Freebie Fursday: Festival Fhemed

Why is it always cold, raining and miserable outside when I want to write about something summery? Go figure. If you've always wanted to try one of the 'Instant Glow' body bronzers recently released by 17 Cosmetics brand now is your chance to try it for free or almost. You’ve guessed it: It's time for a long overdue 'gift with purchase' from 17.

Buy £6 or more of 17 products and get your free 'Fest of all' kit including:


- a perfect definition black khol eyeliner (full size)
- a nail polish in Tropical Island (corally orange with a hint of gold shimmer) already part of the permanent collection
- and a handbag size of Instant Glow wash off body bronzer.





I am personally not too fussed about Tropical Island but I really want to try the body bronzer.
Ooo I do love a gift with purchase, me! :)

Read more ...

Mascara Monday: The Battle of Mascaras. 17 Cosmetics Special

Today, I am super excited to introduce you to Jennifer, from The Makeup Journal who has kindly volunteered to review 2 mascaras for me. Jennifer’s blog is a joy to read: great reviews, great photography, fantastic nail art, gorgeous makeup looks and to top it all off, the most beautiful green eyes which I have totally fallen for, and which may have influenced my choice as a mascara guest blogger :)  




Over to you, Jennifer!

--------------

Hi everyone :) I'd like to thank Liloo for picking me as one of her guest bloggers, I've really enjoyed testing these mascaras.

First up, 17 Wild Curls Mascara in Black:






Wild Curls mascara is described as creating 'sexy, smouldering and sultry eyes that are loaded with volume and curl for a feline finish.' Strong claims eh... Well I think it does a pretty good job at doing just those things!


So what do I look for in a mascara? I know we all want different things from our mascaras but for me it must:

• Be dark black.
• Give plenty of lift and curl to my lashes and keep it there for at least until I get home from work.
• Volume, volume and more volume. I want BIG lashes without falsies because I'm rubbish at applying them.
• NO flaking or smudging! I don't want panda eyes - I have dark enough circles under my eyes thank you very much!
• Water resistant. I don't tend to use waterproof - too hard to remove for lazy people such as myself.

So does Wild Curls tick all the boxes? Yep! I'm rather impressed with this mascara.
It is really easy to apply, the brush is thin and has lots of different sized bristles to catch all lashes. It gives me lots of volume but also some length which is a bonus. It looks quite nice with just one coat - sort of natural with added oomph but with two coats, it is lovely and glamorous. 17 claim that is will last up to 10 hours and it does. I applied it at 7am and it wore all through work until I got home at 6pm. It started to go a bit meh by bedtime but looked okay. If I was going out in the evening I would start again with the mascara so it was fresh. I also like the packaging, it is really fun. Now the price, £6.29 for 9ml - I can't fault that at all and I will definitely purchase this when the tube is finished.
Wild Curls is also available in brown, waterproof and a new 'Wildest Black'.







The other mascara Liloo sent me to review was 17 Va Va Voom Mascara in Black:






Va Va Voom mascara is described as 'creating big, dramatic eyes or subtle barely-there.' 17 claim that you can 'apply as many coats as you like without your lashes becoming clumpy.'
This mascara didn't impress me as much as Wild Curls did. For starters, the brush is huge, way too big for my tastes. I found it quite hard to apply without getting mascara under my bottom lashes. The bristles are also quite dense which I found didn't apply enough in one sweep and didn't get through my lashes to separate them, leaving them a bit clumpy in the roots.


With a second coat my lashes appeared slightly better from having more product in them. They had more volume and were much darker. They still had clumps in the roots although I don't think it is as bad as some mascaras can be and could be fixed by combing the lashes through. As 17 stated that lots of coats can be applied to build up the volume, I applied a third coat. This was too clumpy for my liking and there was still not enough curl. Va Va Voom just does not compare to Wild Curls in it's curling ability, my lashes were only lifted a little with Va Va Voom. On the plus side, this mascara didn't flake or smudge either. Va Va Voom is an okay mascara, it just doesn't hit all the points with me personally.
Va Va Voom is also available in Black Brown and retails for £6.29 for 8ml.







