Glossybox 2021 Revisited - A Review Of The e.l.f. Bite-Size Eyeshadow - Berry Bad, And More Life Lately x*

Well it's safe to say that the few weeks have been pretty horrible. Less than 1 day after I published my last post we received the news that one of my bonus dads, my Uncle George has passed away. Although he had various ailments, it was all very sudden and understandably we were and still are both devastated, my mam's super close to both of her brothers so it's been a huge blow to her both mentally and even physically, so I've been doing my best to support her and take care of her. If that wasn't enough one of my oldest friends Helen, lost her dad just 5 days after my uncle passed. I spent so much time with her and her family when I was younger, going on holiday with them, and having sleepovers, and going over for tea. Her and her family are still very close family friends so it was huge loss, and mentally it really was the straw that broke the camels back for me, so understandably I've had a to take some time out. Whilst there are still tonnes of emotions, thoughts and memories floating around in my head, I've decided that I need a distraction, so I decided to sit down today and get my blog on.

As I mentioned in my last post, after many years I eventually made the decision to cancel my Glossybox subscription, there were a few reasons why I chose to cancel, but one of the main reasons I guess, was that I was starting to feel a bit snowed on by all of the products that I still hadn't touched. I have a huge basket full of bits dating back to 2021, including lots of unopened items, and I just didn't see the point in adding to that pile! In the weeks and months to come I'm going to try and feature as many of these products as I can, either in full review posts like this one, faces of the day posts, or in future empties post, thus giving myself content options without the stresses of proper unboxing's.

So today we're taking a little trip back to November, 2021, to talk about a product from the Beauty Desires edition, and it's something that the eagle eyed readers amongst you might have already seen mentioned in my previous blog post, the e.l.f. Bite Size Eyeshadow Palette in Berry Bad.

Whilst the e.l.f. range is nowhere near as cheap as it used to be, and their £1 products are long gone, it's still one of my go to brands for good quality, affordable make up, with the odd cult or viral favourite thrown in for good measure (Hydrating Core Lip Shine in Ecstatic, I'm talking to you!).

A good test for any brand no matter what the price point though should be the quality of their eyeshadows. In this day and age if a brand can't produce a decent eyeshadow then it's very unlikely that anything else, at least powder wise, will be any good.

Packaged on a fairly basic clear, and white plastic compact, as the name would suggest, this quad contains 4 berry like, autumnal toned powder eyeshadows. The quad contains 2 matte shades, 1in a dark almost, burgundy brown and the other in a light, peachy nude, and 2 almost metallic shimmers, 1 in a warm bronze / copper tone, and the other in a gorgeous deep wine / berry tone.

All of the shadows are lovely and smooth, and the shimmer / metallics in particular have an almost creamy feel. The pigmentation and colour payoff as you can see is superb even on the two matte shades.

They were really easy to apply and to blend out, with only a tiny bit of fallout, which brushed away easily with a fan brush.

This is just a really quick look that I created with 3 of the shades in this quad, and as well as looking not too shabby, the shadows wore well even on my oily lids with only a tiny bit of fading and creasing after around 5-6 hours of wear.

For an eyeshadow palette with an RRP of just £4 this quad really impressed me. The shadows were soft and creamy, the payoff was fantastic and the pigmentation even on the two matte shades was really impressive. I was also really impressed with the wear time, and don't forget all of e.l.f's products are both vegan and cruelty free, and they are also free from phthlates, parabens and several more potentially iffy ingredients - not bad for a 'budget brand"!

If you don't fancy going down the berry route though, there are around 12 quads in the Bite-Size range featuring everything from greens to blues, and purple, to loads of neutral and fashion options. The full  e.l.f. Bite-Size Eyeshadow quads including Berry Bad, is available direct from e.l.f. Cosmetics, selected shades are also available from various other retailers including ASOS, Beauty Bay and Superdrug.

Are you a fan of e.l.f. Cosmetics? Let me know your favourite products in the comments x 

*This Post Contains Automatic Affiliate, And Added Affiliate Links

Mothers Day At Poundland - Stationery, Homeware, And High End Make Up Dupes

When I was younger, like so many of peers I wouldn't have been seen dead in a so called discount stores, whether it was down to naivety, delusions of grandeur, just trying to fit in or just plain stupidity, I look back on the Louise of the 1990's and I cringe, I was such an idiot, discount and bargain stores rock and they probably always did.

