Lush Haul.

Hi everyone! I have already posted this photo onto instagram (check the side of my blog for the link) but today I though I would do a quick post on a recent shopping trip I had to Lush. Lush has always been one of my favourite shops as they do amazing quality products that are vegan and eco-friendly and also the staff are amazing and really friendly! But until recently I'd only really ever bought bath stuff from them, so I decided that I would try a few of their skincare products as well.

MAC - Rebel lipstick.

Hi everyone, today I am going to review one of my favourite statement lipsticks ever, and that is from MAC in Rebel! I love this shade and wear it a lot, and now Autumn is coming up it is a perfect warm shade for those cold days.

This lipstick has a lovely raspberry pink/purple colour, it looks quite dark in the packaging but when you apply it comes out lighter on your lips. The lipstick itself is really easy to apply, and I like to apply it with a brush as to be honest I'm really messy when it comes to applying lipstick, so when it comes to a darker shade I find it easier and less messier to apply with a brush.

One coat of this lipstick gives you a nice opaque coverage, but I always like to blot and add either one or two more coats as it helps to make the lipstick last longer and also it builds up the colour. If you don't want a really dark colour this lipstick is buildable, and you could always apply a bit to the center of your lips and blend it out.

This lipstick has a satin finish, so it kind of has a matte effect with a slight sheen to it. Once applied I find this lipstick lasts ages and can sometimes last me over 6 hours and it doesn't really bleed out! Also when wearing this I don't really find that it leaves lipstick stains everywhere, though it can sometimes leave a slight transfer.

The only slight problem I have with this lipstick that it can be slightly drying and if you have dry lips, this lipstick will extenuate that. So before I apply this I would recommend using a lip scrub and a lip balm before hand to moisturise and soften your lips. 

This lipstick costs £15.50 so it's a bit on the pricey side, but I absolutely love it! And it's always nice to treat yourself every so often. You can buy it here:

http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/products/spp/shaded.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT168&PRODUCT_ID=PROD310&SKU_ID=SKU3060

What do you think on this shade?

Balance me - Wonder Eye Cream.

Hi everyone, today I am going to review the Balance me Wonder Eye cream. I received a sample of this a while ago in my Birchbox and was really excited to try it out as I had heard a lot of good reviews on it.

The thing I love about this eye cream is that it is 99% natural and contains loads of antioxidants to help keep your eye area healthy without putting harsh chemicals on your skin. When applying I found it to be really moisturising and I only needed the tiniest amount for each eye so a full sized bottle of this would last for ages! Also I didn't find it irritating at all after using.

The only problem I had with this is that it didn't really work with me, I still found that I had dark circles and a few fine lines under my eyes. However unfortunately whilst I was testing this product I was having very sleepless nights and I don't think any eye cream would have fixed the way my eyes were looking, I had dark circles for weeks! Though saying this, this eye cream may have helped reduce the dark circles, but wasn't strong enough to make them go completely.  

The price for a full sized bottle of this eye cream costs £20, so it's a bit on the pricey side! But you can purchase a smaller bottle for £11. At the moment I don't think I would ever purchase this again, but I would definitely be interested in trying in out again when I'm sleeping better.

You can buy it here:

https://www.balanceme.co.uk/face/product-family/extra-care/extra-care-wonder-eye-cream/

Barry M - Matte nail paint in caramel.

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a good bank holiday weekend! Today I am going to review one of the Barry M Matte nail varnishes in Caramel. I love a matte nail varnish as they look good and are a really simple nail effect to do.

I got the shade Caramel which is a nice nude colour which looks professional and goes with anything! When applying it can be a little streaky but nothing too major and if you are in a rush I think you could get away with just one coat. However I like to use two coats as I feel it makes my nails look neater and does get rid of any initial streaks from the first coat.

What I really love about this matte nail varnish is that the dying time is really quick! I am super impatient when it comes to waiting for a nail varnish to dry and always end up smudging them, however this nail varnish dries completely within 5 minutes! 

