What's in YOUR handbag - Essential beauty item - PART ONE

"Your makeup should never precede you, but walk with you"

Estee Lauder

Sat on the train to London with a bit of time to kill I thought I would have a blog brainstorming session. I was on my way to a blog meetup and set myself a challenge of walking away with at least one blog post. After numerous bag checks on my journey (you know where you check your phone and purse is still in the same place you left it two mins ago) it got me thinking about the beauty items I carry around with me.

You often read "beauty favourites" kind of posts but what items actually make it to the coveted spot in a handbag? the ones worthy to be carried around. Seeing as I was going to an insta/blog meetup, I thought I would ask the bloggers I met what was the one beauty item they brought with them that day that they couldn't leave home without. Plus I wanted to have a nosey in handbags, win win.

It was surprising how many people said "I don't really carry anything" or "I am not that into makeup" etc - yet all had something that subliminally ended up with them that day. The go to items that we don't even really think about anymore but somehow they are always with us. These in my eyes are the true beauty must haves, the ones that actually work and we automatically go to.

So as you do, I asked bloggers to show me their beauty item and took a snap, they loved me for it. Some hid in the corner at the thought of an unannounced on the spot question and pic, they shouldn't have bothered because I sniffed them out. If I did miss you then there's always next time!!

I will kick this off with my own item. I have to admit when I was asked the same question I said a liquid lipstick, however I have actually changed my mind. Cheating slightly, but hey its my blog I am going to bend the rules! So my item? blotting paper, seeing as it would be pretty uncool to carry a flannel around with me to literally mop my brow, I carry these bad boys around to suck up the slick. nice.

So without further ado, lets get nosey-ing! *I apologise for any blurry photos, I had two glasses of wine and a cocktail, don't judge I don't get out much, plus it made an interesting journey home.

Nikki from oneoutonein.com 

I met Nikki through Instagram, we were already following each others daily outfit choices so it was great to meet her face to face. Plus I am slightly in love with her bobble jumper above, and if you fancy borrowing (stealing) this look then this knit is from Willow & Paige @ asos

If you like daily style inspo, you can find her Instagram feed HERE

Natural healing balm

"My beauty item is the natural healing balm, it's mainly for my lips as they get so dry, but I also use it on my cuticles. I tend to only wear lipstick or gloss for a night out but I like to have something on my lips, so this works for me"

Tell me about your blog Nikki - "My blog is fashion based, clothes I wear & those I'd love to wear, whilst trying to keep my wardrobe size in check" (link above)

Sarah from mumzilla.co.uk

This is the first time I had a read of Sarahs blog and I am glad I did because its hilarious - my fave post? zero fucks given link HERE a particular fave quote of mine "I hate high heels and never wear the bastards either" and that's in reference to school run fashion. I personally do not wear heels for the school run in fear of feeling like a bellend (confidence issue there?) but I do wear makeup and that is defo an occasion when we need a bit of armour right?

Lord& Berry lip pencil
"I usually have some sort of lipstick or pencil in my bag - a quick slick of colour is like armour! Even if I don't have anything else on it brightens up my face"

Tell me about your blog Sarah - "My blog is a bit eclectic, but mainly parenting humor! Because you have to laugh or you'd go mad right?!" too right Sarah, too bloody right! (link above)

Antonia - tinkertailor.online

I love Antonia's photography style on Instagram HERE, plus she gives great fashion inspo with her shopping related blog posts. I like her recent post - How to dress in style for Halloween Here - obviously I saw this post too late and am already "rocking" some gaudy Halloween nail art, cool personified. 

