Liz Earle - My Top Products

Hey Ladies,

I hope this post finds you well. My love for Liz Earle began about two years ago. I stumbled across a review for the infamous Cleanse and Polish. I had to try it. I rang their customer service to ask for advice on what would be the best products for a first time customer. I purchased the Cleanse and Polish, the Instant Boost Skin Tonic and the Skin Repair Moisturiser.

Liz Earle skincare products will always be in rotation within my skincare routine. It is truly an incredible and unique brand. The products are packaged beautifully, they smell amazing, they contain naturally active ingredients and most importantly, they actually work.

I'll start with the Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. This contains rosemary, chamomile, cocoa butter and eucalyptus essential oil. It is a wonder product in my book and to be honest, I really believe everyone should try it. The smell is absolutely incredible. I find if I'm ever suffering from a headache or sinus infection, putting a generous amount of this on my face and massaging it in works wonders. It comes with a muslin cloth to gently help slough away all the dead skin and makeup. I use this twice, once to remove my makeup and then again to cleanse my face properly.

The Instant Boost Skin Tonic. I cannot stress the importance of adding an alcohol free toner into your skincare routine, it's really not enough to cleanse and moisturise. The great thing about the Instant Boost Skin Tonic is that it come is two forms. A regular bottle and a spray form, both are pictured above. I like to keep the spritz topped up and in the fridge for warmer days (granted they have been few and far between) Keeping your toner cool is a fantastic way to ensure you close your pores after using the hot cloth cleanser. It contains organic aloe vera, calendula, rose scented geranium, cucumber and natural vitamin E.

The Skin Repair moisturiser is a lovely product, it contains borage and avacado oil, echinacea, beta-carotene and natural Vitamin E. Although it did work for my skin two years ago, its not what my skin needs anymore. I think I may need to invest in the Superskin moisturiser at some stage when I have gotten through what remains of this jar.

The Gentle Face Exfoliator is fantastic, it contains eucalyptus, cocoa butter and jojoba beads. Why do I love this exfoliator more than any other? It's very simple. When you have stubborn dry skin, the worst thing you can do it use a scrub that is too harsh or over exfoliate the area. My skin just retaliates and decides to kick up a fuss. The beauty of this product are the Jojoba beads, they gently slough away the dead skin with out being too abrasive and then... they burst! Releasing jojoba oil onto the face. Amazing.

This is a holy grail product for me... The Brightening Treatment Mask. I briefly mentioned this in a previous post about finding the right skincare routine. This product contains organic aloe vera, witch hazel, and purifying white clay. I use this mainly when my skin is dull and has that dead skin look, it's the perfect pick me up I leave this on for 10-15 mins and remove with a pre-heated muslin cloth. The results are truly amazing. I will never be without this in my collection.

The Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask. I use this about once a week and i leave it on overnight for a bit of a moisture surge. It contains St. John's wort, Borage, comfrey and rose scented geranium. It can also be used as a mask but I tend to feel the benefits more when I leave it on overnight.

The Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion is very delicate in working towards revitalising and cleaning the eye area. I find it a lovely little pick me up when my eyes are sore and tired. I also keep this product in the fridge as I find it very soothing when used cold.

Finally on my must have list is the Hand Repair. I would be lost without this little gem. It contains echinacea, hops, pure essential oils and natural vitamin E. This provides my hands with just the right amount of moisture without being greasy. You only need a tiny amount and this pump has lasted me a long time.

So that's it for now ladies.

I hope you enjoyed!

Let me know if you have tried any Liz Earle products.

What's on your wish list?

Until Next Time

xoxo

Aundrea

Don't Believe The Hype: Clinique Chubby Sticks

Hey Ladies,

I hope you're all well, this post is about Clinique's latest offering 'Chubby Sticks'. I'll admit I was curious about these.I always am when something new and hyped up hits the makeup stands! I purchased two last week, and I have to say, I am unimpressed. I really don't understand what all the fuss is about. They're not exactly the most unique product out there. Here are my thoughts...

