Product Review - John Frieda Full Repair Shampoo, Conditioner and Styling Spray

Hi everyone,
 

 

A couple of weeks ago I recieved an email from a lovely lady from a PR company asking me if I'd like to test and review some John Frieda hair products, I jumped at the chance!

 

I opted to try the 'Full Repair' range that I'd been eyeing up in the shops anyway as my hair is dry, damaged, really thick and can be quite difficult to tame.

 

I was sent the Full Body Shampoo, Full Body Conditioner and Style Creator Heat Activated Styling Spray.

 

First things first, I love the shampoo and conditioner! The first time that I used them I was a little unimpressed by the results, the shampoo lathered up really nicely and the conditoner made my hair feel smooth but when my hair had dried it didn't feel very conditioned. When I next washed my hair I used a bit more conditioner and it felt amazing! My hair felt silky smooth and my normally dry, brittle ends felt really soft and conditioned.

 

Not only does the shampoo and conditioner combination make my hair feel amazing, the products smell fantastic! If you're a fan of Cacharel's Amor Amor perfume, you will love the smell of this shampoo and conditioner as it is pretty much identical.

(Top - Shampoo, Bottom - Conditioner)

 

I don't normally use styling sprays so I was excited to try the heat activated styling spray. This product claims to improve manageability and provide long lasting hold, I definitely agree with the manageability claim! I tried using this product before blow drying and before straightening, when blow drying I did notice some extra volume but I'm not sure if this was due to the spray or the shampoo and conditioner, I loved the effect though.

When I straightened my hair I noticed it was smoother, shinier and tamer.

 

Summary

 

Pros

- The shampoo lathers up wonderfully.

- The shampoo and conditioner smell amazing! Seriously just go and sniff them instore :)

- The shampoo and conditioner did seem to really improve the condition of my dry/damaged hair.

- The styling spray improved manageability of hair when used with straighteners.

- The colour of the packaging is really attractive, is that a bit fickle? :)

 

Cons

- I felt that more conditioner was needed compared to shampoo, so I'll definitely be running out the conditioner first.

 

Overall I'm very impressed with these products and I will be repurchasing and checking out more of the John Frieda Full Repair range. I'm particularly interested in trying the deep conditioner.

 

The shampoo and condtioner retail for £5.89 each and the styling spray retails for £5.99. These prices are taken from the Boots website where these products are currently on a 3 for 2 offer.

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

 

 

 

 

My reviews are always 100% honest! :)

Collective Nail Polish Haul

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd share with you some of the nail polishes I've bought in the last couple of months.

I picked up these three Models Own polishes from TK Maxx for only £9.99, a pretty good bargain. :)

Model's Own Peacock

This is a rich emerald green colour, it's also slightly teal and has a pearly sheen. It's featured in this NOTD.

Model's Own Champagne

This is such a beautiful shimmery champagne colour, it looks so pretty with a glitter topcoat over it.

Model's Own Pink Lady

This is an amazing hot pink which has a kind of blue shimmery colour running through it.

Essie Your Hut Or Mine

I'm in love with this polish, it's bright yet sophisticated and has a subtle gold shimmer running through it.

The next three polishes I bought from TK Maxx for £7, for all three!

Essie Island Hopping

This is a rich plum mauve polish, it's a really unusual colour that I have nothing like in my collection.

Essie Oui Madame

This is a white pearl polish, it's quite sheer and needs a lot of coats to get an opaque finish!

Essie Aperitif 

This is a lovely rich red, it needs a couple of coats for full coverage.

I got these two L'oreal polishes as a free gift when purchasing some other L'oreal products!

L'oreal You're Worth It

This is a pale blue grey polish, it's pretty opaque and very shiny!

L'oreal Opulent Pink

This is a stunning hot pink, it's a rich, bright pink which is perfect for wearing toenails.

A England Lady Of The Lake

My sister in law bought me this gorgeous polish as a belated birthday gift. It's a lovely purple with holographic shimmer. 

YSL Purple Black

I think this is such an unusual colour, it's black with a kind of purple undertone. 

I bought these OPI polishes in a set for only £9.99 :D

OPI Plum And Get It

This is a nice royal purple, it's a bit sheer though and needs a few coats for an opaque finish.

OPI Born Red-y

This is a great classic red which is fairly opaque and has a nice shine.

OPI Navy Shatter

I've not actually tried this out yet, I'm not that into shatter polishes but this is a really nice colour.

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

Wednesday Wishlist - Barry M

Hi everyone!

Here's a few things I've been lusting after from Barry M.

BarryM Cerise Lip Paint
This looks like a stunning rich pink that I'd love to try.

