Benefit 'Ultra Plush' Lip Gloss Review / Swatches

This post is about Benefit's 'Ultra Plush' lip gloss range. I received a gift set with all six glosses in for Christmas, so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do a post about them! I think Benefit have a reputation for doing amazing lip glosses so I was excited to try these as soon as I opened them! Benefit have matched the colours of the glosses to their famous 'Box o' Powders' which I think is a great idea as people love Benefit's powders and the different colours/textures of each one, so now they can buy the gloss to match their favourite! There's 'Dandelion' (soft pearly pink), 'Dallas' (dusty rose), 'Sugarbomb' (shimmering pinky nude), 'Coralista' (sheer coral), 'Bella Bamba' (sheer bright watermelon), and 'Hoola' (shimmering golden nude). I've tried all the powders previously and my favourite is either 'Coralista' or 'Sugarbomb', so I was interested to see how well the glosses matched and how they came out. I'm not sure this specific gift set is available anymore as it may just have been for Christmas, but the glosses are all available to buy individually for £13.50/15ml online and at counters. I love the size of the miniatures as it makes them perfect for fitting in my everyday makeup bag or in a clutch on a night out! First impressions were that they apply well, aren't too sticky or heavy, and are a good match for their powder counterparts! I'm most impressed by 'Coralista' for being true to the powder, however I was surprised by how pink 'Dallas' was as I expected it to be far more of a dark bronze, but I actually love the colour itself! My favourite turned out to be 'Dandelion' as it was just such a gorgeous shimmery nude colour with amazing shine that I thought would be so versatile. The application isn't by a wand but straight from the squeezable tubes by the custom applicator which makes it less precise than a wand, but I love how the applicator is angled which makes them less fussy and easy to apply. Overall, I was very impressed as I expected to be with Benefit and love that I have a few new shades of lip gloss I didn't already own! Definitely pick one up if you were thinking of buying one - 'Sugarbomb' is a great light pink for spring! 

Have you tried any of the 'Ultra Plush' glosses? Which is your favourite?!

xo.

Perfume Collection | My Favourite Scents

Perfume is one of my favourite beauty products. I love how fragrance has the power to take you back to a place or a memory, or remind you of a certain person or time of year. I worked on a perfume counter when I was eighteen as a Saturday job, and that's when I really noticed perfume properly and fell in love with it forever! My earliest memory of perfume is of my Mum, as she always wears Jean Paul Gaultier's 'Classique' - it holds such a strong connection to her that whenever I smell it that I can't disassociate her from it in my mind! This post is about my favourite scents that I've discovered in the past few years.

1. The first one is 'Chloé' by Chloé. I received this from my boyfriend a few years ago for my birthday. Chloé has been my favourite fashion house since I've been about fifteen so I was really excited to try their original scent when it came out. As soon as I smelled it, I loved it. I'd hinted about it before my birthday, and luckily it was picked up on! It reminds me of visiting him at university as I always used to pack it in my weekend bag. It's a quite distinctive, feminine, floral fragrance with a base note of honey; rose heart notes; and top notes of lychee. 

2. My next favourite in my collection is 'Stella' by Stella McCartney. Similarly to Chloé, Stella McCartney was one of my favourite designers and so I was very keen to try the signature scent. I got this one for a Christmas present a couple of years before 'Chloé'. I've had it for so long now, but I've made it last because I love it so much that I don't want it to run out! It's such a unique fragrance and I think it's one of those ones that I'll always have to have a supply of! It is also floral, with amber base notes; rose absolute heart notes; and rose, peony and mandarin essence top notes. This one reminds me of winter time, and is my favourite winter scent.  

3. Next up is 'Le Parfum' by Elie Saab. This is another fragrance I asked my boyfriend for and he got me it as a present! It's quite a feminine, sensual, sweet, floral scent that lasts all day long. I love this perfume so much and it reminds me of my birthday/Autumn time. This one has base notes of rose and honey; gardenia heart notes; and top notes of mandarin blossom. One woman even stopped me at work when I was wearing this and asked what fragrance I was wearing since she liked it that much! 

