Lincs Blog Meet 21/06/14

First of all, I want to say that I am a rubbish blogger, I really am. Throughout the whole day, I took one photo. Yes. ONE. Luckily though, it seemed a lot of other bloggers were far better than me and had their cameras out the whole day, so if you like looking at photos, I suggest checking the other bloggers out.

So yesterday was the day of the highly anticipated Lincs Blog Meet organised by Amy (www.cocktailsinteacups.com) and Bel (www.journeysaremydiary.com). I only found out about it about 4 weeks before the actual event, thanks to Kate inviting me. After lots of tweets and emails, it was decided that Kate would drive and pick me and two other bloggers up. I've already said it on twitter, but thanks again Kate for getting us there :)

The meet was due to start at half 10, but thanks to traffic and an indecisive sat nav, we were about half an hour late. By the time we had parked and found Primark, the others had already disappeared on the treasure hunt Amy and Bel had set for us. We had to find various shops or landmarks, take a photo and upload to twitter with the hashtag #lincsblogmeet. We managed just three before heading over to Ask Italian for Lunch.

I had the Pollo Piccante Con Pancetta pizza, which was the only photo I took. Are you ready for it? Here it is.

Whilst we were eating we had talks from two lovely ladies, one from Weleda, and one from Boots. The lady at Boots also gave us a huge bag of samples that never seemed to end!

Throughout the afternoon there was also a raffle with 10 prizes. I was lucky enough to win some Paperself eye lashes which are so pretty I don't know if I'd actually wear them as I'm scared they'll break.

Another exciting aspect of the day was the beauty swap. We were encouraged to bring things we didn't use or want to swap for other products. I didn't actually bring anything myself as I don't subscribe to beauty boxes, and I'm that tight, I only buy something if I'm 100% sure I want it and I'm going to use it. However at the end, there were still loads of products left that nobody wanted, so rather than the hosts take them home with them, they suggested the rest of us take a look and see if we can offer anything a good home. I spotted a lot of Weleda baby sample, and I have a ten months old niece, so I took them home with me.

Before we left, Amy and Bel handed out the goody bags. They had done an amazing job getting so many different brands on board, such as Benefit, Lush, Batiste, Lipcote etc. I'm excited to try everything in the goody bags but the things I'm most looking forward to trying is the Lush cleanser Aqua Marina.
Nivea's Body Conditioners.

And this Weleda Body oil which smells divine.

Once we finished and paid the bill, we headed off to Lush. I only bought one thing, due to us receiving some stuff in our goody bags. I decided to try the bubble bar in Brightside as it smelt gorgeous.

We headed home soon after because we were all shattered. I had such a good time and look forward to attending more meets in the future. Once again, thanks Amy and Bel for organising it.

Glossy Box VS Birchbox (Offers+ Free Gifts)

I feel like I should write a little bit of a back story before I begin this post. I've never subscribed to a beauty box before although I've bought my sister a subscription as a gift. However, every month I read people's reviews and debate whether I should do it. Of course, there's the problem of which one to subscribe too as I have two best friends who subscribe to different ones and each claim theirs is the best.

Both June boxes looked so good, that I was contemplating buying them anyway. I stumbled across a discount code for Birchbox which allowed me £5 off, bringing the cost to about £7 including postage.

After I had paid, I received an email from Glossybox (who my sister was subscribed with) informing me that if I subscribed to at least a three month subscription, I'd receive another box worth over £30. I thought about this for a while as £40 obviously is a lot more than £7. However, I loved the June box and I believe next months is American Beauty Heroes so I decided to go for it.

I ordered my Glossybox 2 days after my Birchbox and it actually came yesterday, whereas my Birchbox arrived today.

I'll start with my Glossybox as they were the first ones that arrived. I know a lot of people have talked about this months box so I'm not going to go too indepth (though I probably will as I'm a very rambly person).

Nailgirls 3-in-1 base/topcoat & Nail Strenghener

This product is full size and is worth £13.50! I'm always on the look out for a good topcoat and haven't found my holy grail so maybe this will be it. Very impressed with this.

Teeez Trend Cosmetics - Beautiful Flat Stiff Brush

I love my makeup brushes and I'm always pleased to receive new ones whether this is with a magazine, in a goodybag etc. This one looks amazing with the colourful print and once again I'm very impressed. This brush retails at £19

L'Oreal Paris - Volume Million Lashes Black

Mascara's are the one product I don't really buy as I have so many and they have such a short use by date (not that I take any notice of it.) But I own a L'Oreal Mascara and it's one of my faves so it will be interesting to use this. Although I'm not overwhelmed with it, just because it's something I have a lot of, I imagine a lot of people will be glad to get it, and I love receiving new makeup to try as opposed to skin care products or hair products.

