Tuesday 30 October 2012

Kitoko Hair Oil

Kitoko is a brand that I can across by accident. I was having my hair cut in my partners aunts salon, when I was moaning about the condition of my hair. His aunt went and got a bottle and gave it to me to try. When I went home that evening I did a little bit or research about the product and saw that it was an up and coming product and not alot had been said about this yet.

I have now been using the product for around 4 weeks now, and I cannot praise it enough. It really has helped keep my hair under control and keep my ends in better condition. I use this oil morning and evening usually. I tend to put a few drops in my hair whilst it is still damp in the mornings, and then add a few more once I have styled my hair if I feel I want a bit more control over it. I then apply normally around 10 drops in the evening before I go to bed. I wash my hair everyday (naughty I know, however spending alot of time on a farm and around animals means I do tend to get dirty quite quickly) and if I put this on before I go to bed I feel it acts as a bit of a mask, and it does make it nicer to wash in the morning.

Now with the use I've been getting out of this oil, and for the amount of time I've been using it, I can happily say that I have not even got the oil to the top fo the label yet! Talk about value for money! You can buy Kitoko hair oil from LushDuck with prices starting from £6.50 for the smaller size.

 
 
Kitoko hair oil in made in the UK and contains no Parabens.
It does however contain - Vitamin A & E, Karite Oil, Argan Oil and a naturally derived UV filter.
 
Does anyone else use hair oil? And if so what ones and what do you think? Are they worth the hype?
 

Jx

NOTD

So as you all saw in my mini haul I purchased some Barry M nail gellys. Today I have been wearing the colour Blueberry 235 with a top coat of Maybeline Express Finish in Flash Cosmic 840.

I find the Gelly quite thick and you get a really good colour pay off. I will certainly be purchasing more of these colours. I can see them being staples in my collection. And the Maybeline Express Finish gives it a really nice almost iridescent finish. Definitely a great combo.

Has anyone else tried these? If so why do you think?

J x

Sunday 21 October 2012

Mini Haul

Now I love seeing peoples hauls and having a bit of a geek at what they have been buying. It just makes me want to go out and spend whatever pennies I have in my wallet, which maybe is not the best thing? So this weekend I went out with my list of things that I wanted to inspect and purchase, and my wallet burning a whole in my pocket. Now I have to admit that I am a horrendous shopper! I can go out with a list of things, and not once will my list come out of my pocket whilst shopping. I get distracted by all the signs and bright colours that I completely forget what I went out for.

Anyway I digress, so I went out and bought nothing that I had planned to buy! But I did buy some lovely things.

Boots -

So as everyone knows Boots are currently running their 3for2 offer across the store, I managed to buy some lovely things for myself, along with a bunch of things that will be going into an international swap that I am doing with Min from minandmegs you can find their Twitter here. So what did I buy....

Barry M Gelly in Blueberry 235
Barry M Gelly in Blackberry 237
Barry M Gelly in Watermelon 237
Barry M Nail Paint in Pink Saphire Glitter 352
Barry M Nail Paint in Black Multi Glitter 333
Barry M Limited Edition Orange Web Effects 239
Revlon Lip Butter in Strawberry Shortcake 080
Plus all my things for Min, that will stay secret ;) Although I am tempted to repurchase these for myself.

(Apologies for not all items photographed)
 

Lush -

I am a new convert to Lush products. I am not a fan of their soaps, as nice as they smell they just don't react well with my skin as it is already very dry and easily flairs up. But I do love the scents of their other products and anything sweet is good in my books, so I wanted to try some of their sweeter items people have recommended.....
 
Lush Snowfairy Shower Gel
Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub
 
 
As I said this was a mini haul, and most of it consisted of nail varnishes? Anywho, I'm sure hoping to get back to boots before the 3for2 runs out and purchase more things for myself. And I will certainly be putting up reviews of all the products once I've finished playing with them :)
 
Let me know if there is anything you like, or anything else you can recommend.
 

J x




My obsession.......

MASCARA!!!!


That's right people, I am OBSESSED with mascara. If I go out of the house in the morning with only 1 thing on, it must be mascara. I love the feeling it gives me when I have big fluttery lashes, whether it be to just pop up to the horses in the morning or to go out on the town. I feel by putting on mascara I immediately brighten up my face, and add definition to it. I always wear black mascara, as I don't feel brown gives me enough oomph, and I'm not interested in looking natural ;) I do on the odd occasion add a bit of colour on top, but I'm 95% black all the way.

Anyway, here are a few of my faves. Apologies for rubbish pictures, I'm having real issues with my camera :( If anyone can recommend a good one, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

The Body Shop - Big and Curvy Mascara

This mascara I have in normal and waterproof. I tend to wear this mascara when I just want an everyday mascara that is not too flashy, but is very black. The applicator is very thin, which means I can get in close to the base of my eyelashes and get good definition. This isn't a great mascara for when you want big winged out lashes or lots of curl and length.



 

The Body Shop - Super Volume Mascara

This is my tied favourite mascara of all time! I love the way I can build this mascara up and make it as thick and extravagant as I want it to be. The brush is really well bristled, which means I can really get into the base of my lashes and drag them up and out (which I LOVE). If I curl my eyelashes and then use this, I am guaranteed thick lustrous lashes that last all day with no flaking.