Another benefit is that I also find this nail varnish lasts longer than most and doesn't start chipping until about day 4/5, so I like to use this when I know I'm going to have a busy week ahead. I did team up this Matte caramel with a Barry M limited edition gold sparkle nail varnish which I think goes really nice over the top.

Barry M has a lot of matte nail varnishes out now so you have a great colour range to choose from, I also own the colour Burgundy crush from them and they are at a great price of £3.99. You can buy this nail varnish and the rest of the collection here:

http://www.superdrug.com/Barry-M/Barry-M-Matt-Nail-Paint-Light-Brown-Caramel/p/730658?singleResultSearchPage=true#.U_yuOPldXsY

Unfortunately they don't sell the limited edition glitter top coat anymore but I think Revlon nail varnish in Tweed Woven would look great as a top coat as well. You can buy that here:

http://www.superdrug.com/Revlon/Revlon-Nail-Varnish-Tweed-Woven-Clutch/p/866958#.U_yt0fldXsY

What do you think on Matte nails? 

August Birchbox review.

 It's Birchbox time again and this month they had a summer holiday theme! I love the little details that Birchbox include in their box and this month it included a packing list, a to do list, a cute little cosmetic bag and a sample chapter of a summer read, perfect for when you want a book to read whilst sunbathing. 

This month I also received:

• Vasanti - BrightenUp! 
• Dead Sea Spa Magik - Refreshing bath shower gel.
• Number 4 - Super comb Prep & Protect.
• Supergoop! - CC cream.
• Wild About Beauty - Powder eyeshadow in aine.

Socail media - take two.

Hi everyone again, just to let you know I now have a twitter account for this blog if you want to give it a follow:

https://twitter.com/RamblingMakeup

And don't forget you can also follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook too, just check the links down the side of the page! 

Thanks and I hope you all have a lovely evening!

x

Chanel - VITALUMIÈRE AQUA.

Hi everyone! Today I am going to review The Vitalumiere Aqua foundation by Chanel. The first thing I think of when someone mentions the word luxury is Chanel and this foundation matches up to the luxury I expect. I love being able to go out and treat myself to a high-end product and I love it even better when it matches up to my expectations.

This foundation has a soft liquid consistency which provides a nice light coverage. It is very natural looking when I apply it and it is good for those days when you want a fresh and healthy look to your face. Even though it provides a light coverage I find that it can be buildable over certain imperfections and it blends in easily.

When using you first have to give the foundation a good shake otherwise you will just get fluid coming out, and then I find it easier to apply it with my fingertips as when using a brush I find that I end up having to use more product. When I'm wearing this foundation it usually lasts me for around 5-6 hours before I need to think about reapplying. 

The packaging of this foundation is very sleek and stylish, and it comes with a thin nozzle at the top so you can squeeze the foundation out. The foundation itself contains SPF 15 which is always a bonus to help protect your skin but it does mean it comes with a slight sunscreen type smell, but to be honest it is quite a nice fresh smell and not very strong.

I only use this foundation when my skin is looking clearer as even though it does cover redness and slight imperfections I often need a fuller coverage foundation to help conceal any bigger imperfections. This also means that I am not wasting a lot of this product trying to build it up as this is a high end foundation.

This foundation costs £33 and you can buy it here: Chanel - VITALUMIÈRE AQUA.

What is your favourite foundation?

Vegan Banana bread.

It's Great British Bake Off day today, currently my favourite day of the week! So today since it is bread week I thought I would share with you all my favourite Banana bread recipe (Though technicially it is more like a cake). This recipe is really simple to make and makes the perfect breakfast especially when paired up with peanut butter.