Rimmel Colour Rush Balm
"My beauty essential item is lipstick, I used to only wear gloss for years but I used to get bored with constantly having to reapply so ended up with bare lips. Now the thing is, I'm in my late thirties now and I feel that I really benefit from a pop of colour on the lips to lift my complexion. I don't go anywhere without it these days, I feel put together with a bit of lippy on, even if the rest of my face isn't done"

Tell me about your blog Antonia - "My blog Tinker Tailor Online is a lifestyle destination that celebrates fashion, beauty, interiors as well as health and well being. It's for women who love fashion but are not slaves to it, women who want to be confident and look good but not at the expense of feeling good. Tinker Tailor online believes in bringing luxury to the everyday and making style achievable"

Kristy - Instablogger - link here

Do you follow Kristy on Instagram? if you don't, and you love fashion, then you definitely should. I friggin love her style, she always manages to pull something new and inspiring out of the bag. She can pull anything off  (yeah shes one of them lucky lot) plus I want to steal her hair style. Link above

MUA Sweet Sheen lip balm
 "Its not just this particular lipstick, but all lipstick. It's my go to because it can completely change your look or brighten your face"

Tell me about your blog/insta feed - "My blog is about keeping hold of your style even though your a mother. It's also about having fun with fashion and doing it all on a bit of a budget"

Sophie - esmeloves.com

Sophie has her own jewellery store esmeloves.com where she sells beautiful pieces with stones sourced from Jaipur. I am eyeing up the Samsara earrings with moonstone gems (find then here) - the collection is inspired by Sophie's time spent in India 

Weleda Skin food 

"I love it because it is just so god damn useful. I use it on my lips, hands, cheeks, eyes..if I am out and my skin feels dry (which it does right now as it gets colder) then I pop some on my face and it gives a bit of a dewy glow. I also use it on the kids, they think its some sort of magic cream as I put it on cuts, bruises etc its all natural so I am happy to lather it on them. It is also reasonably priced!! I have loads of tubes, in the car, bedside table, bag...etc."

Tell me about your jewellery - "My jewellery is very much about women, who we are, our mothers, daughters, sisters, friends etc my brand is slowly building to celebrate the women we are"

Sareta - kikiblahblah.com

I love Sareta's fun and lighthearted blog & insta feed, her vids crack me up! its family life to a T, my fave? the one where she "forgot" to wear socks at soft play (here) unlucky hubby! I might try this one, thanks for the tip.

Bobbie Brown pressed powder
 "This is my fav item (on a makeup day). I get shiny areas such as my nose and forehead. This powder eliminates shine and can be used throughout thr day without "caking", I love it, a little goes a long way" 

Tell me about your blog Sareta - "kikiblahblah.com is a lighthearted site with a collection of fab bloggers, These include kids, mothers, cooks and a twenty something who can't wait to have all of the above"

Sunita - luckythings.co.uk

Last but not least is this beaut of a host Sunita. She organised a fab day which involved a confidence talk (I think we all need a nudge every now and then) wine, Weleda hand massages and goody bags! I'm looking forward to the next one already.

MDM Flow liquid lipstick
"I met Flo who is the founder of this amazing new makeup brand (MDM Flow) at Stylist Live. She used to be a scientist and then she decided to start her own makeup range. Flo adds extra pigment to her lipsticks. She literally makes lipsticks herself (its an incredible process to watch). I love wearing MDM Flow Liquid Matte in Power (bright pink) as it stayed on all day. From 11.30am when I left home to 6pm when I reached home in time for the girls' bedtime. Also it didn't dry out my lips all day when I was busy chatting and catching up with the lovely ladies"

Tell me about your blog Sunita - "my blog is all about exploring lucky things as we enjoy life and style with our little people. It's here to share ideas, inspiring stories, places and things we love

That's it for part one, I have more ladies to interrogate so stay tuned for part two!

Weleda skin food

"I wear a lot of make-up and, when i'm working, I like to use Skin Food by Weleda because I feel really replenished when I do. My skin feels back to life and not caked in foundation"

Adele 

Weleda is a brand that I was not too familiar with for beauty items, sure I have used it in the past on my babies but its never been something that I've looked into for myself. So when a few samples came into my possession it gave me the inclination to delve deeper and see what they really have to offer. 

