Valentine's Day fashion!

More cynicism than celebration happens on Valentine's Day, which is a shame because I think it's really lovely. I know it's commercial and blah blah blah ... but it's nice, and it's nice having an excuse to spoil your other half and watch films that make you blubber! I thought I'd write a post about how I've decided to dress up today!

My plans for today are really casual, so I've opted for a cute jumper that I got from work (yay) and a pair of dark jeans. As you can see, the jumper has a really cute bow on it, and bit of green detailing on the bottom of it (which you can't!). It's really simple and feminine! I love it.

 My makeup is very natural today. I'm wearing Mua eyeshadows (£1 each, amazing!), some Bourjois translucent powder to remove shine, Shu Uemura mascara, BeneFit dandelion powder and moonbeam highlighter, and dash of raspberry lip balm! My hair is naturally styled, with some dry shampoo for volume and freshness! So yes, a very natural and easygoing look! Perfect for a night-in or a trip to the cinema with your loved one.

Here are some other cute outfit ideas:

Topshop £38.00

Team this up with black tights for an afternoon in a vintage tea shop!

Asos.com £20.00

For a more sophisticated look that is adaptable, this slashneck skater dress from Asos helps make the perfect transition from day to night.

Cath Kidston £35.00

 This gorgeous skirt from Cath Kidston would be perfect with a light blue cardigan. As it's quite cold at the moment, a skirt option might be ideal if you're planning to stay inside somewhere for the majority of the day. It's definitely a cute staple for summer!

Pantene Pro-V 12 Night Therapy

You will probably remember from my previous posts, the amount of ranting I did concerning the dryness of my hair! Well, this product claims to be 'night therapy' for such lifeless tresses.

So, what are you meant to do with it? I had read online about pricey products that should be  used on your hair while you sleep. Twelve hour night treatments are not uncommon on shop floors at the moment, especially with electronic styling devices being all the rage for the past ten or fifteen years. It's inevitable that much hair would be damanged from excessive styling, colouring ... or lack of conditioning and regular trims.

I saw this little bargain in my local pound shop. At the time, I was glamorously looking for mildew remover for beneath the window in my flat. I had been reading about night treatments the previous night, and I hadn't seen them anywhere i.e. Superdrug or Boots. Pantene is a well-known brand in England, so I thought I'd give it a go - it's only a pound after all.

The results haven't been amazing. I use it sometimes, as I wash my hair every other day now. It's full of silicone-based ingredients, which don't produce long-lasting results on hair, but instead provide a 'quick fix'. More quality products are meant to replenish the oils in your hair, by making it more moist during the night so that you can wash out the vitamin goodness first thing in the morning.

Still, I'm glad I tried it. I love looking after my hair, and now that I'm taking care of it properly, it feels more smooth and healthy than ever. Nothing replaces a good shampoo, dry shampoo and regular cuts I'm afraid.

What it is good for, though, are those nights when I'm really tired either from a day at work or lengthy seminars at university. I can come back home, use up one of my face packs from Superdrug and use this on my hair. Run a bath and throw in a Lush bath bomb. Wear some dangly earrings, watch some New Girl or Sex and the City - you'll be feeling divine!

Shu Uemura: Ultimate Expression Mascara

Image: own

For Christmas 2012, I received a gift voucher from my kind grandparents to use in House of Fraser. I've never shopped there until just a few days ago. I met up with an old friend from college, and we ventured in there together after eating some frozen yoghurt from Snog. I came out with this mascara from Shu Uemura. I'll be honest, while things were working nicely with the Eyeko lengthening mascara, I found it was actually making my eyelashes a bit 'spidery'. In addition to resembling Shellob, I saw that some of my eyelashes were falling out as a result of being extremely dry. My tolerance to contact lenses grew worse, too. So yes, the novelty of the cute packaging wore off, unfortunately. I decided to go for the best mascara I could buy with my voucher, and see where my journey to finding the perfect mascara would take me!

Mascara is one of the few cosmetics I wear everyday. I'm quite happy to go out with just a sweep of dandelion powder, rosy lips Vaseline and a flick of mascara. It's important to invest in a good quality one, for this reason.

Eyelashes!

This is what the mascara looks like on. It's very natural-looking, but the increase in length is clearly visible. The mascara makes my eyes look fresh and healthy, which is exactly what I was hoping for. I'd recommend this for those who wish to have a very smart appearance, but feel that they can't wear too much make-up. It's almost as if the mascara creates a small line, that resembles a thin dash of eyeliner - as you can see in the photograph. The mascara creates a soft effect on the eye, and I'm a big fan of the romantic spring look.The best thing about this is the weightless feel of it. It felt like I wasn't wearing any mascara at all. As the hours passed, it continued to feel this way. There's nothing worse than rubbing your eyes after a long day at work, or after a lecture.

