Constellation Necklace

Hi,
Just a quick post for you today on a necklace I bought recently. I love anything to do with star signs, and although I do not necessarily trust my horoscope, I find them interesting to read.
I am a Cancer. For anyone that's not sure what they are:
Aquarius- January 20- February 18
Pisces- February 19- March 20
Aries- March 21- April 19
Taurus- April 20- May 20
Gemini- May 21- June 20
Cancer- June 21- July 22
Leo- July 23- August 22
Virgo- August 23- September 22
Libra- September 23- October 22
Scorpio- October 23- November 21
Sagittarius- November 22- December 21
Capricorn- December 22- January 19

Each sign has it's own constellation. I bought a necklace with Cancer's one.

I love it! It's so beautiful and good quality. I bought it from Spot The Trend on Etsy. It's run by a lovely woman called Ursula. I loved that you can choose the length of the chain. She has so many beautiful and unusual pieces of jewellery on her page which are all really affordable. I really recommend that you check them out. She gives great customer service. I have noticed that the other constellation necklaces on her page are also £2 off at the moment. Also, it came with a cute thank you note. I love personalisation like this.

The only down side is that my kitten, Theo, keeps trying to bite it!

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

Flower PH Balm by Winky Lux

Hi!
Today I have a review of the Flower PH Balm by Winky Lux. This is an amazing looking lipstick that you will probably have seen on the internet. It is totally clear with a real flower inside but comes out pink on the lips. The colour changes according to your PH, so I is different on everyone. I have tried it on 4 different people and it works! It looks very impressive. Here is a video of me opening it on snapchat. My snapchat is rubiesandroses8 if anyone wants to add me.

Here is a terribly lit picture if the video doesn't work!

Currently it is only available at ASOS here in the UK, where it sells for £13, but it is also available from Winky Lux's website if you are from the USA. (I know there are some Americans who read this- hi guys!) You can also get a pack of 3 which comes with the pink, yellow and green flowers for £25.
It comes in a really beautiful box.

This is the tube. It looks pretty, but it feels really cheap, this is the only thing I don't like about this product.

This balm is, for me, quite a bright, but still soft (if that makes any sense!)  pink and is really flattering. It has been flattering for everyone I have tried it on, some found it more purpley. It feels really soft going onto the lips, but I found after a while it was quite drying, so I would call it more a lipstick than a balm. You can layer it easily to make the colour more vibrant. It smells delicious like vanilla.

These photos gives you an idea of how it looks on my lips, but obviously it will be different for everyone!

I really love this lipstick. However some people have said to me that they would find it too expensive, so if you want a cheaper alternative to this colour changing lipstick, I would recommend Barry M's Genie Lip Paint which is £4.99 from Boots, Superdrug or the Barry M website.
I am rating this 5/5 and recommend it for everyone as its so effective, beautiful and unusual.

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

Laura Lamont's Life in Pictures by Emma Straub

Hi!

This book is set during the golden age of Hollywood. It follows Laura Lamont, previously Elsa Emerson  during about 40 years of her life,
I love books that show you a large portion of someone's life because I always find myself wondering what happened eventually to characters.
Elsa Emerson was born in Door County, Wisconsin in 1920. Her parents own the Cherry County Playhouse and so Elsa is surrounded by actors from an early age. After having a small part in one of her father's plays, she is bitten by the acting bug and decides that all she wants to do is be an actress. However her family suffers loss which Elsa feels very deeply. She marries an actor, Gordon Pitts at 17 so she can go with him to become an actress in Los Angeles. There she meets the charismatic and powerful producer, Irving Green, who turns young blonde Elsa Emerson into glamourous brunette Laura Lamont. The book then follows the ups and downs of her life, with Elsa/Laura constantly reinventing herself and fighting for the people she loves.
I loved Laura/Elsa, and I felt everything she went through. This book also has a wonderful set of secondary characters, especially her children who were all really well rounded characters. I loved too that even the minor supporting characters, you got to find out what happened to them and all of the loose ends were tied up. It felt very realistic and well researched. I was sucked into the world and felt like I really knew all the characters. Something that stood out for me was the treatment of gay characters. Homosexuality was still illegal at this point, but the other characters in the book treated it as being very normal. It was never made a big deal of, jus accepted, and I really liked this.
I wouldn't recommend this for anyone under 13 as there are some more adult themes e.g. drug use, suicide, swearing. However, for anyone who enjoys history, romance and Hollywood, you should read it. I really enjoyed the entire book, so I would give it 5/5.

