tried to hassle me. I hate to be a know it all, but I always know more than them, stop trying to smoother me in wrong products.
I've been a bit of an eBay junkie when it comes to nails and I've picked up some great bargains and new products that I've wanted for ages. 
My Newlook items have already been featured in my last OOTD, that jinxed the weather.
What have you been buying? 

Eos Lip Balm // Sweet Mint

These lip balms have been around for a fair amount of time, however they weren't easy to get hold of in the UK. Eos lip balms are known for their odd packaging that sets them aside from every other lip balm in the market. From seeing these feature in every American youtubers videos, I've always wanted to try them and see if they live up to the hype. Sphere lip balms anyone?
Like all lip balms, the Eos balms set out to keep your lips looking healthy. The lip balm itself is 100% natural and 95% organic, which I think is great, no nasty chemicals burning away to beat those dry lips. Being 100% natural, they are petrolatum & paraben free. The main ingredients are Shea butter, Jojoba oil, coconut oil and vitamin E. You should have the best lips in town.
I had Sweet Mint to try out, I love mint lip balms and glosses, I've had quite a few over the years. I love the tingle they give to your lips and how refreshed they make you feel. However if mint isn't for you, they have a wide range of flavours for you, Honeysuckle Honeydew, Lemon Drop, Strawberry Sorbet, Summer Fruit, Tangerine and Passion Fruit, however you can only get Passion fruit here in a duo. Once I use my mint up, I'll buy the duo, as I'm a huge passion fruit fan and it comes with Strawberry Sorbet. You can purchase these lip balms on a number of sites.
I've used this lip balm every day since it arrived and I love it, I think i prefer it to my regular Burt's Bees. It banishes dry lips with regular use and tastes great. The packaging causes so many questions, I worried the sphere product would be too big for my lips, but it fits so well. They should start creating blushes this way, who else agrees? Packaging is a gorgeous colour and is sturdy enough to survive in and out of my handbag. It's now my most reached for product.

Have you used any of these before? 
Disclaimer: this was sent to me to review, however this is my honest opinion.
Disclaimer: press sample, for review consideration only, no payment received. see disclaimer page for more.

No7 Beautiful Skin // Hydration Mask

At the start of the year No7 released a new range of products for each skin type. Who's dashboards were flooded by the Beautiful Skin Starter Kits? Mine was and I was one joining the hype! After picking up my set and loving it, there was one product not included that caught my eye, this was the No7 Beautiful Skin Hydration Mask. This retails at £12.50 for 100ml. 
The hydration mask isn't for everyone sadly, it's in the Dry/Very Dry skin range, maybe if your dry/normal. The Hydration Mask was created to help dry skin behave like normal skin and tailor nutrition to give a healthy, bright complexion. This is a drug store product, however it is a fairly thick luxurious feeling cream. It pumps out in a light pinkish tinted cream. In the pump when new, it sort of looks like whippy ice cream, but once used a few times the two colours seem to merge and swirls are lost a bit. Like all products from No7, it is Hypo-allergenic and made in the UK.
I personally love the packaging of all the products in this range, especially this one, it allows you to see how much product you have left. Lilac is one of my favourite colours, so I love that it's the colour for my category. The packaging looks smart, clean and more expensive than it is. The black text is clear, with all the instructions you'll need. It's a straight forward product. The lid however was incredibly hard to get off, at one point I pulled the actual pump out. To stop your product getting all over the cap and becoming messy and unhygienic, the product comes with a little stopper/peg to put back in after. The Hydration Mask is one of the best looking skin care bottles in my drawer.
The product works wonders for me, I wanted to give it a good use before I reviewed as skin products are a hard one. Though, I feel the same about this product as I did the first time I used it. I love it. It gets rid of any dry skin, it's helped clear up the odd breakouts I get monthly. My skin has never been this soft. If it was cheaper I'd use it every single day as an actual cleanser.
I hope my love for this product really shows through! It's brilliant, I couldn't ask for a better product, it beats any dry skin I have, even on those bad skin days. In fact I have the product on right now. I'd love to know if you've tried it?

