July My Little Box: Road Trip

I have been a fan of My Little Box for several months - I reviewed their box in January, and always look forward to it turning up on my desk, to see what goodies they put inside, and what theme it is. The past couple have been slightly summer themed, which is great, and they are continuing with this with the July "My Little Road Trip Box".

The front of the box always has a cute image drawn by their artist Kanako

Contents (L-R) Notebook, Micellar Water, Essie Nail Polish, After Sun, Magazine, Travel Organiser, Pen, Box, Picture

Every box comes with a pretty picture/ quote

I love this travel organiser - its really cute and quirky

A notebook which can be sent as mail

Essie Nail Polish, Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and After Sun

On thing that I really like about the My Little Box's is that although they usually only contain three beauty items, they are usually high quality. One of the products is always from their My Little Beauty range, and it's usually quite good, and then in this month there is a full sized Essie nail polish, and a 125ml bottle of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water - which although I am a Bioderma fan, I have been looking forward to trying! Do you get any subscription boxes? Let me know what you think of the My Little Box if you have received it this month. Lots of love

My new hobby: Learning about Wine

Do you ever feel a bit thick when you are having dinner in a nice place and the waiter asks if you want a drink? You think "hell yes" but manage to say "yes that would lovely thank you" and ask for a glass of wine. Then they present the wine list. Crap. What on earth do you do with this? Normally my method is look for the cheapest and then go a couple up from there, however this can be a little bit hit and miss! Therefore this summer I have decided to combat this issue, and do a very grown up thing: learn about wine. I am hopeful that part of this is going to involve tasting a lot of them.
My dad knows quite a lot about wine, however in a million years I am not going to ask him, as I would only end up finding out what his favourites are - and we have very different tastes. Also his stories go on for hourssssss. And I cannot cope.
Therefore option 2, is buying a book. This seems very doable! The first book I purchased was Leith's Guide to Wine. I bought this in an actual shop (I usually amazon everything) and flicked through a couple of different options, before deciding that the cover of this one would look good in my bookcase and I liked that it was broken down a lot. After getting it home, I realised that the first few sections were really interesting, but then it talks about the different areas where wines are grown and I got a bit bored. However, I think as I learn more it will become more useful though.

After this book I decided that going on Amazon was probably a good idea, and I picked up The Wine Pocket Bible and Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2015. The former has a really cute cover, and is designed for wine idiots like me and includes how to choose wine from restaurant wine lists, how to tell if a wine is corked, characteristics of all the main grape types, what styles of wine come from the world's major wine region, classic and up-and-coming wine producers from each region and the best way to store and serve wine. Hugh Johnson's Pocket Wine Book 2015 is the number one bestselling wine guide, and provides information on individual bottles of wine each year.

My aim is to learn enough about wine so that when I next go out with my dad, I can order a bottle of wine and have him enjoy it. This will undoubtedly benefit him more than me, but at least I won't feel like an idiot any more!
Do any of you know about wine? Or have any other hobbies you are taking up over the summer? Let me know in the comments!
Lots of love

Book Review: My Paris Dream

In the summer I definitely read a lot more books than I do in the winter, probably because it seems really weird to sit out in the sun and knit! One of the books I have recently finished is My Paris Dream, by Kate Betts. For those of you who don't know, Kate Betts is a fashion journalist, who was one of the youngest ever editors of Harpers Bazaar.

This autobiography chronicles Kate's life, starting when she finished high school and went inter-railing around Europe, stopping in Paris for two weeks. The book is extremely well written, and unlike many autobiographies I have read, I really did not want to put it down. I think it probably helps that I love Paris, and having been their a lot can relate to some of the places she discusses, and the slang she struggles with.

Another aspect of this book that I really enjoyed was the story of growing up, finding your feet, and the realisation that you can't always have it all, as on several times in the book, Kate was working so hard on progressing her career, she let personal relationships suffer. I think this is something a lot of people can relate to, as it is often difficult balancing work and a personal life.
Overall, this book can appeal to a wide number of people, clearly if you have an interest in fashion, and want to build a career in that field the book will be of interest, as it shows an insight into the industry. Also anyone who loves Paris will definitely relate to the book, as I did - although she is American and struggled to fit into the culture, I think it is still relevant to brits, I know that I never felt anywhere near as chic as any Parisians when I was there, they definitely have that Je ne sais quoi!

