Review : NIP + FAB Tummy Fix

It came to about a month before I went on holiday that I started to panic over the fact that I still had a lot of work to get the perfect bikini body. This meant I got desperate. So desperate in fact that I succumbed to buying this Nip + Fab cream which claims that it can improve skin tone and texture at the abdominal area whilst sculpting and firming. In other words, it helps to tone your tummy.

Like a lot of other people I was skeptical, can a cream really help tone your tummy? Well, seeing that I was desperate I thought it couldn't hurt to give it a go. So after a trip to my local Boots store, I picked up a 100ml tube that came to the cost of £19.95. Luckily, I had around £10 worth of Boots club points to use, meaning that I only spent £9.95.

I used this cream religiously. Every morning and every night I applied this cream in circular motions onto my untoned stomach for that last month before my holiday. And I will admit right now that I am one of those people who wants results fast. So every time I did apply the cream I would look in the mirror to inspect. However, I knew I could not judge this cream without doing a before and after photo, so that is exactly what I did. I wish I could put those photos up on here for you to see, but unfortunately my photos were wiped off my hard-drive a few months ago, so they are no more.

My thought on this cream? Well in hindsight I wish I saved my money and club card points to buy some new nail varnishes instead. I remember when I first looked at the before and after photos to compare and I was so disappointed. There were no differences in the photos at all. And it's true, every time I looked in the mirror I couldn't see any changes except for the fact that my skin felt smoother. I still had obvious cellulite, my skin was still no close to being firm, and I basically just looked exactly the same.

Maybe I saw no effects because I only applied the cream for just a month, or maybe it was because I didn't have any major problems (many mums who have just given birth swear upon this product helping fix their after pregnancy belly). But from my experience with this cream I unfortunately won't be recommending it to anyone, especially at £20 a tube.

It is fair to say that after this experience I am willing to accept that the only way I can lose weight, or to firm out my hideous cellulite is to diet and exercise. There are no quick fixes. Before my Cyprus holiday last August I was blind to this, which meant that I did indeed go on holiday without that perfect bikini body.

x x

My everyday makeup

I am one of those people who likes makeup, but is never brave enough to experiment with it. Especially for daytime wear. This means that my makeup routine is pretty much applied the same way every morning. Yet for a night out, you will find that I add a few extras to define my features a bit more.

Even though my routine is very basic, I have gathered a very reliable and suitable group of products that I know will give me good results even when my skins feels tired and dry. Because of this I thought it would be a good idea to give you an insight to what I use.

Nivea Express Hydration Primer - You may know that I have already reviewed this product here, and if you have read it then you will know that I love this primer, and can not put makeup on without this base. It is so hydrating and refreshing that my face always feels quite tight and dry without it.

L'Oreal True Match Concealer - Concealer is always a saviour in my life as I do find that I suffer from a few spots every now and then, and due to late nights I always seem to have the dreaded dark circles under my eyes. I'll admit that this isn't a miracle worker, but it is one of my favourite concealers that I have come across. I am hoping to venture out to the shops one day and find a new one that is a bit less oily.

L'Oreal True Match Foundation - I have gone through a lot of foundations in my life. But when I came across this true match foundation I fell in love. Even though I came across a few foundations that matched my skin tone perfectly there was always something that put me off buying a second bottle. This one however, is perfect. It's consistency is pretty thin compared to some previous ones, so it spreads onto the skin easily without feeling heavy. But I do sometimes find this means I have to reapply through the day. The final look is quite dewy, which I am absolutely loving at the moment.

L'Oreal True Match Super-Blendable Powder - You may have guessed by now that I love this true match range. They all do work well together, but sometimes I think that maybe I should try and widen my range. But saying that, I do love this powder and I do think that I will find it hard to find a better powder. This powder simply smooths out my skin tone over my foundation, and it also makes sure to keep my oily nose under control.

Maybelline Expert Wear Blush - I never go too heavy on the blusher, instead I make sure to just apply one easy swipe on each cheeky to give myself some colour. And seeing that I don't use much of it, this blusher is perfect for me.

Maybelline Volume Express Colossal Smoky Mascara - Finding the perfect mascara has been really hard for me. I must have tried so many different brands and styles over the years but always found that they never did my lashes justice. They either caused my lashes to clump together or just didn't make them look long enough. This Maybelline mascara is most probably the best mascara I have come across so far, but if you have any recommendations then please send them my way!

Natural Collection Liquid Eyeliner - A lot of people are quick to discard the Boots store brand 'Natural Collection' because it's quite cheap. But I think that for quite a cheap brand it actually has some good quality stuff. This eyeliner is perfect, and when I have previously compared to it another more expensive eye liner, I found they did exactly the same job to the same quality.