The items above I received in a goody bag at the Lucky Things meet up, it was fab to actually meet people in the flesh but that's another post! My immediate thoughts were that I would enjoy trying the skin food cream and the one step cleaner. I am not one for hand creams (hello clammy hand club) although I probably should, I think I will hand this sample to someone who will love it more.

My legs have been a tad dry and itchy over the last few weeks, which I can only put down to the change in weather. So I have been applying the skin food sparingly over the past week and it definitely has helped the problem. The Skin Food cream is one of Weledas signature products and I can see why, this product was launched in 1926 and its still has a place on the shelves today. All natural ingredients include soothing viola pansy, calming chamomile and healing calendula. It also has beeswax and lanolin to soften the skin, I know some people do not like lanolin but I have to say i'm a fan and works a treat every time. Its stood the test of time, Weleda are celebrating 90 years of beauty with this product, pretty good going eh? it was used by the models at London fashion week and loved by the likes of Adele, if its good enough for the beaut its good enough for me. Yet Weleda have not forgotten their humble beginnings and still promote this to fisherman and supermodels alike - its a good all rounder which suits everyone.

Now my skin is oily so I personally would only use this sparingly on dry patches but this cream with its soothing yet uplifting scent can be used all over the body. Running low on this now so think I will have to pop some in my basket on my next beauty shop.

One step cleanser/toners always puzzle me (I am more of a micellar water then cleanse & tone exfoliate kinda gal) so a one stop shop product interests me but I am not sure I will ever fully jump on the bandwagon, maybe just hang on to the wheel for a bit. This one step cleanser has balancing iris root and purifying witch hazel to clean the skin and refine pores - which sounds perfect for my combination/oily skin - removing makeup and deep cleansing at the same time. My initial thoughts on this is that it is highly scented, its a treat to use but my face doesn't usually react well to heavily scented cleansers (natural or otherwise) and this time was no different. Don't get me wrong it does its job well by removing makeup and cleansing, but I think for my oily skin I need to stick to my separate cleansing/toning regime with lightly scented products. I think this is suited better for normal skin types which I believe is what Weleda are aiming for. 

I thought I would quickly show you the texture of this cleanser/toner - its like skimmed milk! I actually found this quite nice to use and very gentle on the skin too.

Although I had not used much Weleda in the past, I did already have the calendula face cream for babies. Again this is quite scented, not as much as some of the other items but it will be apparent for small noses so it depends on your babies tolerance for it. It is however incredibly gentle, settles well on the skin and suitable for sensitive baby skin. I do not use this daily, only when the babes have dry patches or an irritation that needs seeing too, generally my motto for baby skin is less is more - their skin is perfect so they do not need much! but at times when they do I found this cream helpful. Its 100% certified natural so no hidden nasties in there for peace of mind. Or in my case when a baby decides to squeeze and slather half the tube on themselves and anything else in reach that moves - no need to worry if its going to do anyone harm! 

Overall I have enjoyed using the Weleda products and its opened my eyes up to lots of others that I didn't realise they had. My next purchase? one of the bath milks shown below. During the meet up (organised by Sunita @luckythings blog) she had arranged for one of the Welda ladies to attend (and supplied us with the sample goodies above)  and showed some of their fab product ranges - one of which was the bath milk ranges so I got to have a good old sniff. Again they are quite scented but they are packed full of natural oils so a little goes a long way, a bath with a hit of lavender - the perfect way to unwind!

Have you tried any Weleda products? which is your favourite?

Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask

"We treat stressed skin using pure and potent ingredients from Iceland"

Skyn Iceland 

I love a good face mask, in fact I think it might be my favorite beauty item. There's something satisfying about giving your face a good old layer of  slime, scare the kids in the process, fun all round. I think I like the transformation element of it, y'know slapping it on looking tired and lacklustre then wiping it off to reveal a glowing beauty (hopefully)  just like the unveiling on Extreme Makeover - you never quite know what your going to find!

