Jemma Kidd Dewy Radiance Creme | Review

firstly - can i get a boohoo for jemma kidd going into administration? this is the saddest news ever! (in the beauty world, at least) i havent been a JK fan for long but my loyalty to the brand has been built up quickly! i know the light as air foundation is a beauty blogger favourite but as it is notoriously hard to get rid of now, i will be doing a quick review on the dewy glow all over radiance creme! (still available - grab it whilst you can! its amazing!)

i have this product in the shade 'iced gold', a golden toned highlight as opposed to its 2nd shade 'rose gold' which is more pink toned. this product is essentially a creme highlighter but can be used all over the face to provide a glow and/or on the body to create highlight and definition. i apply this using a screenface dual fibre brush and just sweep it over my cheeks before i apply my setting powder. it can be used with or without a base underneath but i only tend to use it when i have foundation on, to give an extra glow to the skin.

this product retails at around £18 so if you can find it anywhere - stock up before it flies off the shelves!

i cannot believe JK has gone into administration - i am a huge fan of their creme products including the highlighter and blush. not to mention the thousands of girls now without a foundation! GOD FORBID!

did you guys have any favourite jemma kidd makeup school products?

emma xo

Yankee Candle - Christmas Cookie | Review

its that time of year again - CHRISTMAS! and what better than a trusty yankee candle to get yourself in the mood?! the sicky sweet scent of this months pick is 'christmas cookie' - a repurchase of mine - which fills any room with an immediate memory of christmas baking and home comforts!

i picked up this badboy from clintons for £19.99, pricey for a candle - i know. however theres something about the yankee candles thats just a cut above the rest. the scents are varied and extremely strong, they burn for HOURS and the wax melts down the sides of the jar as opposed to regular candles that just burn down the centre.

not sure what scent i'm going to pick up next but as this is a large jar, i have a feeling i'll be waiting some time before it burns out!

whats your favourite yankee scent?

emma xo

Soap and Glory GLOW JOB | Review

aloha!
glow job - an attractive name to some, and one of soap and glorys most glorified products. sadly i am not convinced. i am so disappointed in this product! it claims to be a daily radiance moisture lotion. amazing, i thought, as i picked it up in boots for £9. i am a big skincare fan and any excuse to wear less makeup but still have glowing skin sounded good to me. alas when i got it home, and rushed to the bathroom mirror to pop some on, i was left a little bemused. the bottle says; 'squeeze a pea-sized measure of GLOW JOB onto your fingertips, then rub together to release the bronze from inside the beads and blend. apply to your face in upward circular motions then just get up and glow!'. so there i am, following the instructions, and not only did i find it hard to burst the bronzing beads between my fingertips, but when i applied it to my face, i was left with an extremely uneven and strange looking colour.

perhaps the product is just not suited to my skin, i found it to be very red toned, whereas i have a yellow undertone. it was, although i'd only applied a small amount, very obvious on my skin and not at all natural looking. i bought this originally as i'd seen it reviewed by Ruth Crilly from 'a model recommends' where her skin looked beautiful and glowy. miss crilly has notoriously fabulous skin and perhaps this aided the product to work to its full potential.

i have tried to use this product in many ways an have found  the best way is with a bit of extra moisturiser added to it after having burst the beads. on the other hand, it still doesnt look great and definitely isnt hassle-free, which is predominantly why i chose to purchase it.

i hadnt tried anything from soap and glory before and am now a little put-off! have you guys got a favourite from that range?

emma xo

Why Do You Wear Makeup? | TAG

bonjour mes amis! its sunday and the weather is totally miserable in london, spent all day trying and failing to create a website - technology 1, emma 0. so i thought i'd steal a little tag from my good pal jess from the vanity account asking why do you wear makeup?

1. When did you begin loving make-up?

i probably became properly interested in makeup when i was a bit older, maybe about 15, but i do remember going into town and applying lipgloss every five minutes just in case i saw any 'cute boys'. alas i did not, and even if i had, what difference was a bit of lipgloss gonna make? applying a full face of makeup near enough every day began in year 11 i'd say. we weren't allowed to wear makeup to school unless it was natural but i managed to get away with a bit of founation, bronzer and mascara.

2. How do you feel without make-up? 

if id been asked this a year ago i would have said HIDEOUS I WOULD NEVER GO A DAY WITHOUT IT. i literally used to put a full face of makeup on just to sit around the house. after a solid year of taking proper care of my skin and investing in good skincare products, i now revel in the days i dont have to put a load of makeup on. as a beauty advisor i have to slap it on a bit day-to-day but on my days off i leave my skin to breathe and couldnt care less about what i look like!

