Trendy Lips - Erm Not Really

Once in a while as a blogger you sent a product that you would never have purchased yourself. This isn't necessarily a bad thin, believe me I've discovered several amazing products this way, alas though this isn't one of them.

Quite some time ago now I received two packets of Trendy Lip Wraps Temporary Lip Wraps. Similar in theory to the jazzy nails wraps that still seem to be everywhere, in it's simplest terms these are temporary tattoos for your lips. They come in a wide variety of colours, designs and patterns -  I received the Red Leopard, and Rainbow designs.

Each pack included 3 sets of lip wraps, all you do is push out the die cute lip shapes from the sheet. You then follow the simple instructions provided to trim the lip shapes to size.

I'm afraid this is where the problems start the bottom lip wasn't to bad, since my lips are a little bit uneven it wasn't perfect but it wasn't too bad. The top lip was a different story no matter what facial expression I pulled or how much I trimmed I couldn't achieve anything looking anyway good enough.My top lip was just the wrong shape and the wrap was just too flat and straight for my lips.

After chopping and trimming, I thought what the hell and decided to apply them anyway. Application in theory seems simple. Remember the temporary tattoos from your childhood (or more recently;) or nail water decals, this is the same principle. The lip wraps are basically in three layers, the cardboard backing, the lip wrap itself, and a plastic covering, all you need to do it moisten them and the layers should come apart. Really? well the cardboard backing came away fairly easily, shame about the other two layers - in only one case did the wrap  slip of the plastic easily, every other one was a nightmare and the two layers either wouldn't separate at all, or the wrap itself got damaged in the process.

Once you've managed to separate the wrap from it's covering, it's time to pop onto clean dry lips. Still easier said than done - the wraps are really fragile, and it's really easy to damage them or crease them when your trying to apply them. In theory I guess these are supposed to stick to your lips but in the hour I wore it, it never felt secure - they supposedly last for 8 hours not on me though, I needed no oil or anything to remove it, it just slipped straight off. What do they look like on? well a bit weird in my case as I could only get them to work on my bottom lip, see for yourself

I really hate doing reviews like this that are so negative. I always try to find some positives but with these I'm really struggling. I may have got a bad batch with could explain when I found them so difficult to remove from the backing, but even if that was the case I still couldn't make these work for me :( The plain and simple fact is not every body has the same shaped lips, even with following the instructions and cut lines I couldn't make these work for me :( Trendy Lip Wraps are available in lots of different designs and have a recommended retail price of £4.95 for a pack of 3, they are available from various retailers including Amazon and the Trendy website. Have you tried a product like this before? let me know in the comments x

(Trendy Lip Wraps In Rainbow Print And Red Leopard Print Were Provided For Review / Promotional Purposes)

A Batiste Variety With Real Shelf Appeal - Hershesons Batiste Dry Shampoo

If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know that I'm a huge fan of the ease and convenience of dry shampoo, when I'm feeling poorly or sore, washing my hair properly is the last thing on my mind so it really is  a must have in my hair care routine.

Batiste of course is my brand of choice and thanks to my blog I've had the opportunity to try out pretty much all of the varieties that they've produced. Their most recent launch though has to be one the most exciting that they've ever done.

Batiste is a real must have in the kit bags of celebrity hairdressers and session stylists, so it was only a matter of time before a collaboration came about. Batiste has teamed up with top celebrity hair stylist Daniel Hersheson to create a limited edition variety - Hershesons Batiste

The first thing that you'll notice about this product is the packaging, Batiste are known for their bright, geometric designs but this one is a little bit different. There are no bright colours in sight, the can is silver and features white spots and cream labelling - very classy and exactly what you would expect with this type of collaboration.

The product inside the can does exactly what you would expect too, it removes grease and odours from the hair, adds fragrance and it gives it volume and texture. The scent though is something new and different for Batiste is has definite citrus hit, but you can also experience a slightly spicy aroma with just a touch of cardamon.

