You, Me & Beauty...

For me summer has finally started, I'm currently blogging from the beautiful island of Mallorca, and I'll be here until September (Lucky me!!). With the summer comes all the lovely products that are catered to protecting and caring for your skin, hair etc from that gorgeous yet harmful (if your not careful) sun. 

Before leaving to come to Mallorca i did a cheeky Feelunique order, and the L'Oréal Professional Solar Sublime Advanced Protection spray was the product i was most excited to try out. 

I've had a chance to try this product out in both the sea and the pool, and I also let my sister use it to get a second opinion, and we both love it. Priced at £11.25 you can't really go wrong. It has UV protection that creates a light film around the hair to protect it from any sun exposure; and it doesn't leave your hair greasy or sticky, in fact mine and my sister's hair felt softer once it had dried. The smell is another plus, it just oozes summer with it's tropical scent, which lingers in the hair even after its dried. 

I could not recommend this product enough! There are far more expensive ones on the market that do the same thing, but I just can't justify spending all that much money when, in my opinion this one is just as good. You get 125ml in the bottle, and only need a few light sprays to cover your whole head, so it will last you ages. 

Lara x 

Almost five months ago i celebrated my 19th birthday. I got to celebrate it with my amazing friends in the city of Madrid, i honestly thought it couldn't get any better, that is until my friend pulled out the birthday present that he got me, and its safe to say that the boy did very well! Knowing my love for all things beauty, and how i like to keep up with the latest products, he got me the Ayurveda Gift Set from Rituals... 

In the gift set you get a 200ml bottle of the Yogi Flow shower foam (full size), 150ml of the Daily Rose deodorant (full size), 75ml of the Yogi Flow foot scrub (full size), 70ml of the Honey Touch body cream (sample size), 70ml of Brilliant Bliss shampoo (sample size), and lastly a 100ml sample of the Energy Bubbles bath cream. Now if you ask me thats pretty good value for money, with the gift set priced at £32.50 (naughty Lara for looking up the price of a gift) you get full sizes in what in my opinion are the best products, and the sample sizes are large enough for you too have a good old test of them before you go out and buy the full size. The over all smell of the Ayurveda collection is very tropical, with the exception of the foot scrub, and when you use any of the products, whether it be the shower foam or a spray of the deodorant, its smells like you could be on a beach somewhere sipping a pina colada, making these products that you will love to use on a daily basis.

Yogi Flow Shower Foam

The shower foam was probably the thing that i was most excited to try as im a sucker for nice smelling shower products. When i first used this product i was unaware of how powerful the pump was, all it took was one push and a load of foam was all over my shower door, never the less i managed to get some onto my hands and actual use it properly. The fact that the product is already a foam consistency means that it lathers up in a instant, and i don't know about you but, if a product doesn't lather well, weather it be a shampoo or body wash it gains an instant position on my naughty list of products. Having used the product a  few times, i can safely say that this is one of the most hydrating body wash products i have ever used, i went through a bit of a dry skin phase while using this and i think it really helped.

The sent of the shower foam doesn't last on your skin once it has been washed off; personally this doesn't bother me and it certainly isn't a downfall of the product, as i like to be able to put a perfume on without the sent of my shower products distorting it, however it does make your bathroom smell heavenly for quite some time.

Daily Rose Spray Deodorant 

On to my second favourite product in the set. Normally spray deodorants aren't really my thing, i given the choice, i'd much rather have a stick deodorant; However it was like love at first spray, its no surprise that the smell was what made me fall in love with it initially, it definitely in keeps with the overall tropical feel of the set. The way it went onto my skin is also another reason why i really like this product (as weird as that may sound) most spray deodorants seem to go onto my skin at 100mph and its always a bit of a shock... for me at least, but this comes out as a mist, and this makes it much nicer to put on. I usually put this on just before i head out to class, and if i had a euro for every time someone has asked me what perfume im wearing, i'd be one wealthy student; you can only imagine their surprise when i tell them that its in fact my deodorant.

Its slightly pricier than your average drug store/high street deodorant but if you ask me it is definitely worth every penny.

Yogi Flow Foot Scrub

This was the surprise product for me, as im kind of picky about my scrubs, i like the ones with the big grains so it actually feels like its doing something, this goes for both face a body scrubs. When i first used this product i decided to do it as a part of one of my pamper nights nice which i do from time to time, and it made giving myself a pedicure a much more enjoyable experience. I would call this the black sheep of the gift set, as it doesn't inkeep with the overall tropical sent, instead it is very minty and refreshing, and once applied it has a lovely cooling affect on the feet. 

Being an oil-based product it is very hydrating and after having it on for about 20 minutes the oils will have soaked into your feet; because its so hydrating a foot moisturiser isn't really necessary, however if you wanted to take pampering to the next level, follow up with a heavy duty moisturiser and sleep with soaks on and in the morning you'll have feet to be marvelled at! 

