The Summer Series Part 3 - Nail Numbers

Hello lovelies!

So I've just finished packing up my things and I'm really getting in to the holiday mood! Packing up my makeup for 5 weeks was so hard, and since I'm bringing quite a bit I thought I'd split it into makeup, brushes, skincare/haircare, and nail polish!

I lurve nail polish and will happily change my nails every 2-3 days. I just love having a way to express myself without going crazy with eye makeup, so having to choose a handful of polishes to bring with me is so hard! I haven't counted, but I suppose I have about 80 nail polishes in total, and for this trip I've taken 11 of my very favourite ones! I'll be gone for 5 weeks, which is quite a while, and I've chosen as many bright shades as possible so I can really spruce up for summer!

Along with the polishes below, I'm taking the Butter London Nail Foundation Base Coat, the Butter London Hardwear Top Coat, and my beloved Bourjois 1-seconde Magic Nail Polish Remover! It's times like this when I'm so happy that I invested in the Bourjois pot as it really is so much easier than bringing a million cotton pads and a huge bottle of nail varnish remover!

From top left to bottom right:

MUA Pistachio Ice Cream

Essie Bikini So Teeny

Mavala Samarkand

Mavala Trinidad

Mavala Bamako

Mavala Cuzco

Mavala Bali

Mavala Jaipur

OPI Pompeii Purple

MUA Bright Coral

MUA Amaretto Crush

I know I've picked quite a few similar shades, but each shade looks very different on my nails and I think I'll be absolutely fine with the colours I've picked! I'm by no means saying that I won't be adding a few more polishes to my collection as the holiday goes on because I'm sure I will, but I think I should be fine for 5 weeks with these picks!

Thanks for reading! xo

The Summer Series Part 2 - Face Exfoliation

Hello lovelies!

Today I've got three star products to get your face scrubbed and ready for a relaxing holiday!

Exfoliation is a very important part of keeping your skin free of any residue, and it's recommended that you have a good exfoliation session 2-3 times a month to ensure that your skin is in its best condition. I know that I won't have the time to exfoliate my skin a lot (if at all!) for the next 5 or so weeks, so a deep, thorough scrub was essential!

My first product is the Simple Spotless Skin Triple Action Face Wash. I've said it before and I'll say it again - Simple is great for my skin and I fully recommend every single product of theirs! I love that there are no parabens, no harsh chemicals, and no perfumes. This particular face wash has lots of microdermabrasion beads which I find a great way to gently exfoliate the skin. I use my fingers in a circular motion and although it leaves my skin quite raw, my skin calms down after a few minutes. Definitely a winner for me!

Most people know about their face mask sachets, but the Montagne Jeunesse Face Food Sachets are a hidden gem in my opinion! I've featured them quite a few times in monthly favourites, routines, and the like, but I really do love these! I got them on Amazon here and you'll pay six pounds for a grand total of 20 masks. (It's a bit confusing but although Amazon states that there are 10 masks, each 'mask' is actually a packet like the one that is  photographed above, which has in fact got two applications!). The avocado and walnut version has small walnut chunks and leaves my skin super smooth! 

My DIY Coconut Raspberry Apple Lip Scrub is another fab product in my opinion. Sorry about the old, blurry and out of focus pictures in that post - it was one of my first and I  hope you'll agree that my photography has come a long way since then! I love this lip scrub and my friends have even compared it to LUSH's offerings, which I've never tried but I know that lots of you love them! 

Next up, the packing begins! Check back soon for the choice of brushes I'll be bringing!

Thanks for reading! xo

The Summer Series Part 1 - Body Exfoliation

Hello lovelies!

Apologies for my lack of blogging and interacting for the last week or two - everything's been very busy with the usual end-of-year shenanigans but I should be back in full swing as my summer holiday officially began today! I still can't quite believe I only have four years left until I'm sent off packing but I've had a wonderful year and I'm looking forward to a relaxed summer with my family!

Today I've got the first instalment of my summer holiday blogging series, 'The Summer Series', in which I'll document what I'm doing before and after my holiday beauty and body-wise, from what to pack to plane tips! Hopefully this series will help you plan out your bits and bobs to do before your well-deserved break; I hope you enjoy it!

I'm kicking off the series with the beginning of my preparation, which is getting my body smooth and beach-ready! I start my prep around a week in advance, but you can always adjust when to do what according to your schedule. A week before I set off, I like to have a good ol' scrub to get rid of any dead skin cells and buff up my skin to look smooth and shiny on the beach.  These are my favourite products to do just that:

I Love Raspberry & Blackberry Shower Smoothie - Cheap and cheerful, this rough exfoliator will do a very thorough job of removing any yuckies from your skin. It's not one I would use daily in the shower, but I love using it before a big event because of the densely packed exfoliating granules and the good scrub it gives you. Definitely one for the evening as it'll leave your skin red-raw - don't worry, slap on a good moisturiser (I love the two down below), get your beauty sleep, and you'll be smooth as a baby's bottom in the morning.

