All About Orange Collection from Mac

Last Thursday Mac released their All About Orange collection into stores and at 10am on the dot I was waiting patiently outside my local branch of House of Fraser to get my hands on a couple of pieces. For the first time ever in my Mac shopping years I found myself a lone shopper at the counter rather than grappling to swatch lipsticks and eyeshadows - the perfect opportunity to try something new.

I'm going through a blush obsession of late (in the past month I've gone from owning 1 to 6) and decided this was the perfect opportunity to add orange to my collection. Following a chat with one of their sales assistants (or should I call them make up artists?) we decided to try Honey Jasmine. As the darker of the shades it's probably the least likely I would've chosen myself but this is where listening to the professionals comes in. She sat me in the chair, swept some across my cheeks and my face instantly looked alive. Honey Jasmine was definitely coming home with me.

A lipstick purchase was not on the list but once I'd admired Neon Orange on the assistants and tried it myself it too had to be added to my collection. Yes it's bright, yes it's orange but as I've said before as a predominantly black dress wearing office worker a splash of colour on the lips makes all the difference.

Unfortunately both these items are sold out online and across many stores but did you managed to make any purchases from the collection?

Here I am, all about orange and off to a Trevor Sorbie launch later that evening - and I promise the matching necklace was a fluke, not intentional!

Guest Review by my brother on Dove Men+Care

When I received an email asking I knew anyone who would like to try out the Dove Men+Care products I thought my brother, Rob would be the perfect man for the job having abandoned his love of the Clinque men’s range now his hard earned cash is usually spent on Lelli Kelly shoes for my niece or another turtle to add to my nephews growing collection. I asked if he was willing to turn beauty blogger and he gave me the thumbs up and surprisingly without any prompting I received an email from him the other day including a photo of him proudly clutching his products and his thoughts on the Dove Men+Care range he received.

As a fireman Rob spends a lot of time outside so the Hydrate+ Moisturiser* with SPF 15 to protect from UV rays is a must have. He said it stood up to its light, non-greasy formula which is needed when working in difficult conditions. He was impressed out how a little goes a long way which would make it a very budget friendly purchase. Between his active job, part time personal training and a love of a morning running the Clean Comfort Anti-Perspirant Deodorant* stood the test and he tells me it smells nice too!

The only product that he wasn’t overwhelmed by was the Dove Men+Care Face Wash Sensitive* which he felt smelt too soapy, not that he said this was a problem but he’d prefer a nice scent – who knew, men like a nice smell as much as us ladies.

His two favourite products (described as ‘brilliant’) were the Shave Gel Revitalising* and Post Shave Balm* which he found reduced the soreness he experiences from shaving (he needs to be clean shaven at work) just as they claim too.

All in all it was a big thumbs up from my brother and he even said he would “definitely purchase the the shaving gel, aftershave gel, moisturiser & deodorant”.

With Father’s Day rapidly approaching I asked Rob if he’d have liked to receive these as a gift and the answer was yes saying it’s a great way to try something new you wouldn’t necessarily buy your self for the first time.

*PR Sample

May Empties

Once again I have been storing up my beauty empties ready for this months post, patting myself on the back for finishing various items and finally using up a store of samples and sachets cluttering my cupboards. As you can see from the photo its been a bumper month filled with some good and some bad.

Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Toilette Spray 100ml
Coco Mademoiselle is my go to day fragrance and has been for some time, if in doubt a spritz of this will work for day or night, particularly when my other signature perfume from Vivienne Westwood is too strong and powerful a choice. I love scents I can actually smell on myself and will last throughout the day and it's the perfume I will always find commented on when I'm wearing it.

I had two sachets of the Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Masque in my draw leftover from a girls pamper night and decided it was the healthier way to enjoy some chocolate. This mask lives up to it's name and really does smell like chocolate, unfortunately applying it felt like chocolate too. Thick and very hard to manage and it got everywhere - my bathroom was a messy scene when I was finished. There were no amazing results after using so I think I'll leave them as a gimmick.

