Mini Sanctuary Spa Gift Set

March 4, 2012 – 8:44 pm

A few weeks ago it was my Mum’s birthday (and my Dad’s too, on the same day! Dad is a year younger than Mum and they’re divorced now but… I digress,) and I bought her a couple of things from Boots by Sanctuary, which is a fairly well known spa in central London. They offer a range of cosmetics and home-spa treatments, so I was really happy to find that when I bought my Mum’s gift Boots had an offer giving away a free mini-set with the purchase of full sized products :D (I bought my Mum this Crème Soufflé and she really likes it, if anyone was wondering what I bought her from the range.)

The mini set is in this lovely card box with a cute ribbon;
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And comes with 4 mini-versions of some of their most popular treatments;
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Left to right; Body Scrub, Luxury Bath Float, Body Butter, Moisture Rich Foot Butter.
First thing is, I’m impressed that the mini sizes are fairly large, but I’ve just found that there is a SIMILAR set online that includes a hand cream instead of foot cream for £11, and you can check it out here. The free gift set is very similar to this one, including the sizes, so I suppose it’s not just made up to be gimmicky and given away as part of free offers, but actually sold as a product on its own. Good start, Sanctuary.

Body Scrub.
For daily buffing of skin, includes natural pumice, patchouli and orange oil, I can’t quite pin down what it smells like though. There’s a slight spiciness to it.. Hmm. Ah well, it smells nice anyway!
There’s not too much pumice in it and when used on the skin it does feel like it’s exfoliating, although perhaps not to the extent which I’m used to. I use a Soap And Glory exfoliator – which I’ll review one day – which does the job way better than this one, but for those who have skin that doesn’t need heavy-duty exfoliating this would be really good.

Luxury Bath Float.
Similar scent to the body scrub, containing freesia and baobab extract. This foams up quite nicely in to small bubbles that aren’t too thick or overwhelming, however you have to use a fair amount of the product to get it to do so, making the small size a negative. Then again they’re only travel size, and you could get a good… Hmm. 5 baths out of this? Maybe more, maybe less, depending on the hardness of your water as that will impact on the frothiness you get. Leaves the skin nice and smooth, not drying, decent stuff.

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Body Butter.
Now this is nice. You can smell the cocoa butter, it’s a thick and creamy moisturiser that massages well and is absorbed in to the skin. It doesn’t leave an oily residue even though it contains almond and macadamia oil, and it’s rich in Vitamin E so it’s good for you too! I’d probably buy the full size of this.

Moisture Rich Foot Butter.
Now, my feet are notorious for being hard skinned because I always walk around barefoot (and I used to do it as a kid too, I was very tomboy-ish and spent a lot of my time outside, and I fucking hated shoes!) My feet are also known for being abnormally cold, as well as my hands, it’s as if I had some very, very mild version of Raynaud’s Disease, but I’m not gonna start diagnosing myself with crap over the internet. All I do know is that it gets complaints from anyone who happens to be lucky enough to be sharing a bed with me. Ha.
Aaaaaaaanyway, so I love my lavender oil, which is why this began scoring points with me out of the tube. I can also smell tea tree, which is fantastic for soothing aching and tired feet. At first it seems this stuff works, my feet are much softer, but if I wake up the next morning my feet are still dry, tough and cracked, which makes me sad. There is no product that I have ever, EVER tried that makes my feet soft, and I’ve even had specialised, targeted feet-softening spa treatments that have ultimately ended up in my feet returning to their previous state within a week. This is sad. But, for people who have “normal” to mildly-hard feet this stuff will work wonders. The good part is that even though it doesn’t seem to help the rough skin, it is still very cooling so after a long day it would be a huge relief to just put this on, put some cotton socks over it and let it sink in. It smells lovely so I’ll probably use up the rest of the tube, but it’s not for me. I would recommend it though!

This brings me on to something else… Is there no long-term fix for Devon’s poor feet? I challenge someone to come up with something that will put my poor feet to rest. Not only am I working on them all day when I’m at work, but they’re battered from walking around the house barefooted, WHO CAN HELP MY FEET? :( No one. I do wanna say, my feet LOOK good, they’re not ugly feet at all, they don’t smell at all, they’re pretty nice as feet go, it’s just that my soles are very thick and rough.

