Springtime sunglasses essentials

As my inbox fills up with information and press releases about Valentines Day and Mothers Day, it serves as a reminder that Spring is also on its way and for me, the warmer weather cannot come soon enough. Think lambs in the field, ice cream, not having to wear coat, scarf and gloves and finally wanting to wear something other than chunky knits and twenty three tshirts just to keep warm.

As well as celebrating with new handbags in lovely pastel shades, finally getting to wear my beloved Fitflops again right through until it turns cold, sunglasses become an almost must have accessory for me to have, though there are days in the winter months that I also wear them.  MyGlassesGuru is one of those clever little sites which has glasses and sunglasses in every style, shade and design you can imagine, but what makes it different to everyone else is that it can help you narrow down your choices based on your face shape, hair colour, skin tone, what frame colour is your preference and which designer you prefer and surprisingly you can find Ted Baker, Radley, Swarovski, Tom Ford and even budget brands such as Superdry make an appearance.  

I was quite surprised to find so many options for my face shape and hair colour, but more surprisingly, all of these sunglasses are ones that I would actually wear and they are not too dissimilar to some that I have owned in the past.

Top left we have Tom Ford Eva Sunglasses which are an Aviator with a Twist! The lenses are in a stunning mirrored blue tint, framed with an elegant rose gold rim and classic Havana sides and they retail for £195

Next we have Imogen by Radley (top right) and these are square lensed glasses with full UV Filter in Gloss Nude shade. They retail for just £60

In the middle we have Blair by Ted Baker. These are described as being a full, soft square, acetate frame with spiral metal detail on the temples. They retail for just £61.95 and have three frame colour options.

Over to the bottom row and on the left we have Tom Ford again and this time with Charles. They are again the iconic aviator sunglasses and this option is rose gold frame with full UV radiant brown lenses. Priced at £157.95 they are quite the bargain.

Finally we have Cate by Swarovski, a strong, yet elegant feminine design with Swanflower® motif, pearl and Swarovski crystal detail to temples and in shade Gloss Black. They retail for £178 and I love the oversized frame on these glasses.

If you had to make a choice between these five pairs of sunglasses, which one would you chose?

*collaboration

Generation Next - The Spring Collection from KIKO

One brand of make-up I haven't ever used or played with is KIKO, a brand I know a lot of my blogging friends adored, so imagine how excited I was when this little lot dropped through my door!

KIKO Milano Generation Next Colletion is new for the spring and it is full of all kinds of amazing shiny packaging that every magpie would love, not to mention lots of colour with the main theme being celebrating the future.  The dynamic geomatric packaging has been inspired by the famous italian Murano glassware, using those designed to capture the playful multicolours used throughout his work. 

Starting with the KIKO Mosaic Highlighter in 01 Future Light.  Everything about this highlighter is stunning, from the outer box, to the silver casing within which the highlighter sits.  Once opened, as you can see, in front of you is a mixture of matte and shimmery shades which help to create a perfect glow. Enriched with multi-reflective pearls the soft powder makes it easy to blend, highlight, illuminate, enhance and brighten any skin tone.  As you can see from the swatch below, it is a very delicate shimmer and that is just one swipe of my finger across the top of the mosaic pattern, you can of course build it up.

What I also love is that there is also a mirror which is always handy to have. This highlighter has an RRP £14.90

KIKO Cool Touch Eyeshadow in 01 Original Cream is one of eight creamy intense eyeshadows.  Once applied it gives a long-lasting metallic and glossy finish. Again it is packaged inside a truly stunning case which compliments the highlighter and the shade I have is absolutely stunning, it works with any shade and highlights the eye area.  There is an RRP £8.90

KIKO Frosted Look Lipstick in shade 01 of 6 shades.  To look at, as you can see, it is a creamy chubby pencil lipstick which makes the application quick and easy, especially if are on the go.  Given that it is called a frosted lipstick it gives you a satin finish with colour that holds for a good 4-5 hours after application.  I applied this when I went to see Slipnot at Wembley as I left work at 5pm, when we got home at midnight, there was still a hint of the colour on my lips, which considering I had eaten some chilli beef nachos and had a few bottles of desperado beer, is quite impressive! you easy and quick application on-the-go. There is an RRP £7.50

