.♥. amelia .♥.

.Bourjois Rouge Edition, Fushia Graffiti | Swatch and Review.

Welcome to my new favourite lipstick from Bourjois’ Rouge Edition in the vivacious shade - Fushia Graffiti!

A few weeks ago Beth and I went shopping (you can see our adventures HERE!) and she picked up her first MAC lipstick in the shade Girl About Town. I loved it, but as i’d already treated myself to So Chaud, i decided that one bullet was enough for the day and i let that beautiful colour slip away! A week or so later we were in boots when i spotted this lippy on the Bourjois shelf and was instantly drawn to it. After a quick hand swatch next to Beth’s Girl About Town we realised it was the perfect dupe, so i hurried over to the tills so i could pay and pucker up!

This shade is seriously stunning and perfect for spring summer. A bright fushia pink that although very striking isn’t overly Barbie looking and i think could be quite wearable for most skin tones. It glides on lovely and pigmented with a matte-ish finish and feels lovely and smooth on the lips. I say matte-ish because as it’s quite moisturising it doesn’t look flat matte but at the same time doesn’t look overly glossy either. Being a die-hard matte lippy girl i can wear this quite happily and my lips probably thank me for the added moisture too! Testing it alone next to it’s MAC twin i doubt it would last as long on the lips, but with a layer of lipcote i can happily wear it all day without needing to touch up which is a huge bonus!

This is definitely a favourite of mine for the new season and considering it’s a high street makeup brand i think it gives the big boys a run for their money from its packaging, to its pigments - definitely check this Bourjois range out! 

I picked mine up from Boots for £8 - around half the price of it’s MAC alternative - and you can find it on their website HERE!

Have you tried anything from the Bourjois Rouge Edition - what’s your favourite colour? Would you wear this bold Barbie shade?

Tweet me @xameliax #fushiagraffiti

xax

.My Etat Pur Personalised Solution.

A couple of weeks ago i was contacted by Etat Pur asking if i wanted to try out their new Personalised Skincare Solution service and i was instantly intrigued as their products looked completely different to anything i’d used before. I took their skincare test and was given a range of products to help correct the (many) problems with my face that came in a surprisingly medical looking set of boxes! It’s certainly not a luxury feeling skincare range, more of a ‘let’s get on with it and fix your face’ kind of thing, but i have to say that i’m incredibly impressed with some of the products recommended for me. 

Here’s what Etat Pur advised for my skin:

Oil Free Quenching Fluid (£7.80, 40ml) - This product is an oil-free moisturising gel with a strange texture that seems to evaporate into the skin and leaves a matte look behind. Although it does reduce oil and seems to moisturise my skin over night i just can’t get used to the gel texture so it’s not something i would probably re-buy.

Acmella (£12.60, 15ml) - This one however is an incredible product, one that you feel the effects of after the very first use! A white gel made from Acmella flowers that has a botox-like effect for expression wrinkles and fine lines. I apply one drop after my eye cream to the sides and underneath of my eyes where my expression lines are beginning to show and i can see it’s effects straight away! It almost feels like it’s filled in any wrinkles and they seem to fade quite a lot after putting this on. I’m so impressed with this one i’ll certainly keep using it and will be re-buying it too, it’s brilliant! 

Citric Acid (£11.60, 15ml) - The Citric Acid is made to brighten and tighten dull skin by encouraging elimination of dead skin cells. I’ve been using two drops (one on each cheek) every night for the first week and three times a week after that to help tighten larger pores and i’m already seeing a huge difference. I haven’t tried it all over my face yet to improve radiance as i was worried it may be too strong (that word acid is a scary one!) but i’ve had no problems so far so i might have to give it a whirl!

Salicylic Acid (£9.40, 15ml) - Salucylic acid is always a handy one to have in the house if you suffer from acne and blemishes as it purifies and exfoliates to help clear the skin and even skintone. It’s been around for ages and isn’t a secret product for acne, but it works so i’m happy to have this bottle in the bathroom! You can apply this to the whole face but i prefer to keep it for individual blemishes to help speed up recovery, and that it does very well - a very useful product for me!

Smoothing Eye Contour Care (£12.20, 15ml) - I feel like an eye cream connoisseur at the moment having tested out two polar opposites of the price range recently! This falls at the cheaper end of the scale so for the money it’s pretty good. It feels moisturising and seems to help reduce redness but apart from that it doesn’t blow me away, however for £12 i wouldn’t expect it to do a great deal more! I would probably buy this one again as it’s quite easy on the pocket but i’d be inclined to try something else before i did.

