Getting the Golden Goddess Glow

Great alliteration or what? 

Summer is all about getting the glow whilst eliminating the shine, so I've got some great budget products for you to fake that beautiful glow. 

Left to right:
theBalm Bahama Mama Bronzer RRP £12.50 - This is a recent addition to my make up collection. I got some good reviews on make up alley, and I was looking for a new bronzer so popped it in my 'Payday Products Basket'. It is great for contouring, a real matte, muddy brown colour. It's also really great for bronzing on the high points of your face, but be prepared to use a really fluffy brush to blend it out if your a pale one like myself.

Topshop Cream Blush in Head Over Heels. RRP £6.00 - I cannot get enough of this blusher. I'd never used a cream one before, but it has great longevity, a sheer bright peachy pink colour, that could double up as a lip colour. Has no shimmer and is great for getting that 'been in the sun a little too long' look.

17 Lasting Lipstick in Blonde RRP £4.29 - Often when people attempt the golden goddess look, they will opt for a bronze colour everywhere. The key is to use similar tones but different colours, and this lipstick contains the same peachy pink colour as Head Over Heels, but a little darker with bronze speckling. It's super pretty and lasts all day.

Collection Shimmer Shades in Way To Glow RRP £4.19 - If you buy one budget product this summer, buy this beautiful block of shimmers. Each one with rose-gold tones can be used as a highlighters, bronzers and eyeshadows. They're sat next to me right now and even looking at them makes me smile.

 Head over Heels. Bahama Mama Bronzer. Blonde.

 The Shimmer Shades.

Rose Gold. Bronze Gold. Pearl. True Gold.

Are there any particular products you love for getting that sunkissed look?

Don't forget to follow along on twitter and bloglovin'

It's Glossybox time!

Is it a new month already?
I love Glossybox day, it's like Christmas again, I think it's the element of surprise, and that not everyone has the same thing. The postman rocked up earlier today and presented me with this beautiful summery Glossybox which I am ever so excited about.

Beautiful coral and turquoise packaging

I could not get over how summery this box made me feel. Inside is all products perfect for the beach and holidays, all in handy travel sizes which you can pop in your hand luggage.

Left to right:
1. Alterna Haircare - Bamboo Style Boho Waves Tousled Texture Mist. This sounds right up my street, anything with the word boho in is a draw for me. I think there's something a bit romantic about bohemian-ness that I just can't cast aside. I love a bit of sea salt spray me, so hopefully this will be a new permanent addition to the hair care shelf. I haven't yet tried it, but I had a quick spritz to smell it, not as summery as I hoped but very refreshing.

2. Coola Original Suncare Collection: Coola Mineral Face SPF 20 Unscented. This promises to be a tinted suncream, which is interesting. However the shade seems kind of pale, so if your of a darker complexion this may make you look a little ashen, maybe worth investigating if they do other shades. It's supposed to have UVA/UVB protection, pore minimizing and anti ageing agents set to work whilst soothing and toning the skin. Hopefully it'll be the wonder product it claims to be!

3. Sleek Pout Paint. By far the thing I'm most excited about, retailing at £4.99 each, I'm hoping they're going to be as good as the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar. I received two, one in Pinkini, a dark blue toned pinky purple colour and another in Cloud 9, a frosted white, which you can mix with other shades to add vibrancy/make lighter.

4. Essie Sleek Sticks. Like the Nail Rock wraps, Essie have brought out a similar version which promise to be a lot more resiliant than others. I have never ever got on with nail wraps, I keep buying them thinking 'This time will be different!' but it never is, and my nails always end up looking awful. So hopefully these will win me over on the nail wrap front. You can't see too well from the picture, but these are in a black and grey zebra stripe which appeals to my vampy side.

5. Anatomicals Spray Misty for Me Facial Spritz. Although laughing at the Anatomicals slogan 'We only want you for your body', this is a product which doesn't particularly appeal to me. I don't understand why you'd spend money on a bottle of scented water that you can spray yourself in the face with. So I'm half looking forward to trying this out, but I'm not too optimistic! - Not yet easily obtainable in the UK.

Hope you got goodies in yours too!

Happy Glossyboxing!

x

Travelling Toiletries

It's that time of year again, where holidays are coming up and, if you're unprepared like me, you're running around the shops two days before hand, looking for new books, clothes, travel sized toiletries and whatnot, without breaking the bank. So this year I've vowed to myself to be more organised.

