Mid-Month Beauty Picks

With July nearly half way through and me being too impatient to wait to upload the obvious 'July Favs' on August 1st I decided a mid-month catch up was a must!

After a few months of minimal daily make-up , a standard (boring) haircare routine and no new beauty purchases I've fallen back in love with my beauty stash and testing out new things! 
I've said it so much this year but I WILL be blogging regularly again now - it's taken me a while to get used to my new job and get the time and effort to get my blog on but fingers crossed I'm on it now! #finally 
So check out the below to see what my top products have been this month so far.....

Lee Stafford Bleach Blondes Kiss Of Colour

You may have spotted over on Twitter and Instagram last week that I took part in Race For Life Pretty Muddy in Portsmouth! A 5km run full of hilarious and MUDDY obstacles - which was so brilliant! I don't think I have ever been that muddy and it felt great achieving something with some amazing friends and knowing it was all for charity! 

Well... I decided that I really should go all out when it came to rocking the pink so I just had to do my hair! I had had this Lee Stafford product in my bathroom cabinet for a while, my Mum had given it to me to try as she had used it and loved it but had no use for the other half of the bottle I knew I loved a good pink hair session! I usually use the Bleach London wash in-wash out dyes and love them - and this was just as good! In fact I think I probably prefer this one as it is in a squeezy bottle which is alot easier to use then the Bleach bottles PLUS it has the original Lee Stafford scent which I'm a huge fan of! I think the next time I use it though I'm going to leave it on for at least 30 mins (double what is says) to create a vibrant pink instead of a tint.

Benefit Ready, Set, Brow!

Benefit's brand new brow setting gel is FREE this month with Marie Claire! Well it's a small deluxe tester size but still a great size that is going to last.

 I have fallen totally in love with this stuff! Since using up my Rimmel brow gel a couple of months ago I've been meaning to buy something similar to replace it and this fits the criteria perfectly. 

The brush is like a little comb which makes brushing the brows through so easy and the perfect finishing touch after using my MAC brow pencil to fill out my sparce areas. This is now a must-have in my everyday mkae-up routine - I love that it's clear and it keep my brows in place all day. If you can get your hands on Marie Claire this month (Blake Lively is on the cover!) then do it, £4 to try this stuff out is a bargain! 

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Pucker XL Plumping Gloss*

I'm such a fan of Soap and Glory products and when a little box of goodies fell through my door to celebrate their 10th birthday last month I was thrilled! 

Along with a bunch of party bits to help them celebrate were a few little products for me to try out, including this - Extreme Plumping gloss! A clear gloss with the classic Sexy Mother Pucker scent and feeling.... yes that tingly lip plumping feeling that you either love or hate! I personally don't mind it at all and I love how this thick clear non-sticky gloss looks on - the perfect lipgloss with 0 effort needed.

Redken Pillow Proof Express Treatment Primer*

It's been a while since I treated my hair to anything other than standard drug store brands so this popping through my letterbox was heaven to my unloved locks! 

Having shorter hair means that styling becomes a must if I want to look half decent (although I do like a good plait!) - this stuff is the perfect primer and finishing touch before drying! It keeps my hair feeling soft and smooth and does indeed reduce dryig time whether I'm using a hair dryer or air drying, it was a dream to take to Mallorca last month as it seriously helped with the de-frizzing of my mane! 

NYX Liquid Suede - Soft Spoken 

I thought I should include a picture of this beauty, so check it out in all it's glory below!

I bought this last month to wear to the IOW Festival and it's pretty much been my go-to for the last 4 weeks! The colour is gorgeous on - a perfect dark brown nude for me (here's an occasion of my wearing it) - the formula is lovely and this stuff lasts for hours without feeling dry or crusty, time I invested in some more shades I think, for only £6.50 can I just buy them all #WhoNeedsKJ? ....

Shop the post below :

Follow

Summer Soap & Glory Favourites

As a brand, Soap & Glory are up there with my beauty favourites. I have been using their products ever since I  borrowed Sexy Mother Pucker lipgloss from my Mum as a teenager!
 The amount of different things I've tried from them is endless, skincare, bodycare, shower, make-up and alot of their stuff is in my day-to-day routine!

