Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Although this is going to be a 'products' post, it is going to be a little different from my usual light hearted commentary and I hope it doesn't read like a public service announcement. October is breast cancer awareness month, I think we are all aware that breast cancer is 'a thing' but I don't know if many people (men can get breast cancer too) actually check their breasts regularly or are aware of what they are checking for.

I check my breasts regularly. You might think I'm over cautious but I knew someone who at 20 had to have a tumour removed from her breast: it is a common misconception that only older ladies get breast cancer but in actual fact it can affect ANYONE with breast tissue. In June 2012 I had my own breast cancer scare. My right breast was swollen, painful and after feeling around I found a hard lump. I do have 'knotty' boobs, but that is normal for me, I was more concerned by the swelling (which other people had started to notice) and pain which I had not experienced before. I went to see a doctor at a walk-in clinic where I was then referred to another doctor for a second opinion to completely rule out cancer. Lumps do not necessarily indicate cancer, as in my case I was diagnosed with benign cysts which were a result of exam stress. I was relieved it was not cancer and so thankful for how quickly my diagnosis was made, but the moral of the story is that if you find anything weird you have to get it checked out. You are not wasting your doctor's time, your symptoms might not be anything but the they might be something that needs treatment even if it is not life threatening.

I was scared to go to my doctor and I think many other people are too. Some people find it embarrassing to get their boobs out to a doctor, but you can opt to have a same-sex doctor assess you and they've definitely seen a pair of tits before. Others are scared of coming to terms with their own mortality but breast cancer doesn't mean death, survival rates are on the increase as will all types of cancer. The earlier your diagnosis, the earlier your treatment and an increased chance of you beating it.


What to look for

We are all advised to check our breasts, but a lot of people do not know what this entails. It isn't just about looking at your boobs, you have to Touch, Look and Check regularly. You can easily give yourself a breast exam, the video below will take you through what you need to do. Remember, what is normal for you, will not necessarily be normal for some one else, the only way to be sure is to keep checking regularly.

The picture below shows some things that you need to look out for, if you suffer from any of these issues please see your doctor.




















How to support Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Breakthrough Breast Cancer is a charity that campaigns for cancer awareness and funds research into curing breast cancer for good. You can set up a monthly donation here or you can make a one off donation here. There are also many brands this month that are giving donations to Breakthrough Breast Cancer, you can shop for them online here while some are available in store.

M&S Crop top, £12.50 - Stella & Dot Scarf, £45 - Pandora Bracelet, £240

 Warehouse Jumper, £42 - Laura Ashley Chair, £600 - M&S Nightwear, £16

Avon Pin, £1.50 - GHD Straighteners, £115 - Smythson Keyring, £60

I hope this post has been helpful and I hope you donate to Breakthrough Breast Cancer this month

ELF Store in Cardiff?!

Eyes Lips Face launched online in the UK in 2007 and this year sees their first ever physical store which will be situated in Cardiff's Royal Arcade. Although their products can be a bit hit and miss the majority of what they have to offer is not only affordable but also good quality. With the store open there will be more chance to sample the products before you buy which is amazing news for everyone. I love ELF cosmetics and have been loving the brand since mid 2008. My personal favourite products are their Blush in Merry Berry and the Waterproof Eyeliner Pen in black. If you are in Cardiff then you should definitely visit the shop and if you aren't you can find everything online at eyeslipsface.co.uk.

Why oh why do I not live anywhere near Wales?

Top 10 Beauty Products Under £10

Today's post is about my favourite budget beauty products. When I read glowing product reviews I'm usually inspired to buy products but then find that they are too expensive for my budget. Some times we all need a bit of a pick me up or we just want to change our routine a little, the products in this collection aren't going to cost you an arm and a leg so if you do decide to try them you won't have to re-mortgage your house in order to do so.

1. Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Lotion - £4.29
This is one of my favourite body lotions, it is moisturising and smells amazing. I have tried other cocoa smelling products but they come off too artificial whilst this smells like sweet chocolate. It sinks into the skin beautifully so there is no oily residue left.

2. Aldi Baby Lotion - £0.79
I use baby lotion on a cotton pad to remove my eye make-up. So far it is the most reliable and not to mention cheapest ways of removing stubborn mascara. The Aldi one is the cheapest I've found but if you don't live near an Aldi you could try a supermarket own brand as all of these products tend to be very similar.

3. Palmers Cocoa Butter - £3.25
Another product from Palmers but this one is for when you need a little bit more nourishment. Recently everyone is the beauty world has been buzzing about coconut oil and how multi-purpose it is. Coconut oil is quite expensive and I was put off by versions of it that had perfume added which meant that it couldn't be used in as many ways. I put it on my face and it stung like hell and tasted chemically when  I used it as lip balm. This cocoa butter can be used in all the same ways as coconut but it has a much better scent and can be used all over. I use it as a hair mask, on stretch marks, on dry skin and as lip balm.

4. TRESemme Heat Defence Styling Spray - £4.89
A cheap and reliable heat defence spray, it doesn't smell offensive doesn't make the hair heavy with product unlike some other ones I have tried.

