Review: Fake Bake At Home | Dolcé Dreams | Coconut Macaroon Body Scrub |

Fake Bake At Home | Dolcé Dreams - Coconut Macaroon Body Scrub - £18 - Available at www.fakebakebeauty.co.uk

Did you know that Fake Bake have diversified and now do beauty products including make up and body care? Neither did I until I went to the Fake Bake Beauty at Home event a few weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised about the array of products on offer - you can see some pictures from the event on my Instagram. 

One of the products I received to test out was the Coconut Macaroon Body Scrub* from the Dolcé Dreams collection. Everything about the product is great and pleasantly surprised me. I think the packaging is sturdy and cute, and the actual product is packed full of sugar to exfoliate, which means a little goes a long way. There is also enough slip due to the addition of coconut and shea oils, which leaves your skin soft, moisturised and smooth but it doesn't leave any oily residue which is a massive plus for me. The scent is also so good - it is sweet and reminiscent of holidays, but isn't sickly or over powering.

This would be a great scrub for exfoliating skin before tanning, which shouldn't be a surprise considering its manufactured by a tanning brand. I would definitely repurchase once this runs out and its become one of the favourite scrubs I've ever tried.

Have you tried anything from the Beauty at Home range? What is your favourite Fake Bake product? xxx

EVENT: By Terry | Light Expert & Autumn 2015 Launch |

When the email inviting me to this event popped into my inbox, I literally screamed with excitement. I have loved By Terry from afar, lusting after everything from the Baume de Rose to the Hylaronic Hydra Powder, but unfortunately have never actually owned anything from the brand.

This changed on Wednesday, when I popped down to the Space NK store in Chelsea to view the new Autumn launches, the star of the show being the revamped Light Expert Click Brush Foundation, which is available from September and retails at £48.

Myself and the other bloggers who attended were treated to purple macarons (what else for a blogger event?) and pink champagne, whilst having a chance to browse the range and have a chat with the make up artists that represent the brand.

We were also treated to a demonstration which showed three different looks you could create with the Light Expert Click Brush - a very natural, super easy and quick look for the busy working mum, the social butterfly who needs to take her look from day to night using contouring and the super busy woman who needs to top up throughout the day. Alban Laloy who has been the lead make up artist for By Terry for 5 years, talked us through the product and the looks while they were being demonstrated.

After the demonstrations I had a make over by the lovely Alessia who used the Light Expert Click Brush in the shade 1 Rosy Light as a highlight over the make up I already had on, the most beautiful blush duo in 400 Rosy Sculpt and my new favourite lip product which is now top of my wishlist Palace Garnet 10.

I will most definitely be doing a full in depth review of the product in the new future, so keep your eyes peeled for that, but in the mean time I will give you a quick low down on the new product. It is a light weight and buildable liquid foundation, which is dispensed via a click brush system and instead of having just one hole, there are 4 places in the brush that product is dispersed. Replacing the flat foundation style brush is a kabuki brush head which is super soft and very sturdy so amazing for blending the product seamlessly. You can also unscrew the brush head to clean it thoroughly and you can also do this to check how much product you have left.

Everything about the packaging and product is well thought out, user friendly and beautiful! I can't wait to test it out more and let you know my thoughts.

Have you tried any By Terry products before? xxx

Event: Vichy | Normaderm Launch | Night Detox

Earlier this week I was lucky enough to attend the launch of a brand new product by Vichy. Night Detox is the newest installment to their Normaderm skin care line which is tailored to oily/combination and problem skin. I was so excited about attending, not only because events are such fun and a great opportunity to meet new people but also because this whole line and particularly this product is perfect for me and my skin type.

The venue was the Hamyard Hotel in Picadilly and was just incredible! It was so quirky and different and the perfect space for a blogger event - it even had its own bowling alley which I will definitely have to go back and try out. Upon arrival we were greeted with the most delicious food - mini fish and chips, mini sorbets, mini chocolate pops (everyone knows I love anything mini!) and more as well as complimentary mojitos to enjoy. I got to mingle with some other bloggers and ended up spending the night with Layla from Sprinkles of Style, Hannah from A Day in The Life of a Northern Girl and Zoe from Face Value Beauty who were so lovely and let me join their group haha. We also got to view the new product and test it out before the presentation which would tell us some more details about the product.

The presentation occurred in the in-house cinema and we managed to grab a bag of popcorn before we sat down. We were given a short talk about the product, what skin type it is for, how it works etc and I learnt some really interesting skincare facts, for example, did you know that sebum production peaks at 12am and 12pm?

Although I aim to publish a full review post of Night Detox, the main aim of this product is to stop that dirty feeling in the morning that oily skin gals know all too well by controlling sebum production, tightening pores, and evening your skin texture by both detoxing and purifying your skin at night.

After the talk we were kindly shown the film Grease, one of my fave films, but unfortunately I couldn't stay for this (sob) as I had to get the train home (the con to not living on a tube line anymore!)

I also received the daily moisturiser from the range and a cleanser of my choice, which was the Unclogging Exfoliating Gel. I've already started testing them out and am really enjoying the products with an aim to have a full review up in a few weeks once I have tested them properly.