 

Maybeline - The Falsies Volume Express Mascara - Flared

This is my other tied favourite mascara of all time. Now I may sound odd here, but I like this mascara the older it gets, I like it when it has started to dry out a bit, as I feel it goes on better and I get better use from the brush. As when it is brand new I find it very slick going on, which to me means it is harder to build up. The applicator is brilliant, I can get real curl out of this mascara and really pull my lashes out and wing them easily. Also this provides me with minimal flakage ;)


 

MUA - Every Lash, Volume and Lengthening Mascara

I cannot believe that this mascara is only £2!! £2 for a brilliant mascara?!?!? What have I done to deserve this? Anywho.... as some of you may know, I have horses and regularly compete them and spend lots of my time outdoors and getting messy. This mascara is THE most amazing waterproof mascara I have ever tried. I can put this on first thing in the morning, when I'm dashing round to get ready for a competition or to go to the yard, and know that it will look as good after 12+ hours at a busy show or after a busy day at a competition. I am also allergic to dust and fur (don't ask why I still keep horses, even though I suffer because of this) so I regularly have watery eyes or very itchy eyes, and this mascara does not flake or budge even if I'm having a bad eye day. It gives me good definition and gives my eye lashes a slick and shiny look. The only bad thing I have about this mascara, is that it is quite hard to get off when you want too. It comes off in tubes, and I find the best way to get it off is to use hot water to loosen it and then roll my eyelashes through my fingers and work it off. I have however never suffered from panda eyes using this.

MUA - Clear mascara - £1

I use this mascara as a "top up" mascara, meaning I use it to update my mascara through out the day. So instead of piling on layer after layer of black mascara, I use this to give it a bit of a top up and brighten it throughout the day, whilst avoiding flaking. I also use this as my eyebrow setter, and it works really well for this too.

So there you are, there is a little look into one of my obsessions, and one of the reasons I love beauty blogs and read them. I love looking for new mascaras, and trying them out. So if any of you have any good ones you think I should try, let me know.


So if any of you have ant recommendations for mascara, my ears are open ;)

Jx

Nails of the week

Well as some of you know, I normally have gel overlays on my nails. With working with animals and doing alot of yard work it means my nails take a battering. I find having gel voerlays mean my nails don't break anymore and look presentable at all times. Which doesn help when I have to go from mucking out stables to then working in a busy office within 30 minutes each morning.

However, I have decided my nails need a break as they were starting to become very weak. So I am giving them atleast a few weeks off. So I can treat them a bit, and also go back to painting them and changing them as often as I like. It'll also mean that I can save a few pennies!

So this brings me to my nails of the week. I'm really digging glitter nail varnishes at the moment, and am loving the layered look. So this week I've had Barry M - Mint green as my base, with a top coat of Rimmel - 500 Disco Ball.

 
 
I also did a bit of a haul this week, so expect me to be posting some more of these. Let me know if you like them, or if you have any other great layering techniques :)
 

J x 

Sunday 14 October 2012

Multi tasking life saver

I have 1 item, that I have used for around 5 years now on a daily basis. I always carry this product in my handbag, have it by the side of my bed and I reach for it whenever I have a bad skin day or suffer a burn from my victorian old straightners. This products acts as a brilliant lip balm and gloss, and also gives my skin a dewy finish when applied to my cheeks. I have also been known to apply this product to one of my animals, if they have had a small cut or graze.

So what is this amazing product you ask me....... Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream. Yes this little tube of cream, that looks a little old fashioned and almost as if it should belong on your grannies dressing table, is actually my most used and beloved beauty product I have ever used! As soon as I start to come to the bottom of a tube I make sure to go and get a new one. However I have been using this product for around 5!years now, and I am only now coming to the end of my 3rd tube!

I cannot rave more about this product! I reccomend it to everyone I can, and never have a bad thing to say about it. So if your ever around and spot it, make sure you get yourself some ;)

 

 

J x

Bath and Body Works Candles

I am in love with scented candles, especially now that the evenings are drawing in and everything is cooler. I enjoy nothing more than sitting and relaixng, reading a book or watching a movie, all whilst the room is filled with a lovely scent :)

I usually burn scented oils in an oil burner, and my make of choice is usually The Body Shop. During the summer I tend to burn fruity and refreshing scents. So once everything started getting cooler I started to look for more wintery scents. I have seen sooo many people talk about Bath and Body Works candles, and being unfortunate enough to live in the UK where there are no stores, I found myself desperate to try some. The age old you want what you can't have syndrome!

Fortunately for me a lovely lady I have meet on Twitter @Kokosecrets (here is a link to her blog - Blog ) just so happened to be getting some Bath and Body Works candles in. As soon as I found this out I knew I had to make sure I got some from her. I was able to order them before I went away on my holiday, so when I got back I had a lovely present waiting in my house :)

The 3 scents I ordered from Victoria were -

 

Marshmallow Fireside

A sweet-toasty end to a long cold day - toasted marshmallows and simptuous vanilla cream blend with the comforting aroma of rich smoldering woods
 

Pumpkin Caramel Latte

Gather with friends and celebrate the season with this warm, rich blend of creamy pumokin, spiced caramel and sweet cream

 

 Frosted Cupcake 

A true food-lovers delight - fresh vanilla bean, sugar, cake batter and rich buttercream frosting mix it up and create an irresistible scent
 



Now all 3 of these candles are so well scented, and burn really nicely and very evenly so far. I do have to say that I think my favourite scent is  Marshmallow Fireside, it smells actually quite manly and sweet, and even my other half doesn't mind it!

Anywho, here is a picture I posted on Twitter the other day. Hope you all like it and if you have any recoomendations for scented candles, make sure to let me know ;)

J x

Return of the blogger!

So I have been officially AWOL for about the last month. This is due to me going away on a long deserved holiday, and also it being MANIC at work. Anywho I am happily back now, and also nwo that the evenings are drawing in, I can hopefully blog more as I love reading other peopls blogs and am hoping to have picked up a few tips and ideas ;)

J x