Anoushka Loves

Last week, the beautiful Sarah from Andbeautyorsomething told me that I had won her giveaway to win a MAC lipstick of my choice! How exciting! With the launch of MAC Heroine into the permanent line, it was inevitable that this beautiful lipstick had to be added to my collection. I have a thing at the moment for purple lipsticks, with one of my current must haves being the Maybelline Hot Plum. I couldn’t quite remember what Heroine looked like from the previous time it came out so I was hoping that it was a shade that was different to all my others. I wasn’t disappointed!

Heroine is described as a bright purple and it sits on the red side of purple. The matte finish is quite creamy on application but I find it to be quite drying on myself. I do prefer to add a gloss over the top as I find it to be a tad streaky after application. Heroine is quite similar to MAC Violetta however Violetta has more shimmer and shine.

The longevity of Heroine is incredible. I applied it at midday before I took my photos, then had food and drink and at 8pm there was still a deep magenta staining on my lips, that looked like I had lipstick on. I have never known a lipstick to have such string staying power and I’m amazed! Heroine is definitely not one for the faint hearted, so is perfect for me! I would also wear this in a lighter layer, using a lip brush to apply as the magenta undertones are so pretty. As you can see from this photo, it gives a beautiful hue whilst it is wearing off.

MAC Heroine can now be bought from MAC Cosmetics and is in the permanent line, priced at £15.

A couple of weeks ago I had a rather unexpected Monday surprise over on Twitter, when Philippe from Farmaline surprised me with a treat from the Farmaline website. Totally surprised by this random act, I was asked to choose a product from the Farmaline website and Philippe would post it out to me to review. How amazing is that! Thanks Philippe! I chose the Filorga Foam Cleanser* and this is what I received. I will take a look at the other products at a later date, however today is all about the Filorga.

First of all, whilst I have been researching foam cleansers I have found that there seems to be a lot of negativity surrounding this type of cleanser, and from what I have read it all seems to have stemmed from word of mouth rather than a solid basis of review and trial of the product. I am no skincare expert however I have had skin for the best part of 32 years and spend an awful lot of time looking after it, so I know what works on my skin and what works well.

Filorga is a French skincare specialist whose brand values stem from aesthetic medicine to fight skin problems associated with ageing, such as brightness, firmness and of course wrinkles. Filorga has combined the aesthetic medicine with cosmetics and now Filorga is recognised as experts in their field. Filorga products contain two main ingredients both designed to help the skin from looking aged.
The first ingredient is Hyaluronic Acid. This high molecular weighted acid is the same grade that is used in meso-therapy and provides a long lasting hydrating effect, healing and repairing properties as well as a re-plumping effect to the skin.
The second ingredients is more scientific and is called NCTF, which is a cocktail of 53 components that include the following: 21 amino acids, 14 vitamins, 6 co-enzymes, 5 nucleic acids, 4 minerals ad 2 anti-oxidants. This cocktail targets and treats the cells by encouraging elastic and collagen to reform, stimulating cell function and helping any deficiency within the skin.
The science behind Filorga is certainly one of the more interesting brands that I have come across.

The Filorga Foam Cleanser comes in a clear plastic bottle, perfect for travelling and seeing how much is left. 150ml in size and with a pump action, it dispenses just the right amount in two pumps for my entire face and neck. The foam dispensed is light and airy with no identifiable scent. It contains the two star ingredients that Filorga have in ever product, the hyaluronic acid and the NCTF cocktail as well as white lily to soothe and protect the skin.

I prefer to use Filorga Foam Cleanser in the mornings because of its freshness. I am not averse to using it as my evening deep clean however I need to double cleanse as I still had traces of make up when I came to tone. The freshness is quite something, the foam is so light that it doesn’t feel cloying on my face and when I rinse off my skin feels so smooth and perfect. I switch between using a muslin or just rinsing with warm water. I don’t find any residue left on my face, which seems to be one of the popular negatives surrounding foam cleansers, and I also don’t find that it dries out my face. I have noticed that around my T Zone where I do suffer from slight oiliness, it clears the sebum from the area but doesn’t dry out my face.