Barry M Lip Gloss in Toffee
I've heard so many good things about this shade and I love Barry M's lip glosses, they're really smooth, smell great and not sticky.

Barry M Lip Paint in Mulberry
I'd love this deep, dark lipstick to wear this Autumn.

Barry M Blusher in Raspberry

I love berry coloured blushes and I'd love this to add to my collection.

Barry M Lip Paint in Royal Raspberry
Another gorgeous lip paint from Barry M, a perfect berry colour for Autumn/Winter.

What are you lusting after this week?

Thanks for reading,
Jess
xxx

Product Review - L'oreal Caresse in Rock 'N Mauve

Hi everyone,

Today I have a little review for you on a gorgeous lip product that I bought last week.

If you've seen my review of my other L'oreal Caresse's, you'll know that I love them and they're some of my favourite lip products.

When I was in Boots last week I noticed a new Caresse shade in the L'oreal display, I was so excited it was a tad embarrassing! 

The shade I bought was Rock 'N Mauve. I swatched it and thought it'd be a perfect colour for Autumn.

Rock 'N Mauve is a kind of pinky violet colour, the lip swatch is a bit washed out but It shows how nice and glossy the product is.

This product retails for £7.99 and can be bought at Boots and Superdrug.

Pros

- Sheer colour but still buildable

- Glossy and moisturising

- Pretty colour for Autumn

- Reasonably priced

- Attractive packaging

- Great smell and taste

Cons

- Wears off quite quickly

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

Monday Meal Planning #4

Hi everyone,

I did much better with my meal plan last week! I made 5 out of 7 of the meals I had planned. On the Friday we went to a carvery which wasn't that great and on Saturday we went out for a meal with friends that I'd forgotten we'd arranged!

 

 

Here's last nights tea...
 

 

 We had a big yorkshire pudding with 2 sausages, peas, carrots, mashed potato, broccoli and Ikea cream sauce.

 

 

Here's this weeks menu...

 

Monday

A platter type thing of - Chicken Goujons, Corn on the cob, Loaded Potato Skins, Coleslaw, Garlic Bread, Salad

 

Tuesday

Tagiatelle Bolognaise

 

Wednesday

Baked Sweet Chilli Salmon, Jacket Potato, Salad

 

Thursday

Chicken Goujon Salad Wraps

 

Friday
Lidl Frozen Pizza and Salad

Saturday
Having tea at Grandparents house

Sunday
Going out for a meal for my Grandad's 80th birthday. :)

What are you eating this week?

Thanks for reading,
Jess
xxx



NOTD - Models Own, Rimmel and Technic

Hi everyone,

I thought this weekend I do one last bright and summery NOTD before I switch to more autumnal colours on my nails :)

 

 

 

I used...

- Models Own Pink Lady

- Rimmel's Sky High

- Technic's Mermaid

 

I love this combination, it really cheered me up on a grey day.

 

Hope you're all having a nice weekend,

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx



Boots Haul - Soap & Glory and L'oreal

Hi everyone,

I was very naughty and picked up a few bits in Boots yesterday, so I thought I'd show you all. :)

 

 

Soap & Glory The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser - £10.00

I was bascially after a whole new skin care routine when I walked in to Boots and Soap & Glory was on a buy one get the second half price offer. I picked up the hot cloth cleanser purely because I heard it was great and I'd never tried a hot cloth cleanser or really got into any sort of routine of properly cleansing my skin(naughty I know!). I have used it a couple of times already and it's really nice, feels like a proper treat when you use it.

 

Soap & Glory Scrub Your Nose In It - £7.50

This is actually a repurchase, I've just finished a tube of this and I love it, it can be used as a facial scrub in its own right or it can be spread all over the face and used as a mask. It's supposed to unclog pores and refine larger pores, I'm not sure if it does that as I normally just use it as a scrub to get my skin feeling smooth and fresh.

 

Soap & Glory For Daily Youth Moisture Lotion - £12

This is another repurchase, I love it! I've wanted to buy it again for a while but wanted to use up some of the face creams that I already had first. I do love this stuff though, it's a great base for make up and smells lovely!

 

Soap & Glory Night In Shining Armour Cream - £13

I've just run out of my Boots Botanicals night cream so I thought I'd give this a try. It comes in a beautiful glass jar which is all pearlescent and luxurious feeling. It has the typical Soap & Glory smell and is really thick and mositurising.

 

L'oreal Rouge Caresse in Rock n Mauve

This a such a pretty colour! Perfect for Autumn, there'll be a review coming soon. :)

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

FOTD - Autumnal Burgundy Smokey Eye

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd do an autumnal burgundy smokey eye look seeing as the weather is now really cold and it's definitely turning into autumn now.

