stress, life & anxiety

Hello everyone, as you can see by the title of this post, it is most certain not beauty related. But nevertheless I wanted to share my thoughts with you, as you may go through the same thing and I find that sometimes it is easier to speak openly to strangers than to your own friends.

 

It seems that nowadays everyone is to busy to look around and see if close ones need help or are suffering. Sometimes it is easier for people just not to ask the question that listen to the answer, no one has time to hear other people suffering or problems. What happened with the true meaning of friendship?? It seems that people don't remember the values of friendship anymore, no one calls or texts anymore, instead a "like" on Facebook or a "poke" will do the same job.  

 

It is not easy to live in this world anymore, where people are always in a hurry to get somewhere, where people are fighting, and killing, there is no time to appreciate the real meaning of life.

 

I am not here to judge anyone, each lives as they please to, but I just had to put out there all my thoughts, even though they probably not make sense at all.

 

Another problem that people try to avoid is Anxiety, they are so many people that live out there with anxiety and no one dares to ask why or how to help. And yet again, it is easier to just not talk about it, that having to do something about it.

 

I know how it is because I suffer from the same problem. I tried to ignore the fact that I suffered from Anxiety but it didn't really solve any problem, it is better just to face the problem and deal with it.

 

The struggle that it is every day of going out, going to a shopping centre full of people, getting the bus, going somewhere unknown or just meeting new people.

 

Everyday is a battle against the world, I think that the biggest problem is that people don't try to understand why you act the way you do, or why you try to avoid certain places.

 

Some say that you can just take pills and that the anxiety will go away, or people think that it will go away at some point, they don't understand how much it can affect someone's life.

 

My biggest problem is to meet new people, it is a big struggle and it makes me very anxious, but it is difficult to explain to people around you, some people think you are rude, some people think that you can be boring, but no one stops to think that it may be another reason.

 

I just want people to ask about it and help instead of judge, it would make life so much easier.

 

Anyway, I manage every day, and even if I fall I will get up again and again, I am quite lucky that I have people around me that support me and that understand me, but what about the people that don't understand but that I still care about?? should I just do the easy thing and just ignore?? no , that is not the way it should be to anyone, no one should be able to judge or ignore. lets just face the facts and deal with it.

 

 

Well, that is all I wanted to say, tell me your story, do you suffer from the same ? do you struggle on a daily basis?

 

If so, I hope you find a way that will make you happier!!!

 

 

Take care

 

 

Marlene

 

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

haul !! :)

Hello lovely ladies, today I bring you a few things that I picked up when I went shopping the other day. Lately I have been avoiding buying more makeup, know sounds crazy!!! but I just thought I would start using a lot more products from my collection before going crazy and buying loads more like I usually do!!!.

 

So here in England cold arrived and one thing that I love using is robes and onesies!!! I know they are not very flattering but I don't really care, I hate being cold !! I picked up this one from New Look it cost £12.95.

 

 

I don't think I ever been to Claire's before. I just find it that it is more for teenagers than for adults, I know that is just me!! But the other day for some reason I went in and this necklace was the first thing that I saw and I had to pick it up!! I love these type of necklaces so I couldn't resist it. I think it cost me about £ 5.99, I am just not sure about the quality, it doesn't seem very good quality but I suppose you pay for what you get!!

I heard great things about Makeup Revolution but I am not sure about this brand yet!! I think that they just decided to create dupes of everything!! I do think that it works for them, but I prefer brands that has a little bit more originality, but I went to my local Superdrug and they had the Christmas Collections up and this one catched my eye. It is a brush collection and it contains a powder brush, a contour brush, a stippling brush, a small blending brush, a detail brush and an eyeliner brush. I tried them and I really like them!!! they are really soft, easy to use and easy to clean, I am just not sure about the stippling brush, I it a little hard to blend foundation and you can see the foundation lines which is something I don't appreciate at all, and it was £12.00.

Also from Superdrug I picked up this palette from MUA, which is a brand that I don't buy products from, but these eye shadows were just to good to refuse!! It cost me about £4.00 so I thought if I don't like it  didn't cost a lot!!

From left to right: Smoke, Midnight, Aqua, Azure and Caramel.

From left to right: Siate, Dove Grey, China, Truffle and Sand.

Next, from New Look they had these new perfumes and I thought I would give it a try, It is called Pure Dust and it actually smells lovely. It smells at roses, but the scent is not to sweet which I was quite pleased, I prefer strong perfumes, and this one is perfect just to put on your handbag. It costs £4.00.