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

LUSH Dream Steam Review

Hi!
Another LUSH review for you, this time it is the Dream Steam toner tab. I had no idea what this was until I stumbled across it the other day. Its a toner in the form of a solid tab.  It sells for £2.50 and contains rose, chamomile and tea tree. It is not tested on animals and the only chemicals it contains is sodium bicarbonate and perfume.

Heres how to use it

1. Boil enough water to fill a large bowl
2. Drop the tab into the water & watch it fizz
3. Grab a tea towel and put your face over the bowl and the tea towel over your face. You look stupid so this is an activity best done alone! It keeps more of the seam in so you get a better result.
4. Wait for about 5 minutes then stop steaming
5. Get a cotton wool pad and dip it into the water
6. Wipe on face to finish cleansing

Its really simple!

Here's my face before:

My skin problems are bumps and redness especially on the nose & cheeks.

The tab smells sweet and floral before you put it into the water. When its in it smells less sweet but it is strong. I'm not sure whether it was the steam or the ingredients in the tab which made my throat burn. This sensation was still there about half an hour later. This made it less relaxing. This might not be a problem for other people, so don't let this put you off.

Here's my face just after I finished steaming:

 After my face dried a bit, my skin felt very moisturised. After wiping my face with the water, my skin felt tighter and less moisturised, but still good.

The water didn't look very appealing afterwards. It looked quite grey and murky and the petals that decorated the tab looked like bits of dead skin, which is pretty disgusting. However, you can keep the water for up to a week in the fridge and use it as a toner and makeup remover, so I'm going to try that.

Here is my face about an hour and a half after I used the tab:

Honestly, I can't tell that there's any difference. I had high hopes for this based on the reviews on the website, but I'm disappointed in this product and I don't think I would buy I again. Overall, I'm going to rate it 2/5 because it was a fun experience and smelled nice, but it made my throat burn and didn't make much difference.

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

The Last Letter from Your Lover by Jojo Moyes Review

Hi!

(Slight spoilers ahead- but not many)

The only way I can endure is to be in a place I will never see you, never be haunted by the possibility of seeing you with him. I need to be somewhere where sheer necessity forces you from my thoughts minute by minute, hour by hour. That cannot happen here.  I am going to take the job. I'll be at Platform 4, Paddington at 7.15 on Friday evening, and there is nothing in the world that would make me happier than if you found the courage to come with me. 

After reading Me Before You and crying A LOT I decided that I wanted to read more books by Jojo Moyes. The Last Letter from your Lover appealed to me because, firstly I has a character called Ellie who is a journalist (hello future me?) but also because I'm fascinated by love letters.

Its a book which tells the story of Jennifer in 1960 and Ellie in the modern day. Ellie finds a letter from Jennifer's lover which has been lost and she becomes fascinated with their story. This book cuts around a lot in time, jumping to focus on lots of different characters, which can be confusing if you are not paying a lot of attention.

Jennifer wakes up from a car accident with no memory of her life before, so when she discovers beautifully written, very romantic letters from B she wants to find out who her mysterious lover is and what exactly happened between them. Ellie is a journalist who is sleeping with a married man. She thinks that he makes her happy, but her friends are disapproving. She's struggling at work and her boss is not happy with her. On a trip to the newspaper archives she comes across a letter from B to Jennifer which sparks her interest. She starts trying to find out what happened to them and writing an article about their love affair.
This book has made me question my ideas about love and whether affairs are ever alright. I loved the characters, which are very 3 dimensional, even the minor ones. It had me laughing, crying and yelling. There are twists which I didn't see coming and until quite late in the book I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen. This is a story of missed opportunities, fate and love and it was beautiful. As a writer I love reading about other writers and journalists and there are plenty of these in this book. It was very believable and felt well researched. I loved comparing the differences between newspapers in the 60s and modern day.
There's a lot more I'd love to talk abut, but it would mean major spoilers, so I wont. I loved that each chapter started with a quote from a real life last letter from a lover.

I recommend this for anyone who likes historical fiction or romance . I will rate this 4.5/5 as it was so good but confusing at times when it jumped around.

If anyone wants to write me a love letter, please feel free, Valentine's day is just around the corner...

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

Lush Northern Lights Bath Bomb Review

Hi!
Today I am reviewing Lush's Northern Lights bath bomb. I love all of Lush's bath bombs as they are the best. I was given this one as a Christmas present by my parents. Just before Christmas, we went to Lapland to try and see the northern lights. We did see it, but it was very faint, but still amazing! I would love to go back and try to see it in its full glory.
This bath bomb is supposed to create a similar effect in your bath tub. It smells light and floral. It's not an amazing smell, but its still pretty.