So Susan Cosmetics Concealer Quad

The reason I wanted the June box so much is because of the So Susan Cosmetics. I've never tried them before but they intrigued me. I actually wanted the blush as I feel like it doesn't matter about your skin shade with blush, but I received the concealer. I haven't used this yet, but I'm happy that there is four different shades so one will definitely match my skin. I'm intrigued about the white shade too. Again, another product I'm impressed with and costing £20, I have high hopes for it.

Rituals... Qi Gong -Spray

The only thing that wasn't linked to makeup is deodorant. I'm actually quite pleased about this as it's something I wasn't expecting, but something everyone would use. It costs £3.50, which is a bit more than what I usually spend on spray, but I'm interested in how well it works.

Now onto my mystery box that came free with it.

EMITE MAKE UP Lip Brush

Another make up brush! I'm so pleased with this as I don't own a good quality lip brush. This alone is worth £17.

MONU Spa - Warming Ginger Massage & Body Oil

It's stuff like this that sometimes puts me off buying beauty boxes, because although this may be a wonder product and I might eat my words, I just don't use stuff like this. To be fair, I don't really buy it either. I guess this is the problem of you can't please everyone. I don't know if I'll actually be able to use this as my boyfriend moans when he has to rub suncream on my back (he says it makes his hand greasy.)

MeMeMe Cosmetics - Beat the Blues - Pearl Pink.

Highlighting has become a firm favourite in my beauty routine so I'm so pleased to have received this. I love Benefit's High Beam and this seems like a cheaper dupe. This is £5.50 full sized so really affordable.

TRESemme Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo

Another product I'm chuffed with. I use dry shampoo quite a lot so I will definitely get my use out of this.

Unica Cosmetics Radiance Plus

I don't know how I feel when I receive anti aging products because I'm only 21. This little pot would be great for travelling though, or popping some hand cream into it when it's empty for my handbag. This smells a mix between lavender and licorice which isn't the most pleasant. I'll probably give this to my mum and keep the pot.

I received my Birchbox after my Glossybox and was surprised at the size difference. The box is noticeably smaller but this wasn't really surprising when I opened the box. Whereas Glossybox give full sized products most of the time, I think all my Birchbox ones were samples. I ordered the Birchbox because I wanted to try the much talked about Beauty Blender (and see if it compares to my £1 Primark sponge which looks exactly the same.) I know obviously different people get different products, and unfortunately didn't receive it, but I thought Birchbox would make up for it somehow with their other products, which I don't feel they did.

Silk + Honey Shea Butter Hair Mask.

On the little card I received, it says that this is £55 for the full DIY set, whatever that means. The one thing I didn't like with the box is that although it said how much the full sized products were, it didn't say how much the samples were worth. I do like hair masks and I'm interested how this works for that price.

Jane Iredale Just Kissed Cheek & Lip Stain

I was quite annoyed with this product. It's so small, I just don't see the point in it. I noticed some people were receiving Yves Rocher lipsticks and I don't know if they were full sized or not, but if they were, why didn't we get full sizes of this product? I don't know, I just feel one full sized product would have completely raised the quality of this box, but I guess not. This product seems nice though, although I'm scared of losing it, it's so small!

Caudalie Vinoperfect SPF Day Perfecting Fluid

I've never heard of this brand before, but when reading other Birchbox reviews, some people seemed excited to receive this so I hope it's good. Again, another annoyance. I tried to squeeze some on the back of my hand but nothing came out. I had to literally shake the bottle a few times, just to get some product out. It was almost like the tube was half empty, and they could have filled it a bit more. Nevertheless, I'm excited to try this.

OPI Nail Lacquer

Probably the best item in the box was this nail polish in a lovely blue shade. I only own an OPI shatter polish but my sister used them at her salon. Although this is only a mini, I feel like I'll get a few uses from it.

Aromatherapy Associates

I don't really use bath oil, just because I've never bought it or been gifted it, so I was excited to get this, until I saw the size of it. This is enough for just one bath. It costs £39 full sized. How on earth am I going to decide to spend that much on an oil after using it once? I don't know, but again another disappointment.

Birchbox Keyring

I think this is a cute touch, although I won't use this keyring as it's not my taste.

Overall, I think it's safe to say that Glossybox won the battle of the boxes. I did have to spend £40, but just for these products alone, I'm happy about that, nevermind that I also have another 2 boxes on the way! With the Birchbox, I just feel it was hit and miss with a lot of people. I know everyone wanted the beauty blender, so I don't see when they have cult products like that, they don't just put one in everyones box like Glossybox did with the So Susan products. Maybe because I ordered at the end of June, or used an offer I got the leftovers that no one wanted, but it's definitely not a good way to encourage people to subscribe because I certainly won't.

Although I will use the little bags the Birchbox products came with to store my sample like they suggest. I do think that's a cool idea.

My Top 5 Summer/Holiday Lipsticks!

