Friday Favourite: Medieval

On my last Instagramming post here, you might have noticed a cheeky little Space.NK bag. I popped in a few days ago to grab a copy of their Christmas catalogue because mine never arrived through the post, and left with a couple of bits. My favourite has to be this lipstick from Lipstick Queen by Poppy King, in Medieval. There's a range of lipsticks but this one stood alone and caught my attention because of the colour of the packaging...I'm a sucker for how things look and this deep oxblood colour struck me instantly. The lipstick itself is just as amazing. Medieval is a shade described as a red that can be worn by anyone and while I can't vouch for everyone else, I have to say I absolutely love it. It's not a bright post box red, more a red with pink undertones, but it still creates a bold lip and I found it very easy to wear. For a sheer lipstick, the colour pay off is great, and while it's not very long lasting, I found if I put on one coat, then powdered my lips before applying a second coat it stayed longer. It doesn't dry out the lips and has a subtle shine. I've been wearing this with a subtle smoky eye for evenings out and loving it!

Instagramming #3

I've been a bit snap happy recently, so earlier than expected, here's another look at my life in photos. Find me on Instagram with elle_pearson! Hope everyone's having a lovely week :)

1. Currently obsessing over Imagine Dragons album - favourite song here, listening to it as I type! | 2. Wearing my new sparkly festive purchase to a dinner date | 3. In awe of Lauren Conrad's beauty on the cover of Allure | 4. New sparkly top from River Island (here) | 5. The Jack Wills Christmas handbook arrived....uh oh! | 6. Blue tongue fun after lots of sweets with my two brothers | 7. Space.NK treats...post to follow | 8. Amazing balloon aliens at the opening of the new gym..oh how I miss being young! | 9. Toasty toes | 10. A mini Accessorize haul....such cute panda socks! | 11. Flawless gel manicure in a gorgeous autumnal shade | 12. First mince pie of the season - yum! | 13. A very yummy drink discovered at a quick M&S lunch! | 14. Max, my personal hair stylist, age 4. | 15. My absolute cutie of a little brother...think I need to get myself one of those hats...no? | 16. Moody pout on a long train journey | 17. Breakfast stop in between train journeys! | 18. Perfume collection to date...decisions, decisions... | 19. Farringdon, London by night - on the way to my uni course! | 20. Delilah, one of my favourite artists at the moment  | 21. Dippy eggs & soldiers -  British fave | 22. A days work of Christmas Shopping! | 23. Cosy lights in my bedroom | 24. Body Shop's Ginger Sparkle Hand Cream...post here!

Smells like Christmas

I know, I know, before everyone starts screaming "It's still only just November!" at me, I have to admit that I have a little out of control obsession with Christmas. While I think it's completely ridiculous that Selfridges start Christmas as early as September, I do get very excited almost as soon as the fireworks of Bonfire Night on the 5th of November end. Admittedly, I'm not the most organised girl in the world when it comes to most things, but when it comes to Christmas shopping I am straight of the mark and usually have all my presents, wrapping paper and cards bought by the end of November at the latest. I've even already got my advent calendar waiting for December 1st...crazy I know.

Anyway, in my typical exctited state, I passed The Body Shop while shopping down Oxford Street and just couldn't resist being drawn in to their window display of all their new Christmas goodies. I'm already a massive fan of the brand, one of my favourite products being their Body Butters (post here) and at Christmas it's no exception. Everything smells SO good. I absolutely adore the spicy, warm smell of Christmas and The Body Shop incorporates this into their products so well. There are three new limited edition scents for Christmas: Cranberry Joy, Ginger Sparkle and Vanilla Bliss. They all smell divine, but I opted for Cranberry Joy purely because I'm a fan of fruitier scents when it comes to body care. Stores have so many great deals on at this time of year, and I managed to get a set of one full size Body Butter and one full size Body Polish for £15. Amazing. I'm also a Love Your Body member and was due my free treat so I managed to pick up a little hand cream in Ginger Sparkle and a very cute little lip balm, again in Cranberry Joy. I'm thrilled with all these purchases...the Body Butter never fails to please and is beautifully moisturising as always, and the Body Polish exfoliates gently leaving my skin soft, smooth and refreshed. I wouldn't say the hand cream is anything amazing but I am enjoying the festive gingerbread smell. The lip balm is gorgeous, and while it doesn't moisturise the lips as much as some other lip balms, it does still keep them soft and protects them from the intense cold but what I love is the subtle red colour with a slight shimmer. It's a really wearable shade and is so easy to keep in my coat pocket and apply if I need to. So The Body Shop's impressed me this year! If you're looking for some indulgent body treats as a gift for someone...you know where to go!

