Beauty | Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet & Liner Eye Palette

Hey guys, bit later this week than planned, sorry!

I may have found a rival to beat my favourite palette, the Urban Decay Naked Palette!

Now this palette isn't a dupe for the Naked Palettes, however I have definitely fallen in love. This is the Clarins Splendours Colour Quartet and Eye Liner Palette. I bought this product with the voucher that I won from Clarins a few months ago - I made a blog post about that here.

First up, as you'd expect, it's packaged beautifully in a velvety pouch and then in an amber coloured case.

But what is inside is even better! You receive 4 eyeshadow colours - a Pale Gold, a Rose Gold, a Copper and a Deep Brown, plus a Plum colour to act as a liner. All of these colours work so well together, which makes it the perfect palette for both day and night. I've worn the lighter shades blended together during the day, and added the deep brown and plum liner to make my eyes more smokey and dramatic for the night. All of the shades are highly pigmented and creamy so incredibly easy to blend together.

Top - Copper and Pale Gold
Bottom - Deep Brown and Rose Gold
Alongside - Plum liner

L-R - Pale Gold, Rose Gold, Copper, Deep Brown, Plum Liner

It also comes with a little card showing you how to achieve 2 different looks - one more suitable for day time and the other for the night - which I think is a nice touch.

Despite this palette being quite expensive at £31, it is beautiful and definitely worth the money. It was limited edition so isn't easily available anymore, however I found that Debenhams still have some in stock in the UK which you can find here.

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | What's In My Bag

Hey,

I love reading what's in my bag blog posts, so thought I would do my own version!

I got this bag for Christmas after spotting it in a little independent shop near my home. It's a tan and cream colour block satchel type bag from the brand 'Fashion Star' (who after a hunt online only seem to stock directly to stores - sorry!). Two aspects of this bag I love, firstly it's size. It's big enough that you can fit lots in but not so big you overfill it, which I often do. And second is the many different sections inside the bag which you can see in the photos below.

  

So what's inside?!

Inside the front pockets I keep my iPhone. I recently upgraded to the iPhone 5S in the Silver, and it's beautiful - plus 4G is the best thing since sliced bread!

In the zipped back section I keep my keys, and in the middle section at the back, some essential items - tissues, a mini Clarins Hand and Nail Treatment Cream (link), Soap & Glory Hand Maid (link), a nail file and some pens.

  

Then in the main section I keep everything else! Here you'll find my diary which I got from W H Smiths (which is an essential item for me at university), an umbrella which I got from ASOS (because living up North it rains...alot!) and my purse which is a purple/red snakeskin effect from John Lewis, crammed with more loyalty cards than I thought was imaginable! And lastly I have this MAC case which I was given years ago as a gift which at the time was filled with travel sized MAC eye brushes. In here I keep some other essential items including hair bands, a Rimmel stay matte pressed powder in Translucent (link) and a random brush. You'll also find an array of lipbalms - the Carmex Original in a pot (link), a Boots Essential Lip Salve in Peppermint (link) and the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm in Dark Chocolate and Mint (link). I normally also have my headphones which are by Sony in there (link), however I seem to have lost them since moving back into my house here in Newcastle (argh!).

 

So that's everything in my bag!  I hope you enjoyed today's post, and feel free to link me to your what's in my bag posts below, I love reading them.

Love Alice x

Beauty | Clarins Haul

I warn you now, this is quite a long post, get a cuppa and get comfy is my suggestion!

A few weeks ago as I was walking home from university I received an email from Clarins saying I had won a £250 voucher to spend on their website! I thought at first it was a scam, but to my delight it wasn't! So I quickly went to their website and chose my many products.

Clarins isn't a brand I normally look at or buy from, but I had heard of a few products from them which I was eager to try out. This post is just to let you know what I got, I currently haven't tried anything out but when I have I'll let you know my must haves!

The first product I knew I wanted was their Beauty Flash Balm (link). This is a cult product that claims to be an instant radiance booster. I thought it was just used as a makeup base but it says it can also be used as a face mask. I'm very excited to try this to see if it lives up to the hype!

Next I bought 3 of the Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector in 02 Apricot Shimmer, 03 Nude Shimmer and 05 Candy Shimmer (link). I've bought one for myself, one for my Mum and the last for my Sister. Again another product I've heard alot about, but I love lip products that are more balmy/glossy than a lipstick so this is right up my street. It says it helps to nourish, repair and protect so I hope it lives up to this.

