Dolce & Gabbana 11/12 Autumn - Winter Shoes

Yesterday I went on a nice adventure to London with my parents. They were down for the week visiting me and I thought it would only be appropriate to take them there. It was a very touristy trip where we managed to see most of the sights; Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, the parliament ... you get the gist. My mother being a bit of a fashionista she was eager to step foot in Harrods. 


Harrods is amazing. Always looking great inside, however, when I walked into the shoe department I had to stop and mouth "Whattt the Fu...."

Right now you're probably thinking... What amazing shoe have you stumbled upon ... or was there some sort of crazy display for the shoes.... Let me ease your mind ... it was nothing of the above only the most hideous shoes I have ever seen. 

These are them. I'm not sure if Dolce and Gabbana have hired pre-teens or have lost their creativity and decided to borrow some ideas from your local Hot Topic.... What ever the case may be ... they are absolutely wretched. The part that really boggles my mind about them is that they would use this pattern on all three styles; stiletto, round-toe, and flat. And these styles are very simple... what I mean is that you could see no difference from any Aldo heels. I'm sure you can see my distaste with this so called designer brand but one more contributing factor is the price ... ranging from £ 315 - £ 445 


I hope Im not the only one that shares these views... but if I am ... there is a matching belt for £ 265 if you are interested. 

4. Love Lettuce - Lush Face Mask

Ahoy! So now we get to the face mask called Love Lettuce by Lush. I wanted to buy this product but they ran out of it in the store so the lady was kind enough to scoop a generous amount for me. One thing that I loved about this product initially was the smell... It wasn't nauseating or harsh which I find influence the selling point for me. 

 Would ya look at that eh? Green like lettuce. The consistency is quite nice as well, with only very fine grains. All you have to do with this mask is leave it on your face for 5 - 10 min and then wash it off. When I started to wash it off I tried to rub the mask into my skin to exfoliate more.  

It left my skin feeling soft and fresh. I was pretty impressed. Before I got this product I started getting buildup on my forehead. I blame it on the humidity in my apartment... regardless what ever the case may be this stuff sucked the life out of those whiteheads and left my face smooth. 

This product goes for £ 5.50 / 75 g in England and $6.95 / 60g in Canada/America. (You'd expect the bigger sizes in North America) This product definitely did the trick and I would rate this a 5 / 5 would definitely buy this.

3. Lush Sugar Scrub - Exfoliator

The lady that was helping me recommended this product to me. The selling point : helps reduce cellulite. Almost every woman has it these days, even the skinny ones. So I decided to go for it. The product itself doesn't look like much... just a green half sphere that is made out of sugar. 

With Lush products I find that you have to go through a trial and error process to figure out the best way to work the product. Initially with this one, I took it and dipped it straight into water and used it directly on my skin. It worked for a bit, but then it started melting away in the palm of my hand. It would have been wiser if I just cut a piece of... I ended up leaving it over night so it could dry out. Anyway... The product is pretty rough ... exactly what you would expect from an exfoliator... or should I say exfoliant? Either way you get the point. 

When it comes off you just have to rub it in. Apparently some of the ingredients in this product are supposed to help target unwanted cellulite. If this really did work it would be all over the press, but I'm going to be hopeful and see how this goes for me.
Overall I would rate this product 3 / 5 .. It was pretty average ... nothing special.
The smell was a bit cheap and harsh, but as an over all exfoliator it was good. 

The price was £ 2.65 / 100g  and it is $ 5.95 / 3.5 oz which again I think it marked up pretty high again. 

1. Lush Floating Island - Luxury Bath Melt

This product was the first thing that I had my eye on when I walked into the shop. I'm obsessed with the smell of sandalwood and this product had just the right amount of it. Out of all the luxury bath melts this one was the least appealing visually.  

Yes... that is it. On the instructions it directs you to melt it in hot water and then add cold afterward to adjust it to your desired temperature. I ended up chucking in a bit of this melt and not much happened. I just ended up crumbling it with a knife before I put it in again and it worked much better. 

