Vitalumiere Aqua... I'm sorry for not loving you sooner

Do you have anything in your stash that you've bought on a whim, convinced that it will turn you into a goddess and then been left considerably disappointed?

That's what happened with me and the ol' Vitalumiere Aqua.

First Impressions: L'Oreal Fibrology

After seeing these in Jen's Incoming #2 video, I was more than intrigued by these and set out to track them down and take the whole range home with me.  I picked up the shampoo and the conditioner, which were the only ones I managed to find, and I have been very impressed with them so far.

Exploring Percy & Reed

After having tried the No-Oil Oil (mentioned in this post) I had been very keen to try some more Percy & Reed products.  I finally picked up these two over the last week and it's love.

Daily Face #3

I've been a little quiet on here for a couple of weeks due to the hideous number of deadlines I've had, however they are now over! (For a couple of weeks anyway).

Pixi Love

   For the last month or so I've been trying out these two products from Pixi, a brand who had never appeared on my radar until the full-blown frenzy that surrounded the Glow Tonic (apparently it is very similar to the vastly more expensive but supposedly miraculous P50 from Biologique Recherche). 

   With a reassuring familiar ingredients list, plus the absence of alcohol, the Glow Tonic is everything I had hoped it would be.  I tend to only use it in the mornings as a bit of a post-cleansing pep-up, rather than at night and I find this routine works well for me and that my skin looks all the brighter and smoother for it.  This isn't the only glycolic acid product I have in my rotation, I'm still a huge Liquid Gold fan, however I tend to use that once a week and then skip using the Glow Tonic the following morning.

   The Beauty Sleep Creme was much more of an impulse buy, having read absolutely nothing on it previously.  However, spurned on by the fact I have never read a single negative review of a Pixi product and that it was the same deal with the friendly-looking ingredients list as with the Glow Tonic, I thought it would be worth giving it a go.  Despite it's slightly funky colour, this feels wonderfully soothing and hydrating.  According to the ingredients, it contains avocado, wheat germ and hazelnut oil, as well as extracts of elderflower, cucumber, chamomile and orange peel.  I can also spy the ol' skincare favourite vitamin E on there, as well as live yeast cell derivative, which in my humble opinion, should be the star of the show, given how there are numerous scientific journal articles on live yeast cell derivative's action in improving the rate and quality of wound healing. 

   On a slightly less scientific note, I also think it's worth mentioning that despite spending a lot of time in -15/-20 weather this winter, coupled with the equally harsh central heating, I did not develop a single dry patch which is a minor miracle.  Touch wood, I've also been remarkably breakout free (an even bigger miracle), so all in all, my face is very happy with the new Pixi additions.

   I'll try and get a full review up sometime soon on these products individually, but I thought for now I'd share what I thought of them so far.

Homeland Holiday Haul

13 Things: Makeup Favourites for 2013

Blogging in 2014

   So, I think it’s fair to say that blogging fell by the wayside towards the end of 2013. I’m not going to go into it too much, but I had a lot on my plate and didn’t have enough time to devote to this blog.  As much as I love this, I don’t want to get stuck in a rut/feel like I have to post at least X number of times a month as for me, that takes all the fun out of it and I want to keep this as something that I enjoy.

   However, this year, I will be trying to devote more time to this and posting more and try to make this blog something that I’m proud of.  I’m aiming to post once a week and if all goes well with that, maybe twice a week. I’m also going to try to get onto Twitter a little more and see what that’s all about (my Twitter handle is @poppywithlove) and maybe even venture into Instagram too (also @poppywithlove although I haven’t posted anything on there yet).

   I’m currently enjoying family time in Sweden and am out here for a couple more weeks. I hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful Christmas and New Year wherever they are. Keep checking back on here for new bits as I promise there's lots to come! Including my first ever giveaway...

Daily Face #2

The Perfect Nude

Daily Face #1

Excuses/Life Updates

   So I think it's fair to say that this month hasn't quite gone as planned. Whilst I'd planned to be posting regularly alongside my summer job, instead the job ended up taking over my life so I did barely any writing afterwards, my weekends all seemed to be packed with moving back from uni to home and then finding a new Bristol residence and the big end of tenancy clean and somehow, blogging got left at the wayside.