What I used...

Face

- Smashbox Photo Finish Illuminating Primer

- Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation in Shade 52

- Urban Decay 24/7 Concealer Pencil in FBI

- MUA Pressed Powder in Shade 1

Lips

- 17 Mirrorshine Lipstick in Belle

Brows

- Sleek Light Brown Matte Eyeshadow

- MUA Clear Mascara

Eyes

- Urban Decay Primer Potion

- L'oreal Black Liquid Liner

- Maybelline Colossal Volume Mascara

- Sleek Eyeshadows from Storm Palette

I used the shimmery pale colour in my inner corner and on my brow bone.

I used the pale matte brown all over the lid and to fill in my brows.

I used the shimmery pink on the centre of my lid for a pop of pinky colour.

I used the deep burgundy colour in my crease and outer corner.

Overall I really like the look and enjoyed creating a smokey eye with colours other than golds and browns. 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

Monday Meal Planning #3

Hi everyone,

I didn't end up doing very well at sticking to my meal plan last week, I made 3 of the meals that I planned to. Which isn't great...

But here is a picture of one of the meals I made!

This is Chorizo Lasagne, Cheesey Garlic Bread, Salad, Corn on the Cob and Herb Butter.

Here is this weeks menu....

Monday

Chicken and Sweetcorn Pizza

Tuesday

Chicken and Kidney Bean Enchiladas

Wednesday

Chicken Goujon and Salad Wraps

Thursday

 Salmon BLT Baguette with Salad and Chips

Friday

Tuna and Tomato Tagliatelle with Garlic Bread

Saturday

Homemade Pizza with Salami, Artichokes, Olives 

Sunday

Sausages, Mashed Potato, Peas, Carrot and Swede, Gravy

What are you eating this week?

Thanks for reading,
Jess
xxx

The Naked Palette Dupe? MUA Undressed Palette Review and Swatches

Hi everyone,

Here's a review on a fairly new release from MUA, this eyeshadow palette is a supposed dupe for Urban Decay's Naked palette.

 

 

For an extremely reasonable price of £4 you get 12 shadows and 9.6g of product in total. So great value for money!

 

Swatches...

(Top Row Shades 1-3, Bottom Row Shades 7-9)

(Shades 1 - 3)

(Shades 7-9)

(Top Row Shades 4-6, Bottom Row Shades 10-12)

 (Shades 4-6)

(Shades 10-12)

 

Overall I'm pretty impressed with this palette, the pigmentation of the shimmery shades is fantastic, they're smooth, soft and easily blendable. The matte shades are less pigmented but they're still soft and smooth, not at all chalky. Even though the matte shades arn't that pigmented 'Shade 5' worked very well for filling in my brows!

 

This palette is very obviously a copy of the Urban Decay Naked Palette and whilst I love the Naked Palette I think this is a very clever and very good thing for MUA to have done, I mean who wouldn't want a cheap dupe for an expensive product? I did compare these shadows next to the shadows from the Naked Palette and they are pretty close dupes. I also used the palette to recreate some of my go to looks that I use my Naked Palette for and the shadows performed very well and looked fantastic!

 

So here's a little summary...

 

Pros

- The Price! £4!

- The shimmery shades are very pigmented.

- The shadows are very good quality for the price.

- It's a pretty close dupe for the Naked palette.

 

Cons

- The matte shades arn't very pigmented.

- The packaging isn't that great, a bit cheap/filmsy but ok for the price.

- There is a bit of fallout from the shadows.

- The applicator that comes with it is a bit rubbish.

 

So there you go! My thoughts on the MUA Undressed Palette.

I hope this has given you some idea of the quality if you were thinking of buying it.

 

I also have one of these to give away in my up coming giveaway! So keep your eyes peeled for that!

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx



Product Review - Barry M Lip Paint 152 Vintage Rose

Hi everyone,

Here's a review of a lipstick that I got for an absolute steal the other day in my local Superdrug.

As the title suggests this is the Barry M Lip Paint in Shade 152 Vintage Rose. I managed to find this for an amazing price of 99p! I was so excited!(Oh dear!)

I have to admit that I picked up this lipstick with no idea of what the colour would be like(it had a plastic wrapper), but when I opened it I had a very nice surprise! 

Vintage Rose is a neutral toned berry, pinky toned colour and I think it'll be perfect for Autumn. :)

I've heard mixed things about the Barry M lip paints but the two I have are great! Smooth, pigmented and fairly moisturising.

Overall I think this is a beautiful lipstick that I hope to get a lot of use out of it this Autumn/Winter.

