Yes To Carrots C Me Shine Lip Gloss Revisited - A Review For My Pure

Earlier this year as part of my regular My Pure reviews I featured one a Yes To Carrots C Me Shine Lipgloss (click here to read the review). It was okay but it didn't wow me, mainly I think because of the colour. The shade I went for was Red Hot, a real brick red, on reflection I was a bit too far out of my comfort zone so I've decided to give them another go, this time in a more "me" colour - Carrot Kiss.

Like Red Hot, Carrot Kiss is paraben free and isn't tested on animals. It contains ingredients such as Beeswax, sunflower and Castor seed oils, carrot root extract, and peppermint oil.

It comes in the traditional squeezy tube, and it has a slanted tip for easy application. Again it has a peppermint smell and taste, so you do get a cool, slightly tingly feeling on the lips when you apply it.

I have to be honest and say that Carrot Kiss again looks quite scary in the tube - it has quite a bright orange / coral appearance in the tube but as you can hopefully see from this swatch, it has a more subtle slightly shimmery nude peach colour when applied.

Again this gloss has quite a tacky sticky feel, which does mean it tend to sort of pill on the lips if you know what I mean, but unlike Red Hot this one is really easy to apply from the tube, you do get a bit patchiness but it really isn't that obvious or noticeable. Sorry that this pictures isn't the best but hopefully you can see just how wearable this gloss is.

If you don't like sticky lipglosses don't buy this, but if you don't mind them this is a really easy to apply and wear colour. I can't see me wearing Red Hot that often but I can see this shade being a real staple in my make up bag. Yes To Carrots C Me Shine Lipgloss retails at £5.99 from My Pure for a 14g tube and comes in 5 shades. If you have any questions please leave me a comment, I love reading what you have to say xx

(Yes To Carrots C Me Shine Lipgloss 14g In Carrot Kiss Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)

Foodie Friday - Creamy Mushroom And Basil Pasta

Hey guys x sorry for the little hiatus but I'm back with a lovely recipe for you x  I've showed you a version of this briefly in one of my What I Ate Today posts, but it's so good I thought it deserved a post in it's own right. The original idea for this recipe came from an advertisement for a certain brand of cheese but I've altered mine a little bit.

Creamy Mushroom And Basil Pasta

300g Pasta Shapes

1oz Butter

Drizzle Of Olive Oil 

2 Cloves Garlic - Crushed or Finely Chopped

8 Cherry Tomatoes 

400g Mushrooms 

200g Cream Cheese

2 dsp Pesto 

Fresh Basil  (Optional)

1. Pop the butter, the olive oil and the garlic into a pan, and heat gently until the butter is melted, and the garlic is starting to soften.

2. In the meantime chop your mushrooms, you can use any variety you like but I love making this with whole baby button mushrooms or with chestnut mushrooms which have a meatier texture and a better flavour - you can chop them roughly or finely whatever you prefer.

Then chop your tomatoes - you can half or quarter them whatever you prefer.

3. After a few minutes the butter should be melted, and the garlic should be starting to soften

At this point add your mushrooms to the pan, and give them a quick stir to make sure their covered in the oil, butter and garlic mix

If you have a lid pop it on, and cook over a medium heat.

4. If your using it tear up some fresh basil

and pop your pasta on I'm using some gluten free spirals but any shape would work.

5. After about 10 minutes your mushrooms should be softened and should have reduced down

Then add the tomatoes and some of the fresh basil and mix in 

Then add the pesto and mix in well.

6. Cream cheese time :) pop the cream cheese into the mushroom mix 

Mix it in slowly and don't panic if it looks as though it's going to curdle

Cook for few minutes and the mixture should start to thicken

7. Once your pasta is cooked drain it well 

Then pop it back into the pan and add the mushroom mix

Stir well until everything is combined

8.  Serve, sprinkled with chopped basil and enjoy :) 

This recipe serves two greedy people very easily and obviously could be adapted to serve more. This is another one of those add what you like and leave out what your don't recipes. If you don't like pesto leave it out, if you want to add some chicken or bacon do it. You could also vary the cream cheese, and use maybe a basil version, or a garlic and herb variety, instead of adding the pesto and basil (like the original recipe). Oh and don't think you need the "branded" cream cheese you don't, I usually make this using the stores cheap own brand - the one I used here was a 200g tub of Tesco Everyday Value Cream Cheese, and its fine x This is a really quick and filling dish that tastes yummy :) I am a real pasta girl so this is definitely one of my favourites :) If you have any questions please leave me a comment x

