My Beauty Must Haves

As mentioned in my previous post eventually, at the end of each month I'm planning on doing a blog on the best products I've reviewed over the last few weeks.

But because I've not reviewed that much in the last 2 weeks I've been blogging I'm going to share some of my favourite products that I could never be without :)


First up is Olay Classic Care Beauty Fluid (£4.69)

(image from boots.com)

This little beauty is a bit of a cult classic and it was also the first moisturiser I ever bought!

Although they do this in a normal/combination skin variety I find its not quite oil-free enough for my t-zone but I use this on the rest of my face, it locks in moisture and makes my skin feel unbelievably soft!
The scent of the fluid also reminds me of the baby lotion which I love!
At under £5 I think its a great buy and its suitable for any age!



Benefit You Rebel Lite (£23.50)

 (image from boots.com)



I don't actually think I can put into words how much I love You Rebel!
I'm not much of a foundation fan so I prefer tinted moisturisers but I've always struggled to find one that doesn't make me look like I'm wearing fake tan! For some reason a lot of them seemed to be aimed at darker skin tones?!

Anyway at £23.50 its not the cheapest but a tube of this lasts me nearly a year so I can't really complain, and to be honest because I love it so much I don't begrudge paying it!


I actually have 2 favourite mascara's, I find it impossible to choose between these 2 so I've had to include both of them!

With quite a few mascaras on the market its hard to know which one to choose, I've used quite a few and I'm always picking up a new one whenever I go into Boots but no matter what, I always seem to keep coming back to these too!


Benefit Bad Gal Lash (£16.50)

 (image from boots.com)



My Mum bought me this for Christmas a couple of years ago and it is without a doubt one of the best mascara's that has ever graced my lashes!! Its not the cheapest so I usually just treat myself to this one a couple of times a year.


Mascara #2 is another cult favourite

Max Factor 2000 Calorie Mascara (£7.99)

 (image from boots.com)

This is my everyday mascara, and I've only been using it for about a year and a half but I love it.
It's pretty similar to the Benefit one I use but for well over half the price. If you're on the lookout for a great mascara make sure you check this one out!
Boots sometimes have offers on where you can pick this up for half price!!!! Even better :)



Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker (£9.00)
 (image from boots.com)

This smells like chocolate! Lush!!!!
It is a lip plumping gloss, while I don't know if it does have a noticeable effect you can feel the tingling sensation once you apply!
I was introduced to this by my friend about 4 years ago and I've been using it ever since.



Barry M Nail Paints (£2.99)

 (image from barrym.com

I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't like Barry M!

Cheap with a wide array of colours and finishes, you simply can't go wrong!

I've actually lost count of how many of these I own!


Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructer (£4.99)

(image from boots.com)

I first started using this product when I was dying my hair blonde, I was paranoid about it drying out so picked this up to use.

The smell is gorgeous, it reminds me of Anglo bubblies!!

Although I stopped dying my hair blonde a long time ago I still use this a couple of times a month to keep my hair in tip top condition. Highly recommended!



Lee Stafford Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection Mist (£5.99)

 (image from boots.com)

I've been using this for about 8 years, my hair is naturally straight so I don't straighten it much but I use this every time I do, I also spray this on my hair before I blow dry it.

This also smells like my favourite perfume 'Angel' which is probably another reason why I love it so much :)


Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion (£3.77)

(image from boots.com)

I suffer from quite dry skin and this is the only product that actually moisturises my skin and makes it feel soft and smooth.

Apparently its good for stretchmarks and can also be used as an aftersun lotion.

Smells like chocoolate and its a bargin!



Thierry Mugler Angel (£44.00)

(image from boots.com)

This is my favourite perfume ever!

The first time I came across this perfume was in an airport when I was 10, its not the cheapest of perfumes so funnily enough my Dad wouldn't buy it for me, but 4 years later I got it for my birthday and I've been wearing it ever since!

I don't wear it everyday as its quite a strong scent but I wear it whenever I go out at night and for special occassions.

Its quite hard to describe the fragrance, its musky and chocolatey, sounds weird but its beautiful!



So there you go, these are my must have products!

Enjoy x

Bye, Bye September!

I can't believe that it's the end of September already! I swear each month seems to be over more quickly than the last one!

It also means the end of my first month of blogging! Well half a month, I've only actually been blogging for 2 weeks but so far I think it's gone pretty well!

I've noticed that on a lot of other blogs the end of the month signals a 'best of' or 'favourite' products of the month, I would like to do this but unfortunately I don't think I've blogged nearly enough products to do this yet, but fingers crossed I'll be able to do this at the end of October instead!

What I might do is a blog on all my favourite must haves for the end of this month ...

