Wahanda Launches Personal Gift Finder!

If you're stuck for what to buy for your loved ones this Christmas (and let's face it, it's not far away now) then maybe Wahanda could be your new best friend, as they launched a personal gift finder gadget a short while back!

Some people are just difficult to buy for, don't you think? I find male reatives extremely difficult to buy for at Christmas as my dad never wants anything when you ask him (even though he knows we're always going to buy him something, so he may as well just tell us the kinds of things he wants to make it easier for us), and my brother in law generally just buys what he wants, as and when he wants it... plus his birthday is on New Years Eve so there's double presents to find for him in a short space of time - pain in the bottom.

So this seems like quite a good idea, especially for my brother in law who is a bit more prone to a bit of grooming and such like than my father, and I decided to give it a whirl to see what it suggested for said brother in law.

It's quite simple, nothing too in depth - a few simple options to choose based on gender and personality traits with options to narrow your search further within those results. For my brother in law, I chose Male (obviously) and well groomed (ish, haha) and I got results offering spa days and treatments, gym packages, hairdressing, manicures, waxing and more... so there is a plethora of options available.

It's not perfect, I think it could be a bit easier to narrow your search by area (there's a map, but I'd prefer to just type in the area if I am honest) but it looks like a great place to start if you're struggling, or if you know somebody who might like something from there instead of being given a pile of stuff that may just get stuffed in the back of their wardrobe!

Party Season Make-Up - Sisley Phyto-Khol Star Glittering Eyeliner in Deep Silver!

Another superb Sisley product today, this is their Phyto-Khol Star Glittering Eyeliner in Deep Silver a glittery, sparkling eyeliner that is completely perfect for glitzing up your party season eye make-up! The shade is stunning, kind of a gunmetal-y hue that would complement pretty much any look on any skintone!

The liner itself is very impressive, it applies very, very easily as it is so soft (yet still firm) and pigmented that it just glides over the skin, leaving a sparkly trail behind it. Once applied, the liner stays put (hurrah) which is always good news as nobody likes that panda eye look at the end of the night (or god forbid in the middle of it)!

With Flash (both)!

No Flash!

Not only is there a sparkle in the eyeliner, but there's also an extra special touch of it at the end of the pencil, where Sisley have applied a Swarovski crystal (matching the colour of the liner that you have) that twinkles away nicely. It serve no real purpose, apart from looking pretty but I bloody love it and it really gives that extra feeling of luxury when it's on your dressing table.

I would have liked the pencil to twist up rather than be sharpened manually (as I always seem to buy dodgy sharpeners that stop working after 1 use) but that is a personal niggle and it really doesn't detract from the eyeliner in any way!

It's available in 7 colours (I want every one of them) from your usual Sisley retailers, including House of Fraser for £30.50!

Celeb Sunday - Sandra Bullock!

I just love Sandra Bullocks super glossy, ombre hair in this picture. Straight hair may not be as popular these days as people strive for more volume and movement, but there's no denying that sleek and shiny hair still looks pretty blumming lovely!

I think she's looking great for her age, her skin looks flawless; although I'd be inclined to think that there has been a fair amount of airbrushing here (and quite possibly a bit of cosmetic enhancement, but I have no issue with that side of things) and her make-up is also gorgeous, neutral-ish but with enough going on to keep it glamorous - I am loving the lip gloss shade, it has to be said.

Party Season Make-Up - Sisley Hydrating Long Lasting Lipstick

I've been planning out my party season make-up recently so thought I would do a series of posts to show you some fabulous make-up that is perfect for partying the night away this Christmas!

The first product I want to show you is a gorgeous cherry red lipstick from Sisley that just screams Christmas to me. The lipstick is a beautiful shade of red, it leans towards blue rather than orange which I generally prefer (and is a bit kinder to the colour your teeth, since orange tones have the bad habit of making your teeth look a bit discoloured) and I think would be suitable for all skintones; even if you don't normally feel that you can wear a red, as there's enough pink in this to stop it looking too in your face - especially if you use a light hand to apply it.

The lipstick comes in a luxurious gold bullet that, much like YSL's packaging just screams high end - it even has it's own little velvet 'coat' which is quite cute and will offer some protection to the gold casing should you want to sling it in your bag and take it out with you. It has a rosy scent to it, and rose is actually a scent that I really don't like generally, but this is very subtle and actually not at all offensive to my nose - thankfully, since it's worn right under it haha!

I'm very impressed with the pigmentation in this lippy, I used a fairly light hand with my swatch application, and you can see that it's still very vivid indeed. It also lasts quite well throughout the day, considering it's a hydrating formula that would normally slip off a bit quicker on my lips - I got about 4 hours wear with it, and it faded pretty evenly too, which is an important factor for me!

Indoor daylight with flash!

Daylight with flash!

All 3 outside in daylight, no flash but various angles to show how it the pink comes through!