4. 'Golden Delicious' by DKNY is my most recent fragrance, which I got for the Christmas just gone. I got the eau de parfum version (which almost all of my perfumes are) and it's so long lasting from just one spray which I think is excellent value for money! It's fruity and more floral than the original 'Be Delicious'. It has base notes of musk, sandalwood and beachwood; heart notes of white rose, casablanca lily and vanilla orchid; and top notes of orange flower water and golden apple. I haven't had time to see what this one brings up memories of yet but I'm sure it'll be winter/Christmas time (maybe spring) seeing as I'm wearing it all the time lately!

5. I discovered Burberry's 'The Beat' when I was eighteen working on that fragrance department, and I don't think it's a very well known fragrance and doesn't have the recognition I think it deserves! It's very rich and fruity/floral again, and is quite young. Along with 'Stella', it's one of the more heavier fragrances in my collection. It has base notes of light musk, vetiver and cedar; heart notes of cardamom, pink pepper and mandarin; and top notes of ceylon tea, bergamot, iris and bluebell. Complex! This is my second bottle of this one as I had to replace it because I love it so much, so I asked my mum for another 50ml for my birthday. It reminds me of spring/easter time as that's when it came out and I wore it constantly when I first bought it!

6. 'Dior Addict 2' by Christian Dior is my party fragrance! I've had this once since I was about seventeen and I think this is my third bottle. It reminds me of going on holiday and nights out, as I went on a clubbing holiday in 2007 and wore this every night! It has apparently been relaunched as 'Dior Addict Eau Fresh' (but I still have the '2' version) and instead of grapefruit as a top note, there's bergamot instead. This is a fresh, fruity kind of fragrance and is quite seductive and girly. It has white musk base notes, heart notes of grenadine and freesia, and citrus top notes as I've just mentioned!

7. Calvin Klein's 'CKIN2U For Her' is such a light-hearted, fun fragrance. This is my summer fragrance and reminds me of the heat - I've taken this on holiday with me the last few years. I find a lot of girls love this scent and it's a very popular one! It's perfect for those hot summer nights and those days when you don't want something too overwhelming but you want to smell amazing. It has neon amber base notes, sugar orchid heart notes and pink grapefruit top notes. I find this perfume is always great value for money so is a great everyday fragrance. 

8. Lastly, I have Hollister's 'So Cal' perfume, which I'm not sure if they directly make anymore, but it's available on a lot of websites still. I couldn't find specific product information for this one, but I think the base notes are amber, and the rest is quite floral. It really smells amazing! It's very beachy (as you'd expect) and very girly and sensual. This reminds me of visiting my boyfriend again, but slightly more recently! He bought me this one, too, for my 20th birthday.

So there you have it! There are a lot of perfumes from my collection - it's not all the ones I own but most of them. I've enjoyed doing this post as I've learnt a lot about what kinds of fragrance I like and what their ingredients are! Apparently I go for the fruity/floral combination haha. What are your favourite perfumes? Do you rate any of my favourites? 

xo.

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Goodbye winter & a cheeky hello to spring!

I have tried in vain to access my old blog from about eight years ago now, to no avail. Why I used a completely random email address and password I'll never know, and now I'll never know what they are! After making this blog six years ago, it's my new year's resolution to use it properly!

So...we are heavily into winter chic now, to the point where summer can really not come quick enough! What's a girl to do when it's 0 degrees outside, yet short sleeves are calling?! The sales are coming to a close, the panic bargain buying is almost at an end, and you can smell the spring high street collections coming! Of course in high fashion land they are well into the swing of summer, and will no doubt have wrapped up next year's A/W '13 lines which is a depressing thought. Fashion is so ahead of itself now more than ever, it'll end up doing a complete 360 degrees and we'll soon be in next summer's clothes, this summer! So, the dilemma is, what to wear when you need a flash of pillar box red instead of burgundy, and you need a jacket instead of your heavy duty (but chic, of course) puffer jacket? Well look no further, I am also keen for a change! This week I scrubbed off my Revlon 'Vixen' nail varnish for a coat of Barry M's 'Berry Ice Cream' to brighten up my finger tips. I got out my white and cream jumpers for a fresh flash of brightness (whilst keeping warmth) instead of my black and grey ones, and I started accessorising more with warmer-looking gold necklaces and bracelets - I had become so involved in the practicalities of being warm in this dreadful cold, looking good was starting to take a major hit! A flash of bright pink lip was also kept me on-trend, but contrasted against the plums and deep reds that had taken over, proving that bright lipstick is an instant pick-me-up for the winter blues! Are you starting to get sick of the sales and the cold now? What are your seasonal transition pieces and tricks?

xo.