Kiehls Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate was a sample received in the post from the branch in which I made my bumper purchase a few months ago. A nice touch I thought. Whilst I have the Line-Reducing Concentrate for the face in my stash I don't necessarily feel I've seen much difference and this sample size of the eye cream wasn't big enough to see or know whether there would be any benefit from purchasing full size. The same for the Midnight Recovery Eye Concentrate which was a sample provide with my purchases. Whilst I used this for approx 6 weeks again the results were minimal.

Many months ago I purchased a try me set from Clarins which included the Daily Energizer Wake-Up Booster. I often used it for travelling but had thrown it into my stash when needing to mix up my toners and would choose this in the morning when any help waking me up is needed! I love the smell of this product and would gladly purchase the full size again as I found it lived up to its claims to brighten and refresh the skin.

Sadly the next three products were fails for me so I'd love to know if you've had better results from either. L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, L'Occitane Repairing Mask and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Shine Deep Treatment both left my hair lank and greasy after using. As I've said before my hair can be fussy with various products but I would anticipate some positive results from one of them. I do have another sachet of the Aussie and L'Occitane treatments so I plan to give them a second chance which I will report back on next month.

What my hair does love is a colouring treatment. Being a dark brunette approaching her mid 30's one or two grey hairs show up much to my irratation so I reach for L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss in 400 Dark Brown which covers those pesky greys and makes my hair look so healthy after I actually now enjoy hair dye time - and it's so easy to apply myself.

Bottles of Liz Earle's Skin Tonic and Soothing Eye Lotion were finished and as well documented I'm a fan. I'm about to try some other eye make up removers which I've received lately so I'm interested to see how they compare.

During my many trips to the USA I would frantically throw bottles of OPI products into my basket and take advantage of the cheaper prices, especially where Nail Envy is concerned. I have acrylic nails so my need for this product doesn't make its use a necessity for me although I do like to apply to my actual nails at the tips to give them some protection against the regular applications of my falsies.

Two tubes of hand cream from The Body Shop ended up on the Empties shelf this month. Both were from a Christmas gift set I received so unfortunately I can't link them up for you, and it's a shame that I won't be able to enjoy the scents of Vanilla Bliss and Cranberry Joy. I liked these hand creams, the right thickness to moisturise without leaving hands watery or unable to hold my coffee mug without risk of it slipping from my hand! I'm in the market for a new hand cream so I'd love some recommendations but I'm quite happy to investigate more hand cream from The Body Shop

Tend Skin Liquid was a sample thrown in with an order received from Feel Unique and I didn't have a clue what this was. A quick search on the site told me it was to treat ingrowing hairs from shaving etc. I have a particularly dry patch on the leg that I cross from where it rests against my knee so I thought it perfect to test on that. To be honest I just found it like rubbing alcohol on my legs and didn't see any noticeable difference unlike using Liz Earle's Botanical Aftersun Gel has done of late.

And finally a non beauty product is that it's time to say goodbye to my Beach Walk Yankee Candle. This candle was a gift and probably not a scent I would have chosen myself although I'm glad I was in the position to try this as I whilst originally it sat in my bathroom I upgraded it to the front room as I enjoyed the fresh scent so much.

So that's the lot for this month, I hope you enjoyed reading and of course share with me any of your thoughts on the products or let me know anything you recommend my trying - any excuse to go shopping!

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour: 657 Azure

On Friday I just 'happened' to be passing House of Fraser and noticed their Big Brands Event where there was 10% off all beauty and yes that's all beauty, Creme De La Mer, Laura Mercier, Dior, ALL BEAUTY.

If ever there was an excuse to make a few purchases of items on my wish list then this was it and I'll be posting on those purchases shortly. Another Chanel nail colour was not on my list and I had high hopes of managing to avoid the Summer releases from Chanel as yellow mascara just isn't for me, and then I saw the nail colour 657 Azure.

As you know I tend to stick faithfully to my reds and whilst in the past I have experimented with Chanel's fashion colours (see post on 2011's Mimosa here) I tend to avoid them now but a quick swatch of Azure and I was sold.