I'm also pledging to try and do at least 1 blog a week so remember to keep your eyes peeled!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

Kimberley x

Witch Naturally Clear Blemish Gel

Hi everyone! Hope you're having a good Saturday :)

Today's blog is on Witch's Blemish Gel http://www.witchskincare.com/products/blemish-gel/

I have combination skin and while I've found some good products that help my skin nothing ever quite manages to keep oil at bay for more than a couple of hours :( boo

A couple of years ago I came across Bodyshop's Seaweed Pore Perfector and while it does do the trick at £11.00 for 15ml its not the cheapest and I've been on the lookout for something a bit more budget friendly ...

Step forward Witch!

I used the famous Witch Stick when I was a teenager to banish pesky spots, but I've never used any of their skincare range before, however when I spotted this I was keen to try it.

At £3.29 for 35ml I figured I couldn't really go wrong!

According to the packaging the Blemish Gel is Oil free and is 'Designed specifically to help keep pores clean' and 'helps to dissolve excess oil and combat problem-causing bacteria'  'Perfect for oily/combination skin'

The plastic squeezy bottle comes in Witch's signiture colours of blue and green and due to the size it makes it easy to throw in a handbag or a suitcase for a weekend away or holiday (always a bonus in my eyes!)

Designed specifically to help keep pores clean, Witch Blemish Gel is oil-free and helps to dissolve excess oil and combat problem-causing bacteria. Perfect for oily/combination skin, it helps keep skin clear by tackling the causes of spots.

• Dissolves excess oils and clears spots
• Gets to work instantly

Blemish Gel is best applied to clean skin, so try using after our Gentle Exfoliating Face Wash.

Witch advise to apply the Blemish Gel, onto blemish prone areas, at night after cleansing and drying skin in order to get the best results, the idea is to let the gel soak into your skin overnight to soak up excess oils while you sleep.

I don't get too many spots so I just applied a pea size onto my t-zone before going to bed.

 

(Hope the picture quality isn't too bad on this one, I took it at night!)

 

The gel is clear and has quite a strong witch hazel scent, this didn't bother me too much as I like the scent but I know that not everyone will agree with me on this one!

 

Once applied the gel gave a nice, cooling tingly effect, again while I liked the sensation it probably won't be for everyone!

 

After a good eight hours sleep I usually wake up with a layer of oil on my t-zone and while I did still wake up with some oil there the next morning it didn't seem to be as bad as usual, the product promised to give instant results and it certainly seemed to be living up to it's promise so far!

 

I've been using this for just over a week now and although I am still producing oil the quantity has definitley reduced, even my pores look slightly smaller.

 

I'm very keen to see how this will fare over a prolonged period of time but as things stand at the moment I will be going out and repurchasing when I finish this tube.

 

In case anyone is interested, you can purchase in Boots and Superdrug.

 

Has anyone else used this or any of the Witch skincare range? If so, let me know what you thought of it!

 

Have a good weekend!

 

Kimberley x

 

New Beauty Buys

It's finally the weekend, wooh hooh!!!!! :)

So today I got chance to nip into town and seeing as though it's payday I decided to take a trip to Boots and treat myself to some new goodies!

From left to right we have:

Boots Natural Collection Moisture Shine Lipstick in Cherry Red
Collection 2000 Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner in Black
No7 Beautiful Skin Foaming Cleanser
Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch Light Diffusing Concealer
Pearl Drops Beauty Sleep
Rimmel I <3 Lasting Finish Nail Polish in Black Cherries
17 Fast Finish Nail Polish in Navy Glint
Collection 2000 60 Seconds Hot Looks Nail Polish in Shimmy Shake


Reviews will follow soon.

If you're doing the same thing this weekend then happy shopping! X

Tresemme Split Remedy Split Mend & Protect Leave in Treatment

Hi everyone!

Hope you're well! Sorry for being a bit quiet recently, it's a busy time at work at the moment.

Anyway, enough about that, I've got to tell you about this wonder product I've come across!

The Split Mend & Protect Leave in Treatment from Tresemme's new Split Remedy range http://www.tresemme.co.uk/Products/Split-Remedy/

I received a sample with my New Look delivery a couple of weeks ago so I'm assuming the two companies must have some sort of promotion type thing going on at the moment.

Mine came with 10ml samples of the Split Mend Shampoo and Conditioner and the leave in treatment.

I remember buying a Tresemme shampoo and conditioner when it first came out about 7 or 8 years ago but if I'm being perfectly honest I didn't really like the products and my hair just didn't get on with it at all!
So while I wasn't overly fussed about trying the shampoo and conditioner I was intrigued by the leave in treatment.

I haven't got particularly bad split ends but I am pretty lazy when it comes to having my hair cut (I haven't stepped foot in a hairdressers since March! Shocking I know) so anything that will attempt to make my dry ends look a little bit smoother is always good in my book!

According to Tresemme their leave in treatment gives 'the look and feel of a salon fresh cut for longer' helping to 'repair split ends by up to 80%' with a noticeable difference after the first use.

Their instructions are as follows:

• Start with the Tresemme Split Mend Shampoo and Split Mend Conditioner
• Dispense 2-3 pumps of treatment into hands. Distribute through towel dried or damp hair, concentrating on the ends. Do not rinse.
• You can also apply a small amount on to the ends of dry hair for added smoothing and conditioning throughout the day

Simple enough eh?

