GlamGlow #Multimasking Set | Review

So I bought these a couple months ago (before I made the decision to only buy cruelty free products) after finding out they had this little set in Boots, I'd wanted to try the masks for ages but didnt want to pay so much for them if they turned out to be rubbish. 
So the set comes with six different mini sized masks: Supermud; Youthmud; Thirstymud; Flashmud; and Powermud. I've yet to try Youthmud or Flashmud but after trying the other three I'm not sure I want to... 

Minnie Mouse Face Mask

Whilst in Topshop the other day I noticed something by the till which caught my eye - it was a lil Minnie face mask! Its by a brand called Mad Beauty, and this mask had Rose water in it which is calming to the skin. 

The little image of the mask on the back is a little creepy, so was praying that it didn't look as creepy as I thought. 

It definitely looks a bit weird, no gonna lie... It's quite wet on the face too, you can really smell the rose water too, its fairly pleasant. As its so wet, it does move down the face a fair bit whilst wearing it, but rearranging it a little isn't a huge deal.  

When you take the mask off it leaves a lot of residue on the skin, so you've got loads that you can rub into your skin for a bit of extra moisture. I've got fairly oily skin, and I found this left my skin  feeling a little weird. It's hard to explain, but it felt both dry and tight and oily? Like it felt like there was a weird greasy layer on my skin but also it felt really tight... 

I'm not sure if buy this again, but as it only cost £4 I'm not that bothered about it being a bit weird. Maybe it would be good for you if your skins dry, wouldn't recommend for the oily skinned gals though.. 

Have you tried these masks before? What did you think of them? 

Haul | Sephora USA, LA Splash & Sephora France!

Recently I took part in a blog swap with my friend, Rena, who lives in New Jersey, you can see the blog swap post here if you're interested. In the swap box Rena had kindly said I could have things to her house to save myself a bit of money, I got some things from the US Sephora and LA Splash sent to her house.

The stuff I got from the US Sephora I'm really glad I got and I can't wait to give it all a try! Since when I did the order last year it was my birthday month I got the Sephora birthday gift, the one I picked was the NARS One Year Bolder lip set. The set comes with two miniature pencils: Cruella and Rikugien. Cruella is a lovely red shade and Rikugien is a nice your lips but better nude shade. I also got a 100 point freebie, the one I decided on was the Kat Von D Studded Lipstick in the shade Lovecraft, this is another nude shade - it looks like it will be quite a good nude shade and hopefully it suits me. 
Sticking with Kat Von D - I got two more things from her range - I am so excited for her brand to launch here! I also decided to buy the High Voltage Eye Primer, I don't actually remember buying this, so it was a nice wee surprise seeing it in the box. Her makeup seems to be pretty heavy duty and it'll be interesting to see how it helps eye makeup last. The last Kat Von D thing I got myself was the Shade & Light Contour Palette. It was between this one and the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit, I think I chose the Kat Von D one because it was a little cheaper and the colours looked to be better for my skin. My NARS laguna bronzer is running out so hopefully one of the shades in this palette will be a good replacement. 
Next up is the Becca x Jacklyn Hill Champagne Pop Highlighter. I bought this when the hype for it was at its highest. And basically two weeks after I bought it, it was released in the UK. Just my luck. It looks stunning though, I'm not sure if its too gold toned? I'll have to have a wee play around with it to see how suits my skin. 
The final thing I purchased was the Sephora Ultimate Oil-in-Gel Lipstick Remover. There is no worse thing than being unable to get last nights lipstick off that has now encrusted itself onto your lips. Or when you decide to change your lip colour but its a stubborn one and stains your lips. Hopefully this comes in handy and will help with taking off a bright lip. 

Next four things I've got are from LA Splash, they're all part of the Dia De Los Muertos collection that was released last year. The shades I have are: Catrina, this looks to be a grey shade with hints of green and purple running through it; Sangre Azul, this is a beautiful blue shade - I've always wanted a blue lipstick but finding one in the UK is a little tricky; Guadalupe is a beautiful burnt copper orange shade - I can't wait to try this out; and finally Hasta La Muerte, a very dark purple shade - its definitely the darkest purple shade I own. I'm thinking of doing a first impressions video with swatches of these so keep your eyes peeled! 