I am also very impressed by how easy it is to remove the product from your eyes. I'm more of a 'wipe' person than a 'lotion' one, and so it is important for me not to tug at my skin too much - which can be a nightmare if I've got a stubborn formula. However, I have found this method to be fine. Of course, always use a night cream after using wipes! They dry out your skin like crazy, even if they are renowned for their moisturising properties.

I love the simple black design of the mascara. It's very 'expensive' looking, and it's actually quite heavy to hold! Obviously, when you're applying it to your eyes, with the wand, it isn't heavy - but the actual holder itself is a weighty one. I'm not really sure why that is, though!

I would say it is very good value for money. Buying a good mascara is like buying a good shampoo, if you wear it everyday you can justify it. Also, after having to (annoyingly) switch mascaras again, it's very important that your eyes stay healthy. However, you can cut back on things i.e. lipstick or concealer because the high street versions are just as good, in my opinion.

Ultimate Expression Mascara retails at £20.00 and can be bought at House of Fraser stores nationwide!

Happiness In A Blog Post

Me hugging a Happy Tree

Here's a list of things that make me happy! For some reason, I always feel much happier after reading other people's happy lists. It's infectious!

- Cups of tea. Cherries too!

- Smiles :-)

- The Strokes having a new album out!

- My adorable hamster, Scout!

- Hugs

- Flowers (daisies)

- Rom-coms (I know, not very sophisticated)

You've Got Mail

- Being around friends, and giggling over the silliest of things.

- Going to Starbucks with David the other day because walrus and snail impressions happened! (With the aid of many straws)

- Elephant sneezes.

- My hot waterbottle, Ernest. He's a penguin!

- Merlin, a little owl I received as a present last year. He's meant to inspire me to write my university work! Heehee.

-Being all cosy, and spending weekend mornings in bed.

- Being able to wear my brogues outside again, now the Spring is on its way.

- Reading in bed, when the sun is glaring through the window.


- Children's books from when I was younger. Also, when I saw the Cath Kidston book design for Ballet Shoes my heart sank a little!

- Pandas are sooooo cute.

 - Paris!

 - Baking (yum yum)

- The snowman that David and I built. His name was Herbert George, after H. G. Wells!

Beauty Review: Kerastase Nutritive Bain Satin 2 and Nectar Thermique

Christmas has been kind to me this year. I received some sample sized Kerastase products, and thought I'd write about them! I have very dry hair, and never believed that there would be a product out there that would turn my rebellious tresses into luscious locks. However, I was proven wrong. My hair is naturally thick and straight, but since I've been studying at university, I have experienced an increase of greys (yes, grey hair, at twenty-one years old) and the general texture of my hair has become limp over the course of time. My friend said this was most likely due to stress. After being forced to cut my hair short last year, I choose to not dye my hair because dying it makes it die (apologies for the pun). This Christmas, though, my hair has been restored to its former appearance. I was always told that the shampoo didn't matter, and that it was the conditioner which was vital. My experience has told me otherwise!

Image: Kerastase

Pictured above is 'Bain Satin 2' which is part of the Kerastase Nutritive collection. The shampoo not only forms a luxurious lather, but makes your hair feel amazing afterwards. Its only flaw is the smell, as it resembles the inside of an old lady's unused teapot. Fortunately, the leave-in treatment does smell much nicer. I like that the company have not added lots of useless chemicals to the solution in order to make it smell nice. I always find with shampoos such as Herbal Essences that, even though they smell gorgeous, they don't actually improve the condition of my hair. The sample size of the product has given me just over a week of usage, so I imagine that the full-sized bottle is an economical purchase. It might seem a bit steep to the bank balance as it costs roughly £15.00 in various salons. If you purchase the shampoo from http://www.rush.co.uk you can use the 'new customer' offer, which entitles customers to an extra ten percent off, and they'll still be entitled to the twenty percent off the RRP. I managed to order myself a bottle for ten pounds, with free delivery! Yay.

