MyBeautyCompare.com

MyBeautyCompare.com is a new beauty website on the block. Not only does it house reviews and a beauty forum where you can ask like minded people for their recommendations, but also after setting a profile they an point you in the direction of what would suit you. This site isn't all about the top end but also has a mix of the high street as well.

I had actually heard about this site on Twitter when they hosted a chat alongside another blogger and when I was approached to review the site myself, I had already had a profile set up (Unevenlemming is the user name is you feel the need to look me up).

How accurate are the recommendations? Let's take the biggest make up headache of them all, foundation. I have combination skin, with fair, neutral undertones, am a busy mother who works part time. I was recommended MAC Studio Fix (Which is one I'm keen to try), Bare Minerals powder and Estee Lauder Double Wear, which is one of my favourite foundations. On to nails and the top recommendations there were OPI, which yet again is another brand I am a fan of.

You get given 4 recommendations, and out of mine there was always one product that I have tried and loved before, but it also had ones that if I was offered to try I would jump at the opportunity. I do like the fact that there was a good mix of High street as well as premium (I got about a 50/50 mix of each in my recommendations), so if you felt a little more flush with the cash then you could find the equal to the high street brand and visa versa.

When I have a little more time on my hands I want to dive into the reviews side of the website, written by people who have used the product before and are as honest as you can get from a consumer. There is a forum for people to get advice and ask questions, this is still in the beginning phase but I can see this growing.

*This is a sponsered post, however I was already looking at the website before being asked to review it. All opinion is my own.

Rose Quartz Nail Varnish by Barry M

Rose Quartz with There She Rose by OPI

I had spotted this polish on different peoples blog and always though it was pretty but it wasn't until I saw it on Fee's Blog Makeup Savvy that I was convinced that I had to hunt it down. It is a mixture of small rose gold glitter with fine hologram glitter in a clear base.
Fee had put hers over a nude/white polish while I put mine over a rose tone (OPI's There She Rose), it did look beautiful but to me the glitter seemed to blend in with the polish. The is when I turned to Nail's Inc. Porchester Road

I prefer this as the finer parts of the glitter seem to show more on this slightly darker colour but still in the nude genre. Trying to take it was no longer than any other glitter polish, just a lot of patience and acetone but it well worth getting as it is just beautiful.

Available at all high street chemists/online RRP £2.99

2 Years Ago Today

Not only is tonight Robert Burn's Night, but also marks the two years of me writing this blog as well as 40,000 page views.

It is still a huge part of my life and I still love every minute (yes even when I get bloggers block). Thank you to everyone who reads my ongoing ramblings and hope you stick with me while I adapt to life being a new beauty blogger mum.

I will be aiming to introduce to you Minilemming in the next few weeks after we both get more settled into a routine.

I am on social media at random times of the day if you want to say hello while I do feeds.

Until we met again - Keep safe, keep beautiful.

My Make Up/Skincare Storage

This was my 30th birthday present from my parents. I want somewhere where I could put all my cosmetics storage as at the time it was in carrier and make up bags all over the place. I really didn't know what I had which meant I spent more money on bits that I already had or dupes of.

This was brought from Amazon but because it was a present I do not know exactly where it was from but I do know it was around £70 and was actually an electians tool box. It splits into 3 areas, the tool box on the top, a divided tray section and a big stroage hold at the bottom. Thankfully it all is on wheels so it can pulled along, while if you want only a certain part you can seperate them.

Top layer - All the make up. Lips on the top trays (lips glosses left, lipstick right), 2nd layer is eye shadow singles/pencils/mascaras, 3rd layer is everything else but it is mostly eye shadow palettes.

Middle Layer - Nails, simply all the varnsihes I own seperated into brands after a huge clean up. The rule is if they don't fit in here they have to leave (not my rule either).

Bottom layer - This has my nail art box as well as samples, spare skin care and everything else that doesn't fit in the layers above.

 All sealed up.

REN Invisible Pores Detox Mask

 

We all have them, a basket/box that filled with little samples that have been gathered from varnious offers and magazines over the year.  This also brings me to saying I don't know how this came into my hands, but I am exceedingly glad it did.