Final things are from Sephora France, I only got two things but if I had waited and gone into the Champs Elysees store I'd have probably spent a lot more! The first thing I got was the Sephora Metamorphosis Exfoliating Power, it cost around 15 euros and it looks like you get a fair bit of product. I do quite like exfoliating my face once or twice a week, but I much much muuuuch prefer the powder ones, but again there doesnt seem to be a lot of these on the market. 
The final thing I got was an ETTANG Charcoal Peel Off Mask Cup, it looked really interesting so I decided to pick one up - I now regret only getting one but alas too late now to go back and get more. 
Product reviews will probably be coming up soon on the blog and maybe even in YouTube video form. Have you tried any of these before? 

Origins GinZing Peel Off Mask | Review

I love a good peel off mask, there's something so satisfying about getting a really good one that peels really well. Its a rare thing though - at least for me it is - to find a peel off mask that you don't spend an age trying to get off your face. 

Best aimed at those who have dull, tired skin - or really any skin - who want to pep their skin up, the Origins GinZing Peel-Off Mask works on all skin types perfectly well, and I can vouch for us oily skinned girls when I say it feels good on the skin. It doesn't leave your skin feeling stripped and tight like some masks can, it also doesn't leave a weird residue on the skin. 

The mask is a really cool metallic copper shade, and it looks so weird on the skin. Whilst having it on anytime I caught a glimpse of myself I burst out laughing! You need to use a generous amount of this though - you can't get away with just a thin layer. 

The mask has a strong scent though, and it made my eyes nip a bit. I don't think the scent is the same fresh citrus one that we're used to from the rest of the line. 

I tried this mask a couple of times since I got it in My Latest In Beauty box, and I have to say I definitely think this is the best peel off mask I've ever tried. There was only a small bit that didn't peel away easily, the rest peeled off in big chunks. I really felt that my skin was noticeably brighter after using it! I also think it helped to clear my pores or at least make them look smaller as after each use my blackheads were visibly smaller - winner winner.   

When using this mask, after 15 minutes scrunch your face up and the mask will loosen enough for you to peel it away. It costs £24 for 75ml, and I think that the tube will last a fairly long time. One thing to note is the mask when you peel it off stings a little, if you've ever used a nose strip its almost like that. 

I'd highly recommend trying this out, even if it's just in the sample form. I'll definitely be buying this in the full size when the one I have runs out. 

Have you tried this before, what do you think of it? Whats your favourite mask to use? 

Queen Helena Mint Julep Face Masque | Review

A fair while ago I decided to buy both the peel off mask and this one, and I've fallen in love a little with this one since buying it. My all time favourite mask is Lush's Mask of Magnanimity, the Queen Helena Mint Julep Face Masque seriously rivals it, its pretty much guaranteed that if you liked the Lush one then you'll feel the same way about this one. And of course the Queen Helena one is available for a fair bit cheaper than the Lush one when you pick it up from Amazon.

Oily skins will love this, although thats not to say that if you've a dry skin that you couldn't use this - after all this mask is perfect for spots and blackheads, essentially just clogged pores. I'd just make sure if you've a dry skin type that you make sure you're using a very good moisturiser afterwards.
Us oily skin gals, its like a dream for us! It really sucks up excess oil and helps keep the skin from looking shiny throughout the day. It helps with clearing the horrible blackheads on the skin and helps to heal spots before they get horrible and angry. 
On top of all this, you will notice your skin feeling incredibly clean after you've used this mask. Major plus points for it. Obviously it doesn't get rid of all your blackheads, because at the end of the day I don't think I'll ever manage to get rid of all of them. Sigh. 
All in all though, this is a brilliant mask and for the price its more than worth it! 
What mask is your favourite? 

Lush Mask Of Magnanimity | Review

I'm on my third tub of this and have convinced many a friend to buy this, so I know its good. Good not only for me but for other people too! I tend to use this mostly on my back and chest - as I get a fair few spots there every so often, and if I have some particularly angry facial spots I'll apply a little on them too.  
I've tried a fair few skin care products from Lush, and I've got so much love for all the face masks I've tried in the past - so it was only natural that I picked this one up. 

