Loves And Hates Of August

Wowee I can't believe I've been blogging for over 3 months! Anyways, on to my loves and hates

Loves

Models Own Nail Polish in Purple Grey - £5

I bought this in the Models Own Sale they had last week, and I love it. I love the colour (it's apparently a dupe for Paradoxal, not quite but not far off) Quite a bit of tip wear, that's after one day, but they did endure a long day at work. I wouldn't pay the full £5 as the fact they can sell them for £2.50 in the sale shows that they're not worth that much

Rimmel Pro Matte Top Coat - £4.49

I bought this with my advantage points so it was essentially free. AMAZING product, goes on shiny and dries super fast to a beautiful matte finish. And so smooth to touch!

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mousse - £2.49

So totally deserving of the hype, this product is so so good. It's a greeny browny mousse that looks like chocolate and gives an instant brown tinge. After an application (well, my idea of an application is do it, let it dry, do it again, sleep and hope for the best in the morning) this is what it looks like compared to my natural skin colour (my legs the pale one), NO ORANGE IN SIGHT!

L'oreal and Prestige Lip Pencils - between £3 - £4

I love love love these. Nude lip pencils are so much easier to come by than a good nude lipstick, as there are much more pinker tones which suit me more. Also I have a slight loss of pigmentation around my lips so these are great to fill that in

Hates

Garnier Pure A Intensive Night Gel - £4.49

Ah! I thought I would persist with this, but it has made NO difference whatsoever despite all the rave reviews on Ciao. I bet Garnier uploaded them. . 

St Moriz Instant Self Tanning Mist - £2.49

I couldn't get on with this. I had to use it in the shower and I felt like Ross in Friends with the spray going everywhere (love that episode!) And it didn't rub in. In fact I was so scared of it drying streaky I washed it off. The mousse is a billion times better.

Benefit The Porefessional - £23.50

 I won't go on too much about this, as I've already done a post. All I'll say is that's £23.50 I'll never see again

Let me know if you've got any loves or hates, and if you love or hate anything I do!

Love Sophie xx

Review: Benefit's The Porefessional

Hey lovely ladies!

Oh man I wanted this to work so bad, but it wasn't to be. This is what the Porefessional claims;

Quickly minimize the appearance of pores! Apply this silky, lightweight balm for translucent pore coverage and smoother-than-smooth skin. Pores now you see 'em, now you don't! Complements all skin tones

I don't know, maybe my pores aren't that big in the first place but I noticed NO difference. I do quite like the feel of it (that'll be the silicones!) and it smells okay. It actually smells just like E.L.F's Sugar Orange scent they use in EVERYTHING. It doesn't make a difference when applying foundation either. Hmm. 

The Porefessional - £23.50

And I'm a bit sceptical about the 'complements all skin tones' bit. As it's slightly peachy tinted I think if a darker skinned lady were to use it it would turn their skin a bit ashy. I'll test it at some point on a friend! You do only need a blob though

 

It feels like I've spent £23.50 on an extra step in the morning that isn't really necessary. I'm going to keep on using it to see if I can learn to love it, but it's not really something I'd recommend, especially considering there's cheaper things out there that do the same job. While I'm here have a FOTD, you can see that the Porefessional is nothing special, it's the MAC Face and Body that gives me a smooth glow

 What products do you have that don't live up to their claims?

Love Sophie x 

Spare No7 Vouchers + Hot Cloth Cleanser

Hello lovely ladies!

First of all, look what I found by the Boots Self Checkout. . 

If anyone wants one, I'm giving two away to the first people that email their name and address to sophiephiephie@live.co.uk

But what did I buy with mine? Well my local Boots didn't have ANYTHING everyone raves about so I bought this,

No7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser - £8.75 or £3.75 with voucher

 It smells lovely, a bit like babies I think. It has a really nice consistency, it feels like you're washing your face with a moisturiser. If you use it with the muslin cloth following the instructions it really is one of the most refreshing experiences you can have in your bathroom! It leaves you glowing and so clean. My one problem was the fact it doesn't really remove eye make up, (well mine anyway), so I've got to scrub that off first :(

However, if you look in my picture, there's no sign of a muslin cloth. Yep, that's because my dad threw it away. You should've seen me, I hit the roof when he blamed it on ME as it looked like a 'used tissue' that I had left out so he threw it away. Grrrr.