It's a metallic green and I'm referring to them as my mermaid nails. One friend made a comment that I look like I had frostbite but we'll ignore him as not being as fashion savvy us shall we? It's not the best finish but it's constantly changing as it catches different lights and for a bit of fun on a night out like yesterday I was very happy.

Have you made any purchases from the Chanel Summer range, I'd love to hear about them.

Sunday Spend: Gold Scratch Ring from NEXT

similar here

Apparently the day of rest doesn't apply to my debit card leading to the purchase of this ring from Next today. I'd only popped into M&S for some dinner and somehow ended up just 'having a look' round Next and next thing you know this ring was being handed over to the sales assistant. Priced at an affordable £6 I'm enjoying glancing at my hands as I type this post although from the photo I don't think I'll be making hand model status any time soon!

Did you allow your debit card to rest today or were you unable to resist a purchase like me?

May Favourites from Rimmell

I hold my hands up and admit to having been a bit of make up snob over the years but that has changed over the past few months reading so many fabulous reviews and endorsements of 'drugstore' products. There was no reason for my snobbery other than I wasn't often making new beauty purchases (far from the case now!) as I had my favourites that I repeat purchased and they would tend to be from the higher end of the scale. Of course this didn't mean I'd often browse the beauty counter in Superdrugs or supermarkets in particular as throwing a mascara or lipstick into the shopping trolley during my weekly food shop would mean being able to hide the cost but I never knew what what was worth the purchase, especially as testing products in drugstore counters isn't the more enjoyable or hygienic of processes.

Both these products have done the usual rounds in blog circles of late, hence my adding them to my stash, so I won't go into long winded reviews and just share what I love about them.

First up is the Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer which I LOVE! I am using this daily and finding it a must have product for a girl like me who struggles with a regular sleeping pattern that is often clear to see on my face! Take a sweep of this concealer under the eyes and I instantly look like I've had a full 8 hours. I've just picked up the Wake Me Up Foundation although yet to try it but my friend who I recommended both products too has given it the thumbs up and we're both preaching about the Wake Me Up products to anyone that will listen.

I've been having a love affair with bright lipsticks after spending too long wearing Molton Browns now discontinued Nearly Nude Lipstick (see original post here). There have been a couple of new reds rotating in my make up bag and adding colour to my predominantly black wardrobe with Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Coral Queen making regular appearances when I want something a little more subtle with a pinky tone. Someone at work actually commented on how nice my lipstick looked when I was wearing this other day which is always a bonus! I suffer from dry lips and and this lives up to it's moisturising name and has a nice shine a bonus for someone like me who likes the look but not the texture of lipgloss.

I'd love to hear if you're using either of these products or what you think of Rimmel and/or drugstore products.

Cabana Brasilian Barbecue Restaurant

Last night the BFF and I decided to have a random night out at Westfield. A favourite shopping haunt of ours we thought why not explore some of the food and drink options. We chose to eat a Cabana Brasilian Barbecue and it was a good choice!

First difficult choice of the evening was which Caipirinha cocktail to try, I went for Passionfruit and then dived into our starters of Pulled Pork Slider and Crunchy Rice Bolinhos. Strangely the waitress asked us if we wanted these to start - erm... isn't that why they're called starters! That aside they were just the right portion size to leave us wanting more and anxiously waiting for the arrival of our Spicy Malagueta Chicken, the Cabana's bestseller.

Our table was right next to the BBQ pit were we were able to watch the chef tackling the hugh skewers of chicken and peppers that are then brought over to your table and served onto the plate. Rice and fries were shared and we tucked in till our bellies were full. The chicken was moist despite the charred and had just the right amount of flavour to allow sampling the various sauces on offer.

The thought of dessert was too much so we opted for the Cafe Cabana and discovered that warm rum in coffee is definitely not our thing and we decided to abandon them for the Sky Bar at Aspers Casino. Finding two armchairs on the outside terrace the night flew by watching the bizarre characters that frequent the Casino and saw us running (as much as our heels would allow!) for the last train home.