I'm always after new books to read over the summer, and love autobiographies, so if there is anything similar to this that you know of, please let me know in the comments!
Lots of love

BaByliss Boutique Salon Soft Waves

New Year, New Style!
Like 80% of the population (I'm guessing) I decided that a new look was required for the New Year (or at least New Years Eve!) and fortunately, the lovely PRs for the new BaByliss Boutique range sent me the Salon Soft Waves styling tool to play with! Extra Christmas presents for me, how exciting!

The first thing I liked when I opened up the box, was that they included a heat resistant glove! How ingenious, and as an additional note I advise using it... I tweaked my hair once I had finished it without putting the glove on and succeeded in a slightly painful burn on my hand :( silly Briony!
I have to say this is the easiest curling tool I have used - I already own a wonderful set of GHD straightener, however, when I use them to curl my hair they are never even and I find it takes a really long time and I lack the patience usually! However using the BaByliss Boutique Salon Soft Waves was very quick to do all of my hair - I would say about 20 minutes! I should also mention that my hair is ridiculously curly (well, frizzy really) and this wand managed to calm them into lovely soft waves without me needing to straighten my hair first, which was fab! Because the styling iron has 5 variable heats, I also felt like it was more gentle on my hair than my GHDs - I could use it on one of the lower heat settings and still get a really good result!
In order for me to work out what I was doing with this styling wand, I followed this YouTube tutorial, which shows exactly how simple it is to use!

If you would like to buy your own BaByliss Boutique Soft Waves styling wand, have a look at their website http://www.babyliss.co.uk/boutique

The left side of my hair is how it is naturally, right hand side are lovely soft waves!

Let me know if you try them, and if you like them as much as I do! 
I hope you all have a fantastic evening tonight, with lots of Family, Friends, Celebrations and of course Champagne!
Lots of Love!

MAC Glaze Lipstick in Hot Tahiti

I love winter lipsticks! I especially love that it isn't over the top to wear a red lipstick in the middle of the day at work. However, as anybody who knows anything about makeup knows, finding the perfect red is akin to finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow!
However, for my skin tone, I think I may have found that illustrious pot of gold! MAC Glaze lipsticks are more glossy and sheer than the other finishes, which means it requires a couple of coats if you want a solid colour, but for day to day wearing it is perfect.

One swipe

Positives: For me the best thing about this lipstick is the colour; it is described as a reddish-coral, personally I don't think it is coral at all but it is a very soft red. I also love the texture - in winter I often suffer from dry lips, but because this is quite a buttery texture, it isn't a problem.

Negatives: Staying time. Compared to Amplified Crème or Satin finish it is pants. Only really lasts a couple of hours, and by the end of that it is very faint. However, I suppose you can't have a soft texture and a very long lasting finish all at the same time! And reapplying is hardly the end of the world.

Me wearing Hot Tahiti (apologies for the poor focus!)

Have you used Hot Tahiti? What do you think of the Glaze finish? I know there are only 5 lipsticks in this range, however I am definitely a fan! Lots of Love!

Beauty Box Off August: Glossybox Vs You Beauty Discovery Box

Firstly, my apologies for the delay in me publishing this post! I got caught up with holidays..... my bad!

August You Beauty Discovery Box

This was the first You Beauty Discovery Box I have received, and I was quite impressed considering how cheap it is! This box is the cheapest beauty box you can get, and although it is very small, I think that at £6.95 it is an absolute bargain!
In this box I got:
1) FaceD facemask 2) Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow 3) Peggy Sage Nail Varnish 4) Nail Block 5) Jimmy Choo Perfume Sample (there was also a male sample but my boyfriend robbed it!)

Marsk Mineral Eyeshadow

Peggy Sage Nail Varnish

August Glossybox Contents

In the August Glossybox there was:
1) Philip Kingsley Elasticizer 2) L'Amour Lalique Perfume Sample 3) Figs and Rouge Hand Cream 4) Yves Rocher Nail Varnish 5) Glossybox Highlighter 6) Essence Lipstick in 07 Natural Beauty
The only item I was really disappointed about in this box was the lipstick, as it wasn't very pigmented, and after the excitement of how amazing the last lipstick was that I got from a Glossybox, the bar was set high. This failed, by a long way :( I would definitely not buy this!
Also do excuse how weird my thumb looks... I'm not quite sure what happened there!

Essence Lipstick - this was two heavy coats!

