Benefit Brow Bar Experience

I was in town today and popped into Debenhams to have a look around as they had MASSIVE signs outside advertising certain products that were priced at DUTY FREE PRICES! Naturally i was automatically drawn to go in and have a look around! I picked up some Fake Bake gradual tan as i had just ran out of St. Tropaz so i decided to try something a bit different! What made it more appealable was that it reduced from £35.00 down to £17.50 and came with a Fake Bake scrub that i can't wait to try!

I was looking around at the make up counters and saw that Benefit offered a brow bar service. This is the first time i've noticed this at the Benefit counter where i live as the Debenhams isn't one of the biggest stores i've been too. I NEVER go and get my eye brows done by a professional, i always TWEEZE them myself! I've watched many YouTube video's and learnt how to get the " PEFECT " brow! I always worry that if i go to a salon that they will wax them and make them super thin like worms and i'll be left having to draw them on for months and months! I'm SUCH a worrier!

I decided to bite the bullet today and went over to the lady and asked if she could fit me in! ( I did check her eye brows out as if they weren't that nice i was going to think of an excuse and come back another time! Thankfully her eye brows were perfect so i had faith in her!) I was looking at the menu and saw they offer a brow tint as well so i asked for that too as i use the Benefit Brow Zing daily and thought i'd see what it would be like to have my brows tinted for a change. The lady was REALLY nice and REALLY helpful as i would have considered myself a bit of a BROW VIRGIN when it comes to tinting and waxing! She advised me on the right colour and we decided to just go for a mid brown.  She put it all over my eye brows and i have to admit i felt like such a idiot especially sitting in a busy department store with brown tint smothered all over my brows! I'm sure people were staring at me oddly! She left the tint on for two minutes then took it off of one of my brows and asked if the colour was ok and it was perfect! My brows seemed SO much more natural looking and they looked much more filled in! I spend about 10 minutes tired eyed every morning trying to achieve this look with the Benefit Brow Zing! I'm now hoping that i can cut a few minutes off my make up time in the morning and have the few extra minutes in bed!

She then went on to wax my brows, this was the bit i was a bit more anxious about. All i could think about was it going wrong and her waxing off to much and then having to pretend in a really high pitch voice how lovely they look when deep down all i want to do is cry! Thankfully this scenario never happened!  She just waxed the tiniest bit off the top and then tided the arch up. She was really gentle and it didn't hurt at all!   I even booked in to get it done again just before xmas, i'm not sure if that is going to be to soon but she said i can always call or pop in and cancel!  It wasn't expensive at all, well not that i know the going price for a brow wax and tint but to have it done all together was £18.00. They also give you a stamp card so if you visit seven times you get the eightieth wax free! If you need a bit of a treat i'd defiantly suggest popping to your local Benefit Brow Bar!

Has anyone else popped to their local Benefit Brow Bar? I'd love to hear below how you found the experience!

Venomous Villains

I thought i'd do a little haul post of what i brought today. It wasn't a lot but i thought i picked up TWO bargains! I went to Bicester Village today in Oxford which is a massive outlet village with tons of different designer shops. I only get excited about a few shops there as i'm not MADE of money like half the people there with all their designer shopping bags! My first stop was The Cosmetic Store, i do tend to get VERY excited about this shop as it sells a few different make up brands such as Clinque and Mac to name a few and then sells tons of different perfumes and because it's an outlet village it's CHEAPER! Many of the items in the outlet stores tend to be end of line collections or last seasons but when it comes to make up i wouldn't know what was last seasons blusher and what wasn't!

So i headed straight to the MAC section at the back of the shop and came across the most BEAUTIFUL blusher from the Venomous Villains collection which was inspired by some of Disney's most famous villains. I'm sure that it was brought out for a limited edition collection last year some time as i remember hearing about it. Anyway so i finally got my hands on the BRAIR ROSE BLUSH and it was a BARGAIN at £14.50! ( It's the light swatch on the top of my hand in the photo below.) I must say it's the NICEST blush i've brought in a LONG time! It's such a lovely pinky colour and it's got the cream powder feel to it. (If that makes sense ) PLUS the packaging is SO cute! If you can get your hands on one i'd definitely recommend purchasing!

I also spotted a Mac lipstick that i just NEEDED to have in my collection! It's from the Pro Longwear collection and it's called OVERTIME and it's such a LOVELY shade of baby pink! ( It's the bottom swatch on my hand in the photo below.) I have to admit i mainly go for nudes when it comes to lipsticks as i like subtle colours on my lips but this pink is SO nice and couldn't be left behind for £10! I even picked one up my sister as part of her Christmas Pressie! It's definitely a statement lip colour that is going to be warn on days i want to stand out! I haven't tried any of the lipsticks from the Pro Longwear collection so i'm really excited to try it and see if it stays on for a bit longer.

