"That's why her hair is so big...it's full of secrets"

I have been a bad blogger! Apologies for the lack of posts, but I have been busy trying lots and lots of products, mainly hair products, so here is the first of my many future hair posts.

As you may know if you read my blog I often complain about having soft, flat hair.  Its thin but I have lots of it, so thickening shampoo etc doesn't really solve my problem, for this reason I look to many 'big hair' promising products.  All I want is big, messy, matte hair, is that too much to ask for?

My search has recently brought me towards four products which I would like to share with you all.  I dedicate this post to one of my favourite movies, Mean Girls, hence the title.  I have many secrets and I want my hair big enough to store them all!

WARNING: only use these products if you really do like the matte messy rough look, otherwise you will feel like you have been dragged through a hedge backwards and be shampooing for hours!!

Toni and Guy Prep - Volume Plumping Mousse- Root Boosting

I bought this product because years ago I used to use a Toni and Guy mousse and it was so good, I think it has been discontinued as I cannot find it anywhere so I went for this one.  I use it almost every day on towel dried hair rubbing it in at the roots.

I cannot say that I am in love with this, I think I expected more from it, it definitely does so something to my hair, it takes out the softness I hate that comes from washing it every day (which i have to do cause I love a shower) but I dont feel like it 'plumps' my roots very well.  It ay be worth a buy for people who want a subtle bit of a lift but not those with hair flat to their head like me.  5/10!!

Charles Worthington Front Row - rough and tousled salt spray

I am a lover of salt spray, it is the perfect product for someone like me who wants matte messy textured big hair.  You may have seen my previous post on another similar product (click here) this one is definitely on the same level and is a little cheaper, I think just over £5!  It smells great and does what salt spray should, if i spray it on my roots and play about with it my hair holds a few more secrets! 8/10

Osis - Dust It powder

If you are a big hair lover, you will have heard of this product, and if you have not tried it..WHY NOT??  I cannot praise this enough, it is truly amazing.  Putting this powder on your roots and rubbing it doubles the size of your hair.  The only thing i would say about this is you need to be prepared for messy hair, and you will not like the feel of your hair, its kinda gross and if you sleep with it n it can matte your roots and be a nightmare to shampoo out but really who cares?? for a night out its perfect.

Many brands now have a powder like this and claim it does the same but I am yet to find one as good. 10/10!!

Lee Stafford - My Big Fat Texturised Hair Super Spray

Firstly, how cool is the name of this product, I love it!  Secondly, this is maybe my best find ever.  I found this yesterday, now usually I try out a product for at least a week before I judge it, but with this there is no need, I already think its amazing.

I cannot even describe what this is, in the bottle it looks like a jelly liquid thing, following the instructions it tells me to shake the bottle until it becomes liquid and fills the whole bottle, so it kind of grows...then you spray it on dry hair.

At first it has the feel of a salt spray but its slightly more powerful it really does make your hair big and messy, it also kind of feels like you have sprayed hairspray on your roots.  Its weird but great, my tip is not to use too much and to make sure you spread it throughout your hair with your fingertips and then brush when its dried in so you don't get concentrated clumps of bigness only. 11/10 :)

Boots Haul

Just wanted to do a quick post to show some products from an unexpected Boots haul today.  I will blog about most of these products as they are all things I have been wanting to try, but for now, heres a sneak peak at what I got.

Johnson's Daily Essentials Face Wipes - These are a must have for me, I am never without a pack, they are by far the best facial wipes available.

Nails Inc Save the Nail- Wet look top coat- I am excited to try this, it is meant to give a high gloss finish and stop chipping

Toni&Guy Classic Medium Hold Hairspray - Because I always need hairspray and this brand has never let me down

Toni&Guy Prep Volume Plumping Mousse - I need some serious volume to my thin flat hair, I have been let down by most products of this sort recently so Im excited to try this

Charles Worthington Front Row Salt Spray - I love my current TIGI Salt spray but it is about to run out to on my best friends recommendation I am going to give this one a try

Love Nicci xx

February Favourites

I know Feb isn't over year but I already know my favourites...this is the organisation queen inside of me. Here goes...

Denman Curling Brush - I have always loves Denman brushes they are quite frankly a classic, I got this curling brush for I think about £7 basically because I needed a round brush and it is a very handy size that will fit into my bag when easily.  So far so good with this brush, it is light and adds a little volume to my roots when I can be bothered to use it properly.