Do you get many beauty boxes? Are there other ones you think I need to try out? Let me know!
Lots of love

MAC Chatterbox Lipstick

I do seem to have a slight obsession with MAC, as much as a love other brands, something draws me back to them time and time again! Seeing as how I am currently on a mission to increase the variety of colours of lipsticks that I own (they were previously rather samey - shades of nude and one brighter one) when I dropped my the MAC counter, I decided to pick up Chatterbox. This has been a long time favourite of many bloggers, and I felt that I should take the plunge into some brighter pinks, and I'm really glad that I did!

I wouldn't normally consider myself a pink lipstick person, and it took me a while to get used to seeing myself in it, but it is a really lovely colour, and considering I wear a lot of monochrome, is a good way to brighten up my face.

All in all I think this is a great colour for summer, although I'm not sure if I will suit it in autumn, I have to admit I'm looking forward to wearing darker colours again!
Seeing as how I'm continually adding to my lipstick collection, I'm currently on the lookout for new shades (maybe even from a different brand *shock horror*) so let me know of anything you think I should try out!

Corn Silk Loose Powder

I love vintage things, so I am not quite sure why I have never thought to look at makeup which was popular years ago! I can do my face up to look full on 50s, but I have never committed to actually using the products which were around then. One product which seems to be coming back into vogue is Corn Silk - a face powder which was originally made in the 1960s and claimed to offer women a lasting glow. It gives the face a matte appearance, which conveniently is what everyone is currently trying to achieve! (Think of all those Instagram filters? How about looking like that all day every day?!)

It seems to be so popular that it is now a best sold item on Amazon, and several professional makeup artists including Aimee Adams, whose clients include Madonna and Ellie Goulding, now swear by it! Amy says "I recommend Corn Silk for getting make-up to stay in place and give you a flawless complexion!" With praise like that I decided I needed to try it for myself. The first thing that I noticed was that it wouldn't look out of place on my nan's dressing table, I decided to try out the loose powder, as I haven't used one for ages, and it comes in quite a big box, with a cute little face puff (I'm not sure if that is the technical term).

The box itself feels like quite cheap plastic, but the powder is very good! My job as a computer technician means I am frequently scrabbling around under desks and end up a bit hot with a shiny forehead (attractive I know!) so as soon as it was delivered, handily to my desk at lunch time, that I would put some on before I started work for the afternoon again. By the end of the day I was sold! Although I had a little bit of a dewy appearance, it was nowhere near as bad as the full on shiny forehead without it! Corn Silk, from now on you will be living in my makeup bag! After all, doesn't everyone want to be this glamorous...

Anyway, let me know if you have used Corn Silk and if you have any other old fashioned makeup which is still fab!

Sleek Original Eyeshadow Palette

Eyeshadow is one of the few things I have never really collected, and have always stuck to a few colours which I know and trust, however I have decided I really need to be a bit more adventurous with my eye makeup and decided to buy a palette. I have heard quite a lot of good things about Sleek palettes before and decided that for £8.00 I might as well give one a go.

I wanted to step outside my comfort zone, and this palette definitely does that, I have bright colours and lots of sparkles, and they are really highly pigmented, which for the price of the palette I think is fantastic, as when I have bought cheaper eyeshadow previously I have had to cake it on to build up a decent colour. My makeup plan for these are to work on a slightly different smokey eye to my normal plain jane tones of brown, and seeing as I am going out to a gay bar in Manchester tonight, where better to debut my new makeup!

I quite like following makeup tutorials, and especially dramatic eye makeup ones, so if you know of any which would work well with this palette, make sure you comment with a link and I will try them out!

Book Review: What A Girl Wants by Lindsey Kelk

To me, Lindsey Kelk books are the perfect holiday read. They are fun, well written, and easy to dip in and out of. What A Girl Wants is no different. However, I think a lot of people can also relate to this book, as overall the story is about a girl who struggles to make a decision between whether she should choose the safe easy life, or risk it all in a gamble and run away to Italy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not implying that everyone has had the opportunity to run away to Italy (if only!) but I think everyone has had to make a decision at some point about what path they want their life to take. This is why everyone will be able to identify with the main character, Tess, as she struggles with to make up her mind, when her heart wants to lead her somewhere else! In the words of R. Kelly "my mind is telling me no but my body, my body's telling me yes". True story.
This book is in fact a sequel to another book, About A Girl, but I didn't realise this until I finished the book and read the bit at the back which tells you about other books by the author! However, it doesn't matter (as I discovered) and the book is fantastic, whether or not you read the prequel.
If you are looking for some other Lindsey Kelk books, definitely have a look at the "I heart" series - they are fab, and were the first books of hers that I read, and continue to enjoy them.
Have you read any Lindsey Kelk books recently? Do you love them as much as I do? Let me know! 
Also I am planning a summer reading list post - so if there is anything you think I need to read (my holiday is booked for september so I have a while to go!) make sure I add it to my list!