The masks that I usually sway towards are clay/mud based, deep cleansing and suitable for oily skin. I have also become a bit of a fan of retexturizing products as of late so when I came across the Skyn Iceland Fresh Start mask it ticked many a box.  I know Caroline Hirons is a fan of the cleanser in this range so I thought the brand was worth looking into, if its good enough for the Hirons is good enough for me.

The box contains six two-step applications, each in individual sachets. I quite like it when masks come in sachets like this, it gives an indication of how much product to use. I tend to be a tad over zealous when it comes to squeezing product out of a tube, I have the mentality that more is more. The more I put on the quicker it will work. If a tube says visible improvements in two weeks then why not speed up the process and put the whole tube on at once! you can keep you two weeks, I am going for gold here with results in one day! Obviously I soon learnt that this theory wasn't exactly the most accurate and decided it was best stick to guided sachet portions.

The first step is the mud, a blue mask that is kinda a cross between toothpaste and head and shoulders, minty but not too thick. The minty smell wasn't over powering, it did however have an underlying note of hair removal cream/pva glue, it wasn't too strong or anything just an observation.

So on it went, usually I would give the old turkey neck a good seeing too, I didn't on this occasion but there was enough product if i wanted to. I could feel it starting to tingle, it was letting me know of its presence so to speak. Once fully covered I went in with the second sachet, the activating gel, it advises to apply an equal amount to the mud mask over your face. I translated this to be one whole sachet of mud to one whole sachet of gel and that's exactly what I did.

Massaging both together on the skin felt a bit odd, quite thick with a foamy yet stringy texture. The stringyness didn't please me at all, a bit snot-esque. It actually had a bit of a numbing sensation, a bit like when you poke a dead leg, you know your poking it but you cant really feel it. I have to say I don't really think the second step added much, the mud already felt like it was working and didn't need activating with a layer of goo. I don't think the two mixed so well together either

It says to leave on for 5-10 mins, my theory is to leave it on for the max time plus half - so I left it on for 15 mins. This is my general theory when it comes to beauty products and also when cooking meat or potatoes.

Once the activating gel was on I was waiting for an overwhelming sensation of warmth, there wasn't one, definitely got warmer but I wouldn't really promote it as a warming mask.

I removed with a flannel, you have to really as water on its on wouldn't quite do the trick here. Afterwards my skin felt lovely and clean, this is my main objective when it comes to a mask - tick. It did leave my skin looking brighter, however by the next morning I was back to my lacklustre self. Don't get me wrong its a good deep cleansing mask, but I think my rhino skin needs something with a bit more oomph when it comes to retexturizing. I think If you wanted temporary brightening effects (of if your skin is more youthful than mine) then this would be great. But for me, I would just use this as a deep cleansing type mask.

Not a fan of the second step, tempted to just use the first sachet on the last few I have but that would be besides the point. Although I might try them separately and see what happens?

Even though I wasn't too keen on the second sachet, this has left me wanting to try other items in the Skyn Iceland range - what would your recommendations be?

*Mask & face point selfie optional 

Lush Cosmetics - Halloween 2016

"When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween"

Its that time of year when all of the fun lush goodies come out, starting with Octobers special occasion, Halloween. I wouldn't say I am a massive Halloween-er but as my babies start to get older I know that the interest is going to grow and the fun of dressing up is going to become a big event.

In my opinion, its the one day of the year (and the days leading up to it) that you can wear a full face of makeup without being judged. If people give you a funny look all you have to say is "Halloween" whilst pointing at your face as if your giving your costume a trial run, they walk on un-phased. Works every time, not in January though.
Alternatively, you can wear no make up, last year I managed to turn the scare factor right up by not only embracing the no makeup look but also letting the monobrow out to play. Combine that with laying off the fake tan for a few days (plus sporting a massive bump & hormonal spots) and I was well sorted. Not only was it a unique costume but I got loads of sweets for it too. I hadn't planned it that way, with only one week away from giving birth lets just say I was less than enthusiastic about my appearance. All of which lead up to my spooktastic visog.

