A Look at my life behind the blog -My exciting start to 2016

I have never written a personal post on my blog before, up until now I have never felt the need to or possibly just had nothing personal to write about that I felt was worth mentioning. I have always kept a clean blog focusing on Beauty products and reviews but here is a bit of a personal update on whats happening my side lately.

So as some of you know I have a 3 year old daughter and me and my husband have always planned to have our children close together so that they would grow up together with not too big of an age gap. I didn’t fall pregnant easily the first time and also suffered two miscarriages. I never gave much thought to my first struggle to fall pregnant cause it did eventually happen, now looking back I wonder if it was just luck. When my Daughter was 6 months old we decided to start trying for our second child and I never thought it would drag on so much. I just couldn’t fall pregnant, I felt like it was never going to happen.

If you have never struggled to fall pregnant then you will never know the massive emotional roller coaster it is, it can feel like the end of your world and months can feel like years with waiting and bad news after bad news while watching all your friends fall pregnant and have bundles of joy, it is a pain you will never know unless you have suffered it. I found it was easy for people to tell me to relax about it and forget about it then it will happen but this advice just frustrated me because it is not something you simply forget about, I mean how?!  After a few Dr’s appointments and tests I eventually ended up in hospital for a Laparoscopy surgery to remove Endometriosis tissue and make sure everything was clear with no problems on the inside of the womb. The operation went well but I have to admin it was more painful and unpleasant than the dr made it out to be. In the end it was all well worth it because here I sit 3 months after the operation and I am now 9 weeks pregnant!

I never thought I would start my 2016 year with such great news but when my visit to the gyni confirmed that I am pregnant and I could see my little miracle with its beating heart on the screen I just felt complete again. I am only 9 weeks and 5 days pregnant so not completely out of the danger zone yet but I do have faith that this baby is going to be just fine 🙂 , I also now sit with emotions that I am not sure about, it is like I struggled for so long that now that it finally happened I am not sure how to feel. I know I am over the moon excited and happy but it half feels unreal or too good to be true, its been a good few weeks of emotionally adapting to my new pregnancy.

I will still be blogging fully as usual 🙂 so I am not at all going anywhere! over the last year my Blog has become my other little baby that I have put all my love and creativity into and I am definitely planning on doing great things with the blog this year!!!!!

I am considering doing a pregnancy post or two on the blog over the next few months, or maybe a mommy post here and there to adapt to my current situation lol, let me know what you guys think of this idea? My blog will still remain mostly a beauty blog with maybe a different post here and there.

Monday Mani with Essence the gel nail polish range

I’m back 🙂 It has been a long months holiday with my daughter on school holidays for a month and a house full of family members visiting. I am very happy to be back to normal and back on the blog!

Starting off with a quick and easy mani on short nails. I cut my poor nails after the holidays because cleaning house up after everyone left my hands and nails looking old and dead! I also find that my mani lasts longer without chipping on shorter nails. This is literally just a super quick on the run mani I did in the rush to get back into work routine so anyone that is busy can pull this off quick.

For this weeks easy mani I used the essence gel nail polish range in two different pink shades as well as the essence nail art strips for some extra bling and beauty.

prep your nails by cutting, filing and painting on a base coat. I used the essence triple care as a base coat because my nails need the extra TLC at the moment. The Triple care makes sure your nails are healthy by caring for them and adding repair and strength.

My go to nail polish brand for a good glossy mani that lasts is the essence gel nail polish range, It is the only range I have found that actually lasts a good few days on my nails. To start this nail look paint one nice coat of the first color of your choice (you can mix and match shades you like) I used the shade 48 my love diary. The gel nail polish range gives nice cover with only one good coat and it dries fast so no sitting around waiting!

After your first color is dry then use your second color to paint the top half of your nails, also with just one good coat to cover it.  I just free handed it but you can use normal sticky tape as a guide line or tho its good to practice free hand and you get the hang of it fast, The nail art strips also hide any messy lines when added 🙂 My second shade was the 47 va-va-voom.

The last step in this mani is to put a nail art strip over where the two colors meet, I used a pink stripe but you get them in different colors. You can see immediately how this just neatens up the whole look and brings it together!

Ill have my next post up on Wednesday and its a bit of a personal one on whats been happening my side lately 🙂

 

Beauty Blogger – South African Beauty Blogger – Beauty News and Reviews

Benefit b.right Radiant Skincare

I waited a while before getting my hands on any benefit products to try out, the reason for this is that we don’t have a benefit counter in George so I waited till I got a chance to visit one so I could check out the items and decide what to buy. Its great buying online but I just could not decide what to get!

