Vichy Idéalia Skincare

Is it just me or when one thing runs out in my collection, another ten follows suit. My Sunday Riley Luna Oil was on it's last legs and so I needed something that would help my skin while I slept. Funnily enough, I also needed a moisturiser and an eye- cream and Vichy delivered on all of these things.

I've never tried anything from Vichy, I had heard good things and I loved that it was a French pharmacy product, as I find that my skin responds well to these kinds of products. I bought the Vichy Idéalia range which is aimed to revitalise dull and tired skin to achieve a more even and brightened complexion. 

The Vichy Idéalia Smoothing and illuminating Cream  (£25.00/50ml) is my go-to moisturiser, and has been for the last two months, I find that it does add radiance to my skin, and is able to fully moisturise it, getting rid of the sensation of dry and tight skin. I find that it's easy to blend out, and you can feel that it does contain a nice amount of hydrating ingredients, as it's a hybrid between a gel and cream. Because of the unique texture, I feel like this would be a nice product for the majority of skin-types. I also love the packaging of the product, it is encased in a light pink jar, which is weighty. The top of the lid has also got a a mirror which is super cool and completely unexpected. Due to the weight and size of the product, this is hard to travel with compared to other products. I still do travel with it so it's not completely impossible!

The Vichy Idéalia Skin Sleep (£26.50/50ml)  is a product from Vichy that has received a bit more hype. The Vichy Idéalia Skin Sleep is a product that aims to restore the health of skin overnight. It's one of those products which just work miracles overnight, I can't tell you exactly what it does but it has enough of an effect that I have to use it everyday. I just find that my skin looks healthier and more balanced in the morning, and blemishes I have look calmer and more controlled. In terms of lasting effects, I find that this product has more of an effect than the moisturiser, which isn't surprising. Also, despite having oily skin, my skin really drinks up these products from Vichy, and I have found that my skin texture has improved because of this. I have a mini size since I bought the three products in a Christmas set.

The last product I have from Vichy is the Vichy Idéalia Eyes (£23.00/15ml). I'm only 21 so I don't really need to target wrinkles or fine lines around my eyes. However, I work shifts and that entails some really early mornings and sometimes not enough hours to sleep between shifts. So I really wanted to start protecting my eye area, as dealing with wrinkles and dark circles work more effectively when you start your regime before it's actually happened - in other words I am using a more preventative solution. I just needed an eye-cream that was hydrating and soothing, just to help reinforce the thinner skin around my eyes, and this Vichy eye-cream is exactly what I needed. It's a cream to gel-like consistency that doesn't feel heavy around my eyes, and sits perfectly under concealer, so I can use this for morning and night! I also like the packaging for this, it comes in a squeezy tube which is difficult to squeeze the product out, but that's exactly why I like it, I don't get an excess of products, I can always manage to squeeze out the exact amount I need. It also has a silicone applicator which I can always manage to keep clean too.

Despite not trying Vichy before, I am a total convert. I feel like this brand understands my skin, the products sooth any irritation, deals with blemishes and also just adds radiance when my skin isn't in its best condition. I just feel like I am actually targeting the needs and concerns that I feel like my skin has, which just feels amazing. It's just everything when you find products that your skin agrees with!
I would love to know if you have tried this range, or even Vichy in general! If there are products that you think I would like, then be sure to comment down below to let me know! I would also love to know what skincare brand you think your skin agrees with!
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Brand Focus: L'Oréal

Ain't gonna lie, it took me by surprise to know how little acquainted I was with L'Oréal, I've always known what they had to offer but just never really gravitated towards it. That all changed in the past three months when I finally bought my first L'Oréal product, which lead to my second... and now I have accumulated quite a few products that I really think deserve a mention! I'll talk you through my favourites...

