Clarins Promotion

About two weeks ago Clarins had a promotion where you buy two products, one being a lotion and one a serum or toner and you get a free bag, Eau de Jardins and two free sample products of your choice. I'm a bad beauty blogger though. I didn't even know that Clarins was running a promotion, apparently there were adverts on TV and in magazines but I didn't even know about it until I went to the Clarins stall one Saturday (I wasn't planning on buying anything either) and the sales girl told me about it... well I couldn't say no to an offer like that, now could I and the sales girl really was good. So for literally 10 minutes or longer the sales girl and I stood there discussing the different products that Clarins had to offer, what was best for my skin and what I wanted out of the products and I ended up walking out with two Daily Energizer products, a free bag, perfume and two free samples... I was happy as can be, although my bank account wasn't.

Now I love this bag, its a great size and great for piling in a few things in on the go if you're going to the beach or a day out. The Eau de Jardins perfume is a winner! It smells so good and you can smell it all day. It's supposed to uplift, refresh and captivate and let me tell you, it does all of the aforementioned but I will do a single post about that later once I know exactly how to describe it - yes its that good. The two free samples that I got was the Hand and Nail Treatment Cream and the Beauty Flash Balm. I chose the hand and nail cream for my mom because shes a sucker for hand creams and I don't really like hand creams. They leave my hands greasy and I just don't like the feel of cream on my hands - cringe. My mom says it softens your hands from the first use and it really sinks in so there's no feeling of grease on your hands. I chose the Beauty Flash Balm as I've heard so many good things about it and before going out and buying a full version I wanted to try it first. So far so good but I've only used it twice and I haven't fully formed an opinion yet so I will do a seperate post about that soon. The two Daily Energizer products are great so far and again I will do a seperate post for these two.

xxx

NYX The Runway Collection Eyeshadow

I hope all South Africans enjoyed the extra public holiday yesterday and had a well deserved long weekend but unfortunately we have to get back to reality and start our four day week... Isn't it funny how quickly you form a habit of relaxing and sleeping in late, wasn't it so hard to get out of bed this morning and not be in a bad mood? I all but fell out the bed this morning and on went the heater and kettle while dragging my feet around the house to get ready. Hardest thing I've ever done today truely but anyways I digress...

The NYX Runway Collection eyeshadow in Caviar and Bubbles - R119.95 from Clicks. What a cute name! These colours are the perfect shades for a neutral or smokey eye and come with a nice sized mirror so you can do your makeup on the go and the sleek black packaging is so pretty I could stare at it all day. They range from shimmery colours to a few matte colours and I love that you can mix two colours together to get a really awesome colour and I must say I use every colour except the black - black looks way to harsh on my eyes and makes them look sunken in which is not a great look. I use these to create a very natural barely there look or a subtle smokey eye, I really love all the neutral colours on my eyes, I'm such a sucker for neutral eyeshadows. As you can see from my swatches the last photo shows the bottom row of colours and you can see the bottom row has very pigmented colours while the top row are very subtle with a mix of shimmery and matte but still pigmented enough for a subtle but buildable look. These eyeshadows are very soft and creamy, they spread very well and last throughout the day. They give a nice healthy pop of colour and the shimmery eyeshadows aren't full of glitter, they're more of a soft shine which is great as I really don't suit overly shimmery shades. Over all this is a great palette that offers a wide range of looks and have gone onto my repurchase list.

xxx

Links below:

NYX

The Body Shop Body Mist

The Body Shop Vanilla Body Mist - R110. Wow this stuff is to die for! I'm a real sucker for anything that smells of vanilla and this body mist is just so lovely. The smell lasts for ages and you get random whiffs of it throughout the day. This vanilla body mist isn't too sickly sweet like those perfumed deodarants, its more like a pure vanilla scent. If you spray too much on then I guess it will be sweet but I just spray three or four sprays (two in my hair and two on my clothes as the scent lasts longer in your hair and fibres of your clothes than on your skin). I like that you don't need to carry around the bottle in your handbag for a re-spray throughout the day because it really does last that long so that's a bonus as this bottle is quite big and heavy to carry around in your bag, plus its glass so it could break very easy. I got this in February for my birthday from Stephen and I'm only like a 1/4 way through the bottle only. Honestly this is a repurchase for me, I really love it! No bad word to say at all and a big big bonus The Body Shop is animal cruelty free!

xxx

Links below:

The Body Shop

What's On My Nails #6 // Swift Sherbet

Avon Speed Dry 30+ in Swift Sherbet - R87.95

This is my favourite colour of all time. I have never found a colour like this, I was instantly attracted to it when I googled pictures of this colour and I wanted it then and there. It was actually on special when I got it so it only costed me R49.95 but the usual price is R87.95.

Its a very summery pastel orange that looks great against my skin colour and makes my nails pop. I was definitely impressed with this one more than the other one from this range in Vamp It Up (see full review here) which lasted only two days with a base coat and top coat. I've worn this nail polish twice now and both times it has lasted five days until the first chip appeared. Two coats of this are required as the first coat is pigmented but streaky. The formula is quite thick and easy to spread not very watery like Vamp It Up (I don't mind it watery as it spreads better.) Also this nail polish didn't dry in 30 seconds like the other nail polish it only took 10 seconds longer, which still is better than waiting for 5 minutes before you can apply the next coat, I think it took longer because the formula is thicker. By far my favourite nail polish this month especially if I've worn it twice already!

xxx