It's beginning to smell a lot like Christmas: Hidden Fantasy EDP by Britney Spears...

Reviewing a festive fragrance back in September made me think about my favourite "Christmas is coming!" perfume, so lets take a look at it now that the festive season has arrived...

 Hidden Fantasy was released in 2008 and is made by Elizabeth Arden. I think it was limited edition, but it is extremely easy to find online cheaply [under £20 for 100ml] most places  and it still pops up in stores too - both discount stores, and regular retailers.

It is something that I wear regularly during autumn/winter, and most days in December. It has a warming effect on me, and I find the cake batter, clove and orange combination very festive - I've made sure to have a bottle of it on hand since it's release as it very quickly became my traditional "Christmas is coming" fragrance for cold and gloomy days - I think I've gone through three bottles so far, and I just ordered a new one two months ago.

So lets take a closer look at Hidden Fantasy, whilst there is plenty of time left to pick up a bottle in time for Christmas...

NOTD: Belle of the Ball, by Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure...

Today we'll be looking at something from Sally Hansen; my favourite pharmacy [drugstore] level price-point polish brand. I try to keep my NOTD posts focused on polishes that are easier to find, so I picked the shade Belle of the Ball for today, as it's easy to get AND is fitting for the festive season - a lovely option for a stocking stuffer...

Is it a goody-goody? Saint edp by Kat Von D...

Since I've reviewed two Kat Von D eyeshadow palettes as being great gifting products, I thought that I'd follow them up by looking at one of her re-released perfumes. 
[if you're wondering; I find Sinner too strong & migraine inducing, so I can't do a decent review for it as the scent notes overwhelm me]

For this 'great Christmas gift idea' product we need to take a walk down memory lane; it was 2009 and I went into a Sephora whilst on my first visit to NYC, which is where I first encountered a fantastic cosmetics brand called Kat Von D Beauty. As well as making the lipstick shade that I still love today, they also made two perfumes; Saint and Sinner, one of which, Saint [see above for original packaging] I Ioved and bought immediately. Over the next few years I would always pick up a bottle or roller ball pen and sample the other two perfumes that followed Saint and Sinner [Poetica & Adora] when I went to the US, until the time came that when I went on one of my trips, I found that the perfumes had all been discontinued.


Back then I think that the perfumes had been US/Canada only releases only, because I never saw them anywhere else - not even eBay, and I eventually gave up looking. Fast forward to August 2017; both Saint and Sinner have been re-released in stunning new bottles, and are available on the Debenhams site [and in selected stores].

So lets dive in and see if Saint is as good as I remembered.....

Going over the top: The Jaclyn Hill palette, by Morphe...

This is not your average eye palette. That’d be boring. We (and most importantly, Jaclyn Hill) don’t do boring. This palette is a 2-year love affair. 35 brand-new, OMG eyeshadows that Jaclyn whipped up, formulated, tested, re-tested, and perfected. They were created to deliver not only the best color payoff but also amazing application. Mattes, shimmers, satins, foils, and glitter: all pressed to perfection... just the way Jaclyn wanted. Her dreamy colors are now your reality. So whether you’re pressed for time or have time to play, this palette is your new bestie. Because a girl (and guy) needs to have options - Morphe site 

 

I'd never even seen a Jaclyn Hill tutorial until after I'd bought one of the Jaclyn Hill palette's [I wanted to see what looks she did with it], so having a particular name attached to it didn't influence my purchase or effect my overall opinion of it. I bought this palette simply because everyone on YouTube, Instagram and a ton of blogs, all showcased a wide variety of looks upon it's release, which I wanted to try to recreate. 

Welcome to the tea party: The Queen Of Hearts palette, by Coloured Raine...

 Welcome to part three of my 'perfect for Christmas gift ideas' shuffle through my unreviewed makeup palettes.Today we'll be focusing on the Queen Of Hearts palette by Coloured Raine. This palette was first released as a limited edition palette last year, which when I picked up mine, then never reviewed as it sold out quickly. 

