Thursday 15 December 2011

Christmas Gift Idea - Toni and Guy Deep Barrel Hair Waver

Toni & Guy Deep Barrel WaverHi everyone,

Three posts in row!  I am on a roll here, musing over doing 12 blogs of Christmas kind of thing...  Enough musing, I wanted to share information about this product, as I think it would make a lovely Christmas gift.

I know at the moment the Enrapture Amplify Jumbo Hair Waver
is the talk of the town but firstly it costs £67.49 on Amazon! secondly I saw tutorials and the size of the waves were a nice size but not exactly what I was after and thirdly it costs £67.49!  Similarly I saw tutorials for the Babyliss Wave Envy but again I was after bigger deeper waves.

The Toni and Guy Deep Barrel Hair Waver costs £34.99 from Argos and £34.97 at Tesco Direct at the time of posting this blog, however, I was quite lucky and managed to buy it reduced in a recent sale.

I've still got lots of experimenting to do with it but I've played with it enough to let you know that I love the waves you can get with this.

The smaller the sections, longer you hold it and the higher the heat setting you select will give you deeper waves, beachy waves and the wider the sections and lower the heat will give you more soft femme fatale waves, which I've always been after.

What I'm still practicing mostly with is how far down the hair shaft will look best on me.  I found it works best if I straighten my hair first rather than roughly blow drying it straight-ish, gave more smoother defined waves.

The other thing I would point out is the deep ridge on the bottom depending on the angle can be a little awkward to get the hair over and in to the waver but that's probably something I'll get better at with more practice.

You would definitely need to put some kind of product in to help keep the waves for as long as possible, I have naturally curly hair but still need to do this if I want waves/curls to last, whatever I use but sometimes it's nice just to let them drop and look more "natural".

It has 25 heat settings, deep tourmaline plates, stay cool tip, 60sec heat-up time, that I think are worth mentioning here.  If you change the temperature, I didn't notice any change in the light to let you know that it was being changed or when it had reached the required temperature as my Cloud9 Wide Hair straighteners do, so you just have to wait awhile and test.
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Once I feel confident enough, I hope to do demos on my YouTube channel dianeuk01 in the future.

I've been after a hair styling tool like this for years but never got around to getting one, can't tell how pleased I am to have finally found one, which is at such a reasonable price and so accessible too, and with Christmas fast approaching just had to share, really do think it will make a great gift.

Diane x

Wednesday 14 December 2011

My Beauty Wish List - Suggestions?

Hello lovelies,


I've been looking at my beauty wish list, which is not as full as you might think, as I've not been adding to it much when I hear/see something, mainly because I'm trying to be more restrained and more selective these days.
Bare Escentuals All-Over Face Color - Faux Tan Matte

Here is what I have on the list right now:-
Bobbi Brown long wear cream eye shadow in Sandy Gold
Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals – Faux Tan all over colour
Collection 2000 Crème puff lip creams, all except Powder Puff
Laura Mercier Rose Rendezvous Highlighter
Makeup Atelier eyeshadows, gel liners in deep brown/blue
Iman Time Control Primer
Kryolan Anti-Shine powder
Mac Sable eyeshadow
Daniel Sandler water colour blush liquid/crème
Kett air brush liquid foundation
Brush Guards
NYC Lip Stain
Louise Young small crease brush
MUFE Aqua Crème lip pencils
Inglot Gel liner?

Photo belongs to karlasugar.net


I know there are plenty more things I "need" OK would like, but for the life of me can't think of them right now!

Each year I try not to spend the points I have accrued on my Boots Advantage card, but I have used some earlier in the year and have not been to Boots that much of late so this year my Christmas treat will have to cost £26 or less.  

As far as I know Boots still don't let you part pay with your points so you have to have the right amount as you can't top up with cash, shame as I know Superdrugs do allow you to do this.

Problem is apart from Collection 2000, nothing I have on my list is available at Boots and I'd like something special that would be a real Christmas treat, but what?  If you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

What's on your wish list?  Something from Chanel, Dior, Estee Lauder, Clinque etc?  Anyone?

If you could share some ideas that would be fab.  Thanks so much.

Diane x

Tuesday 13 December 2011

FRONTCOVER GILT EDGED REVIEW

Hi everyone,

I'm back with a post!  So sorry I've been gone awhile but I do hope you enjoy hearing about and seeing swatches of this gorgeous looking gift set.

I was asked if I would like to review some FRONTCOVER cosmetics, this was the first time I have accepted this kind of offer and the reason for that is because I have been curious about this brand for awhile.

So as you can see from the title, this post will be about FRONTCOVER GILT EDGED, The Ultimate Party Collection For Golden Girls.  I picked this set to test and review because the colours are right up my street.





The set includes a Large Metallic Makeup Case, Mini Metallic Cosmetic Purse, Shimmer Stick, Compact with Domed Baked Blush, Double Ended Lip Gloss, Double Ended Chunky Metallic Pencil Gold/Copper, Holographic Glitter, Iridescent Pigment, Shadowbase, Double Ended Eye Applicator, Cheek Brush. 

