My Lush Assistant

As many of you may know, dear Bloggerinos, I have been more than a little blessed in the Lush department of late. I was sent an enmormous box of Lush products from the gorgeous Becky from Liverpool Lush, and also, my own Lush store has been topping me up with a few little soapy samples each time I go in.

From time to time, (but not too often because I'm far to selfish with my lovely Lush things!ha!) I let someone give me a hand and try the products and tell me what they thought. This works well because I get a different view and in the end, enables me to give my Bloggerinos and Youtuberinos a more rounded review.

Here is Milo from my office who has kindly tried out Demon in the Dark soap and Cosmetic Lad moisturiser- reviews coming soon.

Thanks Milo!!

Toodlepip! xx

Lou's Reviews- Benefit vs Collection 2000

I have always been a believer of the phrase "you get what you pay for" and as and when I can afford it (which sadly isn't as often as I would like!), I have splashed out on MAC and Benefit for makeup and Clinique for skin care. On the whole, I would say that these high end brands are of better quality and give greater results. However, I have found an exception!

Now, this is not the only exception to the rule, I have found quite a few brilliant drugstore brands that I would buy over MAC and Benefit but this is the first I want to share with you. PRESSED POWDER.

I bought this Benefit Get Even Powder (In no. 2) about a year ago and when I first bought it, I was somewhat let down. The lady at the stand had insisted that it was the right shade for my skin tone and although I had my doubts, I was bamboozled by the Benefittyness and bought it for £22.50. Yikes!

I have found that this is too dark for my natural and very pale skintone but works a treat when I am fake tanned. The powder is lovely and smooth with very fine particles and doesn't dry my skin out. I usually brush a light dusting over foundation to set it nicely and erradicate that oily look that foundation can sometimes leave. It's easy to use at home with my brushes or on the go because of it's handy mirror and black puffy sponge thinygymabob.

I've had this a year and it's still going strong so you do get a fair amount- and so you bloomin's should for £22.50 eh!

So I was happy with my powder when I had a tan, but fake tanning is quite an upkeep and there are times when I like to embrace my natural hue. I didn't fancy forking out another whopping £22.50 so I opted for this little beauty above. It's from the Collection 2000 range which is a very affordable drugstore brand and I absolutely love it. It's products are so fun and frivellous and their glitter eyeliners are amazing! Review on those to come I think :)

Anyway, this is the finishing powder in Ivory for an easy £1.99 and it even claims to contain vitamin E and UVA and UVB suncreen- bargain! It goes is smoothly and silkily with my prestige fluffy brush (which by the way, is still sheading fibres- so not going for prestige brushes again thank you very much!) and sits really nicely on my foundation- I use Maybeline Dream Matt Mousse (ivory) for non tan days. I finishes my skin off nicely and doesn't leave little flakey dry patches like some powders can.

If I was asked to try these and not told which was which, I think I would struggle to differentiate between the two. The real difference is not in the product itself, but in the packaging. Collection 2000 offers the powder in a plastic palette with a pull off lid and little else, whereas Benefit displays the powder in a sleek black compact complete with mirror and sexy puff jobby-yummy!

So bloggerinos, what do you think? Do you think you get what you pay for, or that this is what we are led to believe by companies that want us to part with lots of our hard earned mula?

Toodlepip! xx

Benefit Flake Promo

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I haven’t blogged for a wee while because I have been going nutty on my youtube channel- what a busy girlie I am! And also, I’m letting my LUSH GIVEAWAY have a little bit of breathing space, but I couldn’t not show you this!

I was sent details of this fab Benefit promotion via email and although many of you may have received it too, I thought I would share it with you in case you wanted to get in on the act.

Mmmmm such a good excuse to eat copious amounts of flakes! Yes please Mr Cadbury!

 

Toodlepip! xx

LUSH GIVEAWAY!

Aloha Bloggerinos,

I have been a very lucky girlie lately and in recent weeks have gained rather a few blog followers and youtube subscribers. This has made me feel ultra happy and superduper special and I wanted to thank you!

To show my thanks and excite all of you lovely lot, I am having a gorgeous giveaway to celebrate! It’s mostly a Lush giveaway and all the products are full sized and not my little samples.

