Every now and again I come across a product I'm not too fond of. Unfortunately, the Loreal Matte Lip Paint is one of them. Autumn has rolled around and out has come the dark reds and berrys in my make-up collection. I'm not big with bold lips, but a dark red tone is surprisingly something I'm relatively happy to wear. I have two in my lippy collection already - a lovely matte one from NYX, and another from Rimmel which has a little more sheen. When I travelled back to Ipswich the other week to visit a local pumpkin patch with Jamie for the perfect Halloweeny blog photoshoot, you can imagine my despair when I realised I'd not bought either of my darker lipsticks home with me. Of course, my blog and my instagram could not possibly have all these pumpkin patch photos without a dark lip, so off I popped to Tesco for a last minute hunt for one. The Matte Lip Paint is what I picked up.

Friction Free Shaving

I spend a fortune on razors. Playing netball at uni means my legs are out 5 days a week, and unfortunately I can’t leave my leg hair to grow like a gorillas for extra warmth in the winter. Buying new razor heads has always been a grudge of mine, especially as my skin can be quite sensitive to cheaper kinds.

Batiste 2 in 1 Invisible Dry Shampoo and Conditioner

A few weeks back I received the Batiste 2 in 1 Invisible Dry Shampoo and Conditioner* in the post to give a try. I am a big dry shampoo user, and only ever use Batiste's. Their favourite of mine has to be the XXL Volume one - my hair is pretty much straight and flat, lacking any life so I have been known to spray a bit of this in the roots even when my hair isn't in need of a shampoo! I'm a big fan!

Review: Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara

I don't own many mascaras. They tend to dry out so I opt for trying a new one everytime this happens. Up until now I've been using the Rimmel Lash Accelerator - a firm favourite of mine which I have repurchased a few times before. The Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara is raved about a lot. After seeing it floating around for a while now, so I thought it was my turn to pick it up and give it a try!

A Stay in London with CitizenM

If you've been following me on my instagram you may have seen that last Sunday I took a trip up to London with Jamie for a night stay at CitizenM's Tower of London hotel. I was kindly asked to spend the night at one of their hotels - Tower of London, Shoreditch or Bankside. We opted for the Tower of London, having stayed nearby before and knowing it to be a scenic location. 

Orangiscle NYX Butter Gloss

NYX are no doubt becoming my favourite drugstore beauty brand, especially for their lipsticks. Recently when I took a browse at their stand in Boots, I decided to switch up my lip game a bit. As much as I love my mattes, I thought it was about time I went for a bit of a gloss.

NKD Skin Pre-Shower Tan

With the summer months here, I'm determined to get my tan on. I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to fake tanning, and the thought of jumping right in scares me a bit, so when I saw this NKD Skin Pre-Shower Tan, I thought it would be the perfect product to ease me in..

Review: ZOEVA Coral Blush Palette

It's very rare that I ever treat myself to new makeup, especially makeup that hasn't been all over the blogosphere, but when I stumbled across the Zoeva Coral Spectrum Blush Palette on beutybay a few weeks ago, I thought why not?

Review: NYX Finishing Powder

Being  a gal with a skin type slightly more on the oily side, powder has always been something really important to my makeup routine. I once had an obsession with Rimmel's Stay Matte Pressed Powder, but after smashing it endless times and repurchasing, I decided to turn to a loose powder. I'd been using Natural Collection's for a while, until I saw NYX's finishing powder while shopping a few weeks ago. I adore NYX's lippies, so I thought it was about time I tried some other bits of their range..

The 3 nude mac lipsticks you need

I'm not a big lipstick wearer - something I really want to change. I don't have those super plump lips and I'm not quite brave enough to wear bold colours. I'm slowly easing my way into the lipstick world with the occassional nude, and if I'm feeling really glam, I will hunt down my red lippies for special occasions. Now, I'm not going to lie, these are not only the 3 nude mac lippies I own, but the only 3 mac lipsticks I own full stop. But nonetheless, they're definitely lipsticks you need in your collection!

