2013 Favourites!

Hey my lovelies! Here it is the best of the best of the best 2013. Any product that has made it into this post is pretty special and I'd say pretty much forms part of my daily routine.






1. Loreal Micellar Water - Bioderma hit UK websites this year which caused a huge stir and was closely followed by the Loreal version at just a fraction of the price. I'm on my 5th bottle and there's no signs of switching yet.

2. Liz Earle Toner - I stopped using this halfway through the year and noticed a decline in my skin condition, I started up again and was so impressed with how well this really does soothe and find the skin. I won't stop using this bad boy again.

3. YSL Forever Light Creator - WOW! My second bottle and it's just gorgeous, this truly does give you a glow from within.

4. Loreal Fairest Nude - The perfect daily lipstick for work or when you have a smokey eye.

5. Bobbi Brown Smokey Warm Palette - This palette just snuck in as I've only had it around 3 weeks but I absolutely love it!

6. YSL Chromatics Palette 20. A beautiful shimmery not glittery just gorgeous palette. Also my first wet shadows.

7. Tom Ford blusher - This is the most beautiful blusher in my collection by far the most expensive and I use it whenever I need that little pick me up. It's a beautiful light shimmery pink that looks perfect all year round.

8. Laura Mercier Highlighter 'Spellbound' - This came out as part of their summer collection and boy was I wowed! This is the first highlighter that I literally fell in love with immediately and bought on the spot. I now own 2 backups too! A girl has no choice when it comes to limited edition products.

9. Tom Ford Illuminating Primer - I wasn't sure I could love any primer as much as Guerlains Meteorites but apparently that wasn't true, along came this baby in the summer and I've used it every day.

10. Kevin Aucoin Highligher 'Candlelight' - I bought this in the early part of last year so before Laura Mercier, I use this occasionally in the week but more of a travel friendly highlighter as it's so flat and easy to pack.

11. Smashbox Blusher 'Chiffon' - A beautiful blusher, pricier than drugstore but not quite high end. Perfect for daily wear and I probably use this at least 3 times a week.

Hope your all well and looking forward to 2014. I'd love to know what your favourite products this year have been. Send me some links @iz222 or comment below.

New Years Resolutions 2014

Hi ladies, this time of year soon creeps round again! I always feel that after christmas when we are in the "in between stage" i always look back at last years resolutions and look forward to my next years. Ok so last years was to stop reading the newspaper. Now I know some people are reading this thinking what?! I can see where your coming from as I need to know world current affairs but ask yourself do you really need to know all the bad things? All the crime? Read all the things that make you wonder what the world is coming to? My answer is No. If it's big enough I'll hear about it, if it's things that are going to make me feel bad day in day out after reading them...then I won't. So this year I haven't so much as touched a newspaper!

Next years resolutions. Now being a beauty blogger I have like the rest of you I'm sure accumulated ALOT of products and I'm getting to the point where no storage solution will solve this serious overspill. So I'm starting small and am going to use up all bath/body products. I can't commit to beauty as let's face it that just won't happen.

Secondly save every £2 coin and 50p. You won't feel it but you will make a reasonable saving.

Also I've downloaded an app called the gratitude app, everyday just write down a couple of things your grateful for and you really will see how much you have in life rather than worrying about what you don't.

Below are a few images I found on Pinterest that we could all do with following...

Christmas 2013

Hey my lovelies just a few photos to share with you of my christmas break.

Christmas Eve everything wrapped and ready under the tree.



We played ludo! This is such a lovely family tradition i love this game.


We left out a mince pie, milk and carrot for Santa and this is what we came to find in the morning:)


This is my outfit of the day, it was a pretty comfy jersey dress from dorothy perkins paired with black tights and a statement necklace that I'm obsessed with! I kept my make up pretty simple with golden shadows, pink blush by tom ford and a nudey pink lip.


Onto the presents!


Some lovely bath/beauty bits and chocolate!


I must be the only person who hasn't used Lush products so I was super happy to bag the following collection:)


Presents were followed by a yummy christmas lunch.


And out come the celebrations.



I hope you all had a lovely christmas and here's to the new year!

Urban Decay Naked 3 Palette

Hey ladies I'm going to add the bazillionth blog post about the new Urban Decay Naked 3 palette.


So I'm not here to tell you whether you need this in your possibly vast make up collection as you probably don't, the question of course is do you want it? Now there's not a chance that if your a beauty junkie like myself you havent seen or read a million posts about this. I'm here to point out the obvious and leave the rest upto your good self!

Packaging this time is a metal tin with a rippled effect in a rose gold colour.


The colours while of course are all nude based have a rose hue to them.


Swatched.


As always they are pigmented, soft and very easy to work with. This palette actually belongs to my sister as I felt i didn't need it already owning Naked 1 and 2. However if you have some christmas money and your on the hunt for a new pretty palette then look no further. 12 shades with a double ended brush thrown in for £37 and you have yourself a pretty good deal.

My week in Instagram photos

Shameless selfie before another christmas party!


Took my nephew to see Santa.


Building a bear and lunch at Frankie and Bennys.


And family fun night on Saturday.


I've had a lovely festive week and majorly looking forward to christmas!

Physicians Formula Mineral Airbrushing Blush 'Rose' Review

Hi my lovelies, I wanted to show you a blusher I'm absolutely loving from my American Beauty Haul. As we all know I spend pretty much 2 hours a day watching YouTube videos/reading beauty blogs and lots of my favourite gurus just happen to be American and rave about Physicians formula blushers. So when my friend told me she was going to New York of course I had a huge list of products I just "needed".