However the palette has proved so popular that it has just come back as a permanent palette, and can be bought on their site and on Beauty Bay. I figure that now would be a perfect time to write a review and show you unedited swatches and a couple of my favourite looks that I've been constantly re-wearing.

Go big, or go home: The Carli Bybel Deluxe Edition 21 Color Eyeshadow And Highlighter Palette by BH Cosmetics...

Welcome to part two of my 'perfect for Christmas gift ideas' shuffle through my unreviewed makeup palettes...

As previously mentioned, this year it seems as though big brands have just reused the same product shades over and over for their Christmas beauty launches, just dressing them up in different fancy packaging [eg TooFaced, Tarte & Benefit], and this is where I take a closer look at a great value palette now stocked on a UK site, that may have gotten overlooked in the avalanche of Christmas releases, instead of buying a 'new' festive-release palette.

Gonna find out if you were naughty or nice; the Saint + Sinner eyeshadow palette, by Kat Von D...

"Honor the two sides in all of us with the ultimate collection of eyeshadows inspired by the kaleidoscopic stained glass windows of Old World Gothic cathedrals. Kat Von D’s holiday collection celebrates the return of her beloved, bestselling Saint + Sinner fragrance collection."

I started stalking the Debenhams site after they released the The Shade + Light Glimmer eye contour palette early and without warning, so when the Saint + Sinner palette dropped a fortnight ago, I instantly placed my order.

So now I've had nearly two weeks to play with the palette, my review for my only limited-edition-for-Christmas makeup purchase is here.

Stocking stuffer: Glow on with the highlighter palette in Solstice, by Sleek..

The Solstice highlighter palette; I wasn't going going to bother reviewing this since so many reviews are already in existence out there, and this product is practically a cult classic already.

However the Boots store in the Trafford Centre have just had one of their £10-of-points-for-every-£50-you-spend days, so I went shopping for family gifts and whilst there I noticed that Boots have not one, not two, but three different Sleek gift sets in their 3-for-2 Christmas gift shop this year. So I thought that a quick review and swatches would go nicely with this 'heads up' notice...

Stocking stuffer: Getting juicy with the Cheeky Peachy blush & highlight palette, by Primark...

In my last post I showed you Primark's Just Peachy eyeshadow palette, now today I'm going to show you what item lead me to discover that; the Cheeky Peachy blush & highlight palette.

Stocking stuffer: Getting fruity with the Just Peachy eyeshadow palette, by Primark...

Yep; I've interrupted my palettes-for-Christmas mini series to present my 'Stocking stuffers' mini series, sorry. I just stumbled across a few items that impressed me with being of a good quality for a low price, and I want to let people know about them while they can still get them.

I have a weakness for peach eyeshadows; I bought TooFaced's Sweet Peach for way over it's RRP after it sold out in the blink of an eye on it's original release, I gulped and paid the pricey shipping and custom taxes, so that I could get my hands on the TooFaced Just Peachy mattes [Sephora exclusive], and I brushed off the online ranting and picked up ABH  Subculture (Still loving it).

But now Primark have decided that they want a piece of the (peach)pie, and have bought out their own version of a peach eyeshadow palette - and have a temptingly low price tag of £4. What can a 44p-per-shadow palette do? Being the peach lover that I am, I decided to get the answers...

Glamour with glimmers: The Shade + Light Glimmer eye contour palette by Kat Von D...

 This year I don't think I won't be buying any limited-edition-release-for-Christmas makeup palette releases [except maybe the Kat Von D Saint & Sinner palette] as what I've seen has seen too rinse-and-repeat to things we've had in previous years. So I've decided to go though my current freshly-trimmed-down palette collection and pick out the as-yet-to-be-reviewed ones that are fairly recent non-festive releases, that are available now and may have gotten lost under the onslaught of Christmas releases.