This year however, I will not be vamping up in an attempt to scare the life out of children coming to the door oh no. As fun as it would be to see little jimmy from no3 recoil in horror, I will instead be locking myself in the bathroom with a bag full of lush treats. Not just for me of course, my very own little monsters will also be having a dip in the cauldron

After contacting Lush to confirm the ingredients are OK for baby skin, I made a purchase with my little stinkbugs in mind. Now my babes do not have sensitive skin when it comes to bath products and have been fine with all lush products I have used with them before. Just bear that in mind when using these with kids, make sure you fill the bath nice and full so the bathbomb is fairly diluted and even consider breaking into pieces for multiple uses.

So what out of the range did I pick for our Halloween treat?

Pumpkin Bath Bomb - £3.95 - Comforting - Contains cinnamon, vanilla

The jack o' lantern face on this bomb is obviously a crowd pleaser with it nailing the Halloween theme. I wouldn't describe this as being particularly pumpkin scented but it does have a comforting citrus/vanilla scent that turned the bath orange, the little monsters were happy with that.

Boo Bath Melt - £3.50 - Softening - Contains mimosa, ginger, cocoa butter, geranium

My first comment here is that it is small - I hadn't actually seen it in the flesh because I bought it online. For the amount you get its a bit pricey at £3.95. Nevertheless it was a treat to use with its softening effect making the skin silky smooth

Monsters Ball Bath Bomb - £4.25 -  Up lifitng - Contains lime oil, Neroli oil. cocoa butter

 The winner (for the babes) had to be the Monsters ball bath bomb, aka Mike Wazowski. It fizzed away and to their delight turned the water purple (aka monster goo) and made bathtime a shriek-athon (mainly me as child no2 has now also mastered the art of splashing) a lovely uplifting scent that also lingered in the bathroom for a good while after the splashdown.

I just have to add that the Halloween letters shown above are meant to be window stickers but we had lots of fun with these in the bath sticking them on the tiles. Then off the tiles. Then on, then off, then on again. I think you get the point. These were from Aldi - a few other designs available too.

Sparkly Pumpkin Bubble Bar - £3.95 - Uplifting - Contains Juniperberry oil, lime oil, grapefruit oil

And what about mum? after a day of mopping up like Cinderella, what better way to end the day but to have a soak with a bubbly pumpkin bar. Cinders had the wrong idea, instead of turning her pumpkin into a carriage she should've just asked for one of these and had a nice bath, going "out out" is overrated anyway #desperatetogooutout

I'm yet to use this, I am saving it for my child free, relaxing, quiet, me-time (will it still be OK to use in 18 years time?) I will also have to avoid the hubby as he hates glitter, you could almost call it a problem.

So that's what I chose out of the range, there are other items available, I may have to make another lil purchase! just to warn you though, if you want them in time for Halloween then you need to order soon - mine took a whole week to arrive when ordering online.

What are your faves out of the range?

*only three spiders were harmed in the making of this post

Tili Beauty Box - QVC - October 2016

If I were to say to I had bought something off of QVC what do you think it would be? A steam mop? Craft kits? or maybe even a one size fits all vegetable slicer? nope, none of the above, as much as I was tempted by the thought of courgette ribbons, I actually bought a box full of beauty goods. I'm not talking discontinued, dried up, sample sized type makeup, but decent brands that you actually want and lust after.

Introducing the Tili Beauty Box, I came across this little beaut on Instagram and shortly after eyeing it up I headed over to the QVC website and made a purchase. After my first experience with Look Incredible, I was a tad weary of subscribing to another beauty box, this one however is subscription free and you can order as and when you please.

Now I don't know about you but I have an issue with paying postage, it just niggles me a bit which is silly because I am paying for a service. I think its the likes of Amazon Prime that has raised my expectations a bit too high. The beauty box however comes with free postage which pleases me greatly and at £20 for the box (worth over £99) and free postage it was a no brainer.
The box itself is of good quality, the items are well packaged with plenty of stuffing and lovingly wrapped with tissue paper. Also the box is my two fave colours, grey and pink, yes I accept that makes me sound about 12 years old but I don't think I will ever grow out of the love of hot pink, even on a cardboard box.

