Collective Haul Early November

Shopping probably brings me the most joy after family, friends, food and sex.... I think shopping sits neatly in there somewhere actually because where all of those things call upon occassion, shopping only calls upon money. So. I went shopping!


Last Christmas I didn't get my hands on any of Boot's Front Cover products which I was quite regretful about, their eyeshadows are gorgeous. So this year the moment they came out I decided I would treat myself to something of the sort. This is Front Cover's Inky eyes which is a make up set kitted out for that evening look for Winter '09. The colours are definitely to die for and I absolutely love it. There are even tips and instructions on the back.

Front Cover "Inky Eyes"

Front Cover "Inky Eyes" comes with all you need for your eyes

Front Cover "Inky Eyes" swatches

Also now with longer hair I'm looking for a shampoo which will look after them better for the winter months. I haven't trimmed my hair yet and so I'm keeping it in its best condition in the best way possible. I am a very loyal fan of Aussie's haircare range and so I thought rather than repurchasing my usual (Aussie Real Volume Shampoo seems to now have become a 2in1 shampoo and conditioner...more on this issue later) I went for Lucious Long. So far, so good.

Aussie "Lucious Long" Shampoo and conditioner

I haven't heard a lot about this foundation except having watched the advert for it and seen it in some magazine spreads. I'm a BIG Maxfactor fan and so when a new foundation comes out, I generally trust for it to be a good'un. This is Maxfactor's "Second Skin" foundation and I have to add that that is a weird name. Nonetheless I'm hoping it does give me that second skin effect, the Winter is never kind to my face.

Maxfactor Second Skin foundation

Next up I decided to buy some dazzledusts by BarryM. I love treating myself to some dazzledusts from time to time, they are like little pots of goodness. I couldn't resist this blue colour which I recall being called "Denim" and this Yellow colour... I wonder am I ever going to wear yellow? Possibly. That Denim blue? Yes. I'm very excited to go on a night out with these, I'm thinking that yellow is going to come in handy in the spring.

BarryM Dazzledusts in Golden Yellow (I think) and Denim

Another foundation I've purchased is Rimmel's New Stay Matte foundation. The moment I saw this I HAD to buy it regardless. Staying matte is probably one of my problems, I don't have a big grease problem but I hate having a shiney t-zone. The moment I saw Lily cole's face I just had to buy it - I don't know why that pursuaded me to buy it but shamefully it did. Rimmel has many Stay Matte foundations but this one has added Chamomile in it and is supposed to keep shine at bay for 12 hours. We'll see about that.

Rimmel New Stay Matte foundation

The next product can be purchased from Boots.com, it's an FCUK palette with 18 eyeshadow colours and six lip colours. These colours are highly pigmented and the cute sleek palette is to die for. I couldn't resist this and it is definitely a great add to my colours collection. This is going to be great for anyone who needs to buy a christmas present for a make-up lover.

FCUK palette

FCUK palette

Also from BarryM is something I've been wanting to get for a long time. This is BarryM's Shimmering Eye and Lip Crayon in a colour that I'm not sure of. But this will be good to use under any eyelow and will be pretty for a snowy winter look. I'm looking forward to using this because actually its a very versatile product, I might be able to use this all over the face.

BarryM Shimmering Lip and Eye Crayon

Also without going into too much detail as I've mentioned all of these previously or have used previously, I bought some old favourites because I've run out! Aussie's Volume + Gloss hairspray has always been a good'un in my books and I love using that to make my hair look big and healthy. Angel Fish's Spray Wax is a FAVOURITE of mine and despite being a smaller can I've picked it over Lee Staffords spray wax simply because it really does do a better job overall. Batiste is a MUST HAVE in my necessities and it reallys saves my life. I purchased the one in "Boho" which I do adore but personally my favourite is "Blush".

Aussie Volume + Gloss hair spray, Angel Fish Spray Wax, Batiste Dry Shampoo, Lee Stafford poker straight hair mask

I haven't really talked about Lee Stafford's Poker Straight hair treatment mask before but I have been using it for years! This hair mask is probably one of the best drugstore ones out there and despite having a very strong artificial smell, it does wonders for my hair. Often I feel hair masks tend to be glorified hair conditioners but with this product i really feel it goes that extra mile. Right now my hair is getting longer by the minute and while I'm not going to cut it, I need to keep it in my shape and so I've called in for the specialist. This really gives my hair life. I LOVE it.

