Benefit Powder Time Lover

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Benefit. I tend to buy things from them and then get them home and go 'meh' but for some reason they manage to lure me back again and again. This time it was because Debenhams had a sale on and this was included. The day before I had visited a Benefit counter in Brighton and had a quick look at some of the things but was pestered by one of the counter girls because I was touching things and she asked me if I was actually going to buy anything. I told her I was browsing and then picked up a catalogue and left. Silly girl, I would have probably bought something had she left me to it. I hate being pressurised in stores, if sales assistants do it, I'm off. I just like to browse before asking for help but anyway, rant over.

The catalogue had this amazing smell coming out of it from one of the perfume scratch and sniff pages and it got me a bit addicted to the catalogue so I decided to go online shopping for this perfume but couldn't find it on Benefit's website and then ended up seeing the Debenhams sale and spotted this mini collection of boxed powders - one of the things I'd been playing with the day before.

It was just over £16 I think and was originally about £10 more so I thought it would be good to try out. I'm glad I did, they're really nice and one of the few Benefit products I've fallen for.

No. 17 Va Va Voom Eyeshadow Quad

Last month I met up with some friend who I hadn't seen in a while and we did our Christmas present exchange. One of them got me this eyeshadow quad from No. 17. I've never really looked at No. 17 before, there are only a couple of drugstore brands which I tend to go towards - Barry M, Collection 2000 to name a couple so unless something gets a great review I am unlikely to look at it. In the past I've bought a lot of drugstore makeup and usually I'm not that impressed so just tend to stick to the brands which I have found nice things from.

Anyway, she knows I love makeup so decided to get me this quad. It has lovely colours in it and to be honest I wasn't expecting amazing results compared to Urban Decay and MAC eyeshadows but actually it was really nice.

Boyfriend Nails

A few weeks ago I wanted to paint my nails but couldn't decide what colour to do them so I enlisted the help of my boyfriend. He told me he would 'like to see a nice blue like the ocean' (lol) so I went searching through my polishes for a nice sparkly blue but then decided I could use the ocean reference to try out some nail art. I picked out Leighton Denny's Miss Behavin' (shimmery dark blue) for the base and then having seen him layer his Butterfly Wings (a sheer peach with subtle blue irridecence) over the top to change it to a lighter blue, chose this too. Then I picked out OPI Happy Anniversary (a sparkly silver) and set about painting stripes across the corner of my nails - kind of like waves I guess. This was the first time I'd ever done nail art so I thought the results were okay but as a perfectionist I wasn't happy with it. A colleague who used to be a nail technician said she thought it looked really good for a first attempt so she spurred me on to try more later on which I will be posting about later.

What do you think? It is difficult to see the shimmer in the dark blue but you can get the idea. This was done completely freehand using the brushes straight from the bottles.

- Jennifer

January Favourites

My first favourites post! These are some products that I've really liked through January. I tend to mix and match a lot of things because I like to try out different products but these things I've used quite a lot.

At the top we have Benefit's Powder Time Lover. This was a Christmas product which I got in the Debenhams January sale. It contains 3 mini versions of Benefit's boxed powders in Dandelion, Dallas and Coralista. I think they are really nice powders and have enjoyed using them and trying out some of the colours Benefit has to offer.

Next, in the bottom left is MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study. It is a really pretty colour, a kind of pale gold. I like this to use for days when I can't be bothered or don't have time to do eyeshadow so just quickly apply this instead. You can't really get it wrong and it is lovely to brighten tired eyes.

The two skin toned products are Bobbi Brown Corrector (pinky colour) and Bobbi Brown Creamy Concealer (yellower colour). I adore these products, the best products I've tried for concealing my dark circles and I am really glad I've tried them. I use the corrector to neutralise the dark circles and then the concealer to cover them up and blend them into my skintone.

Lastly, MAC Fluidline in Dark Diversion. This is a great colour, I like it as an alternative to black and it really flatters my green eyes as they seem to look greener against the plum colour.

I will be doing full reviews for the Benefit powders and the Bobbi Brown Corrector and Concealer soon with swatches etc. Swatches for the two MAC products can be found in my Cham-Pale paint pot comparison and my Stylishly Yours purchases.

- Jennifer

Leighton Denny QVC Today's Special Value

I do like Leighton Denny's products and yet I hardly ever see them reviewed by bloggers and wonder why. Of the ones I've seen, bloggers complain that they chip and don't last. I don't understand that, I've worn Leighton Denny's colours for over a week and only had slight tip wear and then on say the 8-9th day they've chipped. That suits me perfectly, I'm easily bored so often end up changing my colour before that anyway but when I've gone to stay with the boyfriend and worn Leighton's colours they have worn fine.

