Help I have broken my lips.

Well we know winter is very much here now. Well I know it is in England.

Everyone is wrapped up in hats, scarf and gloves and the heating has finally been turned on.

This for me also means the return of something more dreadful, painful, unattractive and annoying.

No not me moaning.

It is the return of having dry and pretty much broken lips.

What I have to admit, is when I am stressed I do pick at my lips anyways but because the cold weather sort of came out of nowhere. I wasn't prepared and my lips have been badly suffering.

So products to use.

First thing you should do is with a old clean toothbrush, brush your lips to get rid of any dry and dead skin off your lips.

Then you should apply a protective lip balm to your lips. Try to avoid lip gloss and vaseline (Why vaseline you ask, well the petroleum in vaseline actually dries out your lips more, meaning you put more on and you buy more tins. Nice marketing ploy there.)

So when you buy your lip balm try to look for one without petroleum in. My personal favourite is the blistex daily lip conditioner, which although smells very medicated. Is one of the few products that does heal my lips whether from dryness or from me picking at my lips and it is also more unisex so your boy mates can steal it too.

It also doesn't contain any petroleum. So it won't purposely dry out your lips. Result.

Sometimes being a blogger has it perks.

Well first off sorry for the lack of posts last week. It's been absolutely crazy.

Will make it up to you with lots of posts in the next few weeks.

So for the first time in a while I get to do some product reviews.

Last week I got given a huge bag of samples from Lush to review.

Now sadly most of my family stole them before I had the chance to test some of them but the ones that were left have been tested by me and now I can give my honest opinion.

This may be in a few parts as I still have a few to try but for part one here it goes.

I love Juicy.

With a combination of pineapple, kiwi and mango. This shampoo is very much a fruity delight. When I washed my hair with this I must admit because I wear a lot of product in my hair. It took a long time to get my hair back to normal, so I did have to use slightly more then average but the smell outweighs the effort. This is meant for greasy/oily hair, which I have and I must admit I have had to wash it a lot less.

Veganese.

With seaweed and rosemary this vegan conditioner is the lightest one that lush do. I was very impressed with this, not only did it make my hair very soft but it didn't weigh down my fine, oily hair. No matter how much I put on. I also like the fact that it is vegan so no animal products are used. Result.

Cupcake

The fresh face mask that smells like chocolate. For oily, combination skin. This fresh face mask had my six year old niece week at the knees to try it. With cocoa powder and rhassoul mud to help tone down oiliness. This is fantastic for spotty or out of control skin. I really did have to resist the urge to lick it off.

Herbalism

The green face cleanser containing nettle, rosemary and rice vinegar. This is did actually help clear up the spots I had on my face, so is fantastic for oily, spotty skin. The only problem I found was after I used it, it made my face go really tight. If you like a cleanser to do that. Then this is perfect but I can't stand having to put tons of moisturizer on just to get rid of the tightness.

Gingerbread house

The gorgeous ginger bubble bar. That everyone seems to adore. My nieces and nephews loved the smell and the shape of the bar. I loved how much like Christmas it smelt like. Produced a lots of lovely, soft bubbles and I am personally gutted that this is only a limited edition bubble bath bar for Christmas.

Almond and coconut smoothie

This smoothie body wash didn't froth up like other conventional shower gels but did leave my skin feeling moisturized and it felt like when I got out of the bath that my skin didn't even need body lotion. The smell was beautiful, I actually felt like I was on holiday. Lovely for the winter.

Karma kream

With orange blossom water, this to me defines the smell of lush. Karma reminds me of being in the swinging 60's and it is very much a marmite smell. Years ago I hated it with a passion. As I have got older I am starting to love it more and more. This body cream, moisturized my skin without feeling greasy and the bit I loved. I could get dressed straight away after putting it on.

Dream cream.

This cream is lush's best seller. I can see why the smell is nothing to write home about but it made a difference on one key area of my skin. The places where I have eczema, so at the minute that is my arm and on my stomach. I always have a few places where it comes and goes. This cream helped clear my eczema up, which for someone who has had it for years, is a welcome blessing.

Handy Gurugu

Now I didn't get chance to review this, as my mum stole the tester. These are her words about this hand cream.

"I actually liked the smell of this hand cream, but I did find that it was a little greasy. So I mainly used it at night but it has made my hands soft and it is starting to repair the cracks on my thumbs, which no other hand cream has been able to do."

I will do the next part of my lush sample testing either next week or in the next few days. So keep an eye out for that but if you want to make your opinions. Visit a lush shop and see for yourself. If you want to comment on this please feel free.

http://www.lush.co.uk/index.php

Hey we know make up hides the flaws.

I think I need to point something out here.

Everyone knows I love make up, my lovely readers love make up and I believe make up is fantastic in all its glory. (Or I wouldn't write about it)

But the question I get asked a lot is do you wear make up every day?

The answer is no.

Most of the time I am very lazy (typical libran) and just stick a pair of fake specs on and pray they cover enough of my face so people don't notice I have not one scrap of make up on.

So in the interest of balance I want to prove once and for all that the reason I wear make up is not just because I love it, but because sometimes even I need to hide the flaws

So here is a couple of photos in my natural state. I am not ashamed to show them to you. After all there is nothing wrong with a bare face. I just want to show how the media is so image obsessed we forget how good we can look without all the slap.

So in the above image you can see that I have a shiny face and dark circles. So this means I always have to put on under eye concealer and powder. Also I do have to say sorry for the picture. Yes I am in my Pj's and yes I stick crap from magazines on my wall. :)

See in this photo you can see have spots on my chin and on my nose. Hello concealer again.