5. Brazened Honey Fresh Face Mask - £5.95 or free when you return 5 black pots to Lush
Ethically approved and good for you too, this face mask is amazing for fighting under the skin acne. It has crushed up almonds shells which are brilliant for exfoliating the skin and other ingredients to help fight acne and give you a brighter complexion. I usually leave the mask on for as long as I can bare and then as I slowly apply water to my face I gently buff it into my skin to give my face a deep cleanse. I always notice a difference in my skin when I use this mask, my pores genuinely look smaller, red pimple look less angry and bumpy under the skin acne is reduced.

6. Bye Bye Blemish Drying Lotion - £9.75
When I'm having a really bad acne day I like to apply Bye Bye Blemish. My sister was the one who introduced me to this product. It is brilliant for those painful red spots that are yet to properly surface. It is a sulphur based topical treatment which reduces the size of the spot and also reduces redness. It is best to leave it on individual spots at night to reap all the benefits.

7. Superdrug Brightening Hot Cloth Cleanser - £5.99
I've written about this cleanser on my blog before, but to recap - it is gentle but offers a light exfoliating effect. It rivals some of the pricier hot cloth cleansers but with no frills.

8. Pantene Intensive Repair Shampoo and Conditioner - £7.38
I have quite dry hair and I also dye it, this is not the best combination for maintaining healthy looking hair but this shampoo/conditioner combo work together to protect my hair and prevent it from drying out. I think it makes my hair look incredibly shiny and in good condition.

9. Tesco Proflex Hairspray - £2.04
So this hairspray looks A LOT  like the product it is trying to imitate, but it is far superior. Although it is higher quality than other hairsprays on the market, I find that Elnett doesn't hold my hair as much as I'd like. This Tesco version however has excellent hold without making hair look greasy or crispy (leave that to KFC).

10. Tease Impulse Body Spray - £1
And finally, a body spray. As an adult it can feel a little juvenile to wear body spray because they are mostly targeted at teens. At school almost every girl carried around body spray and the Impulse cloud that used to form after we all got changed from PE was the stuff of an asthmatic's nightmare. I love body sprays to this day because they are easy to carry around and add a little burst of fragrance. I adore Tease by Impulse in particular because it has a very deep and sultry fragrance something which is hard to find in cheap body sprays.

Let me know what your top 10 products under £10 are in the comments!

DIY Nail Polish

For this craft all you need is:

• clear nail polish
• eye shadow or pigment
• two pieces of paper
• cocktail stick (optional)

The estimated cost of this craft is £2 but you could easily do this for even cheap or free depending on what ingredients you have. Creating your own nail polish is not only easy but it is an incredibly cheap way to get those really sought after colours for the new season as a fraction of the cost. 

1. Pick the shade(s) that you'd like to use to create your polish
2. If you are using a solid shadow, use a tooth pick to break up the shadow into a fine powder on piece of paper
3. Make a funnel using the other piece of paper and place it in the neck of the clear nail polish bottle
4. Pour the eye shadow into the bottle. The more eye shadow you add, the more pigmented the colour will be
5. Either stir the mixture or place the cap back on the polish and shake like buggery
6. Once it's all mixed in your polish is ready to use

You could add glitter to your mixture as well to make a really unique polish. If you ever get bored with your colour you can always add things at a later date.

Let me know how you get on with your creations on twitter or on my facebook page!

Higher or Lower: Viktor & Rolf Flowerbomb vs Zara Black Peony

Most people find it extremely hard to review perfumes because it is difficult to describe a scent as people pick up slightly different smells. If there is a fragrance that we particularly detest (for my boyfriend's dad this would be mint) then that will be the one we are most aware of but equally if there is something we enjoy or have emotional attachment to, lemon sherbet for instance, then that will also be most noticeable. I have become particularly adept to noticing the differences between perfumes, my mum was an aromatherapist and when I was small I was encouraged to smell all the essential oils that she worked with, this early exposure to all things smelly has allowed me to pick out individual scents when mixed with others. It is much easier to spot an individual scent when you have smelled it separately.

Having said that, I'm no expert and I am certainly no fragrance snob. I know what I like and what I have been particularly liking recently is Flowerbomb by Viktor & Rolf. It is very different to the perfumes that I usually like, I prefer much woodier scents that are almost manly. Flowerbomb is far from manly. It is a very balanced floral scent, there is no single note that smacks you in the face. One note that I always do pick out in Flowerbomb though is jasmine. Jasmine is a very strong floral, to me it is nauseating but whenever I wear Flowerbomb I find myself addictively sniffing my wrists. That's what I mean about balance, there are other notes in there which balance out the potency of the jasmine, I think this is mostly down to the woody and dark scent of bergamot. Bergamot is used to alleviate the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, which is probably why I find this perfume so uplifting. Bergamot smells like oranges, but not too sweet or too sharp. It's almost a smell like if someone had cooked oranges and reduced them down to a thick smoky syrup.