Ingredients:

• 225g of plain flour
• 3 big teaspoons of baking powder
• 100g Brown sugar
• Spices such as cinnamon (I used cinnamon, ground ginger and nutmeg) I don't have an exact measurement for these as I just add as much/as little as I like but I would say you need at least need a couple of teaspoons of the spices combined.
• 3 bananas that are brown/black 
• 75g of sunflower oil (Vegatable oil is fine too)

You can also choose to add optional ingredients such as:

• Nuts (Walnuts or peanuts would be nice in this)
• Dried fruits
• Chocolate (I used plain chocolate)
• Coconut

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

• Peel the bananas and mash them well with a fork, then add the oil and sugar a mix thoroughly.

• Add the flour, baking powder and spices and mix well.

• Now you can mix in any of your optional ingredients. This mixture will  be quite thick and sticky.

• Line a loaf tin with grease proof paper and pour in the mixture. (If you don't have any at the time I just line my loaf tin with soya margarine and flour, but I always recommend using baking paper if you can).

• Cook the bread for 20 minutes and check it. It shouldn't be fully cooked at this point but the top may have started browning so cover it with tinfoil and place back in the oven. It should then take about another 10 - 20 minutes to cook depending on your oven. (I think mine usually takes an extra 15 minutes.)

• Once the bread has cooked allow to cool and then tuck in!

I told you it was super easy! 

I hope you all enjoy it!

FaceB4 - Antibacterial Facewash and After Cleansing Serum.

Hey everyone! Today I will be reviewing the FaceB4 Anti-bacterial face wash and after cleansing serum. I am always on the lookout for any product that can help clear my skin up and after hearing some good reviews about this face system I went and bought them to try for myself.

The anti-bacterial face wash is a combined cleanser and toner. It has two separate compartments one filled with a clear liquid cleanser and the other filled with a green liquid toner, these are then combined with a dual nozzle. When the nozzle is pumped the liquids then come out as a clear foam.

To use I apply onto a wet face and than massage it in with circular movements, you then have to leave it on the skin for one minute and then you can rinse it off. It doesn't have the nicest smell but to be honest the smell also isn't very strong so it isn't off putting  and also if it helps to clear your skin up it doesn't matter too much.

Also when you are applying this if you have any paper cuts on your fingers this will sting when you are using it so make sure you are careful. I also find that after I have used it it does make my skin seem a bit worse and redder, but this tones down after a little while.

After using the face wash I use the after cleansing serum which has an easy to use pump so you can get the right amount of product out. The serum was meant to help sooth the skin and help to prevent any blemishes appearing.

The serum itself is a white cream and to use I simply apply to my fingertip and use light upward strokes to massage it into my face. Now I'm not going to lie this serum does not smell good at all, and I very much disliked putting it on my face in the morning after having a shower however I would say the smell doesn't last longer than five minutes on the skin.

I have been using these two products everyday for almost two months now and to be honest I am a little disappointed as I don't think it really worked well with my skin. I did notice a slight improvement but not enough to make me want to repurchase it again especially for the price it is at and also for the fact I really don't like the smell of the serum.

You can Purchase the FaceB4 face wash and serum in store or online at Boots:

http://www.boots.com/en/Boots-Brands-A-to-Z/FaceB4/

The normal price for these are £14.95 so when buying them together it comes to a total of£29.90.

However Boots currently have an offer on so they are now only £9.97 each! So if you want to give this a try now is the time to buy them!

What is your favourite cleanser?

Social Media.

Just a quick post to say that I have recently created a new Instagram for this blog if you want to give it a follow to keep up to date and for extra beauty posts:

http://instagram.com/ramblingmakeup

There is also a link on the side of my page.

I also have a facebook page: 

https://www.facebook.com/RamblingMakeup

And a pinterest page:

http://www.pinterest.com/lightmeupagain/

If you want to give them a follow. 

Hope you all have a good evening! 

x

Nail Rock - Glitter Dust Red.