As you would expect I really like this product, it does everything that Batiste normally does and it smells nice to boot. Any drawbacks? well the price, a 200ml can of regular Batiste retails at about £2.99, where as this one retails at £5.50 for the same size. It also has a limited availability so it may not necessarily be available on every high street, unlike the permanent varieties. If you want a product a bit different from what everybody else has and with serious shelf appeal though, this could be the one for you x Hershesons Batiste Dry Shampoo Limited Edition retails at £5.50 for 200ml, and is available from selected outlets including ASOS, Selfridges, Hershesons Salons, and the Hershesons website x Would you buy this product despite the extra cost ? let me know in the comments x

(Hershesons Batiste Dry Shampoo 200ml Was Provided By PR For Review / Promotional Purposes)

Foodie Friday - LouLou's Easy Veggie Chilli

Apologies for the absence of a Foodie Friday post last week, but the here's the post that I was intending to put up - a quick and easy recipe for a yummy vegetable chilli. This is one of the easiest recipe's ever and can be easily adapted to make a bolognese, chilli, and ultimately, lasagna, cannelloni, or even shepherds pie. This is my basic recipe and the one I've used here but you can change it and adapt it as you'll see later x

LouLou's Easy Veggie Chilli

2 Large Onions - Roughly Chopped

4 Cloves Garlic

1 Dried Red Chilli

300g Mushrooms

1 Can Kidney Beans

75g - 100g Dried Soya Mince

A Dash Of Vegetable Or Olive Oil

1 Bottle Tomato Passata (690g) Or 2 Cans Of Chopped Tomatoes

Chilli Flakes, Or A Couple Of Drops Of Tabasco Sauce To Taste

Salt And Pepper To Taste

1. Add a dash of oil to a large pan, then add the crushed or finely chopped garlic, and the finely chopped chilli, cook for a few minutes until it's started to soften.

2. Then add the chopped onions to the pan, mix in and cook over a medium heat.

3. Meanwhile roughly chop your mushrooms.

Then drain your kidney beans - I normally give them a rinse under a running tap.

4. After about 10 minutes or so your onions should be softened but not coloured.

5. Add your mushrooms - don't panic if your pan is a bit full - the mushrooms will cook down

I usually pop a lid on to speed the process up a bit

6. After about 10 minutes they will have cooked down and will be soft

7. Add the kidney beans and mix in 

8. Then add about 75g of dried soya mince to the pan and give it a mix. You can soak or boil up the mince in stock before adding it, but I just add it dry and cook it for long enough so it softens and absorbs some of the liquid and the flavours.

9. Finally add the tinned tomatoes, or the passata which is what I'm using here and a little bit of water to the pan, making sure everything is covered with liquid.

10. Leave to simmer for at least an hour giving it an occasional stir

11. Then have a little taste and adjust the seasoning, you can add some extra chilli flakes, or a couple of dashes of tabasco, and of course salt and pepper to suit your personal taste.You can serve it straight away of just leave it on a low simmer till your ready. As you can see the sauce has thickened and darkened. If the sauce is still a bit watery add a bit of extra dried soya mince and cook for around half an hour.

12. Then serve - I've served it with boiled rice, and a sprinkling of a mature grated cheddar,

Alter Me, Change Me

One of the great things about cooking is that unlike baking it's not an exact science, you can add what you like and take out what you don't like - here are just some of the ways that you can alter my recipe

-It goes without saying that you can vary the ingredients and amounts to what suits your palette, I like it hot so I normally throw in some chilli flakes, maybe a whole dry chilli, and a dash of Tabasco or hot pepper sauce, I also add lots of garlic because I love garlic

- Veggies - obviously you can forgo the soy or veggie mince, and just use vegetables to make your chilli, something with a good texture would be the best, aubergine, and courgette would be good - you could also add peppers too, yellow or red would work, as would carrots, leeks, pumpkin or squash chopped finely

- Beans - Whilst kidney beans are probably the most traditional UK ingredient, you can add whatever type of bean that you have, I've used lentils, sweetcorn, black beans, and chickpeas before and whispers I also love baked beans in my chilli, it gives a real sweetness and makes the sauce really thick.

- Sweetness and Depth - my mum likes to pop sultanas in her chilli, and you can also add a few squares of dark about 80% chocolate which sounds odd but it really makes a difference, and takes the humble chilli back to it's Mexican roots.