Flowerbomb is such a unique, and expensive fragrance I almost couldn't believe it when I saw that people were comparing a £65 perfume to one from a clothing chain costing just £8, I had to check out the claims. I've seen eBay listings which further reinforce how much people think the two smell alike. The Zara Black Peony perfume is so well liked that one fan even made their own advert for the perfume!

For me though Black Peony was not going to be my saviour. Although there were some similarities, there were some blatantly obvious differences too. After I'd got over the initial alcohol smell that overwhelms the first few seconds it did smell a lot like Flowerbomb, I could smell flowers, jasmine, dark wood and a little bit of sugary vanilla. After about 2 hours though the lovely dark jasmine scent had disappeared and been replaced with a sickly sweet coconut smell. Usually I can smell a muted version Flowerbomb on my clothes days after I have used it, which is incredibly impressive, so when Black Peony made my wrists smell like a Bounty after just a few hours, I was fairly disappointed. I knew full well it wouldn't last as long as Flowerbomb because it is a EDT. It would have been fine if it had just disappeared but it didn't, it transformed into something reminiscent of a Barbie perfume. So this time sadly the lower end has failed when compared to the higher end, or has it?

Honourable mention: Loverdose by Diesel
For me Loverdose is a much better dupe for Flowerbomb. Although it does have a more heady jasmine scent, it lasts a lot longer than Black Peony and stays true to the floral scent. The jasmine over powers the woodier scent slightly but it is still there, this is what I think helps it to last so long on the skin and on clothes. Ultimately I think Loverdose is the best option at £30 per 50ml and you get a lot for your money and it is much closer to Flowerbomb than anything else I have smelled.

What perfume dupes have you found?

Review: Oh So Special Palette by Sleek

This palette came out a couple of years ago and was supposed to be limited edition but has become a mainstay in the i-Divine collection by Sleek.

The colours in the this palette are (starting top left); Bow, Organza, Ribbon, Gift Basket, Glitz, Celebrate, (bottom row) Pamper, Gateau, The Mail, Boxed, Wrapped Up and Noir. There are a good mix of colours and finishes which is nice to see, often in a palette there are colours I would not touch but all of them are usable. Sleek have a tendency to include at least one blue shades in their palettes, they have a fetish for this colour to the extent that have brought out a lip gloss called 'Peek-A-Bloo'. Personally blue eyeshadow just makes me imagine what the 80's was like - trashy.  

Why?

Sorry, side tracked there - started thinking about Boy George... COLOURS. Organza, Gift Basket, Glitz, Celebrate and Gateau are all very fine shimmery colours, they aren't glittery but definitely shimmery and highly pigmented. The rest of the colours are matte and also extremely pigmented, which is excellent. 

Celebrate - (My favorite colour) Shimmery dark purple/dark coffee brown

Glitz - Shimmery blueish-dark silver

Gift Basket - Shimmery copper-brown

Ribbon - Light coral-pink

Organza - Shimmery darkish pink

Bow - Matte creamy white. Very pale.

Noir - Black

Wrapped Up - Lighter brown

Boxed - Warm dark brown

The Mail - Very light taupe

Gateau - Shimmery like Organza but lighter

Pamper - Light baby pink

Gateau and Organza great for layering over either Ribbon or Pamper.

The Mail, Boxed and Wrapped Up are good for a neutral look

Noir, Glitz and Celebrate are great for a smokey eye 

Things I liked

+ Beautiful texture, powder but sort of moist (ooo errr) which gives it great staying power

+ Good mix of dark and light shades

+ Mix of finishes

+ Cheap; about 50p per shade

+ Multistage (see alternative uses below)

+ Slim line case with expensive looking matte black finish

+ HUGE mirror

+ Great for travelling; only need to pack this, mascara and foundation and you are good to go. 

+ Excellent sponge applicator

Things I didn't like

- Glitz looks a bit silvery for me (would be awesome for a smokey eye)
- Ribbon and Pamper are very similar colours which is a shame; they could have included a nice light pinky-purple instead of Pamper
- Gateau is a bit of a let down; essentially it is a lighter version of Organza but still very beautiful

Alternative uses for the colours:

Bow - Good highlighter for cupid bow and brow bone

The Mail, Boxed, Wrapped Up, Noir - Brow filler

Noir - Eyeliner

Ribbon - Blusher

What's your favourite Sleek palette?

Eyes Lips Face 60% Off Code

Get 60% off all ELF products using the code 600713 for UK and EU customers. Minimum spend is £25 but they have a lot of lovely items it'll be easy to get up to that amount. I know it's a little early but it might be an idea to use this to stock up on christmas gifts.

Let me know what you bought in the comments below!

o2 Priority Moments: £10 off voucher at The Fragrance Shop

If you are an o2 customer and have a smart phone you will be able to access this deal.

All you need to do is download their Priority Moments App and show the voucher to the cashier when making a purchase. The voucher has no minimum spend so you could pick up something for free or put it towards a larger purchase. The voucher expires on the 23rd July.

Let me know what you have bought in the comments!