No 7 Mineral Loose Powder Blusher

Its that time again, where good old Boots have their £5.00 off No7 vouchers, now who doesn't love a money off voucher! This time I decided to try something completely different and this rather large box caught my eye.

Mineral perfection blusher in Rose Pink. 

Inside this rather large box, you not only get the pot of mineral blusher but also a kabuki brush to apply it with. The concept of including the brush with the product is a very good marketing idea. However in reality the brush is soooooooo scratchy and really rather irritating. I used the brush once, before reaching for my Real Techniques buffing brush instead.

The product itself is very sheer and I found you need quite a bit of product to build up the colour. It is however a very light pink anyway, which I think is partly why you have to build it up. It does have some light shimmer in it, but it is very subtle and is really quite pretty. I tried to do a swatch for you, but it is so light it didn't show up, with my rubbishy camera (I am looking into getting a new one).

The colour is very pretty and would suit light skin tones. Currently it is only available in 1 other colour which is soft damson, and I would be interested to try to see the pigmentation. This is the first mineral blusher I have tried so I cannot compare this to the bare minerals ones or any others. However part of the idea behind mineral products in general is that you can build them up accordingly. My one other niggle with this product is the poorly designed pot. Most mineral products have a lid inside which you can open and close to shut off the product, but this one doesn't. Annoyingly this means that all the product floats around in the top of the pot so you have to be super careful when opening it. 

I do like the colour of this blush and will defiantly use it regularly. This product retails at £9.00, but I got it for £4 with my voucher. Would I pay full price....probably not in honesty, but for £4, I am not complaining. 

Have you tried this blusher or any other No7 mineral products. If so what do you think?! Have you tried the soft damson colour? 

Review: Pedikur products

Recently I have heard a bit on the grapevine about Pedikur products and was rather intrigued. I contacted them on twitter to ask if I could purchase their items in store anywhere and they kindly offered to send me some to review. Now quite frankly I don't know anyone out there that would turn this down, so I agreed, but only under the understanding that the review would be 100% honest and uninfluenced. So here it is!! 

L to R: Pedikur Hand and foot lotion and spatula (included),  Pedikur herbal cream.

Hand and foot lotion: 'Dry skin and callus remover for hands and feet'- 200ml £16.00

This was the product that I was most excited about trying, it claims to remove dry skin and calluses, and stays true to its word!! I found there to be something very therapeutic about putting this on my feet and scrapping off the dead skin, using the spatula a little while later (sound horrible I know but honestly  its therapeutic). This is the closest thing I have found to an at home pedicure treatment! The little spatula that comes with it is perfect for getting rid off all the dead skin, which in turn left my feet so smooth and soft. My only problem with this product is that its a little tricky to use, but to be honest at home pedicure treatments are never particularly easy, as lets face it, feet are not the easiest thing to reach and maintain by yourself! You receive an instruction pamphlet with this bottle which shows gives you instructions in photos (you can also view this online, along with a list of ingredients-super helpful). The general idea is that you put the product on cotton wool and put it on the bottom of your feet. Now obviously the cotton wool doesn't stay very well on the bottom of your feet and I tried many ways of getting the bottom of my feet to face the air (which usually meant I was rather uncomfortable and looked rather odd). However the instructions suggest wrapping your feet in clingfilm to keep the cotton wool in place. As ridiculous as it sounds, it worked (needless to say my boyfriend thought I was nuts)! After a while you remove the cotton wool and clingfilm and used the spatula to get rid of the dead skin. I found the second time I did this a lot easier than the first and a lot quicker as I had mastered how to do it effectively.

Despite the tricky application process, this product is brilliant. It does exactly as it says on the tin and left my feet smooth and soft. This can also be used as part of a manicure on your cuticles in pretty much the same way (minus the clingfilm), and in honesty it gives my Sally Hansen cuticle remover a run for its money! I have used this product quite a few times and have barely used any of it, so I think it is worth the hefty £16.00 price tag (which is pretty much 1 pedicure session in a salon to put it in perspective) and I will defiantly repurchase this!

Herbal cream: 'Moisturising hand and foot cream with Sage, Thyme and Rosemary'- 75ml £10

This cream is designed to go hand in hand with the lotion and helps to maintain the effects the lotion has had on your feet and cuticles. This smells very herbal (obviously) and is really moisturising. When I got sent these, they also sent the cotton moisturizing socks £2.50, which are designed to be used at the end of the whole process to lock in moisture. I used this cream on both my hands and feet and I found it to leave both feeling super moisturised and smooth. The socks defiantly helped with my feet but the cream was just as effective on my hands as any other hand cream I have used. I have used quite a few creams on my hands and as much as I love this, I don't know if it stands out as being majorly different to any others. However for my feet it works better than others that I have tried, so it depends what you want from it. My one niggle is the price, as I find £10 a lot for a hand and foot cream, but thats just me. Despite that if money isn't an issue, I would defiantly pick it up and give it a go!

All in all I do really like these products and would defiantly repurchase the lotion and possibly the cream, although only for use on my feet. These products are marketed both to consumers at home and in salons and I can defiantly see why salons use it, as it is very effective!! Currently they are only really available on their website www.pedikur.co.uk, which is kind of annoying as you then have the £3.65 delivery charge on top of your order. 

