Giveaway To Mark The End Of Summer

As promised here's my Giveaway to say thanks to all of you for your support!

Thank you for the overwhelming response to my first giveaway. I started collecting purchased items for my next giveaway and suddenly realised I has a few too many items. They would be too heavy for one parcel, so I decided to split them into two separate giveaways (therefore more chances for you to win one!). The second giveaway would commence shortly after this one ends and contains an entirely different range of products.

The products included in this giveaway:

In my most recent post, I gave a sneak preview of my giveaway. Since then, I've added a few more items. Picture of the sneak preview below.

I did a poll in which Sleek Palette would wanted to see in my giveaway. The Storm palette won, and would be featured in my next giveaway.

The Oh So Special and Au Natural Sleek Palettes were not yet released when I did the poll, and are included in this giveaway.

Products In This Giveaway:

Sleek idivine eyeshadow palettes in Oh So Special and Au Naturel.

I found the Oh So Special palette super pretty as they included adorable petal shades.

The Au Naturel is their newest palette and part of their Nude Collection.

Three items from Topshop Makeup:

Powder Blush in Powdered

Crayon in Equinox

Lip Polish in Truffle

The blush pictured above is not the actual one included in my giveaway. I used it as a stand in until I purchased one. The actual giveaway blush is pictured below:

It has a cute dotted pattern.

The blush itself is sealed, so I've lifted a pic of the shade off the Topshop website for you to see. Powdered is a new blush in their range, and is a cute bright pink.

The Equinox Eye Crayon is an easy to apply rose-gold.

The Lip Polish is a pigmented moisturising lip polish in a dark berry chocolate shade, perfect for Autumn/Winter.

I've also added a couple of accessories. A bow necklace and a cupcake keyring.

Individual pics of the necklace and keyring:

An Accessorize lipstick in Berry Rose, a suits all rose shade.

A NYX lipstick in Doll, a popular medium rose-pink

A bag of miniature goodies.

Includes:

Clinique Moisture Surge

Clinique Long Last Glosswear in Air Kiss

Clinique Quick Eyes Cream Shadow in Sparkling Nude

Creme de la Mer Face Wask

Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Supplement

MAC Pigment in Jardin Aires and Rushmetal

Two travel sized tubes of Jouer Illuminating Moisture Tint SPF20 in Pearl

Giveaway Rules:

• Open Internationally


• Must be a follower


• Leave a comment below with your email address


• For an extra entry (+1) mention this giveaway in your sidebar


• For and extra 2 entries (+2) write a post about this giveaway


• Giveaway ends 6th October 2011

*If mentioning my giveaway in either sidebar or post, please leave me a link to your blog*

FOTD: Using Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Prelude 33

Today's look features Chanel's New Eyeshadow Quad in Prelude 33. I bought this last week as I really loved the beautiful, subtle shades.

Prelude is part of their Autumn 2011 Collection, and will be added to their permanent range.

Like Chanel compacts before, it comes encased in a velvet pouch.

All 4 shades are cool-toned with a subtle pearly finish.

Swatches of the 4 shades: First two swatches correlate with top two shades of the palette. Third and forth swatch represents the bottom two shades.

I find the two lightest shades perfect for a natural daytime look.

However, in today's look I used the top two shades (the first 2 shades on my arm swatch). Here's a close up of my eye makeup:

Products Used:

Chanel Les 4 Ombres in Prelude

Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Eyeliner

Lancome Hynose Doll Eyes Mascara

Shu Uemura Glow On Blush M33E

Boots 17 Mirrir Shine Lipstick in Hollywood (stained on lips)

I'll finish off with a sneak preview of my up-coming giveaway:

A Couple of Awards

Hi everyone, hope you're having a wonderful week. I've received a couple of awards lately and have finally gotten round to posting about them. Thanks to the two lovelies that gave me these awards!

The first award is the Top 10 Award from the lovely Maria at The Product Junkie Confessional.