They also had a new makeup stand so I thought I would give it a try to. This product is the highlighter, I am not a big fan of highlighters that are on a stick as I don't think it is very hygienic and it end up disturbing the makeup. but I quite liked the way it looked so I thought I would use it with a brush instead. I am not really sure of the price but I think it was £5.99.

 

And because I have an addiction with red lipsticks I had to pick up one!!! shame on me!!

 

I didn't really except much of it, but it is not bad at all, it slides when applying, I applied it over lip liner. it doesn't dry your lips, and it actually stays for a few hours, this product was actually on sale so I paid only £3.99.  

I heard quite good reviews from this product, so I decided to give it a try as I struggle to find a foundation that I actually like.

 

It is supposed to be really good for dry skin, the Skin Luminizer from Max Factor. But every time I go somewhere I always take a product from the back, and this time I actually got one from behind but I actually forgot to check if it was the same shade and I just realised that actually it is too light for me :/ bahhh so stupid of me, anyway I will probably just buy another shade and mix it together. I picked it up from Boots and it was £12.95.

 

 

Last product I picked it up from Just Fab, and when I spotted these Boots I fell I lone with them!! I had to get them, I struggle to find boots that I like that are comfortable and these ones even though are high heel they are just so comfortable!!

 

The first pair that you buy costs £12.95 and then you can choose to pay £35.00 per month to be member and you get items cheaper, but you don't have to pay if you don't want to, you can do something called "skip the month" and you won't be charged anything. I think it is really good, It doesn't really mean that I am going to be buying every month but it is nice to have the choice because the quality is really good.

 

So, that is all I bought for know, think next shopping day I will start with Christmas shopping, which I am not looking forward to!!

Take care


xxx

Marlene

Birchbox October

Hello ladies, hope you are all well :)

 

So today I am  talking about the October Birchbox.
This months we got to choose the box so I decided to go for the Stylist Guest Editor box.

First product that I got was a lipstick from 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze. Well, I am always happy to receive lipsticks in my box :)  you can never have too many. This lipstick is 100% natural and vegan, contains anti-aging vitamins, antioxidants. Formulated with cocoa butter and avocado.

This shade is called Lychee, at least I think that this is the name as I couldn't find any other name, Lychee is actually the name of a fruit. This lipstick is £19.00.

Next I received the English Laundry N7 Signature for Her. I absolutely  love this brand's perfumes. This perfume scent is with Rose geranium and creamy white flowers combined with musk.
The full size costs £60.00.

Next, everyone talks about this product, and everyone loves this product. I actually never tried this product before, this is the Bioderma Sensibio H20 micellar water. I think this product is quite difficult to get hold here in the UK. Personally I don't really use these type of products as I prefer oils and creams. You can use this product to remove makeup or just to cleanse skin. Costs £10.20.

Rituals Yogi Flow Foaming Shower gel. I don't think I have tried a product like this before so looking forward to see how good it is. This gel transforms into foam when in contact with water and it has a rose scent wash. £8.50 which I think its quite reasonable.

This next product I don't really think that I will use. It is the Parlor by Jeff Chastain moisturising sea salt spray. This product is supposed to offer instant volume and texture, free of sulphates and parabens. I don't really these types of products as I found that leaves my hair feeling very dry and damaged. It is priced at £17.00.

Last product is from a brand called When and it is the travelmate sheet mask.

 



Tanya burr Galaxy eye palette

Hello ladies :) well Autumn is here again!! time to bring all the scarfs, coats and cosy clothes. I am quite surprised that here in England weather hasn't been too cold, last year by this time I was freezing cold as usual!!!

Anyway, not here to talk about the weather!!

Today I am talking about this palette available in Superdrug. Its called Galaxy Eye Palette and it is from Tanya Burr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you that never heard of her, she is a beauty blogger, she is known worldwide and quite famous, also because she is married to Jim Chapman, Pixiwoo's brother so you can imagine how she got so famous.  

 

I find myself debating if to buy this palette or not!! I don't have anything against anyone, but I think that usually these products are just a money machine from big companies that take advantage of people that watch her videos!!

 

She released a makeup line last year, and I bought a lip gloss and a nail vanish, but I was quite disappointed with the products, the lip gloss was really sticky and the nail polish started coming off the day after!!!

The other day I was wondering around Superdrug when I saw this palette, and I had to buy it!! as usual!!

Well talking about the palette, I have to say that I don't like the packaging, it just seems it is aimed for children, I was expecting the packaging to be a lot better, it is a Superdrug palette.  

Now, I'm always happy when an eye shadow palette has  a mirror, it is a lot easier as you can just put it in your hand bag or take it on holiday.

 

 

I had to buy because I love these shades!!! just beautiful!!