There are 16 shades to choose from, which is great, every girl loves having a good selection to help make an informed decison. Clinique say that this is a moisturising lip colour balm. I dont know about that, it's supposed to relieve dry, cracked lips and provide immidate moisturisation. I really dont find them moisturising at all. The colours are very very sheer and I chose two of the brighter more pigmented colours.

The first shade is 'Pudgy Peony' Which is an almost blue toned fuschia colour. It applies very sheer. It's nice but, nothing spectacular.

This is what it looks like on the lips, please excuse the teenage skin breakout (mortifying!). It applies nicely and the staying power is about average.

This is 'Voluptuous Violet' this would be my pick of the two. It applies a subtle plum colour. It's very similar to my natural lip colour once applied.

The application of these is very sheer. In all honesty, they are a huge let down for me. I really feel like there are much nicer products out there that do exactly the same thing if not better, for a lot less money. These retail for €19, £16 and $16.

Another problem I have with the Chubby Sticks is you only get a whopping .3g of product! That to me is absolutley insane! When you apply the product they tend to wear down quite quickly, so I really couldnt imagine these lasting very long. You're definatley not getting value for money with these. I really think they are over priced for what they are.

So that's it for now ladies.

I hope you found this review helpful.

Have you tried the Chubby Sticks?

If so, what are your thoughts?

If not, do you plan to?

Let me know!

Until Next time,

xoxo

Aundrea

YvesSaintLaurent - Summer Look 2012

Hey Ladies,

I hope you are all well! My post today is about YSL's Summer 2012 collection. It comprises of the most beautiful pieces I have seen in any Summer collection in quite a while... I adore YSL, everything about the brand screams luxury. There is something about that beautiful gold packaging that attracts my inner magpie.

Between attraction and the temptation to give …

The images alone for this campaign are stunning. The two products I have from the collection are, the Golden Shimmering Lipgloss in shade 51 which is 'Golden Coquillage' and the Terre Saharienne Bronzing Powder with an SPF of 12 in shade 3 'Bronzed'.

This is the Terre Saharienne Collector bronzing powder. This... is my pick of the collection. I am totally in love with this, so much so that I'll let you in on an embarassing fact. Since I have had this in my possesion, I've not had the heart to put it into my makeup storage, it sits on a shelf in my room, in its little pouch. Every so often when I pass it, I'll pick it up and just have a liitle look. That to me, is the essence of what luxury makeup should be, it is something that makes you feel special, something that gives your heart a little lift, and this does that for me.

The powder itself is beautiful, it gives an instant healthy glow, this is thanks to the incorporation of the new 'sun radiance' pigments. These special pigments capture the light and difuse it in a golden reflection. The finish I am left with is an amazing golden radiance, you can almost see the teeny tiny irredecent pigments shimmering ever so slightly throughout the bronzer. Although it is the darkest of the three shades its not overwhelming on my pale skin, and it is complimented beautifully when worn with the Touche Eclat foundation which you can read a full review on here.

This is the Golden Shimmering Lipgoss, and it's a beauty... This amazing gloss is worth its weight in gold! It's a high shine gloss with sparkling 24ct gold flecks. It gives a glamorous almost mirror like effect. It contains a complex of nourishing oils to protect and hydrate. It's also very subtley scented with a hint of mango. The colour itself is a dusky nude pink with the most stunning flecks of shimmer but it's not too much. It's an incredible gloss.

So that's it for now ladies!

I hope you enjoyed.

Will you be trying out any of the Summer collection this year?

What are your thoughts?

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea

The Perfect Skincare Routine?

As you might have guessed from the title, this post is about finding the perfect skincare routine. I don't think I would be too far off in saying that this is something that a lot of us struggle with. There are so many products out there that promise us the world, and the ones that deliver are few and far between.

For years I have struggled. Years. I've always had dry skin, I spent a fortune trying to find products that would work. I am talking brands like Dior, Clinique, Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clarins, Dermalogica etc... All counter staff gave me their 'word' that these products would sort my skin out. Some of them did, but not for long. My skin would just revert back to it's old ways.