By Devon | Posted in Kits/Sets, Make-up/Beauty, Skin | Tags: , | Leave a Comment

The importance of using primer (Urban Decay Primer Potion)

March 3, 2012 – 6:13 pm

Now, whenever I post about eyeshadow or eyeliner I’ve probably mentioned Urban Decay’s Primer Potion and how much I love it. I’ve never used the complexion primer, but for eyeshadows and liners this stuff really can’t be beat.

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This stuff is fantastic, it serves as a base for eyeshadows making them go on brighter, more pigmented and crease-free. UD’s Eyeshadow Primer Potion promises and boasts about its long-lasting wear. Now, I KNOW that this stuff is good, but its all well and good me saying that it’s wonderful, but what about actually putting it to the test?

Those of you who follow me on Twitter will have seen me tweet a very interesting picture the other day, it was all in the name of SCIENCE!

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The before photo is above, the top swatch has UD Primer Potion under it, the bottom is just bare skin.
I put two swatches of the shade from the Naked 2 palette, also by Urban Decay, on my arm and went for 60 minutes cardio at the gym. When I go cardio I go hard, I was on the bike for an hour, pouring with sweat (not pleasant but fuck it, that’s exercise for you,) and burned over 600 calories, so you know I wasn’t just pissing about.
This is what happened;

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I not only use this as a base for eyeshadow, but also under liner and as a sheer brightener on my lids and under eyes when I don’t want to use any heavy concealer.

This was the results. I think you can tell which one I used primer on, can’t you? While both swatches show wear, the top one shows minimal difference really.
There’s just no argument, I’ll let that picture say it all.

I use it in Original but I think I’d like to try Sin or Greed when I run out of my current tube.
Available online!

Important reminder. If you previously liked my old Facebook page you will NEED TO LIKE THE NEW ONE HERE. This is because I changed the name of the blog, but Facebook won’t let me change the name of the old page, Fat Nurse. There are still around 300 people who like the old page who haven’t made the move to the new one. I’d appreciate if you could do so and pass the message on. Thanks guys!

To “like” Eight For A Wish on Facebook click here!

By Devon | Posted in Eyes, Make-up/Beauty, Skin | Tags: , , | Leave a Comment

February’s Carmine box

February 28, 2012 – 2:53 pm

Today I got my second beauty box from Carmine! You can see my post about January’s box here!

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Now, I didn’t like my first Carmine box as much as I did my first Glossybox, (see here,) so let’s see if their second box can improve on that.

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Again, I really like the box-style. I prefer it to Glossybox, so that’s a bonus. It’s pretty hard to open, it’s the kinda box that kinda makes its own little suction thing but that’s okay! A little bit of wiggling and it comes open.
One thing that I’ve just realised about Carmine is that their leaflet they include which explains the products doesn’t tell you the cost of the full-size item, so I had to go out of my way to Google the full-size prices. Small issue I know, and maybe I’m a lazy blogger, but it’s annoying regardless.

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Andrea Fulerton Nail Varnish in Matthew
Well this was a bitch to photograph. This polish is a creamy nude, but it has very strong pink undertones. There’s shimmer and when it catches the sun it shines a luminous pink/purple which was impossible for me to catch on camera, which really annoyed me. There’s a picture of the colours available on the leaflet and I got sent – in my opinion – the worst colour. They have a green/blue which I would love to try but no :( I hate boring nail varnishes. Oh well. It’s still fairly nice, and as a full size sample it’s worth worth £4.99. Eh. Nothing special.

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Balance Me Super Moisturising Body Wash
Last time they sent me a small eye-oil-roll-on-thing from Balance Me which I said I won’t be using, so thankfully this time they sent me something from the company that I actually will use. This body wash smells looooovely and leaves my skin so, so smooth. Mmm. I like this. This is a full size sample, worth £8, and I intend to use every last bit of it. I’m thinking about getting the other one that they gave out as samples, if anyone has the Rose Otto version can you please comment and let me know how it is? Thanks!
There’s a discount code for 10% off their Super Mosturising and Rose Otto body washes if you type in CARMINEWASHES2012 at the checkout at www.balanceme.co.uk which expires 30th April 2012.