Floral Fever

I am very much feeling the need for a floral cardigan to make an appearance in my life!! You know when you just get a fashion craving? I know there's a lovely one in Primark currently, but sadly there's not a store I can visit soon! I'll have to wait, but in the meantime there's gorgeous ones from Warehouse, Asda Direct (I know!) and Abercrombie that I've found online for eye candy! I was disappointed to find good old Topshop did not have one in at the moment. But nonetheless, they're so cute and a definite summer must-have for your wardrobe.

Warehouse, £38.

Abercrombie and Fitch, £58.

Asda Direct, £14.

xo.

Inside-Out

Isn't it perfect when you discover one of your most loved shops has a blog of its own? Yes! And Topshop's is here to stay. Starting last year in February 2009 when fashion blogs were in the height of being oh-so fashionable themselves, 'Inside-Out' devotes itself to recording what's going on in the world, what the staff get up to behind the scenes, and generally what inspires them at Topshop. They encourage readers to get involved with what they're saying and finding out about most recently. It's a great way to get onto a more personal level with the brand and the blog speaks to shoppers and fashion enthusiasts like a very cool, fashionable and informed best friend. Check it out for yourselves!

xo.

I heart Chloé

My favourite label of all time without a doubt is Chloé. I fell in love with it when I was only fifteen and Phoebe Philo ruled the roost, and my loyalty hasn't budged since. What first struck me was the colour palette of the fashion house which tends to center around all different shades of nude. The clothes looked so classic and chic to teenage me, that I formed a personal love of beige as a result! I associate the colour with the clean lines of the Chloé label; the sleekness of the pieces they bring out; and the look of effortless refined glamour as demonstrated perfectly by Raquel Zimmerman in the most recent advertisements (as pictured below on the catwalk). Speaking of the campaigns, I think every season's since 2005 is plastered on my walls! There is a definite mix of a 70s/80s/90s vibe about the label that I just cannot get enough of. This A/W '10 season is no exception, and seems to embody mostly elements of the 70s. Clothes are on the rise with high polo neck jumpers, high waisted trousers, and long sweeping, large-collared coats. Aliona Doyetskaya of Russian Vogue said during Paris Fashion Week: "I think it's incredibly important in these times, designers really go back to their DNA, or the DNA of the brand they work for". This could not be truer in my opinion, and I feel this is exatly what Hannah MacGibbon has done this season. She also has the bonus of Chloé's signature 'DNA' camel/nude colours being exactly the 'in' palette plucked as the chosen favourite by Vogue, Elle, et al. The magazines are demanding for the public to consider nude as a serious colour in its own right, and Chloé proves head-to-toe camel can be no problem. Here are some of my favourite looks from the collection:

Raquel Zimmerman in high waisted trousers and silk shirt,
both adorned with bows, both adored by moi!

Bo Don in caramel coloured polo neck, ankle grip trousers and long coat.
The fabrics look so thick and luxurious.

Ajak Deng looking so classic in textured trousers
and coat, bowling bag and loafers.

Iselin Steiro in Chloé's classic camel again.
I absolutely love the shocking flash of the bright blue denim shirt.

Keke Lindgard in neutral trousers and top, with statement
black-fringed coat and mustard ankle boots.

Diana Farkhullina in grey trouser suit with high neckline and waistline.
Black loafers complete the look.

By my selections it looks as if all Chloé have are trousers this season but that is definitely not the case. Shift dresses, over-sized shorts and leather skirts also made up the thirty-three looks that went down the runway. These are just simply some of my most favoured looks!

xo.

So, this sucks...

I have tried for a VERY long time just now to try and recover my old blog...(despite not posting to it for over three years, but y'know)...and it's actually impossible! Thanks to the switchover thing where you have to have a google account, I've lost whatever username or email thing I made however many years ago, and I'm so annoyed! I loved the title of the old one. I made this one quite a while ago too, to replace it, but I never used it!

Depression and annoyances aside...I think I might start posting again.

xo.