FABB Events Newcastle - An Amazing Day, And A Huge Confidence Booster

Despite it's misgivings I actually love living where I do, I'm a real northern girl at heart, and I love the north east with a passion, within an hour of where I live I can be by the sea, in a bustling city or out on the unspoilt, windswept moors - this area really does have something for everyone, apart for maybe the blogger. It's sad to say it sometimes well we feel a bit left out, I'm lucky enough to have been invited to lots of blogger events since I started this little journey, but due my illness and where I live it just hasn't been practical for me to go to any of them. Sensing the isolation that a lot of bloggers from outside the capital felt, two amazing ladies and north east bloggers, Tor from That's Peachy and Ray from Who Is She, formed FABB Events, with the aim of bringing fashion and beauty blogging meet ups and events to the bloggers, no matter where they are. Their first event in Leeds was a huge success, but on Saturday the ladies were back on home turf (ish) in Newcastle.

As soon as I found out there was an event somewhere that I could get too, I signed up straight away. Can I be honest with you? as soon as I did I regretted it, as you've probably gathered from last post my confidence in everything from my appearance to my own future is at rock bottom at the moment, and here was I planning to spend an afternoon with a whole load of ladies (and gentlemen) that I'd never met? that sounds crazy but I knew I had to do it to prove that the old Lou is in there somewhere all be it under a bit of padding, so after talking to quite a few lovely people on twitter some of  us arranged to meet at the famous Monument in Newcastle before the event so we didn't have to walk in on our own :)

The event was held in the Kanaloa bar, in city centre venue, Tiger Tiger. The room was decorated in a polynesian style with tribal carvings and sculptures on the walls and leis on the tables :) - a little bit of the south seas in an all be it sunny Newcastle :) We were met by Tor and Ray and given name stickers, a real godsend as I'm useless at remembering names, we then had a chance to have a drink and get to know each other a bit before we had brief intro from the ladies.

The first presentation was from Rosie Spencer from a clothing company called Tinned Bananas. This is a relatively new north east based, family clothing company, that's already making waves with the UK fashion pack. All their garments are made in the UK and are simply amazing to look out, the colours and patterns are so vibrant, and the fabrics are so soft and range from a smooth slinky style material, to a soft stretch velvet, and their swimwear in particular is to die for, in fact Look magazines fashion editor Lucy Wood, has even taken some of their bikinis to the Coachella festival.

I have to be honest and say that the line is probably a too small for me, and my rather rotund frame but if your after something a little bit different I would definitely recommend you have a look at their website here x I'm really thinking of using their swimwear as diet inspiration for maybe Summer 2014 :) x

After Rosie's presentation there was another chance to mingle, after the cup cakes and cake pops had been attacked though :) I was really good and not wanting to aggravate my food allergies I just had one cake pop which was AMAZING :), so worth the bloating and pain lol. I tried to speak to as many people as I could but I was really hard to speak to everyone, especially when your a bit shy - I seemed to miss out the far side of the room which was a real shame :(

The second talk was from Sandra Tang. Sandra works freelance in digital marketing, and has done a lot of work with Newcastle NE1, which promotes leisure and cultural events and activities in the city centre (click here to find out more). What Sandra came to talk to us about though was Newcastle Fashion Week. There are events taking place all over the city from the 11th to the 18th of May, ranging from individual store events, to catwalk shows in Eldon Square, an introduction to ebay session in the Central Library, and a spectacular bridal fashion show taking place in the Theatre Royal. We were kindly given an event programme, and a free ticket for the first day of the Newcastle Fashion Weekend, a event which is going to be taking place at Northumbria University, and will feature everything from catwalk shows, celeb appearances, free make overs, style consultations and a chance to meet Poppy Dinsey from WIWT - I love Poppy and would seriously kill for her figure x so I'm definitely going to be using my free ticket. You can find out more about Newcastle Fashion Week here xx

Before and during the event we were given the opportunity to enter various giveaways to win some gorgeous goodies including clutch bags, jewellery, and beauty products, and I was lucky enough to win two prizes.

I won a Semi Permanent Mineral Brow Travel Kit, from ILAH Beauty, which contains eyebrow stencils, eyebrow and shadow colours and a lip balm, and I also won a Jelly Pong Pong Mineral Foundation which I'm super excited to try.