- I traditionally serve my chilli with boiled rice, but it's also amazing with pasta, baked potatoes, or sweet potatoes, tortilla chips, salad or even crusty bread.

- The cooking time on this is also variable I've left this for between an hour and two and a half hours on a low heat and it's fine just keep an eye on it.

- This recipe gives 4 generous portions - me and Mummy Lou normally have a portion each on the day it's made and then we just leave it to cool and refrigerate it. It keeps for a day or so covered in the fridge and all you need to do, is pop it in to a pan with a tiny bit of water or the microwave, and warm it till it's heated through. It actually tastes better after it's stood for a few days, as it gives the flavours a chance to develops

- This recipe could also be adapted to make a spaghetti bolognese, leave out the beans, and chilli and add some Italian herbs, such as basil and oregano, you can also use the bolognese and the chilli to make a lasagna or even a version of a shepherds pie.

I'm a bit embarrassed about calling this a recipe to be honest it's so easy to make, I'm guessing you've probably made something very similar yourself but if you haven't step away from the jarred sauce and the ready meals and give it a go yourself x If you have any questions please leave me a comment x

Valentines Day Treats For Yourself*

Lets not beat about the bush here, it's Valentines Day tomorrow and I'm single! I know I'm not the only one out there that's feeling a little left out at the moment so instead of the Valentines Day Gift Guides that I've been seeing on a lot of blogs I've trawled the internet looking for some little treats that you can buy yourself for Valentines Day, after all loving yourself is the key to happiness :)

Candy Floss Pumps - £10.00 At Chockers 

Embracing the ever so popular rubber shoes trend comes this super designer looking open toed pumps. They come in 3 colour ways, the pink and red you can see here, red and white, and blue and red. I love the heart detailing and I'm definitely going to pick a pair of these up for the summer.

Love Wellies - £19.99 At Chockers

I love the shoes above but their definitely something for the summer months, given the weather this week these fabulous heart print "Love" wellington boots are probably more appropriate. They come in black or white and are ideal for cheering yourself up in this horrid winter weather.

Lip Stick Necklace - £8.00 At PrettyLittleThing.Com

I blog about beauty and I love jewellery so what's not to love about this cute necklace - Better still there is 30% off all jewellery on the site until midnight on Valentines Day just enter the code "LOVE 30" at the checkout :)

The Body Shop Strawberry Heart Shower, Scrub and Soften Gift - £15.00

I have to say I always love The Body Shops gift packaging and this Valentines Day they've done it again, this cute gift set comes packaged in a heart shaped box and contains a variety of strawberry scented products ideal for pampering and taking care of yourself x

Thorntons White And Pink Hearts 108g - £1.99

In my opinion you can't treat yourself if chocolate isn't involved, and these cute strawberry and white chocolate hearts from Thorntons fit the bill perfectly, cute sweet and moreish, perfect for eating in front of a sloppy film

Sleepless In Seattle DVD - £4.25 At Amazon

Speaking of which, this is probably one of my favourite films of all, time a perfect combination of sadness, slush, and comedy, what's not to love x

Pink Heart Onesie - £28 At Fashion Union 

Whilst your curled up on the sofa eating your chocs and watching your sloppy film, you need to make sure your nice and cozy what about this heart print onesie :)

Beige Heart Knit Cardigan - £12 At Fashion Union

If onesies aren't your bag, maybe this cozy cardi is especially since it's in the sale :) I think that this would great with leggings, jeggings or jeans -ahhh cozy

Marks and Spencer Limited Collection Make Up - Prices Start At £5

This collection is one of those that's created a bit of a buzz in the blogging community and with good reason The line is themed around love and hearts and contains everything from heart shaped eyeshadows, to heart shaped lipsticks, printed packaging and embossed blushers and bronzers . Excuse the pun but I love this collection, and I'm sure you would too, If you want to get your hands on a piece from this collection come back tomorrow and I'll tell you how x

These are just some of the cute ways in which you can treat yourself this Valentines Day, if your still feeling a bit mehhh about the whole thing though remember your not alone and there is always next year xx 

*I have received no financial incentives or products for writing this post - all of the items in the post were chosen by myself and I haven't been told to write about them - The images from Chockers, Fashion Union, and Pretty Little Thing were provided by PR. 

