Christmas came early! Longchamp Le Pliage :)

So I've been looking at Longchamp bags for a while now.....

I first saw them whilst looking at YouTube videos. A few of the channels I subscribe to have featured these bags. I'm not very in to 'following' trends, but if something takes my fancy then why not get on board?!


Selfridges have been doing 20% off everything for a few days now, so I thought I'd ask my boyfriend for a Longchamp seeing as we could get discount! We're exchanging gifts early this year, as we're spending Christmas apart.... so he gets his PS3 game early (Skyrim....) and I get my shiny new bag, one of the only up sides to being apart I guess :(! 




I feel that these bags are quite expensive for what they are, but I really like them. They're practical in every sense....they don't attract dirt, even the small ones are plenty big enough to fit your essentials in and so on.....! The standard 'Le Pliage' bags start from £48 and go up depending on what size you want and which length of strap. I went for the smallest one, it will be perfect to fit in my locker at work, and small enough for trips out to the cinema etc where you generally don't need a lot of stuff! I got my bag in Taupe, as I reckon it will go with a lot of my clothes, I'm in to these sorts of colours!

Just for comparison, here is the bag next to a regular sized bottle of Volvic! It's pretty small, but it fits in nicely my large rectangular purse, make up bag, phone, bus pass. Another plus point for this bag is I'll be less likely to stuff it full of things I don't need... which is always a problem I have with bags. They get heavy and my arm hurts.....hopefully not with this one! I carry a small notebook with me to Uni anyway so this won't be a problem!


Just a short review to show you my new bag :)
Feel free to leave any comments below! Lucy x

Miss Selfridge & Primark spree :)

Deals of the week


I've been looking around for some nice winter pieces and I'm really loving the simple shorts & black tights combo. Everything item I bought in this little spree was £20 and under, always good to find a bargain! These pieces are really nice to make an outfit for the winter. Just team them with a plain top (tucked in or out) a patterned scarf and cardigan and you're ready to go! :)

- Burgundy High Waisted Shorts £10 Primark
- Green High Waisted shorts £9 SALE Miss Selfridge (was £32!!)
- Tweed Brogues £10 Primark


- Typical outfit: shorts with black tights, brogues and a plain top tucked in to the high waisted shorts. Finish with a patterned scarf and a cardigan (long or short) 
- The polka dot shorts actually look like a skirt when on, which is quite nice. Something a bit different to the burgundy denim shorts on the left.




Firstly apologies for the crappy picture, but I just wanted to show the dress on (only pic I could find where I wasn't pulling a stupid pose...)


This dress caught my eye as the bright colours contrast each other but work really well I think. I originally thought I would wear the dress with bare legs, but came to the conclusion that to add to the block colour theme, the black tights looked best. I also wore black heels with this outfit. Overall really comfortable but still looks dressed up! Love this dress!


Dress £17 (£15.30 w/student discount) Miss Selfridge (was £32)




That's it for this post, just thought I'd share with you some of the bargains I've picked up this week! (well I think so..) The miss selfridge sale is still on, and I actually saw the dress again today so there's definitely still stock left if you wanted to grab a bargain! 


Please do let me know if you've found any fashion bargains so I can check them out :) Lucy x

Hairspray can be so expensive.....

Not if you look past the brands and try some supermarket 'own brand' value products! :)

I can honestly say I'll probably never buy a branded hairspray again.... unless there's a really good sale on it! I've tried supermarket Hairsprays in the past like Asda etc, and they've been really good. The one I'm using at the moment however is better than all the others. It's Tesco's own value hairspray 'no fancy formula, still great hold and control'. I agree with this. With some cheap hairspray's they can be really crap, and feel like nothing is coming out of the can, or they can feel too wet & make your hair look greasy. This is a happy medium, it holds pretty much all day which is great news!





I currently have a fringe, sometimes I wear it as a full fringe and sometimes I sweep it to the side. However I have it, this hairspray is great at holding the fringe in place. There's nothing more annoying than a fringe that's blowing all over the show!

The best news of all is that it's only 37p! And in my flat, we go through hairspray quickly, especially if we're using each other's whilst getting ready for nights out (lots of hairspray required!) so it's good to have a few cans of this in case we run out!

It really is cheap and cheerful! I've used tresemme and Garnier hair sprays before now, and I find them far too wet and hard to manage. This one is great though, you can spray it however much you like and your hair isn't going to look like a greasy mess. Definitely worth a try & you're going to save £££!