Towards the end of the event we all given a goodies bag which contained some fabulous things that I can't wait try from a variety of brand including Lush, Elemis, Macadamia Oil, Lee Stafford, Beauty UK and loads more, as well as press releases and a load of discounts - I can't wait to have a proper play and I'll definitely try and review some of the bits for you - Oh it also contained some Pop Chips but I ate a packet on the way home and Mummy Lou ate the other one sorry - the barbeque ones are amazing  :)

From Left To Right - Katie, Amy, and Bethanie

I have to say despite my initial apprehension I really enjoyed the event and the opportunity to meet and talk to so many fabulous north east based bloggers, and to listen to some really informative and interesting speakers. Everybody was sooooo friendly, and I'm only sad that I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone. My confidence still isn't amazing especially appearance wise (hmm) but thanks to Ray and Tor, and some lovely, genuine people I certainly don't feel as isolated or as scared about meeting new people and trying new things. If you want to find out more about FABB Events then you can follow them on twitter or check out their facebook page, and if they come around to your neck of the woods, I'd definitely advise you to try and get a ticket, Thanks ladies I am one satisfied blogger x

Honesty, Sadness, An Outfit Fail And A Quick Face Of Saturday x

I'm sorry that these posts are a little later than I intended them to be but I spent most of Saturday night and yesterday in a stupid amount of pain, my muscles literally seized up, in a mass of cramps and spasms, the cause of the pain - believe it or not a blogger event. On Saturday I attended my first ever blogger event hosted by FABB Events at Tiger Tiger in Newcastle. I didn't do anything that people don't do everyday of the week yet I ended up in some serious pain. I hate my stupid body at times and my physio is going to have a field day on Wednesday trying to iron me out, but do you know what? it was worth it. I really think I should give my body a kick in the teeth more often and do things that I enjoy and suffer the consequences - life really is too short. I'll post more about the event itself later but I thought I'd do a quick outfit and face of the day post x

I was scared about the whole thing to be honest: when your completely lacking in self confidence and self belief hurling yourself into situations like events when you've never me a soul there is scary. I constantly feel as though people are judging me and critiquing me all the time, I know this isn't true but its how I feel, so what do you wear to meet up with fashion and beauty bloggers? well I'm afraid I stayed well within my comfort zone. I'm feeling super uncomfortable about my body at the moment the weight isn't coming off as quick as I would like ( my doctor said it would be hard and boy is it) and quite frankly I hate looking in the mirror at the moment. I picked a simple smart casual outfit, that above all was comfortable.

What I Wore 

Blue Jeggings - Asda

White Vest - La Redoute 

White Number Burn Out Top - Primark

Lightweight Black Blazer - Sienna Couture At New Look

Black Biker Boots - Studio Catalogue

Gold Acrylic Mirror Name Necklace - Punky Pins

Standing up and walking I was feeling OK glancing at my reflection in shop windows etc. I thought you aren't looking too bad Lou - I was wrong though, I've had a look at some of the pics from the event and quite frankly I could have cried sitting down the two layers of top does nothing for my stomach, and the white makes me look huge :( In fact I almost look pregnant (thanks for that Mummy Lou)- comfortable but all in all a fail and a real confidence killer - I guess there is a reason why so many clothes for fuller figured women are dark - white clothing, flash photography and a super curvy tummy does not a happy LouLou make :(  Everyone has been so nice about everything though so I can't thank you all enough for being so sweet and understanding - It only goes to show what fabulous people end up in the North East xx

From something I felt like utter turd about to something I was happy with - my make up - I was in a major hurry and I knew that being a slightly warmer day than we'd had lately nothing dramatic would last so I made the decision quite early to go for something neutral - I didn't have much time to photograph the look so you can see the lipstick here x and the eye look will be up in my palette of the month post later this week and yeah it is another fish face :)

What I Wore
GOSH - Velvet Touch Cream Primer

Avon Ideal Flawless Foundation - Ivory
Mixed With
Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid - 010 Ivory
Boots No7 Trio Conceale - Lightest 2 Shades Mixed
MAC Prep + Prime Transparent Finishing Powder
Benefit Sugarbomb - All Shade Swirled Together
 Maybelline The Colossal Mascara - Glam Black
Front Cover Satin Pressed Eyeshadows - Mocha Magic, Brown Cork, and Burnt Cork

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick - 04 - Rose Tweed.

I know you can't see the look too well, It will be definitely something that I will wear again it was simple, and it looked really fresh, and natural, and shock of horrors I still had make up to take off when I got home - result! Pretty boring but effective - if you want to see a much more exciting eye look though check out this post from the lovely Aqeela who I was lucky enough to meet at the event - how amazing are her eyes?