Honey Touch Body Cream

If you're one of those people who like to feel the moisturiser on their skin then this is the product for you, however if your not, you may want to have a hunt for something else as i found the cream it leave a residue on my skin for a good hour or two, but lucky i quite like that in a body moisturiser. Combined with the shower foam, this is your skins dream as it is left hydrated and thanks to the cream, it is left smelling pretty heavenly. 

I would definitely consider buying the full size of this and use it for days when i want to smell and feel amazing!

Energy Bubbles Bath Cream

Talking of things that smell heavenly, this bubble bath is incredible. There is not much else to say really, it produces bubbles like no other and the smell will send you into the most calm a relaxed state. Just add some candles and relaxing music and you're good to go! 

Brilliant Bliss Ultra-Shine Shampoo

Its a shame that the conditioner isn't also in the set as i would have loved to have tried them both together. The shampoo however is good, again as with as with all the other products the smell is by far the biggest plus, however i can't say that it was particularly nourishing or that it made my hair ultra shiny, but it did the job i guess, i would be interested to see if my opinion would change is i had a the conditioner as well... i will keep you posted! 

I don't know if its obvious or anything but i really do love this set! I have tried not to use anything too much as i don't want anything to run out, i would highly recommend the gift set, wether it is a gift to your sister, friend, mum or simply just a little gift to yourself. Thank God my friend brought this for me or i would probably have never tried any of these products, and im now looking into making a few more cheeky purchases form Rituals...

Lara x

First off i feel like i should apologise for being a bit MIA recently, its been a crazy few months and blogging kind of slipped my mind; but fear not, i'm back, and i've come back with a haul for you guys. Now i don't know about you, but im a big fan of hauls, maybe its because im incredibly nosey like that; this is only a small one, but hey, any new makeup is good right?

So being the smart shopper that i am, i brought all the products at El Corte Ingles here in Madrid (i think the english equivalent would probably be John Lewis) and because i have a foreign passport i got a 10% discount (nice bit of helpful information for anyone traveling to Spain). 

Nars Blush in Gilda

Nars Long Than Life Long-Wear Eyeliner in Rue Bonaparte

Now im not a fan of wearing/ applying false eyelashes, therefore i always buy mascaras that can give me the same amount of intensity minus all the fussing about. For this reason i have always been a huge fan of the Maybelline 'The Falsies' but this Rimmel mascara was on a 2 for 1 offer so i thought id give it a go, and i can't quite believe that im typing these words, but this may replace my beloved Maybelline mascara!! One coat of this, and i have my perfect day time look- defined but not crazy in your face lashes, and on a night out 3-4 coats of this and i may as well be wearing false lashes, and at times have even been asked if i am... i highly highly recommend that you go buy this and give it a try.

Last but certainly not least, i brought myself a face wash. If you have read some of my last posts you will know that i have/ some times still do suffer from acne breakouts. I would normally buy a product that was geard towards acne prone skin, but i decided to give my skin a break from all the harsh stuff, and get the most gentle thing i could find, and that is why i brought the La Roche-Posay Cleansing Gel, and my skin has really thanked me for it. It gets every little bit of my makeup off and doesn't sting or irritate my eyes. I've had very few breakouts since using this product and my skin feels a lot more hydrated then it did before. If you are looking for a bog standard face wash then this is without a doubt my highest recommendation. 

      From Left: Over the Edge, Sorry the name rubbed off the bottle and i wasn't able to find the colour on the site, Pillow Talk, Aruba Blue and Lilacism.  

From Left: Smoking Hot, Not Just a Pretty Face and again i couldn't find the name for the last colour.

Above are pictures of swatches of all the colours i own, excuse my stubby finger. Now i won't be doing a review on every one of them otherwise we'd both be here forever.

As i previously said, im slightly in love with Essie, the colour range is incredible and the limited addition colours are always gorgeous and they are super affordable unlike similar brand O.P.I. Therefore its a great brand for someone like me who has only just got into painting my nails regularly. In terms of colour pay off, what you see is what you get, the colour that goes on the nails is exactly what you see in the bottle; however the orange one in the last picture, tends to come off slightly more brown once its on the nails. The best thing in my opinion about the Essie nail polishes is that you can get away with one coat, i've tried Topshop, Barry M and No7 nail polishes and i always feel that to get the real colour you need two coats to get the full effect, but if your in a rush one swash of any Essie polish and you are good to go. 

In terms of chipping, if you don't apply a top coat they will chip within a few days, however with a top coat i've managed to keep the colour on for over a week and they still looked good (the top coat i use is the Sally Hansen Insta-Dry)

Essie is available in most boots stores across the UK. 

Lara x