Product Review: Collection Illuminating Touch Brightening Concealer

I have heard great things about Collection concealers for quite a long time, however I have always been more of a high end (let's be honest - mainly MAC) devotee, and rarely look at drugstore makeup for things other than lipsticks and nail varnishes. However I knew I needed a new concealer, and for £5 I decided to be brave and give it a go.

And I'm really glad I did.

I have had YSL Touche Eclat quite a few times before, and am an eternal devotee, however this comes in pretty close! It is basically designed to do exactly the same thing, and is described as a 3-in-1 miracle to correct, highlight and illuminate in one stylish movement.

The only fault that I have with this is the quality of the brush - it's pants, and does not blend the concealer well at all! However I have a very pretty Zoeva concealer brush which I use to blend it in, so it is hardly the end of the world!

The concealer comes in three different shades, Naked, Natural and Glow - I opted for the middle Natural - it sits well with my skin. Also as an additional note, as I am now trying this alongside varying other products while trying to master contouring (I have realised I mention this most blog posts)- it's a fab choice! Have you used this concealer before? Or are there any other drugstore ones that you think I desperately need to try? Let me know!

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish - Lightscapade

I have loved using highlighters for quite a while, however until recently I have only used liquid ones, but never found they blended very well. As I was mooching around the MAC store in the Harvey Nichols Beauty Bazaar in Liverpool, deciding whether or not I really needed another lipstick (I did), I asked one of the Makeup Artists what highlighters they had, and as always happens with MAC products... I fell in love and came home with it. Best Decision Ever.

The Mineralize Skinfinish Lightscapade is a very pretty highlighter to look at, the colours in it mix together and look quite pearlescent. When applying it to skin it blends really well, so if you want a general pick me up and to look a bit more alert you can do a light covering over your foundation, or alternatively you can build several layers up to create a more obvious effect, for example when contouring (yes, I am still trying to master this!)

I only put a little onto my hand as I wanted to show how gentle it can be! It seems to sit very well with any skin tone (unlike the more pigmented Benefit highlighters I was using before, in which I seemed to have to have a different one in winter to what I did in summer).

As an added bonus this looks absolutely beautiful in my makeup drawer, and it is quite a joy to get it out and look at it!

I have heard some good things about other highlighters, in particular the MUA one, which I am going to get, so I can make a comparison, but I have to say this one is fantastic, and I would definitely recommend it!

Let me know if you have tried this highlighter, or any others you think I should test!

Zoeva Brushes

I have been looking to upgrade my makeup brush collection for a while, as I have had my faithful Bare Minerals brushes for about 5 years, and they are finally beginning to fall apart. After reading some rave reviews about Zoeva makeup brushes, I decided it was time to take the plunge and purchased the Rose Gold Luxury Collection with some left over birthday money. To say I was excited about this was an understatement. The first thing to comment about is the shipping - Zoeva is a German company, but I think the shipping price is incredibly reasonable - it cost me £7.50 to ship them, and they were here in 5 days, including over a weekend - you definitely can't argue with that! When I opened up the package, I couldn't help but squeal, they are just so beautiful! I have a serious weakness for rose gold, and it sits beautifully with the deep brown of the brushes.

I decided to use the brushes straight away to practise my Kim Kardashian-esque (in my dreams) contouring, to ensure I could try out all the brushes, and I have to say they are fantastic! I love love love the silk finish brush - it blends my foundation so easily and, to be honest, it's miles better than my old faithful Benefit foundation brush.

The contouring brush and concealer brush are also great, they are densely packed with super soft bristles, and give such a wonderful finish to my makeup, that I should get much better contouring results in the future! Overall I am looking forward to getting more Zoeva brushes in the future - they are incredible value - this set cost me £49.00 plus £7.50 shipping, and I would say they are of a comparable quality to some MAC brushes!

Have you used Zoeva brushes before? What do you think of them? Let me know!