I'm sorry that this post was a bit of a downer, if your not happy, your not happy though and you can't pretend to be something your not. Thankfully my negativity came after the event which was a great experience that I'm so pleased to have taken part in - my full post on the event will be up shortly, if I haven't scared you off already that it :) xx 

Tackling Spots And Blemishes With The OXY Clearlight

I have a confession to make guys - I'm feeling old lately - whether it down to the increasing number of bloggers who are still at school or whether its down to the first grey hairs that I'm starting to sprout - lately I'm feeling every inch of my 34 nearly 35 years and a bit more besides. One advantage to getting older is that at long last my skin is starting to clear up - instead of almost continuous breakouts I now only get a few hormonal spots at my time of the month - every cloud as they say. Despite only getting the odd spot now (bar this month where I've had my worst breakout for ages!!) I still hate them and the type that I do get or sore, painful and take ages to go away. I have a few spot treatments that I keep on hand just case but I can honestly say whilst they do work I'm not a huge fan of any of them - a lot of them burn, sting, and worst of all they can leave the skin flaky and dry long after the spot has gone - yuck!

If lotions and potions aren't your bag though, their are lots of other things on the market that can help us in the quest for perfect skin. Look in any electrical retailer, department store, beauty retailer or larger chemist, and you will find lots of skin clearing gadgets, and tools, that promise to zap those zits and leave our skin smooth and perfected. The only trouble is the majority of these gadgets aren't cheap and some can retail at well over £150. Yes spots are annoying but there is no way, that I would pay that, if your unhappy enough with your skin though I'm sure you would pay anything but I'm not so I wouldn't pay that. A little while ago now though I was contacted on behalf of the well known skincare company and blemish specialist OXY and given the opportunity to try out a more purse friendly spot zapping gadget.

The people at OXY are aware of how distressing spots and can be so alongside their skincare line they've also introduced a gadget called the OXY Clearlight which claims to amongst other things reduce the appearance of spots and acne.

How it works is quite scientific and it's clear that a lot of specialist research has gone into this but in its simplest terms this tool uses the power of light through a process which is known as photodynamic therapy. The battery operated unit contains 4 LED lights which emit a pure, safe blue coloured light. The light wavelength in the OXY Clear Light is scientifically formulated to react with our own skin structure, to produce oxygen and to kill off the bacteria called P.acnes which is the bacteria that causes spots, acne and blemishes. OXY claim that with regular usage this product can aid the healing and appearance of existing spots whilst at the same time, preventing the formation of new spots and blemishes.

Unlike a lot of similar gadgets on the market the OXY Clear Light doesn't use UV light so it's claimed that doesn't affect or damage any healthy skin cells, the only areas that the light affects is the areas containing the spot causing bacteria. Its also claimed that this product can help heal spots without causing any additional redness, dryness, soreness and irritation.

The OXY Clearlight comes boxed, in the box you get the handheld unit itself, a 9 volt battery, and an instruction leaflet. The unit also comes with a two year warranty.

The battery is really easy to insert, and the unit operates with a single button, so it's really easy to use.

I've made a video showing you how the unit works which you can see below but I'll give you a quick overview here x First of all you need to make sure that you skin is clean and dry, I usually cleanse or wash my face first. Then you need to use a antibacterial or skin wipe on the head of the unit to make sure that it's clean Then you put the head of the unit over the spot or area that you want to treat and then you press the button. Then you'll hear a beeping noise and a green light will be illuminated on the button, and the blue LEDs will be activated. All you do is hold the unit against the spot for 3 minutes, the unit is self timed so after 3 minutes, it will beep and the lights will do off. Then give your unit another wipe down, and apply your regular facial moisturiser and your done. OXY recommend that you use the unit twice a day until the spot disappears completely.



The unit as you can see is really easy to use, one button and the treatment is all timed for you. I did expect to feel something from the lights but I didn't feel any heat or any indication that anything was happening, and afterwards the skin and spot looked exactly the same bar an indentation where I'd pressed the unit too hard against my skin.

I've been using this product for quite a few months now and I have to say, it's generally done what it promises. I've found that it does seem to heal up spots more quickly, and most importantly without any stinging, burning or most importantly dryness. Dryness is one of my main issues with conventional sport treatment, yes they treat the spot but more often than not they leave the area of skin so dry that it's even worse to cover up than the initial spot was - I hardly found that at all with the Clearlight, the spots just gradually seemed to go down and look less obvious without any of that horrid flaking and peeling. Spots aren't pretty are they so instead of putting some rather yucky pictures up here - the link below will take you to a set of photos which show the progress of the Clearlight over a period of 9 days on one of my rather less welcome guests.