One of the Items I got from Benefit is the b.right Radiant Skincare travel intro set. It contains six little tester size items so you can try out the range before buying it, this is great for anyone that doesn’t want to spend loads on skincare to then just find out it doesn’t work with your skin. This beautiful little skincare pack costs only R295 and you can get it at your local benefit counter or online from RedSquare.

So The pack contains the following:

1. Foamingly Clean Facial wash 8.9g
2. Moisture Prep Toning Lotion 8.9ml
3. It’s Potent! Eye Cream 3.0g
4. Total Moisture Facial Cream 8.9g
5. Triple Performing Facial Emulsion 8.9ml
6. Refined Finish Facial Polish 8.9g

This pack contains everything you need to try out the full skincare range and is great for traveling. It comes in a neat little box and also has a little travel bag to keep it all in, super handy! I find all of the items in the pack to be extremely refreshing for skin and highly concentrated so these little babies actually last a while.

These products have a very light fragrance to them that is beyond refreshing, skin feels instantly refreshed and moisturized when these are applied. The foaming facial wash takes only a tiny bit to produce the most perfect face wash with loads of foam and the refined finish facial polish results in super smooth skin that is the perfect surface for then applying makeup.

The facial cream, eye cream and facial emulsion are nice and thick and supply skin with great moisture and radiance! The moisture prep toning lotion is perfect for preparing skin before applying moisturizer and all together this set has your skin sorted and looking radiant! Plus you just have to love these stunningly cute little bottles and pots the product comes in! How awesome would this be as a last minute Christmas gift or stocking filler..

I will have some more Benefit product reviews for you very soon 🙂

xxxx

Beauty Blogger – South African Beauty Blogger – Beauty Reviews

The Test Box – December Treats

Three little bottles that are magical for hair! These are some of the best that Kevin Murphy has to offer and these cute little sample size bottles are perfect for you to try out the product or if you are already addicted then these are great for traveling.

This little Test box of goodies is just what I needed for the holidays, a good hair refreshing treatment session and some super fantastic styling. I like to spend time over the holidays relaxing with face masks and hair masks and just catching my breath again before the new year starts. Just Cant get enough of The Test Box , it has been a fantastic year of trying out new products!

So lets get down to whats in the box, The Kevin Murphy Maxi wash , Kevin Murphy Born again treatment and the Kevin Murphy Motion Lotion! They are 40ml bottles and this sounds small but these go along way cause you use very little product.

This is a well thought out box as the Maxi wash and Born again treatment go so well together, When used together they become a power packed make over for hair, think of it as like a facial for your hair. The Maxi wash is  a detoxifying shampoo that contains AHA’s (fruit acids) that break down fatty acids for a clean, clear scalp. It helps remove build-up of unwanted products and chemicals, giving it a new clean refreshing start! So go ahead and give hair a great wash with the Maxi wash, it helps prepare hair to absorb nutrients so its perfect to then follow up with the Born Again Treatment

The Born Again Treatment Is designed in a way that the molecules are so small that they are instantly absorbed into hair and get to work right away. This treatment gives hair a boost and protects it from future damage while repairing hair , leaving it vibrant and shiny. It is the perfect partner for the Maxi wash! Then the third little bottle, The Motion Lotion, Is a great finishing product to define waves and curls. The Motion lotion is super easy to use and you just rub a tiny bit into wet hair and scrunch, it does not leave hair feeling sticky and is weightless on hair so you don’t feel like you have rubbed something on hair. Plus it helps control frizz so bonus 😉

These Lovely Kevin Murphy Products and tiny tester bottles are available to buy on The Test Box site so go check it out and do some Christmas shopping! They also have a stunning special running that all orders for December receive a free Test Box!!!! You do not want to miss out on that one.  www.thetestbox.co.za

 

Panasonic Wet & Dry Epilator

The New Panasonic wet and dry Epilator has fast become my new go to for hair removal. I have been testing it out for two weeks now and I am falling more and more in love with it. Now I have to mention that first the little gadget actually scared me lol and it was painful at first but after a few good attempts and a glass of wine, now that I have the hang of it, it has turned out to be a blessing! I was lucky enough to receive it from Beauty Bulletin to review, you can also go sign up to the Beauty Bulletin site and stand a chance to review items for free!