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Yardley London – Peony
Oh dear. I have nothing good to say about this sample. Perfume samples don’t do it for me anyway, but this smells like old ladies. Carmine say, “This fresh, feminine fragrance captures the scent of the delicate peony flower and compliments it with delightful fruity notes and warm amber undertones. It’s as if Yardley London managed to take spring and put it in a bottle!” Nope. Old ladies. 1 ml sample, full size retails for £14.49. A pretty cheap perfume in my opinion and you can tell by the scent.

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Diego Dalla Palma, Il Rosetto Lipstick in 32
This lipstick is quite nice. I’m not a lipstick person, if anything I’ll just use gloss, but this stuff seems quite high quality. I tried it out, it goes on very smooth and isn’t drying or sticky (I’m so sorry, ignore how dry my lips look, I have a problem with dehydration due to my headache tablets.) Sample size, full size retails for approximately £19.50.

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SteamCream Steam-infused Skincare in Jane
A nice, full size sample of head-to-to moisturiser/body cream worth £10.50 from SteamCream here. First, I’m loving the packaging. Very cute and sturdy animal print tin, the lid doesn’t come off too easily but it’s also not too hard to pop off. Now, you guys are starting to figure out by now that I love the scent of lavender, right? Well, you should be. So naturally that’s the first thing I pick up when I smell it is the lovely lavender, which is wonderful for calming skin of all types. There’s also so cocoa butter, orange flower water, almond oil, jojoba oil and other essential oils blended in to this cream. It leaves a lovely soft feeling on the skin, I’m probably going to use this as a hand moisturiser above all else, as you can probably tell from the nail polish posts that my hands need a bit of love (when I’m anxious or unhappy I bite the skin around my nails, I KNOW it’s a bad thing to do, and also if I’m on wards and using alcohol gel all the time or washing my hands they become dry. Although the handwash from the Glossybox I reviewed should help that…)
Receive 20% off at www.steamcream.com with the discount code CARMINE20 which expires 30th April 2012.

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White Glo Professional Choice Whitening Toothpaste
And, finally, a toothpaste? Well, I guess it counts as beauty so yeah sure, why not? The toothpaste claims that just a drop of the stuff will leave your teeth in mint (haha, I see what you did there,) condition. I tried it, and I have quite sensitive teeth, it did sting a little bit. However, I’m used to using Sensodyne Gentle Whitening toothpaste so using a non-sensitive formula is probably why. That said, there’s nothing wrong with the toothpaste itself, it’s not a gel-paste it’s just a plain old white paste, and when I run out of my current toothpaste I’ll probably give this one a go. But for now, nah. 24g sample, full size retails for £4.

Well. That’s the February Carmine box, what do you think? I’m still not too sure. I’ve got to say that Glossybox are still winning for me at the moment, though this box was better than the January Carmine box. I like the moisturiser and shower gel, they’ll probably get the most uses, the nail polish will likely sit in my collection amongst all of the others I own, the lipstick… Meh. The perfume? Lol, binned. And the toothpaste might get a use when I’m done with my current, but I won’t be casting aside my Sensodyne.

Regardless, it’s still a pretty decent box and you get a lot for just the £10 + P&P, so I’m still going to keep myself subscribed to Carmine in the hope that they bring out some even better stuff with their next boxes. For anyone interested in beauty boxes I would recommend trying Carmine out, even if it’s just for one box, because you do get a lot for your money, and the novelty of getting a mystery present through the post each month is something that makes me happy.

By Devon | Posted in Beauty Boxes, Lips, Make-up/Beauty, Nails, Skin | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Ella Tino, Skulls and Stars (Followed by some Blog Admin.)