I Love Pink Exfoliating Glove - Another product I wouldn't use daily but love for a thorough clean, this exfoliating glove may feel a bit uncomfortable at first but it really does get out all of that grime. It comes in a few colours, too, so take your pick and get scrubadubdubbing! 

The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Body Butter - Every blogger and their nan loves the Body Shop Body Butters, and there's a reason - fuss-free, super moisturising, and divine smelling, these moisturising butters are best applied straight out of the shower. They'll sink in right away and leave your skin so, so soft! I'm quite the fan and have several scents but the earthy Cocoa Butter one is my choice for the time being.

Egyptian Magic - This is a very intriguing product and one I wasn't too sure about when I opened my giveaway package from the lovely Katrina, but I'm loving it at the moment! It's a solid oil, if you will, which you rub in your hands for a few seconds until it becomes liquid. You then slap it on to any areas which need an extra bit of moisture and ta-da! Done! Apparently it's all the rave with celebrities and to be honest, I can see why! It's super, super moisturising and it's so multi-purpose! You can use it for almost anything. A great one to take with you on your travels as well - look out for it in a few posts to come!

The Body Shop Loofah - Self-explanatory, but still a great product to use in the process. I find it's really useful for buffing the skin as opposed to the exfoliating mitt which (dur, I know) exfoliates, and it's a really long-lasting product. I've had mine for about a year now and I use it almost daily for a bit of a buff and it's holding up very, very well!

So there you have it, a collection of my very favourite pre-holiday scrubbing essentials. Basically, the idea is to give your whole body (excluding your face - we'll get to that!) a good scrub down so that you'll be looking great on the beach! 

Thanks for reading! xo

PS - I know I'm ridiculously last minute with this, but if you'd be interested in guest posting over here while I'm enjoying the sun next week, please shoot me an email -avpeelde(at)gmail(dot)com! I'll try my best to schedule in a post or two but it would be wonderful if someone would be willing to help me out! Thank you!

Benefit Blogger Event Aberdeen #benedeen

Hello lovelies!

Last night I made my way over to Debenhams after a sleepless night and a lot of studying, camera and lots of makeup in tow! The last week has been mad with exams and revision and as soon as my very last exam had finished at 10.30 that morning I was already looking forward to this event!

It was a Benefit event, so of course I had to dig up all of my Benefit goodies! I popped on a bit of No7 Essentially Natural Foundation in Calico as my skin has really been suffering from all of the stress of exams! I then 'painted' on some Posietint and blended it out for a natural glow. I used some Benefit They're Real! Mascara on my lashes and finished up with a slick of Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in r.s.v.p, a lovely pearly shade perfect for a nude pop of colour! Last but not least, a dab of e.l.f. Studio Conditioning Lip Balm SPF15 in Peaceful pink and a swipe of the e.l.f. Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in Black completed my ridiculously simple face! I wore a simple bow-print dress with a little tan belt and put my hair in a plait before making my way to the party!

Benefit have a reputation of throwing some great parties and this one was no exception! I arrived a bit early to have a peek at the Henry Holland collection which has just launched in Debehams! Their clothes are so immensely summery and I absolutely love the stripy satchel down below! Myself along with a few other girlies soon got right in to having a look at the clothes - I'll be sharing a bit more later this week!

After the event 'officially' started at seven, some more of the bunch turned up and we had a small catch up before the lovely benebabes began educating us about their wonderful products!

Doesn't all of the packaging look so, so gorgeous?!

The counter was beautifully decorated and everyone was so excited! The happiness was infectious and we were soon laughing away! The benebabes had really made an effort - just look!

After everyone introduced themselves, we got right into some makeup play-time! The gorgeous Jo was the model and Claire showed us lots of tips and tricks! Both were just glowing with excitement and made us all laugh!

First of all, Jo removed all of her makeup to reveal her lovely skin! Claire then used the Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion, the Benefit It's Potent! Eye Cream, and the famous Porefessional! After these three steps Jo's skin looked positively gorgeous! A bit of Benefit Hello Gorgeous Oxygen Wow Foundation, Cha Cha Tint, Brow Zings, They're Real, Fakeup, One Hot Minute, Ultra Plush Lipgloss (clear), and some of the Creaseless Cream Eyeshadows later, we were all very envious of Jo! At Benefit, it's all about the experience, and it was definitely a fab one!

My favourite tip from Claire was to use a bit of Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow on an eyebrow brush brushed lightly near the base of your eyelashes for a sultry, smouldering look. I also love Jo's brows, which were done at the Benefit Brow Bar! All of us received a free wax and tint from the benebabes too!