   Last weekend however, I managed to hurt myself after a spectacular fall over a fence in a friend's garden resulted in me severing a lot of tendons and ligaments after slicing it open, either corrugated iron or barbed wire, resulting in immediate surgery and a plaster cast. I have now been dismissed from my summer job as I simply wouldn't be able to move around the office (it's true but it still stung) and after a week of rushing round hospitals and getting emergency tetanus vaccinations, I'm now out of my mind bored at home and so I'm sure there will be a vast increase in posts as I can no longer ride, walk, fly, drive (or rather learn to) or do anything exciting. I can't complain too much as I am being looked after exceedingly well by friends and family, it's just hard not to be bummed about the situation when I had so many plans for the summer, (including finally getting my driving licence!) and because I decided to hop over a fence, I can no longer do any of it.

   
   I hope everyone who is reading this is having a great summer anyway and be sure to leave your links as I've got a lot of time for reading at the moment :)

MAC Paint in Untitled

   Although I've mentioned this in a Basket of Favourites post before, I've decided that this product deserves a little love letter all of it's own.

   I had no idea what the MAC Paints were about until I bought this. There's a lot of hype about the Paint Pots and how great they are at making your eye makeup last all day, and when I went into MAC, I was convinced I was going to leave with one myself. I wanted something neutral with no shimmer in, just a simple, easy base that wasn't going to interfere with the colour I was going to wear, however both Painterly and Soft Ochre were not what I was looking for, with Painterly too pink and Soft Ochre too yellow. Bare Study is a beautiful colour, but has too much shimmer in for something that I wanted to be able to create a matte look with.

   The MAC girl pointed me in the direction of the Paints, saying that she personally preferred them to the Paint Pots and suggested the colour "Untitled", a great neutral colour which is hardly detectable and does not alter the colour of your eyeshadow at all. It does seem to have a teensy amount of shimmer in, which I didn't notice in store, but it is a small amount that just adds a nice sheen. It still looks very natural! It's a liquidy-cream/creamy liquid to powder formula and once it's set, it is set.

Fresh out the tube

   For £14.50, you get a very generous tube, considering the amount you need to dab on is miniscule, so I'm expecting this to last for years! The packaging is also surprisingly resilient for a tube. I was expecting it to get crushed easily and start leaking permanently or to simply explode, however it is absolutely fine, despite spending most of it's time pinned underneath glass foundation bottles in my makeup bag.

WAY too much on my hand...

   I use this every single morning and it makes my eyeshadow last 12 hours easily, from 7am until bed time at around 10 or 11pm. It's just as good for nights out and won't move at all if you're in a hot sweaty club. Even if you're a drunken crier or just have a particularly bad night, you will still have your eyeshadow in place which should help you regain your poise and elegance in no time.

... But blends in nicely for such an overload

   This has given me the confidence to actually wear eyeshadow (I had a brief love affair with blue eyeshadow when I was 11. Simply awful and since then I've sworn off it) as I don't have to worry about it creasing or moving around and having to check it every hour, it is locked in place and looks the same on every mirror check throughout the day! If you're looking for a neutral eyeshadow base then I would wholeheartedly recommend that you give this a go. They have a whole range of pretty colours and they're a lovely formula, are not drying on your skin at all (as I've heard the Paint Pots can be) and they really do anchor your eyeshadow on all day until you take it off. 

Have you tried the MAC Paints?
What do you use as an eyeshadow primer?

Basket of Favourites #2

It feels like forever since I've posted, I've just been so busy and currently have multiple posts in draft form, none of which are ready to post! I thought I'd do another Basket of Favourites while I faff about finishing the never-ending REN cleanser review!

