Discount Dainty Doll Haul

It came to my attention a few days ago that there were Dainty Doll products being sold extremely cheaply on Amazon (we're talking MUA prices), and after blasting out a sceptical tweet it emerged that fragrancedirect were also selling the products for dirt cheap. 

Having previously tried a blush from this brand I was familiar with the product quality and jumped at the chance to grab a few discounted items. After frantically googling swatches of a few products, I settled for one powder blush, the notorious pale girl contour shade 'money talks', two cream blushers and a lipstick. With the prices being around £1.99 all of this came to under £10 including P&P. Considering the Dainty Doll blush I already own cost me £13.50 from boots I think this was a bloody good deal!

So here is what I got...

If you don't know much about the brand Dainty Doll I'll give you a quick briefing: It was a brand developed by Nicola Roberts (a very pale red-head) from the British girl group Girls Aloud to provide makeup suitable for paler-skinned ladies. The price range is mid-high end and the products can be found in selected Boots stores.

The cardboard packaging for Dainty doll products has a really pretty illustration and gold embossed 'Dainty Doll'. 

The Product packing is a sleek matte black design (matte plastic not rubberised like Nars packing) with gold writing. I am a big fan of the packaging and because of how compact the blush packaging is I find I am more likely to pick these out of my collection over other bulkier blushers for taking on a weekend away or holiday. This is no hinderance on how much product you get as the powder blush contains 7g of product compared to the 6g of a standard sized Mac Blush.

The only issue I have with the product packaging is that the actual product name isn't on it, only a number.  You have to check the side of the cardboard packaging to see the shade names.

L to R: Powder blush in '003 Money Talks', Cream blush/bronzer in '003 Billion Dollar Babies', Cream blush in '002 Orange County Girl'.

'Money Talks' Powder Blush: After hearing so much about this shade being dubbed the ultimate pale girl contour shade by Daisy of DaisyNation, this was the first product I knew I had to have. I previously held off on buying this because of the price and being a little unsure, but after nabbing it for £1.99 I'm convinced I've got myself the deal of the century. The shade is an extremely cool toned taupe-y brown with fine shimmer. When swatched the shimmer doesn't translate too much and instead gives more of a satin effect making it perfect for a contour shade. 

'Billion Dollar Babies' cream bronzer/blush: This blush was a bit of a gamble as I couldn't tell the colour clearly from online swatches, but after seeing it described as a cream bronzer shade I couldn't resist for the price. Now I have it, this is the product I am probably most excited about. I have been so into cream cheek products at the moment and as it gets closer to spring/summer a cream bronzer is exactly what I was after! Similar to 'Money talks' this is a very cool toned almost taupe-brown shade making it perfect for contour.

'Orange County Girl' cream blush: Not much to say about this shade other than it's a pretty peachy pink with gold shimmer. It is pretty much an exact colour match of the Dainty Doll powder blush I already have called '004 you are my sunshine', so if you prefer powder blushers go for that one and vice versa.  

L to R: 'Money Talks' powder blush, 'Billion Dollar Babies' cream blush, 'Orange County Girl' cream blush.

'003 It's My Party' Lipstick: The lipstick is (quite obviously) a bright pink. The colour is not particularly unique but it is a really fun shade. I Imagine this colour would look stunning on all skin tones as well as pale skinned girls. As far as the formula goes, I have only tried it on once but from that application I can tell you that it is very pigmented. I would compare it to a Mac Amplified finish in pigmentation but it is slightly drier to apply than amplified so probably more like the satin-finish texture.

Lip swatchy swatch of 'It's my Party'.

So that brings me to the end of my bargain Dainty Doll haul and all the products that I got for under £10. 

I hope you found this post useful if you were considering a dainty doll purchase, and if you didn't already know about the cheap deals for this brand floating around the web, then what are you waiting for...go shop!

Any Questions, please ask :)

Rachel x

International ladies night - FOTN

What better way to celebrate International Women's Day than by getting together with your best girlfriends for a few drinks!

So this is just another quick FOTD post (I will supply something of more substance soon, I promise) to show you what was on my face last night.

Face: Bourjois Healthy Mix serum foundation - 51 light vanilla

Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer- 1 fair

Rimmel match perfection powder- transparent

Bobbi brown bronzer - Golden Light

Mac Blush - Style

Dior Amber Diamond Highlighter

Eyes: Mac Charcoal brown eyeshadow (brows)

Mac eyeshadow - Nylon (inner corner/brow bone highlight)

Burberry eyeshadow - Chestnut (lid/lower lash line)

Mac eyeshadow - Woodwinked (centre lid/ lower lash line)

Maybelline gel liner- black

Loreal volume million waterproof mascara

Lips: Nars Velvet Matte lip pencil - Dolce Vita

Rachel xx

Face and Nails of the day 05/03/13

If there is anyone still reading, I know I have been off of the blogging radar for a LONG time and I can only apologise for that. I have no real excuses to offer but you could say I lost my blogging mojo. Whilst at university last year I found myself more motivated to make videos for my Youtube channel, and any extra writing was starting to feel like a chore for me.