I had a blast and a shockingly generous goody bag which included loads of samples, the Benefit Triple Performing Facial Emulsion, and of course a free wax and tint at the Benefit Brow Bar! Benefit use their Brow Mapping Technique, which Claire showed us, to get everyone's perfectly uplifting brow shape!

A huge thank you to Laura, all the lovely benebabes, and the wonderful members of the NEBE for making the event absolutely fabulous!

I had such an amazing time - Laura, Ashly, and Kate even came up with the best hashtag of the night - #benedeen! If you'd like to support our bid to get some more Benefit up here in the Granite City, please help us by tweeting away! 

Thanks for reading! xo

MoneySupermarket Inspect-A-Gadget | Philips ESee 1080p Pocket Camcorder

Hello lovelies!

When MoneySupermarket asked if I'd like to review one of the most popular travel gadgets under £50 to help them see which cheaper travel gadget could live up to its more expensive counterpart for their Inspect-a-Gadget competition, I was absolutely thrilled! 

I was given a choice of five gadgets - an e-reader, a tablet, an MP3 player, a portable DVD player, and a camcorder, and I chose the camcorder, which was the Philips ESee 1080p Full HD Pocket Camcorder!

It can film in HD up to 1080p and can take 12 megapixel pictures along with having a flash light and a 3" touch screen, which flips out and rotates! There are no cables (no fuss!) involved as a USB connector flips out, which you can plug into your computer or telly. The camcorder also charges via the USB connector - so easy! You can trim edit the footage on the actual camcorder which is amazing, and uploading videos to iMovie takes no more than a few seconds for me! Is it too good to be true for just £47 on Amazon?

The camcorder comes in a small, simple box which states all the information you'll need. Upon opening it, there's the camcorder itself and a handy quick-start guide along with a leaflet about the 12-month warranty. The quick-start guide is absolutely brilliant! Simple, easy to understand, and everything is covered. 

I got out the camcorder and was immediately shocked at how compact it was! It's no bigger than my mobile phone and I'd be happy to pop it in my pocket for a day out. I flipped out the screen and it turned on immediately, which is a feature I soon learned about - as soon as you flip open the screen it turns on so you can capture every moment! There was about 50% battery which was really a nice touch as usually you have to charge your new device to use it. The camcorder has 14 seconds of internal memory which isn't great, but luckily the lovely people at MoneySupermarket warned me that I'd need a micro-SD card as well. I picked up the SanDisc MicroSDHC 4GB card which gives me about an hour of filming and 800 of so images for just under a fiver.

The design of the camcorder is fabulous! I love the white shell but it's also available in black! There are just a few buttons, but they provide everything I'd ever need - the 'record' button, a toggle between filming and capturing images, a zoom in and zoom out (5x zoom!) button which doubles as a volume control when re-watching the videos. It also has a tripod mount, a fully rotating flip-out screen, and autofocus. I love that the screen is touch-screen and that you can change the effects (BW, Sepia, Negative etc.) and scene mode (Auto, Beach, Sunset, Snow etc.).

It takes 5 and a half hours to charge on the USB which really isn't that much and as long as you place your computer on a steady surface you should be fine!

The quality of the video is really wonderful and I'm so happy with the gadget as a whole! It's brilliant value and I'm definitely bringing it along to Turkey and Holland this summer to capture those summer moments. I think it's an amazing gadget and in my opinion, it's a lot more user-friendly and hassle-free than my DSLR for recording videos (although it can't match my beloved Nikon's image quality!). I have a feeling I'll be capturing a lot more on video thanks to this little toy and I'm thrilled to have had the chance to try it out!

Here's a quick recipe for Mint Lemonade filmed with the camcorder - I hope you enjoy it!

  

Thanks for reading/watching! xo
* I was given this Philips ESee 1080p Pocket Camcorder along with the SanDisc MicroSDHC card for the purpose of this review, however all opinions are 100% my own!

Selfridges Summer Beauty Box 2013

Hello lovelies!

First of all, I'm so sorry I've not been very active lately - my last exam is on Thursday and then it's just three days until I'm officially in 9th grade (Year 10)! After my last day of school, it'll be just a week until I'm driving down to Newcastle, getting on an overnight ferry to Holland and boarding the plane to Antalya, Turkey! I'll be there for a week before heading back home to Holland for a month or so. I'm really excited and I still can't quite believe I'll be off in less than three weeks! Blogging might be a tad difficult in Turkey but it should be fine in Holland; please bear with me!

Today I've got a great summer treat to share - the Selfridges Summer Beauty Box 2013! I naughtily bought one last week as a reward for studying hard and I'm thrilled with everything!