Nivea Express Hydration Primer - I did a blog post on this yesterday because it is so good it needed its own.  I recommend this to everyone..read more here.

Accessorize hair clips - I normally wouldn't include something as simple as clips in my favourites because a hair clip is a hair clip right?...wrong...I am very fussy about 'kirby' grips, I always feel like they are to weak to hold my hair, even tho it is so fine, so I can only imagine hoe annoying it might be for people with thick hair.  I spotted these in Accessorize for £2, a little pricey, but worth it, they are strong and hold my hair, bravo.

Rituals Magic Touch Body Cream- Cherry Blossom and Rice Milk - This came in my Feb Glossybox and oh my goodness it is amazing, the smell is just gorgeous and it lasts all day, I used it in the morning on my arms and sat in work sniffing myself all day, I even got my boss to smell me, yes I know I'm weird.

Helen E - Colour Magnification Mascara - I just discovered this brand in Debenhams which I was chased down by a lovely and very good at her job sales assistant.  As I am still in love with Maxfactor False Lash Effect Mascara (read here) I am yet to use this mascara for a night out on its own, however, i have discovered that it is great for bottom lashes, it has a small brush smilier to the popular Clinique under eye mascara mini, so its great for bottom lashes.  This one has brown and black for night to day and is very handy.  I got this as part of a 3 for £10 deal so I am not sure how much it is on its own.

Me Me Me Beat the Blues in Peral Pink - This also came in my Feb Glossybox- I am so impressed with this, I use Benefit High Beam at the minute as my highlighter and to be honest this kicks its ass. You need to try to believe.

Hope you liked my favourites, all well worth a purchase.

Love Nicci xx

Review// Nivea Moisturising Primer

Ever since I saw this product advertised on TV a couple of months ago I have been dying to try it but I was waiting until my Nars primer was done so I could give it my full attention.

I generally don't believe in 2 in 1 products, so when I heard about a moisturiser that is also a primer I was sceptical but excited, becuase lets face it, that would kill two birds with one stone and certainly speed up the early morning make up routine.

As I have mentioned before, I cannot stress enough how important it is to moisturise in order to allow make up to do its job, I also cannot stress enough the importance of using a primer to allow make up to stay in place for as long as possible, I know soooo many girls who dont prime their face before applying make up and It is such a waste, this had the potential to be my dream product, and guess what, it is!

This product has everything you want from it, its light, it drys super fast, it leaves your skin feeling soft, it smells lovely, its cheap (compared to my usual Nars £25 primer) and it lasts.  I think the fact that it is a primer reminds me to use it every morning, I am no saint and there are mornings where I forget to moisturise or I simply dont have time but with this product it just sits with my make up and I never forget to use it, the fact that is dries so quickly is great because I can apply my make up just 5 minutes after I use it.

I got the dry skin version of this because over winter I felt like my face was a little drier than normal and it fixed this issue after about 3 uses which is great.

I am so happy with Nivea, they have always been my favourite brand for moisturisers and I am most definately going to recommend this product and continue to buy it, it has given me hope for 2 in 1 products once again.

This is a must have!!

Love Nicci xx

Things I did This Week...

1.  Bought a very funny birthday card

2.  Realised how tall I actually am

3.  Watched 'Girls' the best show EVER!

4.  Used an app to make Harry Styles kiss me, cause I can

5. Admired clouds that looked like candy floss

6.  Listened to a lot of Oasis

7.  Got the train with bestie Emma

8. Got red hair again

9. Loved naked people

Review// Lush Lip Scrub

I have been hearing about this product from beauty bloggers over and over again so I gave it and bought it.  Instead of getting the popular 'Bubblegum' flavour, I got this 'Popcorn' flavour, which was a limited edition range for the Christmas period but the shop assistant told me they are keeping it on for a while as it was so popular.

I am not a big lipstick wearer but the odd time i like to try it and i always find it annoying cause it catches on the skin on my lips so I got this product to try and reduce that.  I love Lush products because I feel like so much work goes into making them.  On the bottom of this tub it says that this product was made by Rob and the date, this may be a gimmick but I love a little touch like that.  Also I love that the ingredients are simple, just sugar, oils and sea salt.  Its almost as if someone sits and makes up lots of home made remedies for beauty and Lush sell them all.