Has anyone ever visited Bicester Village in Oxford? Or has anyone picked any make up bargains in any outlet stores? I'd LOVE to hear below if there's any places i need to take a trip too!

♥

Product Review-TRESemme Split Remedy Serum

Recently when i was in my local Boots store ( as always! ) i came across the TRESemme Split End Collection and was instantly drawn to ALL of the products as i'm always SO conscious about having split ends and the condition of my hair. I always tell myself that i don't treat my hair to bad, well as bad as i use to anyway. I use to ALWAYS straighten my hair EVERYDAY and if it wasn't poker straight then i'd go over and over it until it was! Over the past year i've been A LOT more relaxed with my hair and embracing my natural curl kink much more and trying not to use heat appliances as much. I only really use my straighteners, hair dryer or curling wand on SPECIAL OCCASIONS.  

Anyway when i was in Boots they had a promotion on the whole Spilt End Collection including their new shampoo & condition collection but as i already had stocked up on my favourite shampoo and condition ( Dove nutritive therapy nourishing oil care shampoo & condition) i decided to give the TRESemme split end shampoo & condition a miss but was drawn to purchasing the TRESemme Split End Serum Remedy. When i purchased it about a month ago it was around £5 for 30ml which i don't think is TO pricey. 

I've been using the TRESemme Split End Serum for around three weeks now. I use it every few days after i wash my hair and focus it on the ends of my hair. I use two pumps into the centre of my palm, rub it together and put it through my spilt ends. I have to admit that the product was a bit STICKY at first and i was a bit concerned that it wouldn't dry in and that it would look like i have product just at the end of my hair but once it dried it in it looked fine! It has a LOVELY fruity smell that lasts until i next wash my hair which can sometimes be for a good few days!

MY VERDICT I have to admit after using the product that i'm not overly impressed and i wouldn't be purchasing it again. I'm not sure if i set my expectation too high but they were defiantly not met! Looking at my hair at a glance it looks OK and you can't really notice the split ends as much but when i had a closer look you could still notice that they hadn't disappeared or resealed the ends like promised! I think that the product is just a temporary measure to reduce the appearance of spilt ends but it defiantly doesn't mend them as promised!

Has anyone else used any of the TRESemme Split End Collection? How have you found it?

♥

Nails Inc £5 magnetic manicure Offer!

Thought i'd share this beauty of a promotion with you all! I found out about it as i was doing my weekly look on the Martin Lewis website. At the moment if you go to your local Nails Inc counter and mention "£5 MAGNETIC MANICURE OFFER" you can get a mini magnetic manicure which is apparently suppose to cost £17.50 and last about 10 minutes for just £5! BARGAIN! The offer expires on SUNDAY 11TH DECEMBER  so you all have plenty of time to take full advantage of it! I think it's such a good offer and defiantly one that can't be missed. I think it's the perfect opportunity to see what the Nails Inc Magnetic nail polish is like as well. I previously posted about the 17 magnetic nail polish and i wasn't a big lover of it so this is defiantly a chance to see if the Nails Inc version is any better!

Picture taken from We Heart It

I'd LOVE to hear if any of you are going to take full advantage of this offer!

♥

Product Review- Boots Expert Product Build Up Shampoo

PRODUCT BUILD UP! I find that me and my hair have a battle every few months which is down to product build up. I wash my hair every few evenings  (at the moment i'm using Dove nourishing oil care shampoo & condition which i highly recommend! After EVERY wash it leaves my hair so shiny and healthy! If you haven't already tried it i would defiantly say go and purchase the two when you next need shampoo & conditioner. At the moment they are doing a promotion on the Dove Facebook Page if you like the page you can request a free sample so you can try before you buy! ) i also use dry shampoo ( Batiste Blush ) every morning in between washes. After i wash my hair i alternate between different products TRESemme Split End Remedy, VO5's Miracle Concentrate, Moroccan Oil, if i'm straightening my hair i will use  L'Oreal Paris Studio Straight spray along with John Frieda 3 Day Straight Spray so i use many different products in my hair after washing. 


All these products defiantly cause a build up in my hair every few months, when this happened i would normally just wash my hair in shampoo twice, then condition the ends and then not use any products for a few days until i re-wash and then it wouldn't look so dull and not shiny BUT the worse thing i find about product build up is that i would wash my hair normally let it dry and look in the mirror and it would look SO greasy like i hadn't washed it in about a week!  SO ANNOYING! 