Skip to now... It's been a few months, I finished my degree and I have no excuses anymore.  I'm trying to get my life sorted out (call it a late new years resolution) and a large part of that is self-motivation. I am hoping that if I throw myself back into a hobby that I used to really enjoy, then the rest will follow.

I'm not making any promises of regular posts every day and I can't say that I won't drop off the radar again, but I am going to try.

So here I am, easing myself back in with a good old Face of the day. All products listed at the end.

Before I show you my mug here's whats on my nails:

I painted my nails with my Red Carpet gel manicure kit, using the colour 'Ooo La liscious'. The colour looks a bit more red on the camera but in real life it is a gorgeous coral and I can't wait to wear this shade in the summer.

 I am fixated on trying to bring out any hint of green eyes lately (I should just give in and admit that my eyes are actually more brown than green) so today I went for a bronze cream base and warm brown eyeshadow to try and bring out that 'green'. 

 Once I had created the brown eye look I added a touch of Mac 'Woodwinked' eyeshadow to the centre of the lids to add a bit more dimension.

And this picture with flash is just to show the glow that the cream cheek products add.

Products used:

Nails: Red Carpet Manicure gel polish 'Ooo La Liscious'

Face: Bourjois Healthy mix serum foundation - 52 light vanilla

Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer - 01 fair

Rimmel stay matte powder - Translucent

Bobbi Brown Pot rouge - Powder Pink

Jemma Kidd dewy glow radiance cream - Rose Gold

Eyes: Mac 'Charcoal brown' eyeshadow (brows)

Maybelline creaseless cream shadow 'Bad to the bronze' (base)

Burberry eyeshadow 'Chestnut' (lid & lower lash line)

Mac eyeshadow 'Woodwinked' (centre of lid)

Inika organic eyeliner - Coco (waterline)

Loreal Volume million lashes waterproof mascara

Lips: Nars Velvet matte lip pencil - Dolce Vita

And there you have it! 

Thanks for reading xx

Lush recycling for a Free Face mask :)

 If you are a major Lush-y like me I'm sure you will be aware and have taken full advantage of their black pot recycling scheme. If not, the idea is that you use up 5 of their products in black pots and take them back to Lush to recycle and swap for a free fresh face mask of your choice. I think this is a great scheme because before I became obsessed with Lush and aware of this deal I was probably less conscious of recycling than I am now. I am now so particular with my recycling that I labelled myself 'Queen of Recycling' at uni (no one else called me that...how sad.)

So I think it's a great idea of Lush to give incentive to recycle as it gets you into the positive habit and you get a free little treat every once in a while.

Here are the empty products I took back:

For a few weeks previous to visiting Lush I'd had a terrible breakout around my chin so was considering choosing the 'Cosmetic Warrier' face mask which has garlic in it (gross I know- but it acts as an antiseptic for problem skin), but by the time I went to Lush the breakout had calmed down slightly so I went for my old favourite, 'Catastophe Cosmetic'.

This mask is still great for troubled skin as the packaging will tell you, 'When disaster looms, Catastrophe Cosmetic calms and cleanses the skin. Blueberries rich in beneficial anti-oxidants, soothing chamomile, Irish moss and gentle cleansing action of calamine to save the day'. I agree with the claims this product makes as it is wonderfully soothing on the skin (especially straight out of the fridge) and leaves your skin feeling fresh and smooth. But for me the best part of this mask and the reason I keep going back to it has to be the smell. It has a delicate floral tinged blueberry smell which leaves a sweet scent to your skin for a little while after, which only adds to the feeling of cleanliness.

And here's a cheeky shot of me smothered in face mask. I have to say, of all the Lush face masks this one is probably the most attractive looking on the skin (if that's possible), so pick this one if you don't want to give your boyfriend TOO much of a scare!

 

Which one of the Lush face masks is your favourite?

Rachy xxx

My A/W Berry Lip Picks

 

If you have been watching any of my Youtube videos over the summer you will know that I have not shut up about coral lipsticks. But the seasons are inevitably changing and as much as I love my coral lipsticks, I am a serious Autumn/Winter person. So at the first hint of frost last week, I dug out my spicy Christmas candles and woolly jumpers and sectioned off the berry lipsticks in my collection.

As a pale girl the berry lip trend seems to work in my favour, so I tend to take advantage and go all out with the bold shades. That said, there are so many different shades of red/plum/purple out there so whatever your skin tone, this trend can work for you, it's just about picking the right shade.

So here are a handful of my favourite Berry lip colours, ranging in price from drugstore to high-end and ranging in shade from tomato red to Gothic blue-purple!

L to R: Nars Velvet matte lip pencil-Cruella, Revlon Just Bitten Kissable balm stains- Crush & Romantic, Revlon lip butter- Red Velvet, Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting finish Matte lipstick- 107, Mac Pro longwear lipcreme- goes and goes, Mac lipstick- Rebel.

L to R: Revlon- Red Velvet, Revlon- Romantic, Crush, Mac- Rebel, Rimmel- 107, Nars- Cruella, Mac- Goes and Goes.

