October Favourites

Evenin'

I gave my nails a break and kept on my blue mani for an extra day, so today I have my October favourites for you. I didn't buy an awful lot this month, due to being penniless! So there are just a few bits that I've picked up or rediscovered that I'm loving.

Polish first, of course!

2true Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 10, 17 Magnetised Green, China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Accessorize Baby Blue

My favourite mani this month (although I didn't like the formula of the base colour)

17 Fast Dry Fury, Stamped with 2True Fast Dry Colour Quick Shade 8, Maybelline Orange Couture and  BM04. Full post here.

Brunette eyebrow pencil by Vital Radiance, Beauty UK Pearl Eyeliner in Eclipse, Garnier BB Cream in Light, Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve

I always used to use a matte eyeshadow to fill my eyebrows when I needed it - which wasn't very often - but I saw this eyebrow pencil in Poundland and thought I'd try it. Now I know what a difference it can make to "do" your eyebrows. It makes my whole face look more defined and really frames my eyes.I don't do it everyday, but when I'm doing my "full face" or a strong eye it completes the look.

I now have 5 of Beauty UK's pearl eyeliners and can't recommend them enough. I got Eclipse as an "extra" from a blog sale and love it. It's a very dark slate grey and is great for lining a smokey eye.

I wasn't sure about buying a BB cream from Garnier - at £9.99 it's a lot more than I'd usually pay for foundation or tinted moisturiser, so I sent off for a sample to try it. The first time I used it I used way too much and ended up super shiny and felt like my make-up was sliding around my face all day. The next time I made sure I used it over primer and didn't use as much and it was much better. Somewhere in between a foundation and tinted moisturiser is perfect coverage for me as I have good skin and barely ever get spots, but have a few uneven patches of colouration and freckles. I'm still not sure if I would buy this for a tenner, but it's on offer in Tesco at the moment for £8, or I might try 17's one for £5.99 next time I'm in Boots.

I got the Rose and Co Apothecary Rose Petal Salve in my October Boudoir Prive box and it is fast replacing my Lemony Flutter as my favourite cuticle treatment. It doesn't have the grainy texture of lemony flutter and turns into more of an oil on the skin. I even use this on my lips (I do this with Lemony Flutter too). I wasn't sure if the scent would put me off but it just reminds me of Turkish Delight. I'm not a great fan of Turkish Delight, but it's bearable! And makes my lips feel great. I want to try their Cherry Salve too, but I will wait until I've finished this one and the Lemony Flutter (which I feel is never gonna happen since it's HUGE!)

L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream Hibiscus Flower, Original Shea, Desert Rose, Kleenex Facial Cleansing Wipes

Last month in Marie Claire they were giving away a L'Occitiane Shea Hand Cream in four different "flavours" (am I the only one who calls scents and varieties of beauty products "flavours"? You wouldn't eat it...). I picked up the original shea butter first, and when I used it almost all up within 2 weeks I picked up two more! Yes, I bought 3 copies of the same magazine...and still haven't read it! I can honestly say that it's the best hand cream I've ever used and my hands and nails have felt so much better, especially now the weather is getting cold - which is tough on my hands. If I don't get a huge bucket of this stuff under the Chrimbo tree I will be buying one in the new year!

I am a facial wipe fan, and these ones from Kleenex are really good. Apparently Kleenex as a company started as a way for women to remove make-up, so their new range is going back to their roots. These wipes are soft and quilted, so they're strong and don't make my skin feel dry and I don't feel like I have to scrub at my eyes to get my mascara off!

So, there are my faves of the month. I am on a self imposed spending ban so Novembers favourites will be things I'm rediscovering and digging out from the stash! The spending ban wont be too hard I think, there are only 2 polishes that I think I want (Barry M's Croc Effect crackle and the green/gold one from the Models Own Beetlejuice collection) but I can hold off on those since I don't have a place for them in my 31 day challenge! And then December will be all about Christmas, so maybe my faves for that month will come from Mr Claus!

What have you been loving this month? I tell you I'm not loving this cold weather! Am avoiding putting the heating on for as long as possible...it's chilly in here I tell you!

Hx

PS This post meant to go up last night, but it seems I neglected to hit "publish". Ooopsie! The 31 day challenge will resume this evening!

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Boudoir Prive - a catalogue of errors with a happy ending - Zoya Neeka

Hello

I caved in and subscribed to Boudoir Prive, one of the three or so beauty boxes floating around at the moment. Basically, you pay £10 and get sent a box of 5 or 6 high end beauty, health and lifestyle samples every month. You know me, I'm a budget kinda girl and I'll never pay full price for something if I can help it, so I never get anything "high end". Anyway, I opted for Boudoir Prive over the others for no other reason than I had a code to get my first box for half price. I signed up on something like Augus 18th (so way before my no-buy started :p ) and they told me I'd be debited on September 5th for £5 and receive my box sometime mid-September. Fine. Except that a few days after I was meant to be billed I had an email saying my payment hadn't gone though but not to worry they'd try again in a few days. I knew I had enough money in my bank account to cover £5 (I'm broke but it's not that bad yet) so I went to their website to try and check the details they had for me. I couldn't check my card details through the account section on their website so I emailed their support team, and the FAQ's said I would have a reply in 48 hours. I didn't hear anything for about three days, then had an email saying my box had been despatched, so I assumed the payment had gone though. Then, I had another email confirming that it hadn't gone through, and I would need to purchase a one-off and continue my subscription next month. Wut? One person said the box had been despatched, one person said it hadn't. Of course, not wanting to miss out (as I had heard rumours of what was going to be inside) I emailed back asking for clarification, before I bought another box when one was already on the way. before I heard anything back, I came home Friday morning after the school run to find the box on my doorstep (gotta love Royal Mail) and an email later in the day saying my box was free of charge because of the confusion. Phew! I appreciate that the period around the despatch of the boxes is a busy time for the people at Boudoir Prive, and confusion is bound to come about, but they dealt with it well and I will continue my subscription - for another month at least.

Anyway, rant over, let's get to what you're really here for. I had heard on the downlow that there would be a nail polish in this months box, and oh boy what a nail polish! Zoya Neka from the new Smoke and Mirrors Collection! My very first Zoya. From what I've seen on other blogs different people got different colours, and I'm glad I got Neeka. Dusty purple with gold and pink micro glitter? Don't mind if I do. I love love love it, unfortunately, the shimmer doesn't show as well on the nails (2 coats) as it does in the bottle, but it's still yummy. I stamped over it with Miss Sporty Electric Beige.

I'm now pining over Jem and Yara from the same collection, thanks to getting some nail spoon things in the Boudoir box, but there's no way I'll ever be able to afford them, especially at over £9 a bottle. But Neeka I got for free (even if I had paid the £5, or heck even the £10 I would have loved it just as much), it's gorgeous and it's my first (and probably only ever) Zoya.

If you got a Boudoir Prive box, wha Zoya did you get? If you haven't signed up yet, and you want to give it a go you can use the code 1box12 until 29th Sept to get your first box half price. You can thank me with a "bisous" apparently.

Hx

PS Would you be interested in seeing my collection swatched on nail wheels?

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