Lately it's gotten to the stage where my foundation is starting to look ridiculous on my face. To be honest, it's driving me insane. I had to take action, but what could I do? I had already spent way more than any person could deem reasonable. So, I figured I'd get back to basics... the crazy thing is, these seem to be making more progress with sorting my skin out than any of the more expensive brands.

So, to remove my makeup, I use the Soap and Glory Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser. This comes with a muslin cloth, I use this once to remove makeup and then a second time to make sure my skin is squeaky clean.

Next in my routine is Peaches and Clean... I adore this, and I genuinely notice a major difference when I don't use it. I give my face a good coating of this, I leave it on for about a minute and then remove with cotton pads. It smells amazing, although nothing like peaches...

As a dry skin gal, toner is always tricky, I love the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic because is alcohol free, very gentle and it does the job perfectly.

Next I apply the S&G Make Yourself Youthful Serum, this smells amazing, it takes a while to sink in but it leaves my skin silky soft and moisturised.

This is Soap & Glory's 21 day collagen treatment 'Wish Upon a Jar'. I'm a bit of a cheater with how I use this cream. It's just so luxurious and thick, it's exactly what my skin needs. I use it all the time and it seems to be the only thing that can sort out my dry patches.

This is S&G's eye gel, fantastic for me but i have heard mixed reviews. It feels like it does the little baggies under my eyes the world of good, and it sinks in super quick.

I have two face mask's I alternate between every week...

Liz Earles 'Brightening Treatment Mask' is the most amazing product to get rid of dry skin. You know how sometimes when you are sick or just run down, you get that dead grey skin look, the really attractive one?! Well this is what sorts it. It smells delicious and it really works. I cant count how many times this has given me the confidence to step outside the front door when I've felt like a walking corpse!

This one is a pore minimiser and remover of all those horrible little lurker spots that pop up at the worst possible moments 'No Clogs Allowed' this is a self heating mask and it comes with smoothing sponges, it works wonders at keeps breakouts a bay and honestly I cant praise it enough.

So that's it ladies!

Let me know if you've tried any of these.

What are your skin saviours?

Do you have to spend a fortune to get the perfect skin?

Until Next Time

xoxo

Aundrea.

GIVEAWAY! Chanel & MAC CLOSED

Hey Ladies!

So I'm having a little giveaway for you all! It's just a small thank you, to let you know how much I appreciate you guys dropping by my blog, and taking the time to read and leave a comment, it really makes my heart happy!

THE RULES

The giveaway is open worldwide.
You must be a follower of my blog (I will check) Newbies are always welcome!
The parcel will be mailed recorded delivery.
The winner will be announced on August 15th!
Leave a comment below telling me what posts you would like to see in future along with you contact email and also Twitter.
And finally, follow me on Twitter (optional)
@andie74439

THE PRIZE!

The prizes I have chosen are some of my favourite products right now

Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel

MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in Shygirl

Chanel Inimitable Intense Mascara - 10 Noir

So that's it ladies!

Enter to your hearts content,

the winner will be chosen at random through random.org

Good Luck to you all!

xoxo

Aundrea

Congrats to LaurenLittleLuxuries!
Thanks to you all for all the entries xx

Chanel - Illusion D'Ombre

Hello Ladies,

I hope you are all well, my post today is about the Chanel Ilusion D'Ombre. As you will all know by now I have more than a slight obsession with Chanel products. The Illusion D'Ombre's were originally released with the Autumn 2011 collection but were thankfully made part of the permanent line and have quickly become a staple in my everyday makeup routine.

The Chanel Illusion D'Ombre come in six different shades with more to be released with their Summer 2012 collection. They are described as long wearing luminous eye shadows. A lot of people compare them to Armani's Eyes to Kill Intense, now I have a few of the Eyes to Kill and in all honesty there is no comparison. The texture of the Illusion D'Ombre is completely different. When I first got my hands on them, they were not at all what I was expecting. They are almost cushion like to the touch. They don't bounce back, which I kind of thought they would. They are a gel formula but have the thickness of a mousse.

My three favourite are the above, and they are (L-R) Ebloui, Illusoire, and Emerveille.

Eboui is a deep burgundy brown with a hint of cranberry, it has stunning multi coloured shimmer.

