Korres Monoi Oil Bronzing Powder

Hello ladies!

After a very very long wait, I finally got the rest of my purchases from Ebay that I posted on a while back. One of the items that arrived yesterday was the Korres Monoi Oil Bronzer in shade no.2 (Sun Glow). I won it for £6.50 on Ebay for a full size 11g compact, it usually retails at around £13.00. I decided to go for the warmer shade as the lighter one looked a bit too pale for me. I also thought that if it turned out to be too dark as an all over colour, I could always use it as a contour.

This is the Korres blurb... "Korres Monoi Oil Bronzing Powder is a velvety-smooth, tinted powder that lifts and warms up your skin tone without turning you into a Nancy Del'Olio or Chelsea Davy look-alike. The powder contains Monoi Oil (derived from coconut) and Vitamin E. Grazia magazine recommends it as a must have product"

I was full of excitement and anticipation when I ripped open the parcel (yes, I actually ripped it open, I was like a kid at Christmas!). On seeing the packaging for the first time, I love the way it feels so high quality. The design is so simplistic but it really suits the premise of the brand, which is natural organic products that treat your skin as you wear them. I opened the compact to find a gorgeous bronzer that had a matte look on first sight, but if you look very closely there is the tiniest hint of shimmer (I mean tiny as this bronzer looks matte when you apply it which is great if you aren't into shimmery bronzers). You can see from the swatch below that the colour is just divine! It's the perfect shade to add a natural glow all over the face.

This product is so finely milled and smooth to apply and it blended like a dream. Once I had applied it all over my face this morning, I just loved the natural colour it gave! I would go as far as to say that this bronzer is going to become my new everyday favourite! It's just so gorgeous. I can't recommend this highly enough as I hadn't bought any Korres makeup before, but i am definitely going to start buying more of it because I have been really impressed with this product and I also love the Korres Wild Rose Brightening Concealer that I tried today (I will post a review on this in the next couple of days but it's also amazing!). I started to get very curious about this brand after I watched a YouTube vid by Tali a.k.a. The Gloss Goss where she just raved about their products. I am so glad that I tried this bronzer coz I feel like I've discovered an amazing brand of makeup that really works for my skin AND it's more affordable than the usual bronzers I buy (even at full retail price).


So if you're looking for a new bronzer, check this one out, I am certain you will love it too! And if the SunGlow shade looks too dark, they do a lighter shade. The bronzer is buildable so you can have it as light or as dark as you like. I'm SO happy I found this!

Let me know if you have tried this and if you love it as much as me?

I Love Dune!

Third post of the day...but there's a very good reason... I was doing my usual lunchtime perusal of online offerings, mentally spending more of my wages...gotta stop doing that! I'm convinced that if someone gave me the choice of going without food for a couple of days or being able to buy something off my Lust List...I would go hungry.ha ha. That's worrying, isn't it!

This bag is a thing of beauty though and I think it would be perfect for everyday use...it's big enough to hold all my crap, it's neutral so it would would go with loads of things and it looks amazing! What else could you ask for??? This bag MUST be mine. It's from Dune, who I think are doing an amazing job with accessories at the moment and it costs £65 (for real suede, i think that's a good price). The colour is described as Mushroom on the site and I just LOVE the zip details, it gives a nod to the whole rocker vibe at the moment.

Have you seen any must have items you just have to get?

Sneak Peek: No.7 Christmas Collection

I was really excited to se sent a couple of items from the No.7 Christmas Collection which isn't out until November in stores. I don't own any No.7 makeup but I remember using it when I was younger. I have to be honest that it was never a favourite but I was willing to give the brand another go since the packaging looked interested (so shallow, I know!).

I was sent two compacts, one was a highlighter powder and the other was an eyeshadow palette containing 5 different shades.

I really liked the graphic designs on the packaging and I was really looking forward to using them when I opened them and saw the cool designs inside (how beautiful does the highlighter look!!!)

I think they were aiming for a more bold look for Christmas with strong colours and futuristic designs to compete with higher end brands.

Unfortunately, the packaging and look of the products was where my excitement ended...as soon as I swatched the highlighter I could see that it was far too sparkly and had chunks of glitter in it, which is a pet hate of mine. The lovely design on the surface of the powder would disappear within a couple of uses but this is the part of the powder that has the most glitter in it anyway so I would thankfully wave goodbye to that. Even though I look amazing designs like this on products, I don't think it's worth sacrificing the quality of the product to achieve it in the first place! Even after the glittery motifs were worn away, I could still see that the powder was nowhere near finely milled enough for my liking. A swatch of the powder can be seen below (all colours swirled together).

It's hard to explain but the consistency is kind of gritty, if that makes sense. I like my highlighter powders to be super smooth, blendable and extremely finely milled to ensure a nice even sheen. This product just fails to deliver that and I was really disappointed as it looks so pretty in the compact. It's a perfect example of style over substance in my opinion.

