New Blog Name!

I've got some exciting news, I have changed my blog name, this is something I've been meaning to do for a while as I really didn't think my first blog name of 'Lucie's Style & Beauty' was all that creative, and with a lot of thinking I've come up with a new name...

and my blog is now named...

There is a meaning benind this name, and it's not something I have plucked from thin air, Betsy was the name of my beloved house rabbit that I had who sadly was put to sleep nearly 2 years ago, I was so attached to her and when I lost her it really affected me, so what better way than to never forget her is to use her name as part of my blog title. Lulu was the nickname my parents gave me growing up with my name being Lucie, and there we have it Betsy Lulu.

As you can see I have been busy behind the scenes of my blog and I now have a new banner below by signature where you can click to my Twitter, Facebook, Bloglovin and YouTube pages! I hope you like it as I managed to do it all by myself, well the banner art was off a website of free icons but the overall look and way it works was all me and trust me it wasn't easy! 

Also as you can see I've included YouTube as I now have a YouTube channel and I have recorded my first video however the editing is still a work in progress! If anybody has some good iMovie tips they will be much appreciated! I am hoping to post my video soon although its not the best of quality and I have asked for a good HD camcorder for christmas!

My twitter is the same account I have just changed my username to @BetsyLuluBlog so plase follow me! And my blog web address is now betsylulu.blogspot.com

And please let me know what you think and I would love to know your thoughts.

Manicure Monday: Essie Fiji

As this is the latest addition to my ever growing nail varnish collection I thought I would wear this colour all week, and as it is more of a spring/summer shade it should have its debut now before the weather turns for autumn.

I originally brought this to wear on holiday but I never got round to changing Bikini So Teeny so this is my post holiday shade which reminds me of the sun, sea and sand I so desperately want to go back to. Fiji is a very light but opaque pink, it is unlike all my other light pink shades as these are all sheer in their formula. I've heard that this shade was quite difficult to apply with the old original Essie brush but as I got this in Superdrug from the diffusion line it came with the new wider brush and was very easy to apply. All I needed was two coats for it be be completely opaque which is what you want from a shade that claims to be opaque.

I really like the colour of Fiji, there is something quite unusual about it being such a light but solid colour, and I've read on other reviews it looks great with a tan, shame that I'm still so pale after my holiday but I still think it looks great on paler skins like mine. Its a very easy to wear shade, although being obvious on the nail it does not scream loudness like some/ most of my nail colours in my collection do. It could be easily worn to work or perhaps a wedding because it is just such a 'pretty' shade. Essie you've done it again with another great formula and even better shade I can easily see why it was in the top sellers section on the Essie counter. 

Have you tried Fiji and what were your thoughts on it? Are you an Essie fan?

MUA Professional Eye Primer

This is a bit of  bargain find for me as I'm a bit tight on funds and desperately wanted the Urban Decay Primer Potion full size, as I have a miniature one that came with a pallet and love it, I thought I'd try this eye primer by MUA which I got from Superdrug for £2.50, which is a great price compared to Urban Decay at £14.50! And this MUA one is not half bad for nearly a sixth of the price!

Alright it doesn't make your eye shadow stick for quite as long as the Primer Potion but it does do a really good job, and it really does give Urban Decay a run for it's money seeing as it is so much cheaper. For the product itself is creamy and glides easily onto the eyelid and it has a wand applicator just like Primer Potion and come is a cream colour that blends into your eyelid, which is very similar to the original version of Primer Potion. I have to say that this does make my eye shadow it all day and it does what is says on the tin, unlike its Urban Decay rival your eyeshadow might not still be there in the morning after the night before, but do we really need a primer to do this, and as this lasts the whole day you can't really ask much more. This is a great drugstore buy and a great alternative to a top brand product that produces a very similar result.

As far as MUA products go the quality and pigmentation in their powders is extremely good considering most items range between £1 and £5 and I have now discovered that they stock a wider range of MUA products in my local Superdrug so I'm sure everytime I pop in there for something else I will be tempted my the MUA treasures!

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Real Techniques Blush Brush

I brought this brush not long before I went on holiday and it's not my first Real Techniques purchase and won't be my last, I just love them! For those of you who don't know Real Techniques is the makeup brush line designed by Samantha Chapman (one half of Pixiwoo) who is a staple YouTube beauty blogger. The quality and shapes these brushes come in are just amazing and ever so soft to work with and can be purchased from Boots. My first purchase was the core collection and I now don't know what I'd put on my foundation with if I didn't have the buffing brush in my life, I also have the kabuki brush which is a great all-rounder in my opinion, and I have now added the blush brush to my collection.