Hi everyone! So for the lack of posts recently, I have been so tired and feeling a bit run down so blogging had to take a step to the side for a while, but I'm hoping to get back on it this week! So today I am going to review nail rock nail polish in Glitter dust red.

This nail varnish has a bright classic red colour and comes with a small pot of glitter which comes in a slightly darker shade of red. To use this you apply one coat of nail varnish and allow it to dry and then immediately after adding the second you dip your fingernail into the glitter pot to transfer the glitter on.

 Now as you can imagine this can be a messy process can be a messy process (see picture below) so when I use this I choose to only do it one one nail. I find it is useful to make sure you have some cotton buds and a wet wipe near buy to help remove the excess glitter from your nails and skin. Also don't do what I done and try and blow the excess glitter off your nail especially when the glitter pot is right next to it as it will cause a glitter catastrophe! 

I really like the colour and the effect of this nail varnish however due to its quite messy process I only like to use it for special occasions. The wear time of this nail varnish isn't great for me and starts chipping within two days and the glitter starts coming off within one day too, however you could probably make the glitter last longer by using a top coat (However I didn't do this as I didn't want glitter in my topcoat every time I do my nails.)

To be honest I don't think I would ever repurchase this as even though it has a nice effect, I don't think it is worth the mess and hassle. I would much prefer to buy a standard glitter nail varnish.

These nail varnishes cost £6.99 and unfortunately I couldn't find this colour in the shops but you can buy different shades such as blue and burgundy here: 

https://birchbox.co.uk/brands/nail-rock

They also do different effects such as sequins and caviar.

What do you think on this nail effect? Do you know an easier way to apply it?

Grades, Uni and clearing advice.

Hi everyone, I know it was results day yesterday and well done to everyone who got what they wanted! But today I thought I would offer my advice and experience on what happens if you didn't.

 It took me 4 years to get to uni which included failing exams, resitting exams and taking a totally new course all together. But after all this things worked out and I'm now really happy at Uni doing what I love.

MUA Undress Your Skin - Shimmer Highlighter.

Hi everyone, hope you are all well! Today I'm going to review a relatively new product of mine from Makeup Academy (MUA) which is their powdered shimmering highlighter. Before this I had only ever used High Beam from Benefit (Review to come soon) but I wanted to see how a powder would work out, and this was a bargain so I couldn't say no!

This product has nice and neat packaging where you can see the powder through the lid. The powder itself  has nice swirly design which is a nice touch and makes it seem a little higher end. Though the packaging isn't the nicest in the world it certainly does it's job and I can't complain.

The highlighter itself has a light pink colour to it and is very shimmery. When applying it is easily picked up by my makeup brush and I find that it's very easy to blend and build up, so it's very versatile with what looks you want to achieve whether its a more subtle day time look or building it up for a more dramatic look. 

I apply this product to my cheek bones, cupids bow and under my eyebrows, though I must admit I prefer using High Beam still for my eyes and cupids bow.  The last time for this highligher is very good and lasted me for about 4-5 hours.

Like I've mention this highlighter was a bargain for just £3 so I would definitely recommend it! You can purchase it in Superdrug or online here:

http://www.muastore.co.uk/undress-your-skin-highlighting-powder

What's your favourite highlighter? 

P.S if you got you results today congratulations, I hope you got what you wanted! And don't worry if you didn't, it may be upsetting but there are always different routes to go down and I know this from experience.

Barry M nail varnish - Mediterranean from the Aquarium collection.

Hi everyone! I'm back from my holiday so today I thought I would review my holiday nail varnish from the Barry M aquarium collection in Mediterranean. I fell in love with this colour when I saw it in the shops, I think it's because I'm such a sucker for multi-toned nail varnish and thought it was perfect for a seaside holiday.

This nail varnish comes in a lovely glass bottle that has a gold lid with a fish scale pattern (which I love) to resemble that it comes from the aquarium collection. All the nail varnishes in this collection resemble the ocean/beach in some way and this one looks like a lovely sunset.