Lunar Haze // Natural Collection

For the past almost week this has been the colour of my nails, in my recent haul, if you read it, you will know I decided to retry The Natural Collection in Boots. I hadn't had anything from them in years. Some of the polishes aren't exciting and you will own similar shades already, however Lunar Haze stood out for me. It's a gorgeous iridescent purple polish with a blue undertone. It's one of those polishes you find yourself staring at whenever it catches a different light.
Lunar Haze retails at £1.89, however it's also currently in the Boot's 3 for 2 offer. For such a stand out shade, it's a great price for 8ml of polish. It took 3 coats of this polish to get the shade shown in the photos, which is pretty average when it comes to polishes. I applied my usual top coat over. The Seche Ultra V top coat makes your nails look like glass. 
I've been wearing this polish since Sunday, I have the smallest chip on my little finger, hardly noticeable and no tip wear on the other nine nails. For £1.89, you can't go wrong. I can't stop raving about it, the brush is really good, with some cheaper polishes the brushes are useless, this fits my nails perfectly, I had no mistakes. I give this polish a 10/10. For as long as they make this polish I will always repurchase. 

Have A LUSH Easter // The Immaculate Eggception

Last Sunday I was lucky enough to receive both colours of The Immaculate Eggception - the Easter egg 'gift set', as part of my Easter gifts from my parents. I've always received Lush since my obsession started, for Easter. It retails at £7, around the same price as any decent Easter egg and 100% calorie free.
Both colours smell the exact same and contain either a chick or a bunny ballistic inside, that's the 'surprise rattle'. A few people have been wanting to know how to crack these? The answer is just whack them. I suggest placing in a plastic food bag, you don't want yellow powder everywhere, do it right, like me and yours will crack in half...it may have been down to luck ;) . How cute is the chick inside the yellow egg?
The outer shell of The Immaculate Eggception eggs are half ballistic and half bubble bar. However I didn't get a mountain of bubbles, it was just an extra fizzy bath bomb. There was no way I'd use the whole egg, I used half and personally I think that was way too much, the bath was incredibly bright as it did stain the bath, it cleans off however. Next time I'm using 1/4. By doing this you will get 5 baths out of your £7 egg. Eggcellent.
The scent is simply amazing, although it is said to be a new scent, it smells just like the Donkeyoatey, from last years collection. I loved that little guy. My room currently smells of this, it really overpowers the other Lush scents. It's the perfect Easter scent, full of ylang ylang, grapefruit and vanilla absolute, giving you that chocolaty scent. It lasted on my skin all Easter Sunday, the house smelt incredible, I do love it when you have Lush baths in the morning.
As I said before, this was my results using half an egg and tonight I'll be using a 1/4, to get the most out of this cracking product from Lush. Did the Easter bunny bring you one? I won't be reviewing the pink, unless there's a drastic change. This gets a 9/10. I don't want to use the chick inside, he's just too damn cute!

The Tangle Tamer // Denman

Having and growing your hair longer is hard work. I hate the chore of washing my hair, I dread the knots and tangles after or when it needs a cut. I've tried a few brushes and treatments in the past and recently I've got my hands on one of these, a Tangle Tamer by Denman. I've always heard great things about Denman, especially from my family. My Mum used to be a hairdresser when my age and always swore by Denman and still does. The Tangle Tamer retails at £6.20 and can be found in your local Boots, Superdrug, supermarkets, salons, many other independent stores or online.
The Tangle Tamer is designed to ease tangles and knots, gently, rather than causing more damage to your hair and leaves a super smooth finish. The bristles are cluttered together in two different lengths. Both lengths are super soft and glided through my hair with so much ease. No pulling at my hair. It was wonderful!! Magic. Plus it's pink, everything is better when in pink.
The bristles are sat in a air cushioned rubber pad. The brush is the lightest brush I have owned. It was the first thing I noticed about the Tangle Tamer. I have small hands and this brush fits perfectly in them. So far I haven't gone as far as using it when I wash my hair, I do use this brush to brush through wet hair straight after and it's a Guardian angel.
 I've heard many bloggers talking about how this brush is better than well known alternatives. Since using this I've actually packed my alternatives away and used this brush every day. I'm not the only one who's noticed a big difference in how silky and super smooth my hair feels. I've had a lot less frizz too and even less tangles. The brush is also available in black for those who don't like hot pink. I personally love the design in pink.
If you struggle with tangles, I'd recommend you trying this brush. It's perfect for little ones too. I wish I'd had one when I was a child. That L'oreal detangle spray was only, ever good for the smell. It's surprising how many products Denman have on their site, especially their own makeup brushes!
Have any of you used a Tangle Tamer?

Disclaimer: This was sent to me to review, however I'm 100% honest and incredibly thankful as it's really worked or should I say tamed wonders! No affiliate links.
Disclaimer: press sample, for review consideration only, no payment received. see disclaimer page for more.
© Lucyy Writes

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