Hope this has been useful and will help you save some pennies :)
Lucyx

Maybelline dream satin liquid *review*

'Air whipped foundation, air-brush finish'

I love this foundation! If you've read some of my other foundation posts then you'll know that I go for a medium/full coverage most of the time as I have blemishes and scarring from previous acne. I've had this foundation before and it's great! I tend to use a more 'matte' foundation for work, as I want my skin to stay shine free for most of the day, so I use Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse or 24hr Superstay. This one however, is great for general use like going out with friends in the day time and stuff like that. I feel it gives a natural look, doesn't look cakey and gives my skin coverage and really makes my skin have an overall 'fresh' look. 


This product retails at around £8 and I feel that this product is worth it!

Features of this product: 


I have this one in Ivory 010 and feel it's a pretty good match for my skin, it doesn't look orangey which most foundations look on me (even the lightest ones!) I have the 24h Superstay in 021 Nude and this definitely looks orangey unless I blend it really well! 
- good packaging, like the pump which makes it easy to dispense right amount
- good consistency, not too thick, glides on and easy to blend
- like the colour match of Ivory... I usually stay away from the very lightest shades, but this has worked well! 


Here's a picture of all the foundations I'm currently in the midst of trying.... I'm overall impressed with all of my Maybelline foundations for different reasons. I reckon I have one for every occasion! The Rimmel one is far too thick and greasy... so I might get rid of that one. Max Factor second skin I'm finding to be too thin at the moment, it's not enough coverage and tends to feel like it's sliding off my face an hour or so in to wearing it, so I don't find myself reaching for this one much. Dream Matte Mousse.... kind of a love hate thing going on with this one at the moment. I love the finish it gives to my skin, but it definitely grabs on to any patches of dry skin I might have, and any blemishes that I'm trying to 'dry up'. Still love it though..... and then one I've not really tried enough to make a fair comment on is the Pure Mineral Foundation by Maybelline in 04 Vanilla Rose. I've used this foundation once, and the result I thought was pretty good. It definitely made my skin look flawless, but it takes quite a long time to apply (I guess I'd get used to it and speed up the process...) I definitely need to try this one a bit more and I'll write a review on that :)
From left:
Maybelline 24h Superstay in 021 Nude
Max Factor Second Skin in 070 Natural
Maybelline Pure Mineral in 04 Vanilla Rose
Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in 021 Nude
Rimmel Lasting Finish 25h in 100 Ivory


That's it for now.... I have a little stash of foundations, so I really do have a few to pick and choose from. I usually wear a few different ones each week, depending on the state of my skin and where I'm going that day.


Hope this has been somewhat useful to you.... and if you've got any comments I'd love to hear from you 
Lucyx

Impulse buy! :)

So I went in to the new Hollister store in Manchester Arndale today and like their style of clothing. Scouted out the sale section immediately (tucked right at the back of the shop) and found a three quarter sleeved top which I just had to have!


I have an Abercrombie & Fitch long sleeved top which I got as a gift so I based the sizing on this.... I went for a medium (as Hollister etc can be quite small sizing I find..) It fits really well, quite fitted but not too tight yay! 


Was £32 Now £18.90 
Hollister stuff is pretty pricey I think, but their clothes are good quality and you can feel it in the material they use, so I don't mind buying things from there if I really like them as I know I'm getting a quality product :) 




Just a quick post to show you this top I bought in the sale! I couldn't seem to find the sale section on their website.... but if you go in to store you'll probably find various items reduced! Go grab a bargain! :)


Lucyx

My 2011 products for dry skin

Johnson's 24hr Moisture Relaxing Body Wash 

Picked this up at my local B&M Homestore whilst on the lookout for bargains! As the weather is getting drier and colder, I've found that the skin on my body is much more irritated and prone to dryness and just a general feeling of discomfort. I don't like using all over body moisturisers EVERY day, so I was on the lookout for a body wash that might help with my dry skin. This product is amazing, it feels silky smooth as you shower (this is probably why it feels relaxing...) and definitely leaves a feeling of moisture after the shower! Good stuff!

- smooth white cream wash that lathers & moisturises
- 400ml bottle, lasts longer!
- Around £1 from B&M! absolute bargain! (currently on offer in Boots for £2.06 for 250ml)


Escenti Cool Feet 'Cracked heel cream'

Another bargain I picked up from B&M (if you're a bargain lover, you really should find out where your nearest B&M is... you can pick up loads of skincare stuff for next to nothing!) 


I don't really have 'cracked' heels as such, but I do get dry skin on my feet pretty much all year round. This is great as it cools your feet, especially after a long day on your feet. I could feel the moisturising effects straight away, and I can see a real difference in the condition of my feet after using this cream! 


