The Natasha Denona Holiday Collection 2017

If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you will know that I am a huge fan of Natasha Denona products (brand focus post here), particularly her glow collection but more especially, her eyeshadows. The pigmentation, texture, blendability and wear time of her shadows is second to none - they practically blend themselves. I had planned on buying one of the limited edition 5 pan palettes from her new Holiday Collection but to my total surprise and utter appreciation, I was kindly gifted the entire Holiday 2017 collection! I have been playing with the products for the last few weeks and am ready to share my thoughts with you today! Grab a snack because it's gonna be a long one!

My current most used face masks featuring Omorovicza, Image Skincare, Christian Breton & more!

Following on from Thursday's Autumn skincare post, today I am sharing the face masks that are currently on rotation. For full disclaimer purposes, all of these masks were sent to me over recent months but regular readers will know that I am always honest regardless of whether I buy a product myself or it is sent to me but I just wanted to put it out there at the beginning of the post! For reference, my skin is very dry and quite reactive/sensitive at times

Current loves #3 featuring Charlotte Tilbury, Hourglass, Natasha Denona & more!

I no longer do monthly favourites posts but when I find that there are products that I am using pretty consistently, I want to share them with you, which is what I am doing today! These are the products that are my go-to, and they are all also easy and quick to use so on days where I am unsure what to do with my makeup, I use these products!

Benefit Christmas Gift Sets in Debenhams for the beauty lovers in your life!

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas in my book and particularly so if you are shopping for beauty fanatics as most of the holiday sets are released in October and sell out quickly because they are great value. My first port of call for makeup shopping is Debenhams because they stock a huge variety of brands and also, I can earn points on my Beauty Club Card, which I can later spend on more gifts or (more likely) on myself! They also offer next day delivery or click and collect, both of which are very convenient. One of the brands that does Christmas Sets really well is Benefit and I want to share my thoughts on two of their holiday sets with you today.

Alessandra Steinherr made me buy it!

Although I dislike the term 'influencer' there is no doubt that I have been enabled to buy A LOT of beauty products as a result of recommendations from people in the beauty world - I'm not talking about just big beauty bloggers but also micro bloggers, whose opinions I have come to trust. I thought this would be a good idea for a series of posts and today I am starting it with Alessandra Steinherr, who is the Beauty Director at Glamour  & who has the skin of dreams! I wish I could buy everything that she recommends but I'd need to win the lotto to do that! Today I am sharing six products that I love and bought because Alessandra recommended them and some of them are pretty affordable!

REVIEW: Too Faced Boss Lady Beauty Agenda

I told myself that I wouldn't buy too many Christmas Makeup Gift Sets this year, but I couldn't resist the Too Faced Boss Lady Beauty Agenda and I really don't know why -  I don't particularly like the term Boss Lady (or Girl Boss, for that matter) and I don't need a diary because I use a bullet journal! I do, however, really love the formula of Too Faced eyeshadows (brand focus here) and I really liked the look of the shade selection so I threw caution to the wind and placed my order. I have to say that I have very mixed feelings on this set - read on to hear why!

Not Into Aging: Nia skincare review

Nia skincare is a brand that I have seen American bloggers and youtubers using as it is sold in Ulta in the U.S. but it has recently come over to the U.K. and I was given the opportunity to try some of their products. Nia stands for Not Into Aging and it was developed to counteract the daily stressors of modern life, such as environmental damage, damage caused from looking down at our phones and late nights. All of the products are centred around a patented ingredient - NIA-114 ™ - a molecule that enhances the performance of other ingredients and strengthens the skin's moisture barrier. I have been using the three products for a number of weeks and really like two of them so read on for my thoughts....

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY! Hourglass Ambient Lighting Edit Volume 3

We all know that I am a huge Hourglass fan (brand focus post here), so when I saw that they were releasing a third edition of their Ambient Lighting Edit, it took me all of two seconds to decide I needed it in my life! I mean it's rose gold and it's Hourglass so of course I had to buy it! I know that so many people would also love to own the palette so I also bought a second one to do a giveaway because I haven't done one in months and I thought this would be the perfect prize! Details on how you can enter are at the end of this post so keep reading....

Support The Mariposa Trust with Temple Spa

I absolutely love when brands give back and today I want to tell you about the amazing partnership between Temple Spa and The Mariposa Trust this month and how you can support the charity by purchasing some Temple Spa products and also the special offers that are available. The Mariposa Trust is an international charity that supports people who have lost a child, whether that was during pregnancy, through childbirth or during infancy regardless of when the loss occurred. The aim of the partnership is to raise as much money as possible to enable the Trust to have a 24 hour helpline so that there will always be somebody kind and knowledgeable to talk to regardless of the time of day or night. This is something that has probably touched most of us - personally or through friends and family, so I'm sure you'll agree that this partnership is very worthwhile. You can read more about the Saying Goodbye division of the charity here.