It's simple really, why pay more for something when you don't need to, I am a huge fan of the so called discounter supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl, I love a good market stall, and of course I love bargain retailers like B&M and Home Bargains. My real love though is Poundland, you do sometimes need to watch their prices, as you can occasionally get things cheaper elsewhere but it's one of the few shops that I can never leave empty handed.

What do I buy in Poundland? well anything and everything, you name it and I've probably bought it in Poundland, nail varnish - check, CD's - check, cleaning products - check, yeah, you get the idea. I'm lucky enough to live quite close to one of their larger stores so I can't resist popping in every week or so, to see their latest arrivals.

Like so many stores now, Poundland is a buy it when you see it shop, if you don't get it when you see it there is no guarantee that it will be there the next time, I think that fear of missing out is probably one of the reasons that I buy so much on every trip.

Now I don't post as many hauls on the blog as I used to instead I tend to upload pictures to Instagram,  and save them to highlights but I thought that today I'd share some of my most recent Poundland buys with you, and they all have a bit of a theme.

If you are still lucky enough to have either your own mum in your life or if you're a mum yourself then you'll already know that it's now less than two weeks till Mothers Day. I think I'm just about sorted now but if you aren't and you either want some little things to add to a main present or you just want some cheaper or token items, or even if you fancy treating yourself on a budget, than Poundland really should be your first port of call.

On my last couple of trips I've noticed more and more items appearing in the their Mothers Day collection. With 90% of the range priced at just £1, this years offerings are perfect if you're are a fan of pinks and marble prints. With items ranging from these fabulous tea light holders, to travel mugs, coupon books, coasters, and trinket boxes, there really is something for every type of mum

Now my mam, is a bit of a puzzle book fan so I've picked up a cute set of pens that are shaped like cooking utensils for her (not pictured), and you know how it goes, I couldn't resist picking up a few stationery bits for me. The pack of  marble print washi tape wasn't in the Mothers Day range but everything else in this picture was. I love anything in gold, pink and marble, and I do love a notebook, so for just a £1 this one was a must, and I love the quotes like "Write Your Own Future" on the pencils.

As well as stationery Poundland's Mothers Day range also contains quite a few beauty items, I'd already picked up one of the marble Blending Sponges when they first appeared with the Valentines / Galentines range, and after a few uses I decided to get a back up. It works just as well as my Beauty Blender and I love the grey and white marble print. As well as the blending sponges, there are perfume dupes, nail polish and nail files sets, bath bombs and some pretty decent make up products.

For Mothers Day 2019, Poundland have released 3 cheek different products inspired by Revolution / Make Up Revolution's, popular Blushing Hearts line which retail at around £4.99 and were themselves inspired by Too Faced's £24 Sweethearts. I don't own any of the Too Faced originals but I'm pretty happy with the Revolution dupes that I do own, and £4.99 is a lot easier to spend then £24. What about a pound though, can make up that cheap really be any good? well I decided to find out and I managed to get my hands on two of Poundland's "heart" make up items.

The first item I picked up was the Bronzing Powder Triple Baked Bronzer. Sticking with the the pink, Mother's Day theme, it comes packaged in pink and white cardboard box. The box itself comes wrapped in a plastic seal so you can't actually see what you're buying, slightly risky but it was only a pound and there is nothing worse than getting a product home and finding someone else's fingerprints in it, so at least you've escaped that!

Open the box and you're greeted with your product adhered to a plastic insert, and boy does it look the part. The domed, chunky, heart shaped bronzer contains 3 shades, a deep warm gold, a deep brown bronze, and a slightly lighter nude bronze.

With the baked texture that you we've come to expect from this type of product, the payoff and pigmentation is superb, all of the shades are strong, and smooth, and I didn't have to do any of that scraping that your sometimes have to do with baked products to get to the colour - just warmth and shimmer in just one light swipe.

Unfortunately I haven't managed to take any pictures of these actually on my face yet, but I have used this bronzer for an all over look, swirling the colours together to warm my cheeks up, and then individually as eye colours. The shades aren't quite as dark as they appear in the pan but I definitely think that this will be more of a summer palette for me, it definitely adds a real glow and a bit of shimmer, which I think will work better on me when I'm not quite as pasty.

