#NewReleaseAlert - You SO..? don't want to MIST this*

Well, this is all a bit exciting. I've got news. Whereas I'm always usually a few weeks behind on embracing the latest trends, today I'm actually one step ahead!

Tomorrow sees the launch of a brand new range from So..? - and I'm going to give you a sneak peek at what they've got in store. I also apologise in advance for all the puns I've used in this post.. it was just too hard to remist resist!

Cult fragrance brand So..? [who have been an integral part of my life for many years, with their pretty yet purse friendly perfumes] are launching a range of fresh and easy to wear body mists that indulge your senses and immerse you in aroma - ranging from the deliciously fruity to the beautifully floral. These brand new, must have mists (100ml, rrp just £3.99) will be exclusively available at Superdrug from tomorrow - the 26th September, 2016. 

They come in six gorgeous scents, and are a total mist MUST have item to pop in your handbag, load up your stockings with this Christmas or to take away on holiday with you; to spritz yourself fresh throughout the day. And can we just take a minute to appreciate the packaging?! #GOALS

The six scents are as follows:

So..? Floriental

This cocktail of floral and fruity notes is perfection from start to finish. Top notes of mouth watering pear, apple and mandarin awaken your senses, before melting into a medley of freesia, violet and a creamy base of caramel and amber.

So..? Watermelon
A sparkling blend of watermelon, red berries and apple blossom progress into a delicious heart of apricot and honeysuckle, finishing with a sweet base of sugar candy that makes So..? Watermelon perfect for wear on every occasion.

So..? Fruity

Fruity by name, fruity by nature! A juicy blend of notes which begins with zingy mandarin followed by a beautiful melange of peach and lily of the valley. The So..? Fruity fragrance is rounded off by creamy cedar wood to complete this gorgeously refreshing scent.

So..? White Petals
As delicate as the name connotes, So..? White Petals begins with gentle notes of bergamot, followed by a floral heart of freesia and water lily which settles into a refreshing base of white musk and cedar wood.

So..? Fresh Musk
This delightfully easy to wear fragrance is bursting with fruity top notes of mandarin and peach. Leading to a floral heart of jasmine and lily of the valley, before indulging you with a sophisticated blend of cedar wood and creamy vanilla.

So..? Vanilla Milkshake

A truly classic fragrance, So..? Vanilla Milkshake begins with a playful mix of peach and plum, before rolling into a regal heart of rose. Its single base note of vanilla completes the fragrance that is both simple yet stunning.

My fave is Floriental - not only have I pretty much bathed in it since these beautiful body mists arrived on my doorstep last week, I've also sprayed my bedding, cushions and most of my home with it. These bright, beautiful fragrances have come at the absolute right time of year for me - one, in terms of filling the stockings of every female I know for Xmas and two, to remind me of the fruity fresh vibes of Summer; during a time when the weather here takes a turn for the absolute worst.

For more info about the launch, the range or the other fabulous products So..? sell, you can check out their social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Or of course, by heading straight down into your local Superdrug and seeing their gorgeous range face to face.

Have you made any So..? purchases recently? Which one of these delicious scents has caught your eye? Are you thinking about the Christmas Present Potential [CPP] they have as much as I am? With such beautiful scents to choose from and such a reasonable price tag, I will definitely be spending a lot more time at Superdrug now!

*This post contains PR samples, but as ever - all opinions are very much my own.

Kiy-oshi Eyelash Enhancer Serum* - First Impressions

When I was about 15, on the morning of School Photograph Day, something happened. 

Looking back on your time as a teenager, I'm sure you'll remember how significant having your School Photo taken was - and if you were unlucky, the sheer horror / disappointment in your ma's eyes when you got them back a few weeks later. You know, the moment when you unearth the big one [the one which is destined to be hung in Grandma's lounge for years to come] from its plazzy sheath to find that you looked like a mutant / had your eyes closed on each one. And Mum looks at you, like 'You little sh*t, I paid £30 for this set to proudly send out to the extended family and you looked like... that?!' And you die a little inside, knowing that your second cousins removed will now forever think you're some kind of stoner and / or gremlin.

So for this catastrophe to happen on the same day as School Photograph Day was pretty soul destroying.