So whats in the box that got me so excited? NIOD anyone? yep a bottle of the Hyaluronic serum had set up home in the box and was on its way to me. What else is there?

Tarte Tartiest Black Mascara - Full Size (£19.80 on QVC website)

 Laura Geller Spackle Tinted Under Make-up Primer (Bronze) Full Size £21.50 on QVC 

 Pixi Mini Endless Silky Eye Pen (Black) - smaller size 0.8g full size is 1.2g for £12.00 on cultbeauty.co.uk - QVC do a pack of two full size for £16.00

 Percy & Reed Volumising Hair Mousse - Fullsize -  £12.00 from QVC

 OPI Nail Varnish in Russian Navy - Full size - £9.50 from Beautybay.com

NIOD Molecular Hyaluronic Complex - 15ml sample size - full size is 30ml £35.00 from QVC

 Sample sizes of Caudalie Resveratrol Face Lifting Moisturiser 15ml (full size 40ml £36.00 from QVC) & Philospohy Amazing Grace Shower Gel 30ml  (full size 480ml £19.00 from boots) 

*the full size prices shown are the cheapest I found online

All of these bar one I would of actually purchased and used, the one i'm not fussed about is the Caudalie but that's only because I have found the perfect moisturiser for me but that's another post in itself.

This is only the second box from Tili, I believe the first included the likes of Alpha H, so it will be exciting to see what is in the next box (which I will be purchasing!) and not just because I like the box either. I was sent a £10 off voucher from QVC for making my first purchase with them so my next box will only be £10. Unless I purchase the veg chopper of course! who am I kidding, if I had to decide between makeup or the ability to make a thinly sliced potato gratin, sorry but lippy wins every time.

Out of curiosity I had a browse around the other beauty items available from QVC. Now i've known for a while that that's where you get your Tarte fix from, I've responded to this by closing my eyes firmly shut, fingers in ears whilst shouting LA LA LA trying not to be tempted. So far its worked and I haven't made a purchase. Just for the record I don't do this out in the high street when i'm trying not to buy something, nor would I recommend it as a deterrent method either. It might however deter others.

What else did I find on my QVC beauty search? Deleor, Elemis and Molton Brown are to name but a few, defo worth having a look at for gift ideas with the festive season looming.

Overall I am impressed not only with the quality of the box but also the service I received too, after I placed my order I received it within 36 hours and I think I would have received it sooner if I hadn't of placed it at night.

So whats the message here? I suggest you cancel your order for a julienne peeler, get your hands on the beauty box and just embrace the more ample sized vegetable pieces.

Victoria Beckham Estee Lauder Eyeshadow Palette Review & Swatches

"I want to make women feel empowered, to feel sexy and confident. This makeup collection does that. I'm a girl's girl, I love to make women feel like the best version of themselves"

Victoria Beckham

Sat at home on a dreary day I got a little ping on my phone, message from hubby. He travels A LOT with work and on the days he is absent from home our relationship becomes a texty affair, coupled with many a picture (not what you think, mainly pics of the kids and what each of us is having for dinner)
On this occasion it was a picture of an Estee Lauder bag, apparently he had made a purchase whilst in duty free. Not one to wait until he gets home, I demanded to receive a pic of the contents. Inside to my utter delight was the Victoria Beckham eye palette from Estee Lauder. You may think that this is a bit strange for a man to purchase such an item off his own back, my hubby however is not your average man, he likes fashion, loves to shop and takes note of the beauty updates I give him. This is a separate post altogether but I felt the need to give you a bit more insight, I will get back to VB.