Invisible Pores Detox Mask uses French clay to draw out imputerities (a polite way of saying etc.), excess sebum production and removes dead skin cells. Tropical Spirulina proteins are used to encourage skin renewel (and are also used in Tropical fish food after a little research, it is not recommended to start putting fish flakes on your face!). Final key ingrediant is Red Tea whcih helps the skin smooth out from the fatty acids it contains.

nsructions are simple - onto clean skin for 10 to 15 minutes and then wash off with warm water (I use mine with a cloth/sponge to make sure I have all of it off). My skin was much more smoother and a lot more clearer around the nose (this is my most congested area). Out of my little sample I got 3 uses out of 15ml, a full size bottle is £18.00 for 50ml (Beauty maths works out at £1.80 a use).

Elemis Papaya Enzyme Peel

Image via Elemis Website

I have a rather guilty admission -I had a 15ml sample of this, used it up and then started missed it greatly. Why did I miss it? I noticed how beneficial it was to my skin and how people used to compliment on how my skin glowed.

This is my first trail into peels, I have always been a scrub person. The ones that if they didn't feel like they were physically removing layer of skin then I would think that they wasn't working. When my skin changed to being more sensitive, of course this action made it red and inflamed.

I had previously been reading about peels on other blogs (namely Pampered Prince) and they sounded what I needed to replace my harsh scrub. An enzyme peel provides a deep clean and resurface of the skin but because it uses plant extracts it a lot more gentle on sensitive skin while providing the benefits of dead skin cell removal.

I adore this, it seems like a refreshing mocktail but isn't overly sweet. I leave it on for the recommended time of 10 minutes after a shower. It does instantly make my skin look brighter and more even toned (I have combination/sensitive skin).

It was when I went into my work place the next day during my maternity leave that they all remarking that I looked "glowing" and bright, I had only been on leave at this point for a week. My makeup was going on more easier and I had converted back to my Ginvera Green Tea Nude Cover BB Cream as my skin had gone so clear again.

The price is also very reasonable, 50ml for £29.50 from Elemis website. I do seriously need to replenish this and soon (I did hint at Santa but I don't think he got the message in time).

Nails Inc Couture Varnish using Hyda Park Corner

I honestly love this prize, not only is it from one of my blogger heroes, Jane from British Beauty Blog but I also had the huge task of creating a bestoke Nails Inc varnish for myself using the current line up of colours.

Nails Inc Couture would make a great for someone who loves thrie polish. You start with choosing the lids to go on top, from diamonte to pearls, then to the polish to go inside. The polish took the longest to pick as I had to throughly research each colour to make sure that I hadn't already had it as well as something I would wear (Thank you to google and the hundreds of swatch images I spent two hours pouring over!). You then write what you like to have written on the bottom of bottle instead of the shade name, as well as what stickers you are decorating the box in.

I themed mine around a keep sake for me on the birth of Minilemming. I had the idea of something that was really 'me' but gave a huge nod towards that changes that are coming. The varnish colour is Hyde Park Corner, a lilac/heather toned grey with a dark sparkle grey cap. It is named, "Baby Gray, January 2014" and decorated in yummy mummt stickers.

It is normally £20, compared to £11 for a 'normal' Nails Inc varnish and it is purely as a one of kind gift for a beauty junkie. I had a huge amount of fun putting this together and it does really mean a lot to me already, a fushion of Mum and Bubba.

Minilemming - Week 40

 

Here we are 9 months down the line and it seems that Minilemming is in no hurry in coming out. Oh yes, there has been false alarams, like a few nights ago where I was up all night with regular contractioons, then they disappeared as soon as they came. Minilemming is such a little tease.

I am now absolutely huge in the bump, bending over, reaching for things and generally moving around has become a mission. It is also exausting, I can go for an hours walk and need to sleep for two to just recover. I have to carry my phone everywhere with me, if no one is with me, "just in case".