Left - Right : 02 Apricot Shimmer, 03 Nude Shimmer, 05 Candy Shimmer

The only other makeup product I bought was the Splendors Colour Quartet and Liner Eye Palette (link). This is such a pretty neutrals palette with a champagne, a bronze, a mink and a chocolate eye shadow plus a plum liner. Swatching them quickly shows that they look fairly pigmented but I'll let you know when I properly test it out. I wanted a smaller neutrals palette to my beloved Naked palette for if I'm travelling and this could be the perfect one! It also has a fairly decent sized mirror in it as well, ideal for travel.

I've wanted to try MAC Fix Plus for ages but never got round to buying it, so I picked up the Fix' Make Up (link). This product is a refreshing long lasting mist that says it holds your makeup in place. It says that it keeps your skin matte, and as someone with oily skin I really want to put this to the test!

Next an item I actually needed - an eye makeup remover! I wear quite a lot of mascara and eye products on nights out so I thought the Instant Eye Make-Up Remover (link) would be a good one to try as it claims to remove waterproof and heavy makeup. 

Another item I needed was an eye cream. I've been using and loving the Clinique All About Eyes Serum but I've nearly ran out so thought I would try one from Clarins. I decided on the Eye Revive Beauty Flash (link). I'm assuming it's in the same line as the Beauty Flash Balm so thought it should (hopefully) be good.

I have also wanted a new clay mask so decided to try the Pure And Radiant Mask (link). This has pink clay in it which helps to purify, tighten pores and refine skin texture along with the alpine willow herb. It also says it leaves a matte finish because of natural tanaka powders. I'm very excited to try this out as any product that can mattify my skin is a must have!

Next I purchased the Blemish Control (link). These are 2 x 5ml tubes with a roller ball top to use on any blemishes. Recently my skin has been good but I think that's due to a good diet/exercise/sleep pattern whilst living at home and I find my skin always goes a bit crazy when I move back to university so I'm sure it won't be too long until I try these out!

The last product I purchased was the Lotus Face Treatment Oil (link). I was worried about this, putting an oil onto oily skin sounds disastrous, but this is formulated for oily/combination skin. Reading the reviews about this, people said it was such  lovely product even with oily skin, so I'll let you know how this goes!

Then at the time of ordering Clarins were offering a free gift if you spent over a certain amount so even more goodies! In this I got the Moisture-Rich Body Lotion (link), the Relax Bath And Shower Concentrate (link), the One Step Gentle Exfoliating Cleanser (link), the Hand and Nail Treatment Cream (link), the HydraQuench Rich Cream (link) all in a cute drawstring bag!

Left - Right - HydraQuench Rich Cream, Moisture-Rich Body Lotion, Hand and Nail Treatment Cream, Relax Bath and Shower Concentrate, One Step Gentle Exfoliating Cream

And then I got to chose 3 miniatures! So the final 3 products are the One-Step Facial Cleanser (link), the Pure Melt Cleansing Gel (link) and the Pore Minimizing Serum (link).

Left - Right - Pore Minimizing Serum, One-Step Facial Cleanser, Pure Melt Cleansing Gel

So that's the end of my very large Clarins haul, of which I'm incredibly grateful for winning!

As I try these out I'll be sure to let you know what they are like.

What products would you like to try from Clarins?

Love Alice x

Lifestyle | My Week #3

An even bigger apology than normal for my lack of posts recently. I started lectures on Monday and things have been a little crazy this week with the open day/lectures/water polo/nights out!

26th September - 2nd October 2013

1. Wristbands with Geordie sayings from the Newcastle Open Day

2. Haul - find out what I bought here

3. Clarins parcel arrived

4. Lots of Clarins goodies - post coming soon

5. First NUSWPC social of the year

Lifestyle | My Week #2

19th September - 25th September 2013

1. Quiet night in

2. Bongo fun whilst watching Geordie Shore

3. Attempt to sort my life out

4. Snazzy t-shirt and badge for the Newcastle University Visit Day this Saturday

5. I won a £250 Clarins voucher as part of their Summer Draw!

Quiet one on the picture front this week! 

What have you guys been up to?

Love Alice x