The Rules :

1. To enter, you must be a follower of my bloggypops.

2. To enter once, follow and comment below with “enter me” or something similar- how creative can you get with an enter me request? Haha

3. To enter twice and double your chances of winning, follow me on here and also become a subscriber of my youtube channel and comment with “enter me” - just let me know you would like two entries because of your subscription.
4. Bonus entry- for FOUR entries, blog follow, youtube subscribe and link my giveaway to your bloggypops. Be sure to let me know you have and provide me with a link so I can have a look at your fab bloggypops too

5. Sit back and relllaaaxxx. I shall use random.org to draw a winner and to be fair and will announce the lucky girlie (or blokey) on Thursday the 11th of March, giving you three weeks.

Anyone, anywhere can enter, I love you all enough to pay the postage! Hahaha!

None of the products have been used so you can rest assured that they are lovely and in tippytop condition. Other than the two facemasks, they are all Lush items, five of which being Limited Editions ones and of course the famous Snow Fairy is in there too. I’m yet to meet someone who doesn’t luurrrvvvee it!

Products to win are:

Lush MA Bar Bubble Bar

Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Lush So White Bath Ballistic

Lush Fantastic Mrs Fox Bubble Bar

Lush Ceridwens Cauldron Bath Melt

Montagne Jennesse Cherry Toni c Face Mask

Montagne Jennesse Spa Aloe Vera Tonic Face Mask

Lush Mystery Soap and Bubble Bar (I saw mystery because I cannot recall the names and can’t find them online because they were limited edition ones-grr)

Thank you to all those who enter, Goodluck my little bloggerinos!

Toodlepip! xx

Tag me :)

Hello there Bloggerinos, I've been umming and arring for a few days (whilst trying out a million and one Lush products-woop woop) about doing a tag, but can't think of a good one. What do you think? Do you know any good ones?

Answers of the back of a postcard please girlies..or a comment below would be excellent too.

Toodlepip! xx

From Lush with Love

Yesterday morning I was planning on having a disgustingly long lay in and languishing in my freshly on sheets. Is there anything better than clean sheets? However, at 7.30am there was a knock at the door. Who on earth comes round at 7.30am on a Saturday?? Postman Pat!! I shlepped back to bed with a very heavy box and wide awake with excitement. I opened it up and it was a GIANT BOX OF LUSH GOODIES, BAAABBYY!!

The extra fantabulous Becky from Liverpool had seen my blog and youtube reviews and as she works at Lush, she very kindly picked me a selection of items that she says she feels are sometimes overlooked and are very special. This is by far the best thing that has ever come through the post! I counted and there are 19 items in there and I shall be reviewing at least 18 of them- one is a top secret Lush item- oh la la!

I think I shall review all items on my youtube channel but I shall review a select few on my bloggypops :)

I can't thank Becky enough for this very generous Lushy gift. She is a cosmetics and beauty wizz- she even has her own eBay shop called Tans and Talons. I have had a good mooch around it and it is AMAZING! She sells all BioSculpture and Fake Bake items and I have got my beady little eye on the nail art brushes (they look luurrrvvly) and the nail art glitter is now on my wishlist. The prices all look really reasonable and I think come payday, I shall have a little shop. For all you bronzed goddesses and gorgeous nailed gals, here is a link to he fabbydabby shop- http://members.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=what_a_bling

It will take me a little while to get through all the Lou's Reviews so keep checking back. Here is a list (in no particular order) of all the wonderful products I received:

1. Sympathy For The Skin Body Lotion

2. Whoosh Shower Jelly

3. Cosmetic Lady Facial Moisturiser

4. Lemony Flutter Cuticle Butter

5. Vanilla Puff Powder

6. Angels On Bare Skin Cleanser

7. Mask Of Magnaminity Face Mask

8. Fair Trade Foot Lotion

9. Yummy Yummy Yummy Shower Cream

10. Sultana Of Soap

11. American Cream Moisturiser

12. Rehad Shampoo

13. You've Been Mangoed Bath Melt

14. Sunnyside Bubble Bar

15, Sugar Scrub

16. (Non Lush) Tropical Lip Balm with SPF 15

17. (Non Lush) Amber's Art Soy Wax Melts

18. Top Secret Lush Item

19. Fab Lush catalogue booky jobby that I shall enjoy reading through.

I'm off to drool over my amazing package and shall be smelling amazing for weeks to come! Thank you Becky. :) 

Toodlepip! xx

Sew what's new?