With summer here it is now time to keep up with all the shaving and looking like a well groomed person on the beach, Bikini season means shaving all the little hairs to avoid the embarrassment of being caught with hairy arm pits. This is such a handy little thing and the fact that you can use it in the bath or shower makes it even better! Would be better for first time users to try it out in the bath first cause the hot water does heat up the skin and make it easier for the hairs to come out and using it with some shower gel for foam makes sure that your skin is left smoother and less dry.

 

The Panasonic wet and dry Epilator is cordless and rechargeable and has a nice compact size that fits perfect in the palm of your hand making it super easy to use. You can even throw this baby into your hand bag and take it with you to make sure you don’t get stuck in a situation with hairy legs, Like those unplanned summer trips to the beach! This is also serious value for money in regards to once you have purchased it then you have it. It is not like waxing or shaving that you constantly have to buy new products or pay to have it done and because it is rechargeable you do not even have to buy batteries. So you know I am gonna be looking after mine so we have a nice long run together 🙂  Another Bonus of it is that it wont interfere with your spray tan like shaving does! meaning you can remove hairs without it taking your tan off.

The Panasonic Epilator works with 24 little tweezers that rotate super fast and pluck out the hair from its root. It has the power to remove even the shortest fine hairs and results in hair growing back slower, thinner/softer and less hair growing back so your second use is much easier. it is recommended to Epilate once a week but with regular use hairs should grow back slower and then you can move to using it less regular or as needed for touch ups.

The Epilator comes with a charger and a little cleaning comb and retails for R599. If you are looking for Christmas presents then this would be great for yourself as well as for your friends, really an item that will be well used.

xxx

Beauty Blogger – South African Beauty Blogger – Beauty Reviews

 

Golden Glossy hair using Kevin Murphy products & The Glampalm curling wand.

This golden summer hair look is easy to achieve using a few great Kevin Murphy Products and The Glampalm magic wand.

I have done reviews before on the Kevin Murphy shimmer shine spray, It is a golden shine spray for hair that strengthens and repairs hair while giving it fantastic shine. I have paired this spray with the Kevin Murphy Shimmer Color bug , this is a non permanent hair color that rubs on easy and washes out. The shimmer bug shines golden goodness!! It is truly beautiful. Also a little trick I have learnt with the Shimmer bug is that it doubles up well as a skin bronzer and even an eye shadow!!!

With this you obviously need a product to hold your style and also to help give the Color bug something to stick to when rubbed onto hair. I have been playing around with the New Kevin Murphy Free Hold styling creme. The Free Hold Is a new product launched with the new Kevin Murphy men’s range, I  obviously needed to test it out. It gives hair a great medium hold while still looking natural, feeling soft and giving an amazing glossy shine to hair.

So down to the simple basics of how to get this look going..

1. Gather your products and switch on your curling wand
2. Divide your hair into sections by pinning the top up and starting at the bottom.
3. Use a small amount of the Free Hold and rub it between the palms of your hands and then smooth/ massage it into a section of hair. Seriously the smallest amount is good enough, u don’t need to over do it.
4. Use your color bug and rub it in firm stokes from top to bottom over the strand of hair. I divided my section into pieces big enough to curl and then color bugged the pieces one by one as it works better on smaller sections.
5. Use your curling wand to curl the hair or just add waves.
6. After you have worked your way through all your hair you can finish it off by spraying a good amount of Shimmer shine spray on.

It is actually so easy to do and the results are beautiful, I struggled to catch the exact shimmer of the hair on camera once it was done, but in the light it shines like gold!! I feel like this is great for a summer party look, beach party, new years dress up.It is an Impressive hair look that you can do yourself at home. The golden look on my dark brown hair gives it a nice golden brown/highlighted appearance with intense shimmer. Like I said, I struggled to capture on camera but imagine that hand swatch but on hair. With a brilliant glossy shine from the Free Hold.

I will have more Info and a nice review of the Free Hold going up on the blog soon as well as the details on the other New Kevin Murphy Men’s products launched now cause I think they would be good for Christmas presents for the men in your life! I know my hubby has taken too much of a liking to my KM shampoo lol, I have to hide it away from him!!!

Remember I shop for all my Kevin Murphy and hair care products on the Test Box site , www.thetestbox.co.za And they are having a special for December where you get a free test box with all orders! So go shop!