I have been waiting for quite a while to review this product because I wanted to see results from it before I made up my mind. For a brand that is more splurge than save, the foam cleanser is actually quite a reasonable price of £15.09 compared to the rest of their skincare. Over the last few weeks of using Filorga, my skin has felt softer and smoother post wash and I have noticed a reduction in the early morning oiliness that my skin usually gets. I must say how impressed I am with the texture of my skin before I even put moisturiser on. I look plumped up and healthy, and my skin does feel great. I definitely would be interested in trying more of the Filorga range to see if I can get any further results. The Hydra-Filler and Sleep & Peel are definitely going on my wishlist!

Have you tried any Filorga products?

*Thank you to Philippe from Farmaline for letting me try this great product.

I’m sure you all know by now that I am a tad obsessed with my eyebrows, to the point that I don’t even like leaving the house without filling them in and making sure they are looking full and perfectly arched. Benefit Gimme Brow* is a new innovation in brows in minutes that I have been reaching for daily ever since Gimme Brow fell through my letter box.

I am usually one to use an angled brush and powder, or at a push an eyebrow pencil however Benefit Gimme Brow is a whole new concept to me. A tiny mascara wand designed to pick up every hair and that also adheres to skin, this brush on fibre-gel has made my life so much easier. Although I was dubious about not being able to create my high definition arched brows, the Gimme Brow applicator is small enough for definition and fills in all of those gaps. The precision tip shapes and defines, whilst the tapered brush helps blend those finer hairs into a perfect arch.

As you can see from my first photo, my brows are quite nicely shaped however they are sparse in areas, especially on my left brow which has a lovely big scar running through it which I got when I was younger.

The second photo shows the difference between my natural brow and my Gimme Brow enhanced brow. As you can see, it looks natural and fills in well without looking too overdone. I’ve been using medium/deep as the light/medium was a little too light for my liking.

I’ve been having a read through my fab book ‘Raising Eyebrows’ that Benefit kindly sent me in their #BrowArchMarch pack and it has really helped me in how I style my brows. I plucked then on Friday night and made a small chage to their shape on Benefits advice in the book, and now I think they look just perfect.

Benefit Gimme Brow is available in two shades, light/medium and medium/deep priced at £17.50

What do you use to do your eyebrows? What do you think of Gimme Brow?

Sunday 9th March marks the day of the Benefit Arch Angels marching for #BrowArchMarch in support of Look Good Feel Better, a charity raising money in support of women with cancer. LGFB is the only International cancer charity that is dedicated to improving the self confidence and wellbeing or ladies undergoing treatment for any form of cancer. You can find out more on the Look Good Feel Better website. The Brow Arch March starts off at Berkeley Square in London, and will take all the Arch Angels taking part past London’s most iconic arches, such as Marble Arch. With Benebabes on hand to touch up and offer make-uppers at checkpoints on the walk, 9th March will be a fun packed day. Please join in by adding yourself to the Facebook Event.

If you can’t get involved in the Benefit BrowArchMarch tomorrow, Benefit and Debenhams are teaming up in support of LGFB to raise money for this fantastic cause. For the entire month of March, you can ‘raise a brow’ by getting your complimentary eyebrow wax at any Benefit Debenhams brow bar. All Benefit are asking in exchange for your complimentary arch is a minimum donation of £5 to go towards LGFB. The Just Giving page for LGFB is also accepting donations without you getting a wax!

Keep an eye out for my review of Benefit Gimme Brow!

*Thank you Benefit for sending me my fanastic #BrowArchMarch kit

Do you ever watch QVC and see some of the TSVs (Todays Special Value) that you think you’d be stupid to miss out on? Well that’s what happened with this latest set of nail varnish that I bought. I actually blame my Nanna for this purchase as she told me that it was the TSV and also on Easy Pay. Bad Nanna! The Leighton Denny Ultra Glam Collection is just a ridiculously good value set for the price, and I just have to share it with you.