It is exciting, our front room has the play pen all blown up with toys in, clothes are putting into draws on the changing area and the moses basket just needs to be set up in our room. I am just to the point where I want to met them and find out who's been kicking my bladder the past few months. We do have a favourite game as I know which way they are facing, Minilemming likes to stick their bum out so I rub it and say, "I can feel your bum" and they wiggle it back at me.

This is also the start of my break from blogging while I get to know the new person in my life, there will be posts still going up as I used my maternity leave to schedule as much as possible and will answer comments/emails as soon as I can. You can follow me on Twitter (@unevenlemming) as no doubt I will be moaning on there that Minilemming is still not out.

For now keep safe and keep beautiful.

New Look and the Missing Hermes Delivery

I had had my eye on these really lovely shirts from New Look for ages and was overjoyed when I spotted them in the sale Christmas Eve for better than half price. I scapped the last of my pennies together and purchased them with a set of t-shirts. This was durinf sale time so I couldnt't get them delivered in store like I normally would do so I paid for the courier service at £3.95.

I waited and waited, I sent them an email along the lines of, "I think I should of had my order by now". I decided to call them as well as I had some free time, they were polite and passed this on to be investigated. I got a email a few days later saying that this was delivered on a day where 4/5 members of my family (including myself) were at home, and I know no one has collected the order on my behalf.

I came home from seeing my parents today to find that the package had been dumped on the doorstep. I picked it up to find that it had been opened and the open end tucked undernethe to make it look like it has just been delivered. I was fuming at this point, got indoors and started to empty it and check it all. Not only has it been opened but one of the t-shirts had been stolen and one of the shirts had been taken out tried on and put back into the packaging. This point I was screaming, Husband came running and as I explained it all to him I cried my eyes out, how could anyone have the guts to do this?

He insistated that he call New Look instead of me as I was so upset, so as I hiccuped tears he called the customer care and spoke to them. They had already started to investigate after my original complaint and found that the person has just signed my initals (that could of easily got from the package) and confirmed as delivered.

Not only were New Look sympathic but also agreed to refund the whole order as a measure of goodwill as the package had already been reported as lost (as well as keeping the remianing items). I cannot fault New Look for their customer service, they have been far better than expected and I am more than happy with the outcome. My issue is with the courier company.

This is what I suspected has happened, either the courier has signed for it on my behalf, taken it, found that it was all maternity clothing, taken what they want delieverd what was left; or any person has signed for it and done the same.

If i had known that Hermes was the courier used then I wouldn't of ordered, and in future will always get it delivered to the store. I wanted to publish this so people are aware and so it doesn't happen to someone else. It really shouldn't of happened to me in the first place.

Boots Permanent Hair Dye

I, unfortunantly, started going grey well before my time at a very young 21, now I didn't give in to the dye bottle until I had a friend who was taller than me who used to pull them out. With that I went to my hairdresser and changed my life - It was a deep chocolate (I'm very dark black/brown natural colour) and lifted my spirits completely I was back to being a confident 20 year old.

However, it had a price tag that I couldn't keep up forever - about 90 quid at a time every other month. Of course I got married; and my husband found out how much it cost me, I then (after my wedding of course - a gorgeous deep brown mahogany) had to admit defeat and try a home dye kit, my first being Nice'n'Easy in Deepest Brown which came out black on me. A few boxes later I've learned that I need to go a little lighter in colour (they recommend that you only go one shade lighter than your natural colour).

I have recently had to go on a beauty budget cut, this just means I had to be a little smarter rather than cut my money (However much I love poundland, I do draw a line somewhere!). I have had really good experiences with Boots own products (does help that for 6 years I did work for and in Boots stores, and have seen where they have been made).

With any hair dyes I do need to reiterate that a 48 hour skin test needs to be done, especially with the darker shades of hair colourant. The cases of dye allergies have increases recently and they photos are very scary and i do not wish anyone to go through this. Be sensible, read through the instructions or there is an information site www.becoloursafe.com . With this dye there is no recommended dye time, as part of the skin test you also test a sample of your own hair and time how long it takes to get the colour you require (however further down it does say for grayer hair that you need at least 20 mins).

