No7 Beautiful Skin Energising Mask Review

After the babbling and rambling of my last post we're back to beauty reviews with this post (even though there may be some babbling and rambling thrown in here, as well - I just cannot help myself sometimes).
I bought this mask when my skin was in ridiculously good condition (I'm not showing off, it doesn't happen that often) and I didn't really know what I wanted from my skincare. That's when I came across this "Energising Mask". "Energising" is a good thing, surely - who wouldn't want to have more energy, even though I'm not entirely sure how my skin would behave more energised.

Random Anecdote #1:
I bought this when I was still living in Germany, which unfortunately doesn't have any Boots stores. During a day trip to Holland I spotted a Boots on the side of the road and erupted in a crazy screaming fit. Cue screeching tires, a very tight U-turn and a trip into said Boots. Now, imagine my disappointment when all I found inside was plenty of cough medicine and a teeny tiny No7 stand. Better than nothing, though, I guess. Now that I can go to a Boots as many times as I like again, my life feels so much more enriched.

The Beautiful Skin Energising Mask is what I call a peeley mask. You apply a thin layer onto the face, wait for it to dry and work its magic and then you peel off the hardened product together with whatever rubbish was stuck on your skin. In order for it to dry properly you need to make sure you spread only a very small amount over your skin, which means that this little tube will last for ages and ages.
It's not the most pleasant product to apply, as it's extremely sticky and will give your face an absolutely disgusting yellow tinge.

Random Anecdote #2
One of the first times I used this I got nice and comfy at home (I may have been wearing an Eeyore onesie), relaxed while the mask was working, before making my way to the bathroom to peel it off. In comes my boyfriend with a friend from work, both of them barging their way into the bathroom to say hello (as you do.....), just as I'm peeling what looks like yellow bits of skin off my face. Wearing an Eeyore onesie. I was mortified. His friend was mortified. The boyfriend was laughing so hard he almost cried. Lesson learned? Always lock the bathroom, even when you're home alone. Don't think I'll ever live this moment down.

The peeling-off part of the mask does actually give an odd sense of satisfaction, but be warned: If any of it hasn't dried properly it will stick like mad! Also, make sure your hair is well out of the way and that you don't get any of this on your eyebrows, as pulling it out is anything but fun.

My face afterwards does feel a little cleaner and always looks a little rosy and flushed which I put down to the pulling and tugging of my skin - maybe that's what was meant by "energising"?
Now that my skin is no longer in ridiculously good condition it doesn't really seem to make that much of a difference at all.
All in all, this is a product I will happily use up, but won't rush out to repurchase, as I think I prefer my skincare not to have the same texture as superglue.

The No7 Beautiful Skin Energising Mask retails at £12.50 for a 75ml tube.

Life lately

I'm getting ever so slightly bored of just writing the same old reviews over and over again, so I thought it's about time to give you all a little glimpse into my life with a little catch up post. Not to say there won't be any more reviews, but it's nice to mix things up a little from time to time, no?

Beauty

I've had black hair, brown hair and (involuntarily) red hair, so I decided it was time to take the plunge and go blonde for a change. As my natural hair colour is fairly dark it took two bleaches to get rid of any orange-ness and I still need one more bleaching session to get it to the colour I want, but it won't be till the start of January, just so my hair can regenerate a little bit. This one's probably worthy of its very own blog post, but only once my hair's finally the colour I want!
At the moment it's a yellowish-golden colour with the ultimate goal being a silvery platinum.

Reading

"Mr. Rosenblum's List" is a book I've had for aaaages and this is the third time I'm attempting to read it. Hopefully I'll be more successful this time.
I used to have a subscription to more! magazine when I was at uni and straight away it brings back memories of times when life was just that little bit simpler. After graduating I felt like I was too old for this, but I recently picked up a copy and discovered that the mag has undergone a major redesign and I love it once again!

Fitness

For a while I had a job where I had access to pretty much unlimited free food and unsurprisingly my belly's filled out quite a lot as a result. Now, during the festive season it's ridiculously hard to lose weight (especially considering my undying love for burgers and cakes and cheese), but I started going for proper runs again and that helps me to at least stop putting on weight.
Running is really a fantastic way of staying fit and healthy and the one thing that always gets me back into it, is this book. If you've ever even considered getting into running then this is a must buy - you will love and cherish it forever, promise!