On a side note, I loved these two videos of the construction of Selfridges' Christmas Window displays here and here. Enjoy!

All About Eve

Nars has to be one of my favourite makeup brands and I've collected a few of their products but my favourites have to be their blushes and eyeshadows. Their colour payoff is fantastic and so pigmented, with an extensive range of colours. My go-to blush is Nars Deep Throat and the new eyeshadow duo I reach for has to be Nars All About Eve. Since getting this, I've used it every day when doing some quick every day makeup because it works perfectly for a neutral eye. I tend to apply it with a dry brush, but they can be used with both wet and dry brushes, so I'm excited to have a go with a wet brush to see how much more intensified the colour is. The two colours look very similar, and they are, but together they brighten up the eye and make a very natural makeup look a bit more polished. I sweep the slightly darker colour all over the lid and use the lighter one as a highlight on my brow bone and in the inner corners of my eye. Quick and simple with a subtle brightening effect. Another star from Nars!

Friday Favourite: Mythic Miracles

Don't get me wrong, I am a massive fan of the holy-grail of hair oils, MoroccanOil, but recently I've started to tire of it. Whether it's the medicine like bottle, or the scent, I just feel like changing things up a bit. This is where I introduce Loréal Professionnel's Mythic Oil Colour Glow and Mythic Oil Milk. One word: Amazing. I love them both. Without rambling on and boring you about the benefits of hair oils, we all know how they protect the hair, nourish the hair, stop flyways and frizz...I will just say that these two are right up there in the world of hair oils. So many brands do their own versions... serums, oils, leave-in conditioners. Effectively they're all very similar, but I often find that a lot of them tend to just coat the hair and leave it feeling quite heavy and greasy...not desirable at all really. The Mythic Oils do exactly what you want while staying light and non-greasy. They're in spray form rather than pumps, so already it you're working with a lighter, thinner liquid, making it much easier than some of the thicker, more gloopy ones.. MoroccainOil being one of those culprits. I've been using them non-stop for a couple of weeks now and they've been a staple in my hair routine, leaving it noticeably silkier and more healthy looking in terms of colour and strength.

Now, you're probably thinking, why have both? Well, I'll be honest and say I couldn't decide between the two, and they're also very different. The Oil Colour Glow is aimed at colour-treated hair which can only be a good thing and contains linseed oil and cranberry oil, whereas the Milk contains royal jelly and passionfruit seed oil and intended for all hair types. For me, they both achieve the same effect, but my preference lies with the Milk purely because I believe it has a slightly nicer scent. The Milk does get used up quicker though because you are recommended to use more sprays than the Oil, but if you only want to buy one, you'll be happy either way. The Oil is definitely more of traditional hair oil, but I just find the Milk feels more creamy and luxurious as well as being a little less greasy to the touch than the Oil for obvious reasons, of course. Not forgetting the original Mythic Oil, there is plenty to choose from, as well as the range continuing into shampoo and conditioner! So have a browse, check out the ingredients and see what's best for you. For now, it's move over MoroccanOil and hello Mythic magic!

