Holly Sharpe Illustrations & Limited Collection For Marks & Spencer

Hey everyone and Happy Sunday. I hope you have had a great weekend so far. Apologies for not blogging this week until now, but it was my first week back at work after a long break, I had a couple of birthday celebrations to attend and we have been putting together some bedroom furniture at home which is still ongoing today.

For this post I want to talk about the fabulous designs of fashion illustrator Holly Sharpe and her Limited Collection which has now launched as of Jan 9th in Marks & Spencer stores as well as online for SS14.

Holly's illustrations I first noticed when perusing the Hey Sailor website.

This Exotic Girl A4 Print is the design that really caught my eye when I first saw her work.

Well now I am chuffed to see that this very design has been applied to Holly's Limited Collection with M&S.

There are lots of fabulous items including make-up, nail polish, an iPhone 5 case, a wash bag and an eau de toilette.

I have an iPhone 4 which makes me sad so no phone case for me :( I will however be popping into M&S very soon, especially as my birthday is this month. The Eau de Toilette I think will be my must have as the scent sounds scrumptious and I can then keep the beautifully designed bottle.

A lot of the shades in this collection appear to be taken from Holly's 'Exotic Girl' illustration which I think is such a great way of reminding us to be inspired and creative when applying our make-up and painting our nails.

I wish Holly the best of luck in her career and this M&S launch. I am sure it will be off the shelves in no time. Well done to M&S for choosing to work with such a talented artist.

Will you be picking up any items from this Holly Sharpe Limited Collection at M&S? With prices starting at £5 how can you resist? Let me know your favourites in the comments below.

Love to you all

May GlossyBox - Happy Anniversary!

Hello my Sweets. I am trying my best to blog as usual at the moment and I am managing it so far, but I am hoping to move into my new home in the next week or two so please bear with me if I'm not around as much. Today I want to share with you the products that arrived in my May GlossyBox. It is named the 'Happy Anniversary!' box as GlossyBox has turned 1, aww.

The box is the traditional GlossyBox light pink shade. The tissue wrapping is very cute and pretty. The Anniversary ribbon is a nice touch too.

Left To Right:

Noble Isle Summer Rising Bath & Shower Gel, £20.00 for 250ml

Please check out the link above for information on this product.

My Thoughts:

This is a nice product. I have only used this as a shower gel so far. The scent reminds me of the more masculine Molton Brown type of scents. 

Lolita Lempicka Scents:

Eau de Parfum, £49.00 - £65.00 for 50ml / 100ml

Please check out the link above for information on this product.

My Thoughts:

I looooooooooooove this scent. It's gorgeous, sexy and evoking. I want it now. The sample tube is very pretty in the styling.

L'Eau en Blanc, £49.00 - £65.00 for 50ml / 100ml

Please check out the link above for information on this product.

My Thoughts:

This is a more subtle and soft day fresh scent. A little powder room if you will. The packaging is really pretty like the other sample tube. I have used this one up at work the other day. This tube only lasted one day as it was very warm and I wanted to stay fresh at work.

Weleda Face Cream/Body Milk, From £10.95 (£14.95 for 30ml) 

Please check out the link above for information on this product.

My Thoughts:

I have been using this cream in the evenings on my face for about a week now. A little goes a long way with this cream. It does feel nice to apply and has a rose scent. Rose scents seem to be quite popular at the moment in beauty boxes. They are okay, but I it's not the typical kind of scent that appeals to me.

Collection Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner (Black), £4.99 for 6ml 

Please check out the link above for information on this product.

My Thoughts:

The brush that comes with this product gives quite a thick line so I won't use that as I like to choose how thick I want my liner when I apply it so I will just use my own make-up brush with this. I do think that this shade is so amazingly black though. I love it. When I swatched it it was so smooth to apply. The Collection website says it gives a glossy finish, but I found this product to try a bit more matte which is fine for me. It comes in four shades so perhaps the Teal and Gold are a bit more glossy? I am looking forward to creating a dramatic winged eye with this product.

