My Little Fashion Box: September

I thought this month's theme was a little boring and vague in all honesty, I felt the box lacked it's usual feeling of 'togetherness' in the way all the items are explicitly linked, however the items themselves were of great interest to me. The item I was the most excited about was probably the La Roche Posay Hydreane BB Cream. The brand itself made me excited as I always hear such good things about it, but the fact that it was a BB cream also greatly excited me as I've been thinking lately about trying some lighter coverage products. Unfortunately I found a similar issue with this product as with many BB creams, which is that they tend to not really agree with my oily skin. However the product itself is lovely and I'm sure on a less oily skin it would be much better. The coverage is light and breathable but evens out the skin tone well, plus it smells fresh, is easy to apply and lasts all day as long as I remember to powder. I also received another Keratase product this month to my disappointment. It was the Couture Styling Laque Noire Hairspray which I am yet to try but I haven't really liked any of the other products from this range that I've received. It's a super strong hold hairspray, so I'm not sure I'll have a lot of use for it, but the size should make it good to travel with if nothing else. From the My Little Beauty range I got the Red Dingue Lip Colour which I had high hopes for as it looked like a more blue toned red in the tube, however it turned out to be a more pink toned red which was a slight disappointment to me, as this made it very similar to the So Susan lip colour that I received last month. On the plus side the product itself is lovely, the formula is great as it dries matte, similar to the Bourjois Matte Rouge Lipsticks and is very long lasting as a result.

I was also very excited to find the Alfa.K Nail Decals in my box this month, they are simply gorgeous and sooooo easy to apply. All you have to do is press the plastic sheet against your nails and they come right off. Beautiful nail art in no time at all. I think they look absolutely gorgeous used as an accent nail paired with my new Illamasqua nail varnish in DWS which I picked up for the bargain price of £3.99 in TKMaxx. I would definitely recommend them to anyone. I was slightly less pleased however with the American Vintage Scarf  as I don't really wear scarves, whilst the pattern is pretty it's not something I would wear (I mostly only wear monochrome and not many patterns) and it's strangely small for a scarf so that it barely fits around my neck.

It was rather a mixed bag this month but I am quite pleased. For the price you can't really complain, I would have paid £15 for the La Roche Posay BB Cream alone, so overall it's definitely good value for money and really does bring excitement to my week when I open it. More than that I love the anticipation of it arriving, photographing it, writing about it, trying out all the products for the first time, writing reviews on them. For me it's not just about receiving the products themselves, is about the experience as well.

Loreal Volume Million Lashes Excess Mascara Review

So who else gets sucked into those brilliant annoying 3 for 2 offers that Boots always have on? I only ever need one thing (in this case the L'oreal SuperLiner Slim) yet I always end up with three just because they make me feel like I'm saving money this way when in fact I'm not really because I rarely need the other three products. But in this case I picked up the Volume Million Lashes Excess mascara and a lip liner (We'll leave that disappointing story for another day). I chose the Excess version a) because I'd never heard of it and b) because I usually like a slightly fuller brush. Though on first inspection I did slightly regret it because the brush seemed slightly too big to be perfect however with continued use I've found that it is able to coat even the smallest lashes and it really opens up the eyes. It lengthens and thickens lashes well but can turn lashes quite spidery if you're not careful, which is never a good look. It lasts really well and never leaves me looking panda-y by the end of the day however is quite easy to remove with micellar water. Unlike some mascaras it also doesn't 'crumble' at all when dry and leave you with black dots under your eyes. Whilst not my favourite mascara I've ever tried it's definitely a good one that i would repurchase.

So which mascara shall I try next?

Loreal Telescopic Mascara Review

This is actually the only mascara I have ever re-brought. When there is so many to pick from, I always feel like I may as well try a new one. However I thought this one was so good that I actually brought it a second time :)

The brush is brilliant because it has such small bristles which allows you to coat every lash and separate them out them out, if thicker lashes is what you want this macara probably isn't for you but if you want length and volume it's perfect.

You can apply multiple layers without lashes going all spidery too

                                No one should see me face this close up

Major crazy eyes going on here.

and on that note...

June Favourites

1. L'oreal Telescopic Mascara- Definitely one of my all time favourite mascaras.
2. Heros Of Olympus Books- Finally got round to reading the second one and am loving it.
3. Vaseline- My lips have been so chapped at the moment and I tried using my Maybelline Baby Lips but they are seriously the most over-hyped product ever and I think that they are practically useless. So anyway I decided to try out the old classic and it has been working great especially since I have been flying.
4. Fringe Kimono-My current favourite piece of clothing, its the perfect summer piece and its so easy to just throw on and you instantly win in the style stakes. 
5. Metcalfe's Skinny Topcorn- I saw this featured on A Yellow Brick Blog a couple weeks ago and really wanted to try it and I have to say it is delicious! I seriously can't believe how nice it tastes considering how few calories it has in it.
6. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation- My favourite foundation to date , it matches my skin tone well, is light but gives good coverage and looks dewy but not oily on my skin as most foundations do. I also got it for £6 at the Birmingham Rag Market rather than £11 in Boots so I was very happy!
7. Neutrogena Oil Free Moisturiser-I have been using this for a while now, I've gone through 2 tubes of it and it's really helping to make my skin look less oily.
8. Benefit Porefessional Primer- I recently brought Elle magazine because this primer came free with it, I was very disappointed with the mag but definitely not with the primer. It lived up to all my expectations.