On this day, I'd got up proper early and ironed my hair [literally, with my Mum's iron, to get it poker straight.] I'd already applied my lovely, biscuitty tan the night before, plucked my brows into oblivion and I'd spent many minutes applying my Mary-Kate & Ashley glittery coconut lipgloss. 

It was then that I made a decision which unfortunately affected my life forever. I curled my lashes with this pure dodgy £2.49 plastic eyelash curler from Wilkos [which my mate Gemma had highly recommended] and when I removed the curler, it had very kindly sliced most of them off. So I had a few lashes here and there - and then a massive block missing; which to me, pretty much symbolised the end of my life. Cheers, life. I never ordered a big version of that school photo, that's for sure.

Since then, although my lashes have grown back, they've never been quite the same - and I've been reliant on big, fluttery falsies to get me through life. So when Kiy-oshi offered to send me some of their Eyelash Enhancer Serum* to try out, I jumped at the chance!

Kiy-oshi Eyelash Enhancer Serum*, £25

This 100% natural serum promises to make your lashes longer, thicker and fuller - in just a matter of weeks. The bottle lasts for 12 weeks worth of applications [with many customers noticing results in under 2 weeks!] 

The serum itself is safe, a non-irritant, fragrance free and perfect for women [and men] who have noticed the thinning, shortness or loss of their eyelashes. The serum works to enhance the appearance of your eyelashes by adding length, thickness and darkness - which sounded ideal to me, given the erm situation my poor lashes had endured way back when.

Application is quick, easy and pain free, [I even took mine on holiday with me it's that convenient] slotting perfectly into your nightly beauty regime. The bottle has a tiny applicator brush-head to apply the serum. You simply dot this along the base of your lashes before you go to sleep each night, starting from the inner corner of your eye and working outwards. And if you're a contact lens wearer [like me] that's fine too - just apply the product after you've taken them out for the night, so you don't disturb it.

I've been testing this product out for close to 12 weeks now, in order to give it a fair test. A lot of people notice a difference in their lashes within the first few weeks, but I didn't initially [probably because I kept forgetting to apply it regularly at first and kept falling out of the routine] so I wanted to give the product chance to work before reporting back to you guys. The rate your eyelashes grow and react to this serum is down to your skin type, too - so it's important to note that everyone's experience will be different.

Want to see how I got on?

The first few times I used the lash serum, I was a bit sceptical [probs cos I kept forgetting to apply it!!] but once I had established a regular routine, I soon began to see a difference. As you can see from my Before and After shots, my lashes have begun to get their shine back - they're longer, softer and some of the more spikey and sparse areas [illustrated nicely in my Before photo] are fuller now. These are my natural lashes and I have no mascara or makeup on in these images, so you can see 100% real results.

As it states on the packaging, this serum is a lash enhancer, not a miracle worker - so using it won't change your eyelashes overnight, but when I touch my lashes now, they feel considerably more strong and full - which is exactly the result I wanted. There has actually been a few times since using this product that I've rubbed my eyes and thought I'd forgotten to take my mascara off, due to the fact my lashes felt so much thicker and longer!!

The most exciting part of trying out this serum is the fact that I have seen noticeable changes to my lashes in under 12 weeks. Can you imagine what long-term use of this stuff could do for me?! #LASHGOALS! Kiy-oshi do an Eyebrow Enhancing Serum too, to help sparse or overplucked brows grow out faster - so that's something else on my list to try, as 15 year old me wasn't exactly great with her eyebrows, either!! That school photo will haunt me for the rest of my days.

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Have you ever tried a lash enhancing serum? What do you think about my results using this one? I actually have another lash enhancing experiment coming up for you soon [I'm trying out a LVL lash treatment this week with Bloom Liverpool] so keep your eyes peeled for that! 

If Kiy-oshi sounds right up your street, here's a few extra deets for you:

KIY-OSHI – BEAUTY OF THE EAST

Products available from:  http://kiy-oshi.com/shop/

BRAND / COMPANY NAME: Kiy-oshi

BRAND’S WEBSITE: www.kiy-oshi.com

BRAND’S FACEBOOK PROFILE: Kiy-oshi@kiyoshiserums

MARKETING CONTACT’S NAME: Victoria Bowman from Balancedhq

MARKETING CONTACT’S EMAIL: victoriab@balancedhq.com

MARKETING CONTACT’S PHONE NUMBER: +44 0843 886 9545

*This post contains items I was gifted for the purpose of review. However, all opinions are very much my own.

