I Caved: Umberto Giannini Backcomb In A Bottle

I missed my bus the other night and used it as an excuse to pop into Boots to see if they had the fabled Backcomb In A Bottle in stock...it set me back £5.61.  I don't care how amazing it turns out to be - I would only use it sparingly at this price for only 200mls!


The container is beautiful and there's another lid under the silver one.  I've only used it once so far, and my hair was curly so I couldn't really work with it that much to see the full effect.  It seemed very sticky and seemed to work pretty much like a traditional hairspray.  Also the smell is vile - just pure chemicals with no hint of 'parfam'!


It claims to be suitable for all hair types and deliver instant texture and the volume of backcombed hair without having to wreck your hair.


So I'll have a fuller review for you soon after I've tried it on my hair in a few different ways, but I'd hold your horses on getting this until you've read a good few reviews...I literally just bought into the name and didn't consult blogland as much as I normally do before buying something!  I suspect that some backcombing will be necessary, but you may not have to do as much as normal  and it will hopefully provide extremely firm hold.


Stay tuned!

Lush-cious Bargains

I picked these up a couple of weeks ago when Lush were having a 50% off sale on their holiday giftsets.  I was in the Lush in Westfield the day after Boxing Day and everything was gone, but I found these beauties on the less-frequented Portobello Road branch.

On the left is the Stardust set and I knew I had to have the Gingerbread House when I saw it on a few blogs.   Stardust was £24.95 down to £12.48 and the Gingerbread House was £6.95 down from £13.95 - bargain! There were still a good number of sale bits left when I got mine so you may still be able to get lucky!  I got whipped up into a bit of a frenzy and panic bought the lip tints too.  

Look at the cute robin! The roof lifts off to reveal...

From left to right: Cinders Bath Ballistic, Gingerbread House Bubble Bar, Li'l Lush Pud Bath Ballistic, Candy Cane Bubble Bar. 

It was packed with the multicoloured Styrofoam bits you see below.  So far I've only tried the Gingerbread House Bubble Bar - it wasn't amazing I have to admit and made my bathwater a neony orange.  I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Lush - everything looks and smells so lovely in the shop, but when you get it home and into the bath the smell is not very strong and I'm not impresses with the texture sometimes.  I guess I go through phases with it.  I was all over it like a rash when I came across Lush in 2003, but went off it when I found that the soaps do 'go off' if you don't use them up within the first month or so (but they are billed fresh cosmetics).  Every year or so I do get lured back in, and so here we are!

The Stardust box is a bit boring when you get the wrapping paper off, but it will come in as a handy box for posting things!

And here's what's inside.  I mainly picked this up for the Lip Dip and Twilight Bath Ballistic.

Pretty things!

I used the Twilight Bath Ballistic the other night - Monday night baths are now a regular feature - it made my bathwater a pleasing pink, but had little scent - I hardly picked up on the Lavender.  Also, it's blue inside!  I'm sure I've tried the Candy Cane Bubble Bar in the past, or something very similar to it, and this is one product I really love - lots of creamy bubbles!

Looking forward to trying this much hyped shower gel...it smells like Bubblegum Lip Scrub, which at times can be a bit too sickly sweet.

I've barely made a dent in my other lip scrub, but this one tastes absolutely divine! It's sherbet, cranberry and lemon flavoured...noms!

Since Lush products smell best to me before they come into contact with water, I popped them into this flower pot (it used to house an Orchid) and now my bedroom smells divine! I don't leave them in the bathroom as mine gets very steamy from hot showers and the products would get damaged and go off quicker. 

After I took this photo I tied the silver ribbon from the Stardust wrapping around the jar to make it extra pretty!

Snow Fairy Lip Tint was half price, at £1.98 - again, like the shower gel it smells like Bubblegum lip scrub.  I find it a bit dry and it doesn't show up on my lips very well, so I wouldn't repurchase.