With it being "summer" (I say this at the end of July looking out the window to clouds and rainfall) there has been a few products which I have been using more than usual and I thought I'd share with you my current favourites!

Heel Genius Foot Cream

Yes, it is sandal season and although I don't feel like I've taken advantage of the sunshine and fashion trends enough this year so far I have been making sure my feet are in tip top condition. 

I've tried various foot cream, lotions and potions and this is one of the best! After using my 360 foot file (review here) I like to slap a thick layer of this on and pop some socks on to help it soak into my feet.

With a lovely fresh and minty scent this is the perfect finishing touch for your tootsies!

Sugar Crush Fragrance Mist

This has been in my handbag for weeks and weeks now! I don't know how you couldn't be a fan of the sugar crush scent! This gorgeous lime and vanilla fragrance is the perfect summer spritz to keep you smelling sweet and sunny - even my Mum has fallen in love with it! I already feel like I should invest in a back-up.

Smoothie Star Breakfast Scrub

If I had to pick just ONE product from Soap & Glory to have forever it would probably be this scrub.

 I could not tell you how many of these I have been through over the years, I even packed a pot when I went travelling round the USA.... and I mean - it's not the smallest thing to pack! 

I LOVE the scent so much, it tastes goo enough to eat and it makes showering a happy happy time! Especially when winding down in the evenings after a hot day.

Sugar Crush Body Scrub

You probably saw this featured in my "I'm loving..." post yesterday! Sugar Crush is the best summertime scnet as I said before with the fragrance mist and this is perfect for sleepy mornings to give me a zesty wake up call! A little grainier than the breakfast scrub this is great to prep for tanning and keeping my skin soft and smooth.

What are your favourite S&G products?

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

Current Style Crushes : Summer 2015

I was casually looking in my side bar the other day and checking what posts had been most popular for the week (I like to see what people have been enjoying:) and I was really surprised to see a post from over a year ago!

My 'current style crushes' post from May 2014 was up there with all my latest posts as one that had been most clicked on, so I thought it was about time I did an updated version and shared with you my current style crushes for right now. (Summer 2015 to be precise!)

#1 Rochelle Humes

#2 Emma Willis

#3 Margot Robbie

#4 Ferne McCan

#5 Kourtney Kardashian

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

Rimmel Kate Moss Nude Lipstick - #45

Rimmel couldn't go and release a new lipstick collection without me running to Boots and grabbing one... obviously!

Yes, the Kate Moss collection has once again grown and this time it's delved into the realm of nudes. (Which I'm not surprised at in the slightest I mean ... it is the year of the nude right?!)

I decided to go for shade #45 - there were a couple of others in my local Boots but they both looked a bit too pale for me and I didn't want to just buy them for the sake of it - so I just stuck to the one!

 I think we all know now what the formula to the Kate Moss lipsticks are by now! These are the regular long-lasting creamy lippys which are easy to apply and my personal drugstore favourite!

I really like this colour, I probably wouldn't go any lighter than this with a brown based nude as I'm not a fan of the foundation lips look!
I can tell already that this is going to get alot of wear over the next few months :)

Super quick post today..... please let me know if you have any requests for posts or videos - I feel like I've been boring recently and I really want to up my blogging and vlogging game!

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

Disney Wishlist : July

Princess Shoes T-shirt | Mickey Mouse Tape Dispenser | Disney Vans Princess Backpack | Rapunzel Clear iPhone Case | Disney Traditions Belle Figurine | Winnie The Pooh Pyjamas | Princess Necklace | NOW That's What I Call Disney CD | Mickey Mouse Bowl | Belle Lip Smacker

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

Aussie Mega 3 Miracle Oil Review

Yes.... you've read that correctly.

Aussie, that sweet smelling hair brand we all know and love have released a BRAND new product - and I think most of us are thinking 'it's about time too!'.

It was only a matter of time before the brains behind the Australian brand thought of adding a hair oil (or 2) to their ever popular collection and when I spotted this last week I nearly leaped at it with a spring of excitement!