Now the other item I got is something that I can definitely wear all year round, it's the Triple Baked Highlighter. Yes, yes I have a ridiculous amount of highlighters but they make me happy, I mean look at it, it's so pretty!

Obviously it comes in the same packaging as the bronzer, only this time you're getting an altogether lighter, cooler toned glow. Again you get three shades in your chunky, domed heart, a true champagne, a more golden champagne tone and a bronze nude. Again I can't fault the colour payoff, or the texture, the pigmentation is there and it's definitely a case of shimmer rather than glitter.

Whilst the bronzer palette worked best for me on the eyes, this is more of a put it everywhere type palette, you can use each shade individually or swirl them together and use them on your cheek bones, brow bones, and again you could even create a full eye look with just this one heart.

I wasn't expecting a lot from these two palettes but I'm so, so impressed for the price. They feel nice, the colour payoff is superb and they were really easy to apply and blend, oh and did I mention that they aren't tested on animals? Yes you get a little bit of fallout, and they create a bit of dust, and I can imagine that the packaging will get a bit grubby after a while but hey I can live with that, they are a £1 each what's not to love! I can't really justify buying any more cheek products at the moment but I'm so tempted to go on a hunt for the as yet elusive, Blushing Hearts Blusher to complete my trio, if that is even half as good as these then for just £1 it will still be well worth picking up. If you've tried it though let me know your thoughts As I say when you see things in Poundland you should buy them, everything that I've seen and read seems to suggest that there were made specifically for Mothers Day so if you fancy a real make up bargain or anything else that I've mentioned then I'd get yourself down to Poundland sooner rather than later x Are you like me and a fan of bargain and discount stores? Share you best finds with me in the comments x

Highlighter Heaven With The Revolution Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette

Now it's no secret that I haven't been the best blogger lately but I promise I am going to try and make it up to you in the last few months of the year and going forward into 2019. Although posts have been a bit thin on the ground I've still been photographing and thinking about posts and whilst searching through some of the folders on my MacBook recently I found some pictures of a few products that I'd always intended to review and never got round too, and this was one of them

I originally bought this palette way back in 2017 and like the "good blogger" that I am (deep down inside anyways) I photographed it when it was all new and pristine, shared a quick pic on Instagram and then promptly never mentioned it again on social media - slaps wrists! Anyways despite the lack of online love I pretty much started using this palette straight away and despite the ridiculous number of highlighters that I have in my make up collection, I've used it pretty consistently ever since, so I thought that I'd share it with you and tell you just exactly why I love it so much  

I've been a fan of Make Up Revolution, or Revolution as they're now known since day 1, I know they have their critics due to their sometimes blatant copies of higher end products, but you can't deny that they do what they do well. Although there are now some higher priced items in the range they've remained largely affordable, and purse friendly. In my opinion they do a lot of things well but for me the palette is where they truly excel. I love make up generally but palettes just make things easier, colours tend to go together, and you're adding multiple items to your make up collection with just one purchase, I have lots of their eyeshadow palettes, a blush palette or two and of course I have this one, the Ultra Pro Glow Highlighting Palette.

My highlighter collection is pretty ridiculous, I have way more than I could ever wear but I absolutely love them, and the subtle nuances, and variations in each one that I own. I own budget friendly ones, and high end luxury ones, and whilst I love them all I keep coming back to this palette.  The reason is that this particular palette give you pretty much every warm toned shade of highlighter that you could ever need all in one place.

The packaging is basic but the powders inside are anything but, the shades in the palette range from pale yellows, and champagnes, to peaches, a warm peachy pink, and coppery bronzes. All of the shades in the palette are gluten and cruelty free, and they are vegan friendly to boot.

The powders inside are super smooth and they so finely milled that they almost feel like creams rather than powders. They don't feel dry or chalky, and since they are shimmers rather than glitters, the fallout is virtually non existent. 

As you can see from these swatches the pigmentation is superb, and depending on your skin tone, some of the deeper shades would make fabulous shimmery blushers and bronzers. Obviously you can use these as out and out highlighters to emphasise your cheekbones, your cupids bow, your brow bone, and the the bridge of nose, but what I love about this palette is it's versatility as I say you can use some shades are blushers or bronzers, and of course you can use them as eyeshadows too.