The Leighton Denny Ultra Glam Collection contains 6, yes 6 full size nail varnishes in the following shades

Too Chic Metallic – Purple and silver metallic shimmer, exclusive to QVC
Fiercely Fabulous – Silver and Teal metallic shimmer, exclusive to QVC
Beyond Gold – Gold metallic shimmer, exclusive to QVC

It’s So Me – Lilac with pink shimmer, exclusive to QVC
Make the Boys Wink – Neon pink, exclusive to QVC
Bon Voyage – Creamy tangerine, Preview of the new Spring/Summer collection 2014

Alongside the nail colours, a full size One For All base coat and top coat and a 50ml Essential Remover are all sat together in a gorgeous nude and silver faux snake skin cosmetic bag with Leighton Denny branding.

Like all Leighton Denny polishes, the quality is superb and the polish glides on smoothly and easy to apply. Even a cack handed person like myself can get a salon looking manicure with Leighton Denny colours! The metallic polishes from the set are fully opaque in one coat, however two coats gives the optimum in shimmer and shine. I’ve been wearing Fiercely Fabulous since Thursday and I have yet to get any chips or lifting and the colour is reminiscent of a mermaid. I just adore it!

The bold colours definitely need two coats for maximum shine and colour, especially with It’s So Me as the pink shimmer really shows through after two applications. Make The Boys Wink is a gorgeous Barbie pink, perfect for me and I have several pink lipsticks that I can match it to for work. I’m especially looking forward to Summer as Bon Voyage is the most perfect bright that will fit well in the Summer hues that we will be seeing once the weather gets warmer.

Leighton Denny polishes usually retail for £11 and I purchased the set for £28 on the TSV. It has since gone back up to full price of £36.50 plus £4.95 P&P which is still amazing value as the polishes would cost £66 to buy them all separately. I fully recommend Leighton Denny, and hold it in my top three brands of polishes for longevity and fabulous colours. If you have never tried any Leighton Denny before, the Leighton Denny Ultra Glam Collection is a perfect place to start!

When I blow dry my hair, I can never get it to be as full or bouncy as what my lovely hairdresser Yvette can get it. I have quite fine hair, but a lot of it so I have to have to blow it in sections otherwise it looks quite thin and lank against my head. One of my quick fixes to achieving a ‘just left the salon’ look is to use velcro Sleep In Rollers. After washing my hair, I blast it until it is almost dry but still feels cold to the touch. As you can see in the picture, my hair looks quite full as I’ve just blown it, however its about to get bigger!

I take the mid section of my hair, no thicker than the width of the roller and roll the hair back and under for volume with a slight curl. I do my fringe section in the same direction as I like it to sweep across my face and into my hair. After I have done the middle, I do either side of my head, then any of the remaining hair. I can get around 14-16 standard size rollers in my hair, and less if I use the Mega Bounce rollers at the top of my head, which I have used today. I don’t pull the rollers too tight near my hairline, so it creates a lovely natural bounce. Using kirby grips or bobby pins, push the pins into the roller to secure, as far underneath the roller as possible. This is to make sure you have no dents in your hair when you remove them and they are especially good for when you wear them to bed. After I have put all my rollers in, I blast my hair with the hairdryer on a cool setting to help set the curl. Pop on a Sleep In Roller hairnet, which fits over a full head of 20 rollers, and you are good to go.

After an hour or so, I took the rollers out and the end result is just amazing! A quick spritz of hairspray and my hair stayed full and bouncy until the next morning. Sleep In Rollers are just incredible for a quick daytime use for an emergency bounce or if you wanted a more voluminous style, sleeping in them makes such a difference. I always try to keep my hair slightly damp so the curl and bounce can dry into the hair. With the foam pads inside the flexible rollers, they are a dream to sleep in, and I have no issues with uncomfort during the night. However, the first time I wore them was awful and took some getting used to!

