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?