First of all I have to say ever since the first airing of the spice girls on TOTP I have been a VB fan. I was always posh when my friends and I were the `Spice Girls' at school  and I wouldn't be anything but. In fact still to this day my friends refer to me as the posh one, that is until we have a night out, I get carried away and twerk on my own on the dance floor etc, I get down graded but always manage to work may way back up to the top spot of being the "poshest" one.

So lets just say this review could've started off with one biased step ahead, however I managed to put my love of VB aside and put my impartial consumer hat on.
First of all the packaging is delightful, solid, heavy, quality. The black ribbed leather (style?) case with gold metal hardware is very pleasing on the eye and in the hand with its slimline style. Maybe not to everyone's taste for a lux product but I think it looks sleek and also has lil sexy vibe.
The the clasp is easy to open yet firm, couple this with the large mirror inside makes a good piece to include in your handbag. Granted you don't need to carry eyeshadow around with you but this palette with its size and detailing, is ideal to pull out for quick check ups on the go. I have to admit, it is a tad *whispers* - Tom Ford, but I can forgive that

Inside are six shades. all of which are fine shimmer shades and I mean fine, no chunks of glitter here.  There's a blue - Fired Sapphire, gold - Blonde Cumin, brown - Metal Saffron, green - Burnished Sage, grey - Grey Amber and coppery brown - Black Nutmeg.

My immediate thoughts were that I would not wear Grey Amber - I had ruled it out from the get go as to me it looked far to dark compared to my usual muted tones.
I was however intrigued by the blue Fired Sapphire and green Burnished Sage, again they are colours I would not normally opt for but I was interested to give them a go, particularly the green for A/W
The other three, Blonde Cumin, Metal Saffron and Black Nutmeg were immediately my BFFs

So I gave them all a swatch on the back of my hand to see if my immediate thoughts were correct. You can use these both dry and wet so I swatched them both ways.

First impressions as I dabbed into the shadow was how soft they were but not powdery/chalky, a light swatch is all you need here as they are highly pigmented (I typed PUGmented, it gave me visuals, I thought I would share) Then I went in with a lightly wet brush to turn it up a notch, it glides on beautifully and really gives the pigments a chance to perform. Using them dry is pigmented enough but once you add water it really does add another dimension to the vibrancy and generally was pleasant to use with a dot of h20.

Now back to my immediate thoughts, I had already ruled out the grey right? how wrong was I, I swatched it on my hand expecting to have my suspicions confirmed and to move on. It is however a delightful grey with some sort of secret iridescence about it, perfect for a smoky eye. I have to say I was actually quite surprised how much I liked this colour, note to self, never judge an eyeshadow by its palette appearance.
The blue and green will be fun to use, I never use bright colour on my eyes even when i'm channelling my inner spice girl. However the colours will be great for the festive season and I am looking forward to experimenting with these, I feel frequent lines of blue and green coming on.
The other three shades I know I will get a lot of use out of, the gold and brown shades are my go to colours and I was looking to add a coppery brown to my collection, result!

It has long lasting wearability with no creasing (one of my pet hates) so no need to touch up at all throughout the day. As I have dark eyes, the combination of the gold/brown with a hit of colour from the green/blue works really well.

This palette costs £68 - hubby bought this in duty free so actually got a bit of a discount. Yes its pricey and definitely a splurge item, but if your feeling spendy it is worth it, put it this way you wont be disappointed. Its not ground breaking but its enjoyable lux that you won't regret forking out for. In fact you will be rather thrilled to have this beaut in your collection.

This leaves me wanting to try other items in the range, particularly the Morning Aura primer (best seller) and the nude lippy Brazilian Nude (Vics fave) and not just because I am a VB fan but because the Estee quality shines thorough with the palette leaving me wanting more.

Overall I am very happy with this (if you hadn't worked that out already) VB did a good job, but lets face it, would she put her name to anything but the best? and as for feeling the best version of myself? yeah the eyeshadow helps, however I feel the need to be empowered more, I just need to buy the nude lipstick, red lipstick, eyepencil, primer...........