Afterward I took it between my fingers and just rubbed them together to break the pieces apart a little more. 

It all dissolved nicely for me. The smell was amazing... I find certain Lush products can smell cheap, however, not in this case; super clean and fresh. It did leave my skin feeling soft as well. And, it wasn't too foamy which is nice, but that might not be for everyone.

The product cost £ 3.60 / 100g which is about 3.5 oz at home its $7.95 which is quite the mark up. For what I paid for the product I think it is a good value but only once in a while. I would rate this product 4.2 / 5 only because it is a little messy and inconvenient. 

Lush Haul

Yesterday I was tempted for a wander around the city. There wasn't much that caught my eye except for the lush store... this time it smelt amazing walking by.

Before I knew, I ended up with more than I came for. 

Recently I've been starting to look a bit deeper into products in hope to find a more natural alternative. With Lush priding its name on having fresh and organic products, it was worth a try for me.  So here are the list of products that I picked up:

1. Floating Island - Luxury Bath Melt
2. The Melting Snowman - Bath Melt
3. Sugar Scrub - Exfoliator 
4. Love Lettuce - (Sample Size) - Face Mask
5. It's Raining Men! - (Sample Size) Shower Gel 
6. Sparkle - Toothy Tabs
7. Brazened Honey - Face Mask 
8. Glorious Mud - Body Scrub 
9. Caca Brun - Henna Hair Colour
10. Lemony Flutter - Cuticle Butter 
11. New! - Shampoo Bar


I will be doing an individual review for each!

Tarte - Smooth Operator (Illuminating Serum)

Any time I pick up this tube all I want to do is break out in song and jive a little. But I don't because that would be just plain weird. Any-who, Tarte cosmetics are like Mother Teresa to our skin, just plain good. Tarte is well known for being eco-friendly, cruelty-free and having  vegan cosmetic line. Their product Smooth Operator is an Illuminating Serum, also known as a highlighter for the face. 

When I first opened it the "serum" looked like foundation. It wasn't really shiny and it looked a bit pale. When I put it on my skin it also felt a bit heavy like foundation and the colour came off as a light sand, which was lighter than my skin tone. Initially, not very pleased... But I gave it a minute and its as if the serum soaked into my skin and left this healthy glow. 

As you can tell I may have over done it a little but you get the point. As a highlighter it definitely does the trick. It doesn't get dewy or clammy throughout the day which is nice and it leaves your skin feeling fresh and health. You can used this under makeup as a primer even. One thing that I found was it was rough around the eye. I tried using it lighten up my dark circles, but it stung far too much. That may be only my skin though. 

Over all I'd rate this a 4.5 /5
Looking online this product is kind of pricey at $32 but I purchased mine as a kit from Sephora, for a little more and it came with a few other goodies.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine - Liberté # 46

Now and again you have those days when you struggle with deciding between lipgloss or lipstick. It can be a loosing battle where you end up with using chapstick in the end. 

Chanel came out with a lipstick line called "Rouge Coco Shine" that I would describe as a hydrating lipstick almost lipgloss (look-wise). I ended up picking up the colour 46 - Liberté that looks like a fresh coral color with tiny gold sparkles in it. 

The packaging look a fair bit smaller than any of the other Chanel lipstick... but have no fear its the same size as the others. The only other difference is that the Chanel logo isn't imprinted into the shaft of the lipstick... Oh well, it would be gone anyway. 

Anyway, there is not much to complain about. The colours in the Coco Rouge range are stunning. The texture feels really nice on your lips. It is really comparable to using vaseline on your lips, however, the only difference it lasts much much longer. I have worn this lipstick for up to 8 hours.

Excuse the peach-fuzz... but here it is! It looks very natural... and not the lipstick type. This is one of my favourites because I can wear it everyday! 