So i was in my local Boots the other day and had time to spare before work so i had a look around and came across the Boots Expert Product Build Up Shampoo for £3.49 i thought it was worth a try! I got home from work that night and washed my hair with the shampoo and then used the Dove conditioner and put in a few products after and left my hair to dry. When my hair had dried it just looked SO clean! It was shiny, soft and just looked so HEALTHY! I've decided to defiantly keep this product handy so every month i'm going to use this shampoo just to get rid of all the product build up that is left in my hair even after i use normal shampoo.


I'm not sure what makes this shampoo so different to any other brand but what ever is in the shampoo it works wonders! I would defiantly go out and purchase this shampoo if you suffer from product build up!


♥

Glamour Magazine with Nails Inc Polish

Just thought i'd do a QUICK post telling you all you have to go out and buy Glamour Magazine this month! It came out Wednesday and has Kirsten Steward on the front cover but it comes with a nails inc polish freebie! The magazine is £2 and the nail polish is a FULL SIZED bottle which retails at arround £11 this ia a complete bargain that can't be missed especially you NAIL POLISH LOVERS like me!

They have four different colours to choose from. There is a Tate (which is a red colour), Victoria (which is a deeper red) , Pidically circus (which is a plum colour ) and Basil Street (which is a lovely beige).
I've accumulated a fair few nails inc polishes over the past year and already have a two reds so i brought the plum and the beige (which I love). I'm loving the beige slightly more as I feel that beige is a nail colour that goes with EVERYTHING and is perfect if you don't want a nail polish colour that is in your face!

So if you haven't already gone out and brought Glamour magazine this month go and buy it to get your freebie!!

♥

High Heels, High hopes.

HIGH HEELS AND HIGH HOPES. 

I thought this was a good title for this post. Lately i've well been a bit unsettled with my job and let me explain why. In September i went back to University to study for a BA Hons in Photography but wasn't enjoying it so decided to give up my place and work more at my part time job. I currently work at the theatre in my home town as a Box Office Assistant. I'm working around 25-28 hours a week which is ok and the pay is really good for the job. I basically just sell tickets to people either over the counter, on the phone, complete online bookings and do a few other little jobs as well. I've been working at the theatre for four years, i started when i was at college doing a few evenings a week to get some money of my own and i haven't left since. Don't get me wrong i'm REALLY thankful i have a job but i can't help feeling like i want more.  I've been looking but there is NOTHING out there that suits me or am i to picky? I've always had different hopes and different career ideas but have never done anything with them because well i don't know where to start. I change my career mind SO much even my parents think what is she gonna do this week!  I just can't help but feel that i want to do a bit of EVERYTHING with my life. Does anyone else feel like this?

I've found the most perfect empty shop in the town centre that i want to buy and turn into an AMAZING cupcake shop and cute cafe, well for starters i'm only twenty, i have NO idea how to run a business and thirdly haven't got HALF as much as i need to buy a shop! ( The shop is still vacant i walk past it most days on the way to work, it's just the right size and it's got white cute windows it's just PERFECT!)

Last week i wanted to go into FASHION and create different items of clothes and open my own small BOUTIQUE! Well as i've found with all my career ambitions i don't have ANY fashion qualifications or experience!

SO this week i want to become a make up artist for telly shows such as Casualty and do all the GORY make up but as my parents kindly remind me i have no beauty qualifications and it's a really HARD industry to get in to.

So these are a few of my high hopes and career ideas over the past few weeks. As you can see they are VERY different from one another. I know i'm still twenty well twenty - one in about three weeks but i feel like most people know what they want to do career wise by now or are studying to get the qualifications they need in order to get their DREAM CAREER! I know i'm pretty set on not going back to University to get a BA Hons in something or other but i'm starting to question will i get anywhere in life without one? I've got my GCSE's and my A Levels but is that enough? SO many questions that no-one can answer i'm DEFIANTLY one of those people who hate not mapping out their future or it not going the right or which direction to go!

All i know is that i want to be in a job that makes me wake up in the morning and not dread the day ahead, i want to be able to wear my own clothes so show my personality as at the moment i'm having to wear a uniform and i HATE it! I have to wear ALL black and i just think dressed in all BLACK is so depressing! I also want to be one of those women who you see in LONDON carrying nice bags and wearing high heels!  I just want to have the PERFECT career!

I am the only one who feels like they need their life MAPPED out in front of them?


♥

Taken from the cute website http://weheartit.com/

OPI glitter nail polish.