I tend to decant my current toiletries like shampoo, cleanser, face wash etc in to smaller bottles, because then there's no break in my routine and it's a hell of a lot easier than taking full sized products. I usually pick up some disposable bottles and tubs from Primark or Boots. But this year, I decided to spend a little bit extra and pick up some of these reusable bottles and pouches from Lakeland.

These bottles are great, they're made from squishy silicon, ensuring you can get every last bit out, rinse them out and use them again next year. They also have a suction cup on the back so you can stick them to your shower wall - less fuss, less hassle, quicker showering. They come in small medium and large and are all 100ml or less, so you can even take them on the plane!

They also come with a collar saying Shampoo, Conditioner, and Shower Gel, which you twist round, making sure you know what they contain, rather than having to label them or, as I so often do, end up sniffing what's inside to try and identify it.

These bags are brilliant, as well as being the cheeriest things I've ever seen. They come in small medium and large and are perfect for filling with makeup and popping in your hand bag, so you don't loose track of things, or in your hand luggage so your passports, handgel and wipes are all in one place, and you can get all three for £7.99.

You can buy the trio of bottles here, £15.99 and the pouches here. £7.99

Faking it. (On a budget)

We've all faked it, and if you told me you hadn't, I'd call you a liar.
We're so unprepared for sun here in England. As soon as the slightest bit of sun peeps out from behind the clouds, everyone's in shorts and t-shirts and families are heading down to the beach. It's so unexpected when we get some  nice weather, that suddenly everyone's running to Boots to pick up some fake tan so that we can get our pins out without looking like some kind of extra terrestrial.

A good, lasting fake tan can be expensive, and I agree, you shouldn't skimp on a good tan, lest you end up looking tangoed. But there are some brilliant budget fake tans you can buy, just to tide you over until your bank account feels a bit more healthy.

Old packaging of moisturiser shown.

Before I left Bristol, I popped in to their huge Primark and discovered that they were selling Sunkissed Bronze Tanning Mousse for a fiver, so I picked it up in Medium Bronze and headed home to test it out, to the outrage of my little cousin,  who has more sense than she needs and said 'You're trusting Primark with your fake tan?'

But I was astounded with it. It comes out in a mousse, and if using a tanning mit spreads evenly and quickly over the skin. Fast drying, it comes with a fresh tropical scent, reminiscent of Pina Colada's on the beach. It's so easy, it took me two minutes to do a full body application. The colour is great too, the medium bronze worked even for my fair skin, it's not orange at all and slightly ruddy in colour, as if you've been out in the sun just a little too long.

Admittedly, it's a wash off one, but it does leave a slightly golden stain, so you don't go back milky white straight away.

My other product which I love for faking a golden glowing tan is Avon's Skin So Soft Golden Gems Moisturiser - long name. It's a super light moisturiser with tiny golden luminescent particles which catch the light, great for the legs, across collar bones and arms. I like to put this on first and then Primark's tanning mousse over the top for a really sheer, healthy glow.

Sunkissed Bronze Tanning Mousse RRP £4.99/200ml here, or in Primark stores.
Avon Skin So Soft Mineral Gems Glamorous Gold Moisturiser RRP £2.70/250ml - link.

Product Review - Korres Cleansing Face Mask

Whilst doing a little payday shopping, I decided to look for a face mask. My skin has been unfriendly as of late and in desperate need of a little soothing. I found this little number on feelunique.com.

It's a Pomegranate Cleansing Face Mask by a Greek brand called Korres, which I've never encountered before, but am pretty sure I'll have a further peek at what goodies they produce. The masks come in a range, for all different skin types, but I picked up the one for my oily skin, and it completely surpassed all my expectations, which was a fantastic surprise!

It's made with clay and pomegranate and smells really delicate when applied, so if you don't like a lot of fragrance in your face masks, this would be good for you.

I used a tiny amount and can easily cover my whole face with it, you could probably get a good few uses out of it. The consistency is really creamy as well which I love in a face mask. What I was most taken by though is the finish it leaves on the skin. I have okay skin as far as things go, apart from it being oily, so it's rare that I see a significant difference after using a face mask, but this made my skin look and feel really fresh, and evened out some slight discolouration around my brow bone, which was greatly appreciated.

Pros:
- Cute simple packaging
- Creamy consistency
- Delicate scent
- Bright fresh look left on skin

Cons:
- Could do with more product in the tube (but hey, when isn't this a con?)

Verdict:
Will definitely re purchase!