Smoking It Up With Green People

I always feel that honesty is the best policy so I'm going to be honest with you guys, I've messed up big style with this review. Just before Christmas I received a make up product from organic company Green People, unfortunately life got in the way and I've only started to review it in the last 3 weeks or so. No problem I hear you cry, well there is a little one, since then the Green People make up range has been completely revamped and unfortunately this product has been discontinued. I debated whether to do the review for a while but then I thought why not, I liked it and whilst it's no longer widely available any more, you can still find these trios on various sites on the internet.

Although I was familiar with some of Green People's skincare and body products (their sun creams are gorgeous!) I had never tried any of their make up items. So when I was given the chance to try out a product from their make up line I jumped at the chance.

The product I was sent was the Eco Eye Trio in Smokey Grey. These eyeshadows are certified organic and are free from traditional allergens and nasties such as parabens, petrochemicals, and synthetic colourant. They contains natural mineral pigments, bound together with a mixture of organic jojoba, and sunflower oils, and beeswax.

The shadows are boxed and are packaged in a 100% natural plastic compact which is dyed using natural colourants. The compact has a lovely almost pebble like feeling in the hands

The shadow inside comes in a removable pan about the same size as a Stila shadow. As you would expect from the the name these shadows are in the traditional smokey eye shades - a shimmery white, a silver, and a dark almost black, graphite colour.

The shadows are really smooth and pigmented, and are really easy to work with and blend.

 I've just done a really quick subtle smokey eye using these colours, which hopefully you can see here x apologies again but the lighting isn't the best at the moment x

As I've said before I'm not confident at all with doing a smokey eye, but it doesn't have to be dark and dramatic, this compact makes it really easy to be as subtle or as dramatic as you like. You can wear all of the colours together or you can use them on their own for a different look. I've particularly enjoyed using the silver shade on it's own, in fact I've used that much it has a pretty noticeable dip in it - always a sign of a well loved product., with a recommended retail price of £18.40 for 3g of product I don't think these are cheap by any means but if your after a good quality, organic product then this could be for you. As I say these aren't available on the Green People website any more, but I have found a few places online that are still stocking the Smokey trio, and the Aqua and Plum variants for a reduced place including Beauty Bazaar, eco green store and Mail Shop. For more information of Green People and to find out more about their new make up range please check out their website x If you have any questions please leave me a comment and if you have any Green People recommendations then I'd love to hear them x

(The Green People Eco Eye Trio - Smokey Grey 3g Was Provided For Review / Promotional Purposes)

One Of The Downsides Of Weight Loss Or Weight Gain - A Review For My Pure

Okay it's confession time,I am struggling like mad in my attempts to eat more healthily and to lose a bit of weight. I haven't been feeling very well and I've been a bit stressy, and whilst I've managed to maintain my weight for the last few weeks I haven't lost anything. I'm now debating between going back on my old fail safe Slim Fast or biting the bullet and taking on the most stressful, but most effective method ever for me - calorie counting - decisions, decisions! No matter how I do it though I need to lose a bit of weight. Weight loss or gain, or growth of any type though can cause problems, yes I'm talking about stretch marks. Some people never get a single one, some people do, and I'm one of those people. Fluctuating weight has done a number on me and I'm starting to see a few of those nasty pink marks on my stomach, and thighs, which I guess will only increase as the weight hopefully starts to come off.

Whilst you can have surgical procedures to get rid of them, prevention as they say is better than a cure, so I'm trying the old age way of trying to keep them at bay - moisturise, moisturise! Whilst it's effectiveness can often be disputed, many, many women and men have seen the benefit of massaging oils and creams into areas prone to stretchmarks. I've recently acquired a few products geared specifically towards the prevention and treatment of stretchmarks which I'm going to be trying out throughout the course of my weight loss journey. The first product was something from My Pure.

The Acorelle Skin Care Firming Oil is at the higher end of the spectrum at a pricey £21.99, but your paying for a good quality product, with 100 % natural ingredients.

It contains a softening mixture of sunflower and sweet almond oils, alongside rose hip oil which can help regenerate the skin, and baobab oil which is said to enhance the elasticity of the skin.