 Before The Swatch Had Dried To A More Matte Finish

Left To Right:

HD Brows Brow Beater, From £3.90 

My Thoughts:

You can check out the link above for HD Brows website, but I find it really hard to find the link to the products. Please let me know if you know where the product links are hidden :) I haven't tried this product yet, but I will as I do set my brows with a clear mascara which is what this is.

I got really excited when I saw the glitter particles on this wand, but it looks like they are there purely for decoration as they do not transfer when I swatched this on my hand. If they had I might have used this as a mascara as the curve on this wand I think would be great for a mascara.

GlossyBox Compact Mirror, Free to subscribers as a birthday gift

My Thoughts:

This is a really nice compact and it's an extra product which is always nice :)

Overall I am really happy with this box. I really want the Lolita Lempicka Eau de Parfum, but I'm a bit skint at the moment with moving house so I think I will have to wait a while for that one. The Lolita Lempicka L'Eau en Blanc was really nice to use as well. The Collection Lasting Colour Gel Eyeliner (Black) looks to be a great liner so I really hope I will like it. The other products are nice too, but these are the stand out ones in this box for me.

So Happy Birthday GlossyBox. I have been with you from the start and I hope the next year has lots of goodness to come.

For more information on the GlossyBox service please check out this Link.

Have you subscribed to GlossyBox? If yes, are you happy with their service? What products did you receive in your May box and were you happy with them? If no, will you be subscribing?

Love to you all

March 2012 JolieBox

Hey, it's me again. I thought it was meant to be a horrible day of rain today, but the sun is out and I'm not complaining. My March JolieBox did not show up for ages after I was told it had been dispatched so they sent me out another one which is why I am a little late posting about this. So here are the products in this box which is named 'Put A Spring In Your Step'.

Left To Right:

Yardley Luxury Body Wash (English Lavender) ~ £3.50 For 200ml

Link :)

The Information:

A Luxury Body Wash containing Q10 that cleanses, nourishes and moisturises the skin, leaving it feeling soft, smooth and delicately fragranced with English Lavender. Also available in two other fragrances: Royal English Daisy and Peony.

Application:

Use in the bath or shower to cleanse the body.

My Thoughts:

This is a full size product which is great. The scent reminds me of an aromatherapy massage oil. Very relaxing.

Davines Authentic Moisturising Face/Hair/Body Balm ~ £17.40

Link :)

The Information:

A natural, conditioning, moisturising, organic, Safflower Oil base balm with a treble action: make-up remover for the face, hair balm and body moisturiser. Contains ingredients such as jojoba and sesam oil.

Application:

Face – Apply a small amount to face with cotton wool, avoiding contacts with eyes. Rinse with warm water.

Hair – Apply to towel dried hair. Leave for two minutes, comb the hair and rinse well.

Body – Can be applied to dry or damp skin. Leave for two minutes and then rinse.

My thoughts:

This is full size also which is fab. If you know me you know that I like multi-tasking products. Products like this are great for people who travel. This product has a herbal scent. I am a bit confused that it's described as a body moisturiser yet you are meant to rinse it off?

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner (Emerald Green) ~ £9.50 / €10.00 / $14.00

Link :)

The Information:

Eyeko Skinny Eyeliner Pencils for precise definition and intense colour. Line and define for long-lasting colour. The wax based, creamy formula allows for smooth application. Even when you sharpen the pencil to the smallest nub the silver handle remains for longer use. Available in six different shades.

Application:

Use light strokes close to the lash line for everyday definition.  Hold pencil on its side for thicker lines and a dramatic look.

My Thoughts:

I think this should have come with cardboard packaging as it did when I received one of these pencils in my January 2012 GlossyBox: The Valentine's Day Edition. You can see that post here. I could not see the name of this shade on the pencil. Maybe I missed it, but I would describe it as an emerald green. When I checked the website that is what it is called. This is a full size product also.

This is a gorgeous shade that I think will make my eyes pop. So pretty.