The L'Oréal Infallible Primer Matte Base (£7.99/35ml) was one of the first few products that I purchased, and this is a silicone feeling primer, that leaves your skin smooth and ready for make-up. For me and my massive pores, this is a must! If I had to compare it, I would describe it as a mix between The Body Shop's Instablur and the Make Up Forever Step 1 Mattifying primer, it's more smooth than the former and more thcker than the latter! On the other end of the spectrum the L'Oréal Infallible Fixing Mist (£7.99/120g) is a recent addition to my collection, and I have to say I've been loving it so far! This does actually set and hold your make-up, and I have noticed that my make-up is fresher for longer and my face is less oiler throughout the day. One tip I want to share is that you shake the product properly before using it so that the powder in the bottom gets distributed in the solution!

A new product that I have been testing out is the L'Oréal Brow Artiste Genius Kit (£9.99) in the shade 'Medium to Dark' and I have been blown away by this, it's a duo that contains a wax and powder, and the colour match is pretty great for my eyebrows, as my eyebrows are a cool-toned ash brown shade The wax controls my eyebrow shape pretty nicely, and then it's easy to just fill in the gaps with the powder! Also it comes with a tweezer and a brush and spooly so you are pretty much set! After filling in my brows I set them with the L'Oréal Brow Artist Plumper (£5.99/7ml), which helps tint the eyebrows slightly and set everything in place, I love using just this product on my lazy days as it just makes everything in the eyebrow department look a lot better.

Moving onto eye's, I've mentioned the L'Oréal Volume Million Lashes Waterproof (£9.99/2ml) in a previous blog, and I am still loving this! It's great at lengthening and fanning out the eyelashes and has a great hold! On day's where I want more Oomph however, I reach for my L'Oréal Superliner (£6.99), I love how black it is! It's got a flexible nib so it's great at getting close into the lash line. I need more practice with this though! I haven't used a liquid liner in months which makes me feel like a beginner again, on the plus side, if you do make mistakes this isn't such a hassle to wipe off!

I think you can see what kinds of products I go for in this post, I love long lasting make-up and I think L'Oréal has done really well with all of these products! I really want to try their new sculpt range, so if you have any recommendations let me know in the comments!

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Mini High End Haul!

I recently posted a highstreet haul and not even a week later I already collected all the products for this haul, it was accidental, I swear, I was just in need of a few things...all of which I am blaming on my trip to India. You'll see why....

For a while now I have been meaning to buy a makeup setting spray, and I've had my eye on Urban Decay's collection since they are partnered with Skindinavia (who make bridal setting sprays) and when I saw online that Debenhams did a mini travel size I couldn't resist buying it as I could try the product without investing too much money in it. I ended getting Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray (£9.00/30ml) which is specifically an oil controlling spray since my face is a greaseball in England so it'll be interesting to see how this holds up in India.

Whilst I was on the Debenhams website I also saw that Make Up For Ever also had a travel size version of their new primers and again I couldn't resist since I have always wanted to try the brand and I did want to try a new primer, that could deal with my oily skin. The Make Up For Ever Step 1 Mattifying Primer (£15.00/15ml) sounded like a good choice especially when Claire Marshall mentioned it in a video a few months back, I knew I had to try it.

The last thing in this haul is actually a gift from my sister, we went into Selfridges, since she wanted to buy the same foundation as me (I've totally enabled people to buy it!). While we were at the NARS counter, I wanted to try some blushes, as I find it difficult to select a shade that looks nice with my skin tone, but is still wearable for the daytime. Since I was being so indecisive about which one to buy, my sister bought me the one that she thought looked the nicest on me. As you can imagine, I was totally ecstatic to receive the NARS blush in the shade LibertÉ (£23.00/4.8g) for freeeeee. NARS describes the colour as a burnished apricot which is actually a perfect description, and although it looks quite strong, you only need to use the tiniest bit, I have really fallen in love with it and I don't know how I ever doubted it. You can totally expect a full review coming your way in the near future!

This haul was really short and sweet, but I was really excited about these products and wanted to let you guys know what reviews will be coming your way in the future!

If you liked this post be sure to  follow me on Bloglovin'! Also in the comment let me know if you have been doing any splurging recently! 

Highstreet Haul!

