October Magazine Freebies!

Hi guys! Today is a post letting you guys know/reminding those of you that already know to get down to your local newsagent pronto! October magazines are all about the FREEBIES!

I picked up Marie Claire and InStyle at the weekend but I know there are a few other magazines with freebies too this month! I'm planning on heading out to get Red magazine tomorrow because they have a free This Works product.

With Marie Claire this month you can get a free L'Occitane hand cream - with four different fragrances to choose from! I opted for Shea Butter Subtle Violet and will let you know how I get on after a few weeks - I've never tried anything from this brand before but it's obviously a firm favourite with a lot of other beauty bloggers. This is a really good deal because Marie Claire only costs £3.90 and the hand cream retails for £8!

InStyle are giving away this set of miniature products from Ren - another renowned brand I have no experience of! I always like getting mini skincare products because I find they last much longer than you expect, and I'm really excited about giving these a whirl - the pack contains the Ever Calm Gentle Cleansing Milk, the Vita Mineral Active 7 Eye Gel and the Ever Calm Global Protection Day Cream. InStyle is reduced to £2 this month so if you're keen to try Ren products then grab it before the end of the month!

Two other magazines giving away freebies this month are Cosmo (free San Tropez Face & Body Instant Tan) and Company (two free nail polishes). I don't fancy either of these but if they sound like your cup of tea get yourself to your nearest newsagent, supermarket or WHSmiths now!

Have you picked up any of the freebies this month? Which is your favourite?

xx

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Fabulous Nails #53 - Jacava London*

Hi guys! Today is another Fabulous Nails post but featuring a different and new brand for me - Jacava London*. I was lucky enough to be sent a polish and top coat from the lovely people at Jacava, so read on for my thoughts!

Jacava nail varnishes stand out from most other brands because they are '8 free' - this basically means they don't contain DBP, Camphor, Formaldehyde, Toluene, Cellophane, Parabens, Phthalates and Animal Ingredients and they're also vegan friendly! I was very intrigued to try a natural polish to see what it would be like...

My first impressions of Jacava were good - I like the bottles because they're different to other brands. They remind me slightly of the Bourjois polishes because of the long handle but really they're much prettier, classier and look beautiful sitting on my dressing table. 

I chose the colour Blueberry Muffin because it looked so unique and unlike anything I own already (which is no mean feat!) It reminded me a little of a Barry M polish I love but I was delighted when I actually received the polish in the post to see that it really isn't the same at all.

Blueberry Muffin is the prettiest, most true purple shade I've come across. It's a classy creme colour that strikes the right balance between bright and pastel and I can tell already it's going to be a favourite of mine. As for the application, the Jacava brushes are really easy to use because of the long handle and they apply the polish onto the nail well. The formula of the polish reminds me of Barry M Gelly Hi Shine because it's quite thick and creamy, but this dried much quicker. I was impressed that after only two coats my nails were opaque - in fact I think you could probably get away with one thick coat if you're in a rush. I followed two coats with one coat of the UV inhibiting top coat, which was also thick in consistency but again dried surprisingly fast. I think this is one of the quickest manicures I've done for a while!

As you can see on my nails, the finish is very glossy and reminds me of a gel manicure (in fact several people have stopped to ask where I got my gels done!). The longevity is what really seals the deal for me though, this just lasts and lasts and lasts! If you read Bee's Knees you'll know I don't do too well with chip free nails but I am currently typing this after having Blueberry Muffin on for 48 hours and my nails remain perfect, which is nothing short of a miracle for my flakey dry nails! I am seriously, seriously impressed with this polish, especially because my initial expectations of a 'natural' nail polish were that it wouldn't apply well or last at all.

Overall I think you can tell I'm blown away by this nail varnish, which doesn't happen often to a seasoned nail gal like me! I think this combination of colour and top coat from Jacava is a winner and I'm so pleased I have this gorgeous shade to add to my collection! I will definitely be asking for another colour for Christmas.