Lee Stafford poker straight hair mask

The final "gift" that I bought myself from Boot's Christmas gift range is this Chilli Pepper make up set. It's set up as a make up set of drawals which has compartments containing different products. The packaging is absolutely adorable and its partly the reason why I picked it up. I love that it's so cutesy and I'm not that into cute things really but I think this totally won me over with the butterflies.

Chilli Pepper Make Up Drawals

You can see there are six eyeshadows, two blushers, one highlighter and six lip colours. They are all decently pigmented and a beautiful choice of colours. You can create some very nice, frosty winter looks and it's handy to bring with you on holiday.

Chilli Pepper Make Up Drawals

Below is sometimes I'm super excited about, it's Urban Decay's Ammo Shadow Box. I'm always extra excited about Urban Decay products because their eyeshadows are absolutely fantastic. I love them for their pigmentation, their colour pay offs, their vibrancies, their hues, their quality and their colour choices. And the packaging is just TOO sexy.
(Thank you, Bu ^_^ <3)>

Urban Decay Ammo Shadow Box

Urban Decay Ammo Shadow Box

It's not just the winter months that I struggle with dry skin. In the case of my feet it's always been DRY. I have dry heels (sorry guys) and I've never found any good foot creams which have well and truly helped. I spotted this in Boots and it suddenly came to me that I should have been looking a Neutrogena's Norwegian Formula products because they hold my favourite lip balm in their line and one of the best hand creams, so their intense moisturiser MUST be amazing.
So when I find they have a Multi-repair cream I am instantly sold because my feet definitely need some repairing. I love that it's a pump and I'm sure it will serve my feet well.

Neutrogena's Norwegian Formula Multi-repair cream

I've also been in need of a sharpener, my eyeliners have all been sitting there blunt and look incredibly sorry for themselves. I've not sharpened them all and now they will always be glorious and useful!

Bourjois eyeliner sharpener

Below are some gifts from China and all three are Carslan products. I don't know much about Carslan but quoted from beautyspring.com it's "Carslan is a range of chic and stylish make-up formulated from France. Carslan make-up comes with captivating and attractive colours, which is an ideal choice for Asians. Popular Hong Kong artist Cecilia Cheung endorses Carslan products". I didn't realise but this brand is popular even back in my home country so I'm very interested in the rest of their range.

Carlsan Soft & Waterproof eyeliner, Carslan Multifunctional Mascara and Carslan Juicy ice Lipgloss

Also wanted to show you, to my suprise, the eyeliner is a bright silver which has amazing colour pay off.

Carlsan Soft & Waterproof eyeliner

Carslan Juicy ice Lipgloss

A while ago I also purchased Eylure's Naturalites Faux Lashes in Volume and Volume Plus. I'm starting to wear faux lashes more often for practice and while I absolutely adore dramatic lashes I want to use more natural ones. These seem to be the best selling ones in our local drugstore so I picked them up in confidence that Eylure is a reputable brand.

Eylure Naturalites Faux Lashes in "Volume Plus"
Eylure Naturalites Faux Lashes in "Volume"

Lastly I picked up Eyeko's mascara. I've been hearing that this has been the underdog of mascaras and not to be fooled by the tacky packaging. I mean the packaging is a)decieving (its not actually a squeezy tube) and b)its so cute that it looks like its going to be one of those products which are all packaging and no quality. But everyone has had something good to say about it so I thought I would give it a go.





I love shopping :)

Music in corresponding Youtube Video is:
~ Utada Hikaru - Beautiful World (Karaoke)
~ Lia - Tori no uta (karaoke)

Review: Dove's Hair Minimising Anti-perspirant deodorant

~ The Low Down ~
Dove's Hair Minimising Anti-perspirant deodorant is somewhat of an interesting product to review simply because it seems to be a product that should have a lot of hype surrounding it. The reality is that when this product arrived on the market, there seemed almost to be an anti climax and where what should have been a mutual excitement, was an altogether suspicion and reluctant.
I went sent this courtesy of Dove a while back in April 2009 and was asked to do a review on the product; I was also instructed to use this for a good couple of months as this product only begins to 'work' after this amount of time.

The product comes in two forms of scent; "Nature fresh" and also "Wild Rose". The one I'm reviewing today is in Wild Rose. This particularly smell does not sit well with me; it's a very musky smell and I personally do not feel it smells any like Rose and nor does it particularly smell floral. I like deodorant smells to be fresh, clean and subtle and to me, "Wild Rose" seems to be completely opposite. However I have given "Nature Fresh" a good sniff in store and I have to say I quite liked that smell.