3. What do you like about make-up? 

i love experimenting with makeup and creating crazy looks for photoshoots etc, but for day-to-day wear i love that makeup can reflect your mood. i always used to think this was a dumb phrase but come to think of it, if im a bit upset or angry i ALWAYS have smokey dark eyes. if im excited to go out or feeling energetic i wear red lipstick. i think of makeup as art and i love that everyone wears it differently. you cant be right or wrong with makeup - its an opinion.

4. Three 'Holy Grail' items -

MAC studio fix concealer (my shade NC30)

NARS Laguna Bronzer

Bourjois Volumiser Mascara

happy remembrance sunday guys, i tag you ALLLL!

emma xo

REVIEW | toni & guy hair mask

i confess, i'm much more of a skincare gal than haircare and rarely look after my tresses as well as i'm supposed to. having long, bleached hair, its a real struggle to keep it nourished and healthy without making the roots greasy. i've used multiple shampoos, conditioners, hot oils and crazy hair repairing products in the past until i got to the point where i just gave up and let it...well...die.

my hair was in a pretty dire way at the beginning of september and when i was in florida i purchased a small bottle of argan oil. i really saw a difference after using it for two weeks on holiday but found it a little impractical when i returned home. i popped into boots on a lunch break from work and purchased a toni and guy hair mask. i assumed it would be pretty pricey, given the repuation toni and guy have, but it was surprisingly reasonably priced at around £7.99.

i have used it once a week, every week, since i bought it. i dont need much on my thin hair so i still have about half a tub left. i can notice a huge difference the day after washing my hair and have definitely seen long term results over the past few weeks.

as far as the 'for blonde hair' goes, i cant say ive noticed anything change regarding the colour or vibrancy of my hair. this may be because its a prevention as opposed to a feature of the mask.

overall i have been very impressed with this product and my hair is finally looking less straw-like and much thicker on the ends.

emma xo

empties!

long time no speak - sorry i'm such an awful blogger. i'm not even going to pretend i've been doing anything interesting. just working, hating working and wishing i wasn't working. you know the drill.

moving on, i've had a pile of empty products growing in a bag in the corner of my room and thought it was time gave them all a mini review and said whether i'd repurchase. hope you enjoy...

first up my trusty olay beauty fluid for normal/combination skin. nothing new here - just a moisturiser that does everything i need it to! really nourishing and easily absorbed, i've already purchased a new bottle!

next is the rimmel wake me up foundation. i featured this in a haul a LONG time ago now and its taken me a while to finish it. i blame this mainly on the fact that i cannot be parted with my drugstore foundation of choice - revlon photoready. the wake me up formula contains SPF which is handy during the summer but i found it a bit shiny on my skin. it has medium coverage and was a really good colour match for my skin tone (i am 103 true ivory). all in all i definitely wouldnt rule out buying this foundation again as it is essentially a very good foundation at a very reasonable price. i, however, think the revlon photoready works best for me.

no surprises here, its my holy grail bioderma. by far the best product i've ever bought and i cant see a day when i wont repurchase this badboy. its notoriously hard to get rid of as it is a french brand and not sold here in the UK. i buy mine on ebay but a little birdie told me that they may begin stocking this angel in harrods very soon so keep your eyes peeled!

another product i featured a while ago was the estee lauder advanced night repair. this little 50ml bottle has been like the gift that just keeps giving. i use this without a doubt every evening before i go to bed and it's taken months to finish. with a price tag of £57 i can safely say i've got my moneys worth! i was skeptical at first because of how small the bottle is but it has lasted an extremely reasonable amount of time. i will definitely be repurchasing this mini bottle of radiance and repair. it does exactly what it says on the bottle - repairs your skin. no spots, no scars, no redness - its amazing.

murad blemish spot treatment - a HERO product in my eyes. this little baby zaps blemishes off your face within hours. forget sudocream, witch hazel and old wives tales. this stuff is, pardon my french, the dogs bollocks. anyone with breakouts and blemishes can use this and be confident that the little blighters will be significantly reduced in hours. i have used this in conjunction with the murad blemish control cleanser which no doubt has helped my acne prone skin to clear up. cant recommend this enough - already repurchased.

last but not least - the caudilie beauty elixir. i had previously owned the 30ml bottle but this time had to buy the 100ml. i use this product as a toner but in all honesty i have no idea what it's supposed to do. over the past few months it has added that extra something to my skin. its glowing, smooth and radiant. the smell is beautiful - i am usually opposed to using highly fragrant products on my face as i am prone to breakouts but this doesn't anger my skin at all. will definitely repurchase but perhaps try to use more sparingly next time!

so thats that! see you in another few months... just kidding, i HAVE to get back into blogging more regularly.

what products have you guys been loving this month? any empties?

emma xo