We're entering silly lighting season at the moment, so the lighting hasn't really been conducive to decent, natural face shots but I've taken a few in different lighting condition to give you an idea of just how smooth, blendable and wearable this palette actually is.

This first picture is taken with the flash and it's probably one my favourite ways to use the paler colours in this palette. Here I've used one of the pale champagne colours to highlight my brow bone, I've just used it very simply alongside MAC Smoke And Diamonds eyeshadow and a little bit of black mascara, a very easy shimmery eye that works equally well when worn day or night.

Annoyingly this photo that's taken again with the flash didn't come out as well as I'd hoped, but you can just  about see a hint of the warm, shimmery pink shade worn as a blush. On my pale (ish) skin tone it makes a really pretty and subtle cheek colour.

At last we had sunshine so I managed to take a few pictures in natural light. I'm a huge fan of nude, and neutral eyes, my Naked palette is my best friend and I love a bit of shimmer on my eyes so I've had a play or two and some of the bronze, copper shades are pigmented and strong enough to make excellent eye shadows in their own right. Again I've just teamed them up with a coat or two of mascara for a really easy autumnal eye look.

Again I'm not really that happy about how this one has photographed, because I'm quite pasty in the picture it looks very daring and quite strong but in real life it was definitely a little bit more subtle and wearable. This is lovely almost metallic deep champagne, bronze shade, that just made my face and skin pop. As I say it looked way nicer in real life, but if you have darker or tanned skin then I think this particular shade would be even more beautiful

As I say I've struggled a bit with some of my photographs but hopefully alongside the swatches they give you an idea of both the quality and the pigmentation, and of course the versatility of this palette.

Not only is this palette amazingly versatile but as you would expect from Revolution it's also a bit of a bargain. For just £8 your getting 8 fabulous, versatile and wearable shades, with a total weight of 20g, so that's basically just £1 per shade. Obviously if you're a highlighter obsessive like me then you need this but it you're new to make or to the whole concept of highlighting then this is an excellent product to start with and if your not a fan of cooler toned highlighter then this couple be the only highlighting product that you would ever need. I love and I'm so pleased that I picked it up. If you fancy picking one up for yourself then it's available from Superdrug and from Revolution Beauty. Are you as obsessed as I am with highlighter? Let me know in the comments x

Trimming My Stash - July 2018 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews, And Life Lately

I'm late again with my monthly empties post but at the moment that just seems to be the way that my life is going. I makes plans and for whatever reason they just don't come off. Case in point after months of lacking in energy, and umph, over the last week or so I've actually started to feel a little bit more with it, so yesterday me and the mothership planned to make a little trip to Intu Metrocentre. The plan was simple, a short trip with a Primark visit, and a coffee stop, and a quick appointment with Benefit to get my brows waxed. Perfect! then on Thursday night I had a call from Benefit asking me if I could reschedule my brow appointment for next week! It wasn't a major inconvenience so we put the day out on hold until hopefully next Tuesday! They say that things happen for a reason well if that's the case I'd love to know the reasoning behind some of the things that go on in my life, wouldn't we all though! Maybe someone up there or out there knows the potential damage that I want to do in Primark, and they trying to save me some money lol who knows? maybe it's for the best that we don't know the grand plan, or the meaning of life though haha.

I don't if you're really that interested in my life but believe me this post needs a bit of padding out. Last months trimming my stash was to put it mildly a bit of a fail and I haven't really got that much to talk about!

Primark PS Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes For Oily & Blemish Prone Skin - 25 x Wipes
AVON Advance Technique Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml
Beautifully Scrumptious - Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Honey & Almond - 1 x Pair Socks

Total - 3 Items

Yeah... I only managed to finish 3 items and two of those items were things that I've talked about at length in several previous post, what can I say apart from that 3 is better than none and from a budget friendly angle every item that I finished was less than £2! I promise I'll try harder in August but first of all lets take a closer look at the 3 products that I did manage to finish x 

1. Primark PS Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes For Oily & Blemish Prone Skin - 25 x Wipes

Yawn! I have no idea how many of these packets have ended up in my monthly empties posts over the years but they are a real constant in my beauty routine. I don't use them on my face that often (facial wipes are bad don't you know ;) but I do use them for all sorts of things including sticky hands, cleaning up swatches, and general freshening up. They are full of tea tree so they have a bit of an antibacterial effect so I often have a packet inside my handbag alongside my hand sanitiser. I always stock up when I go into Primark but since I haven't been in store since May, I've now ran out! I'm hoping I'll be able to stock up when (or if!) I go in next week but in the meantime I'm trying out some Tea Tree and Peppermint facial wipes that I picked up in another one of my favourite stores, B&M.