The packaging is the signature Selfridges yellow and white, with the same shades of tissue paper inside. It came in three days which is quite average considering the slightly steep delivery cost of £3.99. I think it was very nicely packaged.

St. Tropez Instant Glow Face Lotion 50ml | Lancaster After Sun 40ml | Aqua Splash Tangle Teezer | Jane Tran Hair Clips | Molton Brown Aqua Shower Gel 100ml| Models Own Neon Nail Polish | Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray 50ml | Erborian BB Cream 12ml | Caudalie Beauty Elixer 30ml

First off, my very very favourite product of the whole box, the Aqua Splash Tangle Teezer! I have been wanting a Tangle Teezer for absolutely ages now and I can safely say that I LOVE IT! It's brilliant at getting my hair effortlessly knot-free in minutes and I would absolutely recommend it to everyone. It's fab!

Next up is another product I've heard loads about, the Caudalie Beauty Elixer. I'm not too keen on the smell but it's amazing for a refresh and my skin is instantly cooled and soothed after a spray of this.

Another thing I loved in the box was the Models Own Bubblegum polish from their Ice Neon collection! It's a gorgeous bright, vibrant pink and it really is a statement colour. One to bring on holiday for sure! 

The Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray has also been mentioned millions of times in the blogosphere and it's perfect for those summer waves - I can't really see a difference between this product and my homemade DIY Sea Salt Texturising Spray, so I'm not sure if it's worth the £8.50 it'll set you back, but it's a great size for travelling so it's yet another thing on my to-bring list!

The Erborian BB Cream was an intriguing product for me - I've never ventured into the world of BB creams before so it was quite a surprise to learn that this one had great coverage while still feeling very light on my skin! I must say that it looked a tad scary in the packaging - a burnt sienna shade, I hear your screams! - but it looked great on. A product to bring for those lazy beach afternoons when I really can't be bothered about what I look like and will probably be rocking a spot of concealer, this stuff, some of the amazing Cargo water resistant blusher, and some mascara (not to mention the real beachy wave hair..)? Definitely!

Shower gels don't excite me very much, but when I took a sniff of the Molton Brown Aqua Shower Gel, I was indeed very excited! It smells absolutely amaaaazing, and I'll be savouring this for those special occasions! 

A pack of hair clips always comes in handy, and these Jane Tran ones look the part too. Not my favourite item, but a useful one anyway!

I have a feeling the St. Tropez Instant Glow Face Lotion will forever remain untouched by me and will go straight to my lovely mum but it was a great product to include as I've heard raving reviews about this wash-off face tanner. 

Lancaster After Sun Tan Maximizer WILL help me stay tanned, I'm sure of it! I'll be applying ridiculous amounts of it in Turkey in the hope that I shall return to freezing Aberdeen that little bit more browned - although then I suppose I'll have a foundation issue! 

I'm really happy with everything in this box and I think it's a great bargain - £25 for a box worth over £70 is a great deal in my eyes. It's available on the Selfridges website here right now, but be quick - it says 'limited stock'! 

Thanks for reading! xo

MUA Nail Polish in Amaretto Crush

Hello lovelies!

The blogosphere's been going mad about the new MUA nail polishes which you may have mistaken for Essie polishes with their dinky bottles which admittedly look a lot like Essie's offerings! Today I've got the shade 'Amaretto Crush' which is one of my all-time favourite spring polishes! 

Amaretto Crush is a gorgeous muted, dusty pink which is a great shade for everyday wear. I love how versatile it is and I think it's a great all-round polish!

Packaging: The MUA Nail Polish bottles are really cute and dinky, with packaging definitely reminiscent of Essie's! The nail polish bottle is about as big as four of my fingers. I found the brush in this polish smooth and it applied really well!

Application: I loved this nail polish. The formula was smooth, creamy, and super easy to apply. I only used one coat in the picture because I'm ridiculously impatient because I didn't have time but I do think it could have used another one.

Longevity: A bit of a complicated bit here! The polish is great for three days, and then starts to chip at the tips. It chips quite a bit, but then it stays the exactly the same (and I mean exactly) for an additional three days! So, good for three days, chips badly for a day, then stays put for another three days - quite confusing! I usually take it off after three or four days.

Colour: I just love the colour! It's amazing! Definitely up high on my 'top Spring polishes' list!

Price & where to buy: £1 from http://www.muastore.co.uk or your local Superdrug.

CC&C rating: 4.3/5 (a bit disappointed in the longevity)

I'm still quite shocked at how wonderful the MUA polishes seem to be! I'm loving every single one so far and I would (and already have!) recommended them to many of my family and friends - I mean, you can't really get any better than £1, can you?!

What do you think of the MUA polishes? Are you in love too?

Thanks for reading! x