Illusoire is a purpley plum, grayish brown with a silvery sheen

And my favorite out of all 3 is Emerveille. Emerveille is the most beautiful champagne peach, with the most amazing golden pink sheen to it. This worn on it's own all over the lid with gel liner along the lash line is just perfect for an everyday look. Simple yet elegant.

Emerveille, Ebloui, and Illusoire

These really are stunning shadows, that are easy to use with beautiful results. I do use an eyeshadow primer, as I would do with any shadows I use. I am excited to see the new additions when they are released later this Summer, I am sure they will be a fantastic addition to my collection. I have had these for quite a while and one of the concerns I had was that they might possibly dry out and become difficult to work with. Its always difficult to judge the lifespan of new products but I am happy to report, I haven't had any issues so far. The colour pay off with these is excellent and a little goes a long way. If you are in the market for some new eyeshadows, I would definitely recommend giving these a go!

So that's it ladies, I hope you enjoyed.

Let me know if you have tried these.

Tell me your eyeshadow favourites!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea.

Yves Saint Laurent - Le Teint Touche Éclat Foundation

Hello Ladies!

Have I got exciting news for you! I was invited to attend a sneak peek of YSL's Touche Éclat foundation yesterday, and my, oh my ladies, am I impressed. YSL's Touche Éclat was launched 20 years ago and with one sold every 10 seconds, it's not hard to see why this foundation has been so highly anticipated! I bought my first Touche Éclat 8 years ago, and it's something that has always had pride of place in my makeup collection, I think most, if not all of us have bought it at least once (or 8 times).

'Le Teint Touche Éclat'

2012 has marked a huge turning point for Yves Saint Laurent, this foundation has been a whopping 10 years in development, and there is already a waiting list of 8,000 people in the UK & Ireland. This is one of the worlds most exciting launches in the beauty community this year. Creative Director of YSL, Llyod Simmons developed the extensive 22 shade range to incorporate all skin tones. The shades are arranged into warm (Beige Dore), cool (Beige Rose) and neutral (Beige) and they range from the palest rose complexions to the deepest golden skins. The bottle has YSL's signature gold cap and was influenced design wise, directly by the Touche Éclat itself, a tribute to the cult beauty product.

A selection of the extensive shade range

As if all that was not enough, I also had the privilege of meeting Fred Letailleur, Internationally renowned make up artist for Yves Saint Laurent. He gave an amazing talk on the foundation, and also a demo to show us the best ways to apply the foundation. It was kind of incredible to see this artist at work and make it all look so effortless. Fear not, I am about to pass these tips on to you...

Fred recommends for a daytime look, to use your fingers, start in the middle of the face and extend outward with long strokes, you need very little of the product when applying with your fingers as you don't want to overload the face with the end result being the dreaded cake effect.

For more coverage or to take the look from day to night, you'll need a brush with fine bristles that is nice and thick.Glide the brush in long movements from the inside of the face out, Another technique is to dab the foundation over the face, this allows you to perfect any areas of concern, the beauty of this technique is you can slowly and progressively build your coverage.

It's not very often I will tell you that you need a product in your life, but if you don't at least try this, you are seriously missing out. The coverage is beautiful, it's not cakey, the staying power is excellent and it really is a unique product, I have a feeling this will be one of THE must have beauty products of the year.

Should you wish to try this amazing product, it's world exclusive to Brown Thomas in Ireland on the 28th June BUT if you visit the YSL counter from June 21st you can receive your complimentary shade match along with a very generous 7 day trial. It retails at €38, and in my opinion, worth every cent and then some!

So that's it for now, I hope you enjoyed!

Let me know your thoughts on this.

Will you be purchasing?

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea.

Add some Decadence to your life...

Hello Ladies,

As I'm sure you are all aware, tanning season is upon us. It's always been a challenge for fair skin ladies like myself. I'd never really had much luck with false tan. The colour was either way too dark, or it came out orange, and then there was the smell... that was the one thing that put me off tan and embrace the pale. Every so often though, I would look with envious eyes at all the beautifully bronzed ladies walking around. I could never find a tan that gave me exactly what I wanted... Until now.