Natural Collection Solo Eyeshadow - I use this eyeshadow as an eyebrow filler. I find using eyeshadows so much easier to apply with a straight edge brush compared to using an eyebrow pencil. This little tub is really cheap from Boots and it does the job perfectly. So if you're I interested in swapping your pencil for powder the grab one of these as you won't be wasting much money if it doesn't work out for you.

Collection 2000 Clear Mascara - Instead of using this as mascara I use it for my eyebrows. I have long and wispy eyebrows which means they can get a bit out of control. Because of this, this clear mascara is the perfect way of making sure they stay in perfect shape.

x x

Review : Nivea Express Hydration Primer

I absolutely love this Nivea primer. Before this delightful cream was released last year, I always used to use an silicone based primer and then a separate moisturiser along with it. This not only did no wonders for my oily skin, but it also took a good few minutes to allow both creams to fully dry before any foundation or concealer could be applied.

But now that I've bought this 'express hydration primer' I can substitute it for my primer as well as my moisturiser. This means my makeup is much quicker to apply and my t-zones are much less oily.

The texture of this cream is so light and thin that it absorbs into your skin within 10-20 seconds. It moisturises your skin so well that you instantly feel hydrated and refreshed without leaving your face oily or greasy like you normally get with a thick and heavy moisturiser.

The moisture of this primer will leave your skin really smooth allowing it to be a great finish for you to start applying any foundation. Sometimes with silicone based primers you will find that you are left with some flaking, but this Nivea primer just stays put and there is no flake to be found. And with this smooth finish I noticed that it did indeed help do it's job and kept my makeup at bay all day.

And I have got to admit even though this is a primer, because of its refreshing feeling I do sometimes find myself just applying this cream on its own without any intention of adding a full face of makeup. This idea came to me when I was just simply lying around the pool when I was on holiday. I found it was great to apply something so light and moisturising that could deal with my dry skin caused by the intense sun rays without my skin getting too greasy. And since my holiday, I still follow this through when I find my skin getting a bit tight or tired.

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To do : Decoupaged coat hangers

I told you on my first ever post on this blog that I will not only be reviewing things, but I will also be coming up with ideas on how to brighten up your days, whether it be with cocktail recipes or something more physical. In this case I thought it would be a good idea to tell you how you could brighten up your wardrobe.

My wardrobe has always been a dark and uninteresting hole. Even though I can fill it with the most attractive clothing, the shop plastic coat hangers have always been a eye sore. Because of this I came up with the idea of buying some new wooden clothes hangers and decorating them all sorts of different ways.

One main type of decorating I used was decoupage. Decoupaging is really quick and simple, and they do result in a really pretty and neat hangers as you can see from the example in the photos.

To create these beautiful decoupaged hangers, all you have to do is:
- Get some wooden hangers and quickly give them a going over with some sand paper. By doing this will get rid of the varnish on the hangers which will allow the tissue paper to stick on the wood easily.
- This bit is up to you, but before I stuck the paper on the hanger I decided to give the wood a coating of white paint so that the colour of the paper will not be darkened by the colour of the wood. Instead, the white paint allows the paper to show its true bright colours.
- Now get some thin paper (like tissue paper, newspaper, or magazine cuttings) and just simply use some PVA glue to stick the paper onto the hanger making sure to cover every inch.
- To finish off the hangers you can either cover the whole hanger with PVA to give it a shiny coat, or you can do it the proper way and coat the hanger with some clear and glossy glaze spray.
- Lastly, allow to dry and then brighten up your wardrobe and start hanging some clothes.

If you feel like decoupage is too much for you, then maybe you could just paint the hangers like the one I did below. This idea is very simple, and all you have to do is follow the instructions above, but replace the decoupage with acrylic paint.

Altogether I used:
- Wooden hangers: from Wilkinsons, 1 pack of 5 =£3, or 2 packs of 5 =£5
- Sand paper: from Wilkinsons, 1 pack of 10 sheets = £1.50
- Acrylic paint: from Wilkinsons, 1 75ml tube = £0.95
- Floral tissue paper: from Hobbycraft, 1 pack of 3 sheets = £3.75
- PVA glue: from Hobbycraft, 1 250ml tube = £2.00
- Paint brush: randomly found in cupboard, but they are normally cheap from any stationary shop.
-  Prism clear glaze spray: from online, 1 60ml tin = £4.50

If your wardrobe is already occupied by some neat hangers, then maybe you could make some as a gift, or even just hang some up in your spare room. They are always a cute idea and are bound to get compliments.

I hope you enjoy making these and using them as much as I do.

 x x


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Stop excessive sweating now!

I'll admit right now that this will not be the most glamorous post I will be doing, and it won't be of interest to many people. But for those of you who have the same problem as me will be very interested in what I am about to review.