Out of the two mascaras, Wild Curls wins hands down for me.
Thanks for reading!
Jennifer, The Makeup Journal xx

Read more ...

Guest Bloggers Wanted: Mascara Special

Being a massive fan of false lashes and trying to avoid mascara when I wear falsies, I have accumulated a fair amount of new mascaras which I have not been using. This is a waste, when one of you my readers could try if for free. I have 6 brand new mascaras, never been opened, never been swatched/tried and I am looking for 3 beauty bloggers who would be happy to try them for free, in exchange of a guest blog post on my blog.  Anybody can put themselves forward (it doesn't matter where in the world you live) all you need is to have a blog, and to be happy to write a guest blog post to appear on my blog.


Interested? I am looking for 3 bloggers and each blogger will be sent 2 mascaras. Let me know which ones you would prefer to try, or which ones you have already tried and not interested in. I will be closing this post on Thursday so if you could let me know by Wednesday, 14 March, midnight, that's would be awesome possum :)


The mascaras are:







1. VaVaVoom (Boots 17 Cosmetics)
2. Volume Million Lashes Luminizer for Hazel Eyes (L'Oreal)
3. Lash-Fx (BeautyUK)
4. Exceptional Definition (Boots no.7)
5. Lash Mania (Essence)
6. Wild Curls (Boots 17 Cosmetics)


So, if you are interested, let me know, in the comments below,
by Wednesday, 14 March, 2012 23:59 GMT:

- Your name
- The name and address of your blog
- Email address
- Your country
- The 2 mascaras of your choice, or the ones you've already tried and don't need
- Link to a mascara review you've already done (totally optional)

   
I am looking for a honest review. I am not representing any brand and not affiliated with any of the brands, so if the mascaras is doing anything for your lashes, then you must feel free to say so, ok? The mascaras have either been bought by myself, won at giveaways, or gifted.


Yay

Read more ...

Win a £80 Goodie Bag crammed with 17 Cosmetics Makeup

To celebrate the launch of their Peep Show Mascara, 17 Cosmetics is giving loads of goodie bags crammed with full size 17 Cosmetics products. (£80 value each). Rather than doing a boring blog giveaway, 17 wanted to liven things a little a bit and is doing an interactive competwition instead, under the form of a twitter party.





The 1-hour event is planned for Sunday 11 March, 19:00.-20:00, that's just before #bbloggers chat, and is hosted by 17 Cosmetics aka @official17, their makeup artist @vanesaguallar, @reallyree and @maysmooch and a very special guest, @becadreams, the star of the latest 17 MakeUp Songs promo, ’Who’s Checking Out Who’.     


When: Sunday 11th March
Time: 7pm - 8pm
Where: Twitter
How: Follow @official17, @vanesaguallar, @reallyree, @maysmooch
and @becadreams to get involved and look out for any tweets with the
hashtag #17cosmetics

Every 10 minutes, they will be giving away a goodie bag crammed full of fabulous 17 products (£80 value) to the best tweeters. Make sure to include the hashtag #17cosmetics with every tweet you send for a chance to win. Make sure you’re following @official17 too so they can DM you if you win.


Contents of the goodie bag:
Photo Flawless Primer (£4.99)
Miracle Matte Foundation (£5.99)
Peep Show Mascara (£6.29)
Supreme Shine Lipstick – Bella (£4.99)
Spring Limited Edition Palettes – Hazy Days & Spring Fling (£5.99 x2)
Berry Kiss Lip Stain – Berry Crush (£4.59)
Instant Glow – Oversized Animal Print Bronzer (£5.99)
Magnetized nail polish – 4 different shades (£5.99 x 4)
Perfect Definition Eye Liner – Onyx (£2.89)
Blush and Glow – Bloom (£3.99)
Trio Eyeshadow – Smoky Quartz (£5.49)

  

Not quite sure what 17 Cosmetics will be quizing up about but the word on the street is that they are planning a whole hour of tweets about makeup and music. In case, they’re going to quiz us about the peep show mascara song, here’s the video.

Read more ...