 I would love to know if you have used any of their products, if so what did you think? Did you find the lotion easy to use or a little tricky?!

Georgie 

xx

Most loved products from the month of May!

So its that time of the month again where everybodys blog feeds are filled with the best products of May. So I thought I would add mine into the mix.

Back to Front, Left to Right: Clinique Colour surge quad in 'Pink Chocolate', PRIORI 'Perfection Facial Gel', Bourjois Magic Nail polish remover, Essie 'Cute as a Button', EOS Strawberry sorbet lipbalm, Essie 'Ballett Slippers', No7 Nourishing Lip Shine' 

Clinique Colour Surge eyeshadow quad in 'Pink Chocolate'.
I have had this quad for about a year now and I used to adore it. I stopped using it so much over winter (mainly because I went through a phase of not using anything else, so had to ween myself off it) but I recently found it lurking in my drawer and got VERY excited. These eye shadows are beautiful!! They are soooo creamy and pigmented, they blend beautifully and look stunning on!! I LOVE THEM!!!! I really want to get another Clinique quad!! This retails at £25.00, in comparison to 4 M.A.C eye shadows which would set you back over £40.00.

PRIORI 'Perfection Facial Gel'.

I got recommended this product by Louise who owns the 'U.and your skin' skin lounge in Norwich. After having a treatment in her skin lounge (which by the way was so relaxing I nearly fell asleep), she recommended this product for me for a variety of reasons. The main reason was to help even my skin out after my acne left lots of scars and redness and to minimise any acne that may occur. I have used this twice a day for about 2 weeks now and I love it. I am really beginning to notice a difference, especially with my redness around the tops of my cheeks, my nose and my cupids bow. I am using this alongside PRIORI's 'Gentle Facial cleanser' , which is brilliant for removing makeup and leaves my skin feeling super clean! I would really recommend checking out their products, and if you live in Norwich you should book an appointment with Louise for a skin consultation, she is simple amazing!!! You can book in for a consultation with her and she will get to the bottom of any skin issues or concerns you have, through asking you lots of questions and from that will plan the best steps forward for you through facials etc. Anyway I could go on about her for ages. If you don't live in Norwich sorry for that rant haha, you should definitely check out the PRIORI range, they are wonderful!!!! This product retails at around £29.00 and is totally worth it!!

Laura Mericer 'Secret Camoflauge' concealer.

This is my new favourite concealer. I love the fact that it comes with 2 shades and you can mix your own colours up, which at this time of year is perfect!!! This covers blemishes really well and stays in place. I have had no problem with this slipping and sliding throughout the day. The other bonus is that it is definitely not a cakey concealer and goes on really lightly whilst still covering my acne and scarring!! I went on line to see how much this was, as I cant remember but I cannot find it anywhere....have they discontinued it?!!!!!!!!!!! 

Bourjois 'Magic Nail Polish' remover. 

My new favourite way to remove nail polish. This gorgeous little tub is fuss free, quick, easy and clean!! I am awful at using cotton pads to take off nail polish and usually end up with it all over my hands. This is so easy, put your finger into the sponge move it around and hey presto, your nail polish has gone!!!!! BRILLIANT!!!!! I sometimes use a cotton bud just to go around the edge, but that's just me being slightly OCD.  There really isn't much else to say about this as it speaks for itself! This retails at £4.99.

Essie Nail polishes in 'Cute as a Button' and 'Ballett Slippers'.

Both of these colours are highly talked about colours from the Essie range but both are new to me! I picked these colours up this month and have literally worn them non stop! They are both super pretty and I find they last really well on the nail.  The only downside is that they require about 2 or 3 coats to get a full coverage. Ballet slippers is a very white based colour with a tiny hint of pink whereas 'Cute as a button' is a coral shade perfect for Summer. These are from the Essie range at Boots and cost £7.99.

EOS Lip balm in Strawberry sorbet.

I ordered this from the http://www.naturisimo.com sale. I have been desperate to try these since seeing them all over You Tube. I can honestly say I adore it! It tastes so fruity and refreshing but isn't overpowering (something which I hate in a lip balm). It really moisturises my horribly dry lips and provides a really subtle sheen to the lips, making them look really healthy! I love it so much I have just ordered another one in Mint. In the UK these retail at £5.75 but to my knowledge are only available on line.   

No7 Nourishing Lip Shine. 

The packaging to this looks so similar to the Clarins instant lip perfector and has already been compared to it by so many people. However I cannot do a comparison as I couldn't justify buying the Clarins version. This No7 one though is really pretty. It has a subtle pinky/ coral colour to it and makes my lips look naturally shiny. I am not too sure how long it lasts on the lips as most lip products last about 2mins on my lips as I am constantly drinking!! The packaging is really cute, the lid especially is quite quirky and stands out with it gold pattern all over it. This costs £10.50 at Boots, but they are currently doing their £5 No7 vouchers, so if you get one of those its only £5.50, which is a bargain!!

So there you have it, my May favourites!! What are your most loved products at the minute?!