Saturday 13 July 2013

Glossy Box Review

Hey all, I have signed up to GlossyBox! So far I am very impressed and knowing that a pretty box of cosmetic treats is coming my way each month is satisfying my cravings to buy lots of other products when I'm out and about.

If you are unfamiliar with Glossy Box, they are a company which send you 5 products each month for around £10 (depending on how long you sign up for you'll get a better deal). Some products will be sample sized, others are full sized but you're guaranteed that the retail price of the products is higher than the price you've paid. I was skeptical, but after receiving my first box I know that this is true. The products are awesome! They also ask you to complete questions about your skin type, hair colour etc so the products are tailored to your needs.

THE BOX

Firstly, when I say 'pretty box'.. I mean it! The actual boxes are gorgeous and really useful to keep for storage. The packaging is beautiful and it is like receiving a gift wrapped present with ribbons and tissue paper, LOVE IT!

Inside you'll also receive an information leaflet which details all the products you have received which is very interesting and a nice touch. It gives full application instructions and sometimes voucher codes if you want to buy the full sized product.


THE PRODUCTS

NUXE Huile Prodigieuse OR.  

 This is a multi purpose dry oil for face and body with tiny gold shimmer particles. According to their website; "95.2% of the ingredients in this Shimmering Dry Oil are of natural origin, it is a unique combination of 30% Precious Plant Oils and Vitamin E to nourish, repair and soften your face, body and hair in a single step. Your face and body are left feeling soft and silky. Your hair is soft, supple and shines with health. The sensual golden particles leave a subtle shimmer on your skin and enhance your every move."

Those are some pretty big claims. I've never used any dry oil products on my face, somehow the idea of putting oil onto my already oily skin just doesn't seem right. For the past 2 weeks I have been applying this to my freshly cleansed and toned face just before going to bed. I'll shake the bottle as the gold sinks to the bottom (shown in the image above) and place my fingertip over the opening and tip upside down. The product left on my fingertip will cover one half of my face. Repeat for the other half and then the forehead. The oil absorbs very quickly and my skin does feel soft and moisturised afterwards. I find this quite difficult to apply to completely dry skin, so I usually apply while my face is still slightly damp and find that the product is much easier to spread out.

In the morning my skin does feel lovely and the gold particles give a subtle sheen. If you're worried about the gold particles looking too glittery on you face then the original oil is completely clear. However, even on my pale skin, the gold looks quite nice. I'll not reapply in the morning as I don't feel the need to. Usually I'll go straight to my BB cream and apply the rest of my make up.

I've received a 10ml bottle. The full sized 100ml bottle costs £34.

Even after 2 weeks it doesn't look as though I've used much oil, it still looks full. As you only need such a tiny amount I can't imagine I'll use the whole bottle up any time soon and that's only trial sized. £34 may seem a lot of money but 100ml must last forever!

John Frieda - Frizz Ease Original Serum

This product is pretty self explanatory and has been on the market for so long that I'm not going to explain what it is. I remember using this once years ago but must have put way too much in my hair and it was awful. Needless to say I've not used it since.

This time I have followed the instructions precisely and have been convinced that it's a pretty good product for my hair type. I'll apply one small pump of product to each side of my hair whilst still in the shower and my hair is soaking wet. For short or thin hair you'll only need one pump in total. It smells lovely (reminds me of watermelons but I'm weird like that...) and leaves my hair feeling softer than usual.

Now... here is the thing... I don't think this helps my frizz. Yes my hair feels soft and smooth but I have not noticed any real difference in it's appearance after blow-drying or even being left to dry naturally. 

I received a 25ml sample. The full sized 50ml bottle costs £6.29.

MeMeMe - Long lasting Nail Gloss



 I'd never heard of MeMeMe cosmetics before so had no idea what to expect. The colour I received was '57 Elegant' which is a metallic gold. Usually I stick to the perfect and lovely Barry M nail varnishes which have never disappointed me.

The MeMeMe nail gloss come with a brilliant flat application brush it's easy to get a professional finish. In my experience, metallic colours need at least 2 coats to get a good coverage, however this product was so concentrated I only needed one coat and I was done.

I did notice that this chips a lot more than Barry M varnishes so I'm definitely not converted.

Received a full sized pot these cost £5.

Figs & Rouge - Coco Rose Balm

This is another multi purpose balm which can be used on your lips, cheeks and even dry skin. So far I've only used this on my lips and unfortunately I'm not loving it. I think it's the rose smell / flavour which I don't like. Also the texture is a bit grainy which I guess is good for exfoliating your lips but not great for everyday wear.

Now a lot of people do love this so you'll have to try it to decide. The tube itself is really pretty and you can apply straight onto the lips (so great at festivals when you're worried about hygiene). It gives a soft pink finish to my lips which is not especially noticeable when you're used to bold lips colours.

Received the full size product and this costs £5.

Q: Balance - Body Spray


LOVE THIS!!!!!! It is so fresh and smells beautiful. Described as "sheer, floral top notes delicately blossom on the skin, evolving into deep, warm, sensual base notes for confident all over body fragrance and freshness". Cannot get enough of this, it is the perfect body spray for a hot summers day. Makes me happy each time I use it.