From left to right you have snowflake, moonlight, stormy sky and starry night.

They all have a shimmer except for the shade Stormy Sky.

With this palette you can create more of a natural look and then you can always had the other shades to create more of a smoky eye.

This one is not the best picture yet, but practice makes perfect!! I never use a natural makeup look except for the days that I work!! I always been a kind of smoky eye and red lipstick!!

 

 

I have been using this palette for a few weeks and it is quite good, to be honest thought it would be a lot worst. The pigmentation is good, it blends quite well and there isn't a lot of fall out from the eye shadows.

 

I think in general it is quite a good palette, it is priced at £6.00 at the moment, but I am sure that I paid a little bit more than £6.00, who knows!!

 

I think that the question now is would you spend this amount on a palette? maybe if you are a student or if you are on a budget, but I don't know if I would actually go for this palette or choose something like Sleek eye shadow palette which only costs £9.99 and you get 12 eye shadows.

 

 

So, have you tried this palette? if so let me know what you think!!

 

 

Take care

 

Marlene

xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

from a Superdrug palette.



Kiko makeup

Hello lovely ladies, so today I thought I would bring you a little bit of a review:).

I went on holiday to Portugal a few weeks ago and I noticed that Kiko store had a sale on so I picked up a few products. I do have to say that I never tried anything from this brand before so I was quite curious about their products.

 

 

First product that I picked up were these two eye shadows. The lighter one is in 219 and the darker one is in 234. I thought that these two eye shadows would be quite good to create a Smokey eye. I decided to apply the lighter shade all over the lid and the darker shade to the outer corner of the eye and in the socket and blend. I found really difficult to blend it, the eye shadows are quite powdery so you do need a lot of product to create a good Smokey eye. These eye shadows were on sale so I think that I bought them for 1.40 each. But I was actually quite disappointed with these eye shadows, I thought that the pigmentation would be a lot better and the quality.  

Next is the contour pencil kit. when is aw these I was really excited to try it. I thought it would be quite easy to use on a everyday basis and to carry around in your hand bag, I choose the lighter shade, as I am quite pale. so I stated by applying the contour shade to define a little bit my face, and I do have to say that when you apply the product and you start to blend the product just seems to disappear, I think I had to apply about three times to get some definition. But this contour shade is quite soft and slides quite nicely. Next, I moved on to the highlighter and I started to apply and this product just doesn't show a lot. I had to apply again and again but I gave up because it was just disturbing my makeup, it is not as soft as the contour pencil, so I didn't really like it considering that by the time to finish applying this product you will need to touch up your makeup again. This set costs about 11.00.

This next product is just beautiful. Its the Kiko Ritual kajal & eyeliner. I don't usually use this type of shades but I decided to give it a try and I am in love. I use it as an eyeliner or I use it sometimes on my waterline and smudging a little bit on my lower lashed. it is quite a strong colour but not like eccentric. It is very wearable and just beautiful. It glides on your eyes so smoothly and it is long lasting. I think it costs about 8.00.

Finally I had to try a lipstick, so I went to my obvious favourite shades. I picked up a gorgeous red in shade 06and a dark purple in shade 12.

I don't really like when products just have a number instead of a name!!! Anyway, I love these lipsticks, they go on really well on your lips, I would recommend using a lip pencil, and they don't dry your lips, its quite moisturising and they actually last quite a long time. I usually apply one coat, making sure that my lips are moisturised prior to applying lipstick, and after one coat I blot the lipstick with a tissue and apply again, then I bloat again and apply one last time. I cant really remember how much they cost me but I don't really think it was a lot.

 

Well, and that was all of the products tat I picked up from Kiko, I do have to say I was quite disappointed with some products, but I think this happens quite often when it comes to makeup, so at least I tried some of their products.

 

 

 

let me know which products you have tried from this brand and which ones are your favourite :)

Take care

 

Marlene

xxx

 

 

 

Empties :)

Hello everyone, I just came of holiday from Portugal , the weather was really hot, filled with good food and good company.

 I decided to do this post because I realize I was collecting some empties, I had never done one of these before, so let me know what you think.

 

First is the Soap & Glory body wash, I love this, and I always re-purchase , it leaves my skin really smooth and fresh. Next is the Palmolive so relaxed, I do have to say I don't even remember buying this product, but I wanted to try to see the results. I didn't really like it, it didn't last longer the scent and I didn't really felt the difference in comparison with the Soap &Glory one.

 

 

 

Next is the Boots Vanilla body scrub. I got this product because I love vanilla, so I decided to give it ago. This product is quite soft on the skin but it doesn't really exfoliates,  it is more like an everyday body scrub, I prefer body scrubs such as the soap & glory, they are a little bit more effective . I probably wouldn't buy this product again.