I'm not usually one to pick up a lot of new things in one go but since I am going on holiday in less than two weeks it was definitely time to restock on some items I needed for the trip, annnnd since that entails hitting the highstreet I couldn't resist in purchasing a few other pieces I *cough* needed *cough*.

I actually did need to pick up a new mascara - scouts honour!-  and since I like to play it safe, I went with my good old pal the Revlon Lash Potion by Grow Luscious (£9.99/10ml), I spoke about this mascara around a year ago and it just ticks all the boxes for me, it holds a curl, it thickens the lash and is also jet black. Since I'm heading to India another selling point is the fact that it's waterproof, so this will really stand the test of crazily humid weather. Naturally, since I've brought this mascara I need something to take it off and so I grabbed the Nivea Double Effect Eye Makeup Remover  (£3.59/150ml) while it was half price in Superdrug. I love this eye make-up remover, it does the job for me and it's very inexpensive which is a huge selling point for me 'cause I go through the bottle like no tomorrow.

I headed towards Primark next and found myself in the jewellery section where I spotted this Simple Layered Necklace (£2.00) which I think is nice and dainty, adding something a bit more put together in an outfit. Since the gold bar is twisted, it catches the light and so doesn't look too flat, if you catch my drift. 

I've been interested in the Tresemme Perfectly Undone collection because of their adverts and so I decided to pick up their sea salt spray (£5.49/200ml) because perfectly undone is exactly the look I want to achieve. For the past few months, I have been keeping my hair away from most hair tools and attempting to go au naturel with my locks, so sea salt spray is a god send for making my hair look suave and cool rather than just a wavy mess.

Somehow I can't resist buying things from Makeup Revolution since it's so inexpensive and so when my eyeshadow broke the other day I went and bought the Mono Eyeshadow (£1.00) in the shade Mmmm and use it both as an eyeshadow and also my eyebrow powder for my holiday. I swatched this immediately when I came home and it's a creamy formula that is similar to Urban Decay's and also very pigmented, so hopefully this product will perform as well as it swatches!

The last thing I bought was a Casual Shirt from H &M (£7.99), as soon as I saw this colour I was drawn to it, it's a lovely green turquoise. The versatility of the shirt is another selling point, I could wear it to work tucked into a pencil skirt, or wear it casually with jeans or a skirt. It's a light soft material and so I know I will reach for it often and for the price I thought it was a absolute bargain.

I'm actually really chuffed with what I got, and can't wait to wear most of it! Have any of you been haulin' recently? If so, what did you get? I would love to know!

For more posts like this then be sure to follow me on Bloglovin'! Especially if you want to see photo's of my trip to India and other travel tips! 

Beauty Swap with Sakura!

Hey guys,
So I guess Christmas has come a couple of days early for me because I recently received a parcel from Sakura, a Japanese beauty blogger. This is what she sent me:

I told her that I was mostly interested in eye products because I know that Asian countries have mastered them well. She sent me a bunch of mascaras, which are all different: two are dual ended, one has a primer and mascara and the other adds fibres to thicken your lashes and then the actual mascara on the other end. I also received another mascara with a different design (it has a ball on the end of the wand, which is so cool). She sent me two eyeliners, one liquid and one gel which I can't wait to try. The most thoughtful gift she sent me was some Shu Uemura eyelash curlers (which I have had my eyes on for agesss), she send me not only one but two! The second one is a smaller sized one which will definitely come in handy when I travel! The last thing she sent me was a mini hand sanitiser from Bath and Body Works which smells like candy canes and is super festive so I should probably use that up ASAP haha :)

I can promise that you will hear reviews soon enough!
I want to say a huge thank you to Sakura, who approached me to do this beauty swap and I am so glad I did :) If you want to check out what I got her check this link here. My favourite posts from her was definitely her Halloween make-up ideas :)

Thanks again Sakura, this is more than I was hoping for :) and I won't have to buy mascara for another year haha!
Thanks for reading,
Anjna

The Body Shop: Haul and Review II

Hey guys!

