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

Things I Did This Christmas

1. Opened my one year old homemade Sloe Gin...and drank it :)

2. Sent a festive package to my lonely London friend

3.Painted santa hats on my nails

4.  Booked the corporate box for Girls Aloud concert

5.  Tried on my dads geek glasses

6.  Looked after my tired and drunk friend

7. Wore a onesie all day for Christmas

8. Watched my new Noel Gallagher DVD

9. Ate some after dinner willies 

A Very Soap and Glory Christmas

I don’t know if this applies to everyone, but for me and my family there is always one thing we get every year at Christmas, no matter what.  For my mum its slippers from M&S, for my dad it’s a fancy new belt, for my brother its mint matchsticks and for me it’s a Soap and Glory gift set.  Guess who the spoilt one in the family is.

This year i have been to Boots various times to study the variety of gift sets on offer from the brand, which by the way I am so in love with, not only is the packing interesting and quirky but the actual products are amazing.  I have seriously grown to love the make up range also, which I intend to blog about in the future.

On my 5th trip to Boots, things got a little crazy as S+G only went and announced their annual HALF PRICE offer, so I rang Santa (my mum) and asked if my favourite gift had been purchased, when she said no I said "ok I will get it for myself because the excitement is too much for me to walk away".

Since I treated myself to this, I have decided it is my right to chose not to wait until Christmas morning to enjoy, so I present to you..my idea of heaven…

Soap and Glory, Best of All - The ultimate head-to-toe indulgence kit.  (*SCREAMS)// was £60, now £27

With 9 different products and numerous 2013 discount vouchers this amazingness is topped off by coming in a brilliant case, not unlike the one I got last year from the S+G, which is so good for storing all your beauty products and also for carrying all your stuff when going to a friends house to get ready.  The one I got two years ago was a hat box, surprisingly, I don't keep hats in it.

Inside the case you get, 

The Righteous Butter - body butter-   I have used this for 2 years now, its great.

Hand Food - Hand Cream -   So handy to keep in your handbag on at your desk in work

Sugar Crush- body scrub-   smells amazing and so good at exfoliating and removing old fake tan

Clean on me- shower gel-  I also use this as bubble bath

Smoothie Star- body milk -   I have not yet tried this, but it smells so good

Heel Genius- foot mask-   Il be honest, I hate feet so I give this to my mum every year

Peaches & Clean - cleansing milk-   again smells amazing, great at cleansing and removing make up 

Sexy Motherpucker -lip plumper in punch bowl -   I LOVE this, I have no lips so its great for me, I have only ever used nude so I am so glad to now have a new colour

Thick & Fast - super volume mascara-   SO excited to try this as I know the S+G make up range is good, I will be sure to blog about this.

I have pictured the three products I am most excited about using.

OK that was a chatty post, I am off to pamper myself silly….and I think you should too....go see more Soap and Glory gift sets here and treat yourself or someone you love who likes to share.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS xx

Review// Catwalk by TIGI Session Series Salt Spray

Festive picture.....love..

I have been a fan of salt spray for a while now, I have very fine and soft hair, which may sound like a good thing, but not for me, I like to wear my hair messy and texturised which for me is very hard to achieve, I like the effortless beach look and my hair is so naturally soft and straight it just doesn't stay.  I have tried a few different drug store salt products and many products that claim to give you the beach effect (I am addicted to dust it which I will blog about one day soon) but it is only now that I have found one I want to tell the world about.

I first heard about this salt spray from the lovely Zoella and when she described it as giving your hair "brilliant texture" I knew I had to buy it.  I got it from Feel Unique for about £13.50 which has actually turned out to be a bargain cause I use it most days and still have plenty left over one month on.  Its actually a little cheaper now, click here to buy.

Basically, it does 'exactly what it says on the tin' it adds lots of texture to your hair allowing you to achieve that beachy wave look, even when my hair is straight if I spray a little on and scrunch it in my hands it gives a nice messy effect.  

What I love most about this product is that it gives volume and texture without making your hair sticky or giving it that 'too much product used' look that I hate.  If i use it right on the root of my hair it has a similar affect to dust it powder.

I recommend this product to anyone with very straight hair who wants a disheveled/messy/beachy look without having to cut choppy layers.  I do not recommend it to anyone who wants that silky smooth shiny hair look.  Go on..Mess it up a little.

If you use this please let me know what you think via comment or Twitter, also I love TIGI so if you have any favourites from the brand share your thoughts. 

(Ive lost my 'Love Nicci' pic so.......

LOVE NICCI XX

Things I Did This Week...

1. Wrapped my Christmas presents

2. Watched The Grinch

3. Got an amazing new shirt from Yayer.co.uk

4. Cuddles a Coca-Cola Polar Bear at work

5. Dressed up as Harry Styles ...just cause

6. Hung out with a snow man

7. Watched my cute dad wrap his presents for the first time ever

8.  Bought velvet shorts to freak out my bestie with a velvet fear

9. Fell in love with Jake Bugg