Tried and Tested: Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush

I bought Daniel Sandlers Watercolour liquid blush last year, after wanting a long lasting blusher. I have never really got on well with cream blushers, as I have always found they never lasted that well on my oily skin and often made me look like a cherub/clown. So after reading many reviews on this blush, I decided to take the plunge, and I'm really glad I did. I chose the shade 'Passion', its a gorgeous pinky coral, with a shimmer - so when I wear this I often feel like a don't need to use a highlighter, although I think its a summer only shade. A little dot of this product goes a long way, and I use the Real Techniques Stippling brush to blend it in. I once had a comment when wearing this blush that my cheeks looked naturally flushed, and as though the blusher was just part of my skin - and I think its the liquid element to this blusher which really enables a natural finish, as it works in great synergy with your skin. And it really does last a full day for me! I think the price is quite reasonable too (£14.50), as I know its going to last me a long time.

Daniel Sandler Watercolour liquid blusher in the shade Passion

Left: Blended colour. Right: Before I blended.

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Trend: Bright Summer Lips

I love rotating my makeup wardrobe throughout the seasons, especially lip colour. Moving from dark reds in the winter, to nudes in the spring, then bright corals and pinks in the summer. Here is a quick round up of the lipsticks I have been working my way through over the past couple of months..

Keyvn Aucoin - Matte Pink - 'Forever'
This is the boldest pink I own, and is saved for when I can be bothered to top up such a hard to wear lip stick. Even though the ingredients are paraben free and is meant to reduce fine lines, I find this lipstick quite heavy to wear and almost a heavy wax. But when I've applied it 'just right', its a great summery colour

Face Stockholm - Coral - 'Gladje'
I wear this bright coral pink often with subtle golden eye shadow, and often chose it when I'm wearing my coral summer dresses. It has a moisturising finish, which is a nice change from the many mattes I have in my collection!

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine - Sheer Coral - '497 Intrepide'
This is the perfect sheer coral to take with you on a summery day out. Its so easy to apply and has a gentle sheer finish, so isn't too over powering. Its makes just enough of a pretty statement. This is one of my favourite lipsticks.

Charlotte Tilbury - Matte Rose Pink - 'Amazing Grace'
This is the least bright colour in my summer range, but still offers a strong lip finish. I love the texture and longevity of the Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution lipsticks, and this 'vintage tea rose' shade is great when you want to go for the sophisticated and elegant look.

Tom Ford - Matte Red - 'Flame'
This is such a gorgeous lipstick, it has the perfect amount of orange in the red, to make it a summer yet glamorous shade. I never need to wear lip liner with it, as right from the first swipe it makes a perfect outline. So expensive, but such a good product.

L to R - Kevyn Aucoin, Face Stockholm, Chanel, Charlotte Tilbury, Tom Ford

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Top Products: Faking that Summer Glow

As we seem to sometimes miss an actual summer in the UK and am not keen on the suns aging effects, I am always keen to fake my tan, but with minimal effort and natural results. I have come across two products that give me a healthy glow, and are so easy to apply. For me nothing beats the St Tropez Gradual Tan, I think its perfect for a pale skinned gal like me. Its scent isn't too overpowering or biscuity (!), so that if you apply after your morning shower, you don't get a nasty whiff every time you move your arms. And the tan is so subtle and gently, that I have yet to get any unsightly orange splodges or build up on knees and ankles. I use the light/medium shade on my body. Then for my face, I use Clarins 'Liquid Bronze Self Tanning' - you just apply a couple of blobs to a cotton pad and quickly sweep around your face and neck, and in 12 hours you'll have a healthy boost to you complexion. I have used this two nights in a row, and it wasn't needed, so now I used about every four or five days to maintain the slight tan. Again, I think this works so well on me because I am extremely fair, it would not be as effective on darker skins, or you could just use it more regularly. I also have quite sensitive skin, and I have not reacted to this at all, which is great! At £20 it isn't cheap, but I can see this lasting a long time because you only need to use a little each.

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Tried and Tested: Only have eyes for Chanel..

For a long time now, I have been on the look out for a red toned eyeliner. Any that I had previously come across seemed too brown or bronze, and didn't have enough of that warm element I was after. So when Chanel released their new Fall Collection a few weeks ago called 'Le Rouge' I knew it was something I had to investigate.

And there it was.. their Stylo Yeux Waterproof Long Last Eyeliner, in the shade 'Eros'. Its a metallic coppery red. I had never bought one of Chanel's Stylo eye liners before, so I was interested to see how the longevity of the eye liner lasted - so far I'm really pleased, it lasts a full day without the need of a top up, and is still as intense. So when I next need a new black or brown liner I'll definitely look into the Stylo range in the future.

I haven't yet worn the eye liner on its own with just mascara, but I have paired it with Chanel's Illusion D'Ombre in the shade 'Mirage', the warm coppery golden brown shade brings down the intense red eyeliner to make it extremely 'day friendly'. I then pair this with a good coating of my favourite mascara Chanel Le Volume, in Noir, and voila, I've got my new favourite eye look that will take me from autumn into winter.