2. AVON Advance Technique Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml

I've talked about this product and the corresponding conditioner a few times already both on the blog and on my Instagram, and I have to say that I think this product is amazing. Not only is it really affordable at around £1.70 for a 250ml, but it's also really good and it smells lovely. Anti-Fall is a pretty big claim, and whilst I'm still losing probably more hair than the average person, my hair definitely looks fuller, and thicker, and it feels healthier, and in much better conditioner then it did before I started using this product. I'm using a couple of other shampoos now but I do like to switch it up a bit so I've already bought the 400ml Super size which appears every now and then in the brochures. I really like both the shampoo and the conditioner in this line and it's something that I'm going to continue to repurchase. 

3. Beautifully Scrumptious - Deep Moisturising Foot Pack - Honey & Almond - 1 x Pair Socks

Ah we've reached the final item already and it's probably the most interesting one because it's something that I haven't talked about before. Admittedly I've mentioned the tea tree and peppermint variant but until last month I'd never tried these honey and almond moisturising socks. I'm not sure whether or not that I've mentioned this before but I don't like honey! It's weird I love sweet things, I have a ridiculously sweet tooth, and I can eat things that most other people would find too sweet but honey nah not for me. I think it's more about that smell than the taste for me I just don't like how it smells, I know it's good for you and it's an excellent addition to your body and skincare routine but I just don't like it. Thankfully in the majority of beauty lines it seems to be masked by the addition of a few floral notes, but throw in the fact that I don't like the smell of bitter almond, and these Poundland moisture socks were a bit of a risky buy. Thankfully though they had a pleasant warm, sweet, slightly floral scent that reminded me a bit of whiskey! Odd I know but way better than out and out honey and marzipan! The idea is the same as the tea tree socks, a pair of plastic / paper / fabric socks that are infused with moisturising ingredients - pop them onto clean dry feet for 20 minutes or so and your feet look better and feel instantly smoother and more hydrated. I prefer the freshness of the tea tree and peppermint socks but these are a good alternative and for just £1 a pair they are perfect for dry foot emergencies. 

So short and sweet, but I still managed to ramble for a few minutes longer than this post should have taken, never mind hah ha! Let me know if you have any questions on any of the 3 items that I've talked about in the post or even if you have any random life questions and I'll do my best to respond x Thanks for reading x 

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Shampoo And Conditioner*

Whether you're a new reader or whether you've been with me since the start. or even since somewhere in the middle, then you'll probably have already established how much I love beauty products. I'm a real beauty junkie and I love trying out new products and new brands.

Although I do repurchase certain things (mainly skincare) you could never describe me as loyal. I don't repurchase a lot of products now and I'm always on the look out for the next miracle product or the next big thing. You may have already realised that one of my weaknesses is hair care. When it comes to beauty products I'm not a snob, and over the years I've probably tried hundreds of different hair care products at all different price points, and I'm a firm believer that price and quality doesn't always go hand in hand.

When it comes to haircare I've loved products at both ends of the price spectrum, and I've disliked as many expensive products as I have cheap ones. In most cases I'm of the opinion that you don't always get what you pay for, it really is horses for courses and sometimes it's worth giving things a go especially if they are at a more affordable price point.

Over the next few months I have a lot of hair care reviews coming up on the blog, and in an attempt to provide something for everyone, I will be reviewing some high end products and some more budget friendly options. I know a lot of people love their high end and salon hair care products but in this day and age, high end hair care can often be an expense that some people just can't justify so today I'm start off by talking about two products, that definitely won't put a dent in your wallet.

Being a proud Brit, I love supporting British brands and one such brand is Creightons. Even if you have haven't heard of them I can pretty much guarantee that you will have seen at least a few of their products in both bricks and mortar stores and online. They produce a wide range of skin, body and hair care products that are all manufactured here in England. Their haircare line is particularly impressive when you consider that the majority of products in the line start at just £1. A lot of their haircare products also remind me a lot of some of the more mid range, salon and stylist driven brands all be it at a much lower price point. Creightons hair care line contains a variety of different products including shampoos and conditioners for both blondes and brunettes, as well as products for frizzy hair, curly hair, and for hair that is lacking in volume; They also have an Argan oil based range and a Coconut based range for people with drier or coarser hair

Quite a while ago now I was sent a couple of different shampoos and conditioners to try, I will be reviewing two products from the Beautiful Brunette range in a future post but today I'm going to talk about two products from the Creme de Coconut & Keratin range.