I’m a sucker for nice packaging and luxurious feeling products so i don’t think i will be ditching my whole routine for Etat Pur just yet but there are certainly a few in here that i’ll be repurchasing and using again and again. I think the skincare solution test is a great idea and as the products are reasonably priced it’s certainly something to check out. You don’t have to buy all the products suggested for your skin either - just pick and choose and give the products that catch your eye a whirl!

You can take your own personalised solution test HERE and find all of the products mentioned on the Etat Pur website.

Have you tried anything from Etat Pur? Is there anything here that catches your eye?

Tweet me @xameliax #etatpur

xax

.Beauty and the Beach 2013 | xameliax.

My entry for this year’s Beauty and the Beach competition contains actual real life sand - oooo aaaaaah - and because i haven’t got a holiday booked for this year it’s as close to a beach as i’m going to get!

How to:

For the base i used the Saran Wrap technique with a combination of Kure Baazar’s Hipster* and Natural Collection White followed by painting on a little palm tree (complete with coconuts) with a teeny tiny nail art brush. The island was created by sprinkling real sand over a layer of nude polish and no topcoat to preserve the authentic tropical feel!

Find out how to enter this year’s Beauty and the Beach contest and win up to £1,500 HERE!

Have you seen any of this year’s nail art entries? What’s your favourite?

Tweet me a picture @xameliax #beautyandthebeach2

xax

.L’Oreal Superliner Perfect Slim | Review.

I’ve been looking for a new liquid liner for a while now after re-buying my Rimmel Exaggerate way too many times. Although it’s a great budget buy i’ve been noticing that it doesn’t always make it to the end of the day before fading or slipping a little. I made my way to the L’Oreal stand to grab one of their gel liners on recommendation from another blogger when i spotted this little beauty and picked it up too.

L’Oreal Superliner Perfect Slim is a precision felt tip liner that glides on leaving a beautifully pigmented quick drying liquid liner behind. I’m terrible when i apply liquid liner in the mornings and i have an awful habit of pulling my eyelid for ease (hello premature wrinkles) but since buying this liner i’ve found i don’t have to as even the gentlest touch of the nib leaves enough colour behind and it doesn’t tend to drag. Being so thin also means you can get right close to the lash line creating a fuller look without much effort. I tend to use this every day for quick application and i’ve been loving it, my only concern as with most felt tip liners is how long it’s going to last but i guess we’ll see about that in time! I’d certainly buy this liner again and i think it may have even over-taken Rimmel as my new favourite liquid liner!

I picked mine up in my local Boots for around £7!

Have you tried any L’Oreal eyeliners? What do you think of Perfect Slim?

Tweet me @xameliax #perfectslim

xax

(Source: xameliax.com)

.May Haul | xameliax.

I’ve been shopping again! I also need your help with my fringe dilemma - how exciting…have i enticed you yet? What about if i tell you that this video contains some doughnut pjs? Thought so.

Don’t forget to subscribe to my channel too!

xax

.A Fluffy Treat From the Bonny Confectionary Company.

A few months back i had the pleasure of trying some marshmallow dippers and pops from an adorable little company called Bonny Confectionery in my Flavrbox* and really enjoyed them. So when this little parcel of joy arrived i was even more excited to give them another whirl. I made myself a thick soy hot chocolate, grabbed my marshmallow parcel and snuggled in for a warming and luxurious evening treat.

The Bonny Confectionery are a small and adorable company that make gourmet marshmallows in many forms to dip in your hot chocolate, give as a gift or enjoy on their own. Their packaging is beautiful and the treats inside are even sweeter making them a tasty but not-so-naughty treat that have even won awards for their yumminess(official food tester term).

This time i got to try their famous Strawberry and Vanilla Mallow Pop*, Orange Marshmallow Melts* and their Double Chocolate Melt Dipper* - all of which were delicious especially the orange melts in my soy hot choccie because i love orange chocolate! The dippers and melts turn your regular hot chocolate into a creamy flavoured mug of loveliness and i’m not sure i can ever drink one without marshmallows again! The pops - apart from looking so cute with their little ribbons - are a light and tasty treat at any time of the day and i actually chopped one of mine up with some scissors and sprinkled the pieces over my granola in the morning which was absolutely delicious! At around £3 a pop(excuse the pun) they’re quite pricey to buy and munch on yourself in the office, but i think they make fantastic presents (check out the dipppers in jars) and even wedding favours too.

Starting at £2.50 these are such a cute little treat and you can buy them straight from the Bonny Confectionery website HERE!

Have you tried anything from the Bonny Mallow Company? What’s your favourite flavour?

Tweet me @xameliax #bonnymallows

xax

(…and how adorable is this mug?!)