This Sunday I have been relishing my lounge-about-in-jimjams day and caught up on a bit of sewing machine time. I have been meaning to stock up on my to-sell-in-craft-shops loot for a while and so I whipped up these cute little decorative hearts. My next batch are going to be filled with lemon grass or lavender to make little smellies for drawers and bedroom drawer knobs. What do you think?

These were simplepimple to make: cloth, running stitch 80% of the way round, stuff stuff stuff, stitch up, add on ribbon and buttons et voila- decorative heart cushion! Woop!

Lou's Reviews- GOSH Velvet Touch and Soft'N Shine

Whilst on my lunchbreak the other day, I decided to take the plunge and branch out into something I have been wanting to do for sometime but hadn't felt brave enough to til now- pinky pink pink lipstick!

All my makeup life I have been a lipgloss girl, enjoying the ease of it and range of low key colours such as light pinks, shines and maybe the odd MAC Dazzleglass here and there. In the last few months I have been getting braver with my lipglosses and even bought a couple of MAC Slimshine lipsticks in easy-to-wear colours (review coming soon) but on Tuesday, with the snowy blizard (I kid you not!) in my hair and a lunchbreak to fill, I decided I would puruse the very bold pinks and give it a whirl!


After trying out so many pink lipsticks on my hand that I looked a bit crazed, I settled for 2 from the GOSH range and was very proud of myself indeed. The top one is GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Tropical Pink number 43 and this retails at £6 and the bottom one is GOSH Soft'N Shine Lip Balm in Barbie number 30 and I THINK was £7.99.

Velvet Touch:

I bought this because I thought the colour was fantastical and it reminded me a little of MAC Show Orchid (obv not the same colour but the same kind of wowness if your get my jist?) and really liked the shape of the lipstick- it made applying it around the cupids bow nice and simple. (NB. You'll have to excuse my dodgy application on the lower lip, I didn't use a mirror- what a mistaker to maker).

I thought the colour pay off was exceptional and this lipstick's staying power is pretty impressive. Even after I had taken my makeup off that night, I still had tropically pink stained lips! This colour (and I suspect maybe the whole Velvet Touch range) comes out very matte so if you are looking for understated boldness, this is perhaps one to try.

My only negative with this product was that is was rather drying and I feel like it made my lips look a bit liney and creased if that makes any sense? Also, and this isn't really a negative of the product, more just a sad fact, this pink had quite a purply undertone to it and when I smiled open mouthed, I was a bit conscious that it made my teeth look a little yellowy. To avoid this problem in future, I shall be sticking to blue based pinks.

Defo a lipstick for a night out, perhaps with falsh lashes and black eyeliner but not colourful eyes. Very Cheryl Cole.

Soft'N Shine:

Now this colour I am in LOVE with. It is a gorgeous babydoll pink and because of the lipbalmy moisturising element, it looks half way between a lipstick and a lipgloss, which for a lipstick novice such as my self, is perfecto. I felt like it made my lips look all squishy and sexy and Bardot-esque.

I like this because you can whip one layer on for a very subtle look or build it up a bit for a more striking mouth (ooerr!). This picture is with just one layer because I wanted to be fair to the other lipstick which only got one layer too. Although this is Barbie pink, I still felt able to wear it during the day (unlike Tropical Pink) and wore it to the office on Thursday.

On a packaging note, this looks A LOT like the packaging from the MAC Slimshine range and when I held them together there was literally no difference except one said GOSH and one said MAC. Do you think the same factory made the lipstick tubes? I do.

All in all, I think a winning attempt at big girl lipstick.