February 25, 2012 – 12:38 pm

You guys might remember Ella Tino from a post I did a while back, where I posted an amazingly cute hat (though, I admit, now I’m wearing my super wolf hat to the death,) and I’ve been following the brand ever since. I keep meaning to actually buy something, but I get distracted and now that I’ve had this business with the guys from eBay (see my last post,) I have no money to spend until I next get paid. Sigh. (On another note, when I do get paid next I’m thinking about going down to Stratford’s Westfield shopping centre as I know they have a MAC store and I want to get some legit MAC products… Going off track now.) So, when I saw that Ella Tino were promoting a new range/theme for the season, I was happy to get in contact with the lovely Jemma, who runs things behind the scenes.

At the moment they’ve got a very pirate-y feel about them over at Ella Tino, and I love it. I dressed up as a pirate for my last birthday, even though I’m more of a ninja person. Regardless, being the magpie at heart that I am (if anyone cares, my spirit animal and totem is a magpie, I don’t care if you think that spiritual stuff is stupid, it’s a part of me,) when I opened my letter to see something shiny I smiled :D

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How cool is this? It’s a real-leather cuff with little gems. Sometimes I think the fake-gem-look can be tacky or overdone, but I actually really like this cuff. I think if it were worn with a simple, uncomplicated outfit it would definitely look the part. Kinda gothic, but not overly, this is something I would actually wear myself. And so shiny!

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I also found this lovely scarf! This scarf is really soft and quite sheer, it’s also quite big (I’ll take a photo in a future OOTD of the size,) so you can fold it up a few times to get some nice thickness out of it. Seeing as it’s black and white it will probably go with most outfits, however I did see an orange version on their website that I might buy when I get paid. If they had a green version I would die and probably buy about 50 of them, they do have some green scarves but none in this same design. Shame!

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Ella Tino also do some really nice clothing aside from their accessories, but their sizing only goes up to a size 18 (XL on the site,) and is a little weird, as some of their products are just sized as “One Size,” which I’d guess would probably be around a 12, as that’s pretty average? Anyway, I intend to have a browse and maybe buy one of their jumpers or tops in an 18/XL to see the fit, and of course I shall report back to you.

—

And now some admin, but it is important and explains a few things;

I know, I keep posting lately, but I’m making up for going months without posting anything. That, and I feel really low at the moment and the blog is providing a distraction from my feelings. And yes, I’m still fixing up the layout, I should have the new header next week, if there are any errors you notice please leave a comment.

I’m also trying to make my blog look a bit tidier, which means I’ll be adding more links to posts (especially when I reference past reviews or particular items, if they’re available online,) just to make them seem a bit more professional and to stop you guys from having to hunt through old posts or Google when I reference something in particular. The reason I’m doing this is because when I read other peoples blogs and they reference a particular item, site, company or post I normally get irked if I have to dig through content or search to find what they’re on about.
However do not fear – I am NOT getting paid to put more links in my posts unless otherwise stated, and I’m not a part of any affiliate programs. I hate affiliate programs, too much hassle. If I do ever join one the link will be in a sidebar, NOT an actual post. But as of now I participate in none.
The only referral links you’ll see are on my beauty box posts, because if people sign up via my links then I get points towards a new box, and usually I’ll post to point that out :) (If I remember!) Again, I’m earning no actual money from these links.

PLEASE like the new Facebook page. There are still 300 people who have liked the old one and not changed to the new one. I can not rename the old, Fat Nurse, Facebook page so you need to like the new, Eight For A Wish page please! I’ll shortly stop posting my updates to the old page.
Thanks guys!

By Devon | Posted in Blog Admin, Fashion, Trends | Tags: , , | Leave a Comment

A warning about eBay SCAMMERS. (Warning, strong language.)

February 24, 2012 – 8:41 pm

Not a review, no pictures, this post has some swearing, but this is very important; A little warning guys… Please read this.

DO NOT buy MAC or Benefit products on eBay, in fact, don’t buy any make-up products from eBay unless you know 100% that they are genuine.
AND that the seller has a high number of positive feedback.
ALSO, request pictures of the ACTUAL PRODUCT THEY WILL BE SENDING. Not stock images. Ask for close-ups with proof of the date.
If they’re a genuine seller who wants your custom they will do so.

Why?

Well, I tried buying a handful of things because they were cheap. Stupid girl. I’ve bought real cosmetics from eBay before and never had a problem, so I thought I’d try again… No. I may have been lucky with my first purchases, but these ones… No. Just… No. I ended up paying about £90 for three items (from three different sellers,) that all turned out to be fake.