Lets start with the release that I think was most under the radar; the Kat Von D Beauty Instagram page actually said that this palette wouldn't be available on the Debenhams site until November, but it came out at the end of September. As I mentioned above, I am waiting for Saint & Sinner, so that and the fact that I have hooded eyes, meant I wasn't going to bother getting this - a palette with no matte shades is way out of my comfort zone, in terms of both wearing and for spending money on. However Kat Von D makes my favourite shadows so the siren's call of a new release lured me in... 

NOTD?: Crown For Whatever, by China Glaze...

Spoiler alert; this polish is frustrating, and is why my reviews for the Happily Never After collection are late this year; all the way through the reviews, I keep pausing to try this one again.


I didn't want it to come to this, but I'm going to be completing my Halloween polish reviews with a whimper this year, as today's spotlight polish doesn't agree with me. I watched a few YouTube vloggers swatching this polish and it looked great on them, so I couldn't wait for the UK release of the collection to get my own bottle, but now I've concluded that you need to be a gifted manicurist to get it to work - so I'm out.

Lets find out what the nature of the problem with Crown For Whatever is...

NOTD: Life's Grimm, by China Glaze...

Last time I showed you my favourite polish from the Halloween 2017 Happily Never After collection by China Glaze, but now I want to show you what seems to be their favourite Halloween polish recipe - green microglitter, in a murky base.

Life's Grimm is the forth time that China Glaze have turned to this combination for one of their Halloween ranges, so I thought  it'd be good to get a comparison to the previous polishes in to today's review.

So is Life's Grimm a good polish, and is it a dupe to anything else?

NOTD: Sin-derella by China Glaze...

Welcome back to the second half of my breakdown of reviews for the new polishes from the Halloween 2017 Happily Never After collection by China Glaze.

Today I'm starting Halloween month by spotlighting my top pick from the collection, and if you watch any of the vloggers, read nail blogs or visit beauty chatrooms, then you'll probably guess what's coming, as today's pick seems to be everyone's favourite...

Yep; today is Sin-derella's time to shine for us all.

NOTD: Queen, Please! by China Glaze...

Sorry for the break in my China Glaze Halloween 2017 breakdown, but I wanted to get the Kylie Cosmetics one up before the featured product sold out. But I'm now back on track...

Okay; we've done a review for the glitter topper in the Happily Never After collection, but what if you don't like wearing glitter on your nails since it's a bit of a pain to remove? Don't worry; China Glaze has you covered, by including a shimmer topper in this year's line-up. Take a bow Queen, Please...

Is it really worth taking this home again, or should we ditch it at the hotel? The Take Me On Vacation eyeshadow palette by Kylie Cosmetics...

Take Me On Vacation is a limited edition eyeshadow palette from the brand's summer 2017 collection, that is [as of February 2019] still in stock on the Kylie Cosmetics site, so I assume that it is now a permanent product. Or was extremely unpopular...

 Since the quality of the last limited edition eyeshadow palette I've bought from Kylie Cosmetics was pretty decent, I decided to pick this up during a recent flash sale as the colour selection for I Want It All was a let-down and I felt the larger shade range here would complement my previous purchase. So feel free to read on and see if that was a good decision. 

NOTD: Do You, Boo! by China Glaze...

Do You, Boo! is one of the six new shades in the 2017 Halloween collection 'Happily Never After', and it is the only glitter topper on offer this year (the other topper on offer in this collection is a shimmer one). 

As we've started this year's breakdown of reviews for the China Glaze Halloween collection by focusing on the basic creme shade, I thought that I'd follow with reviews for the two toppers meant to be paired with it. We'll be looking at the shimmer topper next, but for now Do You, Boo! is taking it's turn under the spotlight...

NOTD: Lookin' Gore-geous by China Glaze...

It's time to go through the six new polishes in the Halloween 2017 nail polish collection (Happily Never After) by China Glaze, and I'm going to start by focusing on Lookin' Gore-geous.

I admit that this shade does look pretty boring next to the other polishes in the Happily Never After collection, but there are two toppers in the line-up [a glitter one & a shimmer one] which we'll be looking at next and this shade is perfect under them both.

Should Elsa step aside? Snowella body mist by Zoella Beauty...

CHRISTMAS IS COMING GUYS!!!