Xxxxx

Beauty Blogger – South African Beauty Blogger – Beauty Reviews

Too Faced – Liquid Metal Lipstick & 16h Bronzer

Two Too Faced items that are worth investing in, The liquid metal lipstick and the 16 hour endless summer bronzer. Every beauty lover that I know, dreams about owning a good supply of Too Faced stuff. Its the kind of luxury pretty beauty items that dreams are made of.

We are talking about an american brand here so firstly let me tell you quickly how to get it to SA, Choice A is you can order from one of the girls that import and then sell the items, for this I use @onlyxiiiaah_makeup on Instagram. Choice number 2 is to get yourself an Aramax Global Shopper account, This is a courier service account that you sign up for and pay a once off joining fee and then you get forwarding addresses all around the world that you can have your orders shipped to and the courier and customs costs are nice and reasonable for orders.

Anyways back to the stunning Too Faced goodies 🙂 I got the Melted Metal Liquid lipstick in shade Macaron, its a stunning shiny metallic pink shade that is oh so girly and it actually pleasantly surprised me with how long it lasts on lips. It comes in a little tube that looks kinda like a lip gloss tube and it has a lovely sponge tip that the lipstick comes out of in little drops when the tube is gently pressed. I absolutely love this spongy soft application tip and it feels like heaven when applying to lips, The product its self comes out in a thick liquid form and melts onto lips perfectly. I wasn’t expecting it to have a good lasting power on lips with it being such a liquid but wow it really does stick well and the color pay off is great. It is truly as amazing as everyone says it is. The Melted Metal lipstick sells for $21

16 hour endless summer bronzer… making sure girls look like glowing bronzed goddesses!! First thoughts on this is that I didn’t wanna ruin the lovely 16h imprint it had on it so I gently swatched around it but this soon wore off and I went full force in and dusted all my skin with it. This Endless summer shade is perfect, its not too dark so that it stands out too much on skin. It is just the perfect shade to give you a bronzed defined glow and is so soft on skin and long lasting with their special formula so you will look summer ready all day long. This has jumped up to the top of my list as far as favorite bronzer’s go. Brush onto face, neck and shoulders. The Bronzer sells for $30

I love this defined bronzed look with the bright pink metallic lips. The bronzer is light enough to not be too harsh and hard and just blends perfectly to define. This is my current favorite summer makeup look.

 

 

Kevin Murphy Hydrate Me -My hair’s best friend

Today I am telling you about the Kevin Murphy Hydrate Me wash and rinse. Basically my hairs new best friend! A product that is beautiful inside and out. If you have not yet tried any Kevin Murphy products then I strongly suggest you do! It is totally life changing for how you will look at hair care. Luxury like never before! These stunning products are available to buy from The Test Box site.

If your hair is dry / damaged and needs moisture, shine and softness then this is the product for you. If you are like me and and have gone from product to product searching for one that really gives moisture and takes away that hard dry feeling that thick coarse hair can have then you should go straight out and buy some of this! The Kevin Murphy Hydrate me range gives moisture to hair from the first wash and smooths it out fantastically. This means less frizz and smoothed over split ends making them loads less visible so that the overall appearance of hair is healthier and glowing!

 

You can feel even the wash (shampoo) nourishes and hydrates your hair, It is also sulphate and paraben free and takes only a small amount of product to do the job properly so you are getting a good long use out of it making it more value for your money. The Hydrate me Rinse (conditioner) is thick and creamy and beyond a pleasure to rub into hair, It leaves hair feeling completely moisturized while adding shine and softness as well as smoothing out frizz incredibly! I also have to just brag about how amazing these products smell, it is like aromatherapy while you wash your hair, I have never had a hair care range that smells so totally amazing!!!!

All Kevin Murphy products are also cruelty free and are designed in a way that the beautiful packaging in environmentally friendly. I don’t think you need any more reasons to go out and buy these? You Seriously just cant go wrong. The Hydrate me wash sells for R370 and The Hydrate me Rinse is R380 and you can click HERE to buy them online from The Test Box.

xxx

Pretty Messy Mellon – Beauty Blog – South African Beauty Blog

Lush Christmas

If you are looking for something special to get you into the Christmas spirit and bring on those feel good holiday vibes then look no further than the Lush Christmas collection. These delightful new products will bring joy to any bath time. The sweet and spicy aromas that come from these are exactly what Christmas is made of.

