Too Faced Sweet Peach Oil Lip Gloss

There's been an awful lot of coverage about Too Faced Sweet Peach collection but while both the palettes are getting a lot of love, I think the lip glosses are getting overlooked in favour of their more instagrammable counterparts.

I'm not usually a fan of lip glosses but the oil in the title of these had me really intrigued. Turns out they sit somewhere in the middle and are a peachy, sweet, joyful treat for your lips.

There are eight shades in the range to choose from, each of which is lightly tinted in peachy/pink shades. There's enough colour to make you feel like you're wearing something other than a plain old gloss, but not so much that you'd worry about doing it without a mirror on the bus.

I suspect the peach scent will be a bit of a divider - I know of at least one reader that thinks it's too sickly, but I actually love the smell. It reminds me of the peach sweets you get at a pick n mix stand and you know what, that's more than fine with me.

Like the rest of the collection, the packaging is super cute, with the peach theme carrying through on both the gloss lid itself and the cardboard outer. I'm finding it strangely satisfying that the outer packaging matches the colour of the gloss inside - a small point but one that makes my inner organisation geek very very happy.

Like most glosses, they only wear for a couple of hours before needing a bit of a top up, but the mix of oils in the formula means that they're very hydrating and will allow you to get away without a lip balm.

As with the rest of the collection, these are limited edition, so grab one quick before they go (they're £16 each). You can find them via Debenhams or direct from the Too Faced website; just hear in mind the latter comes with some quite hefty postage fees as they ship from the US.

I'm loving the 2017 launches from. Too Faced so far - add in the recent Skinnydip and Kat von D collaborations and I think they're really bringing out some exciting stuff. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year brings!

Are you a fan of Too Faced? What do you think of the Sweet Peach collection?

*contains PR samples

Glossybox La Mer Special Edition Box

It's safe to say Glossybox really know how to do a collaboration box. Previous boxes included NARS and Harvey Nichols and this time they've got a totally amazing one with luxury skincare brand La Mer.

La Mer are one of those brands that I think we've all heard of but are often out of budget for a lot of people. Created by Dr Huber back in the 50s, it's a brand that focuses on the healing energies of the sea. Dr Huber's Miracle Broth features heavily in all of the products, providing moisture, smoothing, radiance, smoothing and regeneration to the skin.

The special edition Glossybox contains 6 of their cult products, and gives you everything you need for a complete La Mer skincare routine.

Inside the box you'll find:

The Cleansing Micellar Water 30ml
The Treatment Lotion 5ml
The Eye Concentrate 3ml
The Revitalizing Hydrating Serum 5ml
The Moisturizing Cream 7ml
The Intensive Revitalizing Mask 15ml

I'm looking forward to trying lots of these properly over the next few weeks - I popped the mask on over the weekend and was really impressed with how much brighter my skin looked after just one application.

In total, the contents are worth £118, based on a cost per ml price, however you can purchase the box for £35 if you're a Glossybox subscriber or £40 if not.

Demand is set to be really high for these - there are 2000 boxes available, so if you'd like to get the chance to purchase one, you need to sign up to this list in advance.

The boxes will be released on 20th February and will be available while stocks last (not long at all if it's anything like the NARS ones!).

What do you think of this special edition Glossybox? Will you be ordering one?

*Contains PR samples

Valentine's: Pierre Marcolini Chocolates

I think it's safe to say you all know I'm a bit of a chocolate fiend. When I first started working in London, one of my pay day treats to myself was a pit stop at Godiva in St Pancras and a special box of chocolates to savour over the next few weeks.

While I can easily devour a giant bar of Dairy Milk with no minimal effort, sometimes you just need something that little bit more special to savour. With Valentine's Day fast approaching, I wanted to share a few treats from Pierre Marcolini. They'd make a beautiful gift from your boyfriend/girlfriend but an even better one from yourself.

Pierre Marcolini are a luxe Belgian chocolatier brand (founded by Mr. Marcolini himself) that not only make some of the tastiest macarons I've ever eaten, but they also have an impressive selection of amazeballs chocolates. These are the kind of chocolates that you want to keep hidden and not share with anyone. The ones you eat slowly so you savour every delicious mouthful and feel very sad when the box is finally empty.