You can buy the Korres Face Mask here. RRP £7.00/16ml

P.S. They do some nice sets which be fabulous for festival season!

Sherry x

Anti Blemish Week #3 - Eat Your Way To Clean Skin

I'm a bit under the weather today, I have a horrific cold and a bout of reoccurring ulcers on my tongue which I cannot shake. I've also just started a new diet which is boring me to death, because I've got to limit everything, agh. So I've decided that if I talk to you about food instead, then it'll satisfy my cravings.

In all honesty, the best thing you can do for yourself and your skin, is to improve your diet. The more you look after your body on the inside, the better it'll be on the outside. 

So here's some foods that you can include in your every day diet which you can drink in teas, pop in salads or just eat for dinner.

Teas
Nettles - Anti inflammatory
Peppermint - Aids digestion, which often causes spots on chin
Fennel - Anti inflammatory and antioxidant
To pop in your salad
Beetroot - Vitamin A and E, essential for epidermal health and healing
Red Grapes - Anti Inflammatory
Acai Berries - Antioxidants
Fennel - Anti inflammatory and antioxidant
Tofu - Rich in iron, good for the blood flow
Tomatoes - aids collegen production
Avocado - Moisturising and anti inflammatory
Kale - contains all of your daily nutrients
For dinners
Brown rice - keeps blood sugar levels balanced
Garlic - Bacteria killer
Broccoli - A real super food, anti oxidant, anti inflammatory, and full of fatty acids to help heal the skin
Egg yolks - Full of skin clearing selenium, zinc and protein
Salmon - Full of omega 3's, good for healing.

A lot of studies show that dairy products increase the likelihood of getting spots, so try replacing your milk with oat milk and cutting down on cheese.

And then of course we come to the tips that everyone knows, but no one ever seems to stick to:
-Drink water
-Get your vitamin D
-Exercise
These, more than anything with clear your skin up and increase your confidence, which, more than anything will help you.
So make sure you get some of these down you, you'll be doing yourself a favour.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to curl up with a hot water bottle and a lempsip, and watch Monday's Skins.

Tarah x

Anti Blemish Week #2 - Tried and Tested Products

As the second part of anti blemish week, I'm going to share with you some of the products I absolutely know and love and think are absolutely fantastic for blemish prone skin. 

You'll see that quite a few of them are from Lush, now I am in no way a hippy dippy natural product enthusiast, but I do believe that Lush Cosmetics have a good ethic. I christmas temped with them a couple of years ago and trialled a whole load of products, and I found that they actually worked, so I wanted to share some of the gems with you.

N.B Remember, you can try all of the Lush products before buying! Just pop in to the store and ask for a sample, that way you know you'll love it!

Up first is are the Lush Cosmetics Fresh Face Masks:

Now if you haven't seen these before, basically they're a mix of fruit and natural clays and essential oils, all blended up and kept in pots on ice in the store. There are two I would particularly recommend for blemish prone skin, firstly Cupcake which is great for younger, oily skins. It contains cocoa powder, peppermint extract and rhassoul mud which work really well together to absorb grease and cleanse the skin, fighting away any bacteria. And it smells absolutely divine, which is always a plus.

The next one I would recommend is Cosmetic Warrior, which is for real spotty skin. It's a garlic face mask, which sounds like the worst thing in the world to put on your face, but it smells very clean, of honey and grapes and tea tree oil, rather than garlic. I also occasionally use this on my back if I ever get a couple of spots there.

You can get them from the Lush website, or in store. They're £5.95 a pot, and you can get 6-7 uses out of them which I think is pretty good. You have to store them in the fridge, so when you apply them on your face they're nice and cooling, brilliant for summer.

Face washes:

Lush Cosmetics Angels on Bare Skin £6.25/100g 

This is a slightly strange face wash, and a bit of a novelty in the bath room. It comes in a pot in the form of what feels like putty, you break a small bit off and mix it in the palm of your hand with a bit of water to form a paste, then wash your face with it. I'm assuming they do it like this so you can get more product in the tub? Which is fine by me, as this is a go to face wash of mine, I've used it for five years and I still love it. It's slightly granula so exfoliates without being too scrubby, and is so gentle on my sensitive skin. It smells nice and fresh, but my absolute favourite thing about it, is that it makes my skin brighter, which I rarely get from products. Again you can get this from the Lush website or in store.