Instagramming #2

1. Christmas at John Lewis | 2. Sparkler fun on Fireworks Night | 3. Time to get the Christmas candles out -  Yankee Cherries on Snow | 4. Interesting Lady Gaga pop-out in Elle magazine...still need to try the Fame perfume! | 5. Meet Bonnie, possibly the most adorable dog in the world. My favourite. | 6. First Gingerbread Latté of the season! | 7. Two new ChloBo purchases - post here | 8. Cosy monkey cuddles with my gorgeous little brother | 9. Babysitting results in a movie and some chocolate | 10. Never thought I'd find the One Direction boys in Vogue! | 11. Getting a little overexcited about the Halloween candy | 12. I met this friend in the pub..who knew dogs liked to drink?! | 13. A shameful addition to my running playlist | 14. Enjoying getting out all my snug Winter clothing | 15. The depressing ironing pile...a day of housework | 16. Three new additions to my wardrobe | 17. Loving my new lace top from H&M, not loving the lack of warmth it provides at this time of year | 18. Georgia in the swanky restrooms at the Sanderson | 19. My favourite Autumnal nail combination, post soon! | 20. Sipping on a cocktail during my Mad Hatter's Tea at The Sanderson | 21. Alice in Wonderland 'Drink Me' potion, a very cute (and tasty!) touch | 22. A night in with Made in Chelsea & a bowl full of sweet treats | 23. Feeling sorry for myself after a day sick in bed | 24. Looking a little crazy at the hair salon!

If you feel like following me on instagram my name is elle_pearson.

Umberto Giannini Beauty Secrets

I'm a bit of a self confessed organiser, or maybe I just love shopping? Either way I always get my Christmas presents as soon as I can because I love the excitement of getting them gradually and building up a pile of presents to wrap come December, imaging the faces on the recipients when they open their special gift. That's one of the best things about Christmas, don't you think? The only problem is when I'm shopping, I'm confronted with beautiful products screaming "Buy me! I'm amazing!" while sitting on the 3 for 2 displays....all far too tempting. And I caved. While stocking up on some gifts for the girls down the beauty aisles of Boots, I spotted this gorgeous little bag, packed of full size Umberto Giannini products for damaged hair. Beauty Secrets in a Bag. What more could I want?! I've been on the market for a wash bag for a while now and when I saw this one, I could just see myself cramming it full of travel size goodies and makeup and trundling off away somewhere. The products inside were a bonus really. So far, I've had good experiences with Umberto Giannini products, I'm just not keen on the smell, but I'm willing to give these ones a try to see if they do my hair any good. You get the Pure Beauty Shampoo, the Intense Beauty Conditioner, the Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask and the Instant Beauty Leave-in Conditioner. I'm excited to try out all four of them and right now I'm off to do the aforementioned stuffing of the beauty bag...travel sizes, I'm coming for ya!

TRESemmé Texture

On a recent trip to boots I noticed these new goodies from TRESemmé. I do love a couple of their shampoos, Split Remedy being one of my favourites, but haven't given the brand much notice recently. When I came across these two I was a little sceptical about buying them because they were displayed with the dry shampoo which I'm not a fan of unfortunately, but I'm glad I had a 'what the hell' moment and chucked them into my basket because after giving them a try, I love them! Definitely opened my eyes to TRESemmé once again.

The Divine Definition Spray takes place of dry shampoo most days, adding volume and a bit of a boost to my hair. When I'm having a lazy day, running errands or not meeting anyone, I tend to let my hair dry naturally to give it a bit of a break from heat styling. This product works wonders to perk up boring, limp, air-dried hair, creating an 'done, but not done' look.  You spray the product like you would hairspray and work it in after a few seconds, scrunching up waves and twisting in curls to create a messy, dishevelled look.

The Tousled Wave Spray has to be my favourite TRESemmé product to date. Ever since the trend of beachy waves began, I have been obsessively dedicated to try and get the perfect tousled waves. Be it with curling tongs, curlers, sprays...I've tried the lot. Bumble and Bumble's Surf Spray has got to be one of the best, but it also comes with a bit of a hefty price tag. In my eyes, this product is a much more affordable version of the Surf Spray, creating the same undone, bouncy waves that are still soft to the touch. Just as easy to apply too, you simply spritz it onto towel-dried hair and scrunch your hair in your hands before leaving it to air dry, or gently blow-dry the hair if you're in a rush for the finished look.

I'm a big lover of the messy, beachy, carefree look and these are two star products for achieving it. I can see these featuring in empties posts to come!