Now I did mine for the 20 minutes as indicated by the strand test, and now just unwrapping it and looking at the colour I like it already. It's come out browner than previous times. With other colours it comes out very dark at first and then gets lighter later on, this has come out with a deep brown sheen already. Another thing I am impressed with is the smell, yes it does have the dye smell to it but it has added fragrance which does mask the smell. On the other hand I do have one niggle, the conditioner they supple is very water and it says it lasts 3 treatments, while I used most of it in this one time.

I was overall very impressed and it definally is one I use again, the colours might not be to everyone's taste (most of them are 'normal' colours and nothing vibrant), the cost 3.36 with them being on offer 2 for 5.00 at the moment is just what you could need to replace what can be a costly maintenance.

Masterclass - Basic Body Care

Aka - Body talk

Ok, so we know what your skin is and how to look after the face, but that's only a small part of your bodies skin. It is no good to have that lovely luminous face with the rest of you looking a little below par. This entry  is also perfect timing as the weather here in the UK has been bea-ti-ful enough to think about removing layers and showing a little bit more skin (for the one minute as the clouds part maybe!)

There is nothing really scary about the body, if you have the good foundation for the facial skin you can transfer this over to the body. So let's go over a few basics and how we adapt these to the rest of the body:

Cleansing - This can be either bath or shower, this is personal preference, I like a shower because it's quicker, easier to do maintenance and I feel cleaner out of it. The main thing is to make sure the water is not too hot (which I am guilty of in the winter), this can dry out the skin more, leaving it red and inflamed. I realised this what was causing my poor skin feeling dry and itchy and have decreased the heat in my water. Shower/bath gel? Purely your choice but if you have drier skin look for moisturising one to get some extra nutrients in the skin.

Exfoliation - The skin on  your body also regenerates like your face so it also benefits from having an extra hand. Body scrubs have larger grains in and come in grains (like ground nuts etc.), sugar and salt (which dissolves into the skin). Rub in circular motions towards the heart (to help your circulation, which then can carry oxygen and waste around, another way of getting some glow). Avoid inflamed and dry areas as it can only make it worse.

Moisturising - My mum is a teacher of all my first exploration into skin care, out of all the things she taught me there is one things that i now do without thinking. When you come out of the bath rather than jut towel off straight away I use a flannel to take the most of the water off while leaving the skin slightly damp, then massaging the lotion in (towards the heart again), relax in the steam (pop a face mask on now - your pores are more open and willing to be cleaned out), then pat the skin dry (saves distressing the skin).

Does it matter how much you clean? I try and shower every other day if it's a normal week, more if I need to (or husband complains that I smell - nice). Every person is different in this, some people can get away with less some with more.

Next - Hair Removal

Craziness at Professional Beauty 2012

I do really love  a good trade show, it's a time where I can divulge in my obsession of varnishes, oils, make up and everything remotely girly. This year would be the first year that I went as a owner/director of my own company, previous years I had gone as a therapist. I was fully prepared - I had the floor plan (working my route that I had rest stops for the knee injury I'm still in recover for :( ), made a short list of companies I wanted to talk to, hyped up on coffee (which I am now starting to re-think after Monday nights Embarrassing Bodies - Eek!), and had spent hours on the train getting there 20 mins after opening.

Getting there early was the first master stroke - within an hour i couldn't move in the place! Art Deco (who are now doing a make up line for Dita Von Tease) was already crammed, I grabbed their brochures and hoped I could see them later. Next I wondered to another stall with a table full of products opened (and hygienically with sticks in), they smelled divine and sunk in wonderfully. I started chatting to a member of staff and found there were a Dutch company who had been going for 50 years and wanted to grow in the UK market. I did struggle with the name, Webecos, but the company was something I was connecting with. I actually spent half an hour with the director of the company as well as their new make up consultant of their new line, Dr.Tadlea.

One more note before I move on: The consultant was worth a huge mention as she had little training material and had only had the products given to her Thursday night. She was a true professional and answered everything she could and gave me free reign on her kit. The products themselves are launching was a small core collection (about 8 eye shadows, 3 foundation lines, 2 blushers, 8 eye liners, 12 lipsticks, 12 varnishes, 8 loose eye shadows, and some other bits at the moment I can't remember), this will then be topped up four times a year with limited edition lines. The packaging I really like: simple classic silver with the lipsticks having magnetic lids so you cannot lose them. I came away fully glossed up and with lots of skin care samples.