#Beauty | Covershoot Cosmetics, Something to CoverSHOUT about*

It's no secret that I love a bargain. They get me all giddy and weak at the knees. I'm like a more female, less orange version of David Dickinson; every day for me is like an episode of Bargain Hunt. 

On that note [whilst you have that lovely mental image of me in a Bargain Hunt fleece, pure buzzing at a Car Boot Sale] let me introduce you to the latest budget beauty range I've been trying out recently - they're definitely one to [cover]SHOUT about ... they're Covershoot Cosmetics and they're about to blow your mind.

Covershoot Cosmetics are a new, UK based cosmetics brand, who offer quality cosmetics at affordable prices. I'm not even messing about the affordability of their products - you can pick them up at Savers, on Amazon and in the case of the AMAZING Nail Twist Pot [which you can feast your eyes on shortly] - the one and only POUNDLAND. My happy place. I legit can't cope with that news. Every single piece you see in this post retails for under £4. 

Covershoot use professional formulas, giving their products a great finish - and they don't test on animals, either. I can't pick a fault with any of that, can you!? They very kindly sent me a few of the most popular products from their range to try out - and I can't wait to share them with you. Cos not only is Poundland [my fav] involved, they're also really bloody good.

I had to kick off this post with this bad boy - the Nail Polish Remover Twist Pot.* I frigging love it. It's a total game changer and I was not expecting it to be as effective as it actually is - especially given that you can pick this up at Poundland! For nail polish remover, this actually smells really good too - almost fruity rather than that fumey smell this stuff normally has [you know what I'm talking about... that, erm, acetone aroma that hits you right in the back of your throat and makes your eyes stream.] It does exactly what it says on the tin [well, tub in this case.]

Simply pop the lid off, put your finger inside the pot, twist it a little and POW, your nail polish is 100% gone. Just like that. As a lazy blogger, I would pretty much marry this product, if I could [it's that boss.] It honestly takes so much of the hassle out of painting your nails and removing all traces of old chipped polishes. LOVE.

Next up we have these two gorgeous little palettes; the Neon Eyeshadow Palette* and the Smokey Eyes Eyeshadow Palette.* They're cute, dinky and have on-point, minimal packaging.

I got on really well with both these palettes and was really impressed with them - especially with the Smokey Eyes Palette. This palette in particular has some fab staple shades which have really, really great pigmentation - and swatch really nicely. The eyeshadows feel soft and luxurious and will blend a dream. I can't wait to create some smouldering festive looks with it.

The consistency of the eyeshadows in the Neon Palette is a little different; meaning that the colours will need to be built up more to look as effective - but due to how bright and daring the shades in this palette are, I actually think that this works in its favour! I personally wouldn't want to go in too strong all at once with these colours, so I think this quality will make them easier to blend and build up some truly fab transitions with; rather than dive straight in and regret my actions!

If you follow my blog or my mad ramblings on Twitter, you'll know that I've been making more of an effort with my eyebrows lately. I am therefore super excited to try out this Eyebrow Kit*, as I've mainly been using pencils and powders to fill in my brows, and this looks like it will slot into my routine nicely.

The brow powders are soft and feel luxurious to the touch. Although the very dark shade in this palette won't be much use to me, I'm really looking forward to trying out the mid and lighter brown tones and the brow primer; which is a cream consistency. 

The packaging recommends that you apply this primer to your brows first, to hold the colour in place - which is something I never even considered in previous eyebrow care regimes! Can't wait to see if it makes a noticeable difference, yeno.

And last but not least, let's finish up on the trend that never quits [contouring, obv] with the Covershoot Cosmetics Contouring Palette.* I've heard really great things about this palette from other bloggers, so I'm super excited to post about this once I've used it properly; to achieve my contouring goals. 

The palette has three pans; one to bronze, one to contour and one to highlight - so it literally covers all the latest beauty trends in one handy case. Contour, non-tour or strobe - whatever floats your boat. Each pan is a cream, which is great; as cream contouring [for beginners and novices like myself] is much easier than contouring with powder. It also has handy tips on how to apply each product on the inner of the case, which is a nice touch.

My first impressions of this palette are really positive - each product feels like it will blend into the skin nicely and doesn't leave you feeling pure muddy [like some of the knock-offs I've tried from China do - oh and the horror that was the NYX Wonderstick *shudders*] I have very high hopes for this palette. Very high indeed.