Out And About

Now that me and the boyfriend are living in London again it would have been inexcusable not to go to one of the Christmas market, so we wrapped up warm and made our way to the one by Southbank Centre. We enjoyed mulled wine, chestnuts (well, I did....) and cheese filled Krakauer sausages and even got some of our shopping done. There was also a tragic incident involving mulled wine and my white Christmas jumper, but it has since recovered and is back to its original white state.

Mmmh.... Cheeeeese....

And guess what was right next to the Christmas market? The CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL! I got so excited with all the lovely chocolate and baked goods on display that I forgot to take pictures with my camera, but made sure we didn't leave empty handed!
There was healthy chocolate (well, as healthy as chocolate can get) and not-so-healthy cupcakes and brownies (some of which didn't survive the journey home and ended up in my belly).

We then moved on to Trafalgar Square to see the huge Christmas tree only to be majorly disappointed by the way it was decorated. I mean, come on.... A few lights that have been chucked over and a star that looked like it's been bought from Poundland - it actually made me angry to look at it. I was already annoyed that I'd trudged all the way there for nothing when something magical happened.

I was convinced it was an urban legend, but there it was, right in front of us: The Coca-Cola Christmas truck! All lit up playing Christmas songs! It's real and I have pictures to prove it!

My life feels just that little bit more complete now that I've seen THE Coca-Cola truck.

What have you been up to lately? Leave me a link in the comments section if you've got similar posts up on your blogs and I'd love to have a little nosey peek! :)

Makebelieve Enhance Sunbeam Bronzer Review + Giveaway!

Let's face it: Unless you live in some wonderful place where the sun shines all year round (or anywhere in the southern hemisphere, really), November means a lot of dreary weather. Clouds, rain, fog and early nights mean that any sort of summery glow I had about me has all but vanished and my complexion has gone from pale to "ghostly appearance".

Whereas I do like to use bronzers I wouldn't necessarily call them an essential in my make-up routine and if I'm in a rush, bronzer is the one step I'll skip. I don't own many bronzers anyway, as a lot of them just look either orange or muddy on my complexion or contain enough shimmer to make my face look like a disco ball. So far I've been using the Bourjois "chocolate bronzer", as it's been recommended for yonks all over Youtube and while I'm quite happy with that one, it's still not a product I'd gush about.

So, when I received this little beauty from Makebelieve*, my main thought was "Please don't let it be orange and glittery!" My first big sigh of relief came when I realised that it wasn't in fact orange and glittery. And as I swatched and swiped away I soon came to realise that it is, as a matter of fact, pretty amazing!

But let's start on the outside first and consider the packaging. The Sunbeam Bronzer is housed in a sturdy cardboard box (think Benefit, but a lot bigger) which flips open and has a mirror on the underside of the lid. It comes with a small kabuki style brush which is firmly encased in the box. There is a small ribbon underneath the brush which you can pull to make it easier to get out. Whereas I do generally like the packaging, including the pretty golden design on the exterior, it does take up a lot of space and I personally find it way too bulky to carry around with me, which is a bit of a shame.

Now, brushes included with make-up products are a bit of a bugbear for many. Most of the time they are just so ridiculously awful that it seems like a waste of space to even include them. I've started to just chuck most of the brushes that come with make-up or use them up for grubby or fiddly household chores. This one's different. It's incredibly soft and fluffy, has survived several washes without shedding a single bristle and dispenses the product perfectly. It's not the biggest of kabuki brushes, so it's better for contouring than sweeping the entire face for an all-over glow, but to be quite honest with you, I feel like the brush alone is already worth the £15 this bronzer retails for.

Another one of my worries is that a lot of bronzers are simply too dark for me, resulting in a muddy looking face, but again, no trouble here. I was told that this is a product that can easily be built up and unfortunately that made my alarm bells go off immediately. Over the years I've learnt that "can be built up" is usually a desperate pitch to sell an underperforming product. Luckily, the Sunbeam Bronzer can genuinely be built up to achieve a darker colour should you wish to do so. For me, one swipe is enough at the moment to give me a nice healthy, contoured look. Having said that, there's only so far it will go, so if you have naturally quite dark skin it probably won't do an awful lot for your complexion, no matter how much you build it up.

The colour itself is rather lovely - a very natural, slightly cool toned bronze. There's no shimmer whatsoever which makes it great for contouring. I tend to sweep it just under my cheekbones and the sides of my forehead and then use whatever is left on the brush to give my face and neck a little bit of colour and bring me back to the land of the living.

Longevity is nothing to either shout or complain about. It lasts a pretty average but decent 8-10 hours on my skin depending on the type of powder and foundation I've used and whether my skin's having a good or bad day.