So would I buy it again? For £3.75, yes, £8.75? No chance! It's a big enough bottle so I reckon it'll last until March when the next lot of vouchers come out. However I think the cloth that comes with it really completes it, the feeling of it when it's hot on your face is lovely. Yet as I am sans cloth, all I've got is a cleanser. Great.

What have you got with your vouchers? And do people ever throw your stuff away?!!

Love Sophie xx

I Need Your Help (AGAIN!)

Hello lovely ladies

As I'm sure you're aware, I have a fairly English Rose complexion. This is why I cannot get a high street foundation to work for me without me going 'ooh, a bit yellow' (in the words of a House Of Fraser MUA). It's also the reason why I can't really pull off nude lippie

So I came up with my own 'nude' lip, and I really want to know what you think of it on me. Do I look a bit weird? Do you think it suits me?

I personally quite like it, but I was wondering if I looked like a 90s throwback. You know, just watch ANY American film from that era and you'll see what I mean. . 

Oh and if you were wondering, I used

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick in Golden Grape
Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in Heartbeat
L'oreal lip liner

Oh and this really made me giggle

Let me know what you think of my alternative nude!

Thank you, Sophie xx

Forget Neutral, I'm getting Naked!

Okay, picture the scene. It's 10.08am, the doorbell rings. I'm half asleep. The doorbell rings again. I run around half naked, find a dressing gown and go downstairs, there's a car parked outside my house. A woman waves and says I've left it by the recycling bin. This woman looks identical to my french teacher. Being in my still half asleep state I think, what has my french teacher left for me? Oh crap, I haven't done the holiday homework. Maybe she's left a letter for my parents by the recycling bin. Wait, it's not a letter, it's a BOX. That says House of Fraser on it.

OMG IT'S THE NAKED PALETTE!

It's love at first sight. It's a beautiful brown velvet palette, in a purple velvet case. If Cadburys did make up . .

LOOK AT THE COLOURS!!

(Clicky click to zoom)

Obviously I had to get down to giving myself a Naked makeover. It says you can go for office-appropriate, deep and smoky or summertime bronzed looks. Um, miracle in a palette! 

Excuse the funny looking photo. Ooh btw I'm wearing Gosh Darling here, this could be the first time I might've made it work for me. .?

And let me just say now, the pencils, as I was using them I was thinking wowzas do these glide or what. Then I realised they're called glide-on or something. I am so buying more of these!

The next photo was taken 6 hours later. UDPP you are a godsend!

I've labelled the picture up there with what colours I've used where

Okay, you know what I'm like, I've got to justify EVERYTHING I buy ;) so let's talk money

The palette cost me £27 (£3 delivery but that doesn't count, it'd cost double that to get the train into London to buy it)

For £27 you get

• Eyeshadows: 12 x 1.3g 
• Eye Pencils: 2 x 0.5g 
• Eyeshadow Primer Potion: 3.7ml
  
  
  House of Fraser sell single eyeshadows for £12.50. 12 x £12.50 = £150 plus Eye Pencils and a Mini Primer Potion thrown in!

The eyeshadows are 0.2g off full size, so for arguments sake I'm used the price of full size for this comparison

Um bargain! I can't seem to find it on the website at the moment but I got it from the House Of Fraser website

Let me know if you want swatches, I thought this post was long enough already, and if there's anything else you want to know, feel free to ask!

Love Sophie xx

About Me Tag

I don't really do tags but I thought I'd do one so you could have a little insight into my life as interesting and amazing as it is. . 

1. What is your favourite fashion magazine?
Glamour Glamour Glamour!

2. Who is your favourite singer/band?

Hmm that's a hard one. I have more of The Smiths on my Ipod than anything else?

3. Who is your favourite youtube guru?

Hmm, it's between Pixiwoo and Lollipop26 obvs.

4. What is your favourite makeup product?

MAC Face and Body. Oh and my new Naked Palette (see my next post). Oh and mascara.