 

 

 

 

 

I always have trouble finding the right shampoo for me for some reason, most of them leave my hair feeling a little bit greasy and oily, which I really hate!!! But I bought this one from Boots and I actually really like it. My hair was feeling a lot healthier and smooth and it wasn't as greasy as before, I was quite surprised. the only trouble with shampoo is that I never buy the same shampoo twice, I just feel that when I use a shampoo for too long it just doesn't do anything for my hair and my hair goes back to being greasy and oily. 

 

 

These two products I have to say I was really impressed. The first one is from Nspa and it is the Hot Cloth Polish. This product is a dupe for the Liz Earle Cleanse and polish. This product from Nspa I think was about £4.00 or maybe even less, it removes makeup so well and leaves skin so fresh and clean. The next one is the Neutrogena  face wash, I used it to cleanse my skin in the morning, it leaves a clean and fresh feeling but it is not to use as a makeup remover, in my opinion, as it doesn't remove makeup. I think I will repurchase these products at some point, trouble is that with Nspa brand it is sold at Asda, which I don't really go often.

 

Next, is L'Oreal Youth Code night cream. I actually bought this on holiday a while ago because I forgot my night cream, but this product is amazing. I used it when I had an oily skin, and it leaves your skin so smooth, its incredible!! I didn't really purchase again because ,y skin now is quite dry so I don't know if it would work well.

L'Oreal again!! I know, it is my favourite brand from drugstore, I just think that the quality is amazing, and some products are even better quality than some high end products. This product is the L'Oreal Lumi, best primer I ever used!!! while it hydrates  the skin it also gives a little bit of highlighting to the skin, nothing to shimmering or crazy, just a subtle highlight, it is just amazing, you all have to try this!! This is actually my third bottle!!  

Finally it is the Body shop lip exfoliator, I bought this because I ran out of my from Lush so I just grabbed this one instead. It is not as good as the Lush lip exfoliator but it still does the job.

I found that it can leave lips quite sensitive specially if you use it every day, but what I didn't like at all on this product is that it comes as a lipstick,  it can be a little messy to clean the top which  I don't think it is hygienic at all.  Maybe if they brought out one that it was in a small pot I would give it another dry. 

Well. these are all the products I used so far, some I like it some I didn't, some I will purchase again, this is the beauty of always trying new products. Let me know if you tried any of these products and what you thought of them.


till my next post :)

take care 

Marlene

xxx

August Birchbox

Hello ladies, I'm back :) I am so happy that I finished college now, at the moment I'm working on my blog, I want to rename the blog and change the design, if you have any good names for my blog please comment below. Anyway I'm here to talk about Birchbox :) I know I was quite disappointed with previous boxes but I decided to give it another go:). This months theme was about beauty junkie and emoji :) .

The first thing I got was from lifestyle and it is emoji stickers :) lovely, thought it was quite nice!!!

When I saw that I got another shampoo in my box I was so disappointed, but then I actually realized it was a clarifying shampoo. The brand is called Kebelo and it will detox your hair from all of the products used, use once or twice a month. It costs £13.95 which I think it is quite affordable.

Next product is from Rituals and it is the ayurveda scrub. I love products from Ritual they are just amazing!!! Enriched with Indian Rose and Multani Clay. It smells so nice and it just leaves skin so soft. You can use it once or twice a week and it costs £10.00.

Next product from my box is overnight success spot minimizing patches from Formula. Infused with tea tree and grape seed, you just have to place on an individual spot and leave it overnight. Priced ast £2.95.

I have an addiction with blushes so I was happy that I received one this month. This one is from Lords and Berry in Lotus. Suitable for all skin tones, just use a fluffy brtusdh and swipe onto apples of cheeks. It is a more natural, flushed shade just to give a healthy appearance, it costs £17.00.

Next is from Huygens and it is an exfoliating cream. It is really important to exfoliate skin and to remove dead cells. This product just smells so good, the texture is a little bit like souffle (I know I'm strange lolol) and it contains rice powder particles. Just massage into damp skin in circular motions. £17.90.

Yuppi:) another blush :) this one is from the Balm (love this brand), this blush gives a fresh, sun kissed look, just use a fluffy brush and just dust over cheekbones. £15.00.

Well, and that is what I got on my box this month :) I do have to say I'm very pleased with this box!! And because I'm going on holiday I will be able to take all these products with me on holiday without taking too much space on my makeup bag. 

Well, let me know your thoughts on Birchbox and products!!! 

Take care

Marlene

Xxx