I’m going to give you the chance to win your very own gift set of Sleep In Rollers. In a gorgeous, girly bright pink drawstring bag, they are perfect for taking away, whether it’s for a night out or a holiday. Twenty standard size rollers are a perfect addiction to your haircare routine and will give you the most amazing bouncy blow look. The giveaway is open to UK residents only and will close in three weeks from now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

* This giveaway is for regular readers of my blog and newly susbcribed readers to my blog. Please do not share this competition on sites such as Money Saver Expert or such like without asking permission first. All entries will be checked before the winner is announced and any entries from pages that are competitions entries only will not accepted. Please leave your email in the comments on my blog post for me to contact you if you win. I have purchased this gift from my own money, and it hasn’t been sponsored to me or my blog.

Good luck!

Last week I was sent probably one of the best things ever. A hard core peanut butter addict like me could not have been sent a better product than the Peanut Hottie. A peanut butter flavour hot drink that is made simply by adding hot water to 4 heaped teaspoons of Peanut Hottie powder. Oh my god, its like the juice from the Gods, a nectar so delicious that I can’t stop thinking about it. The addict is addicted.

For me, a tub of hot drink powder is one of my staple crew bag items for work. Usually a hot chocolate or a chai latte mix, my night flights aren’t complete without a soothing and warming hot drink. Coming in at just 83 calories per serving, Peanut Hottie is a fabulous alternative to my usual options, without pondering whether a moment on the hips will forever be a lifetime on the hips! It is suitable for vegetarians and is also caffeine free, making it a perfect bedtime drink.

Speaking of the low calories, I totally made it into a calorie laden dream by adding a big blob of Nutella to it and stirring it until it melted. It was like a melted snickers in a cup. Drooling thinking about it!! I’m going to have a play around and add the powder to cupcake mixes and try and create a peanut butter and Nutella cake. I think the possibilities are endless, and it doesn’t need to stop at sweet goodies, it can also be used in savoury food recipes.

Peanut Hottie* can be found adorning the shelves of Sainsburys and Waitrose with an RRP of £2.99. Have a look at the Peanut Hottie website and see what you think!

Will you be trying Peanut Hottie? I’m currently enjoying mine with a bag of Reeces Peanut Butter Cups. Peanut overload or what!

There is a photo that I have that holds a very special place in my heart, a photo of the two most important people in my life, two people who I love very much. Hi Mum! Hi Paula! This photo was taken at my surprise 30th birthday party, of myself, my sister and my mum. I love how blonde we all are, and how we all seem to have co-ordinated our outfits, completely unintentionally! I don’t have a hard copy of this photo, so I have downloaded it from Facebook where my friend had originally uploaded it.

When Canvas Design got in touch and asked if I wanted to try a canvas out, I just knew straight away which picture I was going to use. I was advised that my image needed to be 500kb minimum but my downloaded image was so much lower. A quick tinker on my favourite editing site and I had made my image into a beautiful resolution ready to be sent off. I was quite nervous whilst waiting for it to arrive as I really hoped that the image transferred onto the canvas with no problems. The delivery time was so quick, it wasn’t more than a few days which is perfect, especially if you are ordering last minute gifts. Delivered by a courier who also sent a text with a time slot for delivery, this couldn’t get any better. The package was well wrapped with corrugated card and bubble wrap so damages would be very rare. The moment of truth…eek!

Well, I cried. I actually burst into tears and hugged the canvas to my chest, it’s unreal how good the quality is, and how well it has transferred onto a canvas. The size I received is the 20″ x 16″ which is big but not too big. I originally put it in my lounge however I am contemplating moving it to another room to be displayed more prominently.

You can buy your own canvas from Canvas Design where prices start from £7.99. For a special treat, if you enter the promotional code BLOG15 you will get 15% off your order as well as free delivery. Wow!