5. Where would you like to live?
I love London I wouldn't go anywhere else. Well maybe New York.

6. What is your favourite film?

Hmmm. Priceless.

7. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Too many. And most of them aren't even nice.

8. What's your favourite colour?
Blueee!

And I meant what I said ladies, my Naked Palette review is coming soooon :)

Love Sophie xx 

 That's me that is. . 

Oh Hot Looks, You Can Be Beautiful!

Hello gorgeous ladies!

Now we all know, Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Varnishes can be really downright rubbish at times. Streaky, bubbly and that's just Button Moon!

However whilst perusing my collection with a dark colour in mind (after all the sun isn't coming out any time soon so neither are my summer colours!) I came across this little unopened beauty

Collection 2000 Hot Looks Nail Polish in Parma Violet - £1.79

This is Hot Looks at it's best. Opaque in one coat, a beautiful bluey purpley colour and a shine that is well, as they say exceptional!

Hmm, I probably should've cleaned up before taking a photo. .

Have you tried Hot Looks? Good experiences or bad? Let me know!

Sophie x

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick

Hello lovely ladies!

A while back I had an impulse buy and decided to get an Infallible lipstick, they're not the cheapest at £10.99 so I was expecting it to be mindblowingly amazing. Okay okay, it's not mindblowingly so, but it is pretty good

L'oreal Infallible Lipstick - £10.99

Sorry for the stock photo, mine decided to go walkabout just before I took a picture!

I'm usually not a fan of long-lasting lipsticks, they never truly last the time that they promise they will, and they always flake and stain your lipline. Not a good look. But it's not the case with this one. After something to eat and drink, and after a few hours admittedly it doesn't look freshly applied, but it does look totally wearable. 

Here it is freshly applied, it's a lovely natural shade, in Blush Obsession I think, and it tastes like parma violets!

And here it is 6 hours later. . 

Sorry it was night time and I didn't want to wake everyone up with my camera flash! But as you can see there aren't any lines and it is one solid colour

I really do like this lipstick, it really is long lasting and it comes in such a wide variety of colours

All I ask L'oreal, is that can the UK have the Beyonce shade too?

Are you a long lasting lipstick fan? Have you tried this?

Love Sophie xx 

New Topshop AW10 Make Up

Hey lovely ladies!

And welcome to my new followers ;) I was in Topshop Oxford Circus today and I just happened to spot this postcard by the till

I quite like the look of the Powder Blush, I don't know if it's the photo but it does look quite messy! I like the idea though with the sponge in the lid. .

What do they mention?

• Cream Eyeshadows
• Coloured Mascaras in Plum, Green and Electric Blue
• a 'must-have' Eyeliner Ink Well
• more Khol shades
• New Blushers
• More Nail Colours (in Camel, Utilitarian Green, Peach and Air Force Blue)

I think I will have to check this out, as some of it looks quite good. A bit sceptical about the eyeliner 'ink well'. Ink Well? Seriously? Something tells me it'll just be a pot of gel eyeliner. .

And Camel, Utilitarian Green and Peach? Hmm, now what does that remind me of. . .?

Will you be picking something up? Or are you not a Topshop make up fan? Let me know!

Love Sophie

PS Don't forget to enter my giveaway

CLOSED//50 Followers Mini Giveaway!

Hello everyone!

I'm so so happy to be saying this, I've reached 50 followers! In order to say thank you, I'm having my own giveaway

So I was thinking for ages and ages, what could I give away? And then it struck me, where can you get reasonably priced beauty products AND free delivery? (hardcore followers will understand my hatred of P&P) Yep, it's ASOS, my favourite ever online store and I'm giving one lucky follower a £10 gift voucher

All I want you to do is;

• Be a follower
• Tell me one thing you'd love from ASOS, whether it be a beauty product, or the most luxurious dress you've ever seen
• You can get an extra entry if you mention my giveaway on your blog in a blogpost or you can leave a link in your sidebar :) just don't forget to let me know
• NO ENTER ME'S! These will get marked as spam by Blogger and won't be counted

To get you started for inspiration, what would I go for? The new Bourjois Rose Exclusif Lipgloss or put it towards the OPI Limited Edition Swiss Collection

Winners will be announced on Friday 27th August

Love Sophie xx

Let's Get Neutral ;)

Hello lovely ladies

I got my AS results today, don't you hate that tummy churning feeling when you're about to get results?! Ahh.