So, as you can probably tell by now, I am genuinely chuffed and pretty amazed with this product apart from the bulky (albeit pretty) packaging. It's actually completely replaced my chocolate bronzer (sorry Bourjois) and meant that I now make time in the morning to give my face a pretty flush of colour.

The good news is that Makebelieve were kind enough to give me an extra Sunbeam Bronzer to give away to you! Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below and you'll be entered! The giveaway is open internationally, but you must be a follower via GFC or Hellocotton to be eligible for entry. The giveaway ends in three weeks' time at midnight on December 13. Good luck!

*PR sample sent for consideration

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fette Face Masks - A Souvenir from Germany

I still have a few beauty products in rotation which I bought in Germany and whereas most of those I feel sort of "meh" about, I have to admit that these face masks are something I miss.
The first Fette mask I received in a Glossybox and until then I'd never really heard of the brand, but I faintly recognised their logo, so I must have seen them in a pharmacy before. The other two I got off my mum in a goody box she sent me. I'll review all three together in this post, as they're not really that different apart from the scent.

The first one I'd like to talk about is the Dead Sea Pomegranate Mask (Totes Meer Maske Granatapfel). If you're confused now, because the brand name says DermaSel, whereas I was talking about a company called Fette, then you're excused. I was startled at first when I saw that two brands were seemingly using the same logo. Turns out it's one and the same company, but DermaSel is just one specific range which includes Dead Sea Salt extracts in all of its products.

This was by far my favourite one, not only because I love pomegranate and thought it smelt absolutely divine. Fruity, but not in a sickly sweet way. The texture was gorgeously thick, creamy, luxurious and buttery and it left my skin visibly rejuvenated, moisturised and glowing.

My second favourite was the rose mask (Rosenmaske). Even though I'm not a huge fan of rosy scents I found the smell of this one subtle enough for my personal liking and very relaxing.

It had the same buttery consistency of the pomegranate mask and while it moisturised and plumped my skin really well it didn't quite give it that refreshed glow as the above one did - but it's still a fantastic product!

Lastly, we've got the Cocoa Butter Mask (Kakaobutter Maske) and unsurprisingly, this was my least favourite out of the three. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate, but I am yet to find a cocoa butter beauty product I really like. The scent just seems a bit odd to me and texture-wise this was the worst of the three, as it was slightly runnier and left my skin feeling a tad sticky. 

But just because it wasn't as good as the other two doesn't mean it was a bad product. I just feel that it would have been better suited to drier or more mature skin, whereas the other two were absolutely perfect for my normal/combination skin.

Fette claim that one sachet gives enough for one application, but I could easily get two out of each and I  still applied a pretty thick layer. If you skimped a little bit, I reckon they would yield three applications easily.

Fette face masks are only available in German pharmacies at the moment, so I need to look for my skincare fix elsewhere. But for anybody who gets the chance I would really recommend these and as the range is quite vast, I'm sure each and every skin type will find their perfect fit. These retail at 1.70€ per sachet.

Essence 24h Hand Protection Balm review

Before continuing any further, please note that I'm reviewing a hand cream, yet I really don't like hand creams. I consider them a necessity, as especially in winter my hands can get so dry the skin on my knuckles actually cracks and bleeds, so a good hand cream (or a thick slather of vaseline or 8 hour cream over night) can usually prevent this problem. But the thing is that I hate - HATE - the feeling of greasy hands while I go about my day to day business, so I've just resigned myself to applying hand cream over night to do its magic for the following day.

The thing that made me buy this one in an instant was the price - let's not kid ourselves here. It cost 1€. That's less than a pound! I was sold in an instant. With such a low price I didn't expect any miracles, so I wasn't overly disappointed when this turned out to be a complete dud.

Let's start with this (in my opinion rather outrageous) claim of 24 hours of intensive care and protection. Yeah... no. It doesn't happen, sorry. I've tried other intensive hand creams before and while they left a horrible greasy film that took forever to sink in, I'd wake up to beautiful, soft and nourished hands. With this there's no difference at all, so I guess it's already an achievement that my hands don't get any worse.

So, if it's not a very nourishing cream, does it sink in quickly at least? No, it doesn't do that either. In fact, it just sits on your hands for ages, so I assume that most of it has ended up smeared all over my bed sheets, rather than sunk into my skin like it's supposed to be.

On the plus side it has a light and pleasant smell, slightly reminiscent of Nivea cream or baby lotion, which I find very comforting. It comes in a lightweight tube which is easy to carry around. And it only cost 1€. But next time, I'd rather invest a little more money and get something better out of it.