I LOVE the scent of Aussie and I have done ever since I was a teenager, I swear if they made a candle it would sell out in like 10 seconds haha.
 This 'mega' oil has that classic scent and with it's 3 main ingredients creates a multi- purpose formula for everyday use.
 Macadamia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil and Safflower Seed Oil work together to help protect the hair from everyday life while keep it looking and feeling fabulous.

Seeing as my Ultimate Blends oil was on it's last couple of pumps, this stuff couldn't have come at a better time for me!
I've used this every single day since picking it up and am LOVING it! 
I had my hair done (cut and coloured) last week so it's not in bad condition luckily, but this has keep my hair feeling soft and looking shiny - no dry ends here. (Perfect for this heatwave AND it smells gorge!)

Everytime I've washed my hair I've popped a few pumps of this into the ends and then added a little each day when it hasn't been washed.

At £9.99 for 100ml this is a great purchase, hair oil lasts me months and months (especially now I have shorter hair) so it's a great price for something that I will use daily!

Are you an Aussie fan? Fancy trying this oil?

Like this post? Follow A Yellow Brick Blog on  Bloglovin so you never miss a thing!

July Favourites 2014

August is here - we are 8 months into the year.... where has time gone?! Cray cray! I'm off on holiday next month, I can't believe how fast it has come around!

With a new month beginning, the blogging world knows what this means - monthly favourites time! Here's the stuff I have been loving in July!

First up - the Focus & Fix Original Eye Primer from Make-Up Revolution. After apparently loosing all of my other eyeshadow primers recently (seriously I have no idea where they've all gone?!), this has majorly come to my rescue. You may remember me talking about it in my MUR haul a few weeks back! This is great and I have used it everytime I've rocked eyeshadow in July and it has worked a charm! A total bargain too!

The Miss. Sporty Just Clear Mascara is one of those products I picked up randomly when browsing through Superdrug - I'd been looking for a cheap clear mascara for ages ... and not for my eyelashes! I use this on my eyebrows to keep them neat and in place throughout the day (hence the dodgey colour!)! Works like a charm and under £2! 

Next a couple of products from Nivea. I seriously love Nivea and the Sensitive 3 in 1 Micellar Cleansing Water and the Refreshing Toner have made their way into my daily skincare routine over the last 4 weeks. I've been using this after I've removed my make-up at night  (not too remove my make-up... I need something slightly stronger for that mission)  and after my shower in the morning! It leaves my skin feeling cleanse and fresh and ready for the day - or bedtime!! I also got these while they were on offer so total bargains too!

Onto a hair product now - I have been obsessed with this whole range since it entered my life (read all about it here) and this product has made it's way too firm favourite... I think - it's a tough call! This is the Lee Stafford Moisturising Heat Protection Spray from the new Ubuntu Oils range. This stuff smells amazing - I love that you can keep the smell of the shampoo and conditioner fresh by layering it with this stuff! Works great before drying and styling - love love love.

This month I have been plagued by a horrendous outbreak and one in particular huge giant unfriendly spot. Like literally needed it's own postcode. Not cool, seriously not cool. This stuff though seemed to help me a tiny bit it's Clearasil's Ultra Rapid Action Treatment Cream. This is the stuff I always reach for when I have an unwanted pal arrive on my face - in fact I've probably mentioned it before on here! It reduces redness and size in just 4 hours and really has helped - total lifesaver.

Last up is a non-beauty related product! I recently watched Vampire Academy after rented it from the Playstation store. I had seen this advertised and in my opinion it looked awesome! I love Zoey Deutch, after watching her in Ringer & Beautiful Creatures I decided she is awesome and I must watch everything she's in haha! Because I loved the movie (I don't know how it got such bad reviews!) I decided to start reading the books - as far as I know there's 6 in he series and I got the first 3 on my kindle for just £6.99 - woopwoop! Totally loving them so far!

Like this post? Follow on Bloglovin! To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

Favourite Summer Lips : Part 2

Now this is part 2 so if you haven't seen part 1 ... catch up here!