This mask is super beneficial, and is packed full of beneficial ingredients. Ingredients such as: Kaolin Clay for oil absorption and deep cleansing; Peppermint Oil to cool and refresh the skin; Honey to moisturise and Aduki Beans to give a gentle exfoliation and to renew the skin. The mask is made up of 14 ingredients, all bar one are 100% natural. And of course, they are completely ethical as they don't test on animals. 
The mask is an incredible green colour with little bits of brown/black bits (probably the beans). It also smells incredible, the peppermint oil is very noticeable in the scent of it - along with peppermint there is another scent I can smell but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It smells yummy though.   
When this dries on your face, it doesn't go overly tight or feel uncomfortable on the skin. I do think though that it feels a bit odd on your face the first time you use it - I think it could be down to the peppermint oil, as it feels really cool on the skin. 
After the first use, I noticed a visible difference in my skin - especially the ones on my back. The back spots basically disappeared over night - and I'm not the only one that's thought that! Facial spots are so much less angry the day after using this. 
I'd highly recommend this if you suffer from spots, I think you can basically use this with any skin type, be you dry or oily. The smaller 125g tub costs £5.95 and the larger 315g tub costs £9.75. But it is well worth every penny you pay -  I'm about to move onto my fourth tub! I really can't recommend you try this enough.  

Secret Santa #1

I call this one number 1 as I took part in two different blogger secret Santa's. One that Georgia & Laura had organised, and the other that Gemma and a couple of other girls organised. This first post is going to be about the items I received from the Secret Santa organised by Gemma - this one was a complete secret and I didn't know who was buying for me until my little gift arrived.

Please excuse the rubbish picture - I took it as soon as the parcel was delivered in the morning not even 2 minutes before I ripped open the items. I was so amazed to see how many little presents there were - I never seem to be able to get very much for the amount of money given. My Santa was Danielle - sorry to the person I sent to I was very vague with who I was. After finding out Danielle was my secret santa I took to her blog and had a wee read, I really enjoy reading her blog - so if you're looking for a new blogger to read definitely check her out!

I think this is everything that Danielle sent me - sorry if I've missed something I may have used a couple of the things I was sent.

I love all the stuff Danielle sent me and I can't wait to try everything out - I've wanted to try stuff by Lee Stafford and Umberto Giannini for ages and now I have a couple of bits to try out so thank you so so much! Danielle covered all the bases - hair care, body, lips and facial products. Makes me think my Secret Santa isn't all that great - so sorry to you when you get it.

I'm going to leave a little space in between both secret Santa's so look out for my next one!

★

Monday Skin Treats

Most people will pamper themselves and their skin on a Sunday - preparing for the week ahead. Not me though, nope. I don't have classes on a Monday, so for me its kind of like an extension of the weekend. I see it as giving my body the chance to calm down and relax before the week ahead, so that means I try to give myself a good soak, scrub and moisturise!

Something I love doing - but don't do nearly often enough - is steam my face. Sounds random but trust me, as a first step in a facial pamper it is brilliant! Fill a bowl up with hot water, add either herbs/flowers/ essential oils or a pre made toner tab - the ones I use are from Lush - get your self a towel and steam away from 10 to 15 minutes. I think this makes cleansing or putting a mask on so much more effective as it opens your pores, meaning impurities are drawn out with so much ease. I think there are two or three options from lush toner tab wise, but the ones I use are the Tea Tree ones. They just leave your face feeling so soft and clean, even though you haven't done anything.

My next step would probably be to run myself a nice bath, with either bubble bath or one of the many bath products I have. This time I've gone for one of my Bomb Cosmetics ones, Fresh Berry. Now that my cold has gone, the smell of this is amazing! Before I could hardly smell a thing, now though, mmmmm yummy berry goodness.

When in the bath, I'd probably give myself a "double cleanse". I'd usually first start off with my Botanics Balm Cleanser, then move on to another facial wash - I find that the balm cleanser leaves a little oil layer on my skin that just needs a little help to move off. I tend to also use facial cloths when doing this, I suppose it kind of acts like a soft facial exfoliant? I haven't gone out and bought myself a new facial scrub, so that is the only way I tend to get any scrub on my wee face.