I then went to have one of my nails Trendy wrapped - They're a adhesive sticker that gets heated up (to make more pliable) and then stuck to the nail after being buffed ready. Then they are trimmed and file the edges down to fit the nail. I must of met the least excited rep of the day as she blandly put one on. That's where it started to go wrong, they wasn't filled round the edges enough and by the time I got home (8 hours later) they were already coming off from the bottom. I was told they would last 2 days - Very disappointed.

However there was something I did fall for - Gel varnish. I had already heard some good reports about this latest system: lasts for weeks, leaves a glossy just manicured finished and well sounded too good to be true. All the leading names had launched theirs - OPI, etc. They also come in many different formulations, which I am investigating further. The one I tried was Calgel a hybrid of varnish and gel that needs no prep time and is dried under a UV lamp for 3 minutes, it can also be used on top of existing varnish. The tech was a salon owner so while working away she could me a honest break down of it benefits to her business, shall we say I'm already crunching numbers and seeing about training.

I did have the misfortune of bumping into a male model there, face first into his (rather yummy smelling) naked pecs, I know I went bright red mumbled about something smelling nice and tried to scuttle off. There was  a lot of flesh on show around the tanning area, which made me fell a white as anything. Did I bump into any of the TOWIE's that seemed to be everywhere? Yes but I didn't realise until I got home and saw who she was online - a girl called Frankie, so there you go my TOWIE claim to fame.

By the end I was shattered 4 hours in my knee was rebelling, I was getting grumpy with anyone and I was starting to want to get out of there. I done what I wanted to do (include a 20 minute wait on Dermalogica to get face mapped and get my prescription samples), and with the horde of people I'd admitted defeat and went home for a cuppa.

Now its the mission to go through all the samples/brochures/products and see what I want to invest in/use. Fours huge bags worth should keep me busy for the week.....

When Threading Goes Wrong

As part of my pre-Christmas party preparation, I went to get my eyebrows threaded again. I am very lazy when it comes to body maintenance and will leave it to the last possible moment to get hair cut etc. I also wanted to save all of it so I can have a pampering day before getting ready for the event.

I had been previously to this place once before (Sorry no naming and shaming here) and last time I was really happy with the result so decided to go back. This is an actually salon in my town centre that has a walk in brow bar, they also have different stores around the local area. I got beckoned asked to sit down and I explained what it is I wanted (I always say just a tidy and shape as I prefer the more 'bushy' eyebrow).

I let her set to work and was chattering away, with my arms pulling at the skin so it didn't hurt. I was shown the mirror and to me it didn't look that bad, just very swollen as it had just been done. I went home and waiting for the evening to come before I did my make up.

Do you know that feeling where you know something is not quite right? Well I had this when putting on my make up for the night, I brushed it off that the swelling might not be 100% gone and carried on enjoying my evening. It was until the next night where I was cleaning my face that I asked my husband to look at them, and even he said that looked uneven and took a photo (Warning: No Makeup!)

It seemed that my left hand (which is the right in the photo) is more bushy than the right, also the gap in the middle looks one sided. I emailed the company the next day with the attached photo and they replied quickly saying that not only will they get their senior therapist to correct it but give me a £10 voucher as an apology.

I did go back the Friday after Christmas to correct it and even though they do look better, the Senior Therapist did what she could with them. It turns out that the lady I had hadn't been there long and it made her panic a little that I have a scar in left eyebrow (I walked into a coffee table when I was two and had stiches), I fed back that maybe if she didn't feel that confident that some extra time with herself would be better.

This is what I am taking away from this experience: Always get the name of the therapist before you leave if you like how they did the treatment and make sure you get that person again.

Hypnobirthing/Self Hypnosis

I have previously spoken about my own history of anixety (Hope You're OK and Guest posting on Amy's Blog ) Anything unknown does friengten me so this as well as the unknown of being pregnant is an interesting combination.