When I was flicking through the new releases on the Fragrantica site the other week, Snowella caught my eye and as my inner child is getting giddy at the hints towards the festive run-up in the forms of Christmas cards and biscuits appearing in stores, she just HAD to have it, to the point that I immediately went into the Superdrug site to order the set. I've never tried anything from the Zoella Beauty line before, but I mean, what's not to love about this? Right?!

The inspiration, name, and packaging screams that this will be a new festive nod, celebrating all things snow and ice. But now it's time to see if it can deliver on what it is promising and if I have indeed found a new "Christmas is coming" fragrance. Or will we instead find out that I should be doing a better job at suppressing my inner child to save my money...

First glance: Glam Finale Holiday 2017 nail polish collection, by China Glaze...

Break out your sequins and rock the night away this Holiday Season with these party-perfect glitters and merry metallics.

By first glance, I really mean that you can go and pre-order these new shades for a 25th September release. Yep; the xmas stuff is here before I've gotten to review the latest Halloween collection [I'm testing it all out now for review]...

I wanted the Kylie look, but did I get it? The I Want It All palette, by Kylie Cosmetics...

The I Want It All palette [also known as the Birthday Book] is a limited edition eye/cheek palette that is currently still in stock on the Kylie Cosmetics site, from Kylie's 2017  birthday collection. Since the brand's limited edition products come and go very quickly, I'm not going to hang around and blather on - instead lets  dive right into the swatches and my review before it sells out, as that's what you came here for...

NOTD: Wear Something Spar-Kylie, by Nicole By OPI...

I think that Wear Something Spar-Kylie was in a 4-pack I picked up from the clearance shelf in TK Maxx a few year's ago, and I never bothered with it because I assumed that it was a glitter topper, like the other Kylie-named polish in Nicole's Kardashian Kollection range. 

I didn't know  what to wear the other day, so just blindly reached in the picnic basket I keep most of my untried polishes in and this is what came out. I'm a secret girly girl, so was excited that I grabbed something pink and sparkley, and even better is the fact that this polish was revealed to be a texture polish when I tested it to see how dense the glitter was, as I love textures - especially OPI's liquid sands.

How similar will OPI's little sister be in formula?

Forget the fairy dust; the China Glaze Halloween 2017 nail polish collection...

Forget princesses, prince charming, fairies and love songs... this year China Glaze is getting wicked.  

Evil queens, dragons, poison and dark magic is this years theme; the 2017 Halloween Nail Polish Collection takes you to a place where fairytale dreams are broken, where villains always win and happily ever after is non-existent.

Welcome to Happily Never After.. 

The Marmite of the eyeshadow world: The Subculture eyeshadow palette by Anastasia Beverley Hills...

Ahh; ABH had been teasing us for months with pictures of the Subculture palette on social media and I instantly fell in love with the shade selection, so I jumped on it upon it's release. However I then saw the shit-storm on YouTube with people way more skilled in makeup saying how horrible it was to work with, so I became almost scared to use it.

But I needed to try it to find out if it was something that I'd need to hurry up and return because I just wasn't able to make it work. Well, I've made up my mind, so get the big drumroll ready...

Is it worth going [koko]nuts over? The Koko Kollection Face Palette by Kylie Cosmetics...

I'm late jumping onto a trendy brand, but here we are... 

I actually have a few Kylie Cosmetics items now, but have never reviewed them as her collections that had items that appealed to me were extremely limited edition, so by the time things arrived to me [between two and three weeks] and I'd tried them enough times to review, they'd gone forever. Also; the products I have are all on the 'meh' side; not too bad so I felt as though I had to warn people about throwing their money away, but not anything good enough to make me excited about and eager to share.

I've now got something that is still available to buy, so the question has become "is this face palette going to buck the 'meh' trend for me?"

First look; Happily Never After nail polish collection for Halloween 2017, by China Glaze...

Blogger Jen (aka JediWife) went to this year's Cosmoprof beauty convention and scored a photo of a swatch wheel for this year's Halloween collection, so we can all find out if China Glaze will be disappointing us with another collection of repromotes, or delighting us with new shades.