On opening the eyeshadow I had a similar excitement as I loved the random design of the eyeshadow pans and I especially liked the look of the shimmery brown in the middle. However, on swatching the eyeshadows I was again disappointed as they were so poorly pigmented, it took 4 applications to even get them to show up for the pic I took! I think that is just ridiculous and I don't ever remember their eyeshadows being that bad so maybe it's just confined to this range. The shimmery eyeshadows in the palette have the dreaded chunky glitter in them, whilst the matte ones are just so dull when applied to the skin.

I really wanted these palettes to be amazing but they really let me down. I liked the design idea for them but the product inside just doesn't cut it for me.

Let me know if you have had a chance to try this yet and if you got it to work for you?

I am now on Twitter!

I have finally joined up to Twitter...yes, it's taken me this long to sign up! I figured it would be the best way to keep up with what everyone is talking about and also a good way to post little things I want to say that may not warrant a full post on my blog.

My first tweet is a bit of a moany one but I think all the other UK bloggers will be feeling my pain! Check out my first tweet, remember to follow me and feel free to ask me any questions you want/or just simply say hello. Look forward to chatting to all you ladies on there!

Also, just a quick note to say that I have added a disclaimer to the bottom of my blog just to clarify what my blog is all about.

Why do I always spend my wages before I get them???

I started laughing to myself when I read Yinka's a.k.a. Vex In The City's post the other day about whether you think your spending has increased since you started your blog. The answer in my case is a resounding YES! Reading all the posts about must have products, killer heels and amazing bags just fuels the fire as far as I'm concerned. I find myself pouring over the newest items to be released and limited edition stuff (this evil ploy makes you want it even more!).


These days, I seem to have my wages spent before they arrive in my account. It's 2 weeks exactly until the money fairy is going to sprinkle funds into my bank account and my growing list of beauty and clothes lustings have already swallowed a great big chunk of my pay!


For example, I already have my eye on these shoes (Gold shoeboots from Dune £95 and studded fringed boots from River Island £84.99). I just can't help myself! I keep imagining all the wonderful outfits I could put together with them. They are just gorgeous and they

keep calling out to me...so really, it's not my fault, it's theirs...they won't leave me alone until I buy them.

My weakness is definitely shoes and makeup. I have a 'Lust List' that I keep on my computer...yes, I am THAT sad! I add products to it that I have seen people rave about or just ones that i want to try and then I strike them off as I get them. The weird thing is the list never seems to get smaller though...

So does anyone else have a list like this? What is your weakness when payday arrives?

Good Times/Bad Times

GOOD TIMES....

1) Urban Decay Half Baked eyeshadow + Urban Decay Bourbon 24/7 eyeliner (both from the Get Baked palette) = the perfect goldy bronze for my skintone. I've been wearing it with the Bourbon liner smudged along the top lashline...perfection.

2) I was down another lb last week and my fat percentage is way down to 29.1% so let's hope I can carry on the trend this week...

3) I have found the holy trinity for my fine hair...Sebastian Penetraitt Shampoo & Conditioner + Lancome Hair Sensation Nutrition Intense Smooth & Shine Treatment. Never has my hair been so healthy and shiny before!

4) My skin has been behaving itself for the past few weeks, there's been absolutely no breakouts of any kind...woo hoo!

5) I found out that Zara is coming to Aberdeen and the shop opens next month...since I've heard many people raving about this store, I can't wait to check it out! I'm loving all the autumn/winter stuff around at the mo!









BAD TIMES...

1) I feel like I've reached stalemate in the wedding preparations at the mo...I started off well but I seem to have gotten weighed down with all the details. I need to get back on track this week and start getting all the big important things sorted out!

2) Still another 2 weeks until payday :(

3) I got a couple more emails from people slagging me off about getting free stuff from companies...I've already addressed this in an earlier post so I'm refusing to defend myself again to these people. I know why I write this blog and it's because I have a passion for everything I talk about on here.End of.

Maybelline Pulse Perfection Mascara

I am usually so cynical about any kind of gimmick used to sell makeup and when I started to see vibrating mascara wands entering the market, I thought, Oh No...that's never going to work!
However, in the name of experimentation, I thought I should at least try one to see if there was anything in these claims. Enter Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara... I normally use either Loreal Voluminous or YSL Faux Cils for a night look when I need lots of volume and drama. I would use Loreal Telescopic for the daytime for a lengthened look...which I find looks cleaner (if you know what I mean??). I used the Maybelline one yesterday and I was so surprised and impressed by the results!!! The vibrating DOES actually make a difference and I can only put it down to the fact that it does the wiggling action that you would normally do with your hand, but it speeds it up and exaggerates the movement to create a really dramatic effect. Look at the pics below and you'll see what I mean...this mascara made my lashes scary long! My eyelashes are normally quite feeble but this mascara really elongated them (I applied two coats).

I would say that this mascara doesn't add a whole lot of volume i.e. it won't make your lashes look really thick. The formulation is really great too, it didn't smudge or flake off at all during the day and it was easy to remove at the end of the day.

I am quickly becoming obsessed with this gimmick that I was so cynical of in the first place and I went down to Boots and picked up a back up one already. I think this mascara will be perfect for my daytime makeup when I want a clean fresh look and I want my eyes to look really awake.

I have read a few posts on the Maybelline event alot of the other beauty bloggers went to and I think they all got this mascara to try so, let me know what you thought of it!