Fabulous Nails - Resplendent Reds

Hi guys! Today's Fabulous Nails post is all about my favourite ever nail colour - RED! That might explain why I have so many...

L > R:

Revlon Top Speed Ignite, Essie Leading Lady, Ciate Enchanted Rose, Rimmel Precious Stones Ruby Crush

L > R:

MUA Starfish, MUA Shade 14, Nails Inc Roland Gardens, Collection Hot Looks Scandal

L > R:

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Blood Orange, Revlon Revlon Red, Nails Inc Matte Gatwick, Ciate Mistress

L > R:

Nails Inc St James, Barry M Bright Red, Models Own Raspberry Crush, Essie Snap Happy

L > R:

Maybelline Color Show Vintage Leather in Red Grained, Miss Sporty Clubbing Colours 304

I think it's quite obvious that I am a little bit in love with red nail polishes - are you a fan? Which is your favourite?

xx

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Festive Friday - Yankee Candle

Hi guys! Welcome to the second installment of my new blog series - Festive Friday! Today I will be sharing some of my favourite festive fragrances from Yankee Candle..

I think it might be obligatory for any beauty blogger to also have a complete obsession with scented candles... and I am no exception! I absolutely adore having a scented candle burning on an evening, especially in the colder months when it can make a room feel so cosy. Last year I did a post entitled Christmas Candles on the Cheap (read it HERE) which was a protest against the ridiculously expensive scented candles which are pushed by a lot of beauty bloggers, and offered up a few more budget friendly alternatives. Today's post is in the same vein but focusing on Yankee Candle which is one of my favourite candle brands..

First up is Snowflake Cookie, a sweet delightful scent which isn't too rich and spicy - a nice alternative to the usual cinnamon scents that are inescapable at this time of year. Very vanilla-y and similar to Christmas Cupcake/Christmas Cookie (two of my all-time favourites!) This small jar was £6.29 from Campus Gifts HERE.

Next is Christmas Memories - possibly one of my all time favourite candle scents! This smells exactly as you'd expect from the name and the label, just like baked gingerbread and cinnamon. It is quite spicy and perfect for burning on a cold wintery evening when you're cuddling up under a blanket. £6.29 from Campus Gifts HERE.

Christmas Eve is already my sister's favourite festive fragrance - as soon as she smelled this it was love! She even tried to steal mine! It's a unique fragrance with hints of sugared plums, a dash of vanilla and a really authentic berry scent. Pick this up for £6.29 HERE.

Season of Peace is another great option for people who don't particularly like spicy scents. It's very strongly scented but the fragrance itself is quite subtle and soft (if that makes any sense at all?!) I usually prefer more dominant scents but there's just something about this - I can imagine it will be great to burn all day when you're in the house over New Years and have visitors around. It's quite powdery and musky - just perfect. Also £6.29 HERE.

I decided to buy four different small jar candles instead of investing in one large jar - the Christmas period doesn't actually last that long and I thought it would be nice to have a few different fragrances over the holidays that I could switch up and enjoy, rather than one massive candle to burn. I always buy my Yankee Candles from Campus Gifts because they're discounted to a reasonable level and the customer service is excellent. You can see their full range of festive candles HERE.

What is your favourite Christmas candle scent? Are you tempted to try any of mine?

xx

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Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm

Hi guys! If ever there was a lip product that has been hotly anticipated and hyped up, it has to be the Maybelline Baby Lips! These lip balms have been available over in the States for a few years but only recently made their way over to England, which was when they truly exploded all over the beauty blogosphere!

Of course I had to try one to see what all the hype was about. I am a big fan of cherry red lips and plumped for the Cherry Me shade. The UK launch featured 6 different 'shades' or flavours of lip balm, three with a sheer wash of colour and three without -but to be honest I have plenty of plain lip balms in my collection so I was only really interested in the coloured ones (Pink Punch and Peach Kiss are the other two).

As you can see, the packaging is pretty basic and clearly aimed at teens and young girls - the clashing orange and pink really doesn't appeal to me at all and the plastic tube feels very flimsy and cheap. It's exactly the same as any other cheap lip balm you can buy anywhere.

As for the balm itself - I was really disappointed. I know brands make a lot of claims about their products which turn out to be a load of waffle, but Maybelline suggesting that the Baby Lips give 8 hours of hydration is ridiculous. If anything they give about 10 minutes of minimal hydration and that's it. As a lip balm this product is pretty naff and doesn't even stand up to the most basic of comparators, such as Vaseline or Chapstick. For £2.99 I wasn't expecting anything ground breaking but this is just rubbish.

Colour wise, as you can see the Cherry Me shade gives the most subtlest hint of fuscia pink colour - nicely noticeable on the lips but it doesn't last at all. If you're after something similar that will last longer I recommend trying Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains, or even some of the Revlon Lip Butters. I can see why the Baby Lips appeal to teenage girls and young girls who aren't that experienced with lip products and might want a pop of subtle colour for wearing to school, but if you're looking for hydration and long lasting lip colour I'm afraid you'll have to try something else.

You can pick up the Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balms for £2.99 in your local Boots or Superdrug or online HERE and HERE.

Have you tried the Baby Lips? What do you think?

xx

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Fabulous Nails - Pretty Purples

Hi guys! I am a massive nail polish addict and today I'm sharing with you some of my prettiest purple shades that are spot on for this time of year, enjoy!