Enter 'Decadence Tan'

Decadence Tan is the brainchild of the lovely Kassy Lucas, she has worked in the beauty industry for over 13 years, and opened her own beauty salon in 2005. Decadence is a natural and organic based formula , it's packed with skin conditioning and smoothing ingredients. The best part is the mixture of aromatic orange and bergamont oils means you don't have that funky self tan odour to contend with!

So, I gave this a really good trial run, I exfoliated and moisturised before use, and I got to work with my tan mitt! It's a spray bottle, which is incredibly easy to use. It's tinted which is perfect for guide application, and it smells heavenly.

As you can see it gives a lovely healthy glow, which develops nicely over a few hours, of course you can build to achieve your desired effect. There really is no horrible smell which seals the deal for me. It wears beautifully, I'm on day 5 and still going strong!

Where can you buy this wonder product? Well my lovely friend Anita over at http://www.anitasbeautyblog.wordpress.com/ or you can also find her on Twitter @anitabeautyblog is stocking it!

You can buy the tan on its own for €14.99 or you can buy the tan and the eliminator for the bargain price of €28! The tan eliminator is on my list, I hear it's another incredible Decadence product! I will let you know how I get on with that!

So that's it ladies, I hope you enjoyed my adventure with

Decadence Tan!

Let me know if you try it!

Share some of your tanning secrets below...

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea.

You can follow Decadence tan on twitter!

@Decadencetan

Battle of the High End Foundations

Hey Ladies,

I hope you're all well, this post is about the battle to find the perfect high end foundation. Let's face it, it's a bit of a jungle out there. You can't open a magazine, or walk into a department store without being inundated with foundation campaign's all declaring 'I'm the one for you! Pick me!' I've had quite a journey to find a few I like and there's no better time than the present to be on the market for a new one. There are quite a few gems out there!

So let's get started...

Benefit's 'Hello Flawless, OxygenWow' This is oil free with an SPF of 25, this is Benefit's first foray into the world of liquid foundation and my, my, my they created a beauty. This foundation makes some pretty big claims for something in such a little bottle, it promises to have a brightening effect and it contains Vitamin C & E, which help boost cellular respiration (oxygen wow). The consistency is rather watery, which isn't really what I was expecting but it works well, It offers a medium buildable coverage. All in all, it impressed me, and I would recommend it.

Illamasqua 'Skin Base' Illamasqua claim that this foundation was inspired by the Asian BB phenomenon it promises to smooth, soften and condition your skin whilst providing natural, buildable coverage. I can't say I agree with that statement, the formula on this is thick but not unblendable, a brush is not the way to apply this one, it takes warming up with the fingertips before applying to the face. This is a fuller overage foundation, but it takes that little bit of extra effort to apply.

Armani 'Lumionous Silk' I have used this foundation on and off ever since it was launched, it was my very first foundation splurge, I was in love; but it comes at a price, it's in around the €50-55 price bracket. Just like the name suggests this foundation feels like silk, I apply it with a buffing brush and and it blends like a dream and gives my skin a flawless look. I adore it. This one is a medium buildable coverage.

Lancome 'Teint Miracle' I like this foundation, one of the first things I noticed was the scent, it's a very faint floral rose. It's a lightweight formula, it contains 40% water so it won't clog the pores. It gives a very subtle glow. Coverage is medium full, and the staying power is pretty decent too, I'd say about 7 hours.

Make Up For Ever 'HD Foundation' This is one of the let downs for me, it was so hyped up. I don't see what all the fuss is about. I've found better foundations in the drugstore. It's meant to be a full coverage foundation but I find it pretty sheer. I'm just not impressed with this one.

Chanel 'Perfection Lumiere' I love this foundation. I've done a full review on this, which you can read here I'm not going to ramble on too much but it's a truly beautiful full coverage, long wearing, non cakey foundation.

So that's it for this post.

I hope you enjoyed ladies!

Let me know if you have any foundations you can recommend!

Tell me which high end ones have been a let down for you!

Until next time

xoxo

Aundrea.