This award requires you to list your Top 10 Cosmetics. So here goes...

My current top 10 products in to particular order:

1. Clarisonic Mia

I bought this a couple of months ago and have been waiting to have used it long-term before writing a review. As I have sensitive skin, and don't believe in over-exfoliating, I use this twice a week. It's made a difference to my skin, my pores are now invisible and my skin feels clean and un-clogged!

2. Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate

This is a lovely oil which I use instead of a moisturiser at night. It smells heavenly and gives my skin a healthy glow. This is the only oil that doesn't make me break out! I love how moisturising it is on my skin.

3. Dr. Hauschka Melissa Day Cream

I'm a big fan of natural skincare, but sometimes natural ingredients don't agree with my skin. This cream however, is specially formulated for those with combination and sensitive skin. I love it as it moisturises and soothes at the same time.

4. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser

I know that this is a hit and miss product with people, but I personally love it. I thoroughly cleanses my skin without irritating it. I'm currently on my4th bottle.

5. Neal's Yard SPF Cream

I've just discovered this, and really love it so far. It has a unique consistency - a thick cream with a powdery texture. It gives my skin a semi-matte glow, and never feels greasy.

6. Jill Stuart Blush Blossom

The shade Little Anemone is an adorable peachy-pink. It has a gorgeous packaging and smells of flowers.

7. Shiseido Integrate Eyebrow Pencil

From the lovely Nicola @ bangbangsheshoots. It's the best brow pencil I've tried and matches my brow colour perfectly!

8. Blistex Tint and Shine Lipbalm

The more I'm into natural looking makeup, the more I'm loving tinted lip balms. This is my favourite, as it gives a great nude-rose shade and is not overly glossy. Despite having the word 'shine' in its name, this has a semi-matte finish.

9. Guerlain Aqua Allegoria Pampelune

A sophisticated grapefruit fragrance. Smells absolutely delicious and has been my favourite scent for years.

Oops, I realised my pic above only have 9 products on it.

Anyway, the next award is from sweet and adorable Riya at Pinkstrawberrielove.

To accept this award, you have to list 7 things about yourself. I'm grasping at straws to thing of 7 interesting things you don't already know...

1. I'm starting to read more and more style blogs. There are some brilliant ones out there full of stunning images. My current faves are "Style is an inspiration of past, present and future" by Vnikali, Pop Champagne, Oh My Vogue and The Glamourai.

2. I love the English countryside. Especially the woodlands. Here are a few pictures taken from our recent hike near Alderly Edge.

3. I also love their stately homes, especially those built during the Tudor Era. My husband and I are members of The National Trust and we visited 'Speke Hall' near Liverpool last weekend.

4. I'm an insomniac, and it's getting worse. I'll lie awake until 6am, desperately trying to fall asleep. I've now resorted to desperate measures. Bought 'Say Goodnight To Insomnia' written by someone who's developed a drug-free programme at Harvard Medical School. I'll tell you if it helps!

5. All my married friends are having adorable cute babies, and I'm starting to feel the pressure to have kids. I don't feel that I'm ready for them yet, and the naughty part of me worries that they'll be uncute. I was distinctly uncute as a baby. Pic of friend's baby. He's half Indian half English, has wavy brown hair, amazing long lashes and the biggest blue eyes.

6. I bruise like a peach. Yes, anything from a tiny knock to my legs makes me bruise. Coupled with my clumsiness, in my younger days I used to be full of bruises. When I went swimming once a teacher actually had to pull me aside and ask if everything was alright at home. I had to work very hard to convince her that I was just clumsy and the only one who gave me those bruises were myself.

7. Speaking of bruises, I had an awful nightmare the other night. It was so bad I woke up, lept out of my bed, fell and badly grazed my knee - leaving a big bruise to add to my collection.