The only downside for me is the price, because Jacava polishes retail for £14.50 each which is out of my usual price bracket. But if you're looking for something really special that will be a firm favourite in your collection I definitely recommend giving this a try. You can pick up Jacava nail polishes direct online HERE or from Feel Unique HERE.

xx

*PR sample

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Nip + Fab Coconut Latte Dry Skin Fix Body Butter

Hi guys! Today's review is a product I received in my first (and last) ever Glossybox way back in April (blog post HERE). I had heard of Nip + Fab before but this is my first time actually trying a product. I guess that's the great thing about beauty boxes, you get to try things you wouldn't necessarily have bought before.

The Nip + Fab Coconut Latte Body Butter is much thicker than other body butters I've used. It's almost solid when it's fresh out of the tub but melts a little when it gets warm. This makes it a real delight to use when you're fresh out of the bath and warm and toasty.

I'm usually the kind of girl that picks out more floral scents, and I love the way the Soap and Glory body butters smell so I wasn't sure how I would find this coconut scent. But it's a real winner for me, especially in the summer! It's just the nicest subtle coconut scent and actually lasts on the skin for a good 4-5 hours after you've applied it. It keeps your skin soft all day though!

My only negative is that my tub didn't last very long - I only had a small 50ml travel size and although I didn't expect it to last months and months it's almost finished and I've only been using it consistently for a few weeks. But if you're looking for a really nice smelling body butter that's a little bit different to everything else on the market, I really recommend giving this a go!

You can pick up the full sized (200ml) Nip + Fab Coconut Latte Dry Skin Fix Body Butter for £8.49 from Look Fantastic HERE.

Have you tried Nip + Fab before? Are you a fan of the brand?

xx

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Sleek Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette

Hi everyone! I am so excited to share this product with you today - it's one of my all time favourite make up purchases and was a complete impulse buy at the time...

It's the Sleek Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette. Before I bought this palette I'd heard of it from a few beauty bloggers but it wasn't a very raved about product so I wasn't really tempted to purchase it.

I'm a fan of Sleek lipsticks but never really paid much attention to the other products on the stand in Superdrug - until I saw this. It's BEAUTIFUL!

This palette has a contour shade, a beautiful cream highlight and a rose gold blush. I didn't own a palette like this one and only had eyeshadow palettes, but I was dying to get my hands on this as soon as I saw it - just for the absolutely stunning highlighter and the amazing blush colour (which I've heard is a dupe for Nars Orgasm). 

I already own a rose gold blusher in Dainty Doll  You Are My Sunshine and I love love love it! So you might say that I don't need another one! But the highlighter in this palette is something else, it's absolutely beautiful. When I came across this palette for the first time I was actually on the market for a pretty powder highlighter so it was almost fate! As soon as I swatched the highlighter I knew I had to have this palette in my life...

I can't say I've ever used the contour colour because it is way too dark for my skintone, which is a shame but I'm not bothered because of how much I use and love the other colours. The blush is incredible quality, easy to apply and blend and the gold shimmer particles are just subtle enough to wear every day to work. I have been wearing this so much throughout the past couple of months and I've barely made a dint in it!

The Sleek Face Form palette is £9.99 which I think is spot on price-wise, it's a complete bargain to get two amazing products for under £10 and if you're lucky enough to be able to use the contour then it's even better value! I really recommend this to other pale skinned girls like me, but I reckon the medium and dark palettes would suit pretty much any skin tone. You can pick up the Sleek Face Form Contouring and Blush Palette for £9.99 from your local Superdrug or online HERE.

Have you tried this palette before? What did you think?

xx

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Philosophy Purity made simple

Hi guys! Today's review is a product I've been using for a good few months now, in fact it's very nearly empty! I bought this mini Purity (90ml) from Boots in the January sales when it was reduced to a mere £2.50 because it came in Christmassy packaging even though the same sized product that wasn't packaged up was still on sale full price. So obviously I couldn't resist snapping it up...