Both the shampoo and the conditioner come packaged in basic but practical, easy to squeeze plastic tubes, with a secure flip top lid. The shampoo comes in a brown tube and the conditioner comes in a creamy white tube, so it's easy to see exactly which one you're picking up and using when you're in the shower

This range is specifically designed for drier hair types, and both products contain a blend of 3 specially selected ingredients, coconut, keratin proteins, and vitamin E. The products are designed to hydrate, indulge and nourish the hair, whilst at the same time leaving it stronger, smoother and more manageable. The ingredients sound good as do the claims but just how good can a shampoo and conditioner that cost just a £1 a bottle be?

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo - 250ml

First up the shampoo, and this particularly shampoo, contains a blend of coconut milk and keratin, alongside all of the other ingredients that you normally find in a shampoo such as water, and foaming agents (in this case SLS).

The shampoo itself has a slightly runny, gel like texture, and clear and slightly opalescent in colour. It took a little bit more shampoo than what I would usually use, but thanks to the SLS it lathers up into a really nice creamy foam, that rinses out easily and left the hair surprisingly smooth, and not as dry as I'd expected. If you had an oilier hair type then you could probably get away with just using the shampoo, but I felt that I needed a little bit more hydration so I generally used it alongside the accompanying conditioner

Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner - 250ml

Like the shampoo the conditioner also contains a blend of coconut milk, and keratin (the protein naturally found in both hair and nails) as well as Vitamin E, for that extra conditioning, nourishing boost.

The conditioner itself is a slightly pearlised, off white in colour, and it has a rich, creamy texture. It's thick and creamy but it's still easy to apply and it's easy to massage in and comb through freshly washed, damp hair.

The packaging doesn't really tell you how long to leave it on, so normally I just left it on for a few minutes, before rinsing. Despite it's creaminess it was easy to rinse out in the shower, and almost instantaneously I could feel the difference in my hair, it feel smoother and less tangled even when it was wet. When I left it to dry naturally it was definitely less frizzy, and it definitely felt softer, more controlled and more manageable.

I think that these two products just scream summer, not only are they perfect for when your hair might be feeling a bit dry and parched, but the creamy coconut scent also make you think of summer and tropical beaches even when it's dark and rainy outside. I have a love / hate relationship with coconut fragrances and flavours thanks to a bad experience with a certain coconut and rum based beverage, but I was okay with this fragrance, it was creamy coconutty and sweet but it wasn't too sickly.

Despite my opinion that paying more money doesn't always mean a better product I've got to be honest I was pretty sceptical as to whether these two £1 products would do their thing, but these products actually really surprised me.

As well as smelling great they also left my hair feeling clean, and well conditioned, and looking smoother and less frizzy. If you're not a fan of SLS and sulfates in your products then obviously these two products won't be for you, but personally I didn't notice any irritation or dryness, on either my hair or on my scalp.

The only real difference that I noticed with these products compared to say some similar, higher priced products was the amount that I needed to use. I think I'm in a minority but I'm one of those people that normally uses way more shampoo than conditioner, but with these products I actually finished both of the product at the same time, which is very unusual for me.

Whilst I can't guarantee that I'll repurchase either of these products, I definitely wouldn't be adverse to using them again. For the price I think that these products are pretty decent and they prove, at least to me, that you really don't need to spend a fortune on shampoo and conditioner. Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Moisturising Shampoo and Creightons Creme de Coconut & Keratin Nourishing Conditioner both come in 250ml tubes and retail at around £1 a tube from various retailers including Asda, Primark, Wilko and Poundland. Are you a fan of budget haircare ? or is there such a thing as too cheap? Let me know in the comments x

*Press Samples 

Make Up Gallery - Time To Shine - Quick Dry Nail Colour - 25 Purple Reign

It's been a little which since I last talked about a product from Make Up Gallery at Poundland, but I'm back today with a nails of the day from the polish with probably one of the longest names in history.