Dove claims that this deodorant is supposed to "cares for your underarms while leaving your underarm hair feeling finer and easier to remove. Soon, your underarms will look and feel hair free for longer. Available in Wild Rose fragrane, featuring hints of Ginger, Pear and Apple." - Dove.com


~ How did it work for Cherry? ~

So I have been using it from April and funnily enough have found one last spray can left. Why is this?

I stopped using this a while ago simply because I really did not like the smell. However I did comply and use it up until August which means I've been using this product for 3-4 months which exceeds my recommended time suggested to me. In this period I have not found any difference in terms of hair growth, hair thickness, shaving ease or under skin; all of which this product promises to change. I'm not sure whether this is due to the fact that my natural hairs are already quite fine and I'm mostly quite sparse in hair growth. I'm not sure if that makes a difference however I know that the people who have used this product before have loved it. There has even been talk about using it on legs as it's been so successful on their underarms.
For me I feel like this product has failed to do what it says on the can and the only positive out of this is that it kept my underarms fairly dry for a good period of time throughout the day. However it did not keep me odourless and it definitely did not do anything for me in terms of my hair growth. I've been wondering about whether it has anything to do with that I did not use the roll-on as well, but I wasn't asked to do so therefore I assume there shouldn't be a need.


~ How much will this cost? And where can I buy it? ~

This product can be found at selected drugstores such as Boots or Superdrug and also at large Chemists. You can also find these online. They retail at an average price of £2.93 for 150ml. I would say this is a fairly pricey deodorant but definitely not the most expensive on the market.

~ Cherry's Final Verdict ~

I have to say that I'm fairly unimpressed with the product. However in saying this I have not lost faith in Dove as a company or in their deodorants as I am a Dove deodorant 'kinda' gal. My all time favourite deodorant is Dove's 'Invisible Dry' spray as I find it does exactly what it says on the can and keeps me odourless and fresh for a long time. Despite not liking their Hair Minimising range, I still love their other scents and will continue buying their products.




So overall I would give this product a 3/5. It's a shame that it didn't work for me. When it comes down to recommending this product, I would tell any person to try before judging this product. A lot of people have liked it and have claimed it to work; so if you happen to be one of these lucky people, shouldn't this be the perfect product for you? If it doesn't work then you haven't really lost much apart from perhaps £2.93.

Daily Make up survey

DAILY MAKEUP SURVEY

1. What time did you do your makeup today?
6pm! Before work :D
2. What's the least expensive beauty item you used?
NYC Duo Eyeshadow :)
3. What was the biggest problem you needed to correct?
Apply foundation on my dry patches of skin! grr!
4. Did you apply false eyelashes?
No lol! not for work, never!
5. Did you do anything while applying makeup?
Stared out the window for a bit
6. Biggest makeup mishap today?
Possibly eyeshadow? but i did get some compliments :)
7. Did you have a makeup inspiration in mind?
I was thinking "girl next door"
8. What's the most time-consuming part of your makeup routine?
Eyeshadows!
9. What's part of your routine is the most fun?
I really like sculpting my face and adding blusher and adding highlighter!
10. What part of your makeup makes the biggest difference in the way you look?
Possibly eye make up! But really i think concealer makes me look different
11. Neutral or colorful eyeshdaow?
Both!
12. Liquid or mineral foundation?
Probably liquid for me :)
13. Do you do your hair or makeup first?
Depends how i feel but mostly make up first :)
14. Did you pack a makeup bag to take with you for the day?
I barely ever do and no, i never do for work!
15. When did you finish your makeup?
Um probably about 6.30pm! :)

Anime Make-Up Series: Sailor Moon

The next look in this series belongs to Sailor Moon, the main heroine of the series. She is possibly one of the best anime characters around with the most signature colours and hair do ever. I absolutely love her and think her arrangement in colours is timeless.

For this make-up look I've decided to give it more of a creative edge, simply because Usagi deserves a bit of extra effort and I couldn't imagine forming this look into something remotely wearable even for the evening.








For this look I'm using a very old school palette, which is the Claire's palette. I'm using the brightest rich sky blue colour for the blue in Usagi's uniform.



I'm also using "Chrome Yellow" and "Sushi Flower" by MAC as well as Sally Girl's Snow.


I hope you guys enjoy this

Peace x

Teaser: Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara

As a teaser, I've uploaded a video demonstration on my first time use of the Maybelline Pulse Perfection Vibrating Mascara. I am yet to do an indepth review as I do not tend to do reviews unless I've used the product for a fair amount of time. However I thought it interesting to show a quick teaser picture and video of the first initial use and reaction.