Will definitely be buying this when it runs out.

I received  the full sized spray (100ml) and this costs £2.29.

 

 

Pin Curl Overnight Set

Hi lovely people! I have a new post for you today about my adventures with vintage hair styles. Basically, I'm rubbish at them. I have long, thick, semi frizzy hair and it just never seems to work very well for me.

Previously I've had a go at Victory Rolls and it took me no less than 2 HOURS to try and get two symmetrical victory rolls in my hair. Urgh.. nightmare!

Recently I've just been pulling a section of hair over and pinning it up in a curl on the side like this;

HOWEVER, I have now found the perfect vintage style for my hair - an overnight pin curl set!

HOW TO:

It was so easy, just make 5 pin curls around the side of your face and then around 8 over the rest of your head (you will need a pretty large collection of bobby pins for this). Personally, I didn't apply any product to my hair before pinning it up as I'm very lucky and my hair holds a curl pretty well. If your hair needs a bit of help holding a style then you may need to add some product.

I did this with freshly washed and fully dry hair. Again, if your hair doesn't hold styles very well, you may be better off pinning the hair while it is still damp.

So... once you're all pinned it should look like this:

Now have a cup of decaf tea and go to bed. ZzzzzZzzZz.

THE NEXT MORNING

Do not freak out when you stumble into the bathroom having forgotten what you've done and look in the mirror! It is not going to look pretty.

Spend the next 10 mins pulling an endless amount of bobby pins from your hair. The curls will look bad at this point - but do not be disheartened, you'll need to brush them out. It was at this stage that my hair was HUGE AND FRIZZY. So, I rubbed a generous amount of smoothing serum onto my hands and ran my fingers through the hair one side at a time. This brought the curls together again and removed any frizz.

THE RESULT

Ta-daaaa!!! I was pretty impressed with my first attempt at doing this. Give it a go!


xxx

Thursday 6 June 2013

M.A.C Lipsticks - Coral Bliss, Vegas Volt, Rebel & Extended Play

Hello,

Its about time I made a post about something very close to my heart - my M.A.C lipstick collection (4 is a collection, right!?).

(L-R) Coral Bliss, Vegas Volt, Rebel & Extended Play



Coral Bliss


Vegas Volt


Rebel


Extended Play

Tuesday 16 April 2013

Red Hair

Although I'm blonde(ish) now, I had previously been colouring my hair red for about 3 years. Here are my favorite 2 red hair dyes...

BRIGHT 'OMG I NEED SUNGLASSES' RED

Firstly I want to say I DID NOT copy this from Rhianna. I was this colour about a year before everyone jumped on the bright red bandwagon and if I want to copy anyone it'll be Sherri Dupree Bemis (god I love her).

Before I went this colour I had very dark brown hair with a lot of colour build up. I'm naturally a medium / dark blonde and was getting tired of my roots looking so light against the dark hair. Using one of the Manic Panic Flash Lightening (30vol) kits I lifted the colour to a medium / light orange. If you think you need to lift your colour to blonde / white for this kind of bright red - DON'T DO IT. Its really unnecessary and you don't need to cause that much damage to your hair. For pastel shades you will, but red will be really vibrant even with an orange base... especially with this dye:

SPECIAL EFFECTS - DEVILISH

This colour is amazing!!! It's a great pinky red and its soo bright. Here is the lovely LouTube with a quick video of her applying this product and the end result.

Special Effect dyes generally last around 2-6 weeks and apparently last a lot longer than Manic Panic. YES it is a pain the ass to maintain and YES you will dye the whole shower pink but it is so damn pretty. I always bought my dye here and it's £9.40 a bottle. This is what the colour looked like on me (please ignore the MySpace pose).


 NO BLEACH 'IS THAT RED OR ORANGE?!' RED

Red hair is high maintenance, especially when using a non permanent colour which requires you to pre-bleach your hair. I found a home dye which delivered an awesome bold orange/red colour and which actually lasted quite a long time before fading. It is..

GARNIER NUTRISSE ULTRA COLOUR - Intense Red Copper (7.64) 
This cheap little box (usually £5-6) gave me a more vibrant and longer lasting red than when I paid over £100 at the hairdressers. It is great value for money and always left my hair feeling smooth and strong. I think this is a lot better than the Live XXL Colour Intense Red Passion R43.
Here is what this colour looked like.

If you have any questions message me on whimsicalwilma@gmail.com

x  


A Photo A Day

Hey all! It's a beautiful warm day, the sun is beaming down and the flowers are coming up... makes me very happy.

I am lucky enough to rent a flat which is surrounded by beautiful farming fields and we get to see them change each day as the crops grow. Sooo (in case you hadn't guessed by the post title) I'm going to track the changes by taking a photo a day from the same point out of our window. I'll then make a weekly post.

At the moment they've only just planted the seeds so we have nothing but dirt. I like dirt.

Day 1