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There we have it - a rundown of some truly fab products from Covershoot Cosmetics. I'm really impressed with the quality, packaging and expansive range they offer - not to mention their affordability! Who knew you could get makeup this good in Poundland and Savers, hey?!

Have you tried any of Covershoot's products before, or noticed them when you've been picking up bargains in the holy land which is Poundland? What do you like the look of most from the range?

*This post contains items I was gifted for the purpose of review. As ever, though, all opinions are very much my own.

10% Off At Crownbrush This September

Yes, you heard right - use code Paddle10 at the checkout to get 10% off your next order until the end of the month! Simply click here to get your shop on and thank me later - these brushes are insanely reasonable, durable and effective. 

You can check out my recent post here on some of the Crownbrushes I've been loving recently; their foundation brush and soft fibre blending brush complete me. #DramaQueen

xoxo

*Affiliate links have been used in this post

#Beauty | Make the Switch - Shadow Switch*

Confession time. I don't clean my makeup brushes half as often as I should. Why? Well truth be told, I simply can't be arsed.

When I get my Morphes out, I usually just quickly dab them on a babywipe and hope for the best. This often means that my carefully crafted smokey eye becomes somewhat of a foggy eye instead; as when I'm using my brushes, all kinds of eyeshadows from nights out past resurface. #Hawt

It's just such a chore, yeno? And apart from the Crown Brushes I use on a daily basis [for my foundation, concealer and <half arsed> contouring] I don't really use my little eyeshadow & powder brushes that heavily - or often. This makes it feel like even more of a mission; dedicating pure hours of my time to cleaning them. You with me? 

WELL dolls, it's time to rejoice - as I've found a genius little contraption from Beauty Essentials that takes all the hassle out of cleaning your brushes, and which also means that you can use the same brush to apply / switch between different eyeshadows without any powdery disasters. I present to you, the Shadow Switch*.

Retailing for just £5.99 with free postage on Amazon, this bad boy has become a firm favourite of mine - it's super affordable [my mantra in life #PovertyProbs], super effective and super cute - just look at its little striped tin - Instagrammable or what?! It's a must have for any #bblogger, MUA or general makeup obsesso, like me.

The best thing about Shadow Switch is that it's a totally dry brush cleaner. No water, no cleanser, no shampoo = no mess, no downtime and no drying time. You can actually clean your brushes as you're using them - and carry on using them straight after. 

This little tin of glory promises no product transfer, helps preserve your makeup brushes, is eco-friendly, quick AND refillable for hygiene purposes - all for just £5.99 delivered. As you may be able to tell, I was totes sold on this gadget from the very first time I used it. But how does it work?

It's not sorcery, it's not black magic - it's like; a wirey, spongey refillable block. In fact, the triumphant ingredient within this pretty tin is something so simple, it makes me wonder why I haven't thought of doing anything like this before. Wanna see it do it's thang?

Putting the Shadow Switch to the test

1. I chose one of my favourite Morphe Eyeshadow Palettes to be the guinea pig for this experiment. I then grabbed a Morphe eyeshadow brush and ferociously stabbed it in this shimmery blue shade for a while.

2. After spilling a lot of very pigmented blue powder all over my life / person / carpets, it was time to test this promising tin out. I pressed and rotated my brush over the Shadow Switch in a circular motion until all traces of this shimmery blue hue were no more. 

3. Et Voila! I dragged the brush over the back of my hand to see if there was any powder fallout, or just any trace of it at all - and there was nothing! Clean as a whistle. No evidence that the eyeshadow explosion which had literally just occurred had ever happened. I could quite safely now transfer this brush into any other pan with no danger of causing hell. Is this a game changer or what, like?!

I also found that this little beauty is PERFECT for cleaning up your hands / fingers when you've been swatching powder makeup and eyeshadow for your blog all morning. You know that #Bloggerlife - the pure stripey arms, full of swatches - every free inch of skin covered in something new and sparkly. 

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Have you tried a Shadow Switch before? Do you want to?! Click here to get involved with a slice of the action. I honestly reckon this gadget is proper fab and will be using mine religiously from now on. I've got no more excuses or reasons to be lazy now - and my brushes will definitely thank me for it!

*This post contains items I was gifted for the purpose of review. However as always, all opinions are very much my own.