Make A Wish

Surprise surprise, another post on ChloBo...can you tell I'm obsessed? The brand's latest collection, Wish, was launched on Friday and during my latest visit to The Dressing Room, I was straight to the ChloBo stand to check out what the collection had to offer. As always, they didn't fail to impress. This collection takes ChloBo back to it's iconic silver roots, whilst still offering new designs such as the Wish Collection necklaces featuring discs stamped with a choice of the words Love, Wish, Peace, Angel and Believe. These discs also feature on the collection's bracelets, either a single one on the simpler bracelets or two of them along with an open heart charm and a peace charm on the Peace & Love bracelet. I picked up the Peace & Love bracelet but I have my eye on the Believe charm one! They're all as gorgeous as always, you can't expect anything less from ChloBo, and they'd make an incredible Christmas present for someone special. While I was at The Dressing Room I also picked up the Make Love Not War bracelet from the After Dark collection that I've wanted ever since I spotted it. There's something about the peace bracelets that I love, and this one incorporates both the peace sign and a lovely little quote on one bracelet as well as using fancy rice beads as a change to the normal round beads  - perfection! I love both of my bracelets and they will look great when stacked with the rest of my collection. Thanks again ChloBo!

Feel Unique Frenzy

I recently hauled a few things from Feel Unique and thought I'd share them with you!

I'll start with something not so glamourous, being the Salcura Antiac Acne Clearing Spray. I was browsing the website and came across this accompanied by good reviews and recently I've got a little bored of my skincare routine so I thought I'd switch this in place of my current toner to see what results I get. Having only just got it I can't tell you how it is, but I'll keep you updated!

Next is something a little more exciting.. Dior's Crème de Rose lip balm. I have had this on my list to get for so long now, first coming across it on Lauren Conrad's blog. I'm not a crazy fan of rose scented things but this one is so subtle and light, it's perfect. Immediately after receiving this order, I grabbed this and put it straight on, and have been using it since, keeping it in my bag to reapply throughout the day and applying a thick layer before going to bed, resulting in amazingly soft and moisturised lips in the morning. The lip balm contains shea butter, known for it's nourishing and moisturising effects, as well as antioxidant vitamins A and E which aid in the subtle plumping effect. With SPF 10, Crème de Rose offers everything and has secured a place as my favourite lip balm yet.

Another new purchase was Moroccainoil's Paddle Brush. My current brush has been put through a fair amount of time detangling my knotty hair and as a result is on it's last legs. Being a fan of Morroccainoil hair products already, I decided to see what their brushes would be like, and so far, so good! I also like the look of it (I know it's just a hairbrush!) with Moroccainoil's signature turquoise and orange.

Finally are two repurchases for me. Nelson's Pure & Clear face wipes and Philip Kingsley's Elasticizer. Both of these are brilliant products which I repeatedly repurchase. While I don't condone using face wipes in place of a proper cleansing routine, they are very useful if you need to remove makeup quickly or want to take off the majority of your makeup before cleansing, which is what I do sometimes. These particular ones are aimed for blemish prone skin and contain tea tree which leave the skin feeling clean and fresh, so far helping with my combination skin. Philip Kingley Elasticizer is a miracle hair product for me. You apply it generously to your hair, almost like a hair mask, before shampooing and conditioning as normal and it leaves the hair so soft and silky and noticeably bouncy and full of life, reviving dull and damaged hair. Because I get highlights, my hair is constantly struggling with the colour applied to it and this product really helps to keep it healthy and hold it's colour and shine. This time I only bought the travel size because I'm switching up my hair masks and experimenting with different ones at the moment so I won't use it as much as I normally would, but still couldn't live without it! Are there any miracle products that you always repurchase?

Inglot Love

During a recent trip to Westfield, I was reminded of this makeup store upon passing it in a hurried frenzy while trying to juggle multiple bags. After relaxing and regaining my composure over a well-needed hot chocolate, I decided to take a look around and see if anything caught my eye. I remember instantly loving Inglot when I first discovered it at Westfield when it opened a few years ago, but since have not bought much. This changed when I left the store with four items that I'm very happy with. 