- Vitamin E, Urea & added moisturisers
- Menthol & peppermint helps to cool and refresh
- Again a bargain at around £1 :)






Dove essential nourishment hand cream 'deep care complex'

What I'm sure most of us are looking for in a hand cream... is that it would effectively moisturise leaving the hands feeling soft but NOT greasy. This stuff does just that! Been using this for a few days now and I'm always reaching for it whenever I feel my hands getting a little tight or uncomfortable. Also when I wash my hands they tend to get dry if I don't apply a hand cream afterwards. Got mine really cheap at B&M (starting to see a trend here.....) but you could get it at any chemist or supermarket really.

- 24hr long lasting softness
- for normal to dry hands (not too thick or greasy)


For now, these products are doing the trick! 
:)
Lucyx

Nail design #2

Same concept.... different colours!

Got my hands on some more NYC nail polishes (£1.79 each or 3 for 2 at Superdrug) These polishes are cheap and cheerful....they go on quite thin, but dry quickly, so you can do two coats and not have to sit around for ages! Basically got them to try another dotty design! I'm really in to this as it's super cute and looks like you've made lots of effort but it's a really easy design to do! Just thought I'd upload a picture of the finished look! 

NYC 'In a New York Color Minute' Quick Dry Nail Polish in:
- 246 Park Ave (Base colour)
- 248 Manhattan (dots)
- 202 Grand Central Station (clear top coat)

Check out my original post on how I went about doing this design here: http://xbeautybee.blogspot.com/2011/10/nail-design.html

Quite a short post but it's really just to show you how it turned out :)

Lucy x

Custom Clinique 3-Step

For Combination skin (Dry & Oily)

So if you've read some of my other posts, you'll have seen that I've tried various Clinique 3-step systems, including the Anti-blemish range and skin type 1. I've tried sticking with these regimes, but haven't noticed significant differences whilst using them... so I've decided to ditch their suggested ones and create my own, swap products around and that sort of thing :)

This came about when I tried my friend's Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel out of curiosity. I have used the lotion in the past, but have found it too greasy, despite having dry skin. I have noticed that I'm a bit oilier than I used to be, so thought I'd give the gel a try. This stuff feels amazing on the skin. Super hydrating but also non greasy. Great base for make up, makes the skin so soft and supple :)

I still need to be careful what I'm using on my skin, as I am acne prone and have quite sensitive skin. So I decided to go with the Mild Facial Wash. To satisfy my dry areas, I have chosen Clarifying Lotion '2' For Dry Combination skin.

So far so good with this regime.... I've been using it for a couple of days now, and my skin is feeling really soft and supple. Make up goes on better and I think some of the spots on my chin are clearing up (will have to do an update on this!) all I know is that this regime isn't making it worse! Which is great as products often irritate my skin and cause me to break out!

Wishlist: Clinique Exfoliating Scrub

Heard a lot of good reviews on this scrub, and apparently it's effective enough to get rid of dead skin, but also the beads are gentle enough not to irritate the skin too much, which happens if the grains are too rough!

Thanks for reading and I'd like to hear about your skin regime!

What works well for you?
Lucy x

Product of the moment....

Clinique Moisture Surge 'extended thirst relief' 

I've recently gone back to this product, as I was finding regular moisturisers too heavy and I was breaking out loads. I sampled the Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel and found that it gave my skin the moisture it needed, without being greasy. I usually think that my skin is really dry, so I need heavier lotions, but I really do think that Gel is the way forward as within about two days of sampling this I noticed a difference in the condition of my skin and my break outs. 


I'm currently ordering some Clinique products from work, and while waiting, I've been using the Moisture surge in place of the DDM Gel and it's working really well! My skin is super smooth and hydrated, make up goes on really well and doesn't get as greasy throughout the day. 


I used to think that this could only be used on my skin after a different moisturiser, for added hydration, but my skin has been more combination dry, with a tendency to get oily, so this moisturiser is great on its own before make up and also before bed.


This product retails at £30 on the highstreet, which is pretty pricey! I got mine in a set with the face spray and eye cream and it was under £30 from Duty Free at Manchester Airport. I would say though, that the only product I actually use from this set is the Moisture Surge itself, the others are just extras that I don't really need\remember to use. The eye gel might come in handy after heavy nights though, but we'll see.


Really recommend this product for all skin types, it's an excellent primer for the face and all round hydrator.

Garnier Nutritioniste Moisture Rescue
refreshing gel cream

I've seen that Garnier have come out with a gel moisturiser which looks interesting, so I might try that on pay day :)




Thanks for reading! :D Lucy x