This is the beauty itself. Now for a drugstore product it's very generously sized and I really like the rippled effect in it.


Swatched.


This is so strongly pigmented that you only need to tap your brush into it very lightly and sweep it gently across your cheeks. I quite like bright pinks in winter as I think you get that beautiful 'just been out in the cold' flush.

Something a little extra is that underneath theres a brush and mirror. This is pretty unusual for drugstore products so I was quite impressed, I think this was around $8.


As I use more of my American products I will of course keep you all updated.

I've also heard a rumour that Physicians Formula may be coming to the UK. I'm really hoping this is true as I'd love to try more products from them.

Boots Beauty Calender - Review

Hi Ladies, while christmas isn't quite here I am ready to share my review with you of the new Boots Beauty Advent Calender.


When I saw this I'm not going to lie I was ridiculously excited as the Selfridges one is just gorgeous but with an £85 price tag is a bit too much around the festive season. Ciate do a nail one and as I get mine done at a salon it really felt a waste. Benefit also do one which is lovely but I'm not the biggest Benefit fan.

Ok so this calender promises you a variety of brands and in my opinion it's £30 well spent. So far I've had the Vichy Eyes and Lash serum sample which is amazing as I've wanted to try it for ages, lots of perfume samples which possibly has been a bit overkill but they are super easy to pop in a make up bag for an overnight or weekend stay, a Balmi lipbalm, they are so cute (basically our version of eos lipbalms) and a few Soap & Glory treats. Below are a photo of my favourites....



Anyone get any other advent calenders they are loving? Next year I'm thinking of getting the Bodyshop one as well as this Boots one again:) x

A few christmas party picks.

Hey ladies, just wanted to share a few bits that I'm loving for the christmas parties and the festive season in general!

Sparkley jewels first.


The top necklace I've been pairing with chunky knits for work just to make things look prettier. It was a Primark bargain £8!
The big bottom necklace I just love!!! I wore this to my christmas party on Friday and feel it totally made the outfit. This was from a department store in Denmark. Lastly the bracelet is by Stella & Dot, absolutely gorgeous and I believe worn by Blair in an episode of Gossip Girl.

On to my beauty picks.



* Dior Palette (last years christmas collection 2012).
* Laura Mercier Highlighter (Spellbound).
* Bobbi Brown Warm Smokey Palette.
* Rimmel Apocalips (Celestial).
* YSL Glossy Stain (15)
* Nars Lip Satin Pencil (Luxembourg).
* Nars Larger Than Life Lipgloss (Como).
* Sephora Eyeshadow. (Hollywood Calling No 82).
* Smashbox Blusher (Chiffon).

I think christmas is a time to be braver with looks, wear that red lip, sparklier make up and everything can just be a little heavier. I love the festive season and indulging in all things pretty and more luxurious. Hope you are all having an amazing December so far.

Christmas Party Photos.

My week in Instagram photos.

This weeks highlights included a Boyzone concert and my work christmas party 'Italian Masquerade Ball'.

Oribe - Gold Lust Oil Review

It's review time ladies, I shared this beautiful new product with you in a haul around 6 weeks ago so it's time to report back the findings. I heard about this oil from a friend, read a few reviews and before I knew it it was on my "Need" list. My hair is coloured and half way down my back in length so most definitely needs a lot of care as it can get really dry at the ends.

Here's some of the hefty claims this product makes.



I have really enjoyed using this oil for a few reasons, it's light weight (unlike Moroccan oil), leaves no greasy lank feeling, can be used of wet or dry hair. I actually feel that this is one of very few hair products that truly lives up to its claims, my hair really is in better condition since using it. It is expensive I think around £38 but this bottle will easily last 6-8 months, I use a tiny amount each time and it goes a long way. Every other review says it smells amazing...it does smell nice and expensive however no smell is left in your hair which is a shame. All in all I'm happy with this purchase and recommend it to anyone that feels their hair needs some luxurious tlc. x

My week in Instagram.

Every Sunday Evening/Monday I'll be bringing a few favourite photos from the week before:)



As you can see last week has been majorly festive for me :)

YSL Christmas Set

Quick post! At a Christmas there's lots of gift sets around and I picked this one up as it came with a few little extras.


I use the YSL Forever Light Creator Serum and was running out so I got this. Also included was a creme gel and a Top Secrets Exfoliator.


If you are thinking of trying this out go for the gift set as it's the same price as serum alone.

Hope you are well. x

Time to relax with Aromatherapy Associates

Hi ladies,
Today I'm sharing a bargain with you. I've been wanting to try an Aromatherapy Associates Oil Collection since last Christmas after watching Fleurs Christmas Gift Guide. The sets are generally priced anywhere between £35 - £50 but I managed to pick this up for £23 from HQ Hair.




So inside there are 9 mini bath/shower oils. Each with a unique property such as Relax Deep, Relax Light and the list goes on. I've been using these for about a week and I absolutely love them. I pick a different oil every evening depending on my mood. I like aromatherapy herbal style smells, they are very very strong and I'm very aware they aren't for everybody so if it's a gift then just be sure they are into this kind of thing.





Here is a closer list of what is inside the box.




I'll be using these through the festive season as work can be stressful and all the Christmas parties! Hope your all having a lovely day.

American Beauty Haul

Warning picture heavy post!! My American Beauty Haul!
My friend just got back from New York and got me my dream beauty list. I am eternally grateful, these are products I've been lusting over for ages.
I'm just showing pictures for now as I haven't used anything and don't want to say much before I've had chance to try things out. For now please just enjoy these gorgeous photos. They are brands I basically can't get hold of here and have watched my favourite American YouTube gurus rave about.
































Hope you are all well x