So like many of my blog posts I do tend to go on A LOT about nails, nail polishes and nail art and this post is about nothing else but about nail polish! I was brought this OPI polish (£10) last year by my boyfriend when we stayed in a fancy hotel and I think it's about time that I start using it again as CHRISTMAS is coming!! I personally feel that I can't wear sparkly glitter nail polish any other time of year expect in the Christmas months coming! As i was walking through my local town centre last week they were putting up the christmas trees and decorations so i thought its about time i get the glitter out!

I'm a BIG lover of glitter nail polish! I look for certain things in a glitter nail polish firstly the colour, then how glittery is it and lastly how easy do I think it will be to apply as many glitter polishes are very opaque when you put them on your nails and no matter how many coats you put on its never a full glitter coverage! Well this one by OPI ticked all my boxes! It's perfect! It's SUPER glittery and has so many lovely colours in it, it's also very easy to apply and only takes two coats and it gives you a full glitter nail! I can't actually big this nail polish up! Its my first in my OPI collection as there not very easy to get hold of where I live but I'm defiantly going to be investing in plenty more over the coming months before christmas especially the glitter ones! My next one on my list it a gold colour!

I hope the pictures show just how BEAUTIFUL this nail polish is!

Have you got any OPI nail polishes that you can't rave about enough?! If so let me know in the comments!

♥

Hair History

I thought i'd do a slightly different post today. I'm always interested in reading blogs and watching videos on people's hair routine and their hair history. So i thought i'd do a little post about my "hair history" ENJOY! 


I wouldn't consider my hair to be in bad condition but it could be better. When i was younger i could have treated my hair ALOT better. So this is my original hair colour. It use to be a light brown and was in perfect condition as my mum always made sure i had it cut a lot more than i do today! When i was younger my hair was always in a bob with a short fringe as it was the in thing at the time... i'm sure!

When i was about erm 8 years old i decided that i wanted to be in charge of my hair! I HATED my hair so short and in a bob and didn't want a short fringe so i decided to grow my hair. I kept my fringe clipped back ALL the time with different clips and sparkly rainbow coloured hair bands! I'm not sure if it's an old tale but i was always told that if you kept your hair clipped back it would grow quicker?! Was anyone else told this? Years and years past and my hair was A LOT longer and i no longer had a fringe it had completely grown in to my hair! ( I'm sorry i have no pictures to insert! All the pictures of me when i was younger are actually photographs and are in the loft) So my hair was about belly button length and it stayed like this until i went to secondary school and i decided to cut it off. Well not off but so it was SHORTER     (Thinking about it now i'm not sure why i actually wanted to cut my hair that short but at the time it was a good idea of mine!)

In secondary school my hair pretty remained at shoulder length and that's when i was introduced to the dreaded straighteners! I went to the hairdressers when i was about 14 and got my hair highlighted for the first time, well a few bits at the front highlighted and the lady straightened my hair and that's where my love for straighteners really started!

My mum got my a cheap-ish pair of straighteners from Argos and from then i straightened my hair EVERY day even when i was doing nothing at home! In fact as much as i don't want to admit my straightening obsession i'd sometimes straighten my hair twice over before going to school to make sure it was poker straight! How bad is that?! I ALWAYS used some sort of heat protection but my hair was very dry and very dead at the ends! So i either straightened or curled my hair everyday for school until i finished school and went to college.

I then went on to college and i was still using heat appliances on my hair but then i decided to start home dying my hair a wide range of different colours to say the least! I mean i never went to eccentric like a blue but i went from blonde to red to dark brown every few weeks! Half way through college i decided to get my hair completely cut off into a bit of a crop i'm not to sure what the right word is called for it but it was a cut that was long at the front and short at the back. Again it was in at the time! I also dyed my hair a light blonde.

So once i finished college i then went on a gap year which really has led me to just staying at work and not really knowing what to do as a career anyway that's a different story. I finally managed to get over my straightener & heat appliances obsession and for the last erm two years i've not been using heat appliances on a daily basis in fact hardly at all well that's a bit of a lie i do straighten my fringe every second day. I now only use heat appliances on "special occasions" I've also tried to be nicer to my hair in terms of washing it. This may sound a bit disgusting but it works for me. I use to wash my hair EVERYDAY which wasn't helping the dryness situation as i was washing out my natural oils so i managed to also kick that habit and now only wash my hair every 3 evenings and use dry shampoo if needed in between washes. I normally keep my hair down for the first two days and on the day of washing stick it up in a top knot as it does need washing by then! 

This is pretty much the latest picture of my hair to date, i decided to OMBRE the ends of my hair  blonde over the summer but now the summer has gone before my eyes i'm thinking of dying it a darker colour possibly a brown for the winter. 

SORRY that this post was super uber longer! I hope this was interesting for some of you! If anyone has tips on how to grow hair longer quicker if that's even possible, i'll try anything! 

♥