For these 2 awards I tag:

NicNic

sugar sugar

Hevn

Sarah S

Aintthatpretty

Mi_Mi

Chococurro

Cushyblushy

M.A.C.nunu

A Gift From Nicola

The beautiful and sweet Nicola from bangbangsheshoots recently sent me the cutest little package.

She knew that I am growing out my fringe, and am having difficulty finding a good eyebrow pencil. She not only suggested one, but she was so kind as to post it to me too! She also included an amazing bunch of other things.

The aforementioned eyebrow pencil. Shiseido Integrate Gracy in Grey.

Also included was this cute cream blush from Canmake. The shade is 11, Heavenly Heart. The name itself is adorable, and I really love the shade! Will post more about this blush later on. Do read Nicola's post on this blush (if you haven't already). It looks absolutely stunning on her teamed with Nars Orgasm Illuminator. A really simple, yet beautiful look.

She also gave me these Beauty Diary masks in Black Pearl and Bulgarian White Rose. Can't wait to try them out!

I love taking baths, so these bath tablets were also such wonderful gifts! One of them says 'Human is fighting against fatigue. Charley supports you' - how sweet is that?!

Will post more about these lovely products later on, am really looking forward to using them all! If you're reading this, thanks again Nicola x

*Updated* I have just used the strawberry milk bath tablet (the one with the pink and white striped packaging). The tablet itself is a bright rose pink colour. Was such a pleasant surprise. Sorry no pics of the tablet (I was in the bath when I opened it, so there wasn't a camera anywhere in sight).

It effervesced instantly on contact with water. The bath water turned a milky violet. Such a dreamy colour. Had an amazing bath, and I could swear that my skin felt softer afterwards.

Western BB Creams: Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector BB Cream

Another Western Brand has jumped on the BB Cream wagon. Garnier has come up with their Miracle Skin Perfector Daily All-In-One BB Cream. For an intro into the Western perspective of BB Creams, this Daily Mail Article makes quite a good read.

List of ingredients:

This is priced at £9.99 for a 50ml Tube.

Product Claims:

-24h hydration

-UV protection

-primer and skin perfecter

-blurs redness, sunspots

-smooths fine lines

-illuminates and brightens

and a quote from Garnier website: Go B.B! In just one step, even, cover, hydrate, illuminate and help protect your skin.

The product comes in a fairly small tube beige coloured shiny tube. The tube has a flip top cap for the product to be squeezed out.

The BB cream comes in 2 shades; light and medium. I bought 'Light'.

Light is pale to medium beige shade. My my skin it comes out a shade darker (and more bronze) than my natural skin colour. It would be perfect for those wanting a Summer glow. But for those who desire pale, porcelain skin, I think you will find this shade a little too dark.

Once blended it gives the skin a gorgeous glow.

The BB cream on my skin:

My Thoughts:

Texture and Scent

The BB cream is has the texture of a really thick tinted moisturiser. However, it is light enough to spread easily onto the skin. The cream feels quite nice of dry to normal skin, but I worry that it might be too greasy for those with combination-oily skin. It has a pleasant, fresh, floral scent.

Colour and Coverage

As I mentioned earlier, 'Light' is a little to dark for my MAC NC15-20 skin. Coverage is medium to sheer, similar to tinted moisturiser if applied sparingly. Does not conceal spots or sun-spots. Coverage is build-able. The best thing bout this cream is that it gives the skin an amazing healthy, natural looking glow. This BB cream is pretty long-wearing. It's also fairly hydrating, though I wouldn't use this instead of my normal moisturiser.

Differences to Asian BB Creams:

-no ashy grey undertone

-sheerer coverage (would not function as a foundation)

-shades are darker than that of Asian BB creams

-does not contain whitening benefits

Pros:

-contains mineral pigments to even out skintone

-provides gorgeous natural looking glow

-contains SPF

-sheer build-able coverage

- covers minor imperfections

Cons:

-limited shade range, light was too dark for me

- some might find SPF15 too low

-may be too greasy for combination-oily skins

-some may find coverage too sheer