Those who aren't familiar with QVC, they offer a Today's Special Value (TSV) every day which is a special product which they sell for a bargain price or a great group of products which can often be exclusive with a nice saving.

I bought the last Leighton Denny TSV and was very impressed with it so I decided to go for this one too. I also needed a bit of cheering up after an awful week and for this special price, I couldn't resist.

This kit is called the Leighton Denny 7 Piece Desireables Collection with Accessories and the QVC price is £29.98 plus £4.95 P&P (if you order more than 1 set, you only pay 1 set of P&P but if you order another product with it, you will have to pay P&P for that too). This is a fantastic price, even with the P&P which is quite high. The kit comes in a lovely limited edition silver presentation box (usually they are white) which you can store your kit in or use for something else or would be great for giving as a gift. On Leighton Denny's website, his nail polishes retail for £11 each, yes, more than OPI and China Glaze in the UK! As you can see, there is a massive saving to be made with this kit.

The kit contains:
5 nail colours 12ml each - Supermodel (creamy mink - a QVC presenter favourite), Lollypop (watermelon pink), Indulgence (deep creamy red - from the Autumn 2010 collection), Berry Nice (deep berry - Spring 2011 Gelato collection) and Leading Lilac (shimmery lilac - Spring 2011 Gelato collection).
Miracle Drops 12ml (RRP £9) - quick dry drops to speed up drying time of your manicure.
Cuti Lips 10ml (RRP £6.74 for pot version) - dual action conditioning treatment for cuticles and lips (new tube packaging).
Demi Trio Buffer (RRP £4.50 for full size version) - a small version of Leighton's regular Trio Buffer to smooth ridges and buff nails to a glass like finish.
Uno File (RRP £3.25 for two)- a double sided file with a fine grit  for shaping nails.
Hoof Stick (RRP £1.10) - a cuticle pusher to help keep cuticles neat and tidy - can be used with cuti lips as a full cuticle treatment.

All together, this kit is worth over £75 and you get a nice box to go with it whilst you only pay £34.93 from QVC for the lot. See, I told you it was a bargain! Also bare in mind that QVC have a fantastic returns policy - 30 day money back guarantee EVEN AFTER TESTING! Yep, if you are dissatisfied with anything and you even used the kit, changing your nails every day until you sent it back they will still refund you. I doubt I will be sending mine back though because the colours are gorgeous. Also, the two spring colours aren't available yet even on his own website and Leading Lilac is only available in this kit until it's proper release.

If you are unsure about anything and want to see the colours on the nails, either check out QVC on the hour for the TSV showing with Leighton himself presenting the kit (plus lots of other lovely things) it is available at this price all today until 23.59 tonight and you can order via their website www.qvcuk.com or over the phone.

I will do a review when mine arrives. If you would like reviews on any other Leighton Denny products (I have a few colours in various kits), let me know in the comments and I will see if I have it to help you.

- Jennifer

Hair update!

I wasn't able to get my hair dye topped up last Wednesday so I had to rebook an appointment for this afternoon. I've been itching to get it redone because the colour just wasn't what I wanted. It was sort of a coppery brown and barely noticeable. You can see it here. I went in today and my hairdresser joked how she doubted many people noticed it - which they didn't. She assured me that this time they would with this brighter dye she had picked out for me. Aparrently I wasn't the only one to end up with faint colour from the same dye and they had complained to the manufacturer about it not taking properly so it was probably a faulty batch.

Anyway, she came out with the new colour mixed up which was definately red! I didn't have it on for as long as last time but she did put a couple more foils in this time. After checking a few times she decided it was time to take it off before it got too bright and I ended up like a postbox. She washed it out and I could definately see it and after drying it was even better. I love it, it is the perfect brightness too. It isn't the purply red I had wanted to start with but I really like it anyway. Here are some photos.

The colour underneath shows more when I've put my hair up.

- Jennifer

MAC Peacocky Online!

The MAC Peacocky collection is available online on the UK website www.maccosmetics.co.uk NOW! New formula Mega Metal Eyeshadows available in 15 shades, priced at £15.50 each and new Kissable Lipcolour which combines the feel of a lipstick and the shine of a gloss, priced at £16. Go check it out!

- Jennifer