Anyway, this popcorn flavour is AMAZING...its a mixture of the typical cinema flavours sweet and salted as it contains sugar and salt, and its just so lovely.  I have been scrubbing it into my lips for a week now and i have noticed a big difference, my lips are much softer and my lipstick looks a lot better.  I have also used this above my top lip to scrub because I hate getting a 'make up mostache' there, this has also helped with that.

To conclude, for just £5.25 this product is definitely worth a purchase, if you can resist eating it all, it will makes your lips lovely and soft...now i need someone to kiss.

Love Nicci xx

Review// No7 Nails combo

This is my first nails post (i think) and I am surprised it has taken me this long as I am so nail polish obsessed.  I do my nails at least once a week and I have about 5 top brands, Essie, Models Own, Nails Inc, Topshop and No7.

At the minute, I am loving light coloured pastel or nude nails, so this morning I set off in search of a new colour, which is usually impossible as I have most colours and sometimes two of the same one, but today was a success, armed with my Boots No7 £3 off voucher (I love the way Boots always give these out) I picked up this lovely shade from the No7 Stay Perfect range.

The original price of this nail polis is £6.00, which I think is such a bargain for this brand as their polishes really are great.  The name of this shade is 'Get Wed', which, as a lover of names, disappointed me slightly.  When I was applying it I was thinking, this is pearl coloured, it has to be called 'pearl' it is an ivory/white type colour with a little shimmer in it, but not too much shimmer, and I thought i had this name guessing game cracked, but then I looked at the name and suddenly thought, oh now it reminds me of a bride...and I am not a bride!

Anyway, name aside, Stay Perfect is great range, heres why,

• The brush is brilliant, its thick and fat and if you press it down at the bottom of your nail it spreads out so you can drag it up and cover your whole nail in one go
• If you are in a rush, you can do with one coat, I myself always apply two coats because I am a perfectionist, but if you don't have time No7 nail polishes look just fine with only one coat
• It dries relatively quickly - now I'm not an expert on this, to be honest its never been a swaying factor for me with nail polishes, I think, if I like the brand enough I will be patient and make time to wait for my nails to dry...but if you are in a rush, from what I can tell they only take aroun 5 mins to dry
• IT DOESNT CHIP (much) - newsflash, all nail natural nail polishes chip, thats life, but there are some that just last that little longer than others and No7 Stay Perfect is one of them

As I bought this, along with song other things, the shop assistant handed me ANOTHER voucher, so I had to go over and buy the 'Stay Perfect Base Coat' - I would never paint my nails without a base coat, I'm all about protection.  This is the only base coat I think I've ever used because I've never had any complaints about it and 'if it aint broke don't fix it'!

The only down side to this range is that they don't have a majorly big colour selection, at least in my local Boots they don't, I would love to see more from them, apart from that, it is definitely worth a buy, especially this PEARL shade.

Love Nicci xx

Contents: My Face, with Love Cloth

So if you have been following my blog you may have seen my previous 'Contents: My Face post' where I delved deep into the depths of my own daily make up routine and make up bag to show you exactly what makes up my face most days.

This time it is the turn of the lovely Kim who is an amazing fashion blogger GO SEE, and just also happens to be my best friend, ("isn't she loooovely, isn't she wonderful"- we sing a lot)  Kim has kindly agreed to play my little game, so here’s a reminder of the rules...


List everything that is used on a regular basis in your make up routine
Pick 3 top items that you would recommend to anyone
Pick 1 top brand from your selection that tops the rest
Estimate the total price of your daily make up routine

Here goes, meet Kims face :)

Face

Mac Prep and Prime £19
Nars Sheer Glow foundation in Fiji £29.50
Nars Laguna bronzer £25.00

I usually use YSL or lemon aid primer by Benefit under my eyes but I am out of both (hello bags) :(

Bobbi brown Shimmer Brick £32

Benefit High beam £18
Mac Studio Fix Powder £20 (use lightly to stop shine)
Bourjois blusher shade 48 £5

Misc - Elizabeth Arden 'Skin Perfectant' Eight hour Cream £21

 

Eyes

“Big Beautiful Eyes” an eye contour kit by benefit £24.50

Maybelline - Falsies mascara

Lips

Where do I begin, today’s selection:
Revlon “pink about it” (matte) and “coral”  ColorBurst (gloss) £5

Topshop “wicked” (for winter)


Brushes

Real Techniques.
Ecotools Powder Brush from Boots


 Kim's top 3 items:

Elizabeth Arden Eight hour Cream - I use this everywhere and anywhere. For someone who always wears lipstick, it’s great for keeping my lips soft. I also use it on dry skin, holiday burnt skin or cuts… you name it, I’ve put it on it.

