My current saviours...

 

So January is over.. (thank the lordy, January does depress me SO much!) but it's still quite chilly and vair windy down here in the south-west. Icy wind = nasty cracked and dry lips..not goode. Soooo... I have two products here that never fail to deliver much needed moisture and that barrier between my rather feeble body and the harsh environment. 

Firstly we have Elizabeth Arden's Eight hour skin protectant.. not to be confused with the eight hour cream. I love this stuff.. seriously. It is a bit pricey BUT i did find it in my local TJHughes for about £8 or so, so Hurrah!..sorry i can't remember the exact price! I know that some people may not be as thrilled because it does have a very distinct scent. It's a kind of medicated scent...but not in a scary doctor's anesthetic way...but i love it! I think the scent is kinda soothing. Plus, the tube is massive and a little goes a long way... so i know this will last me forever. Not only that... but this little guy is definitely a multi-tasker! Its great on dry skin anywhere...and i mean anywhere! I love to massage a little amount into my cuticles every night and voila...no more manky, peeling, sore fingers!

Next up,  we have a Korres lip butter... this one in guava. I know that there are quite a few other flavours.. which I'd love to try after I'm finished with this pot, but I am honestly loving the guava one... it smells incredible. Really smooth, moisturising, creamy and long lasting. I know it looks kinda white and scary but it goes on more sheer don't worry! It does however mute out my lips ever so slightly...but I like that, because i have pretty pigmented lips...so it does make them look kinda nudey  :)

Anyway..i hope this was an interesting read! I do also love Carmex...and i know so does just about everyone else...but the reason why i don't love it quite as much...is because it stings. Not just stings...but it hurts! None of that business with these two products though...so I'm afraid my faithful cherry carmex has been replaced!

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Champagne Champagne Champagne...

Sporting Models Own 'Champagne'. I'm a big fan of Models Own nail polishes.

Great quality and pretty fast drying in my opinion. I know it's available in Superdrug here in the UK and it would cost you £5, but I picked mine up on Asos in their sale and got it -plus a free nail buffer- for £3.50... steal! I checked and they still have it so I've put a link in for you here :) 

Definitely check it out! It's exactly what it says on the tin, a beautiful champagne colour,

with in my opinion a sliiiiight rose gold tinge...

Models Own 'Champagne'

I wore this on saturday, and at the MAC store the s.a. and I were commenting on how similar it was to the nail lacquer called 'soiree' from the Champale collection... canny hey? ;)

It is very similar, but 'soiree' is more obviously rose gold than champagne... however, they are equally as stunning... 

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MAC Champale collection haul and review

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left: Dangerous cuvee paint pot, middle: I get no kick eye kohl, right:vintage selection paint pot

Happy 2011 everyone! What better way to start off the New Year like a small haul :D When I first heard about MACs Champale selection, I'm going to be honest, I wasn't exactly excited... but that was before I checked out the preview and swatches on Temptalia. As soon as I saw the photos for the collection I knew I had to make my way down to my nearest Mac counter store!! Not only are the promotion photos beautiful, the products, in my opinion are :) I really wanted everything! But unfortunately my bank balance would not agree with that... I in particular loved the look of the paint pots and lip gelees... but, I already had the 'resort life' lip gelee from the MAC Venomous Villains collections, which apparently is almost identical to 'Bubblelounge' lip gelee from this collection, so with a lot of self-will I decided to pass on them. I ended getting two of the four available paint pots and an eye kohl.

vintage selection paint pot (photo with flash)

 In pictures it looked beautiful, in the store it looked beautiful... i had to have it.. simples. In my opinion it is a shimmery brown, rose gold, and unlike anything in my collection. I know many people have criticised the paint pots in this collection, being too shimmery and not enough colour pay-off, but I have to disagree. Yes, they aren't the most pigmented paint pots ever released, and yes, they are shimmery... but that is the desired effect of the collection in my opinion. I love the not so 'in ya face' pigmentation, as it's subtle, and you can build upon the paint pot with more eyeshadow etc. So I can't express enough love for this, it's so much prettier in real life too, and it really compliments and works with my skin tone and shade (warm, golden undertones, about an nc20-ish.. sorry about not being precise!)

Dangerous Cuvee (photo with flash)

I originally wasn't drawn to dangerous cuvee, but in the store it was just beautiful... i couldn't resist! Then I realised how unique a product it is, because correct me if I'm wrong, but Mac just doesn't do grey paint pots. In the photo with flash, it looks a bit lighter and also cooler, yet in real life even though it has silver shimmer in it, it doesn't come across as cool. It's a beautiful grey, but it's not just grey, it's a beautiful taupey type shade... and I'm so glad i picked it up.
There was two other paint pots, I liked the look of the champagne coloured one... I think it's called 'Chilled on ice'.. however, the other paint pot, seeing it in real life, I wasn't drawn to it... it's a more warm coppery colour called 'Let me pop'.

My last purchase was after much umming and aahing...

I get no kick eye kohl pencil

After watching fleur de force and missglamorazzi and their joint video on their Mac haul, they described it as 'bare study paint pot but in pencil form'. Now, i thought hmm that's interesting, but I guess I could always use a champagney coloured eyeshadow on my waterline to create the same effect... so that was that. However, in the store i swatched it.... then swatched it again... and stared at it some more, and I just loved how it caught the light... I mentioned my surprise that it wasn't sold out to the s.a. ... only for her to tell me how there were only two left. Soooo i thought aah what the heck I'll get it... and I'm so so so glad I did! When I applied it to my waterline it seemed really subtle... and i couldn't help being a bit underwhelmed... but as soon as you step out into daylight (or perhaps just generally better lighting than my bedroom!) it looks so beautiful... and really gives your eyes that little extra something. I reckon this may have to be the stand out product of the collection.

Hope you enjoyed! Definitely check out the collection if you haven't done so already.. (I think i'm a little late if anything!)

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