Thanks again to the team at Vichy for such a fab night! xxx

Christmas Gift Ideas From Paul Mitchell

The other evening I attended a Christmas gathering held by Paul Mitchell at the Sanderson Hotel. While enjoying some cocktails and mini bites to eat, I was educated on their abundance of gift sets and stocking fillers available for the festive season. Even though I went to the event I'm not obligated to write about them, but I think they are really good quality and there is literally something available for everyone - even your pets! I was gifted the Extra Body Gift Set* from the Christmas Trio range which I'm really excited to try out as the other ranges I have tried through out the years have always lived up to their claims and expectations.

There are three Luxury gift sets including 'It's A Blonde Moment' featuring my favourite range from Paul Mitchell at the moment (see my review here), the popular new curl range encapsulated in 'Stay Calm and Curl on' which I'm also a big fan of (the wave cream was featured in this monthly favourites post) and 'You Look Skinny Today' all at the price point of £35 and which come in super cute colourful and glittery resuable gift bags.

There are also three other Christmas trios also in similar reusable gift bags at £26 featuring a selection of full size best selling products and three sets of  boxed Christmas duos at £18 including shampoos and conditioners from the Moisture Daily and Colour Protect Daily ranges and a kids set for £16.

In regards to stocking fillers there are plenty of minis to choose from starting from £4.50 across the entire Paul Mitchell product family so would be suitable for women and men. They even have sets for pets suitable for horses, dogs and cats if you like to treat your fluffy friend at this time of year.

A couple more of my favourite gift ideas are the Vogetti styling sets which would be great for teenagers and include tutorials and all the equipment you need to create the perfect fish tail plait or up do for £8.50 - £12. They have also bought out a lemon and sage candle to pair with the Lemon Sage Thickening Shampoo and Conditioner and the Tea Tree gift sets have a biodegradable seeded paper wrap which when planted sprout daisies - how cute!!

The Vogetti Styling Kits

For more information on the gifts mentioned and even more gift ideas visit the Paul Mitchell website here. All products are only available in salons, with the exception of Look Fantastic. Let me know if you pick any of the sets up! xxx

Event: Pearls Exhibition with Pond's Institute at the V&A Museum

A few nights ago, I was lucky enough to attend an event put on by Pond's Institute at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London thanks to my bloggy friend Nuala. I had such a wonderful evening that I thought I would share a little about the night here with you. 

First of all, this is the only museum I haven't visited before in London so it was really exciting to go somewhere new. It was so beautiful inside with lots of marble and soft lighting for the evening. We were greeted with a champagne reception and I was able to meet some new people too - Bettina and Stacy who were lovely while trying out some of the products dotted around.

We had a quick talk by the brand's new ambassador for the party season Laura Whitmore and Caroline Neville, then a private tour of the pearl's exhibition that is currently running at the museum, where we learnt about how pearls are made and the history of their meaning. I wish we were allowed to take pictures because some of the pieces were incredible, including amazing necklaces, tiaras and even a dress. My favourites were seeing Marylin Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor's pearls and the pearl earring that Charles I wore when he was beheaded. As you may already know, half of my degree is in History (I did a joint honours with Political Science) so it really was a perfect night for me consisting of a mixture of beauty and history, two of my favourite things! 

I can't wait to try the products we received at the end of the evening, which includes the cult classic Cold Cream Cleanser (tongue twister right there!) and will be sure to have some reviews up in the next few weeks once I've had sufficient time to test them. 

Have you tried anything from Pond's before? xxx

Event: Paul Mitchell | New Curl Range |

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to attend my first ever blogging event. I have previously been invited to some others but I was either busy or too nervous to go, so I finally bit the bullet and decided to pop along to Mayfair.

The event was by Paul Mitchell to promote and educate us on their new range for curls. The new products launching include a shampoo*, leave in conditioner*, a beachy texture cream* and a curl definer*, so there is definitely something for everyone to try. They have been formulated  to detangle, fight frizz, define, smooth and hydrate the hair of those with naturally curly hair but can also be used on styled hair. I will be doing proper in-depth reviews once I have tested them all out properly but so far I am loving the two styling products for beachy waves and defined curls.

While I was there I had my hair done by a Paul Mitchell stylist who was so friendly and gave me some great tips on how to style my hair and some more information about a variety of products. I also got some nail art done by Nails by Rosie who I got chatting to and found out that she is from my Uni town of Birmingham - if you are from around that area I recommend you pop to her shop in the Custard Factory as she did a wonderful job.

Finished hair 2 days on

Accent nail by Nails by Rosie with my own varnish Essie's 'Bikini So Teeny'

Everyone from Paul Mitchell was so lovely and friendly plus there were some tasty canapés and cocktails available to enjoy while I learnt about the history of the brand and the development of their different styling ranges (I have my eye on the blonde and sun collections!) I also really enjoyed meeting and chatting to other bloggers at the event, especially Nuala from Dolled Up London who was really lovely and I highly recommend you check out her blog!

I had such a great few hours at the event and can't wait to attend some more if I am lucky enough! Sorry that my pictures are a bit fuzzy, it was dark and they are all taken on the iPhone! xxx

Where have I been?

It seems like over the past few months I have stopped and started with this blog so many times! I've been really busy and then when I have had a moment of quiet to write a post I either don't have the photos, something comes up or most recently my laptop dies. I thought I'd share little snippets of what I've been doing such as making the most of the sunshine, spending time with friends and family, visiting new places in London, Wireless festival and Matt's graduation (he has a Masters now!) and my first event (post to come soon). I know this post is picture heavy but a picture can speak a thousand words can't it?

A lot of these photos have come from my instagram - if you would like to follow me there too you can find me at lilmisslifestyle. What have you been up to this summer? xxx