Anyways on a lighter note, I've completed a MAC Palette, I've been buying myself an eyeshadow everytime I need cheering up and here's what I've come up with

Top Row: Wedge, Brule

Bottom Row: Mulch, Naked Lunch

I would've done a 15 palette but I'm always taking make up away with me up to Yorkshire and it's more practical this way. I'm in love with the colours, Brule makes a lovely all over eye colour, and Mulch has been on my wishlist for a very long time (thank you Sinead!) 

Now I know they're all neutral, but I love my neutrals, especially MAC's as you can go neutral without sparkly bits, are there any truly matte eyeshadows on the high street?

If you could pick 4 MAC colours what would they be? Let me know! 

Sophie xxx

PS If you were wondering, I got AAB in my AS!

The Hills Debate

Hey lovely ladies

Okay Facebook friends aren't giving me answers, so I was wondering if you could enlighten me on your thoughts on The Hills. That last episode really stumped me! I won't ruin it for you if you haven't watched it yet, but if you have this picture sums up what I'm talking about!

What do you think? You reckon that it's completely fake? Some bits are and some bits aren't?

Let me know what you think!

Love Sophie xx

PS My blog will go back to beauty tomorrow!

My Most Used Brushes

Morning lovely ladies!

I was thinking yesterday, I really do only use a few of my brushes. I decided to leave out my MAC ones, as great as they are I think it's nice to show a few alternatives which are just as good if not better. These are the brushes I can't live without, followed with a little about each one

ELF Professional Eyeshadow Brush - £1.50

 It's a bit scratchy and not good at defining but it's perfect at giving a wash of colour and that's why I love it! It's also lasted me a very long time and it's really cheap

  Boots No.7 Eyeshadow Blend & Contour Brush - £6.50

Can you believe I bought this, then received the £5 off voucher? That must be a first! Absolutely amazing brush, good dupe for a MAC 217. Really good at getting into the crease, not so good at providing a wash of colour, but hey that's what my ELF is for ;)

H&M Angled Contouring Brush - around £2

This brush has lasted me a good year or so, and I think some H&M branches still sell it in the make up area. Amazing brush, really good for contouring but I also love it for blusher. Gives my face definition and I love love love it. I don't know how people can live without one of these types of brushes

Topshop Eyeliner Brush - £3

 When I saw this brush I thought to myself I am not going to buy this if it costs more than £6. So to see it for only £3 I was ecstatic. Such a good brush, it's sturdy, the bristles don't bend at all and it can be used for thin lines, thick lines, wings and for creating the thinnest line in the inner corner of your eye. I will ensure that I have this brush with me for the rest of my life!

What are your staple brushes?

Love Sophie xx

Review: Viva La Nails

Hey lovely ladies!

In the post this morning was a parcel just for me full of lovely goodies sent to me from Viva La Nails and wowee they were very generous. This is everything they sent me;

 I would have to recommend the Water Decals, which are in the bottom two rows, as they're such an amazing idea but I would watch their video on the website first which shows you how to use them. I spent ages thinking they were stickers! I'm really impressed with the gems as well, not so sure about the red feather so I'll have to have a think as to how I can use it. Any ideas?

And of course barely 5 minutes had passed before I decided I had to try out some of the nail art for myself, it looks like it took forever but with the Water Decals it took a matter of minutes. I used Nails Inc London as a base coat and sealed them with a 17 topcoat

Mum reckons I put them on upside down but I think they look beautiful, such intricate detailing.

I can only recommend this company, really speedy delivery, excellent prices (their Konad kits are really reasonable) and they have some really interesting unique pieces. Not to mention their step by step guides and video tutorials.