Micellar Waters: L'oreal Vs. B. Pure

I brought these two when they were both on half price so each cost me £2.50. These are two of the cheapest micellar waters on the highstreet I think. I might try the Garnier one in the future too since I'm running out of these two, So maybe there'll be another review of that too! Up until buying these I had always used Johnson's baby wipes to remove my makeup (My mom alway had for some reason), but since using a real makeup remover, I would never go back, its so much better having a liquid to wipes!

B. Pure by Superdrug

Pros-

• The bottle is much better to use and you can control how much comes out.
• Takes of makeup very well

Cons-

• Not a huge fan of the smell
• Sometimes stings my eyes if I put too much on

Loreal Paris

Pros-

• Better value for money as its the same price for a bigger bottle
• I prefer the smell
• Takes of makeup brilliantly
• Doesn't sting my eyes

Cons-

• Very hard to control how much comes out of the bottle

The Verdict-

Overall I personally prefer the Loreal one. I can't put my finger on exactly why, but when they are both sitting on my shelf I almost always go for the l'oreal one and since it is better value I'd definitely recommend the l'oreal one over the B. Pure one.

So have any of you tried these out? Opinions on the Garnier one too please, should I try it?

Mini Hair Product Haul

On the way home from school I decided to pick up some stuff in Boots before christmas. My purse did not appreciate this...

I picked up some hair dye because I wanted to re-dip-dye my hair, I decided to stick with the same l'oreal dye that I used last time, as I figured I'd play it safe. 

I also picked up some temporary blue hair dye from Bleach London to try over the christmas holidays whilst I'm off school. I wanna dip dye it a turquoise minty green colour which is why I got 'Washed Up Mermaid' but I'm not sure how well it will work on my hair...we'll see.

Then I picked up another bottle of Toni and Guy Heat protectant spray because I had run out and straightening my hair without it was drying it out so badly it made me want to cry.

Finally, I decided to try Lee Stafford Bleach Blonde Shampoo as the heat protectant and blue hair dye were on 3 for 2 and this would end up free. I was just about to finish my current bottle of shampoo so when I saw it in the shop and realised it is the one that Zoella recommended for ombred hair I figured I would give it a try. It is a very bright purple which is quite a shock when you first use it and I also realised that it is a toning shampoo meaning that it should only really be used once a week but I shall see how it goes.

What have your purses not been appreciating lately?

October Favourites

I have been watching so much youtube recently, I'm a little obsessed. But anyway, I was inspired by these to start a new feature... monthly favourites! So here goes...

1. Starbucks Chilled Caramel Macchiato Latte-These things taste amazing! As do the bottled frappuccinos.
2. ABC's Once Upon A Time-I have been watching this show since the very beginning and am totally obsessed. So happy Season 3's finally here!
3. MUA Undressed Palette-This is a beautiful and versatile palette with a great selection of colours.
4. Sara Bareilles Brave, Chasing The Sun and Hercules-Chasing the Sun is my current fave but the other two are close contenders.
5. Maynards Sour Patch Kids- I am so happy that these have arrived in England, they are delicious!
6. Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss stick in Fucshia-ristic- This has long been a favorite of mine as it has the colour of a lipstick but the sheen of a lip gloss with out the stickiness.
7. Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant by Veronica Roth-I am obsessed with these books! I read the first one in 2 days and can't wait to read the third.
8. Compass by Lady Antebellum-I have been a fan of Lady A for a while now but their new single is one of my favourites yet.
9. Loreal Super Liner Perfect Slim in Black Intense- This is my new favourite eyeliner! The tip is so thin and precise and the formula lasts all day. 

And of course I have been obsessed with Katy Perry's new album, 'Prism'!

Let me know your favourites this month in the comments...

Loreal Preference Wild Ombre Dye Kit Review

Over the summer I finally got round to dip-dying my hair and thought I'd share with you a quick review of the Loreal kit I used, which is below-

Here were the results straight after I had done it-

This is a photo of it about a week or two later when I was at the Fusion Festival (Which was AMAZING!) Ignore the facepaint haha this was the only nice photo I could find.

Rather than just combing it all through and leaving it for 45 minutes like the kit said, I brushed it through the bottom 3 inches or so of my hair and left it for 10 Minutes  then I painted it up another 3 inches and left it for 10 minutes, then painted it up another 3 inches or so up to my chin and then left it for the remaining 25 minutes. Then I just washed it out as the instructions said.

I chose to do it this way because I didn't just want a harsh line through my hair, I wanted a more natural, more graduated progression.

I really am quite happy with how it turned out :D

 Comment below if your hair is ombred or if your thinking of taking the plunge ;)