Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

In colour Cherish

Whilst have a wander in Superdrug just before my holiday I noticed that the Revlon stand had the new Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains and at a special introductory price of £5.99 instead of their usual price of £7.99. After swatching all the colours on the back of my hand it was clear for me it was a toss up between Darling and Cherish, as they were quite similar colours, and in the end I settled on Cherish. I did think about buying both and then the voice of reason in my head told me I don't need two similar colours of the same product, so I walked away from the stand and quickly paid for Cherish before I changed my mind!

These are meant to be a bit of a dupe for the Clinique Chubby Sticks, I have to say I haven't tried any of the Chubby Sticks as I could never justify paying the £16 for one so I have stayed clear so I can't be tempted. However the Revlon ones at £7.99 (or £5.99 if you get it on the promotion) are a much affordable alternative. There are 7 colours in the range they have brought over to the UK, a wider range of colours is available if you live in the US, and I have seen them at both my local Boots and Superdrug, but my local Superdrug had 6 of the colours, whilst my local Boots only had 4! But my local Boots did have a colour Superdrug didn't have, so between the two shops you should be able to find all 7 colours.

As for the product itself, it looks like a giant crayon which you can wind up, and the packaging comparison to the Chubby Sticks is uncanny! The balm stain smells minty, I'm not sure if its closer to spearmint or peppermint, maybe peppermint, but it is definitely minty. After doing countless swatches on my hand and going for a light colour because I have very pale skin, I did find that after apply it to my lip the colour looked a lot darker, but that may be just because of my skin tone. Cherish looks like a light bubblegum pink on my hand and on my lips it turns into a brighter pink, and maybe not too everyday wearable. The balm quality is good, but I would not use is as an alternative to a lip balm, I tend to put a lip balm on before this. The colour lasts well but after a while turns a bit dry, which would probably be the stain quality to it, I have found over the day it starts to wear out from the middle and as this colour looks quite bright it went a bit crazy chunky lip linerish, which I sorted by reapplying.

Overall I do like these, probably not enough to go buy another colour unless they bring out a nude, like the US colour Charm as I do find it a bit bright for one of the palest colours in the range. But if you like chubby sticks and find £16 a bit much for a different colour these are a great substitute.

Have you tried the Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains? What do you think? What is your favourite shade?

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Manicure Monday: Rainy Day Colour

I thought I should start off by saying sorry for my absence and lack of posts over last week, I was on holiday in the Lake District and unfortunately our cottage had no wifi and then when I got there I found I had absolutely no phone signal to even use the internet on my phone! But as you will see by the last post below I did manage to find some free wifi on an outing to Ambleside and managed to post one holiday related post. I'm back now have lost of posts lined up and will be posting everyday this week!

Back to the present day and it's Manicure Monday. Last week I wore a bright colour to help bring out the sun on holiday, and it did kind of work as the weather wasn't too bad, but now I'm home the weather is so un-July like and has been raining all day, so I thought I'd paint my nails a rainy day colour, and so it's not all so grey and gloomy I added a mint green accent to liven things up.

I painted my nails all over in OPI's I Have a Herring Problem from their SS12 Holland collection, which is a recent buy from the Asos sale (here). I used two coats of I Have a Herring Problem, and it does need two or three good coats as it is quite sheer going on with the first coat. I do love this colour, it's not a bright colour but a lovely blue with a hint of green and a very slight sparkle. I then used Essie's Mint Candy Apple from the new diffusion line launched in Boots and Superdrug, as a mint green accent. To do this I used the thin part of the new brush, you need to turn the brush on its side to the way you would usually use it, I then striped across freehand, and went over very delicately any bits that I had missed out or needed a bit for filling in, and hey presto it was as easy as that!

It is a lot easier to do using your dominant hand and it may not be completely perfect freehand, and for those of you who are not confident enough to try freehand, have a shaky hand, or want a pin perfect line you could use scotch tape as a line guide or french manicure strips if you have some of the straight ones, but make sure you wait an hour or two for your base colour to dry first! Freehand draw or not a colour accent to your nails is dead easy and adds an extra pop of colour and transforms plain polished nails into something a bit more interesting!