Also the good news is that I bought another one of the same lipstick to include in my upcoming giveaway! So keep an eye out for that. :)

Thanks for reading,
Jess
xxx

Monday Meal Planning #2

Hi everyone,

This week I'm really determined to be more organised and know what we're eating and sticking to my budget AND using up stuff that we already have stashed in the freezer!

 

 

Also we're trying to mostly cut out beef from our diets and have chicken or fish instead!

 

Monday

Chicken Goujon Wraps with Lettuce, Cucumber, Red Onion and Mayo

 

Tuesday

Chorizo Lasagne with Salad

 

Wednesday

Minestrone Soup with Homemade Cheesey Garlic Bread

 

Thursday

Salmon and Prawn Thai Red Curry(Chicken version for boyfriend) with Egg Fried Rice

 

Friday

Macaroni Cheese with Artichokes and Bacon, Salad

 

Saturday

Homemade Pizza - Topped with Chorizo/Pepperoni, Mushrooms, Artichokes

 

Sunday

Roast Chicken, Yorkshire Puddings, Roast Potatoes, Carrot and Swede, Peas, Sweetcorn, Gravy

 

So there we go, I can now write my shopping list for the stuff I need to buy :)

What are you eating this coming week?

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx



Homemade Apple and Blackberry Crumble

Hi everyone,

The nights are starting to draw in, the leaves on the trees are turning golden and there's a bit of a nip in the air.

So I thought it's the perfect time to share with you my recipe for apple and blackberry crumble, it's really easy and doesn't take long to prepare.

Ingredients

Filling

- 5 Medium Cooking Apples

- 2 Punnets of Blackberries

- 1/8 Teaspoon of Cinnamon

- 4 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar

- 2 Tablespoons of Water

Topping

- 300g Plain Flour

- 200g Butter, cold and cut into cubes

- 175g Demerara Sugar

- 1/8 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Method

Start by peeling, coring and dicing your apples, I cut mine into about 1 inch cubes.

Place them in a sauce pan with the sugar, cinnamon and water.

Cook the apples on a medium/low heat for about 10 minutes, giving them an occasional stir, until the are soft but not totally mushy. Turn the heat off.

 Next give your blackberries a wash and stir them into the apple mixture. Leave the mixture to cool a little while you start to make the topping.

To make the topping, add the butter to the flour and rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles rough breacrumbs.

Then add your sugar and cinnamon to the 'breadcrumb' mixture and give it a good stir to combine.

 Pile your fruit mixture into a dish, I used a large rectangular pyrex dish. Then spread your fruit around so it's in an even layer.

Then sprinkle all the topping mixture over the fruit, make sure not to press the mixture down!

 Bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees celcius for 45mins - 1 hour until the top is golden brown and the fruit mixture is bubbling. And you should be rewarded with something that looks like the picture above.

 

 

Serve up with cream, custard or vanilla ice cream!

 

Now you have the perfect excuse to go blackberrying and cook something yummy with your berries!

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx

Small Holiday Haul

Hi everyone,

So a couple of weeks ago I went on holiday with my boyfriend, his parents and his grandma to Weymouth in Dorset. To be honest it was a bit of a strange/not so great holiday, we went camping which I wasn't crazy about but it was ok, despite the heavy rain! The biggest problem was my boyfriend got very ill with food poisoning/a stomach bug the day before we went home, it was awful he was so ill and I really didn't think he'd be ok to drive us home the next day. But thankfully he was ok and we had a couple of nice days out with decent weather and some yummy meals.

 

 

But anyway! Here are the make up items that I spent my holiday money on....

 

 

Sleek Blush in Rose Gold - £4.50

I've heard so many great things about this blush and about sleek blushes in general that when I saw this in stock in Weymouth Superdrug I just had to pick it up. It's supposed to me a dupe for NARS Orgasm, I havn't really worn this since I bought it as I'm not that sure how to wear it...sounds weird I know. The quality feels amazing and the pigmentation is great though!

 

YSL Teint Touche Eclat Foundation in B50 - £28

I felt totally crazy spending this amount of money on a foundation but I've wanted it for ages! I had a sample of it and fell in love with it, it makes my skin look so radiant.

 

MAC Amplified Creme Lipstick in Craving - £14

On the drive down to Weymouth we made a fliying visit to the Trafford Centre because my boyfriend wanted to go to the Lego shop!(Don't ask!!) So I made a mad dash to the MAC counter. Emilynoel on Youtube had reccomended this lipstick, she said it was a gorgeous berry shade from MAC. Basically I swatched it, fell in love with it and bought it! Not much more to say! :D

 

Thanks for reading,

Jess

xxx