L'oreal Skin Perfector Serum

Hi guys!
Recently L'oreal bought out a new skincare range targeted at a slightly younger audience, with aims to improve the appearance of younger skin. The overall intended effect is perfected skin.  My friend bought the serum and raved about it so I thought I would give it a go whilst it was on sale in Boots. 

I absolutely adore the packaging for this! I find that a lot of skincare products aimed at younger people tend to have really cheap and tacky looking packaging, however this is so gorgeous! I love the ombre effect on the bottle.

I find that this product goes down quite quickly, which is a bit of a bummer because this is at the higher end of the drugstore skincare product price range. But honestly, this product works wonders for my skin. I apply it religiously every night and occasionally in the morning depending on how my skin is looking. You are just supposed to gently massage it into your face and within 3 hours your face looks flawless and perfected. It sounds like the biggest gimmick in the world but I swear to you guys this is the best skin product I have ever purchased! It leaves your skin feeling soft, and I find it reduces any redness I have around my face, especially around my nose. Not only this but it drastically decreases the visibility of my pores.

As far as face serums go, this is very light and refreshing on the skin and does not weigh your face down at all, which is good as you are meant to apply this twice a day - once in the morning and once in the evening. Obviously you don't want to be putting heavy things on your face underneath makeup. 
There are a few other things in this range such as the Day Moisturiser (which I have tried although I didn't find it to do anything special), Awakening Eye Cream, 5 in 1 BB Cream and lastly a product called Magic Touch Instant Blur which is supposed to be an amazing base for makeup. I have recently started using the Miscellear Water as a toner and second makeup remover and it seems to be making my skin look far more refreshed and clean. 
Have you guys tried anything from this range? What did you think of it?

Christmas LUSH Haul & Gifts

Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are all still enjoying the excuse to eat loads of food! I apologise for my lack of posts over the festive period, I was working every single day except Christmas Day itself so I literally had no time at all to post.
It seems that everyone found out about my love for LUSH this Christmas because I received 5 bath ballistics on Christmas day. I then went and bought 4 other bits from LUSH in their half price sale yesterday, oops, but I thought I would share them all with you because they are some of my favourite ever bath and shower products.
1. The Christmas Penguin Santa kindly left this adorable bubble bar in my stocking for Christmas. The smell of this one is not very sweet but more sophisticated I find, and perfect for an evening bath. I believe that two of the main ingredients are orange and lemon, which explains the citrus tinge to the product. I think I love this one so much because it is a penguin...and they're my favourite animals because they are so adorable. LUSH suggest to only use half of the bubble bar and agitate the bath to create more bubbles, so I will definitely be trying this out.

2.  Avobath This is one of the more basic Bath Ballistics that LUSH do, with a lemongrass and avocado scent. Its such a refreshing scent, probably not to everyone's taste but I think its perfect for a morning bath or an early evening bath to give you that little pick me up. They say that the Avobath is good for thirsty skin, however since I have not tried it yet I can't tell you whether that is true. Although it looks fairly boring I reckon it'll be one of the ones that will do wonders for my skin.

3. Luxury Lush Pud I have seen so many people talk about this Bath Ballistic on Youtube, it seems to be one of the more popular Christmas products. This one is meant to turn your bath a wonderful purple/pink colour which is rather exciting! It used to turn baths brown but I believe they reviewed the product and changed it so it was more appealing. With some of the ingredients being lavender oil, ylang ylang and tonka, the smell is really relaxing.

4. Dragons Egg One of my all time favourites from the regular lush Bath Ballistic collection! This bath bomb is full of surprises, changing your bath to every colour under the sun, and leaving it at a final colour of gold. One of the main ingredients is Lemon Oil, so again the smell is fairly fruity. Boring on the outside but rather intriguing. Don't judge a book by its cover!

5. Father Christmas Unfortunately I was dying to use this one on Christmas Day so I don't have a decent picture of it. The detailing was so fantastic with the Santa face on the front. Now when I first looked at this I wondered why it was so expensive for what it was, but when I popped it in the bath I soon realised. It turned my bath bright green! It was so crazy. The main ingredients in terms of the scent are mandarin oil and orange flower, which makes this a very feminine smelling bath ballistic. 

6. Candy Mountain My favourite Bubble Bar. Vanilla, sweet, sugary goodness. It just reminds me of rainbows and unicorns and all things dreamy. I literally want to use this every single day it smells divine! It creates so many bubbles and turns your bath a pretty pink. I'm not actually too sure if this is a Christmas special because when I went in it was in their 50% off sale - I'm hoping its not a Limited Edition because I didn't stock up!

7. Santa's Lip Scrub Now I know a lot of people have negative opinions on the LUSH lip scrubs, saying that they are very overpriced for what they do, which is true, they are fairly expensive, but I got this one half price. It smells of Cola, although the smell is not to strong. I did want to buy the Popcorn one which is very popular, but it wasn't reduced and this was only £2.75. I am yet to try it but when I do, I will tell you if it is better than old fashioned Lemon, Olive Oil and Sugar.