I live in George and we don’t have a lush store here but lucky for me you can buy online from the Lush site and they have fantastic service and fast delivery that brings all that stunning Lush goodness straight to your door step. But beware… Lush is extremely addictive 😉 Bath time will never be the same again.

The pictures speak for themselves with these Lush Christmas items, They glow sparkly cheerful vibes that no one can say no to. Just having the little box of Lush standing in my room makes my whole room come alive with the aromas of Christmas.

I chose myself six Items from the Christmas collection, I probably would have bought more but some of the items I wanted were out of stock at the time. If you log onto the Lush site and Items that you want are out of stock then don’t worry, try check back in a few days cause they do go in and out of stock and will probably be available again while the range is running.

The Items I chose are:

• Bar Humbug – Liquorice scented bubble bar
• Candy Mountain- Pink Candy/vanilla scented Bubble bar
• Cinders – Sweet and spicy bath bomb with cinnamon & popping candy.
• Five Gold Rings – Reusable bubble bar with Comforting Fair Trade vanilla absolute, Benzoin and tonka
• Holly Golightly – Festive spice scented Bubble Bar
• Shoot for the Stars – Multi colored bath bomb with sweet and calming scents.

These Bath bombs and Bubble bars range from R39-50 to R89 and are well worth their money. The bubble bars depending on the size can be cut in half and used twice so you get double the joy. My current favorites from these are the Five gold rings, Holly Golightly and Bar humbug.

You can go check out the rest of the range on the Lush South Africa site and order yourself some, it is easy to work the site and pay for orders so shopping is a breeze with Lush! These Items also make the most fantastic Christmas stocking fillers and will bring lovely scents to your home this holiday.

Xxxx

 

 

Glampalm Magic curling Wand – Review & product Details

I was lucky enough to receive a Magic Wand from Glampalm a few weeks ago. I must say it has totally changed the way I think about curling my hair. I have long thick hair that generally takes forever to style and its normally such a big mission that I couldn’t really be bothered. I have also for years been a ghd fan and I always thought other brands would not be as good. Well let me just set this straight now, Glampalm is absolutely magical 🙂 It is really a super fantastic product and works like a bomb. Plus you do not have to worry about damage too much cause of the mineral ore infused barrel, which leaves virtually no damage.

The Glampalm Magic Wand is true quality, from its looks to its feel and even the results that you get. From the moment it landed on my desk I was playing with it, I even turned it on at work and did a few quick curls at my desk and when I got home later those curls were still rocking and I had not even sprayed on any setting spray or anything!? I mean how is this possible, all the other curling methods I have tried I needed to use a hair spray with otherwise 5 minutes later my poor hair would be flat. The Glampalm Magic wand definitely does its job well.

The Magic wand comes in a stylish black box with a Glampalm branded slip cover that slips off. The box then opens up to reveal the curling wand displayed neatly inside. When you open the box up further you then notice that it comes with a little black heat resistant glove (This is just total genius!!) and the Curling wand it’s self has an impressive long cable with the no tangle swivel on the handle end and on the plug side it has this handy little rubber clip thing you use to neatly tie your cable when storing it. The wand also has a very clever safety kick stand that you can flip out so you do not have to put it down on fragile surfaces or risk burning your dressing table. This baby gets hot so be careful with her, I first though I wouldn’t need the glove it came with but trust me you will soon get into using it.

The Glampalm Magic wand has a 1 inch barrel that heats up in like 30 seconds! The wand is turned on by holding in the On/Off button till the red light blinks on, It is ready when the light turns to green. The wand has 3 temperature settings, Low for fine/damaged hair. Medium for normal  hair and then High for thick,coarse or ethnic hair Or just for days you wanna curl the hell out of your hair lol. But It is better for damaged hair or over processed hair to stick to the Medium or low Temperatures.

The basics of it is to turn the Magic wand on and wrap your hair around the barrel from the base up to the tip and hold in place for a few seconds, I hold it for about 7 seconds and then slide the wand out to reveal the perfect curl. You can play around with how you wrap your hair to achieve tighter or loose curls or just slight waves and also wrapping towards the face or the other way. So many different effects can be achieved and It is really so easy and effective that anyone can pull off perfect curls. The Glampalm Magic wand sells for R1799 on the Glampalm site , You can Click HERE to go straight to the site. Check it out and get yourself one! Its well worth it.