Image: Kerastase

Nectar Thermique, as pictured above, is a nourishing cream that you massage into your hair after towel drying. The cream protects your hair from heat damage, and also contains royal jelly, which is an ingredient renowned for its conditioning and protecting qualities. After using Alberto Balsam's VO5 Smoothing Creme, which I had free with Cosmopolitan magazine (yes, very studenty, I know) I obviously needed something to condition my hair after washing it, but it was still incredibly dry! With this product, however, my hair has experienced some kind of metamorphosis! In combination with the shampoo, this product has transformed my hair. My hair now not only appears thick and full of vitality, but also very healthy. To me, appearing clean and healthy is my main priority in terms of my personal appearance. I never straighten, curl or dye my hair. I eat vegetables and fruit, drink plenty of water and do not smoke. My hair is just dry. This product just 'helps' the problems I've been experiencing, and I'll definitely be using them in the future.

On a final note, I'd say that it's worth investing in two good quality products, as opposed to having tons of products that are only used for two weeks at the price of £2.50. One of the problems I've experienced as a student is that 'cheap' isn't always better. So yes, I'm very impressed with Kerastase! I'd definitely recommend Rush, too, if you're interested in purchasing just because they send samples in addition to their 30% off introductory offer!

Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in 'Candy Apple'

This is me wearing Revlon's Colourburst Lip Butter in 'Candy Apple'. I received the lipstick as a freebie from Cosmopolitan on Campus, as they were looking for students to test some lipsticks. I thought I would give a detailed description of my experience with this lipstick on here, as I only mentioned it in my article.

The design of the packaging is eye-catching, and the smell of the lipstick itself is gorgeous. It has a slight vanilla scent to it, much like Mac lipsticks do. The colour of the lipstick in the tube looked promising, however, when I tried it on I wasn't so sure! It seemed very bright on me.

When I applied it, the warmth of my lips must have melted the 'butter' to the extent that it became a bit too runny for my liking. Also, the colour was quite bold for my skin tone. I was worried that I'd end up resembling The Joker, when all I wanted was a simple and sophisticated red lipstick. Saying that, I imagine if the lipstick was applied with a brush instead, it would actually look very nice. Maybe if I had used it more sparingly, as opposed to building it up straight away, it would have been more of a light sheen like I was looking for.

Overall, I am glad that I tested this product before buying other lip butters from the Revlon range. I think I would go for a lighter colour if I were to buy this product in the future. My lips were very moisturised, and it was perfect for the cold weather conditions. I would definitely like to buy one that has more pink-ish tones, so that I can just quickly apply it when I'm out and about. They're very handbag friendly! Revlon Colourburst Lip Butters are priced at £7.99 nationwide.

Eyeko Skinny Mascara

 

Image: Own

Finding the perfect mascara is a dilemma for most women, but it is especially difficult for an Emma! I'm not sure if it because both words rhyme, but I find most mascaras to be either flakey, prone to smudging or they simply do not make my eyelashes look any different!

I recently received an e-mail from Asos.com, stating that they were giving their newsletter subscribers a code that entitles them to a 10% discount, and free next day delivery too! I needed a new mascara, and I didn't want to just buy a Maybelline's classic Great Lash Mascara. While more cost-effective mascaras are great value, I find that (as much as I like them) I end up resembling a panda by the time I finish my seminars at Uni, or shifts at work.

The mascara I have been using for the past two months, L'oreal Double Extend Mascara, has its pros and cons. It refuses to smudge without being waterproof (I find that waterproof mascara dry my eyelashes out, I think I may actually have combination lashes!), but it is incredibly hard to remove from your eyes! I've had to wait until my morning showers, where the mascara skids off my eyes in massive clumps (it's quite terrifying, actually), just to see my natural eyes again!

But yes, I'm going to try this new Eyeko mascara. It costs £15.00 usually - so it's a bit above my budget. With free delivery and 10% discount, however, it cost me just £13.50. Bearing in mind that L'oreal mascaras range from £9.00-£12.00, I thought that it wouldn't be too much of a jump up into the luxury world of cosmetics. With its squeezy tube, it means that you can make sure that the whole mascara is used before purchasing another one. So in actual fact, this product should be more economical than the majority of other mascaras. I've experienced this many times, where I've convinced myself that there's "more inside the tube!".

Image: Own

My first impressions of the mascara are good. The packaging itself is really pretty, in my opinion. I'm slightly worried about the wand clumping, but I won't be able to tell until I've used it. The 'blue thing' is actually an eye shield, so that when you apply the mascara, it doesn't accidentally catch your eyelid too! I am tempted to use it as a plectrum for my acoustic guitar, though ... oops.

I'm going to begin wearing this tomorrow and see how it goes. I will hopefully be able to get some photographs up of how it looks on my eyes too. I'm sooooo fussy with mascara, but I've got high hopes for Eyeko!