Lets not mess around, and jump straight into the good stuff...

NOTD: Space Glam by Essence...

Out Of Space Stories is Essence's current limited edition seven-piece nail polish collection, and is now in Wilco stores.

What makes this collection exciting is that it contains holographic, duochrome and foil finishes - for £2 each!!

Do you really need anymore incentive to go out and track down this collection, after hearing that?!

Miss Baby Roll mascara by L'Oreal...

Ah - mascara. One of my top three makeup products [concealer and highlighter are my other two], so my head is pretty easily turned whenever I come across a new one...

And... Well, there's not else to add to this story. I saw a TV ad for Miss Baby Roll, so decided to look out for it in Boots, then picked it up when I saw it on offer. Money well spent, or was it thrown away? Only one way to find out...

New Fragrance; VIP Private Show edp by Britney Spears...

"Take a seat, let the champagne flow and enjoy the excitement of a private performance with the legendary talent. Indulgent and endlessly glamorous, VIP Private Show channels Britney’s charisma and sparkle into a scent that perfectly captures her connection to her fans, global success and undeniably alluring appeal."

Britney Spears and Elizabeth Arden are back with their 22nd fragrance release; VIP Private Show, the first flanker for last year's Private Show, which I think is Britney's most adult fragrance release.

Lets see if it looks like they'll be staying in their new direction...

Are they dupes?: What's With The Cattitude vs I Believe In Manicures, both by OPI...

OPI's light blue creme shade What's With The Cattitude was part of the spring 2010 Shrek Forever collection and has become a sought after shade among collectors, which is why I wanted to write this post after finding a possible dupe when rearranging my polish stash at home recently...


I'm talking about their recently released light blue creme shade; I Believe In Manicures (part of a Audrey Hepburn quote*), which is one of the polishes in the Holiday 2016 Breakfast At Tiffany's Collection. It can still be found almost-anywhere that sells OPI polish, which makes it a great comparison for people looking for What's With The Cattitude.

Read on for side by side swatches, read which shade I think is the better one, and to see how the formulas compare.

NOTD: Crown Of Thistles by A-England...

Today I sharing one of my successful explorations into the world of indie nail polishes; A-England [stands for Alchemy England] a UK cruelty and 3-free brand.

Today's spotlight shade is Crown Of Thistles, which is from the 2014 Elizabeth And Mary collection and is still available to buy on the site today - I think that the collections on the A England site are permanent ones [fingers crossed, as there are loads of shades I want to get]. 


Mmmm; look at that shade, and the holographic sparkles...

I Am... The Alchemist (palette by Kat Von D)...

The Alchemist palette wasn't released in the UK until a few days ago, but the Debenhams site had a 24 hour pre-sale for it a fortnight before that - which is when I got mine - so I've had enough time to play around with it for a decent review, and share my verdict.

I don't want to ramble on, and want to dive into my reviews and photos; this product has spent eight years in development and has been on sale in other parts of the world for over five months now, so let's finally get round to trying it for ourselves...

Emerald, Saphyre, Amethyst, Opal

NOTD: Rainbow Wishes by Nails inc...

Today we're looking at the second half of the new Sparkle Like A Unicorn duo by Nails inc.

Rainbow Wishes is described as being the "holographic dreamy soft sheen rainbow" half of the duo on the Nails inc website, but I found myself wondering "what kind of formula counts as a dreamy rainbow?"

I lasted a whole two hours before I cracked and bought a duo from the Nails inc site, so that I could find out for myself. And now it is time to share the results...

NOTD: Dream Dust by Nails inc...

Today we're looking at one half of the new Sparkle Like A Unicorn duo by Nails inc, and I decided to start with a bit of bling...

Dream Dust is the "blinding sparkle with 3D pigment" half the duo, and as I've been looking for a nice rose gold tone of polish, my eye was immediately drawn to this shade. So let's sprinkle some sparkle and gallop into a review for it.