How could I tell? Well, all of the packaging had spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes; the Benefit packaging was meant to have labels that lifted up to show the ingredients, instead the labels were just stuck on with glue; the product quality was inferior; and what gave them away the most? When I was looking for the names of the shades of some Mac eyeshadow I went to the Mac website and spoke live with one of their artists, asking the names of the shadows in the 6-piece Wonder Woman palette. … They never even made a 6-piece Wonder Woman palette.

And now I’m going through the claims procedures to get my money back, I have had about £50 back but I’m still waiting for someone to refund me £35. I’m stressed and I feel like shit anyway, so having this on top of everything else? Fucking fantastic. I feel very low as of late due to several events that have happened in my life, and I thought I could cheer myself up by getting a bargain on eBay. Instead, this has made me feel even worse and added unneeded stress to my life. Thanks.
This person says they aren’t fake, yet these are the items that Mac themselves said they never made. This person thinks I’m trying to scam them out of their shitty fake product – AS. IF. As if I would want that shit to go on my face, shit that’s fake, probably made in some knock-off warehouse in China filled with lead and petrol. And this person has the audacity to say that I want his shit for free? FUCK YOU. I now need to wait until next week for eBay to make the decision, which will probably be made in my favour seeing as I have evidence that the products are completely fake. But this person denies it, continues to be rude to me and I just can’t be bothered.
What do you do if you suspect you bought a fake product on eBay?
DO NOT SEND IT BACK.

Under eBay’s buyer policy if you believe you have purchased a counterfeit item then you open a dispute. If the person refuses to refund you the money or insists you return the item DO NOT DO SO. Report it as being fake, and within 8 days of opening the case you can escalate it so that eBay will make the decision for you. eBay themselves may ask for you to send the product to them, and if you have any proof that it is fake (pictures, conversations with representatives, etc,) then forward that to them with your case too. It’s actually up to the seller to prove that the items are NOT fake, but if you can prove that they ARE then the seller has no leg to stand on and eBay will most likely rule in your favour, asking for the items to be destroyed or sent to them for destruction. eBay will pay the fee for the destruction if they request it be posted to them and you will receive a FULL refund. If you have proof and you KNOW that you are in the right do not back down, do not get abusive and do not, above all else, say or do something that could bring your claim in to dispute. Remain polite, state the facts, prove that you have evidence, and if they still continue to deny it, escalate the existing claim to eBay after 8 days, where they will make a decision.

I’m waiting to escalate the last case I have open, but I thought I’d let you know the names of the three people who sold me counterfeits; evo4ed2011, nbell14, jasoncosmetics2011. And there are hundreds more out there. If they see this – hello! /waves. Yes, you’ve been caught. That’s what you get for being rude to me and selling people fake rubbish. I hope you can never be trusted to sell anything on eBay ever again. You know the risk you’re putting people at? Put fake shit on your own skin by all means, but don’t sell it to others who may have allergic reactions, rashes and may even go in to Anaphylaxis (anaphylactic shock,) at the potentially deadly ingredients that are used to make cheap, counterfeit make-up. You could kill somebody.
ALL denied selling fake products and tried to make it look like I was trying to get their shit for free. And yes, it is SHIT which is why I’m using that word. All three were either rude or placing excessive emphasis on their denial, trying to place the blame on me, which probably shows the fact that they know they’ve been caught selling counterfeit items.

And please, report both the listings AND THE SELLER too, so that others don’t make the same mistake.

Regardless, do not buy products like this on eBay. They can be seriously damaging to your skin, and you’re getting an inferior lump of crap for something you have paid a lot of money for. Save up and buy the real things from the genuine retailers, I know I will from now on. Do not make my mistake.

By Devon | Posted in Make-up/Beauty, Rants | Tags: , , , | Leave a Comment

Benefit Foamingly Clean Facial Wash

February 24, 2012 – 3:33 pm

More Benefit stuff :D Yay!