An Example Of My Progress With The OXY Clearlight Over The Course Of Several Days - Not For The Squeamish! 

For those of you that didn't want to look at the pics I'll do my best to summarise what they show. After the first couple of treatments my spot actually looked a lot worse, the gadget seemed almost to draw the spot out but after a few days it started to calm down and gradually disappear. I know what your saying 9 days is still a long time for a spot to completely disappear but for me that's a major improvement. If I don't touch a spot I can still often see evidence of it up to 3 weeks later - the spot itself can disappear within a couple of weeks, but the pigmentation can stick around for much longer not with this though, clear skin within less than two weeks :)

I'll hold my hands up and say that this product did the business for me, it's really helping clear up some of those horrid, sporadic hormonal spots that always seem to pop up at certain times of the month but I can see why this gadget wouldn't be for everyone. I only have small breakouts and odd spots so I find this pretty quick and easy to use but if you have more widespread acne or skin concerns then it could be quite time consuming to use, as the Clearlight can only treat a small area of skin at a time.

Like most medical / beauty tools it's also worth bearing in mind that there are some people that the Clearlight isn't suitable for, these include children under the age of 12 and individuals who suffer from light sensitivity or are taking any medication that can cause light sensitivity.

I really think that the OXY Clearlight has made a difference to my skin and to how quickly my blemishes heal up so I definitely think that it's something that I'm going to keep using every time one of those annoying spots threatens to appear. For more information on the OXY Clearlight system and their skincare range please check out their website x The OXY Clearlight unit retails at £39.99 from larger Superdrug store and from the OXY website. If you have any questions please leave me a comment x

(The OXY Clearlight Was Provided By PR For Review / Promotional Purposes)

AVON Color Trend Lip Stix - A Budget Beauty Series Special

In last months haul the gorgeous Mummy Lou paid for a teeny, tiny Avon order for me. It only contained 2 items but they were things that I really wanted to try - the new Color Trend Lip Stix

These are basically twist up lipstick pens, the plastic pen style bullet contains a thin lipstick, just a couple of times larger than a lip liner - chubby sticks they ain't. Obviously this means that you need to use a bit more product so I don't think that these will last very long. It's also worth noting that these lipsticks aren't retractable so be careful how far you twist it up, as you won't be able to get it back it. They have a very, very subtle coconut / vanilla type smell.

Anyways on to the colours - they come in a 5 shades at the moment ranging from nude, to coral to red. The first shade that I got was Gone Pink. This a pale milky pink shade - just the type of shade that I personally love. It is slightly different to the brochure, it's a lot paler and slightly less pigmented.

Shades like this are hard to get right the formula needs to be just right. Unfortunately this product is a bit of a fail in this shade for me. It's very thick, but at the same time it lack moisture so it ends up almost clumping and clinging to dry patches that you didn't even know you had. From a distance it doesn't look bad - check out my frog face, trout pout, fish face :)

In close up though it's a different story, I went through so many pictures, and I even tried taking pictures on 3 separate occasions but I couldn't make this look any better :(

Not great is it? I can't recommend this product at all, it was horrid! The texture was horrid, it looked really nasty on the lips and it faded really unevenly.

As well as Think Pink though I also picked Think Fast Pink, I was a bit mehhh about trying  it but I gave it ago anyway.

Again the brochure swatch is a bit different, in it Think Fast Pink appears to be a lot brighter than what it is in real life. It's still a lovely pink shade but it's a lot more wearable than I anticipated.

This shade felt a bit more moisturising and it actually applied a lot better. There was still a little bit of bittiness but on the whole I think it looked at least 70% better.

It too faded a little bit unevenly but it looked and lasted better than Gone Pink. It isn't perfect by any means but I think I will use this one up.

This review was a bit of a mixed bag really wasn't it? I can never understand why two products that are exactly the same bar the colour can be so different. I was really looking forward to trying these and I have to say I'm disappointed, I'll use up Think Fast Pink but I can see Gone Pink languishing in the bottom of my lipstick drawer or ending up in the bin. These have a recommended retail price of  £4.50, but being Avon they are nearly always available as part of an offer - my advice though is don't waste your money on these buy one of the normal Color Trend lipsticks instead. Have you tried these yet? do you share my disappointment? let me know in the comments xx