8. Snow Fairy Shower Gel Need I say anymore? An incredibly popular item amongst beauty bloggers and I am not at all surprised. This was in the 50% off sale, so this 250g bottle cost me £3.43 which is amazing. I was hoping to get the larger bottle but it was completely sold out but the time I got there. This smells of candyfloss and pear AND ITS GLITTERY! Perfection in a bottle.

9. Snow Fairy Massage Bar Now, I didn't actually pay for this one, the lovely lady at the LUSH store was talking to me and turns out I served her at my work earlier that week and she remembered me. She asked me if I liked Glitter, obviously I said yes, and then she gave me this for free! I was super happy because I was actually going to buy one but it was one of those things I was unsure as to whether I would use it or not. But I definitely will now that she has explained to me how it works and how much it moisturizes your skin! It smells exactly like the shower gel too which is just yummy!

Unfortunately, since a couple of these products were Christmas Limited Edition ones, they may not still be available in your local LUSH store. 
Did any of you receive any LUSH things for Christmas?

Nail Art: Distressed Nails

Hey guys!
Apologies for not posting on Monday, I had a meeting at work and did not get back till late. 
I wanted to do a nail art tutorial today as I have not done one in ages and I did this gorgeous design this week and had to share it! Sorry it's a bit chipped here - this was taken after 3 days.

Its the simplest design ever to create - it just involves you being a bit messy.  Here are the colours that I used to create the look, I won't bore you by naming the colours - you can use whichever colours you want, it really doesn't matter too much.

1. Firstly, paint a white base coat on all of your nails - two coats usually looks better, especially if the polish is very thin like the Barry M Matte White that I used. 
2. Then take your first colour - wipe the brush on the sides of the bottle to take off nearly all of the polish that is on the brush. Then, apply random strokes onto the nail. It should look something like this.

3. Then repeat step 2 with the other colours that you have chosen - I find it best to apply the darkest colour last, and then add extra lighter colours on top if needed. 

I have to admit there is slightly too much black on this nail for my liking - however I still love the distressed look and the way it looks messy yet artistic. 

If anyone tries this out please leave me a comment and tell me how it went!

Don't forget to follow on GFC and Bloglovin'!

Recipe: The Best Lemon Drizzle Cake

Hi guys!

I know this post isn't the usual, but I'm thinking I might post a few more things like this because it makes my blog a bit more diverse.

Recently I've been enjoying making Lemon Drizzle cake - which is weird because I'm not that fond of lemon flavored things, but this cake is divine!

You will need :

110g Softened Butter
170g Flour
170g Caster Sugar
2 Eggs
1 Lemon
1tsp Baking Powder
6tsp Milk

110g Icing Sugar

Before you start baking, make sure that your oven is lit at 190 degrees centigrade!

1. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
2. Gradually add in the eggs and ensure they are whisked into the mixture thoroughly
3. Then it is time to add the flour and baking powder - make sure you use a sift of else the mixture will go lumpy and horrible!

4. Once all the flour is mixed in, you must add the milk and the the juice of half a lemon

5. The final thing to do is to line the loaf tin with baking paper and then pour the mixture in. Put the cake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked throughout

I usually hate everything that I bake, and this is the one thing that I actually love and eat. Its not too sweet, but if you are trying to make it healthier you could always keep the icing off (but personally I think its the best part). I think next time I make it I will add some Poppy Seeds because it'd make the cake slightly different and add more textures.

If any of you try to make this please send me a photo on twitter (@daenabe) or leave me a comment down below.

If you enjoy these recipe posts then also let me know because I might do one every now and again if people enjoy reading them!

Collection Deluxe Lipstick

Hello Amigos!

Surprise surprise I was in Superdrug the other day, and I was browsing at the Collection stand and saw they have released a new range of lipsticks called "Deluxe" lipsticks (after my research I found they were actually released a few months ago!). I saw this gorgeous pinky red colour and I couldn't walk away without it, so I bought it...oops.

The one I bought is called Prohibition, however there are 5 colours in the range, all with 20's themed names which is super cute. The formulation of the lipstick is so creamy and smooth to apply due to the Shea Butter ingredient, and this makes the product wonderful for this time of year when your lips can become dry and chapped due to the cold weather. Overall the texture is very velvety and the lipstick itself has a fairly average staying power, not amazing, although I do find that most Collection lipsticks do not have great staying power. The finish is glossy and wearable, with no shimmer or glitter.

WHY does my camera make my skin look so awful and dry?!

 

This colour is a gorgeous pink toned red for autumn, and not as daring as a bold bright red such as MAC's Ruby Woo. It works so well with darker coloured clothing and I truly am so glad I picked this lipstick up to add to my collection.

It was only £3.99 - however Boots and Superdrug do have all their makeup on 3 for 2 at the moment (at least they did when I bought this lipstick) so it could be a wonderful bargain if you have other things to buy. Another great product from Collection in my eyes!

Have you guys tried any of the other colours from this range?