So let me start of by saying that this wasn't supposed to happen. I went into The Body Shop because I needed to buy a candle for Diwali and I had been eyeing up the Sandalwood and Ginger scented candle for a while now. Obviously, I got sucked into buying more things and with their 'Spend £25 and get £10 off' deal, it would be stupid not to buy more. 

Soo lets get on with the review!

Sandalwood and Ginger Scented Candle (£10.00/200g)

So this is the reason I went into The Body Shop in the first place - I love scented candles - especially when I am doing work it just makes me feel calm and the atmosphere is so much nicer that I don't mind doing work. The scent to this product is amazing! I would recommend everyone to go and give this a sniff because it's a spiced wood aroma which is just lovely to inhale. I love how this really does do the job - the fragrance stays in the room and so it's wonderful to light up.
The one bad thing about this product is that the packaging isn't that great. I love the box it comes in because it looks like it is worth the money but the candle itself is just in a plain jar which automatically makes it cheaper in my opinion because no one knows what you are lighting up. Apart from that I am super pleased with the candle - I think it's a good size and I think it would be great as a Christmas present. 

Rainforest Moisture Shampoo (£4.50/250ml)
This is something that I wasn't so happy about - this shampoo does give a lot of moisture which I like (that's why I bought it) but I didn't like it because it doesn't lather up at all! This might not seem like much of a problem but applying this to your roots is so hard - I felt like I was ripping my hair out trying to massage this in. It was honestly awful and I am not going to purchase this again. If they created a version which lathered up then this would be an awesome shampoo because it smells nice and it does do the job.

Papaya Shower Gel (£3.00/250ml) *on sale

Shockingly I have never tried a shower gel from The Body Shop - so when this one was on sale (just a pound lower but it doesn't take much to get me to buy something) I knew it was time to try something new. I really like this scent, it's nice and wearable and just a normal shower gel - if you want to try out some fragrant shower gels then go to The Body Shop since they have a massive range. The only thing is the scent doesn't last on the skin but that's pretty standard for me. This is cool if you want to try something new.

Vanilla Body Mist (£7.50/100ml)

Vanilla is my scent, like all of my friends know that I love vanilla as an everyday scent. So this instantly appealed to me - I used to wear the Boots natural collection vanilla body spray for a few years but it's been discontinued so I have been on the hunt for something equally as good. I think this is halfway there, I'm happy with it but the Boots vanilla spray was my scent for years so nothing can really live up to it. I do like this but I am not sure how far I would recommend this - if you like vanilla then be sure to smell it in store but it's still a nice and easy every day scent. I wouldn't mind repurchasing this either since it does linger on the skin nicely but hopefully I can find something even better!

So that's the end of my mini haul :) If you have tried any of these things be sure to tell me what you think about it - it's nice to hear different opinions :) I hope I steered you towards what I like and what I kinda don't :)
Thank you for reading,
Anjna x

Kiko: Haul and Review

Heey everyone :)

Sooo Milan is the home of Kiko and I am not going to lie - I took more than two trips in that store over the course of 8 days, I couldn't help myself, I just had to try/swatch everything :P Firstly I want to say that I loved the store in itself, and the two customer assistants there were really helpful and one also did my eye make-up randomly which was super nice of her. I've tried everything that I have bought and I have gifted some of the products to my sister who will be giving her input in the review :)

1) Daring Game: Queen of Hearts Eye-shadow Palette (€14.90/(4x2g))

So this new collection by Kiko has already been featured by a few people over the internet and I couldn't wait to get my hands on it - they have three different palettes to choose from, I chose ' 01 Essential Brown' which features 4 amazingly pigmented shades (a gold, a reddish russet, a cream and a brown shade). I love this palette because although it only has 4 shades it's very versatile and can be worn on any occasion because the colour combination allows it to be worn daily (cream/brown combination) but also glam it up for a special occasion (gold/russet or gold/brown). The wear of these eye-shadows are good - they last all day, but for me the selling point of this palette is the unique colours and the cute packaging (which also has a mirror!). I know I am going to get a lot of wear out of this and I would recommend this for anyone who is looking for a small but essential palette :) 