Spring has arrived at 17 Cosmetics

Many are excited by Valentine's Day and Pancake Day. For me, the main event after Christmas which I always look forward to is the arrival of warmer weather and double figures in temperatures. Today was lovely, temperature in my little neck of the wood has reached 10 degrees and it has been giving hope that the worst of winter, might be over. The cherry on my cake today was to discover a new collection at the 17 Cosmetics 'Counter'.

*cue improvised ghetto press release*





To complement the relatively recent release of their amazing coverage bb cream, 17 Cosmetics has just released a range of bright and summery nail polishes at the usual bargain price of £2.99. The colours are absolutely gorgeous. Two in particular have grabbed my attention: Glisten, a golden peach polish, and Juicy, a happy, bright lime shade.








Temptation to indulge in the polishes is going to be incredibly difficult, especially since there is a 3 for 2 offer on...




Edit: 21:49
Resistance is futile. No point even trying, is there? :P

Read more ...

Irreplaceable Crush: NOTD

Another nail post? Yes, please bear with me as I muster the courage to take some new photos and blog about something else. At the moment, I am using the materials which survived the computer apocalypse and which were stored on my camera memory card.


There are nail polishes that you like, nail polishes that you really like  and polishes that you like so much, you just can't help but looking at your nails constantly. 'Irreplaceable' nail polish from Essence belongs to the third category and has captivated me like no other polishes,well if you don't count Holographic from Gosh, which frankly belongs to a league of its own. I first came across 'Irreplaceable' on a Slovenian Blog, Biba's Beauty Corner, a blog I have become very fond of, as the photos are incredible and it features different products from the typical British nail blogs I follow.







Back to 'irreplaceable' and my attempt at trying at to explain to you why it fascinates me so much. Imagine a sunny and golden sandy beach, and this is what the polish reminds me of. In fact, forget the 'irreplaceable' name, I would like to call this nail polish 'golden sands'.


This is how I would have liked my Boots No. 7 (Sundowner Collection) 'Sultry Sands' to have been like.  The colour is absolutely gorgeous, it applies beautifully, smoothly, so easily and to top it all off, it is dries very quickly. Drying time was a major issue with the sultry sands from No.7, so much so that I m convinced that an hour would not be enough for it to dry fully, it's that bad.


 


 


Irreplaceable could also be called 'unfindable' as sadly, if you live in the UK this is a very hard to find nail polish. Yes I might be lucky to live in a country which sells really good quality polishes at a low price (Barry M, BeautyUk and 17 Cosmetics polishes spring to mind) but I will always be jealous of my fellow European Bloggers (the swatchaholic and nihrida -  to name but a few) and their easy access to stunning and budget friendly Essence polishes.


 

I am very emotionally attached to this 5ml bottle: I acquired it in a makeup swap with Biba herself and if I break it, I know this is really going to be irreplaceable. This polish gives me gorgeous golden sandy nude nails in minutes (2 coats), goes pretty much with anything, and is for me a minimum effort maximum impact polish.


I am in love.

 


Want to see more Essence Polishes? Pop over to Biba's blog. I left my heart on there.

Read more ...

Fury, Sulk and Revenge

Can anger ever be a good thing and lead to positive things? I'm never going to be  proud of the countless times I've lost my temper and said outrageous things in the  heat of the moment but I do feel that, if channelled properly, anger can lead to good  things, such as getting over a past boyfriend or help produce great pieces of  writing. 17 Cosmetics took inspiration from strong feelings and emotions a woman can go  through and produced a great collection of eyeshadows and nail polishes. They named  their collection 'A woman Scorned' after 'Hell has no fury like a woman scorned' a  verse from The Mourning Bride, a poem from William Congreve.


Today, I would love love  share with you my impressions on the nail polishes from the collection.









Emotional indeed I was when I first held the bottle of 'Fury' in my hand. After  rolling it in my hands, I felt my heart skipped a beat as I thought 17 Cosmetics  produced a dupe of Chanel Peridot. Well, Chanel Peridot it isn't but deep rich bronzy perfect gold it is, with specks of green and red shining though: red and green, incidentally echoing the 2 others shades of the nail collection.