You get alot in the set but how do they look and perform?  Well below are swatches and my experiences using these products.

All heavily swatched left to right : Domed Baked Blush , Shadowbase, Chunky Metallic Pencil Gold
end with Dubloon Glitter on lower half, Copper end with Burnt Carrot Pigment on lower half 
Compact with Domed Baked Blush - the lid has a mirror. It is a beautiful peach with silver micro shimmer.  On my medium deep skin tone (Mac NC44, Nars Sheer Glow - Cadiz, MUFE HD 173) it makes for a lovely highlight on the top of the cheekbones and has been my highlighter of choice since I received this set for testing. It does have shimmer and some micro glitter but not too much, I've really been enjoying this.

Shadowbase - is a shimmery Champagne eye base, on my oily eyelids combined with the chunky metallic pencil on top it creased but it lasts longer just with the pigments or eyeshadow applied directly on to it.  It makes for a beautiful highlight under the brow bone and collarbones, blends really lovely.  The shimmer in it can give another dimension to eyeshadows you put on top of it, I tried with matte shadows on top and it gave a lovely effect.

Double Ended Chunky Metallic Pencil Gold/Copper - these are beautiful colours and I was very excited to try these. However, my oily lids ensured that these creased and faded on me but with my Lime Crime Candy Eyed primer underneath the creasing and fading was more subtle than with the Shadowbase, and on their own with no primer at all they practically disappeared altogether in a short space of time. I would recommend using a primer that works for oily lids and apply using the side of the pencils rather than the tip for less drag.

Burnt Carrot Iridescent Pigment, Doubloon Holographic Glitter
Doubloon Holographic Glitter - this is beautiful and a little goes a long way. It comes with a thin plastic cover inside, I chose to dab the eye applicator on the plastic cover to pick up just a little of the product but it would be possible to pierce little holes in it to make it like a sifter pot to control the amount of product that comes out. I apply this over the metallic chunky pencil using the sponge end of the eye applicator, to minimise fall out when you press it on over the pencil. This will look beautiful over so many eyeshadows too, personally I would choose to apply it just in the center of the lid and put a tissue to protect you from any fall out when applying.

Burnt Carrot Iridescent Pigment - I love this really gorgeous, especially so over the copper end of the metallic chunky pencil. Has a beauiful texture, press it on using the brush end of the eye applicator then blend, produces such a lovely colour and dimension. I wore this combo on a recent night out together with Mac Taupe lipstick with Pink Frost lipgloss on top and the Domed Baked Blush as brow bone and tops of cheek bone highlight.  I didn't get fall out and I think a little dab of this on top of your lipstick or lipgloss just in the center of your lips would be very pretty.

Shimmer Stick left heavily swatched, right blended
Shimmer Stick - is a beautiful rose gold colour but for my personal taste it has too much chunky glitter and when I blended it out I was left with glitter moving about and not much colour left, too build up more colour would mean adding alot more glitter.  Of course many love that look but I prefer something more subtle.  It's a shame as I do love the colour.

Pink Frost, Peach Sparkle
Double Ended Lip Gloss - one end is Peach Sparkle (golden orange) the other end is Pink Frost (baby pink with silver shimmer).  I like these, they do not feel sticky and give a lovely dimension.  I have been pairing Peach Sparkle on top of Boots No7 Conker lipstick and Pink Frost on top of Mac Taupe lipstick, loving the combinations.

Double Ended Eye Applicator - work well with the pigments. I suspect the brush end may even do a good job of blending out the crease but haven't put it to the test yet.

Cheek Brush - used to apply the Domed Baked Blush as a highlight on top of cheekbones but I would actually prefer to use a smaller brush for that purpose.  It's OK to use as a blush brush to apply and blend the product but it is not as soft as I'd like or gives as much control in the placement as I would prefer with my own blusher brushes but if you haven't got a blush brush this is nice to have.

Large Metallic Makeup Case and Mini Metallic Cosmetic Purse, both in gold - these will always come in handy.

The stand out products for me are definitely the iridescent pigment and holographic glitter, really beautiful.  However, I could get every day use out of the blush & shadowbase as highlighters and use the lipglosses.

There is one product I don't think I would use, which is the shimmer stick, unless possibly on my legs, on a night out...

One of the lovely things with this set is that it includes a tutorial, with hints and tips on the back of the sleeve to give you some guidelines and inspiration.

I've really enjoyed testing and using the products in this set.  If you or someone you know loves these golden and copper tones (as I do), I think it would make an impressive gift, good value for money and you can create gorgeous looks for the party season. 

You can buy this set from Boots for £25, at the time of this post they currently have a 3 for 2 mix and match gift promotion for the festive season, how nice :-)

What do you think?  Have you tried any FrontCover cosmetics?

Diane x