Inside these colourful hearts are six different flavours of truffles. You get three each of: dark chocolate ganache with raspberry pulp, passion fruit milk chocolate ganache, lime white chocolate ganache, salted butter caramel, praline crisp with nougat and praline crisp with pistachio. Although they're very rich, the raspberry especially has a lovely fresh finish to it and I suspect I could demolish a LOT of the salted caramel given half a chance. I virtually had to wrestle one of the pistachio truffles away from my boyfriend so I could get a taste – he adores anything chocolatey with nuts in, so this was a clear winner for him.

Their special Valentine's collection has been given a super cute makeup in terms of packaging, with illustrations from Parisian designer Séverine Assous. It features very cute drawings of everything from Wonder Woman to Little Red Riding Hood and adds a nice edge to the more traditional boxes hidden underneath.

The 18 Heart Collection costs £19, but there’s also a very cute little two heart box (filled with the raspberry truffles) available in stores for £4. There’s a couple of stores in central London, but the UK website will also ship nationwide.

I’m off to finish the rest of my chocolates. See you soon!

*contains PR samples

My Ultimate Valentine's Gift Picks

My ideal Valentine’s day involves steak, gin and a sh*t load of chocolate. Oh and some Fleetwood Mac on the go. It doesn’t matter whether you’re single,  coupled up or meeting up with friends – Valentine’s Day is a great day to treat yourself. I’ve pulled together a few ideas for some gifts I think you’re going to love, whatever your romantic situation.

Kiko’s 'Matte for You' Valentine's collection is what actually makeup dreams are made of. There’s a very definitely pink and heart them going on, right through from the super soft face brush (which has a red heart in the centre) to the ridiculously pretty heart shaped lipsticks. The lipsticks are the highlight for me. Not only are they rich in pigment and lovely to wear, but the heart shape gets so many cute points it’s not even funny. There are five shades in total, with each one costing £6.90. I’d recommend grabbing a spare or two as you might want to keep one just to look at. Ahem.

Chocolates are a failsafe for any occasion, but especially on Valentine’s Day. Hotel Chocolat is always one of my favourites as they have a great selection for all budgets. If you want a box big enough to share, the Valentine’s Sleekster is a great option. It has 27 heart shaped truffles inside, in a mix of nine flavours. The Salted Caramel Kiss is my favourite, closely followed up by Passionfruit Cream and Illegal Gianduja. There are three of each chocolate, so if you’re feeling charitable, you could share 50:50 or using my preferred method: 2 for me, 1 for you.

Following on with the food theme, Crabtree and Evelyn’s Rose & White Chocolate biscuits are the perfect accompaniment to a post-dinner film on the sofa. The rose stops the white chocolate from being too sweet, while giving just a hint of the Turkish delight taste I always get when I eat rose-flavoured food. Yum. £5

I spotted these Ban.Do pens when I was killing time in John Lewis at St Pancras while waiting for a train (they have such a good stationery selection!). They cost £12 for three, which makes me want to do a *little* cry, but with slogans like ‘you're better than unicorns’ and ‘you rule so hard’ on them, they’re basically the motivational pickup everyone needs from time to time. Plus they look great in flat lays, so bonus points there.

For an indulgent bath and body treat, I urge you to get some Lola's Apothecary products in your life. This beautiful range is handmade in small batches and features lots of natural ingredients and rich essential oils. The duo you can see here is from their 'Delicate Romance' collection, which as you might be able to guess from the rose petals inside the (very Instagrammable) bottles, is rose infused (along with lots of other good stuff). The dry body oil is amazing for all skin types and works well as a Massage Oil, and the Bath & Shower Oil gives off the most amazing aroma and is one you'll really want to savour. The special Valentine's gift set contains both of these products, plus a small bar of luxury chocolate, for a special price of £75. 

Finally, is it even Valentine’s Day if there’s not at least one scented candle involved? Liz Earle’s Rosemary & Rock Rose candle blends subtle rose with fragrant rosemary and I was surprised at how well these two combine. If you steer clear of rose scents because they’re too floral, I think this would be perfect for you as it has a lovely herby note to help balance out all that rose.

What are your plans this Valentine's Day?

*contains PR samples

Let's Talk: Why I Stopped Taking the Pill For the Sake of My Mental Health

There's been a huge amount of news over recent months about a male contraceptive trial that recently had to be stopped due to a small number of subjects feeling depressed. As a woman who spent virtually 50% of her life taking the pill, it amazes me that more isn't said about the side effects it can have. I've read a lot of articles recently from women who have all stopped taking the pill for various reasons but the majority seem to have been for mental health.