After my face is pretty much the cleanest thing ever, I go in with a mask. I love a good mask, and I personally don't think you can ever have to many! I only have three just now, but I have my eye on a few that in the very near future I see my small collection getting quite a fair bit bigger. One I've been loving using recently though is a Superdrug own brand one, I'm not 100% if this is the name but it says Mud Therapy - so I'm going to guess that's the name. I love when this dries you can see the all the little pores on your face.
 If I'm feeling extra lovely for my face, I'll use some facial pore strips. One for my nose and one for my chin.
Of course my legs and arms need a little bit of loving too. So here comes Soap and Glory's Breakfast Scrub. Oh you little tub of heaven, if you want a really good scrub then this is for you, the scrub isn't so harsh that your skin feels raw afterwards.
The next, and probably final step would be to moisturise!! Facial wise, I'm just trying to use up what I currently have and the one I'm using now is the Simple clear skin oil balancing moisturiser. It isn't anything special, I'm finding now though that it doesn't give me quite as much hydration and moisture as I'd like - maybe I need to invest in some Hydraluron? The moisturiser I've been using for my body is one by Aveeno, I've had it for so long and I basically just want to finish it off. I'm sort of fed up of having things lying around that I never really use, and most of that stuff is skin care - bodily and facially.

How do you pamper yourself at the weekend?

★ 

Just a few Avon bits

I didn't break my spending ban with this! I actually forgot that I ordered this, since I sent away the little booklet around the 20th of last month. I only got a few bits, and the total came to around £6, I'm not 100% sure though.

The first thing I got was something that I've been looking to get for awhile - for what ever reason I put off buying it. But I finally bought myself a Glimmerstick - this one is a chromes one, didn't realise there was different types... I think this was in the little cheaper booklet and I think it was around £2. The colour I got is Burgundy Shock, its a purple - despite the name, I would have thought it would be more of a reddy colour. It does have a tiny bit of glitter in it, but nothing to much. I thought purple would be a nice change, instead of only having the option to wear black.

This picture really doesn't do the colour justice. The eye liner is creamy and soft and perfect. It glides across the eye so easily, it doesn't catch or pull on the eyelid. 

I also got a Top Coat, it looked really really pretty in the picture in the magazine. I believe the name of it is Opalesce, I used it on my friend the other night, only used one layer and I have to say I wasn't very impressed. The bits of glitter - or what ever they are - don't come out very much. You only get a few bits per nail. So you would need a few coats before it would be a good top coat. 

I love a good face mask, so of course as soon as I saw this one I had to have it. I've yet to find myself a brilliant must have face mask. So for me I can never have enough masks - I currently own 4.

Have you bought anything from Avon recently? What do you recommend? 

★

Elemis Fresh Skin Kit

Recently I won a give away that Mia, Teenage Beauty Blog, was having. I never win anything, so I was so happy when she contacted me. What I won was a lovely Fresh skin kit by Elemis. I'd never tried anything by Elemis before, but had always wanted to so this kit was perfect. Thank you so much Mia :)

The kit contained a face wash, moisturiser and a face mask sachet.

The Peachy Perfect gentle face wash is one of the nicest face washes I have used for awhile. For one it is peach scented, I really like adore peach scented things. Peach tea. Peach anything. Its a hydrating face wash, which is something I wouldn't usually have gone for since my skin is insanely oily. But I do think that my skin is looking and feeling better, which makes me think my skin is maybe dehydrated - along with being oily. I've used my No7 face washer to use this and I've also done it manually. I find that this leaves your skin feeling really clean - but not tight. Skin feels really really soft after using it. I haven't broken out from using it and that makes me really happy, I've not had much luck recently with new skin care. I enjoy using this with my hands most though, it feels soft and silky when you massage it on your face. I feel I should mention again that the smell is heavenly.

The sachet of face mask is only big enough for one use, but I think one use was all I needed to be left wanting more. The mask is a thick, like greek yogurt, cream and when you apply it to your face it slowly sinks in. It feels soft and relaxing, and after 10 minutes your left with a face that is as soft as a babies bottom. I didn't really notice the smell of it, which personally I like. I hate having a face mask that all you can smell for the time you have it on is the mask next to your nose. It sticks with you even when you remove it - no thank you. I really want to get my little hands on some more of the mask - its amazing.

This moisturiser smells lovely, just like a lavender plant. Lavender is probably one of my favourite scents. Its relaxing and calming, and if I'm honest makes me feel sleepy. I have trouble sleeping and have done for a couple of years, and using this at night time helps me get to sleep a lot quicker. Or at least that's what I think it does. I probably wouldn't use this during the day, as I might find myself dozing off. Probably not the best. Along with the fact I don't think this would control my crazy oily skin, if your skin wasn't so oily this might be OK for you though. But for a night time moisturiser this is perfect. It feels soft and silky on the skin, and leaves your skin feeling softer than a baby.

I highly recommend this to anyone that wants to try something new or is looking for a gift. Do you have any kits that you would recommend? 

★