It fizzes quickly into bright multi-coloured foam.

It swirls out echoing the real phenomena beautifully. It turns the water into a dark green.

You can see the similarities!

As time goes on, the colours fade until you are just left with the white foam you can see starting to appear in the picture above. The water also becomes less green and more grey which is less appealing. However it is very moisturising and my skin felt lovely afterwards. It did not stain the bath.

Overall, I would rate this 3.5 because its very pretty in the beginning but does not end up so lovely. Although the smell is nice, its nothing amazing, which sums up my feelings about the whole product. It was fun though, and I would use it again.

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Cannes Review

Hi!
Today I am reviewing NYX's Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade Cannes. I love how these shades have been named as they are all after cities. I'd love to be able to wear each colour in the city its named after. I bought this from ASOS for £5.50 but you can also get it from Boots and other places online.
I hardly ever wear lipstick because I struggle to find colours which suit me. However, I have been wanting to try the matte lip trend for a long time. I've heard lots of good things about these lip creams so I'm going to give them a try.

First of all, it smells amazing! It smells like Vanilla. It applies smoothly and evenly. It takes a little while to dry completely matte. It doesn't feel too drying. It looks darker on the lips than it does in the tube. For me this is a my lips but better shade. I wore this whilst wearing no other makeup 😮 but it actually made me look quite put together. I can't wait to wear this with a full face! The only bad thing about this product is that it didn't last that long so I had to keep reapplying it.

Not a great photo but you get the idea!

I am definitely going to try some of the other colours in this range! This was a really good introduction for me to the matte lip trend. Overall, I'm going to rate this 4/5.

Thanks for reading,

Ellie

MUA Elysium Palette Review & Swatches

Hi,
Today I will be reviewing MUA's Elysium palette. I love how affordable MUA is and how their makeup is such good quality for the price. This palette contains 10 shadows and costs £6.
Elysium is an unusual word, it comes from classic mythology to mean the place people go after they die. The colour names follow this theme.

With flash

Without flash

So lets start on the swatches, the first five are more suitable for the daytime, while the next are better for a more glamourous night look:

L-R: Air, Cherub, Charm, Astral, Grace

Air: Air is a subtle matte nude colour. It is not very pigmented but would be good to brighten up the corners of your eyes.
Cherub: Cherub is the least pigmented shade here. In the palette it is a very sparkly light pink but it comes out more nude and less sparkly on the skin.
Charm: Charm is a matte dusty rose colour. It looks darker in the palette. I think if you are pale (like me!) then this could also double up as blush in a pinch.
Astral: Astral is a rich, deep glittery pink in the palette, which translates to more of a peach on your skin. I was the most excited about this colour, so felt a bit let down by the real colour.
Grace: Grace is the most pigmented of this five. Its a dark shimmery brown that comes out the same on the skin as it is in the palette.

L-R: Refine, Entrance, Adore, Smoke, Seraphic

Refine: Refine looks like a dark terracotta pink in the palette, but shows as more a mauve on the skin. I've found that it is good for putting in the crease.
Entrance: Entrance is the most pigmented of the shimmery shadows in this palette. It is a brown with hints of gold but seems to lean towards purple on the skin. This pairs well with Refine.
Adore: Adore is a dark purple with a hint of shimmer which is not really visible on the skin. It is the most pigmented shadow in this palette.
Smoke: Smoke lives up to its name, it is a smoky grey colour on the skin, however in the palette, it is a matte black. It is not very pigmented, so you would need quite a few layers to get an opaque black.
Seraphic: Seraphic is a beautiful shimmery bronze which is the more or less the same in the palette as it is on the skin, although maybe less shimmery.

This palette also comes with a double ended eyeliner and highlighter pencil. I have not used this yet although from swatching, neither are very pigmented and the highlighter is very soft as the tip broke just from swatching. I was not pressing very hard. Personally, I don't think the highlighter suits my skin tone, but for others I'm sure it would be fine.

These eyeshadows need to be worn with a primer because they do not have good staying power and tend to crease easily. I have noticed a massive difference between wearing them without primer and with. I've been using Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer which has also enhanced their colour.

In previous MUA palettes, I've found the shadows to be more pigmented and have more staying power. However, with primer this is a really pretty palette which gives you the freedom to create both day and night looks.

Overall, I would give it 3 stars.

Thanks for reading,

Ellie