To work alongside lipsticks is a lip gloss and the KIKO Glassy Lipgloss which I have in shade 02 is again beautiful, from the outer casing which again looks stunning alongside the Highlighter and eyeshadow compacts with the silvery finish, is one of six shades.  This liquid lipgloss provides intense pigmentation with a really glossy wet-look finish.  It is described as being a hybrid of a lipstick and lipgloss and has a water-based formula which coats the lips whilst moisturizing them at the same time, but it is not at all sticky or tacky when applied. When you first come to use it, there is a really subtle vanillery scent which soon disappears. There is an RRP £7.90 

The final item in my little bundle of joy is two KIKO Crystal Eyeliner in shades (5) which is a stunning bright blue and shade (6) which is an almost black shade.  As these are pencil eyeliners, they are really smooth on the eye area, given they are formulated with a combination of waxes and filmogens, it gives the feel of a liquid liner and once it has been applied, nothing budges it, not even a day in front of a computer screen, even with a hand swatch, it is really hard to remove. There are six shades available and they have an RRP £6.90

As someone who has just been introduced to the world of KIKO, I am really impressed with these products and love everything about them from the amazing packaging to the long-lasting formulas, it is an exciting collection to have and it doesn't stop there.  The collection also includes a Generation Next Face Brush, CC Cream Cushion, Masterpiece Bronzer, Mosaic Blush and Crystal Fusion Super Moisture Face Serum which sounds amazing. The Generation Next collection launches in March.

What do you think to this collection? Are you a KIKO fan?

Fruity Melon Yankee Candles!

I love the fact my local Asda now sells Yankee Candles, though it can sometimes be too difficult to walk past the aisle within which they reside and not pick up a few everytime I am in there.

The latest additions to my collection is this set - Fruity Melon.  Priced at £13 for the Large jar which has a burn time of 60-95 hours and the samplers which have a burn time of around 15 hours are £1 each they are total bargains.

I always smell the candles before I buy them because if I don't like the scent on first sniff, then I know I won't like it once it is lit.  One thing I am always looking for is a hint of vanilla because it is one of those scents which can give me a headache, so I stay well clear.  This candle though was an instant hit as soon as I sniffed it.

So what does it smell like?  A fresh melon, a watermelon to be exact.  The first time you cut into a watermelon and you pick up that fruity scent, that is what you get with this candle, but obviously no seeds and no mess.  Once it is alight, the same scent permeates the room within which the candle resides and slowly works it way around the house.  The reason I have come to like it so much is because it is such a fresh scent and one that is definitely designed to burn on a chilly spring morning to just add a hint of scent.

I am a big fan of this candle, everything from the bright green colour to the fruity scent, it isn't too heavy and it smells wonderful from the moment it begins to burn to a good few hours after you have blown it out.

Have you bought any new Yankee Candles lately?

Patisserie de Bain lip balms - sneak preview!

A few weeks ago I was introduced to Patisserie de Bain by Rose & Co.** products which you can see HERE. Rose & Co. to give a very brief introduction was created by Patricia and Caroline Rose when they bought an old druggists shop in Yorkshire. With a love of all things vintage, beautiful and romantic, they restored the shop to its former Victorian splendour and a quirky but charming beauty apothecary was born.  All products are made in the UK with professionally blended handpicked ingredients. Products are made in small batches in the UK and soaps are still traditionally milled and pressed in one of the oldest soap factories in England.

When I arrived back from Amsterdam there was this lovely little package waiting for me, which was such a lovely surprise and inside I found this:

In a previous post, I introduced these very lip balms but in tin form and they are every bit as lovely as they look, now they have been packaged together in handy little tubes which are perfect for dropping into your handbag.

Described as follows:

"Soften and nourish lips with our travel friendly Patisserie de Bain lip balms. Sweetly scented flavours make the balms irresistible and almost good enough to eat. Beeswax and sweet almond oil gently replenish dry lips keeping them kissable condition for a perfectly pretty pout.

New for Spring, this cute little collection of Lemon Bon-Bon, Strawberry Cupcake and Sugared Violet is packaged in an adorable gift little box".

The first thing about these lip balms is that they smell amazing, exactly as their description gives - Lemon Bon-Bon smells exactly like those sweets you can purchase, Surgared Violet reminds me of Parma Violets which I also found in my box and Strawberry Cupcake smells like the strawberry and cream sweets you can also find in a good old fashioned sweet shop and again I found both of those sweets in my beautifully packaged box.

On the lips they are really moisturising and not at all sticky or tacky and they are really moisturising.

These products are available to purchase in March 2014 and RRP is £8.50 and would make a perfect gift or addition to your lip balm collection.