The name may be a long one but the price certainly isn't - the imaginatively named Purple Reign, is just one of a large number of polishes in the Make Gallery line which is exclusive to Poundland. All of these polishes retail at just £1 and although I'd only tried one of them before this one my first impressions were good, so I thought I'd try another shade.

Lets face it I love any lilac or purple nails polish Purple Reign is one of those dirt, dusky, purple, lilac shades that hold a special place in my heart.

The bottle is pretty basic but it's definitely fit for purpose and this short, but super wide brush is very easy to paint with. The formulation and the coverage was decent but I still needed two coats for a perfect finish. As the name suggests this polish dries super quickly so adding the odd extra coat isn't any hardship, and it dries down to a super glossy finish which is a bonus.

As per usual I tested this polish without a top coat, and the wear time was decent for the price, It didn't chip but I did start to get a bit of tip wear after about 24 hours, again though nothing that a decent top coat wouldn't fix.

I think I said this in my last Make Up Gallery nail polish review (read it here), but I'm going to say it again I've paid a lot more for a polish, and been more disappointed than I am with this one. For the £1 price tag, you really can't go wrong. You get a 10ml bottle of pretty decent polish, that gives you the opportunity to experiment with new shades and new finishes without breaking the bank. I think that this shade is still available but even if it's not your bound to find something that you like. At the moment they have a lot of metallics, glitters and party shades in, and I'm definitely considering picking up Rainbow Sparkle, which is a multi coloured glitter, that reminds me a lot of the iconic OPI shade Rainbow Connection but if you have any recommendations then I'd love hear them in the comments below x

Trying The White Based Nail Trend With Essence*

Look in any magazine or at any catwalk show, and one nail trend has probably stood out more than any other in 2015. No I'm not talking about stiletto nails (yuck IMO) I'm talking about nail polishes with a white base. From white based pastels, to white tinged nudes and out and out tippex whites, pale polish has been one of the the nail trends of the year.

Despite it's popularity within the fashion and the beauty industry I think plain white nails are a hard look for most of us to carry off. Your nails need to be decent, in my opinion this look doesn't work on painfully short, ragged nails, and the application needs to be perfect. 

If you want that white based look though, the easiest thing to do it to go for a colour that has that white undertone. Not only will it be more flattering but it will probably be more forgiving. I've shown you a few white based pastels lately but this one is more of a perfect,winter nude shade.

Essence I ♥ Trends The Nudes in 05 Pure Soul is a shade that gives you that super pale white based look but without the harshness or starkness of a pure white.

It's a bit difficult to subscribe but Pure Soul is more of a pale Ivory or creamy tone, it definitely has a bit more warmth to it than a pure white and it's also shot through with a tiny touch of pink shimmer, The shimmer isn't that visible in most lights but it definitely adds a bit of depth and warmth to this shade.

Colours like this are notoriously difficult to apply, and on coat number one, this one was no exception. It streaked and it was really uneven, but when you left it to dry and applied a second coat, it seemed to even itself out and whilst it was still quite sheer you could potentially wear just the two coats, as you can can see below, as part of a cream toned French manicure base.

For me though this colour should really be worn as a full coverage pale, nude and whilst you can still slightly see my nails tips here, this is 3 coats.

I'm going to be honest wear time wasn't amazing including a base coat I had 4 layers on here which does mean you've got quite a lot of polish on your nails and the thicker the polish the less well it wears. Although it would mean adding another layer a good top coat would definitely improve the wear time as well as adding a little bit of extra gloss.

When I first saw this polish my hopes weren't high, my nails were quite short and it just looked a bit too pale for my skin tone. Fast forward a few months though, and my nails have grown a bit and I actually think that I can get away with this colour after all. This isn't a stark, harsh white, and whilst it's pale the cream shade, and the tiniest smattering of pink shimmer, gives this colour the warmth that it needs. It's also a lot more versatile then I originally thought, as well as using it as a plain, block colour, you could also use it as a nice base for nail art and of course by only applying a coat or two it makes a good French manicure shade. Essence I ♥ Trends The Nudes in 05 Pure Soul retails at just £1.80 for an 8ml bottle, from Essence stand alone stores, and from Wilko and Wilko online so most people can afford to experiment or try something new. Are you a fan of white based nail polish shades? Let me know x I love reading what you have to say x 

*Sample