Nars Sheer Glow – I’m not one for really heavy full coverage foundation, so this is perfect for me. Its quite moisturising and doesn’t feel heavy. I’ve sampled all the colours around fiji but keep coming back to it as it has a yellowish tone that suits my skin.

Revlon Lipsticks - They have a really good price point for amazing quality lipstick, lasting well and are highly pigmented. I think matte is my favourite for every day wear just making sure my lips are soft and sometimes even working in it with a small lip brush.


Kims favourite brand:

Nars: after buying my first product about 2 years ago I really fell in love with the brand. It can be quite expensive but it lasts so much longer than any cheaper products I’ve owned.  Definitely think my next stop is to sample the lipstick, cant believe I haven’t already… but a few nice spaceNK vouchers from Christmas have “Nars” written all over them.

Cost: To fill kims make up bag costs approx £244, she is certainly a lover of the luxury brand.

Love Nicci xx

Bath Time with Sanctuary Spa

I am a MAJOR bath lover, and when i say bath, I mean a proper bath with the full works, bubbles, candles, relaxing music, salts...the lot.

Knowing this about me my lovely mum got me the most amazing gift box from Sanctuary Spa Covent Garden.  As always I am a sucker for good packaging and this box is amazing, I plan to use it to store products and make up brushes etc, I love it.  I have always seen this brand about, my mum used to be a teacher and always got gift sets like this and I would use them up but never really paid attention to them, but in my old age I've become more and more partial the a luxury bath and this gift box is my idea of heaven, and it came with a super sexy shower cap as the cherry on top.

It is going to take me some time to get through all the products so rather than do one very long post on everything I have picked two of them to try first.

Foaming Bath Soak 

This is essentially a bubble bath, which may not sound exciting but for a bath geek like me it is, believe it or not, not all bubble baths are good, however, this one certainly is.  The description on the bottle reads "A mass of creamy bubbles.." and it describes it perfectly.  This product almost looks like a moisturising cream, its a white thick texture, unlike most clear bubble baths, and with just two long squeezes into running water it filled my whole bath with bubbles which made the bath very creamy and left my skin soft rather than dried out from chemicals.

Body Scrub

I like to think of scrubs and exfoliators as one of my area of expertise, partly because I am obsessed with having soft skin and partly because I usually need to remove the weekends fake tan (I cannot stand the wearing off tan process).  This scrub is very good but in a different way than i expected.  When I hear the word scrub I think of a very rough, hardcore scrub, I have previously used Soap and Glory 'Scrub of your life' for years and I adore it because it literally scrubs your skin and leaves almost a new layer.  

This product is much more gentle, therefore I would not recommend it if you are looking to scrub off old skin or tan and have a whole new layer but I would definitely recommend it as a daily exfoliator in your bath or shower.  Using it daily will leave your skin feeling super soft.

I must mention that both products smell amazing, they have that sort of 'spa' smell about them, not too perfumed (which i hate) but just right.

I cannot wait to use the rest of these products, in particular, the salt scrub. 

(I don't have horrible dirty skin I need to scrub off I swear, i just love a good wash )

Love Nicci xx

The Sweet Smell of Escada

Happy New Year everyone, and with a new year always comes a new smell, it is without a doubt the go to Christmas present for most girls.

My lovely mother bought me 'Especially Escada Delicate Notes' because she knows me better than myself and she knows that I love sweet, floral perfumes as apposed to citrus scents.  I just had to blog about this product and share my love for it.

I am quite loyal to perfumes, when I find one I like I will stick to it for a while, previously i was hooked on Amour Amour by Cacharel and then a DKNY perfume that i stole from my mum for about 5 years.  However, for about the past year I haven't really found a perfume I loved and wanted to stick with, but things have changed, I've found my match.

I am in love with this scent and I recommend it to anyone who loves floral smells, its light and sweet and very girly, ironically for me, nothing like my personality or style, i don't even like sweet foods, but this is one sweetness I cannot resist.

My top tip when buying a new perfume is to go to the store and spray it on yourself, then go shopping for about 2 hours, if you can still smell it on yourself then its a winner, theres nothing worse than a scent that dies out quickly, thats just a waste of money.

Love Nicci x