Skin bits

Bioderma Créaline H₂O Solution

   I’m aware that I’m several years late to the party on this one, my excuse is that I’d never heard of “micellar waters” until about six months ago, and in those six months, I’d been faffing around with other offerings from more readily available brands. Now Bioderma is available in the UK, I’m finally in on the action. There’s not a lot that I can say about this that hasn’t already been said. It takes every scrap of my makeup off, including mascara, is totally unfragranced and doesn’t irritate my skin. I use this at night before cleansing with my REN cleanser (which I haven't included purely because there is an in-depth review coming up very soon), I don’t bother using it in the morning as I use it just as a makeup remover/precleanse rather than a cleanser. In a way, I feel like a cliché for caving and buying this - possibly the most blogger-hyped skincare product ever - but I have to say, I'm not ashamed as it's so wonderful!

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant

   A perennial favourite, this is something I always, always, always have in my handbag and my bedside to take care of any dry, chapped skin or lips. I also like using this to lock my eyebrows into submission. Absolute winter essential and great if you get lizard hands like I do, or you're prone to burning yourself in the kitchen. If I leave the house without it, it makes me panic and want to turn back home "just in case I need it" and I have to pull myself together and remind myself that I did survive without it once. Nevertheless, this is one of those products that everyone needs as it's for first aid as well beauty!

Hair bits

Primark hair spin pins (I think they're called that anyway)

  Perhaps an odd favourite, but these are ever so handy for pinning your hair up into a quick bun before a shower or just to get it out the way quickly. As I have very fragile hair, I’ve found these are ideal as you don’t get the damage that you would when using a normal hair band which ends up bending the hair or pulling it tight and I hate how my hair seems to go wild after being swirled into a bun - possibly more than the ponytail kink.

 They’re so easy to use and keep your bun very secure for as long as you need it when two pins are screwed in from opposite ends and so are an excellent to a bun pinned into place with tens of Kirby grips.

Joico Restorative Styling Oil

   Joico’s hair oil is fantastic and such good value, considering that the Joico brand are more on the high end spectrum of haircare. It is quite a heavy oil in comparison to oils such as the Shu Uemera oil, so I only use this on the ends of my hair when wet and maybe a teeny bit on dry hair, but I have to be careful not to use too much.

Makeup bits

Clinique Bottom Lash mascara

   I’d never really sat up and taken notice of this, despite being a big fan of Clinique mascaras, until a chance encounter with it in Boots. I’d been aware for a while that I was incapable of applying mascara to my bottom lashes in a hurry, nearly always getting it on my skin in the process. I spotted this mascara with it’s tiny wand and something clicked into place and after trying it in store, I was sold. Since then I’ve used it pretty much daily and I haven’t got any mascara blotches under my lashes just yet (touch wood)! Although it’s a tiny tube, this will last for months if using it just for the bottom lashes and fiddly corner ones. The formula is also very nice and forms tubes around the hair, meaning it is smudgeproof and splashproof and it doesn’t slide south after a long day leaving you with grey undereye smudges and panda eyes.

Real Techniques Domed Shadow Brush

   I got this brush as part of the Travel Essentials set and it has become a staple in less than a week. I use this to put my base shadow on quickly before using a smaller brush for any finer details or crease work.

Guerlain Météorites Perles in Teint Rose

   I bought these a couple of weeks ago and it was love as soon as I opened the tin. Gorgeous packaging and the pearls give the skin a gorgeous, luminous, lit-from-within look. It’s not ideal for travel due to the size of the tin but it looks beautiful on your dressing table and looks like something my glamorous grandmother or great grandmother would have used. I use it all over my face at night time and just as a highlighter for day time.

NARS Kalahari eyeshadow duo

   The colours in this duo are so stunning and so neutral. When swatched they look different to in the pan. In the pan, the more taupey colour looks very similar to MAC’s Satin Taupe, however the Kalahari colour is much warmer when on the eye and gives an entirely different look.

NARS Kalahari duo swatched

  

   I love this sheered out for daytime or layered up for night, or just using one of the colours with a matte shade for subtlety. I wouldn’t be without this duo now, it’s worth every penny.

Sentimental bits

Love Saves the Day, Laila Bear, Twins