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Weekend Away: Pig in the Wall

A couple of weekends ago we celebrated our first wedding anniversary, and decided to have our first stay at one of the 'Pig' hotels. We chose the 'The Pig in the Wall' in Southampton, for its easy access to London, decent priced rooms and gorgeous interior, which definitely has the same feel as the Soho House hotels (effortlessly cool and chic). We stayed in their mid range room, which they call 'Comfy', and although ours was not huge, it had a lovely big bathroom with a rainfall shower, and separate dressing table area - which I made sure I took advantage of. They provided gorgeous bathroom products from Noble Isle and had posh tea and coffee, so as we paid more than what we would normally for a room (without breakfast!), you could tell there were extra special pieces that only a boutique hotel such as this would provide.

An added bonus was that if you booked a meal at their sister restaurant in the hotel 'The Pig in the Wood' in Brockenhurst, you received a complimentary Land Rover shuttle service to take you their and back. They offer this because the restaurant area in the 'Pig in the Wall' is only set up to do breakfasts and light lunches.

The meal we had that evening was gorgeous, it was very hard to pick from their '25 mile menu'. After our dinner we had enough time to have a little wander through the hotel communal areas (definitely feels like a private members club), and into the gardens where they grow a lot of their produce - it was so picturesque. We really appreciated being able to experience the two hotels, as it really added to the overall enjoyment considering we only stayed one night.

Bed in our 'Comfy' sized room

Rainfall shower

Old style toilet and gorgeous floor tiles used throughout both hotels.

Before our meal at the 'Pig in the Forest'

After meal walk through the herb garden

We would love to stay at another one of their hotels, The Pig on the Beach in Dorset is next on my list!

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Tried and Tested: Natural Protein Powder

Although I'm yet to notice any physical health benefits from this natural protein powder, PhD Woman Natural Protein, I wanted to write a quick review on how I have found drinking the stuff!

I originally bought it from Boots because it had a bit of a discount, and I was a sucker for its female orientated marketing and design. I also liked the fact that it said it was a 'plant and protein blend' and dairy, gluten and sugar free. It also said you don't have to take it after exercising, it can be taken at any time. So I thought I'd give it a go, I was only able to buy chocolate flavour. The first time I tried it, I followed the instructions of mixing it with ice, cold water. Oh. My. God. It was not a pleasant experience - very strange tasting and overly powdery. I forced it down, and could only knock it back like a shot! I then made protein balls mixed with peanut butter, and I enjoyed eating these. And then finally, I made the protein drink with milk instead of water. This was much better, although half way through I wasn't enjoying it as much. So I am thinking next time, I'll just make half of the quantity!

I'm determined to finish the packet, but would be interested in buying another brand to see if it would be more palatable.

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Style: New Interior Investments

Its taken us nearly 3 years of living on our flat to eventually decide and invest in a wall clock, and after discovering the brand Georg Jensen in Selfridges late last year, I know on of their clocks would eventually make it onto our living room wall.

We bought the Koppel 15cm Wall Clock, Copper with White Dial. Although copper is a very current trend, I'm hoping that the clean design and open face of the clock will ensure that we want to use it for many years to come. At the moment, we've got a copper candle tray on the coffee table, and a copper plant pot, so its all tying together nicely! The 15cm isn't too large and doesn't dominate the room, which will also mean that when we move house, it should fit into another setting easily.

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Review: Tom Ford Santal Blush Perfume

Last week I received Tom Ford's Santal Blush perfume as a very special present. I didn't think I would ever own a bottle of Tom Ford perfume, just because of the sheer ridiculous price tag. I always detour round the Tom Ford perfume counter to have a spritz when I'm walking through Duty Free, but that was always enough for me, knowing I'd never want to part with so much cash for a perfume. So I'm still a bit shell-shocked at being the owner of such an item! When I first tested it out earlier on this year, I thought it was the most perfect fragrance, and now that I actually own it, I still think its such a unique and gorgeous scent.

The Tom Ford website describes this perfume as 'Mesmerizing, Exotic and Mysterious' - I'd definitely agree with 'Exotic' because of its mixture of Sandalwood and Eastern Spices with Florals. It has a strong smell, but not too heavy or overpowering, like I find some Tom Ford perfumes to be. I think this perfume will work well in both summer and winter due to the combination of floral and spice. So far, I have only needed to spray once onto my neck and I have found that to be enough to last me the day. Using it so sparingly will hopefully mean the bottle lasts a long time too!! The colour of the perfume and shape of the bottle bottle, also look great on my dressing table.

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Tried and Tested: The Makeup Support Acts

Today's post is a quick round up of some makeup I've acquired over the past few months that really helps complete your look if you're wearing either a strong eye or lip. Both the lipstick ('Modesty' from Mac), and blusher ('Exposed' from Tarte) have a similar tone to them - mauvey, pinky/nudey, but above all natural and compliment my natural skin colour. Think your lips/cheeks - but better. Because when I wear heavy or dark eye makeup, or a bold lip colour, I don't want too much colour elsewhere on my face.

Then for when I'm wearing a strong lip colour, I quite often want my eyes to look bright and open, and a couple of products I'm using quite a lot recently is Mac's Paint Pot cream eyeshadow in the shade 'Bare Study' to create a fresh base with a slight shimmer on the lid, them I blend a bit of 'Wedge' eyeshadow, again from Mac, into the crease. This gives just enough definition without looking too dramatic.

Along with a bit of Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser, all of these work well together for a natural day look.

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