Like I said before, summer is my favourite time for lip colours! So many bright and fun colours to choose from daily and I managed to narrow my top 10 down for these 'favs' blog posts!

So here's the 2nd half and the final 5 favs!

Left to right :

Barry M Gelly Hi Shine Lips - 3 Electra (Review)

 L'oreal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick by Color Riche - 401 Fuchsia Drama (Review)

Sleek True Colour Lipstick - Mystic (Review)

Rimmel Lasting Finish By Kate Moss - 110

Rimmel Lasting Finish Colour Rush Lip Crayon - I Want Candy (Review)

All of these are drugstore purchases so bargain city! They are all under £10 and most are around the £5 mark!

Have you tried any of these? What are your summer favourites?

Like this post? Follow on Bloglovin! To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

The NEW Lee Stafford Unbuntu Oils From Africa Collection Review

Is that a new collection from my favourite haircare brand? YES it is! Lee Stafford has done it again with a new range of products featuring some of Africa's most fabulous oils! Sit back, relax and have a read about what I think of them.

When I heard and saw the new collection from my favourite LS I knew that, 1. needed to try them and 2. I would probably love them no matter what! If you've read my blog for a while or seen haircare posts before on here you will know how much I love LS products and they are always the first on my list to recommend!  

Lee Stafford Unbuntu Oils From Africa Collection*

We'll start off with the in-shower products - the moisturising shampoo, moisturising conditioner and moisuising hair butter! 
These are all infused with the Baobab Oil which is for dry hair - perfect for me as I bleach my hair and always need a bit of extra TLC especially after styling! 
*Fact time* The oil is taken from the African Baobab tree which is known there as the 'tree of life', it contains vitamins E and A and is extremley moisturising!

Not only have I been loving the shampoo and conditioner's results BUT the smell is out of this world! If you are a lover of sweet scents then this is the stuff for you - and this goes for all of the products I'm featuring the scent is up there with my favourite produts scents ever! AND it really does last on your hair, especially if you are laying it with in-shower products followed by styling and protecting products, a couple days later and I can still smell it!

Now onto the product you are probably all intrigued about, the Moisturising Hair Butter.

The word butter just screams moistuising but normally not on your head! Like it says on the packaging "feels weird, amazing results!" this is so true.
 This stuff feels just like a thick, rich, creamy body butter - alot different to your bog standard hair mask or treatment! You pop this on after shampooing your locks and leave for 5-10 minutes.... in this time I like to de-fuzz, use a few snazzy facial products, pretend I'm a popstar and chill out.... after this time is up you just rinse it out and slap on the conditioner before rinsing out and finally getting out of the shower!

This stuff feels lovely, I've been using it once or twice a week and it has been leaving my hair feeling hydrated and shinier than ever!

Now onto two of the products I've been using when styling my hair! These are also the other two products made with the Baobab oil! Recently I seem to be a styling my hair slightly more often than usual, for the last 18 months or so I've tried to cut down the amount of heaat I use on my hair just becuse I have been on a strict mission to grow out my bob - which has totally worked, my hair is now way past my collarbone - yay!

Anyway back to the products! First the Moisturising Heat Protection Spray - a must for anyone and everyone (especially in summer)! Like I mentioned before the scent to this is amazing and using this helps keep the smell strong in your hair! Using a heat protection spray always makes me feel less guilty about the strain and heat I put on my hair during styling!

The other Baobab oil product is the Moistuising Blow Dry Smotheee!

This creamy oil is to be popped on towel dry hair before the joys of blow-drying... obviously! I just grab 3-4 pumps and rub it through my blonde locks from root to tip and comb through! 
The aim of this smotheeee is to 'smooth and moisturise the hair shaft as you blow dry, closing the cuticle and taming frizz for maximum shine and swing'. I can confirm that this works like a charm, my hair has felt big, bouncy and frizz free after blow drying (which sometimes leaves me looking like a hot and bothered poddle!), it gives me the perfect base to start styling with whether I'm curling or straightening! (and again.... the scent is yummy!)