The first is one of Inglot's lip glosses in packaging that will always remind me of my Chemistry lessons at school (something I'd much rather forget) because of the test-tube like shape! One of my first purchases way back when was a lipgloss, I loved it then and I love it now. They're non-sticky but still last well and the array of colours on offer is incredible. I went with yet another pale pink, Sleeks in 34...(spotting a trend here recently?), because it's so easy to pull of and I know I'll get my money's worth because I'll layer it over my pinky lipsticks (posts here & here).

Another lip product I picked up was Inglot's Lip Defence Treatment, which I can't find online for you sorry, and unfortunately I can't say I love this one as much as the lipgloss. I am an absolute fanatic when it comes to lip balms and I was expecting big things  but this one just didn't come up trumps for me. I think the packaging is simple but cute but that's as far as it goes really. I didn't notice much conditioning, the product just seemed to coat the lip and sit there rather than sink in and nourish, and winding up the bullet was a waste of time because as soon as I started applying the balm it just slid back down again. I'm sorry to say it was disappointing Inglot!

On a much brighter note, I was very happy with the two polishes I snapped up. I've mentioned before how many polishes I hoard - I'm obsessed - but that didn't stop me from buying another two to add to the ever-growing collection. One is a gemstone top coat, Dream collection in 202, which I will be layering over every nail polish I get my hands on (on my nails is a sneak peek on an upcoming post) and the other is a gorgeous bronzed brown with a slight plum undertone, Nail Enamel in 964, which is one of my favourite shades for this Autumn/Winter and I can't wait to slick it on! 

A pretty successful trip to Inglot if I say so myself! I've rediscovered my love for the affordable cosmetics brand...it might end up being a regular thing when I go to Westfield! Are any of you familiar with Inglot?

Friday Favourite: Gilly Hicks

I have a confession. I have a newfound obsession with Gilly Hicks sleep wear. The brand is fairly new to the UK but being the sister brand of Abercrombie & Hollister, I've been a regular customer ever since it opened in Westfield London in November last year. Earlier this year saw the launch of a huge joint store of Gilly Hicks and Hollister on Regents Street which I was obviously very happy about. I've eyed up a couple of pyjama shorts before when I've been in store but never actually invested in any. It was only recently when the temperature dropped and I realised that I don't own any cosy Winter PJ's that I decided to take a look at the GH website and finally thought I'd order a pair. That's ONE pair..but as always I got distracted and noticed there was £5 international shipping so thought I'd take advantage. Somehow I ended up checking out my basket with four pairs of pyjama bottoms, two long and two short, and two lounge tops to wear with them. Since they arrived I have been living in them; changing into them as soon as I get in and finding it very hard to change out of them each morning. They are so comfortable and soft, possibly the cosiest and cutest loungewear I've owned. Worth every penny because I was already shivering in September so these will ensure I'm snug and warm throughout the bleak Winter months ahead. I ordered the Latham Park Sleep Pants in navy, Kingsgrove in navy, Lion Island in navy & white dot, Riverwood Sleep Short in navy check, Callala Beach Tank in white and Maroubra Tee in heather grey. Gilly Hicks also do cute underwear and preppy clothing but for now I'm ignoring both of those and going back to snuggling up in my cosy new PJ's.

Liz Earle: Good just got great!

I am a big fan of Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish. I haven't been using it a lot recently because I've been pretty happy with a skincare routine I started a few months ago, but my love for Liz Earle just got stronger after having bought and used their new special edition Rose & Lavender formulation of their star product. Essentially it is just like the original Cleanse & Polish, but better. The creamy texture is still the same, eliminating any trace of makeup (and leaving you momentarily with massive panda eyes), as is the muslin cloth used to polish off the cleanser, removing dead skin cells and leaving you with beautifully soft, clean skin. The only difference with this special edition is the gorgeous scent due to the rose and lavender, which for me, just makes what was a good product, a great one. And just when you think it doesn't get any better, with every purchase of this special edition, £2 goes to The Princes Trust -  gorgeous skin & a worthwhile cause!

The special edition 150ml Cleanse & Polish is £19.75, available at Liz Earle shops and counters.