I was sneakily upsold It Started With a Kiss at the till and although it was £4.95 I really like it as it's a really bright colour on my lips and I get a compliment every time I wear it.  However I probably wouldn't repurchase this one either as it's dry, not as bad as Snow Fairy, but I take ages to use up lip products so it will have turned to dust before I come near to finishing it! For the best effect I apply a lip balm, and then the tint, but who wants to carry two products - you're better off with a Sleek Pout Polish.

Snow Fairy Lip Tint

It Started With A Kiss Lip Tint (I don't know why it hasn't shown up that vibrant, but trust me, it's post box red!)

Did you get any good steals in the Lush sale?

Sleek MakeUP Molten Metal in Pewter/Gold Leaf

These sold out from Superdrug pretty swiftly but I managed to grab the last one from a display in a little tucked away branch.  Sleek seem to be starting a price hike as it set me back £6..99, which considering that amazing eyeshadow palettes like Storm with 12 shades were only £4.99 a year ago, is quite a rise.

I like the packaging, although I did have to rip the cardboard box a bit to get the palette out.  It's very sturdy and has a handy mirror in the lid.

Pewter on the left and Gold Leaf on the right.

These are very creamy shadows and even feel more luxurious than my beloved Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadows.  I've seen the Molten Metals compared and even praised above Illamasqua Liquid Metals, but I've not tried the latter so can't add to that!  As you can see they are very pigmented and gleam when swatched.

You can apply it with your fingers but you get a more precise application if you use a small compact flat shader brush, preferably with man-made fibres.  This one is from Coastal Scents brush set.

The colour I applied was Gold Leaf and I was pretty impressed...at first.  I was so excited to try the Molten Metal I just whacked it over the shadow I'd had on all day which had pretty much worn off - but that's why my liner and mascara looks a bit skanky!

And this is where it all goes a bit wrong...

I'd read a few reviews which claimed it didn't crease (unlike the Illamasqua ones), but it creased on me after 5 minutes.  Now I do have quite oily lids...but come on!

Ans here's the state it was in after an hour.  Not good.

I was really looking forward to glamming up with it on Saturday night, but I'm not so sure now.  I might try the Pewter on to work tomorrow over some Urban Decay Primer Potion to see if that makes a difference.  Other than than I have a Stila eyeshadow in a similar gold colour which I could use over the top to set it - but then of course I wouldn't get that glossy cream eyeshadow look!

I'll let you know how I get on, but from first impressions, for £7 I'd give these a miss and save up for a Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow, which if you pick the right shade can double as either a powder eyeshadow base or eyeliner.

New Winter Coat

I know winter's almost over but...c'est l'amour...

I originally bought a lovely military style black wool coat from Next (it's not on their website any more) and I was pretty happy with it, but I had that niggling feeling that there was something better out there.  I had almost given up and ripped the tags off the Next coat when I spotted the one above in Oasis last Sunday and bought it on impulse and returned the Next one the next(!) day.  It was £130 reduced to £100, which I didn't think was much of a sale, but I did love it the extra £15 it cost over the Next one.  


This afternoon I logged onto the Oasis website to see it selling for £60! WTF?! So I made a quick dash over to the Oasis near work and sure enough I found it for £60 there too (and maybe a lovely navy dress too *cough*) so I bought it AGAIN! There's no way I'm spending £40 extra on the coat when I don't have to!  I'm going to return the one I bought today with the receipt for the one I'm wearing for £100.  It may not be ethical, but in the States, getting a rebate for something that gets reduced further a certain number of days after you bought it it standard practice.  Wish me luck!


It's still available to purchase in XS-M - all the Larges have sold out online but you may still be able to pick one up instore.


There are some other pretty coats in the Oasis sale and this black one is very similar to the Next one I returned, except not so flarey at the bottom.  It comes in red too and if they come down further I could be persuaded to buy ahead for next year!

I really adore this dress but I'm not sure how it would look on and its sold out in the stores near me.  I'm into long sleeve dresses at the moment!

And here is the 'magenta' dress I justified buying because of the £40 cashback I should be getting on the coast.  It was £30 in the sale and at least it's not black although it is a similar cut to one I already have, but hey, I try to stick to styles that flatter me rather than follow trends!

Do you know of any other good sales going on still?