I started to look into Hypnotherapy after reading an article in Mother & Baby. Hypnobirthing uses a mixture of positive thinking, visualization, breathing techniques and physical preparation. It embraces that our body knows what it is doing naturally and that we should trust our bodies to do what comes to them.

It does not promise a pain free birth but offers more coping strategies if you wish to go along the route of natural birth. It supports the notion that the more relaxed you are in birth the easier and quicker that your labour will be. This does not exclude anyone who wants intervention as it provides the basis of calm so you can stay relaxed and focused. This means that you can make the correct decision for you and baby.

The pleasant thing about Hypnobirthing is that you can tailor to what works best with yourself. I use visual techniques through mediation led through an MP3. I downloaded mine here There is an a in depth book as well by Marie Morgan which is worth a read. I got mine from eBay for around £8, and picked up the CD's for around £7. This gives me 25 minutes of me time to lie down, relax and bonding time with Minilemming. I also use the birthing techniques for when I am feeling anxious and have been using them during the Braxton Hick contractions that I am currently getting.

The biggest revelation for me is that I do feel less anxious about birth, yes I am nervous, any first time mother would be. I feel much more in control of my body, I trust it to do what is right at the time. I also found that I worry less with any twinges. I sleep a lot more better after a session with the MP3, my dreams are less vivid but I still have to get up for bathroom breaks.

The biggest test will be when, hopefully, Bubba decides to arrive that I can put these skills into practice.

FOTD - Christmas Work Party

I left my work place on 29t November for the start of my maternity leave, and on 20th December we were meeting up again to catch up one last time before Christmas. The place was Stoke Pages, a mass gathering of different workplaces and tables of wine. You could imagine how that ended up. I had one small glass of wine with my main meal, the most delicious salmon I had ever had but being a high standard restaurant and being pregnant,  I was soon day dreaming of chippie chips.

The thing I was happy with the most was how my dress that I ordered months ago still fitted even with my ever increasing bump as well as how glowing my make up looked for the night. I was determined to look as glamorous as possible as recently I had not being feeling it. I wanted to focus more on my eyes as I had some wonderful eye shadow palettes that I rarely get to go mad with, I also added on false lashes which I rarely get an opportunity to wear.

I did all the prep the night before after a shower to steam the skin I put on a clay mask, REN's Invisible Pores Detox Mask (Sample size). This was first time of using it and loved the results, I had a spot coming out on the side of my nose and this stopped it from fully forming as well as reduced the redness around the area. This was followed by my current Facial Oil (B.Skincare replishment Oil), moisturier on my cheeks and eye cream (a tiny amount of Lancome's Renergie Facial cream and eye cream).

I had saved up for a trip to the hairdressers and threaders (more on that coming up another day), to give myself a pamper before the event. After the quick cleanse with Philopshys 3-in-1 cleanser, I used Sothy's Day Cream and let that sink in before adding Witch's Anti-Blemish Primer.

Base: Max Factor Face Finity Light Ivory mixed with NARS Orgasm Illuminator
Conclearer: Estee Lauder Disappear Concleaer in Light
Powder: GOSH BB Powder in 04
EyeShadow base colour: Bobbi Brown in white (comes out in a matt skin tone colour)
Eye shadow contouring/colour: Sleek Make Up eye shadow palette in Sparkle 2 (Using Tinsel - silver, and Twinkle - Navy glitter)
Eye liner: Eye of Horus liquid eye definer in Black with Twinkle over the top (also used to line the bottoms lashes)
Mascara: Maybelline Mascara
False Lashes: Salon Systems strip lashes in Natural
Blusher: Dainty Doll in Money Talks
Lip: MUA lipgloss in Let's Talk

The dress was a eBay bargain at £8 brand new, it expanded well with the bump but covered up what I really didn't want to show off. The shrug is from eBay as well and I wore this when I got married nearly four years ago, it was about £10 second hand. I went with a simple long silver necklace and black pumps (I wasn't even going to attempt heels!). I'm glad I did go for a bit of colour in the end, out of the 12 ladies who went only 2 of us wore a different colour!