Tesco Beauty Advent Calendar - Week 1

This year I managed to get my hands on the Tesco Beauty Advent Calendar, it looked brilliant from the start when I first saw it advertised and hopefully it will live up to expectations.  It cost £50 and was available online and through some Tesco stores, I believe it is still available for half the original price if you still want it.

The Calendar is said to contain everything you need to complete your Christmas party look, with brands such as Nip+Fab, Korres, Katy Perry, Dr. LeWinns, Baylis & Harding and Tanya Burr behind each door, it is bound to be 24 exciting days.

In my introductory post I opened door number one which you can read all about HERE and today I am going to share with you what else I have had in my Calendar this week. Starting with door number two:

So inside day 2 we have a Tanya Burr nail polish.  I am yet to encounter any of the Tanya Burr range but I do love the look of this nail polish which is shade Midnight Sparkles and it is described as being "is a sumptuous, purple nail colour infused with glitter, for a truly stunning finish". This Nail polish has an RRP £4.95.

For day 3 there is a 5ml perfume sample from Paul Smith and it is the Extreme Eau de Toilette.  Described as being "A sensual yet playful floral fragrance with a blackcurrant and violet infusion and rich woody final notes" it is actually an alright scent, probably not one that I would go out and purchase for myself, but it is nice.

Behind door number 4 we have a Spotlight Lipgloss by Sue Moxley and I have shade 'Fiesty' and it an LED light up gloss and it incorporates a mirror on the lid as well.  The shade is a quite bright pink shade which I will show in a later post. 

It's been quite hard to find information on this brand but the lipglosses do have an RRP £6.99 on Amazon.

Then behind door number 5 and here it is. A Katy Perry Meow Eau de Parfum locket.  The description is as follows "This solid perfume locket by Katy Perry is the perfect gift idea! The locket is in the shape of a cat's head with diamond effects on the ears and eyes. Twist it open to reveal solid perfume. This locket comes in a black drawstring pouch" I think this is such a fab item, it wasn't at all what I was expecting to find and I did initially think it was another perfume sample, which in a way it is, but it is a solid and in a locket which is super cute. It has an RRP £7.99

Behind door number 6 we have a mini organic soap which smells absolutely amazing and I am pleased to see it is totally free from detergents, SLS, Alcohol, parabens, silicones, sulphates, preservatives and sorbates! It's from The Little Soap Company.

Behind door number 7 which I have just opened, we have Candy Kittens Turquoise 20ml EDT which is described as follows: "This fragrance opens with a bright burst of citrus from bergamot and apple, followed by an enchanting heart comprised of earthy cedar wood and tender jasmine. The fragrance dries down slowly to a wonderfully sensual mix of earthy sandalwood and creamy vanilla".  As a fragrance it is quite nice, not one I would choose as I think it is something for  a teen but it is nice.

So there you have my first week of the Tesco Advent Calendar and I am totally chuffed with the contents so far.  What do you think?

The Santigolden Age by Santigold - Smashbox Cosmetics

I as very lucky to have been invited along by the lovely people at Smashbox to see and try out their limited edition launch.  Collaborating with Santigold, the idea has been inspired by the idea of a post 2012 Golden Age, where the earth as we know it ceases to exist and thus reinvents itself as a balanced, utopic mirror image, a world where the earth, stars, humans and aliens co-exist harmoniously.  

The range features a stunning array of colour, Aztec inspired designs and some of the funkiest and most colourful looking packaging I've seen in ages!

The collection includes:

Eye shadow Collage - This features Santigolds distinctive collage art and include 5 shades of the luxe wet/dry shadows to mix and match any eye look. The palettes have two different shades -Earth As We Know It which features shades such as apple green, dark matte blue, raisin with rosegold pearl, a soft sparkling cream and a dark sparkly forest green. Then we have Apocalypse Now which features a shimmery teal,sparkling pewter, matte black, shimmery oyster and a bright golden orange.

As you can see they look absolutely stunning and are nothing like I have ever seen before and I was given Apocalypse now and here it is in all its glory.

There is no denying that these are most definitely bold and bright colours and whilst I do not want to swatch it to ruin the design, initially the brightness did scare me slightly, after all I like and favour the nude naked look and this will take some getting used too.  These palettes will cost £25 each.

Be Legendary Lip Gloss is also part of the collection and it is described as being a one of a kind lip gloss which can be worn alone or layered over other shades to give them a new life.  The one thing I love about these glosses is that they are not sticky at all, they are come in two different shades All Gold E'rything which is a sheer copper sparkle and Hot Lava which is an orange red.  The shade I was given is Hot Lava and admittedly not a shade I would choose personally, but actually I've come to really like it and it goes really well with most of my lipsticks. 

Again the packaging is stunning to look at it, not only the outer box packaging but the actual gloss tube itself.  These glosses will have an RRP of £15.

Also within this range is a Be Legendary Lipstick Ring which is a Smashbox First which is a snake pyramid ring adorned with Swarovski Crystals and inside has a limited edition Coral Be Legendary Lipstick inside. This has an RRP of £39.

Image courtesy of Kimberley from www.kimberleysbeautyblog.com

The final item is a Double Ended Limitless Eye Liner which will be available in two shades so you can mix and match the bold colours. The choice is from either bright blue/soft gold or bright yellow/mint green and again not the sort of colours I would ever think to wear, but seeing all the lovely girls from Smashbox wearing the bright blue and looking absolutely stunning did make me wonder if I could pull it off myself.  These liners will have an RRP of £15.

Image courtesy of Smashbox

There is no doubting that this is a bright, bold and very unusual group of products and they most certainly are eye-catching and it is everything you need for experimenting with new bright bold and brash shades.  For me the packaging really makes this collection, I absolutely love it and know that once it hits the shelves later this month, it will stand out. 

The Santigold collection launches online on 14th May and into Smashbox counters on 28th May.

What do you think to this collection? Is it something you want to try?

Lush The Kiss Lipgloss

As part of my goody bag at the Lush Event which I attended a few weeks ago was this brilliant solid lipgloss called The Kiss**.

Nestled inside a little tin, similar to the sample pots of Charity you can buy, this lipgloss has become an item that has found its way into my handbag and something I use a lot.  Designed and produced as part of the Valentines Day Range, The Kiss costs £5.75.

Described as 

" A delightful, whipped up gloss made from luxurious and protective butters including Fair Trade shea and cupuaçu. This preservative free tinted lip gloss gives a touch of colour to the lips. It’s so easy to apply you won’t even need a mirror!.  

We’ve created a light balm using the same aerating technique we use for our massage bars. It will moisturise and protect the lips, whilst giving them a subtle pink glossy sheen. It contains delicious organic agave syrup to leave your lips deliciously sweet".

Firstly it is pink, anything pink is going to get me excited and the scent is absolutely divine, Lush use organic mandarin and almond essential oils to give it this amazing scent, not to mention that it tastes pretty good too.  Once applied to the lips there is a very slight pink colouring and a natural gloss look.  It can either be worn on its own or over the top of your lipstick or lip crayon if you prefer.

Lush being Lush don't just put things together for the sake of it, there is usually some hidden meaning behind each product, usually within the ingredients and this one is no different.  As expected there is a long list of what ingredients it has such as - guarana seed powder which is a natural skin plumper to make your lips irresistible.  You will also find Shea Butter which has amazing moisturising properties, Organic Caster Oil which helps to lock in moisture, protect the skin and prevent damage by the elements and environmental toxins. You can find the full list of ingredients on the Lush website.

Which Lush products have you been loving lately?