I know when most people go on holiday, they probably antagonize over how many pairs of shoes to take, how many different dresses, whether this top will go with that pair of shorts. Well, I have these problems too, except the indecisiveness extends to my makeup bag. I lust for the days when I literally could fit my entire makeup collection into one bag and still have room for more; but since discovering blogging and the addictive nature of beauty products, I actually don't think my entire collection would fit in my hand luggage bag any more.

Some choices will be easy to make such as base products, but the one thing I'm thinking over the most is what lipsticks to take. I'm going away for 2 weeks, so I decided 5 would be a suitable number of lipsticks to take without going overboard. I currently own over 30 lipsticks so it wasn't easy choosing between them but I did it.

1) No one needs me to tell them that orange lips are huge this summer, and it seems that a firm beauty blogger favourite is the Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in the shade 'Audacious.' I find that this applies best over a layer of lip balm, as matte lipsticks tend to sink into the cracks of my lips. Other than that, I absolutely love this lipstick, from the colour to the packaging to the minty taste of the product.

2) My new favourite lipstick is Rimmel's Kate 110. Like the previous lipstick, this one is also a matte shade. I saw Suzanne Jackson of SoSueMe wear this and instantly wanted it. It's more red than the Revlon lipstick, but the formula is amazing and I never have any problems with the way it looks on my lips. I'll probably be wearing this the most, as it's so beautiful.

3) This lipstick was featured in my May favourites and it's Macaroon by Topshop. I've been wearing this so much and I think it's definitely got a place in my holiday makeup bag. It looks very pink in the tube but once on, it's almost a nudey pink shade.

4) I need a classic red in my makeup bag just in case we decide to go out for a nice meal or a show and I think this Bourjois one fits the bill. I was torn between this one and my Collection 'Queen of Hearts' lipstick, but I think the shade I picked is more summery as it's a bit lighter.

5) Lastly is this MUA one I picked up a couple of weeks ago. I think everyone needs a nude lipstick wherever they go, for when they want to go big on the smokey eye. This lipstick is shade 14 and only cost £1!

What are your holiday lipstick picks?

Fragrance Direct Competition - Natural Day Time Makeup Tutorial

I found out a few days ago that Fragrance Direct are hosted a competition in conjunction with The Sunday Girl to become the new face of Fragrance Direct. I'm a big fan of Fragrance Direct and have posted two hauls previously on my blog, so I decided to have a go.

The rules are to create a tutorial about one of your favourite beauty looks. I decided to go for my normal everyday makeup look, which is kind of like a natural smokey eye. I think this look is perfect for everything, from popping to the library to going for a nice meal. If you want to glam it up, all you have to do is add a bold lip.

First of all, I apply my Soap and Glory Feel Good Factor BB cream. I do this everyday whether I'm wearing makeup or not. It moisturizes, primes and provides an SPF for my skin, which is important especially this time of year.

After I've rubbed that in, I apply my foundation. I really like Maybelline's Fit Me foundation and I'm shade 115. I find it's amazing if you want dewy, glowy skin, and doesn't everyone? I use my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to blend it in.

Next is my Collection Lasting Perfection concealer. I apply this under my eyes, on my blemishes, and around my nose to conceal redness. I use my Real Techniques Foundation brush to blend this in.

I use my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder to set my face, and get rid of any unwanted shininess. The brush I use is No7 Powder brush.

I use my Sleek Face Form kit in 'light.' I really like the blush. I pat this onto my face rather than brush it on as I feel I have more control over how much product I use. I don't want to go overboard on the highlighter so I only apply a little to each cheek. I use my Eco Tools Blush brush.

Now my face is done, I can move onto my eyes. I always fill my brows in first. I use my HD Brow kit in the shade 'Foxy.' This is a little on the expensive side but I love it. I use a mixture of the light and dark brown shades to fill my brows in and make them look natural. I use an angled brush from Eco Tools, as you can see my highlighter smashed and makes my HD brush very dirty.

Before I do anything to my eye makeup, I make sure my eyes are primed. I really like my E.L.F eye primer. It just makes sure my makeup stays in place and doesn't melt away after an hour.

Everyone loves a nude eye, and one of my favourite palettes is Urban Decay's Naked Basics. First I use the shade 'Venus' all over my lid and upto my brow bone.

Then I use the shade 'Naked 2' all over the lid.

Lastly, using my Eco Tools smokey eye brush, I use the shade 'Faint' in the outer corner of my eye and smoked lightly underneath.

I never used to use eyelash curlers, but since getting these Eyeko ones free in a magazine, I never apply mascara without them.

I've been enjoying my Rimmel Scandaleyes Lycra Flex mascara, it even rivaling my love for more high end mascaras I own.

Macara applied to the left eye

To finish my look, I apply my Balmi Lip Balm, but like I said earlier, you could easily add a bold lipstick to transform this look into a more sophisticated one.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and if you want to enter, you have until Thursday the 19th to do so.

This competition is open to all bloggers, for T&Cs go to http://www.fragrancedirect.co.uk/page/competition'