 Have a look here and tell me what you're lusting after!
Love Sophie xx

Disclaimer: These products were sent to me to review and I have given my honest opinions

Sophie's Guide to MAC Face And Body

Hey everyone

This foundation is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Ever since I saw it on Laura's blog/youtube (thank you!!!) I've wanted it and in all honestly it deserves all the hype it gets. Quick warning, this is quite a long post and quite picture heavy ;) Here are a few reasons why I love it so much;

• You get loads of product. I mean loads. Take a look at my previous post to see what I mean
• It doesn't feel wrong to use it on your neck and chest. I can't do that with other foundations!
• It's soft and because it is so water based it doesn't feel caked
• It's one of those foundations that you don't need to use a brush with if you don't want to. The MAC MUA told me this, but the heat from your hands warms it up and makes it so easy to apply. More on application later
• The amazing range of colours, both pink-based and yellow-based

Coverage

I'll get on to the application I used to get this look in a bit but this is the coverage in natural lighting. It's not tinted moisturiser coverage but it's not full. It's natural, in a kind of my skin but better kind of way. A couple of pictures for you so you can see how lovely it is  because once I start I can't stop. Uh, can I say amazing once more? Ooh I just did. You may click to enlarge if you so wish ;)

Application

I use a small blob of this first all over my face to provide an even layer of coverage

I then use another blob poured on to my MAC 188 brush and buff it in circular motions around my face which gives you that airbrushed yet natural finish. Good dupes for this brush are the ELF Powder Brush or the GOSH Lightweight Duo Fibre Brush

Staying Power and Removal

Once set with a powder (I use MAC MSF Natural) this stuff does not budge. It gives you that matte yet dewy glow (how is this possible?) all day long. To show you how long it lasts have a look at my face wipe from yesterday, it was applied at 10.30am and taken off at 1am! I've never had a foundation last that long, once this stuff sets, it sets.

Would I Recommend It?

Absolutely. I'm not going to lie I prefer a fuller coverage foundation, or so I thought. This one really makes me feel comfortable in my own skin. And at £23 for 100ml it's an investment, yet a bargain at the same time. 

If you buy one thing from MAC, buy this

Hope this was useful, love Sophie xx

Sophie's Quest For Perfect Nails

Okay okay, my nails have not been shown that much love in recent weeks.Always changing my nail varnish, lets not mention the half an hour soaking in acetone to get my fakes off. 

So I'm on a quest for lovely, strong, healthy nails, and to help me do that I've enlisted the help of Boots Ultra Strength Nail Hardener (I spent the whole of yesterday going round the house saying that in the deepest Arnie Schwarzenegger voice much to the annoyance of my parents!)

Boots Expert Ultra Strength Nail Hardener - £3

It was the cheapest there and I'm quite a fan of the expert range. The bottle is very similar to that of a Nails Inc one, yet at less than a third of the price I'm smiling! It goes on clear so it immediately makes your nails look healthier. You're supposed to use it twice a week on clean, dry nails. I'm not sure if you've got to take off the first coat when you do it the second time? But we'll see.

So here are my nails before:

Generally quite weak, splitting, bit of discolouration, short because I had to cut off the stained disgusting tips. Not nice. You should see the nails on my other hand.

I'll be doing updates every now and again to let you know how they're doing.

Love Sophie xx

Heated Curlers, My Ultimate Love

Hey lovely ladies 

If I could offer any hair advice it would be to invest in a set of heated rollers. I love mine, they make beautiful, natural curls and they give you that I just got a blow dry look without spending loads.

Mine are the Babyliss ones that are only £30, and in this month's Glamour you'll see that James Brown uses them on Kate Moss. I bought mine first ;)

Ah they're beautiful. They heat up in about 5 minutes and they get hot, but not burn your hands hot. I always feel like it doesn't have enough rollers but it really does. I often have ones left over and I have a lot of hair!

Here's what I look like when I've done mine

Excuse the photo, bad lighting was frustrating me. I always ruffle up my curls with my fingers but they look just as nice as they are.

I usually put three big ones on top of my head, two big at either side and fill up the gaps with the smaller ones.

Have you ever used heated rollers? Or do you prefer curling tongs?

Love Sophie

xx

Sophie's guide to MAC Face and Body coming soon! I finally bought it. .  .