I notice that lanolin is at the top of the ingredients list, I expect that this is where a great deal of the hydration comes from as it's said to be able to hold 200% of its own weight in water! It's a key ingredient in the Lanolips range, a range that has the USP of being hydrating and good for your lips... so this is great to see as a major ingredient in this product! Let's face it, products that make your lips look dry (or actually do dry them out) are never a good idea!

Apologies for the lack of lip photograph, with the cold of weather, I've had a bit of a chapped lip issue that I'm currently working on getting rid of, so the pictures wouldn't have been as nice as I'd have hoped for you!

Available from House of Fraser and John Lewis for £31!

Sisley Website!

Schwarzkopf Live Salon Style & Louise Redknapp's New Colour!

Louise Redknapp has been announced as the new face hair of Schwarzkopf's Live Salon Style, a professional quality home hair colouring system, and with it has unveilled her newly darkened hair colour. I got a glimpse of her new hair colour on Something for the Weekend recently (without knowing about her affiliation with Schwarzkopf), and I have to say, I instantly loved it. I think she looked great with her blonde hair, but her 'new' hair is now super glossy and the warm chocolate hue (that is perfect for the colder weather) really warms up her complexion too!

Before!

After!

I also think it makes her look younger, possibly because it reminds me more of her when she was in Eternal and her surname was Nurding... god I loved that group 'back in the day'!

I know that whenever I've dabbled in being blonde, I always struggle to get any shine into my hair and in fact this is often one of the main reasons I go back to darker hues - and to let my hair recover from the bleaching processes that I put it through to get to and maintain the blonde, of course!

The new Live Salon Style range is their first professional quality home hair colour that claims to give professional grey coverage, shiny looking hair, and most importantly a true colour result - something I'm very happy to see, because as I mentioned in a previous post, a lot of home hair colourants are notoriously bad for getting the true colour result that it shows on the box. I'd actually be very interested to see how well this works out - since this is one of the reasons that I get my colour done in a salon!



To recreate Louise's new colour you can use Schwarzkopf Live Salon Style Shade 4-8, Chocolate Brown - I've embedded a little video from Schwarzkopf above to help with your application technique too!

If you're undecided on which colour you might like to go for, then why not try out their Live Salon Style Colour Booth App on Facebook! I tried the app out and whilst my 'highlighting' of my hair wasn't great (it wasn't even good, it was crap - just look below), I actually found it very useful and came out wanting pretty much every colour in my hair.

Sponsored Post - Views and bad colouring on the app are completely my own!

Party Season Nails: Orly 'Fowl Play'

When I saw this polish in Orly's Birds of a Feather collection, I loved the look of it - even though I couldn't 100% tell how it would look from the stock photograph! When it arrived through my letterbox, I was thrilled, it's even more stunning than I imagined it would be... a deep purple flakey polish that is so different to most of the polishes that I own and actually more like 2 polishes in one due to the shimmery,, shiny flakes inside it!

The polish applies well, it's a 2 coater that lasts very well with only minor tipwear after about 4 days - please excuse my haphazard application, I'm afraid it was another train jobby, since I've barely had time to sneeze recently... and I'm still not all sorted for Christmas yet!

I love the overall appearance of this polish, it's perfect for this time of year (I do love a dark polish in winter) and, more importantly it is SO perfect for party season - especially if you want shimmer, but are not a big fan of full on glitter!

It's available right now from Beauty Bay for the bargain price of £6.95 for a whopping 18ml bottle (gotta love Orly for the big bottles)!

Wordless Wednesday - Chery Lloyd!

Well well well, after a plethora of horrific hair styles (in my opinion, anyway), Chery Lloyd has finally been pulling it right out of the bag with some of her latest 'do's! I absolutely LOVE her bouncy, voluminous curly bob here, I think both the style and shade totally suit her, and would absolutely have my hair like this.

Her eye make-up is also absolutely stunning, that shimmery taupe/champagne-y shadow works very well for her skintone, and her lashes look long and luscious to boot - fab!

Nails Inc TSV on QVC RIGHT NOW!!

This loks like a lovely little set, a perfect gift maybe? Considering you're actually paying a little bit less than you'd pay for 3 full price polishes, it's also a total bargain at £25.98 plus £3.95 postage (£29.93 total).

"Eight-piece Nails Inc Get the Look Collection. Showcases six brand new shades designed specially for QVC, plus a rich new champagne shade and gold glitter polish. From festive berry and metallic green to bright coral, this collection has something for everyone. Give the gift of great-looking nails this season with Nails Inc.

Nails Inc nail polish is easy to apply, long lasting and chip resistant, and keeps a high-gloss shine day after day.


Contains:
1 x The Vaudeville (10ml) - overglaze topcoat with an iridescent teal green leaf. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Harrington Road (10ml) - shimmer green. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Gosfield Street (10ml) - blue. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Arlington Street (10ml) - Berry. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Tottenham Court Road (10ml) - bright coral. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Pavillion Road (10ml) - purple. New and specially designed for QVC
1 x Old Park Lane (10ml) – metallic champagne
1 x Chelsea Embankment (10ml) - gold glitter"

QVC!