My initial thoughts is that the mascara is more than what I thought it was yet less than what I hoped for. In my mind it seems gimmicky but I was hoping for miracles. Yes it does 'work' to a certain extent however it does fairly little for my lashes. I'll say for now that it gives good definition to the lashes (which is good considering this is the same wand and formula as the original Maybelline Define-A-Lash mascara) and builds up fair volume, however it seems to uncurl my curled lashes as the formula is very heavy.
Application wasn't too difficult but I think it takes some good practice to not get any mascara on your eyelid.

So far, this product hasn't impressed but nor has it failed its purpose.





Enjoy x

Maybelline Event + New Camera

Hey everyone

So as a few of you may know I was invited to the Maybelline event last Thursdays and I have to say it was a very interesting yet fun experience! The team at Maybelline/L'Oreal were particularly friendly and I felt very welcome there.
This event invited many online bloggers to view and test out their new and old products and allow us to get to know Maybelline just a little bit more. This event was an eye opener for me because although I know Maybelline and have their products, I have never looked through their products in detail and noticed, or realised, just how expansive their range is and just how much thought they put into their products and how they sell them.

While I got to learn more about the brand and what they do, we also got to test and try out a lot of their products. Since this event I have become more of a Maybelline fan than ever before simply because I realised just how much I kept missing every time I skimmed passed their shelves. Their products are absolutely top quality and what I love is that none of their products are particularly expensive.

I'm not going to go into detail about what goodies I got (although their is some picture evidence) but there are a couple of things I wanted to say about their products.
I've been using some of their new Colour Sensational Lipsticks and I am in love with these colours! I am a particular fan of Ambre Rose and Coral Pop. I've also tried out their Dream Mousse Foundation and also their concealer in that line and I have to say I am impressed! Very impressed!

What an impressive evening; with much food, drink, laughter and talk, I felt very welcome and it left a great impression in my mind. Below are some pictures and if there are any reviews you would like me to do on these products, feel free to request and I shall try my best. Now I just need some time to go and actually try most of it!

Lots of bloggers!

The presentation area

Make up artist!

Suzi (Suzit86), Me, Ling (Moonbeamstarlight)

Ling and I

Even more bloggers

More make up

Suzi and Ling

Ling looking through the brochures

Nail polish

Ling and I with our goodie bags

^_^


Me and the L'Oreal Sign


Some of my goodies! (I left some at my friend's house, missing 5 more lipsticks
and their brand new mascara!)


Their much adored Colour Sensation Lipsticks


Fancy Teabags

If you see Ling filming a video then this is the picture
of her filming the video

Thats as much as I really want to touch on the Maybelline event for now. I will talk more about their products when I look into them properly. I am delighted that I was invited and want to take this opportunity to say thank you so much Maybelline!

Onto further news I just wanted to tell you some good news! I got me a new camera after the old ye faithful finally died *cries* and he's not the sweet pink snapper like before, this one is robust and powerful, a whopping 12.1megapixels (where as previously mine was still an impressive 8mpg!). I wondering how this will change the quality of my pictures and videos but am especially worried about uploading pictures as they will have such high resolutions. I will see how it goes but if all goes well, more videos will be out soon and with EVEN better quality!


Peace out! x

The new robot snapper

Youtube, Haul + Swap!

Hello Everyone!

First of all before we get started I need to talk about my youtube videos. A lot of you would have noticed in my last video "update fail" the sound kept playing up. I've come to the conclusion that there is definitely something wrong with the camera and therefore making videos have to stop for now until I can purchase a new camera :(
However if I'm lucky I'll be able to get one very soon but if I can't I'm just going to keep blogging and keeping you updated. I know there's not a lot of us here and while on youtube there's about 1000+ subbers and here, less so, but I'm going to carry on here despite it all. Please spread the word!!


Haul:

I went shopping, guys! I know, how bad.... this was too spontaneous for words but no one can resist Boots OR Superdrugs! I know I can't anyway.






A long while ago I remember hearing about L'Oreal's Studio Secret line. Supposedly this is L'Oreals secrets in products that are not available on the market and having studied the products for a while I picked this one up. I wanted to get one of their foundations but they are quite pricey and the rest of the products did not catch my eye as much. The only one is the "mattifying primer" and simply because it reminds me of my ultimate favourite GOSH Velvet Touch Foundation Primer. It's the same see-through gel and the texture and consistency is very similar. I think the only difference is that GOSH's bottle contains more product (don't quote me on that). I will have to try this out and tell you what I think but it does make me happy ...I miss GOSH's primer a lot and seeing as I've so many primers I didn't want to buy more...but I couldn't resist.