24K Gold Cleansing with Bio Essence

Bio Essence is an Asian brand that I have only come to know in recent months after seeing it appear on some of my favourite blogs so when they contacted me to see if I wanted to try two cleansers from their 24K Bio-Gold range, I jumped at the chance. The products in this range are infused with 24K gold, which is an anti-oxidant that blocks free radicals and because the products are infused with Bio-Energy Fluid, the 24K Bio-Gold can be absorbed quickly and deeply into the skin. This results in improved blood and oxygen circulation and increased collagen production, which means plumper and more youthful skin. Sounds promising? Read on to hear my thoughts....

REVIEW: Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts Eyeshadow Palette

My third palette review in a week? What can I say - I'm a palette addict! I also thought they might be useful if anybody is in the market for a new eyeshadow palette, given that the festive party season isn't too far away (where the hell has this year gone?!). Today I am talking about Coloured Raine Queen Of Hearts palette, which at first glance looks very similar to Huda Beauty Desert Dusk palette, but does it perform as well as the Huda palette? Read on....

How the FENTY BEAUTY Pro Filt'r foundation performs on dry skin

Last month, Fenty Beauty launched with a bang and whilst some of the products didn't particularly interest me, I decided that if I was only going to try one product from the range it had to be the Pro Filt'r Soft Matte foundation. Although I generally prefer glowy base products, I thought that a soft matte might work for me, even if I had to add an Illuminating Face Mist to add some luminosity. I have seen lots of positive reviews of this foundation but today I wanted to tell you how it performed on my dry skin.

HEALTH: What having a Chronic illness has taught me

Image taken from Pinterest.

I don't often post anything particularly personal on the blog but I want to introduce some posts about my journey with Lyme Disease, Bartonella, Babesia & other viral infections, because it is a huge part of my life and an illness that people need to be aware of and know more about because it is hugely debilitating and life changing if not recognised and treated quickly. I have had it for 17 years so I have a lot to say but I don't want this to become a Lyme blog so I think I will keep the posts to once weekly. I believe that there are always positives in every situation and this attitude has kept me sane over the last 17 years. Here are some of the lessons I have learned along the way.

My favourite Grow Gorgeous hair products

Grow Gorgeous is a brand that I first tried around 3 years ago when I struggling with hair thinning and growth due to being on large amounts of medication for almost 2 years. It is a science backed brand aimed at encouraging growth, density and better conditioned hair. Their original Hair Growth Serum was the first product I bought and it impressed me so much that I went on to repurchase it a few times. Since then, they have expanded their range and I have been lucky enough to try several more products from the brand and I want to tell you about my favourites from the brand today.

Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette - worth the price?

I probably didn't need it but I caved and bought the Huda Beauty Desert Dusk Palette as soon as it was released! I didn't buy her previous palette release because I felt that it was too similar to Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Renaissance palette to justify owning both and there were a lot of mixed reviews. Also, at £56 these are not inexpensive palettes but I threw caution to the wind and just placed my order, hoping for the best! I've had it for around 2 weeks now and have had a good play with the shadows so am ready to share my thoughts. As with my Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Palette review, I apologise for the lack of swatches - I still only have full power in one of my arms, which makes taking swatch photos difficult, however I will link to my friend Dorota's post where you can see swatches. Also, if you struggle to get even swatches, take a look at my friend Alli's site here which will make all of your swatch dreams come true. (How many times can I say swatch? Too many is the answer!)

Charlotte Tilbury Instant Eye Palette - do you need it?

If you have read my blog for any amount of time, you will know that I am a huge fan of Charlotte Tilbury - the lady herself and her products. (See Brand Focus post here.) I love the whole aesthetic of the brand and the quality of the products - I know the price point is high but this is a luxury brand and the prices are on a par with YSL, Dior etc yet still a lot less expensive than Tom Ford. I bought some products from her recent Hollywood range (review here) but the product I was most excited about was her Instant Eye Palette, which is due to be released this Thursday, but my husband kindly treated me to it when it was in a 24 hour presale last month. I have mixed thoughts on it and want to share them with you today.

Empties & speedy reviews #38 featuring Grow Gorgeous, Omorovicza, Oskia and more!

It's empties time again and like the previous few months, I have a lot of skincare favourites here. I've been making a concerted effort to use products that are already open before moving on to something new and it has paid off over the last few months. Like my previous post, I am going to divide this into categories of already repurchased, will repurchase at some point and probably wont bother repurchasing so let's get started!