2) Eyes 200 - Rounded Eye Brush (€10.90)

So despite being really into anything beauty related I don't actually own a decent blending brush like the MAC 217 or Sigma E40. It's funny how I actually know the names of these brushes but I have never bought them, so when I went into Kiko I wanted to buy a real domed blending brush to see if I would actually use it as much as I thought I would. I already own a Kiko 201 brush and a ELF crease brush which do the job of blending awesomely too.
 I need this brush in my life. Seriously. If you don't have a blending brush like this then I urge you to get one - the results that it provides cannot be done with another brush. Now I am just talking about the type of brush. This Kiko one is awesome, but I feel like it won't be long before it gets scrachy. I'll probably update you guys if it ever does. I would recommend this specific brush if you want to try it out - like I did. Knowing me, I will purchase a better quality one anyway so I wouldn't recommend it for a long term option. 

3) 30 Days Extension - Daily Treatment Mascara (€7.90/8ml)

First thing I want to say is that I bought this on offer (which is still on) for €3.90 which is brilliant. Secondly this was a gift for my sister who has tried it and says that it provides length more than anything which is good considering that it is supposed to lengthen your lashes in 30 days. She won't be doing the 30 day trial but just wants to enjoy it as a normal mascara which she can wear whenever. I think that if you are considering purchasing something from Kiko then you might as well try the mascara too because it's cheap and value for money.

4) Precision Eyebrow Pencil (€5.90/0.55g)

Again, this was a gift for my sister who finds it difficult to find a eyebrow pencil for her dark eyebrows, this one is in the shade '01 Brunettes' - which is greyish black shade and she loves it. The most amazing part about this was that when we opened the package we found that they gave a free pencil sharpener with it! I regret not buying one of these for myself because it looks awesome and easy to use - it has a comb at the end too and so the packaging and presentation of this product is seriously on point. She would recommend this for anyone else who has trouble with finding the right shade for their eyebrows - Kiko offer 4 different shades which is good. 

5) Quick Dry Nail Lacquer (€4.90/10ml)

Me being me I want to try out every nail formula that I can and Kiko has an impressive collection of colours too (this one is in offer for €3.90). I was attracted to this colour because it reminds me of a mermaid because it's a dark bluish green which is slightly metallic (hence the name 'Metallic Scarab'). True to the name this did dry quick which I loved, 2 coats is needed for the full effect of this polish which is fine considering the price :) It wears like a standard polish and so I have no complaints about this polish :) if you like a shade go and grab it :) 

6) Boule

vard Rock Eyes Brush (€12.90)

The reason I bought this is because it was on offer for €4.00, again dirt cheap so how can I resist. The brush quality of this specific brush is amazing (similar to my 201 brush) and sooo soft. It's dual ended so the idea is probably that you do gel eyeliner with the smaller brush and do a cool smoky look with the thicker brush. I gave this to my sister too (but I was secretly hoping that she didn't want it). If you want something like this then get it while it's on offer!

7) Long Lasting Stick Eye-shadow (€6.90)

I fell in love with this product as soon as I saw it, I wanted to get more into cream eye-shadows because they do last longer (which is good for me and my oily eyelids), they have an impressive range of colours too and so I was really spoilt for choice. I chose the colour '06 Golden Brown' because I can wear it on an everyday basis. I have used this already and it's exactly what I wanted it's super quick and easy to use and easy to blend if you wanted to do that too. I don't actually blend this because I want the colour to stay as it is and then I use 'Buck' or the dark brown in my Daring Game palette to blend the crease so it doesn't look like the colour just stopped. Works like a dream and I would recommend this to everyoneee - the packaging is super sleek too like a hybrid of MAC and Nars in my opinion :) 

8) Double Sharpener (€3.20)

I needed a better sharpener and this one looks so cool and... just cool, plus it's a double so I don't have to worry about buying another one :) I don't know why but I feel like I would pay more for this in England just because of how nice it looks.