Purity is a cleanser I've heard absolutely loads about over the years I've been reading beauty blogs. It seems to be a love/hate product - people either absolutely love it and rave about it's Holy Grail properties, or absolutely hate it and blame it for break outs, or point the finger at the ingredients list. I will put my hands up now and say I don't know a great deal about ingredients, but what I do know is that this 'pure' cleanser from Philosophy is far from a natural product. But I can live with that. What I'm more interested in is what it can do for my skin.

After months of using this I think it's safe to say that my opinion sits right in the middle of the extremists. I'm a bit disappointed I don't love or hate this cleanser, but I simply feel indifferent about it. I haven't noticed any real positive different in my skin since beginning to use this in place of my old Liz Earle and Soap & Glory Hot Cloth Cleansers, but at the same time I didn't break out or notice any negative effects. In terms of the consistency of the product itself, it's quite an opaque, gloopy substance that doesn't lather or sink into my skin, and it smells incredibly chemical-y. This did put me off to start with but I've come to get used to it - however for the purposes of this review I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a sensitive nose. I don't think I would repurchase this even if it was at a bargain price, because it's just not that ground shaking and I don't particularly enjoy using it. For the price (£8 for 90ml) I think you can find much better cleansers.

You can pick up Philosophy Purity from Boots - £8 for 90ml HERE. The full size 471ml is a whopping £28.50 HERE.

Have you tried Purity before? Are you a Philosophy fan?

xx

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Fabulous Nails #52

Hi everyone! So it's been a while since my last Fabulous Nails and I thought you deserved something really special!

This is Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots top coat in blue - it really is unique and special! I picked this up a good few months ago when it was on sale in Boots (along with the monochrome and the green versions which I'm sure you'll have seen on the blog before). Unfortunately it's no longer on sale because it was a limited edition product but I do see these popping up on eBay every now and again.

This top coat is out of this world - it's so different to anything else I've seen from high street beauty brands and seems more like something an indie brand would put out. It's just a show stopping royal blue base with lighter and darker different sized pieces floating around. It can be difficult to apply and get an even spread but if you take your time you can manage it. As you can probably guess it's a complete biatch to remove and that's about the only downside, but well worth it to have such unique nails!

Have you tried this topcoat before? What's your favourite topcoat?

xx

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Superdrug Haul

Hi guys! Another haul post because my spending has been out of control! I really need to reign in my spending and I'm hoping to start up my SAVE don't SPEND series in October and regularly keep a spending diary. But until then, on with the show!

As you can see this was a bit of a random splurge! A couple of things that I actually 'needed' and then some extra indulgences.. as per usual.

I plan on dedicating a whole post to this, but to cut a long story short I have some marks on my face that I want rid of and I picked up this B. Even Skintone Corrector in the hopes that it would do just that! This was £9.99 HERE.

Since moving in with my boyfriend I haven't really spent very much time pampering and relaxing - I made a decision to change this and invested in some face masks to start me off! I really like Superdrug's face mask range as they are all cruelty free, very reasonably priced and I often get two uses out of one sachet. These were 99p each HERE.

Since I went blonde (full post on this coming soon I promise!) I have been using silver toning shampoo regularly to keep the brassiness out of my hair. It's quite bad for my hair and tends to make it dry so I popped some VO5 hot oil treatments into my basket to use after I've washed the silver shampoo out. I've been doing this for a few weeks and it's already making the world of difference. These were two for £7 but are usually £4.29 for four HERE.

And of course no Superdrug or Boots haul would be complete without me adding some new nail polishes to my collection! I have been hankering after Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Lychee for months so it's no surprise I now own it! I have also wanted to try the red Gelly Hi Shine and since these were on offer (although I can't remember what offer) I persuaded myself to buy them. These aren't online but are available in your local Boots or Superdrug.

Do you always end up with more than you'd gone in for at Superdrug? Let me know what you've been buying in the Comments.

xx

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