I've been asked to get this a couple of times and I just figured seeing that I'm getting bored of my Maybelline mineral powder and that I'm also wanting to try out some NYC products (inspired by Emily Noel Beautybroadcast) I could give this one a go. I purchased the one in Medium. There seems to only be three shades but the silly thing about this is that in my Superdrugs these testers were COMPLETELY different to what was actually on sale. This makes me wonder but never mind. The product comes complete with a tiny mineral kabuki that I'm sure will guarantee to scrape off the epidermis of your face.


I finally picked up both the new Batiste dry shampoos ("Diva" and "Boho"). From memory I think I prefer the smell of Diva but I remember Boho being very refreshing. Both of the designs on the can are very eye catching and appealing so I think they've done well there.
I jus thope they work as well as the other ones.

I also picked up a eyeshadow duo by NYC and I'm not sure why or even how it ended up in my basket. I didn't give their shadows much thought but I do remember looking at it when paying for it and thinking that it is a very "Emily Noel" colour. Whilst being cheap and cheerful, the colour payoff probably could be better.

We'll have to see how this one goes...


Also picked up one of NYC's colour wheels. The reason why I hate colour wheels are the way the colours merge together but seeing as it's so cheap I didn't see why not. I don't know about the colour combinations - what do you think?


You all know that I've been very devoted to No7 Instant Radiance Concealer and have been using it religiously. The only other highlighting concealer I have been interested in is this one: Mememe's Flawless Concealer and the reason being is that Lindy (Bubzbeauty) has recommended it to everyone before and I've seen her use it. It looks very promising but as I was buying it I realised I forgot which shade she is in (her and I have very similar skin tones) so I went for shade 2 in buttermilk. I tried the first one which is Vanilla and it was too light and I'm sure, if I'm not mistaken, there is supposed to be a third shade but as already mentioned, my Superdrugs are a bit lacking when it comes to certain things like testers and product organisation (in other words they're pretty crap) so I couldn't get hold of it. Eitherway I'm sure Buttermilk will do me just fine and we'll see.

Another spontaneous buy are these Lee Stafford Hair Colour Sprays. I'm not sure why I bought them to be exact but recently I've been thinking about just doing it for fun and as they are washable then it's totally harmless fun, right? I am going away this weekend and I was thinking that it could be cute to have some pink streaks in my hair for a night out.

I bought two cans, one in pink and the other white. White seems to make me look a bit chalky/dusty and the pink doesn't come out as bright. Spray the pink ontop of the white and its quite pretty. These sprays seem to make the hair hard and crunchy which isn't so nice but ok if you like your hair a bit on the grungy side (like me).

I did a quick test.





Swap:

Recently I recieved a package from a much loved subscriber as we are doing a swap. She sent me a ton of stuff which was totally unexpected and I'm so happy! Thanks Naomi! I will be sending back a package of goodies too and it's exciting as it's my first swap, ever!

if any of you are hoping to do swaps with me, please just feel free to say what you have etc. Really I should list some things I do want and see if anyone has them and would swap with me, right?

Anyway Naomi got me tons of things including my first NYX, Nars and Laneige products. LOVE!




So as I said, I hope you guys spread the word about me not being able to make more videos but when I come back I'll be slimmer and ready to go. Keep subscribed and I love you all!

Cherry x

Outfit of yesterday

Yesterday I wore this outfit with great caution - I just didn't know what to expect. While I pictured it in my mind, I wasn't at all sure if it would suit me.

For a start, I rarely wear white and if I do, it'll be a baggy piece. Second of all, I've only recently indulged in some figure hugging efforts, so I was wondering if it was a bad idea to team this with a white top.

I think the combination of loose skimming material, print and cautious colour schemes allows this outfit to work for a body shape like mine.

If you want to wear something similar and wanting to look for inspiration, keep an eye out for cool prints, look at simple colour combinations and definitely keep fabric in mind.

High street stores to pop into: Republic, Primark, H&M, River Island, Apricot, Urban Outfitters, Uniqlo


In this photo:
White Tee - Primark
Skull Dress/Top - Republic (Craft)
Leggings - H&M
Black Pumps - Primark