This nail varnish has a nice pink copper / rose gold colour. Like I said this is duo-chromed with pink being the main contributor with a nice rust orange undertone so when in the light it changes its appearance. I love the look of this nail varnish in the sun as it is really shines. 

I applied two coats of this nail varnish as it can be quite opaque with just the one. It had a really nice application and didn't leave any streaks which is great and also the drying time isn't really long. I would say that it took about 5 minutes for it to dry nicely, but I would wait 10 just to be sure.

Once applied this nail varnish lasted about 4 days before it started chipping, so it was great that I didn't really have to do any touch ups whilst I was away.

This nail varnish cost £3.99 which is a bargain! You can either buy it from your local Superdrug or Boots, or you can purchase it online here with the rest of the collection: 

http://www.barrym.com/products/nails/effects/aquarium-nail-effects.html

What do you think of this nail shade?

The Body Shop - Vitamin E face mist.

It has been really hot here recently so when I went into The Body shop I was looking for a product which will help refresh and cool my face, and this is what I picked up. This Vitamin E face mist is a relatively new product to The body Shop and I couldn't wait to try it out.

This face mist comes in an easy to use spray bottle with a lid so it is perfect for carrying around with you. It has a milky like colour to it, but it absorbs quickly and the colour doesn't show.  When applying I use two sprays on my face holding it around 20cm away from my face, and this may seem obvious but don't get it in your eye as it will sting! 

You can use this to help set your makeup and I think it gives a dewy finish to your face, but I'm not really sure if it helps to make the makeup last any longer. This product has a rose scent to it which I don't really like, but it doesn't last for long so I can deal with it.

This face mist helps to add moisture to my face and does have a slight cooling effect, though I personally would keep this in the fridge to help with the cooling effect in the summer. Also it doesn't make my face oily after using.

This face mist costs £8.50 from The Body shop so it is a bit on the pricey side and I'm not too sure if I would repurchase mainly as I don't like the rose scent and I would rather have a product that is more cooling, but I'm going to keep an open mind for a while. 

You can purchase it here:

http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/shop-by-range/vitamin-e/vitamin-e-face-mist.aspx  

What do you think of this face mist?

Hi everyone! 

Just thought I'd let you all know I'm off on holiday today, so there won't be many blog posts this week.

I hope you all have a good time.

x

The perfect Sunday brunch - Vegan chia seed pancakes.

Today I thought I would share with you my favourite Sunday breakfast recipe, fluffy vegan chia seed pancakes. These are so easy to make and they taste so good!

Ingredients:

• 296ml / 1 & 1/4 cup of a non dairy milk (I use almond)
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
•  140g/  1 cup of plain flour 
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 2 teaspoons of baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 or 2 table spoons of chia seeds

Steps:

First measure out the milk and add the lemon juice to it and leave it to the side whilst you prepare everything else. The lemon juice will cause the milk to curdle a bit like butter milk and add a nice fresh flavour, but it's not overpowering.

In a bowl mix together the flour, sugar, chia seeds, baking powder and baking soda.

Oil up a frying pan so the pancakes don't stick and put it over a medium heat.

Now you can add the milk and lemon mixture to the bowl along with the vanilla extract and stir everything together until it's all incorporated.

Now all you need to do is pour some of the mixture into the pan and cook it. I usually make around 12 small pancakes and cook them for about two minutes aside. 

Extra tip: If you don't have a large pan, warm up the oven slightly and store the cooked pancakes in the oven to stop them cooling down whilst you cook the rest of the batter.

I really like these pancakes with fruit and maple syrup on top, but you can choose what ever topping you want! 

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Keeping safe in the sun.

I know I've said this a lot but it really is important to protect your skin from the sun otherwise it can cause your skin to age faster or it can help cause skin cancer. So with the summer holidays here I thought now would be a good time to review some of the sun lotions I own and use.