I didn't exactly follow the instructions word for word, I used my Aussie Mega shampoo and Mega Instant conditioner, followed by a spritz of Lee Stafford's Poker Straight Flat Iron Protection Mist before running some of the leave in treatment through my hair.

On the instructions it specifies 'pumps' however there was no pump on the sample so I blobbed a generous amount onto my hand and smoothed through my hair particularly concentrating on the dry ends.

If you've used leave in treatments before then its pretty standard in how it looks and feels.

In all honesty I wasn't expecting that much of a noticeable difference but my hair did feel a whole lot smoother and even after a few days the ends still felt pretty soft.

I didn't bother applying it throughout the day (I did actually intend on doing this but always managed to forget!) so I can't really comment on whether that makes it more effective when used like this and in conjunction with the other products within the range but it has definitely made a difference, even my Mum commented on how smooth my hair looked!

I've just used up the rest of my sample and I am definitely going to invest in this! I figure that with prolonged use it will certainly help my hair.

While I appreciate that it doesn't have quite the same effect as lopping of the dead/split ends at a salon it works well for me!

The actual product comes in a 125ml bottle and retails for £5.69 so it won't break the bank (another added bonus!) and is currently available in Boots, Superdrug, Tesco, Asda, Waitrose and Ocado.


If anyone else has used this I'd be interested to know what you think?

Lots of love

Kimberley x

Flapjack!!

Flapjack has got to be one of my favourite things ever!

Unfortunatley its also one of those recipes that I've struggled to perfect, it usually ends up too crunchy but its the soft, gooey, chewy stuff that I love ❤ but every recipe I've come across never turns out right.

That was until I stumbled across BBC good food's recipe!

Apparently the chewyness lies in how much golden syrup you add to the mixture (who knew?)

So, here's the finished result!



http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1148640/yummy-golden-syrup-flapjacks

Vivienne Westwood Melissa Boots

Now it's safe to say I'm becoming a bit of a VW fan!

Back in June I purchased a pair of the smoke Vivienne Westwood Melissa Cameo pumps from ASOS for the bargain price of £60.00 (when I found them, they were only available in my size which I took to be a sign of divine intervention and snapped them up right away) at the time they had some of the boots on sale too, the tassel ones and the studs, as it was summer (and as I'd just parted with £60) I didn't really take much notice.

Fast forward to the start of September and I suddenly remembered the boots and got it into my head that I just had to have a pair, however, when I went back to ASOS they only had the tassel version, which to be honest, I wasn't overly keen on. The bootie studs had 3 gold buttons brandishing the familiar Vivienne Westwood orb going down the boot vertically.

After much searching I found a pair of the bootie studs on a website called Catfish http://www.catfishwomen.com/ this wasn't a site that I'd come across before but they stocked a lot of other well known brands and they had the boots on sale for £46, so as with the pumps 3 months before I just had to have them and 3 days later they arrived ...

 

Originally it was the black pair I was after but this website only had these boots available in mustard or navy so I plumped for the navy ones assuming that I'd be able to get more wear out of a more neutral colour.

 

I'm actually quite pleased that I ended up with the navy ones, and I'm actually glad I got these over the black ones even though they were the ones that I was originally after.

Navy is also a big trend for Autumn/Winter 2012 so I know I will get my wear out of these!

 

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Vivienne Westwood/Melissa footwear range it's basically a collection of shoes made out of plastic, but the plastic is injected with a fragrance and the shoes smell absolutely gorgeous (imagine sweets and old school 2p bubbly's!)

 

Since I injured my foot last week these have been the only shoes I can get on while it's still bandaged up and they are unbelievably comfy so have been an absolute godsend, thanks very much Ms. Westwood.

 

When I purchased the boots I noticed that there are some flip flops available too, I may have to invest in a pair of these for next Summer ...

 

 

Crystal flowers

So last week I was a little bit clumsy and managed to fall down nearly a full flight of stairs, injuring my foot and ankle in the process.

After 4 days of sitting on the sofa with my foot propped up and feeling like I was going out of my mind I decided to cheer myself up by doing my nails!

Although it's edging ever closer to Autumn I'm trying to cling onto Summer for as long as I can so I decided on a fuchsia pink and purple.

I've always been a nail art fan but I particularly like the accent trend that's cropping up everywhere at the moment too.

I used Rimmel's 60 Seconds Nail Polish in Funtime Fuchsia on my thumb, index, middle and little finger and Barry M Nail Polish in Bright Purple on my ring finger along with a mixture of pale pink, hot pink, purple and clear nail crystals to create the flower.

Welcome ...

Hi everyone!
 
Welcome to With Love Kimberley,
 
I've been lurking for a while and figured it was high time I set up my own blog :)
 
I'm planning on posting some more bits and bobs later on today so please keep checking back.
 
Any questions or queries then let me know!
 
Thanks
 
Kimberley x