The reason I want to show you me in this natural state is for the reason that time and time again I get told that, you still look pretty without make up on. Now don't get me wrong if I had a choice of make up or au natural I will be taking the make up hands down.

I want to show that make up may hide the flaws.

But also can hide the real you and how truly pretty people are.

So next time you see a celebrity with no make up on in the magazines, don't point out the flaws.

Embrace a little bit of make up freedom...Even if it's when no one can see you.

The Nail varnish that got the publicity but not the pictures.

First off. I would like to say sorry for the lack of post the past couple of weeks.

I have had to deal with some lovely issues of copy write with this blog, topped with the stress of finding a new job.

But now I'm back and need to talk Nails.

Bit of back story here

A couple of weeks ago I went to Sheffield for my birthday and whilst shopping with my mates I ended up in superdrug. Checking out the latest Make Up worthy products.

So when I found a product I hadn't seen advertised but loved the look of, I bought it.

It was so well hidden that even the girl on the till was impressed with it but said she hadn't even seen it before and she worked there.

So when Tuesday came along and the gloriousness that is magazine day I brought the usual. Heat, closer, reveal and a few others and I thought that in the beauty pages I would see it in there.

Only Reveal had a small piece about it but no pictures for it.

I am changing this.

The product I am talking about is Barry M instant nail effects nail paint.

This black nail varnish has a trick.

You paint the varnish on after you have picked any other colour of nail varnish. It then cracks to form patches on your nails. It's nail art without all the hard work.

The test was when I went out to lunch with a mate a few days after I bought it.

She thought I had my nails professionally done.

A winner considering this nail varnish only cost £3.95 or 2 for £5.

So nail art looking nails but on the cheap and yet fabulous.

And photos to show how great this is.

Going for the tiger look here :)

Gems and glitter...

Hey Bloggers

I found out today, that youtube video's are hard to do. Especially if your trying to put glitter on your face at the same time. The results of that chaos will be later but first I want to talk about the new trend rocking not only celebrity land but the clubs too.

Yes gems and glitter are back in make up fashion.

This makes me very happy as anyone who knows me knows. I am the glitter fiend.

I leave a trail like Hansel and Gretal everywhere I go but now I have an excuse.

This trend comes back every so often but 2010 is the year of the sparkle.

Seen in Katy Perry's video for California Gurls

The combination of eye sockets and glitter was always gonna be a winner.

But it is not just glitter that is making a comeback.

Gems are big business too.

Seen in Cheryl Cole's video parachute and Alexandra Burke's video all night long.

Acting like a five year old with too much glitter glue is not only fun but trendy too.

You can see some of my results of my five year old attempt on the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1nAsuNhKoM

That's the thing that hopefully makes this trend so fashionable. It's the chance to be creative and give make up a flair.

Most of the time make up can be boring and stilted and with trends coming back to repeat themselves make up can get a bit dull.

So it's amazing how a simple piece of sparkle can make or break a face.

How vital is Blush?

Hey Bloggers

After a million years of doing Make Up, I worked out something that I have missed.

Blush really is a vital part of the Make Up routine.

This might seem like an odd suggestion. I mean I have worn Blush for years and sometimes on a slow make up day, I don't put any on but today was the first day I actually missed it.

For example if you asked me what's the one piece of make up I would take on a desert island.

For me it would be a Lancome Juicy tube.

A lot of other people my say lip balm, mascara or eyeliner.

But how many people would actually say blusher?

I mean you can give yourself blusher for free, just jog up and down or pinch your cheeks and you get a nice red glow but it's not the same as getting some product and shimmying it on your cheekbones.

So why today did I miss blusher?

The simple reason...I lost it.

After my outing on Saturday night I put my make up bag somewhere in my room and I can't find it. So my blusher which I didn't take out on Saturday has gone missing. Along with a few of my other favourite products.

So today I could only use the products I took out with me on Saturday night, meaning blusher had to be skipped. (I made do with some highlighter but it's never the same, plus it slid off halfway through the day)

And for once I actually morned it.

I felt like I had forgotten something all day.

With a lot of liquid eyeliner on, you need something to counteract the harshness. With me being so very pale. I looked washed out today and I hated my make up look.

So next time I get asked what's my desert island product. It will be my blush.

Or in the case of what I use.

My Topshop Cheek and lip tint. :)

It is the little bargains that get you though

Hey Bloggers.

I'm am finally getting on top of my make up blog.
I am hopefully going to have a structure a blog post once or twice a week.
So get used to seeing more posts back on here.

I am going to talk about about the make up bargains I have picked up this week and sneaky places to look for a make up bargain.

(Now I am sorry to any of international followers for the suggestions that might not be available to you but hopefully some of the ideas will give some inspiration.)

So the best places to pick up a make up bargain.
* Ebay
* Car boot sales
* Magazine freebies...So many samples and discounts always good for holiday packing.
* Markets
* Shops like Savers, Boyes and bodycare

Plus many more to mention. If you have any suggestions leave me a comment.

So to the bargains I picked up this week.
Money if extremely tight for me so any make up bargains make me very happy. So I was pleased that when I went into my local Boyes and Savers to pick up these.



This is some 99p Bollywood elegant touch nails and a £1.99 glam shine crystals no 304 lip gloss by Loreal.

The nails on look like this.



And the lip gloss on looks like this. Sorry for poor picture of my lips.



I do like the lip gloss but it is not as glittery as I would normally like but it gives a lovely gloss for the day.

The nails I do love and I am already looking for an occasion to try them out.

I am off out tomorrow night trying to dress up as a ghostbuster for a friends birthday. I will put the make up I wore and the pictures on my next blog.

Till next time

Make Up Girl