Happy Valentines Hot Lips :)

Toodlepip! xx

News Just In- Woop woop

Well hello there Bloggerinos, this is just a quick update and I have some very very exciting news for you! As any Beauty Guru worth her salt will know, Lauren Luke (panacea81) is someone who has really achieved some amazing things. Since starting on youtube doing makeup tutorials, she has gone on to create her own makeup line and has brought out a fantastic book (which I have actually done a review on, on my youtube channel- Sprinkleofglitter).

Anyway, back to the matter in hand, my news- The fantabulous Lauren Luke has subscribed to my youtube channel and I am completely honoured! I am excited and proud every time one of you subscribes on youtube or follows on here (especially on here), but because I have been such a big fan of Lauren I am exceptionally pleased today! Oh jeez, what a sap I am! haha

In the last few days I have had lots of followers and subscriptions and I just want to take a little moment, step away from a review or makeup bloogypops, and say thank you so so so so so so very much to every one of you who takes the time to read this or watch my videos, it means such a lot to me and really makes me very happy indeed.

Have a lovely weekend and a magically romantic Valentines day :)

Toodlepip! xx

ps. Here is a linkypops to my channel    http://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter    

Lou's Reviews- Benefit Miss Popularity

A very long time ago, at an airport far far away....well Manchester duty free isn’t in walking distance anyway..I bought this little number and stored her in a ‘safe place’, ie, I lost her and have now found her and am debuting her in a bloggy review.

This is Miss Popularity by Benefit and is advertised as a precision highlighter. This is a little pot of whitey-goldy eyeshadowesque pigment that you pop on anywhere that you want to enhance. I like to put it in the corner of my eyelids, by the nose, to accentuate the white of my eyes and make them appear brighter. I also dab a little bit on my collar bones (a curvy gal’s trick to making collar bones appear to jut out more and look a little less fleshy) and if I’m feeling particularly mischievous, I dab a little in my cleavage to draw the eye..... ;)

I like that this has a gold hue to the white which is warming on my skin and also looks divine with a tan. NB, sunbeds are naughty, use fake fan please and be kind to yourself, after all your skin is your biggest organ. Little biology fact for you there bloggerinos-woopwoop.

The colour pay off of this is also very enjoyable, not too BLARGH and whiteywhite but lovely and complimentary with what I feel is a high pigment content. I wish I had Superman glasses that could actually measure pigment content of products- that would be ace and would have saved me a lot of money in the early days of buying cosmetics! I like Miss Popularity because it is much more versatile than most cosmetics, in that you can use it on eyes, neck, cleavage, even on your shoulders if you are feeling generous and want to look goddess-like.

The little bottle (which contains 2g of the magic powder) is an easy size to fit in your clutch on a night out and is easy to apply on the go. It comes with a little doofa (is that what it’s called? If not, that’s what I’m calling it now! How very firm of me!) that is attached to the cap so you can dip, dab and go! Little tip, less is more. Better to build up and dab a few times because if you try and get lots out at once, you can get some pretty mean fall out, which is a bit of a bummer.

As always, Benefit have got in spot on with its exciting packaging. I know you mustn’t judge a book by its cover and all that jazz but I like my makeup to look pretty on its shelf and this little purple box does itself proud.

My only real gripe with this product is the price. It retails from Benefit at £17.50. Now, I bought mine in duty free rememeber, so it was a little less and it has lasted me since Summer with plenty left to go so I suppose it’s not toooooo bad but I still feel £17.50 for 2g of product is a little excessive. Come on Benefit, give us all a chance!!

Here’s hoping one of the Benefit bigwigs in San Francisco read this and give us a jolly good sale!

Toodlepip! xx

Current Loves

On a recent jaunt into town for a job interview (which I got and start on Monday-woop), I stumbled across the Barry M counter in Superdrug. OK, OK, so I didn't actually stumble there, I had seen a gorgeous nail varnish shade in Milton Keynes at the weekend but had decided not to buy it because the queue was huge and the particular Superdrug I was in was unpleasantly hot and I just wanted to get outta there!

So, yes, I bought it in the calm and temperate Superdrug of Northampton and headed home with my Pink Flamingo polish and £2.95 well spent. I gave it a whirl and was really rather pleased. I think it looks a bit more orange than pink but nevertheless, it is still a brilliant shade ready to welcome the Spring.