On first impressions it is quite tapered large brush and I was skeptical on how it would apply blusher, but with being quite large the taper works perfectly to apply blush right on your cheekbones and contours brilliantly with bronzer. I use this more with bronzer at the moment, and I skip between using this and the Real Techniques kabuki brush depending on whether I want to look more contoured (I use the blush brush) or if I just want a slight hint of bronze all over my cheeks or face (I use the kabuki brush). I have tried it with powder blush, and just a dab and swipe across the apples of your cheeks are all you need so this really does ease application, but I have been using cream blushers lately as they have better lasting power in summer and this brush is made just for powders. I find that the Real Techniques contour brush which also come with the core collection is very good for blending out cream blushes after applying them with your fingers.

For the £9.99 price tag this brush carries the quality feels like it should be a lot pricer and is super soft synthetic bristles, it also comes with a large base which is designed so that it can stand up on its own, this is a bit of a pointless feature if you ask me and just makes it harder to fit in my brush mug. Real Techniques are my favourite brushes right now, and the starter set is already on my christmas list!

What do you think of Real Techniques brushes? Which one is your favourite?

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Liz Earle Skincare

 

I know every other beauty blog out there has raved on and on about the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and now it's my turn. I use both the Hot Cloth Clenaser and the Skin Tonic on my skin morning and night and Liz Earle's products are a major part of my skincare routine.

I have tried a few cleansers, not loads but a few, and when I found this one I stopped looking for the perfect cleanser and I've not strayed too much since. Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish is what I reach for everyday for a good cleanse and it does the job perfectly. I use a pea size amount, as this stuff is on the pricey side and if you use too much each time you'll find it will soon run out, but I find that this is enough to cleanse my whole face and a small part of my neck. I massage it in all over my dry face, working it more into my nose and chin areas as this is where I have the biggest pores. I then run one of the muslin cloths under a warm to hot tap and wipe it off my face using my index and middle finger inside the cloth. This provides a slight exfoliation as well as a cleanse and leaves my skin feeling so clean and soft. I then finish with a splash of cold water.

After the Cleanse and Polish I then sweep some of the Instant Boost Skin Tonic over my face using a cotton pad. Which is Liz Earle's version of a Toner but no where near as harsh on your face as any regular toner with alcohol in. It just refreshens the skin rather then making it sting and tingle like a regular toners did to my skin. I especially like to use this is the mornings without fail as it helps wake me up as I feel it wakes my skin up for me (if that makes any sense!).

I love both these products and will continue to repurchase until I find something better, although I very much doubt that will happen, and they are definitely a staple in my skincare rountine.

Have you tried Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish or Instant Boost Skin Tonic? What are your thoughts, do you love them as much as the rest of us?

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Manicure Monday: Holiday Nails

I'd just like to start off by apologising for my absence for a month, August was just kind of a write off in terms of blogging as I had been working a 7 day week, yep that's right no days off, and the evenings I did have free when I beat the M25 traffic I had so much household stuff to catch up on and other essentials like trying to muster up the energy to have dinner. This was all because I managed to get some work experience at a solicitors practice whilst still working my weekend shop job. My work experience was originally given to me to last 2 weeks, but 4 weeks later I was still there, which can only be a good thing, but sadly it is now over and at the end of it I had my proper summer holiday booked which I only came back off yesterday. So from now on I'm going to do my best to make blogging a part of my life. 

On to the actual post, Manicure Monday, as I have just come back from the sunny south of France I thought I would do my Manicure Monday on the one nail varnish I wore the most on holiday which was ... Essie Bikini So Teeny, surprise surprise! This has been such a popular colour this summer it was almost impossible to track down, I even started to panic I might not be able to get hold of it before my holiday, but after visiting about six Boots and Superdrugs there it was finally!

It is just a perfect colour for a sunny holiday, it's a powder blue with a hint of shimmer which just goes with sunny days like a match made in heaven. It also went with a lot of my summer outfits and my blue and turquoise bikinis so all in all this was really the only colour I needed on holiday, although I did also take Essie Fiji. The shimmer is not noticeable from a distance but up close it does give the colour a added special something, and powder blue but is not wishy washing like the Nails Inc Instyle Bluebell which is the only other similar colour I have, Bikini So Teeny blue packs more of a punch and a better impact on the nails. I have also noticed it dries a slightly different colour to what it goes on wet, it has a noticable hint of purple in the blue when first applied but this goes once it has dried. The formula is excellent as most Essie's are and the new diffusion line brush means a speedy application, and I've used two coats in the pictures here which lasted about 4 days on holiday before chipping with using a top and base coat, and that was with being on the beach and swimming in the sea a lot.

To sum this colour up would be holiday nails in a bottle! Have you tried Bikini So Teeny? What do you think of this colour?

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