Give it a go, and let me know what you think! What colour combinations do you like on your nails?

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My Walking Holiday Beauty Essentials

A beautiful view from one of our walks of Ullswater lake

As I have said on twitter and in my Saturday Outfit post, I am away this week in the Lake District with my boyfriend's family, and the main thing to do here is walk in the beautiful countryside surroundings. However all the walking does take its toll and there are a few beauty items which I have relied upon to keep my skin, face and body in check. These products are what I have found great for a walking outdoorsy holiday, and I'm sure my beauty essentials will differ when I go on my summer holiday to Cannes in September.

The first is Tiger Balm, an absolute lifesaver on aching shoulders and leg muscles, small amount rubbed in soon relives the aches and pains allowing you to relax in peace and raring to go for the next walk. It's smell isn't to everybody's taste as it has quite a strong menthol and spicy odor but I actually like it.

A lip balm is also very much an essential, one which I have been carrying around with me on all the walks. I have Nivea Pure & Nautral Milk and Honey, which I really like the flavour of on my lips, and as I have been carrying it about everywhere I go a lip balm in stick form is an advantage with easy and clean application on the side of a hill.

Sudocrem (60g), an essential on any holiday or just in general in my opinion, I use this for just about anything and everything, bites, scratches, spots, sore patches, is basically my universal cream. I have larger tub at home and I have brought a small sized tub to take away with me which is just the right size to take on a holiday.

Hc45 Hydrocortisone Acetate Cream 1% (15g), I original brought this with me for my eczema, as it is a milder version of my steroid cream I use for flare ups, and this little tube is a great size to take away unlike the 200ml one I have prescribed. I haven't had to use it much as my eczema hasn't been bad, but it has been a saviour to my boyfriend who has been bitten to death by mosquitos and this can also be used to treat insect bites and helps to stop itching. So it hasn't had the use I brought it for but has been rather an essential.

Champneys Vitamiracle Hand & Nail Cream (75ml), a hand cream is always an essential in my opinion, and especially if you're walking and have the occasional rock to scramble over with your hands, which at the end of the day need some TLC. I like this Champneys one as it isn't too greasy and it also claims to have pro-vitamins that strengthen your nails, so a good all round hand cream.

Charles Worthington Hair Healer, as I seem to be washing my hair everyday after a sweaty days walking this has been a lifesaver in keeping my hair healthy and not looking too dry. It also makes it smell like a hairdressers, and leaves my hair looking in better condition than at the start of my holiday.

Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer (30ml), this mini has been great at refereshing my face, I have even spritzed it over my minimal walking makeup, which gives my face an instant boost! I love this stuff and its great that I got this mini when I brought some more of the Cleanse & Polish as it's the perfect traveling size. 

What products do your take on your holidays? What are your holiday beauty essentials?

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Manicure Monday: Essie Cute as a Button

I want to start a feature on my blog and as nail varnish is my favourite beauty product (I'm actually obsessed with the stuff!) Manicure Monday is the feature I'm going with. It will host a combination of just plain nail polish colours, along with simple nail designs, and a few nail art tutorials. Nothing the beauty addict won't be able to do!

I know I should have done something a little more interesting for the first post, but as I'm away in the Lake District this week with limited Internet connection and nail resources, I have kept it simple. Just a colour this week and I have chosen Essie's Cute as a Button to wear most of the week I'm away. This is a nice cheery summery colour to counter the weather which has been forecast to rain all week long! 

Cute as a Button is described as being a pinky coral but I would say it is more on the pink side but does have a hint of coral to it. It is very bright and I would describe it as being on the verge of a neon but with a creamier finish to it and not as quite in your face colour as a neon would be. It is a perfect summery pink and I can see why it is one of the top selling colours. I got this from Boots in Essie's new diffusion line which has not been available in the UK for long. When I saw a small stand with 6 of Essie's top sellers in my small local boots, got very excited and bought 2 straight away, Cute as a Button and Mint Candy Apple. I then discovered that there is a big Essie stand in the Boots in Kingston, which is my local big shopping town, YAY! And I'm sure every time I go shopping there I will be tempted to pick up another Essie for my collection. Have you tried Cute as a Button? What is your favourite Essie shade?

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