The oil comes packaged in a glass pump action dispenser - this method means that the product inside is airtight, The pump action dispenser means that you get the amount of product that your want so you don't end up using more than you need. Just a word of warning though be careful glass bottles and slippy hands don't always if you can excuse the pun, go hand in hand.

The oil itself has a light fluid and unsurprisingly oily texture - don't think oily means heavy and greasy whilst this oil had some slip it absorbs into the skin really easily with only a minimal amount of massage.

For the last 3 weeks I've been using this at least once a day on my "problem" areas, and I have to say I've enjoyed using, it feels nice on the skin, and has a subtle fragrance - Does this work ? Well I have to be honest and say as yet I don't know, I really think I need to use this for a bit longer to make a decision. It feels nice, and moisturising but whether it's making a difference I don't know and as a result I can't recommend it at this price at the moment. I've only used about a quarter of the bottle so I'm going to keep using it in the same way till it's gone, and when I've used it all up I'll let you know my final conclusions x You can find the Acorelle Skin Care Firming Oil, at My Pure where at retails at £21.99 for 100ml bottle. If you have any questions please leave me a comment x

(Acorelle Skin Care Firming Oil 100ml Was Provided By My Pure For Review Purposes)

My Latest e.l.f. Haul - Swatches And Early Thoughts - A Budget Beauty Series Special

Hey Beauty Lovers  -  I promised you a little post on my latest e.l.f. haul, so here it is :)

Due to Project 10 Pan and a general feeling of make up overload I haven't bought anything from elf for a while, but there was one new introduction in particular that called my name

The e.l.f. HD Blush, this products looks to be an almost exact copy of the Make Up Forever HD Blusher, only more affordable and more accessible.

The premise is simple, an airtight pump action dispenser filled with a creamy, liquid blush. There are five colours to chose from and the one I went for was Headliner, a dusky neutral pink.

I have to be honest this looks terrifying but you need such a tiny amount to make a difference, the amount I've dispensed here is a full pump but you don't need even quarter of that. As you can see it blends down really easily to a lovely subtle pop of colour.

This is a fabulous products which retails at a pretty bargainous £3.75, it's pigmented, easy to use, and because you need such a small amount for each application, you'll probably never need to repurchase!

On the couple of occasions that I've used this blush so far, I've just been using my fingers to apply but I also picked up something that would be ideal to apply this or any other cream blush or bronzer - the e.l.f. Studio Small Stipple Brush.

I'm a bit of a fan of the elf Studio brush line, and although I do think the quality has altered slightly over the years, I'll always consider purchasing from the line. This brush is a small duo fibre brush, which feels super soft, and  performs really well with creams and liquids. It will be great for just dabbing a bit of cream blush or highlighter onto my cheeks all for the fab price of just £3.75.

The only other make up item that I bought was something I'd been debating for some time, the Mineral Lipstick in Barely Bitten.

These aren't as cheap as some of the elf products, at £5.00 each, which is probably why I'd debated getting this one for so long. The colour isn't "me" really to which didn't really help.

It's sort of a neutral raspberry shade, but I'd always lusted after MAC Viva Glam Cyndi for a while and somebody said that this was a pretty decent dupe.

It's much richer in colour than what I would normally wear but I have to say I like it. Mummy Lou who very rarely comments on my make up, said that it really brightened my face up. That makes a winner as far as I'm considered - I wanted to be a bit braver with colour this year, and this is definitely a step in the right direction.

My final e.l.f. purchase was a nail polish, all the nail polishes are currently £1.00 in the sale so I thought why not x The colour I went for this time was Golden Goddess.

It's a gold glitter filled with large almost holographic silver particles, it's very pretty. You could either use it over say a solid gold colour, or you can build it up for full coverage, this is with about 4 coats xx

I only have a few e.l.f. polishes but I'll try and stick up a collection post soon, in case any of you want to take advantage of the sale prices.

So that was my little elf haul, although some of the quality can be a bit hit and miss, I'm pretty pleased with all of this little lot. I'd love to know what elf products you would recommend so let me know in the comments, and of course let me know if you have any questions xx