Review: The M Botanicals Exfoliating Bamboo Cleanser

A few weeks back I was kindly gifted the Exfoliating Bamboo Cleanser from M Botanicals. The cleanser claims to Revive tired and dull skin  - Bamboo and clay mechanically exfoliate while strong plant based actives of Copaiba balsam, Acai and Andiroba help the skins ability to protect itself against hormonal breakouts. Natural fruit acids exfoliate and unclog pores bringing about a revived and smooth complexion.

Review: Anastasia Dipbrow Promade

I know I'm a bit late to the party now, but today I'm reviewing the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Promade. I really have fallen in love with it since getting it last year and use it daily without fail - I couldn't help but feel it needed a blog post all of it's own!

Easter at Lush

 Easter is here and I was determined to get into the spirit and get an easter themed post out somehow! A couple of weeks back mum and I popped over to colchester for a bit of a shop and I picked up these new bath bomb goodies from the Lush easter range.

Review: Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighter

When highlighters became all the rage last year, I questioned quite how I was surviving with only 2 in my collection. Off I went into town I get myself a third to start building my collection.

Review: The UniBox*

As you know, I'm a second year Geography student, and when I heard about The Unibox*, I knew I wanted to give it a try! I love the idea of all subscription boxes, but one catered especially for students? Perfect!

Review: Rimmel Lasting Finish Foundation

I've been slowly making my way through the drugstore foundations over the last few years, working out what ones are worthwhile and what are not so much. Next on my list was the Rimmel Lasting Finish foundation!

Review: NYX soft matte lipsticks

Another day another review! Today I'm telling you all about the NYX soft matte lips. NYX, although raved about a lot over the blogosphere, is a new discovery for me! I can tell it's soon going to be one of my favourite high street makeup brands though.

Keep hydrated: Hydratem8

I find it super hard to keep myself hydrated throughout the day, it's been an issue ever since I was young when I used to suffer from migraines from dehydration quite frequently and severely. Of course, with age I've learnt how to know when a migraine is coming on and to drink plenty in attempt to avoid it developing, but sometimes when I'm busy working or at uni, it can be hard to keep hydrated all the time! We all know the benefits water has - better skin, flushes out toxins and provides more energy, so why is it so hard to keep on top of it?!

Winter Skincare Saviour: Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish

For Christmas I finally got the much heard of Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish. It's something I'd had on my wishlist for a while but being a student, I tend to stick to the cheapest skincare possible! After all the raving on blogs in the last few years I had seen on this, I knew I had to try it!! 

At first the scent of this put me off. In the past year I've stripped back my skincare and used really basic products that have very little scent to them. I don't know what it is, but I hate using products that smell strong, I like it to feel natural. This has a scent of ecualyptus, which I know does wonders for your skin, and the scent does fade quickly so it was an issue I got over pretty quickly! Despite this, I've actually really loved using it! I've used it in the morning and at night to take my makeup off and it's left my skin feeling really fresh and clean! I was actually surprised at how well it removed my makeup at the end of the day!

I feel like it's a bit too early to comment on it's full effect on my skin, but so far, so good! I don't seem to have had any major breakouts for a while now (touch wood). I'm really looking forward to continuing to use this to see how it's working for me a few months down the line! 

Do you use Cleanse and Polish? What do you think of it?

Lucy x

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Review: Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask - £10*

A year or so ago I tweeted about how awful my skin was, when Sanctuary Spa very kindly got in touch and offered to send me their 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask, of course I accepted!! Since then I've been meaning to review it, and I have finally got round to it! Side note, this is my first proper attend of a flat lay photo - how am I doing?!

Onto the review, the mask is said to be "Intensely purifying yet non-drying. This self-heating mask uses warmth to help open up pores so charcoal & kaolin clay can help draw out impurities from deep within the skin. Containing soothing & calming myrrh essential oils, the mask helps to remove excess oil to leave skin feeling purified, cleansed & silky-soft."

I don't know what it is, but there's something I love amount Clay or Mud masks and this is no exception! The texture of this mask is fairly thick which I love, and you can definitely feel the heating effect when you put it on! It seems to work brilliantly on my oily-type skin, pulling out all the impurities I have. It's not a pain to remove, I use a bit of warm water with a flannel, and afterwards my skin feels smooth and refreshed!

I would definitely recommend this to anyone with combination or oily skin to use once a week to give your skin a bit of a lift up!