LCN Nail Polish From The Free Your Mind 2012 Collection ~ £5.50 For 8ml

Link :)

The Information:

Discover the new Free Your Mind Collection by LCN! Fast drying nail polishes available in four dreamy, shimmery, on-trend pastel shades. No.330 Free Spirit (8ml), No.331 Free Your Mind (8ml), No. 332 Sky High (8ml) & No.333 Dreamcatcher (8ml).

Application:

For best results use a base coat followed by two coats of your favourite colour and finish with a top coat.

My Thoughts:

I could not see a shade name on the bottle so I'm not sure which one I have. I can not look now as I am not writing this post while at home, but I will check to see if any of the numbers above are on my bottle. If anyone knows please tell me :)

I would describe this as a beautiful golden, creamy caramel with pink, purple and orange shimmers. This is a full size product as well.

JolieBox Mirror

The Information:

A dainty compact mirror that will fit perfectly in your make-up bag.

My Thoughts:

It's always nice to get little extras in life. I think this mirror will fit snugly into my purse for on the go glances.

To top it all off JolieBox have also added the JOLIEMAG to their boxes.

The magazine includes information on products, spring releases, interviews, a manicure step-by-step guide, a www.loveheartsandcrosses.co.uk discount code and information about the JolieBox team, including one of my most favourite Vloggers/Bloggers Anna. You can find Anna's blog and YouTube channel on her Twitter profile @ViviannaMakeup

So overall I like my March JolieBox. I will definitely use all of the products. I love the eyeliner and nail polish shades. 

If you are interested in finding out more about JolieBox please see this Link :) 

What products did you receive in your March JolieBox? Did you like them? Did your box arrive late? 

Love to you all

My Birthday Gifts

Hi Everyone. What a rubbish day it is outside, but at least I'm not at work I guess. I have gathered my birthday gifts together to show those of you that are interested.

The girls at work got me this when we went to the Mexican restaurant last Wednesday. Please see that post here :) They know I love Hello Kitty. They also bought two chocolate cakes. We were all too stuffed from the Mexican to eat them so I left one at work for the others to eat and took one home to share with my family.

These cards and gifts are from friends at work.

These eye shadows came in this dinky little bag. So cute. The compact mirror has my name on it. Love it!

A pretty matching bracelet and earrings.

I do love candles so these are great. This is a set of four candles with a fresh and subtle scent.

This is the first product I own from Front Cover Cosmetics. This compact is so compact (not making a joke here). It's great that it comes with a mirror. At first glance I thought these were eye shadows that came with a black liquid liner, but it is clear so that you can turn your eye shadows into eyeliner. I have a very similar eyeliner product from Eyeko, but I think it's fab that this comes with it and the handy sleeve cover too.

This Baylis & Harding England Skin Spa set is from my man's Mum. All products included are scented rose, ylang ylang & patchouli. There are so many products included and these drawers will be handy for storage. 

 Face Cloth, Body Butter, Rich Intensive Body Cream & Steam Shower Body Cleanser.

The pretty drawer unit all the products came in.

Exfoliating Body Mitt, Soap, Body Polish, Silky Hand & Body Lotion, Steam Cream Wash & Steam Shower Body Cleanser.

 Mum gave me money for my birthday, but she wanted me to have something to open so she got me these lovely gifts.

Mum knows I am always looking for ways to brighten up my desk at work so these Hello Kitty stickers and fun pens will come in handy :)

I have loved The Wizard Of Oz since I was a kid as my Dad did. Mum managed to find these Limited Edition Film Cells from the film. So cool! If I ever get my own blogging room these will be going in there :)

These clothes are all from Hollister which my man bought for me. I know how much they are because I picked them up at Xmas when I was with him. The vests are £20 each and the check shirts are £44 each. I almost put the shirts back as I wouldn't normally spend that much on this sort of thing, but they are great quality and fit so well. The vests fit nicely too.

I also received money from my team at work and my other half's family which is always handy :)

I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that sent me a card and/or gave me a gift. I ♥ it all :)

I have only included prices of things that I know as I don't want to go searching because they were gifts. I hope you all understand :)

Love to you all