Revlon Lip Butter- Red Velvet

 

  I'm sure you've all heard the Revlon lip butters talked to death so I'll keep it short. Gimmicks aside this is a lovely moisturising brown toned berry red. You can wear it sheer or build it up like I've done in the picture. Because it's a lip balm it is easy and comfortable to wear and fades evenly.



Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains - Romantic & Crush

 



Again Revlon has done good with the massively popular 'kissable balm stains' and I was really impressed by the formula of these. They are the right amount of glossy without being tacky and last extremely well on the lips leaving them stained when the product fades. As you can see I have had ALOT of use out of 'Romantic' over the summer and I am still very much in love with it so it is firmly in my handbag going into the colder months.

I actually only got the shade 'Crush' today (it has been hard to get hold of so I ordered it off good old EBay). As my first time wearing it I can tell this will be a go-to A/W Berry shade for me and I already know I love the formula.

 

Mac- Rebel (Satin Finish)

Mac's notorious berry shade

 Everyone and their dog talks about this colour during the colder months and for good reason. It's a fun and flattering plum/purple shade which I like to wear subtly dabbed onto the lips with a lip balm as well as boldly. One thing I will say about Rebel is that because it's a Satin finish it can drag a bit with application so I have found that I prefer to Pat the product on layer by layer rather than swiping it across my lips.

 

Kate Moss for Rimmel Lasting finish - 107

 

 

 

At £5.49 from Boots and Superdrug this is the cheapest of my berry lips picks but by no means is it inferior in quality. It has a pleasant watermelon scent and for a matte lipstick it glides on really nicely and is not at all drying. The shade is a really pretty berry red (getting sick of the word berry yet?), and I was surprised by how instantly I loved it. Out of all of the lipsticks mentioned, because of the price and the quality this is the one that I recommend you run out and buy.

 

Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil - Cruella

(Recently dubbed 'The Mother of all Matte Reds'- by me)

 This photo doesn't quite do the lipstick justice but hopefully gives you an idea of how amazing this colour is. 'Cruella' is a Matte shade so is really on trend for A/W, and Nars has done brilliantly with the formula because it sits really comfortably on the lips, making it feel like you are wearing nothing. Another great thing about this product is that because it's a jumbo-pencil you can get precise application with no need for a matching lip liner.

When I wear this product I get a feeling of ultimate 20s glamour, like I am fresh out of the pages of Gatsby. Because of this I think Cruella will be my go-to Christmas lip colour as it is so easy to wear and who doesn't want to feel like a starlet around festive season.

 

This last lipstick is something of a Wild Card and remains in my collection from when I was a little more daring/wacky with colours. These days I mostly reserve it for Halloween and scaring off little kids. But here it is anyway, just in case it is up your alley:

Mac Pro Longwear Lipcreme- Goes and Goes

 

 

Not sure what else to say about this one other than "EEK what was I thinking", but if this shade does happen to tickle your fancy, I can assure you that the pro longwear lipcreme formula is very creamy and long wearing (obvs). It's a Gothic looking blue-toned purple with subtle shimmer that really doesn't translate onto the lips.

 

 And those were my A/W Berry Lip picks!

Let me know what some of your favourite A/W shades & formula's are because I have a major berry yearning as of late.

 

Rachy x

 

 

April Glossybox - 'Natural Beauty'

This months Glossybox has come very late which I know alot of people weren't happy about (myself included, I was a little confused) but mine has finally arrived and I am really happy with this box. In aid of Earth month the theme of this months box is 'Natural Beauty', meaning that all of the products included are natural or organic in some way, they are 100% ethical and all of the packaging is biodegradable. I think this is a great idea, the box is really pretty and I am always interested to try more natural products having sensitive skin.
Here is my box and the products I recieved:

 The main reason I am happy with this box is because of the large (200g) bottle of Coconut showergel. I love the Coconut scent and like recieving body wash because it is a necessity and means I don't have to buy it myself.
Having recently fallen in love with the Caudalie beauty Elixr I am also looking forward to trying out the sample of the 'Vinosource SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum'.

As for the rest of the product, A brown eyeliner is definately something I will use and you can never have enough lipbalm.

Overall I really like this months box!
Let me know if you recieved this box/what products you got and what you thought of it!
Rachy x

Topshop glitter nail polish- Adrenalin

I was in Topshop the other day, and on my way to pay I noticed that clever Topshop had put these extremely eye catching glitter nail polishes close to the till, and I couldn't resist! There was a silver colour and a pink colour Adrenalin and I went for the pink for a bit of a change.
This nail polish is totally worthy of a post to itself, so here goes:

 Topshop nail polish- Adrenalin

I am absolutely in love with this nail polish, it is chocked full of irridescent and pink glitter of different sizes. I'm not a fan of sheerer glitter nails but this polish actually looks pretty with a sheer 1-2 coat. To get my nails how they are in the picture I applied 3-4 coats with the Seche Vite topcoat.

Thanks for reading!
Have any glitter polishes caught your eye recently?
Rachy xx