Bows

As a fan of hair bows, I thought that it would be necessary to make a visit to (probably) the best bow retailer of all time. American Apparel. Although I had never been to the shop before, I have heard such good things about it online. I love wearing big bows as a way to jazz up the everyday "half up, half down" style or to put in front of a messy bun.

To my surprise, the prices in the shop were pretty high; however every product was of an impeccable quality. The small bows in the store were around £7 and the bigger ones were £12. I couldn't really justify spending £12 on just a bow but, to my surprise, my favourite was half price! It is a gorgeous green plaid with white, black and red-perfect for Winter. The material is a high quality flannel which is soft and of such an amazing quality. I like to wear it with a black dress to add a subtle amount of colour in the winter. I was lucky with my sale item, but I won't be making a habit of splurging on bows!

 

 

 

 

Benefit: big beautiful eyes

Several years ago, I received my first ever Benefit product. I was initially drawn to the brand because of the gorgeous retro packaging and their quirky product names. So, when Christmas came, Benefit made regular appearances on my wish-list. At the top of my list was Benefit's 'big beautiful eyes' palette. This product contains a shimmery pink eye shadow, a shimmery light-brown shade and a matte brown. You also receive a good quality, two ended, mini brush and a concealer applicator brush as well as instructions on how to achieve the perfect contoured eye look. The brush has an end to apply the shadow over the lid and to blend but the other end allows you to line your eyes with the dark brown shade. As well as this, you also get some of Benefit's 'boi-ing' concealer, which I absolutely swear by. If you're an "I'm a Celebrity...." fan, then you'll know that this concealer was the one that Amy snuck in to the jungle! The only downside is THAT the concealer in the kit only comes in their medium shade '02' which worked well for me but may not do for others. However, you can buy larger quantities of boi-ing in two other shades.

                                         Picture belongs to benefit cosmetics

This kit teaches you how to create a beautiful, natural look perfect for make up fanatics and newbies alike! From this product I learnt how to apply eye-shadow, by blending colours and applying darker shades to the outer-corner and crease of my eyelids. I think this was a perfect way for me to dip my toe into the world of make up as the kit taught me how to achieve the look step-by-step and there are plenty of additional Benefit tutorials online, like the one I posted above. The eye shadow set costs £24.50. This may sound a little hefty, but one kit lasted me almost a year and the products are of an excellent quality, it would be a lovely gift or perhaps a treat for yourself!



Mist you madly

I was initially drawn to Soap and Glory by their retro 40's packaging, so when I recently saw their much raved about products I knew I had to sample some! I have been after a new body spray which I can slip in my handbag and spritz to my heart's content throughout the day as I have recently finished a strawberry scented spray from the Natural Collection. Once I had smelt 'mist you madly', Soap and Glory's body spray, I instantly dropped it into my basket. It was very much an impulse buy, but one I do not regret. And at just £3.50, I don't begrudge a single penny. The body spray I picked up was part of the travel collection: which includes mini bottles of pink hand sanitizer and, of course, beauty blogger favourite-hand food cream. You can purchase the bigger version of the spray for just £6.50 and you get 250ml of the gorgeous scent as opposed to 100ml. If you haven't sampled the spray before, I advise buying the small bottle first and if you love it, as I do, buy the big bottle.

Soap and Glory describe the scent as 'a flirty, floral, fragrant body spray featuring notes of bergamot and blackcurrant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla and musk'. I love this scent as it is a light and fruity everyday scent that isn't too strong but isn't unnoticeable. It reminds me of a weaker version of Britney Spears' Fantasy and of course for a fraction of the price! Everyone's tastes in perfume are different, however if you love light, floral and sweet perfumes that feature notes of vanilla, this spray is for you!