L > R:

Barry M Vivid Purple, No7 Damson Dream, Models Own Purple Blue Beetle Juice, Ciate Fade to Greige

L > R:

Collection Hot Looks Minx, Nails Inc Royal Opera Arcade, Ciate Cabaret, Nails Inc Franklins Row

Are you a fan of purple nails? Which is your favourite?

xx

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Festive Friday - Beauty Advent Calendars

Hi guys! So I've decided to start a new series on Bee's Knees in the run up to Christmas - Festive Fridays! I hope to share something different with you every week which is in keeping with the festive theme, whether it's Christmas candles, decorations or gift buying ideas and tips! Let me know if you like this idea and if you have any requests for posts.

This week's post is all about beauty advent calendars. I'm sure many of you will be well acquainted with the festive offerings from big beauty giants like Benefit and Selfridges, but unfortunately much as I would LOVE to have the cash to buy them all I have picked up my two favourites - the Boots Beauty Advent Calendar (£30 HERE) and the Ciate Mini Mani Month (£42 HERE).

First up, the beauty calendar from Boots. I was really excited to see what this would contain and thought it would be an excellent more budget-friendly option in place of the Selfridges calendar. But when I came across The Sunday Girl's blog review listing the contents I was a little disappointed (read it HERE). It didn't seem worth £30 to me, and I decided against buying it... until a couple of weeks later I realised I had enough Boots Advantage Points to be able to get it for free! I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather spend my points on, and knowing how much enjoyment I got from my Ciate advent calendar last year I ordered it online to collect in store. I think it's currently out of stock on the Boots website (HERE) but you never know when stock might come back in. 

My other advent calendar will be no surprise to those of you who have followed Bee's Knees for a long time - it's the return the Ciate Mini Mani Month! I bought this last year and absolutely LOVED the experience of opening up a new mini nail polish every month. Even though all the colours were not necessarily to my taste (there were a lot of caviars which I haven't used, and many pink colours that I gave away) it was a great way to spend December and I posted about it a lot on the blog (read my summary post HERE)

Although Selfridges/Ciate have been a bit cheeky this year and increased the price to £42 (I'm sure it was closer to £30 last year) I had decided months ago that I would be treating myself to this so I had the money put away long before it came on sale! I really recommend this if you can afford it and love nail varnish, you won't regret it! I posted every day in December last year showcasing the polishes behind each door - I'm not sure if I'm going to do the same this year so watch this space.

I'm really glad I bought the Mini Mani Month because the shades are much more appealing to me this year - not to mention they've added in a full sized polish on Christmas Eve! Bring on the 1st of December. You can pick this up from Selfridges HERE.

Are you a fan of beauty advent calendars? Have you treated yourself to any? Which are your favourites?

xx

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Empties #6

Hi guys! Today's post is all about some of my recent empty products. Although I've not been very well I've still managed to use up a lot of different products and cleared out some space in my bathroom and toiletries basket!

It's been a good few months since my last empties post and I've actually used up more products than the ones pictured! I think it would be a bit overwhelming to put them all in one post, so I am dividing them into two posts over a couple of weeks...

Firstly I managed to finish off the last few testers from the Escentual Micellar Water Blind Trial. I really enjoyed taking part in the trial and used up every last drop of the products I was sent to try! Read all about the trial HERE. I've also finished up another Soap & Glory Feel Good Factor moisturiser - this is the second tube I've managed to get through! I really love this product and it's especially great to use throughout the summer, but I've been trying out some different moisturisers since using this up. You can read my full review HERE.

Next is the delicious Nip + Fab Coconut Latte Dry Skin Fix Body Butter which I have loved using and would definitely consider repurchasing in the future. I really recommend giving this a try if you're on the market for a new body moisturiser, you can read my full post on this HERE. I've also finally finished up my I Love... Strawberries & Milkshake bubble bath! I bought this about 18 months ago and it's lasted well for the price. It smells delish and gives lots and lots of bubbles - read all about it HERE.

Finally two regulars - the Avon Advance Techniques Colour Protection shampoo & conditioner. I raved about these in THIS post if you're interested in a bargain buy that's brilliant for protecting and nourishing coloured hair. I've already repurchased these and will continue to use them for the foreseeable future - although I'm keen to try different shampoos I don't have much spare cash at the moment so I will be sticking with these cheapies for a while!

What products have you been using up recently?

xx

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Fabulous Nails - Best Berry Shades

Hi guys! Today's post is the first of a series I'm planning featuring various different themes - today's is my best berry shades for autumn/winter. I would like to do a whole range of posts with reds, metallics, glitters etc! I have quite the nail polish collection so hopefully these posts will be interesting for you. Enjoy!

L > R:

Ciate Dangerous Affair, Barry M Raspberry, Nails Inc Hampstead Heath, elf Mod Mauve

L > R:

Nails Inc Victoria, Revlon Vixen, Barry M Burgundy, LA Colors Cayenne Pepper

Are you a fan of berry nails? Which is your favourite shade?

xx

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Frankie Daily Journal 2014

Hi guys! Today's post is sharing an exciting recent purchase with you - the infamous (among bloggers) Frankie Daily Journal! I spotted this on a number of my favourite blogs last year but by that time it had already sold out online, so I vowed to make sure I bagged one this year..

As you can see, I actually picked up two! One is for me and the other is going to be my giveaway prize for my upcoming 200 follower Bloglovin giveaway (not long to go!)

This has to be the cutest diary ever - you can see that so much thought has gone into it and the little details really make it special. The illustrations are stunning, the stickers are adorable and there is so much space for notes, lists and everything else you could possibly use a diary for. I don't think there's much more I can say so I will let the photos speak for me..

The Frankie Diary is available online for $26.95 Australian dollars (plus P&P) from Australia HERE. If you'd  like to be in with a chance of winning one instead, watch this space for my 200 Bloglovin giveaway soon!

xx

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