Basically, this review is on Driclor: a roll on applicator that combats excessive sweating. I know that every body sweats and that it is actually a good thing to sweat. But when you are sweating whilst you are simply just sitting down you know that something must be wrong. I remember going through my school years with this condition and being constantly embarrassed to take my jumper off incase I had the dreaded sweat stains. And grey clothing was always a no go! But when it came to my first year of University I discovered Driclor after vast amounts of googling 'excessive sweating'. After I read a few reviews I went to my local Boots store and bought the item for £6.15. And that purchase was most probably the best recommendation I have ever bought as I have not looked back since.

To get this application to work its wonders you simply have to apply it every night to your underarms and then wash it off every morning for about a week. They say in the instruction leaflet that it will take about a week for you to start feeling a difference, but to be honest I felt a difference after a day! However, I carried on applying the solution to my underarms as it told me, and the final results were amazing. My armpits were not only dry when I was sitting down but they were also dry during exercise regimes.

To continue the effects of this treatment you do have to apply this roll-on when you feel like your armpits are starting to sweat again. In my experience I now only have to apply Driclor once a month, and over the past three to four months I am only on my third bottle, which is pretty impressive considering the size of the applicator.

However, there is one problem with this solution that many people will pick up on after use. And this is to do with its mild itchy irritation during the first few applications. This is down to the aluminium chloride ingredient. But what I found was that it irritates more the sooner you apply it after shaving your underarms. So if you are to apply Driclor then please wait a couple days after shaving as I find it makes it all so much more bearable. Maybe even wait a week if you are really struggling.

Overall, if you think that your sweat is getting in the way of you living a normal life, then please do go and buy a bottle of this. And you can thank me later ;)

Positives:
-It works!!
-After the first week, you only need to apply it once a month.
-Affordable. In 3-4 years I have only spent £18 on three bottles.
-Sweat stains no longer exist. I can now wear grey!
-Easy and quick to apply.
-Can be applied in other sweaty places, although I haven't tried.

Negatives:
-Mild stingy/itchy irritation (but I found it bearable).
-Should only be applied after a couple days of shaving.
-Some people have complained about dryness after use (but I didn't experience any).

x x

Review : Tangle Teezer

I hold my hands up straight away and will admit that I am not a sufferer of the dreaded tangly hair when I get out of the shower. Despite the facts that my hair has the perfect characteristics (thick, long, damaged, and frizzy) to create tangly hair, I somehow manage to have smooth hair every time I have a shampoo and conditioning rinse.

So you must be asking, "how can you review this Tangle Teezer if your hair isn't a tangled mess?" Well, this is where I have to tell you that I am a keen swimmer, and when I go on holiday I am diving into that pool whenever I get a chance. If you are also into swimming, then you will know that chlorine and salt water can do all sorts to your hair. Including making your barnet a knotty and painful disaster. So when I went on holiday, I hoped this Tangle Teezer (invented by Shaun Pulfrey) would be the perfect solution to pain free hair brushing.

I bought this Tangle Teezer for £10.99 from my local Boots store, and I have got to admit I thought the price was a bit steep after realising the brush it basically just a hollow plastic shell. But when I started using it after a long swim in the pool I realised that this brush is well worth the money. The fact that I could move this brush freely through my hair with no fuss and no pain made me smile with glee. It is a miracle worker. I am so happy with this purchase that I have even gifted one to my sister who is prone to tangly hair after a shower. And she even agrees that this brush works wonders.

There are some problems that have occurred along with this brush. One being that fact that I found it awkward to hold. This brush should be used by being gripped with the palm of your hand, but I do sometimes find it slips out of place. Some people may like the idea of this, but I have got to admit that I would much rather a brush with a handle. However, since buying this brush I have found out that there is such a thing as a Tangle Teezer with a handle, so I will definitely be investing in one of those soon.

Another flaw with this brush is the bristles. They are very flexible bristles but they're not that strong, which means over time they end up permanently bending. This means you can either put up with the bent bristles, or fork out another £11 on a new brush. Very costly!

Do I think this brush is worth it? I actually do. If you suffer with pain after every hair wash, then yes please do get one. But maybe get one with a handle.

Advantages:
- It does de-tangle hair.
- Painless and quick to use.
- Friends also recommend it.
- Easy to get hold of in many different colours.

Disadvantages:
- Not the best grip. Needs a handle.
- Bristles start to bend over time.
- Hard to create a hair parting.
- Quite expensive.

x x

I apologise!

I know it has been about half a year since I last typed out a review, and I have got to be honest with you, I have no acceptable excuses. I could put it down to the fact that I moved back home with my parents after graduating University, or due to applying non-stop to job applications, but honestly I think it was just down to my laziness. It seems like I found it hard to part with my student lazy days.

But fortunately for you lovely readers, I have finally come back to the real (working) world with my University days well behind me. Now I am up and raring to go again! But hopefully this time, it will be for much longer.

So, my plan is to get back into action as soon as possible. Which means my next review will be here for you to read tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy.
And again, I'm sorry.

x x