As I love my canvas so much, I am offering one lucky person the chance to win a canvas of their own from Canvas Design. Simply enter the giveaway by using the RaffleCopter link below. The giveaway finishes on the 26th March, and I will announce the winner by email, so please leave your address in a blog comment. Good luck!! It is only to UK residents, due to postage and the size of the item.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Although I am a natural blonde, ahem, I have taken the blonde to the next level by getting it as white as possible with the odd few ice white highlights running through it. The toll this has taken on my hair means I have to really look after it by trying to steer clear of heat like hairdryers and straighteners and also by using products that get the best out of my locks by protecting and enhancing my colour treated tresses. I have recently been asked to become a VIP tester for Anovia. Anovia were totally unfamiliar to me up until this point however I have taken a good look at their social media sites and found out that they offer a range of affordable skin and bodycare products. All their products are enrinched with active natural ingredients that are kind to the skin and pH balanced. I was kindly sent the Anovia Head Candy Shampoo & Conditioner* to try out.

The Anovia Head Candy Shampoo & Conditioner to respect and protect you colour contains Keratin, a key structural material in your skin and nails. Keratin has moisturising properties and helps increase elasticity and hydration. As colour treated hair is quite prone to becoming dry, the keratin locks the moisture back into the hair follicles. Anovia Head Candy Shampoo & Conditioner also clais to help protect your colour from fading and heat damage, all the while leaving your hair shiny, smooth and frizz free.

I have been using Anovia Head Candy Shampoo & Conditioner for the last fortnight and the first thing that has stood out to me is the delicious scent of the products. Freshly picked apples is one of my favourite scents and to have this in haircare routine makes me very happy. The scent does transfer to your hair and lingers after it has been blow dried. My hair has felt very clean, and looks smooth and shiny and is very manageable after I have blow dried it. What I have found is that whilst my hair is wet, it is difficult to brush through and unusually for me, it has been feeling quite tangled. I don’t think this fact would put me off from repurchasing, It just means that I have to use a detangling spray and brush prior to drying my hair. My overall feelings from Anovia Head Candy Shampoo & Conditioner are that is an ideal product for colour treated hair. I love the glossiness of my hair once it has been styled and I look forward to using it because the smell is just so yummy.

It looks like Anovia do not have a direct website at the moment, however I have found the Shampoo and Conditioner on the Approved Foods website for just £1.49 each.

Have you tried any Anovia Bodycare products? Why not give them a follow on Facebook.

The MAC Fantasty of Flowers collection has been one of this years highly anticipated collections due to the amount of new products in the collection. I have previously talked about the full collection in my post on Fantasy of Flowers and I have also reviewed one of the lipsticks, Dreaming Dahlia. There have been a few pieces that caught my eye but these didn’t include this spur of the moment purchase of MAC Azalea In The Afternoon blusher.

MAC describes Azalea In The Afternoon as a mid tone blue pink blush. Azalea in the Afternoon is a mineralize blush and therefore has a lightweight powder finish that is easy to build up into a heavier colour without feeling cakey. The refined powder is very sheer upon first application and from the swatches you can see how intensely pigmented the blusher is. It is so pretty and gives the skin a beautiful luminosity and shimmer with the pearl pigments that catch the light so beautifully. Azalea In The Afternoon reminds me of MAC MSF in Blonde that was released a few years ago, however it has a more corally-pink colour, but is still frosted in finish.

I’ve worn this a few times now and I’ve noticed that it does fade considerably after a few hours, but a little touch up can sort that out. I’m guessing its because it is so lightweight. For the prettiness of the blusher, I can excuse a slight bit of fading! MAC Azalea In The Afternoon blusher is definitely my favourite out of the two limited edition blushes, Petal Power is a lot more glittery when applied and maybe quite difficult to wear day to day.

MAC Azalea In The Afternoon blusher is unfortunately sold out on the MAC UK website however Selfridges are still showing stock available, priced at £20.

Have you tried anything from the MAC Fantasy of Flowers Collection? What do you think?