I would rate this a 4/5

The price is a bit pricey ( $32 and I think its £ 22 ) but you do not use that much product and it can last you quite sometime. Overall the product as a whole is fantastic... great pigment, long lasting, hydrating and cute packaging.  You really do get what you pay for.

MAC Eyeshadow - Omega (Eyebrow Powder)

If you haven't heard than you have to listen!
I have been looking for the perfect eyebrow pencil/ powder/ gel ... anything to make them look good. I'v gone through about 10 products until I found this one.

One of my best friends from home always had perfect brows... but she was a blonde. Just this year I decided to ask her what she used. And here it is:
                                                    
                                                     Mac Eyeshadow - Omega (matte).

I know... The colour is very light as if its a sandy taupe... but wait.  This colour camouflages with almost any skin tone. I range from a blonde to a brunette depending on the season and I have used this product all year round. Also, the shade depends on how much you layer on . 

Even on my fingertip it still looks light. Basically, all you have to do is take an angled brush and apply it to your eyebrow. It lasts all day and does not need touch ups.  Here are some before and after photos so you guys can see the difference.

Before:

After:

Tadah !!!!!! Crazy eh? Didn't think that colour was going to do that now did you? If you're still on the fence about this go into the mac store and try it out! 

The product cost $16.50 (I'm not sure what it is in £ sorry)

I would rate this a 5 /5 - even though it is a bit steep for an eyebrow product it lasts much longer than any pencil!

CreamPuff - Collection 2000

The  product CreamPuff by Collection 2000 has been out for a couple of months now. It seems as if this product is following me, anywhere I'd go it be advertised. I would open magazines and it would be right there... "highly recommended" or "celebs favourite". I'm not really into buying really cheap products because they tend to go to waste. However, this time I just bought it hoping to prove myself wrong. 

I gotta give it to Collection 2000, their packaging was pretty appealing. It resembled a Mac Plushglass with the matted top. The colour I purchased was Cotton Candy, and let me tell you that was probably the most attractive out of all four. There were two nudes and the other was, your mothers old coral coloured lipstick. Anyway, it claims to be a moisturizing lip cream that is velvety soft with a matte finish. 

Continuing on, the consistency is very "mousse-y". I would compare it to the Dream Matte Mouse Foundation by Maybelline. I was not a fan of the texture on my lips. 

To my surprise... The colour wasn't that bad. I think it actually looked nice on the lips. A little dramatic but soft and subtle. It did have a matte finish but it wasn't dry. But here comes the down fall... I sat with it on for about two minutes and the CreamPuff started to dry even more. 

Whoa... That looks completely different and my lips look about 10 years older. But on the bright side it made my teeth look pretty darn white. This wasn't really what I was expecting from this product and I can't really say I'm surprised. This look may appeal to some people but it really didn't do it for me. 


I got the CreamPuff at Boots for £2.99 which is pretty cheap.
Over all I would rate this product a 2.5/ 5
The colour was nice and the packaging was well made but that was about it!

Chanel - Discontinued

We often hear the phrase out with the old in with the new. However, in the case of Chanel Ombre D'eau eyeshadow I don't think it was necessary. 

To my surprise if you are not familiar Chanel has (or now had) an amazing liquid eyeshadow called "Ombre d'eau" that ranged from roughly 10 standard shades and maybe 4 limited edition. The lady at the Chanel counter told me that this eyeshadow was being replaced by "Illusion d'ombre" 

I haven't purchased this item, but only tried it in the store, and to be completely honest it had nothing on the Ombre D'eau. 

The colours are very universal and are CREASE-LESS ... Hurray! Also not to mention they last all day. I only use them on their own, but I'v read that many people can use them as eyeshadow primers. 

As you can tell I did individual swatches to show you how intense or how subtle they can be. I only own two, but now that they are limited I will definitely stock up on more. 

Because this is my first post and blog I don't expect much. All I'm trying to do is document certain things I like and love and be able to look back on it in time.