St Ives Apricot Blemish Control Face Scrub £3.99/150ml 

I sometimes get a bit of congestion around my chin, but I can use this for two days and it's cleared up. This is a great scrub for those who like to exfoliate on a daily basis, it's slightly more granula that I would personally use on a daily basis, but it's fantastic for when your skin's looking a bit lacklustre. St Ives is a Swiss company, and the Swiss always seem to have bright clear skin, so obviously they know what they're doing with this. You can buy it from Superdrug or Boots - link.

Body wash:

OxeDerm Anti Blemish Body Wash £9.97/100ml 

This is the only body wash I will use for blemishes, especially in summer time. I used to use Mud Flats soap from Lush, which is the best body/face product I've ever used, but they discontinued it. Boo. So this is a bit of a replacement. For a small bottle it's a bit pricey, but a little goes a long way, especially if you use a shower puff, it foams up beautifully as well. It contains salicylic acid which speedily clears up spots, and with regular use prevents them! Unfortunately you can only buy it from Amazon, but since it's free delivery that's not too much of a burden. They also sell a spray which has a few good reviews. 

Moisturisers:

Lush Cosmetics Vanishing Cream Moisturiser £17.50/45g 

Without a doubt, this is the best decision I ever made for my skin care routine. Admittedly, the price tag is huge, but the product lasts me for a good 2 - 3 months, and when I love a product this much I feel like I can justify it. It's a 'low fat' moisturiser, which doesn't clog up the pores and skins in to the skin easily, making a perfect base for make up without the need for primer. It has witch hazel, lavender and rose oils in it as well to help cleanse and balance the skin. It's an absolutely beautiful product. - link.

I hope some of you find this helpful, and if you have any particular products you use to rid yourselves of those pesky blemishes, share them below!

Primark in Asos

I have a love hate relationship with Primark. The one in Bristol is fantastic, four floors of beautifully organised and well laid out cheap products. The visual merchandising is done exactly how it would be in any high end retail shop, and it really makes you feel like your shopping somewhere that wasn't once taken under scrutiny for child labour.

The Reading one however is dear lord awful. The whole shop is like a sale section, stuff thrown on the floor, hangers tripping you up, and the retail training in me wants to tidy. And even though I'm looking at the same items as the Bristol one, it makes me feel a little bit, well, dirty. 
But that might just be Reading in general.

But as I was trawling through Asos, planning out some holiday clothes to take to Russia, I came across a page selling Primark online. 
Currently, there are only two pages worth of clothes, but their are some real gems. I've got my eye on a couple of things

Needless to say, I'm on a denim hype at the moment.
I love that Asos have decided to take on Primark, now those who don't particularly like rummage shopping can enjoy it as well.

You can check out the collection here.

Anti Blemish Week - Aspirin and Honey Face Masks

Pinch punch, first of the month!
Today is the official start day of anti blemish week on Sherry Darling's Things. Since it's summer time, we're all looking for ways to spruce up our skin, making it just a tad more pleasing to look at before we dare to bare all.
Yesterday I talked about Seventeen's new On The Spot Foundation which I'm trialling to see if it makes a difference, preventing spots. I just wanted to say, I really love the foundation, I've only used it twice but it wears really well with good build-able coverage.
I also mentioned Aspirin face masks, and ladies and gents - if there are gents, you're in for a treat because that's what I'm going to talk to you about today!
You can give yourself a whole body make over from your kitchen cupboards, which you probably already knew.
This is one of my absolute favourite face masks to make when my skin feels like it needs some TLC, but it's a bit too late in the month for me to splurge on a face mask.
Aspirin and Honey Face Mask:
2 Aspirin
1 tbsp Honey
1 tsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Sugar (Optional)
1. If you have a pestle and mortar ground up the aspirin until it makes a powder. If you don't have a pestle and mortar, use something else, ha. I tend to use the end of a rolling pin and grind it into a small bowl - this works just as well.
2. Add the honey and lemon juice and mix it all together.
3. If you want this face mask to be a little scrubby, add some granulated sugar to it.
4. Slather the mixture all over your face, make double the amount if you want to cover your neck as well, leave for 10-15 minutes.
5. Wash off with warm water and a cloth.
N.B This mask doesn't dry out, so just wash it off when you've had enough.
The aspirin and the lemon juice work together to clear your pores of any bacteria, and the honey ensures your skin stays comfortable and moisturised.
It's a great mask which you can slather all over if you get chest or back spots.
Keep that summer skin coming!

June Favourites

So I've been having a bit of an rediscovery make up wise, in the period when I was err 'in between jobs', I had to delve in to the depths of my make up collection and re discover some goodies that had been tried and tested and loved, but then overshadowed by new purchases. 