Top colour: Shadow stick, Next: Eyebrow Pencil
Underneath: Daring Game Palette.
(Keep in mind my skin colour is kinda dark)

So that completes my Kiko haul :) Overall I am so impressed with the quality of Kiko products, I think it's value for money and they know how to do offers too :) I should add that the price I have said in euros equates exactly into pounds, so if you look at the Kiko website in the UK then the Daring Game Palette is £14.90. So with this in mind I still think it's worth the money, however if you are in Europe any time soon then wait and buy these even cheaper in euros.
I hope you enjoyed this post :)
Thanks for reading,
Anjna x

The Body Shop: Mini Haul and Review

Hey everyone :) sooo about 4 days ago I went to The Body Shop and went a little crazy, it was a preplanned crazy but still :P I bought a few things that have been on my wishlist for a while now and I wanted to share what they were and what I actually think of them because, yes, I have tried them all :) 

The Body Shop Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil, (£10.00/ 200ml) 

I have seen and read so much about this cleansing oil because of Amelia, and I just had to try it. I love this. It's just so quick and simple, I use two pumps of this on a dry face and massage it in and all my make-up just dissolves so quickly, literally it takes a minute and all your waterproof make-up will be gone. I just think this will be perfect for anyone who doesn't want a long cleansing routine, it's as simple as wipes basically. I still use other scrubs and facial washes after this but that's just me. I have oily skin too and it doesn't make me feel weird to use this at all, so I am really impressed with this product and I am so glad that I bought it :) 

The Body Shop All-In-One Instablur, (£14.00/25ml)

This is actually a newish product from The Body Shop and so I really wanted to try it because of that anyway. It claims to control shine, reduce appearance of pores, hide blemishes, unify complexion and help the longevity of make-up. I would say that it does 3/5 of these.  The other 2/5 I'm not so sure about is that it controls shine (I have it on now - but maybe that's just my oily skin?), and I don't know how it hide's blemishes. Something does happens when you put this on - you do look better instantly so I categorise that as unifying my complexion. My pores are reduced and it does help my make-up stay on for longer. I love how lightweight this feels on the skin, I would recommend this to anyone really, it's a good primer. I think there are better out there though especially if you are looking for something specific. 

The Body Shop All-In-One BB Cream, (£12.00/25ml)

I really wanted a BB cream, just something I can wear on days where I'm not going out but still ready for anything you know? The thing that drew me into this specific product was the fact that it was colour adapting - which I think is so cool. They have four shades (00, 01, 02, 03), I wear the darkest shades 03, and it matches my skin tone well. Again, like the primer this is really lightweight, I love that I can apply this how I apply a moisturiser and I think a product like this would be perfect for someone who doesn't want to wear foundation but still wants some coverage. This gives a light coverage which suits the purpose of me wearing it on days where I'm not doing much (that's because I am more of a full coverage kinda girl). I just think it's a nice product :) The only downfall it does have is that it doesn't have SPF, which is again fine for me because my SPF comes with my moisturiser so it's not that bad. I also thought a BB cream would have more skin benefits but maybe I'm mistaken, or this one just doesn't have them? 

The Body Shop Chocomania Lip Butter, (£4.00/10ml)

I have a post coming up mentioning this product :) First thing I want to say is that it smells like cookies and chocolate and just everything sugary in the world. I love this product because it's so shiny on the lips that it looks like a gloss but without all the fuss and stickiness. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a nice conditioning lip butter which is no hassle to use. Definitely worth my money for sure. 

White cream: BB Cream. Clear greyish substance: Instablur.
Shiny clear thing: Lip Butter.

I hoped you liked reading my mini haul and review from The Body Shop, I want to say that although this all adds up to £40, I got everything for £20 just because I used a voucher. This is why I love The Body Shop, because they are more expensive than other high-street shops but they do the most amazing deals - I would probably never buy anything from there full priced just because they almost always have some sort of deal on. 

Thank you so much for reading, 

Anjna xx