Lancôme Hypnose Drama gift set

Last week I turned 26. A milestone age in my opinion. I no longer belong in the 18-25 age category. It also dawned on me that I would be in the Overs category on X-Factor too.

However, being 26 isn't bad. I'm proud of what I've achieved and how far I've come. Aside from the soppy stuff, you also get the best gifts too! 

One of my favourites was this very special gift set from Lancôme. The Hypnose Drama gift set comes with two mini versions - the Bi-Facil and Crayon Khol Noir and the full sized version of the Lancôme Hypnose mascara. 

Being a beauty blogger, I'm embarrassed to say I've never, ever used a Lancôme product before. I could never justify the price tag, and so, I just awed from afar. But now I can definitely say the products are certainly worth the money.

 

In my quest to find the ultimate eye makeup remover, I think I may have found a very strong contender. The Lancôme Bi-Facil is a sensitive, non-oily liquid that almost melts eye make away in one sweep. A full bottle of this stuff costs a pricey £26, but you really don't need that much. 

Another product that came with this gift set was a mini pencil eyeliner. Pencil eyeliners are about as simple as they come, but this one has definite staying power and doesn't budge from the moment you apply until you remove it at the end of the day. In fact, I'd tested out on my hand and two days and two showers later, it still was there. I wasn't sure how I felt about that at the time, but it's actually a perfect day to night product. 

The last product in this gift set was the Hypnose Mascara. Mascara is my favourite kind of makeup product and I was gutted to be so disappointed by this one. For a £22 mascara, I thought it was going have a bit more of an impact. Instead I found the wand too clumpy and the mascara slightly flaky and there's a perfectly good reason for this - natural bristle wands and me do not get on. I find that they hold too much product and don't give lashes the natural look a plastic wand does. 

Apart from the disappointment with the mascara, I was really impressed with the other products. I'm not sure I'd pay out the amount to buy the eyeliner and mascara but I'd definitely invest in the Bi-Facil. 

For more information on Lancôme products, visit www.lancome.co.uk. 

Full-sized products are priced at:

Lancôme Bi-Facil £26/100ml

Lancôme Crayon Khol Noir £16

Lancôme Hypnose Mascara £22 

nails inc. Lucky Dip #2

If any of you are signed up to the nails inc. newsletter, you would have seen the other day they were offering seven nail polishes for £18 - a bargain that I couldn't possibly miss and considering I've purchased from the nails inc. Lucky Dip before, it wasn't long before my bank card was out of my purse and I was typing the digits onto the screen.

My lucky dip this time around was just as good as the last. I love how they really mix up the colours.

Left to right: mortimer street, chancery lane and sloane gardens.

Left to right: richmond terrace, mayfair, pembridge crescent, mornington crescent.

I'm loving mayfair - a gorgeous pearly white;  richmond terrace - a rich, deep brown; and sloane gardens - a dark, glittery navy, perfect for the Christmas party season.

Nails inc. nail polishes are priced at £12 each. For more information visit www.nailsinc.com. 

We have a new look!

If you're a regular visitor to my blog, you may have noticed that it has adopted a whole new look!

I've been meaning to update my blog for a while, but once I started fiddling, I ended up breaking it and I felt I needed to get a professional in. This is where Felicity from The Pursuit of Felicity came to my rescue and by god, hasn't she done a fabulous job!

Felicity was so easy to work with and produced the most perfect design that was exactly what I was looking for. You should definitely check out Felicity's blog and have a look at her wonderful designs too! 

Face Soap and Clarity: 3 in 1 Daily Detox Vitamin C Facial Wash

I'm a bit lazy when it comes to skincare and makeup removal. So in order to branch away from my usual routine, I took full advantage of the 1/3 off on selected Soap and Glory products in Boots and purchased this little gem.

Now I'm not the biggest Soap and Glory fan. I feel like I'm paying more for the packaging than the product itself and having not been wowed by previous products, it's not really my brand of choice. Needless to say, I was quite pleased I picked this one up.

For me, a good face wash is one of the hardest skincare products to find. There's plenty out there, but very few live up to their claims. I want one that requires a one-step process - that's removing my make up with me having to go back over it with make up remover and you know what, I may have found the one!

Face Soap and Clarity 3-in-1 Daily Detox Vitamin C Facial Wash is infused with soft jojoba beads for scrubbing, vitamins and minerals for detoxing, protecting and rejuvenating, glycerin for leaving skin super soft and SUPERFRUIT YUZU for skin energising, toning and brightening. Basic it's just one killer cleanser and it certainly lived up to its claims too!

What makes this face wash different from others is that it leaves you skin feeling squeaky clean from the moment it touches your skin. It has quite a refreshing feel and the jojoba beads aren't harsh either. In fact I was surprised to see that it has removed most of my makeup in the shower, where as previous face washes have meant that I've had to almost re-cleanse before applying my moisturiser.

Basically it was love at first sight (or use?!) and it is by far my most favourite product I've used this month. Considering I've used almost half product already, I will definitely re-purchase one it's finished!

I bought this product from Boots. Current price £8