I'm going a lot lighter these days for the summer months, even though England hasn't seen a real summer since, well, ever. But it's nice to feel summery all the same.

From left to right:
MAC Paint Pot in Painterly - I cannot recommend this paint pot highly enough, it's a nude pinky beige, veering on the more beige side. Goes on as a cream and dries to a powder. It's absolutely fantastic as an everyday eyeshadow, or as a base for a make up look. Retails at £14.50 and you can get it here. Or online at House of Fraser or Debenhams.

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm in Cherish - This is something I picked up from boots after being taken in by the gorgeous Emma Stone who was facing Revlon at the time. It is definitely more of a balm than a lipstick, and it takes a bit of applying to get the colour even. That aside, Cherish comes out as a light, but bright pink, the texture is smooth and the balm goes on like butter with a faint peppermint scent, although it is not a plumping balm. It also fades off beautifully, so you don't have to worry about scummy lips. It comes packaged in an adorable chubby crayon, similar to that of Clinique's chubby sticks, and in seven different colours. You can get it at Boots for £7.99, which is a complete steal if you ask me.

Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lipgloss in Naked - This is a perfect lipgloss for day to night. Sheer enough to go over the top of a brighter colour, and tinted enough give a little oomph to every day wear. It's a dusky pink colour, with a slight gold shimmer, again with a peppermint scent. The finish only slightly glossy, rather than a high shine. Although this is a beautiful gloss, I would only wear it when my hair's up as it has a tendency to be slightly sticky. I received this gloss alongside the Naked 2 palette, but you can buy a full size version here. RRP £13.00

Urban Decay De Slick Mattifying Powder - As an oily chick, I am constantly on the look out for new products that will banish my oily skin away, so that I don't finish work looking like I've dipped my face in a paddling pool. This doesn't quite do the trick, but it's one of the best I've found so far. The powder is white, so if you're not that fair, it may take a bit of blending - but on my pasty skin, it's not too bad. It does keep the shine at bay for a good five hours, as long as I apply it straight after finishing my foundation, and then again an hour or so later, I can go to work, re apply on my break and be relatively shine free. The packaging could be a little nicer looking for £20.00, but there's a huge mirror on the inside which is handy. You can buy it here.

Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara - This was a bit of a surprise favourite product. I received this in my Glossybox in May, and promptly discarded it due to the brush being a bit flimsy and the formula being stringy when removing it. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with mascara, in that I love it, but it seems to hate me. My eyes over water due to them being unusually dry, so I have to wear waterproof mascara, otherwise I look like a panda within minutes. I decided to give this mascara another go, and have been using it everyday ever since, it stays put through my tears and since using a balm to remove makeup instead of a liquid, it doesn't string either. Although it's not £15.00 worth, it is a good mascara and I would recommend it as a good evening out one, as the formula would stay put through tears and sweat. Unfortunately I cannot find it in stock on a website, but you can buy it from EBay, and it comes in four different colours, brown, black, warm violet and alpine blue. I'm tempted to find the violet one.

Sherry x

Tropicoral Kit Review - Benefit Cosmetics

So recently I've been having a bit of a coral obsession. Which is unusual because I'm usually a fan of neutrals, and the brightest I get is a  red lip on occasion. But last month I went to Rome and popped in to Boots to buy some travel essentials - and of course a lot of non essentials - and came across this cheek and lip kit by Benefit.

And it is the cutest.

From left to right it contains:

Cha Cha Tint - a cheek and lip tint in a bright coral colour, builds beautifully, but you have to blend fast otherwise it will set

High Beam - A pink toned illuminator, added to the plains of the face gives a really beautiful dewy glow.

Coralista Blush - This is the sheerest blush I've ever used and requires a lot of layers, but builds to a lovely coppery finish. The brush is poor though, switch to a regular blush brush.

Ultra Plush Coralista Lip Gloss - I LOVE this gloss, it has a slight tropical scent to it as well which feels oh so summery. Goes on really sheer and smoothly and isn't sticky in the slightest. Leaves a shine.

Everything comes in a perfect travel size pot so you can remove them and use them as stand alones, or keep them together in a kit.

I've swatched them out for you so you can see them, 

Left to right:
Lipgloss, Cha Cha Tint, High Beam, Coralista Blush.

Even though I put on three layers of the powder blush, I could not for the life of me, get my camera to pick it up, but it is there!

You can pick up this kit and some very similar ones in different shades here.