Now a repair product, which is just as important to me as moisturising! This is the Light Oil Repairing Mist for fine/damaged hair made with Marula Oil. 

*Fact time* Marula oil is rich in antioxidants and is one of the rarest healing oils from Africa. It is a light oil which is easily absorbed so no thick and heavy residue left on your hair, which means it won't weight it down so it's great for when you want to add some of this to dry hair!

This is fab for using for those days after your hairs had alot of styling or heat put on it and it's feeling a bit damaged and in need of some TLC! I cannot wait to take this to Florida with me, I think it's going to be a lifesaver for the hot climate and constant sunshine!

Last but not least we have the hair oils! 
Hair oils are just a daily part of life now aren't they? Like really.... wat did we do before them? My poor barnet!
I've have been trying out two - the Repair Oil for coarse/damaged hair and the Colour Fade Protection Oil Treatment. My hair is both damaged and coloured so it's been hard deciding on which one to go for each time! 

The Repair Oil is made with Mafura oil. A rich textured oil which is taken from the kernel of the mafuna fruit - snazzy huh?!

I've loved finding out about all these different ingredients, very interesting and fun to be using something that isn't moroccan/argan oil! 

I'm really liking this oil, I've been using it when after I've washed my hair from my mid-lengths down instead of my usual aray of oils, it feels really thick and luxurious on my hair and has helped keep my ends from feeling limp and dry on a daily basis.

The Colour Fade Protection Oil is infused with yet another oil oil from Africa - Mongongo oil. This is said to have been used by people for thousands of years as a body rub to protect skin against sun damage in harsh dersert environments. 

'It reacts with UV light to polymerase into a protective layer' - so high-tech I'm impressed! Rich in Omega 6 this stuff is perfect for keeping your hair hydrated and obviously helping keep your fabulous colour.

This is 100% the oil I will be packing for my holiday - an oil and a UV protector in one which smells amazing and saves space in my suitcase too - yay!

My hair has felt fabulouso for the last few weeks, Lee Stafford remains as my favourite master of the hair!

The Unbuntu oils from Africa products range from £9.99 to £12.99 and are available exclusively at good old Boots - here! 

Like this post? Follow on Bloglovin! To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

Do

POTW #22 : Rodial Glamstick - Psycho

Hello beautiful people! Hope you are all well and you'r feeling funky, fresh and free! 

Once again I'm here talking about my stand out product from the past week and this week it's a certain lippy. (what a surprise right? a lip product! .... I'm sorry guys I'm addicted okay!)

This product was sent to be recently from the lovely people at Rodial and it one of their fabulous Glamsticks!

Rodial Glamstick - Psycho*

 First up - Glamstick - amazing name and check out the incredible packaging to go along with it!  
You can tell that this is slighter higher end product with this packaging, it is beautiful and seriously stands out in my collection, I am totes obsessed!

Glamsticks are Rodial's tinted lip butters and there is a huge range of colours to choose from! Psycho is a gorgeous orangey-coral shade which is perfect for this time of year especially with it's added SPF 15 - no burnt/fried lips for me!  (That happened once... I put vaseline on my my lips at a Festival.... ouch Charlie that was a painful weekend!)

So, moving on from my previous lip disaster... my favourite thing about this butter is the fact it is infused with cocoa butter - one of my favourite ever ingredients/flavours/scents! Not only does it make this product glide on and feel super moisturising but it actually smells amazeballs and keeps your lips really hydrated for hours - high five Rodial I salute you!

The colour is really pigmented and has such an amazing shine and the Hyaluronic Acid Spheres give a long-term plumped look - which I can confirm, works!

So there's another lip product which I'm addicted to using.... I swear my list is becoming endless! The quality of this is amazing - alot better than others I own! I'm tempted to invest in some more - you can find the Glamsticks here - they are £25 each OR you can get a set of 3 Glamsticks for just £25 (saving £50!) which includes Psycho - ummm... bargain!


Like this post? Follow on Bloglovin! To see videos check out A Yellow Brick Vlog on YouTube

Do