I started taking the pill when I was 16. I was one of the 'lucky' ones - the first one I took seemed to work well for me and as such I never ended up changing it. Like a lot of girls who are given the pill, it was Microgynon 30, one of an older type of pill and what I now know as one of the cheapest to prescribe. But it worked well enough for me and I carried on taking it religiously for the next 15 or so years.

Now, having taken something for so long, I never really thought I had any side effects from it, but looking back now I can see that I did - I just assumed they were part of my personality rather than a by product of the pill!

I would get horribly anxious around the time of my pill break and have horrible hot sweats for the few days my 'period' came. And for the past 12 months I just had constant cycles of feeling so unbelievably down, even when everything in my life seemed to be going pretty well.

About six months ago I was a few weeks in to generally just feeling terribly sad - I remember talking to a friend about it and saying I couldn't understand what was happening to me and that I just didn't feel right or like myself at all. She recommended speaking to my doctor, which was always my fallback plan, but I will always try to take things out of my life before adding more in and after reading a lot of things about the pill and depression, I thought that stopping it seemed like a good first try. (Note: I'm not advocating not going to your GP if you are concerned about how you're feeling/possible depression/mental health issues. That would have been my absolute next step if this hadn't worked for me.)

Nearly six months on I can say I feel so much better and that I wish I had done it much earlier. I don't profess to feel happy every day, but I feel more like me and less like there's a giant black cloud constantly hanging over my head. I've also realised that I'm not quite as much of a moody bitch as I initially thought - I think the hormones from my pill were making me a LOT worse and it's only now I'm no longer taking it I can really see the difference. Sadly the pre-period hot sweats have remained (sexy) and my skin is a bit oilier than it was previously, but I'll take those any day over the way I had been feeling.

It's been a bit of an adjustment in my personal life as I have a long term boyfriend, but the inconvenience of other contraception pales into insignificance to the positive difference not taking the pill has made to my mood. When I  started out as a 16 year old girl on the pill for the first time, I didn't really have a plan long term or get spoken to about many other options. It was just the one that seemed to be offered at the time.

Hormones are funny old things and will affect different people in different ways. If you're not sure the pill or injection or whatever is working for you, don't be afraid to swap or change or stop altogether. You might try lots of different methods before finding one that works for you. Or maybe you'll have a long-term relationship with condoms as they feel like the best solution overall. It's all totally personal and you need decide what's right for you as an individual. And what works now, might not in 5 years time. So don't be afraid to re-assess.

I'd love to hear your thoughts/opinions on all of this - have you experienced something similar?

Primark PS Pro Makeup Brushes

The Primark beauty section keeps going from strength to strength. I featured their PS Pro Oval brushes a few months back (great Artis dupe!) and I'm pleased to see they're back in stock again. On top of the oval range, they've launched a bigger selection of your more 'typical' types of brushes and I wanted to share my thoughts on the ones I think are well worth a purchase.

With prices starting from just a couple of pounds, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they might not be much cop, but you'd be wrong!

The majority of the brushes have a decent-weight plastic handle, with a metal ferule and synthetic bristles. The fan brush and a concealer/detail brush have a chrome handle and there's also a retractable kabuki brush that's perfect for popping in your handbag.

For me, the stars of the show are the large powder brush, foundation brush and the angled eye brush - all three feel far more expensive than their true cost and give an excellent finish to makeup. The pointy nature of the foundation brush allows you to get into smaller areas as well as give an even finish all over. While the powder brush is pretty large, it's perfect for finishing products or larger washes of bronzer and feels super soft against the skin. I've been using the angled eye brush for both gel liner and for my brows and it works equally well on both - I'd recommend buying two of these so you don't have to keep cleaning it in between uses!

One brush I really wanted to love but just didn't was the fan brush. I have a bit of a thing for these kinds of brushes - they feel so nice when you waft them over your skin (just me?!) but this one shed a lot of fibres and didn't feel as soft as the other brushes in the range. It does look super pretty in a flat lay though, so there's that. Hashtag blogger cliche.

Overall, they all washed up pretty well (fan brush aside) and retained their shape and softness nicely. As far as I'm aware, the brushes are all cruelty-free and there are ten in total in the range (so a few more than I have here).

Given the price of these brushes, I think they're such good quality - definitely comparable to some of my Real Techniques brushes and around half the price! They range from £2 to £5 and are all available to buy separately so you won't waste money on purchasing sets that you only want half the brushes from.