As well as loving Spring-y colours and all things sparkly, I am having some rather extreme cravings for these AMAZING Cadbury Nibbles. They are like Giant Buttons but with a little hit of caramel-mmmmmmmm.

On that sweet note (see what I did there? haha), I'm off to eat more Nibbles!

Toodlepip! xx

Happy 25th Beadday Chum!

For one lucky lady I know, the 8th of Feb is a very special day. It's her Birthday! Woop woop! I was going to dash off to town and buy her a million beautiful things and trinkets, but then I remembered that I am not a millionaire (or even a hundredaire at the moment!) and so decided to pop my creative cap on and make her something special.

I know there is a slight stigma attached to giving someone something that you have made yourself, almost as if it is less of a gift or like cheating or something, but personally (and I'm not just saying this because I'm making something!), I would be truely touched (ooer) if someone did this for me. Whilst making something might not be material rich, it is time and love rich and that is just as valuable, if not more, than coins and notes.

I have had lots of beads floating around for sometime now and have been meaning to use. So I trotted down to my craft studio (oh la la) and selected a few bits that I thought co-ordinated well. The birthday girl wears a lot of greens so I made this the feature colour, as well as browns and ambers as these compliment each other well.

I used quite thick beading elastic and just got stringing! I decided not to put too much thought into the order of beads and charms, I wanted it to look a bit haphazard and messy-chic.

I liked this look so much I ended up making about 7 more for myself and a few other lucky girlies! This is definately a design I shall be putting in my "to sell at craft shops" collection- so keep your eyes peeled!

Toodlepip! xx

MAC Pro Pallete Review

Bit of housekeeping first Bloggerinos :). I just wanted to say a mahoosive thankyou if you have stumbled across me from watching my youtube videos, woop woop! I wanted to thank every bloggerio who takes the time to read my witterings because I really do appreciate every one of you. Just a quick ask though, if you haven't already, please do become a public follower (scroll down and look right and you will find the follow optionypops) because then I can see you and if you have a blog I can have a little read of yours too!

Now, back to the matter in hand, my MAC Pro Palette- ohh yeaaahhh. It took me an absolute age to save for this little baby and I love it to bits. You can buy the 15 slot palette or the 4 slot palette from stand alone stores or from the MAC website and I would recommend it if you have a lot of eyeshadow pots, it is a handy way to keep them all together and is very slim-line.

If you are shopping in one of the stand alone MAC stores, you can buy just the eyeshadow pan, rather than the little pot. The individual pans are £7.50 as apposed to the £10.00 that the pots are. The pans also come pre magnetted (is that the right word?!) so you can just pop them into your palette and they stick there. From past experiance, I have found that eyeshadows that come in a 'collection' or are special edition, are not always done in £7.50 pan form and you have to buy the pot and DIY it. Splendid.

What's that I hear you cry? You already have a selection of beloved MAC eyeshadows that are still in their pots and don't want to rush out and buy the other sort but do want them neatly arranged in the palette? Fear not! Help is at hand! There are many, many, many (!) videos on youtube from fellow beauty youtubers who give demonstrations on how to depot your MAC eyeshadows. I saw one girl use her GHD's to melt the plastic of hers. Not sure my GHD's would thank me for that but there we are!

I am yet to find a MAC eyeshadow that does not have fabulous colour pay off and good staying power so I would feel confident recommending these. They work brilliantly applied alone but for extra oomph, I apply mine after a base of shade stick (fav colours are Beige-ing and Sharkskin). I find they blend very well and with the pressed eyeshadows you don't fall victim to half a tonne of fall out of your cheek- am I yet to master this skill with loose pigment!

For information on what colours (the names etc) I have in my palette, along with a couple of other palettes, have a gander at my yourtube video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ogtSSHkV40

Final Tip- Someone once told me that if you pull out the bit of you palette that has all the circular slots in it (you may need to use a knife to do this so please watch your fingers!), then you are left with a big magnetised rectangle and can get a lot more pans in there. Personally, I couldn't bare to deface mine but you might not be such a sentimental sap as me! :)

Toodlepip! xx