'Fury' was a delight to apply and  opacity was achieved in 2 coats. The colour reminded me of my favourite gold nail polish from Avon mixed with a little stinker from Bodycare, which I had to throw away as the  smell was too bad. I was very impressed with Fury.







Revenge reminded me straight away of Chanel Paradoxal but redder and better. I only  own a dupe of Chanel Paradoxal but one things which annoys me is the elusive subtle  shimmer, which unless shown under the right lighting, won't show at all.






Revenge is  not moody as Paradoxal and will more readily show you its gorgeous shimmer inside.  Application was a doddle, required no clean up whatsoever (then again, I do apply my  polish 1 mile away from the edges) and dried very quickly.





And last but not least, this is Sulk, a gorgeous shimmery green nail, with bright  specks of lime green and blue shining through it. Don't be fooled by the apparent  brushstrokes on my pictures. Application was very easy, so easy that I rushed through  it, taken by the moment and forgetting that I should probably make more of an effort  knowing full well I was going to blog about it.






If you like one of the best seller  from 17 Cosmetics (Peacock) , Sulk ... won't leave you sulking *badum, pssh*

The best about this collection: the prices. Each polish costs £2.99, and if you buy 2  polishes at the moment, you get rewarded twice: a gorgeous festive gift with 17  cosmetics (containing a glittery eyeshadow, a black eyeliner and a lipgloss)  and a  no.7 voucher expiring in November. Be quick, the gift with purchase is flying off the  shelves. I went to Boots earlier on (yes, because no week end is complete with a  visit to Boots and Superdrug) and there was only one box left!

Fury, Revenge and Sulk: which one gives you envy?

What? 17 Cosmetics 'A Woman Scorned' Collection, Nail Polishes
How much? £2.99 each
Where? Boots
Disclosure: Samples provided by the company. I know I can't believe it myself! ^_^

Read more ...

Steamy Glow Makeup Look

Today I want to share with you a gorgeous little eye shadow I bought from Loulou in a past blog sale. This is Steamy, from Rimmel. Despite being all shimmery, the colours are absolutely gorgeous, very well pigmented and blend easily into the skin.








I've used this eyeshadow trio three times now but on all these occasions I've been unhappy with the pictures I took from my looks. This is the less worst of them. If I could go back, I'd change the lip colour wouldn't have had an orange lower lashline, made my brows darker and put less darn highlighter on my browbone.






I do love this lipstick (it’s called My Beautiful Rocket, from Limecrime - blogged in detail here) but not with this look. The lashes, if you are wondering are my beloved Ardell 131 which I just can’t get enough at the moment.





All in all, I am not happy at all with my look, I feel it does not give any justice to the look but I've promised Loulou to publish it anyway. It's best to consider this as an eye swatch rather than a look look.





To make your click on my blog more worthwhile, I've swatched the other item I bought from Loulou. Have a looks on this gorgeous blush and highlighter. Unlike Steamy from Rimmel, this is still available to buy from Boots. Don't ask me how much as I got this for peanuts but being a product from 17 Cosmetics, this won't break the bank. I am afraid I don't have any decent pictures of me wearing Blush and Glow but I hope the swatch below will be able to show you its potential.





Pretty, huh? So pretty that I've wearing the 'glow' part on top of a pale eyeshadow (vanilla from mac) and made up a pale champagne colour on my eyes.

What can I say? You can take the girl out of the high street, but you can't take the high street from the girl :)


I love loulou, she's a great friend on twitter, buys makeup I would want to buy myself and knows everything there is to know about census returns :P She's on holidays at the moment but she's having a blog giveaway at the moment, to celebrate her 500 blog followers. Click here on the picture below if you want to take part.

Oh, I might just as well remind you about my other blog. I've started this blog which is mainly about giveaways. It's updated every monday morning at 06.00am, before breakfast time, to brighten your monday morning. I called it 'Les Petits Cadeaux' (French for Little Presents) but I find myself referring to it as Giveaway Gazette. I update it once a week with giveaways I find whilst reading my blog subscriptions. Bloggers can also submit their giveaway there.

Read more ...