They're in stores as we speak and I believe will be a permanent part of the collection, but you never know with Primark - things can tend to sell out pretty quickly!

Have you tried any Primark makeup/brushes before?

*contains PR samples

NIOD Dermal Science Skincare QVC TSV Friday 3 February

You may have seen me rave on about NIOD Photography Fluid last year - this little beaut is like an Instagram filter for your skin and if you don't have it already, it needs to go on your wishlist pronto.

NIOD are the super science brand from skincare geniuses Deciem. They've got a very special TSV offer coming up on QVC tomorrow, so if you're a fan of the brand or have just been keen to learn more, now is the time to buy. For £49, you get four of their cult products, which have a total value of £140. It's an impressive saving and will run for 24 hours only, from midnight on 3rd.

Each TSV contains four full-sized products: NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum, 15ml, NIOD Multi- Molecular Hyaluronic Complex, 30ml, NIOD Fractionated Eye Contour Complex, 15ml and NIOD Sanskrit Saponins, 90ml. I'll have some more detailed reviews on each of these over the coming weeks, but I've tried to give you a high level look at each one here. There's an awful lot of detailed science behind the brand and each product is targeted at a different need, so for more information, head over to the NIOD website.

NIOD Copper Amino Isolate Serum, 15ml - this comes in two parts that you mix together before your initial use to help keep the product as fresh as possible. It targets skin ageing and starts to show results in just 5 days. Expect more radiance, a more even skin tone and less visible pores. 

NIOD Multi- Molecular Hyaluronic Complex, 30ml - contains different 12 types of hyaluronic acid for maximum plumping. HA can often be tricky to absorb into the skin due to large molecule sizes, so having multiple types in one product gives a greater level of hydration and plumpness. 

NIOD Fractionated Eye Contour Complex, 15ml - there are 28 different technologies packed into this little bottle, all designed to target ageing around the eyes. I'm super excited to try this one as I'm quite conscious of the fine lines that are creeping in around that area and this promises to give results very early on. 

NIOD Sanskrit Saponins, 90ml - an intense cleansing balm, SS is based on unrefined Ayurvdeic plant surfectants that cleanse the skin without any of the traditional modern technologies. It contains no sulphates, oils, esters or micellars and can be used by all skin types. 

You'll find this special set online and via the QVC channel tomorrow, Friday 3rd December for 24 hours only. Don't miss out! You'll be able to purchase via this link from midnight (it will show as sold out until then). 

Are you a fan of NIOD? Which of these would you most like to try?

*contains PR samples 

3 New Lip Launches You Need To Try This Month

If you looked in my bag right now, you'd probably find at least 4 lip products. I'm not saying I have a problem or anything, but a girl needs choice, right?

There are a whole load of great new lip launches coming this month, so I thought I'd pick out a few that you need right now. Expect to see a few more lipstick orientated posts coming soon - the obsession (and great products) continues!

First up are the new Liquid Matte Lips from GOSH. These launch next week and come in eight new shades from candy pink through to deep plum. The matte finish is comfortable on the lips and not too drying; they also last for absolutely hours! My favourite shade is Candyfloss, which is a pretty nude-pink - I've been wearing it a LOT over the past couple of weeks! They're £8.99 each and exclusive to Superdrug.

I adore the novelty of colour-changing products but there haven't been a huge amount hit the high street. MUA's Luxe Unique Lip Gloss is a glossy treat that adapts on your lips to give you an individual shade. The gloss goes on clear and will give a subtle pink colour for most people - it's not a highly pigmented product, but gives a nice touch of colour and is something you could easily apply on the go. It's also £3.50, so it's a really budget-friendly way to try a color-adapting product. Look out for this in Superdrug when it launches later this month.

The news that Lipstick Queen were releasing liquid lipsticks actually made me squeal. They call these 'elastic mattes' as they're lightweight in texture and don't feel as though they're sitting heavily on your lips. The Vitamin E formula makes them really easy to wear for hours on end and although you'll need to reapply after eating, they last really well otherwise. I've got the See Ya nude shade here, but there are five others to choose from (ruby red Sayonara is also calling my name). Pigmentation is excellent and you only need a gentle swipe to get a full coverage application. £22 each

Do you like the look of  any of these new launches? What's your current favourite lip product?

*contains PR samples