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I have oily, spot-prone skin. I always have breakouts and it makes me sad :( And unfortunately I’m the kind of person who can’t leave spots alone – I know, it’s bad. So, I’ve recently started trying products to calm my angry skin. You saw my review of a few other oil-free Benefit products designed to help my skin type, and I recently invested in their facial wash too. Of course, it’s also packaged in the same cute way, looking like something from an old time-y pharmacy, alongside its fellows from the same range.

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I have a 3-in-1 mask/scrub/wash that I use in the evenings, but in the mornings I’m usually too lazy to wash my skin with anything but water, and that needs to stop. Obviously overnight my skin’s gonna pick up some oil, pores might get clogged, imperfections come, and water in the morning obviously isn’t good enough. So, trying this Benefit face wash, after which I apply the It’s Potent! Eye Cream and the Triple Performing Facial Emulsion reviewed here, along with their make-up remover.

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This face wash smells like the rest of the products from this line, fresh, slightly fruity, not overly medicinal.
And although it’s “foaming” face wash, it doesn’t foam too much. It develops in to a nice, light creamy foam, which also means you don’t need much of it to go far. You probably need two pea-sized amounts for good coverage of the whole face, so about twice as much as is in this picture;

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Which is good, because it costs £16.50 so I’m hoping it will last a while!
After spending a few minutes massaging it in to various areas on my face (paying extra attention to the most spot-prone places; my forehead, chin, nose and the sides of my face,) and washing it off with warm water my skin definitely feels smoother. It feels a little tight but not dry at all, and the tightness wears off after a few minutes. It washes off fairly easily, which is good because I like to get my morning routine out of the way as fast as possible and I hate standing there for ages washing off sticky face washes, and it doesn’t stick to my hair either if I accidentally overextend my range.

Edit: Split this post in two as I think both posts deserved their own.

By Devon | Posted in Make-up/Beauty, Skin | Tags: , | Comments (6)

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and Benefit – They’re Real! Mascara.

February 23, 2012 – 3:45 pm

My new header will be up in about a week, sorry that the old one looks out of place at the moment!

IMPORTANT:
Guys can you please remember to change your Facebook likes to Eight For A Wish, as Facebook won’t let me rename the group Fat Nurse, and please share and get the news to other people, there’s about 300 people who have liked the old page but not the new :( Come on.

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Now, I never owned the first Urban Decay Naked palette, that’s on my wish of long-term wants, but Naked 2 has had people raving about it for ages, saying it supersedes its predecessor by miles.
Well, we’ll see about that!

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I don’t usually wear make-up unless I’m going out, and at the moment I’m going through a period of very low mood, so not going out and thus not wearing make-up, but I can still review the stuff.

At the moment I am all about the more subtle, neutral shades, and as you may have seen with the last Book of Shadows (III,) that I reviewed my favourites were mainly the nudes, neutrals and browns. (Also a good one to check out is the Midnight Emergency Kit.)

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The palette boasts that it features 12 shades (5 exclusive to the palette,) a double ended crease/shadow brush and a mini version of their Lip Junkie lipgloss in Naked (obviously!) Now, some argue that the lipgloss is out of place and they’d rather a mini-Primer Potion, however, if you buy UD frequently (and I do,) you will end up with about 5 mini-Primer Potions on top of the existing full size one you already own, so another one? Nah, I’m good thanks, the lipgloss is a nice touch. Good start, Urban Decay.
The palette feels very sturdy, it’s made of metal and the top hinge is a little stiff – which is intentional – which means that the mirror portion doesn’t flap backwards when you’re trying to look in the mirror. This is SO IMPORTANT. I hate make-up palettes that have mirrors that don’t bloody function properly, meaning you end up having to prop the mirror up by putting things behind it (usually nail polish bottles,) and then the stupid thing flaps down forwards instead and shuts. I HATE THAT. So thank GOD for someone in Urban Decay’s packaging department realising that the mirrored tops need to be able to stand up on their own!

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First off – I love the brush! I have their crease brush (and have a mini version of it came in the Midnight Emergency Kit too!) But I didn’t have a proper blending shadow brush. This is perfect, although I did buy one from The Body Shop which I’ll compare with this one when I get a chance, I can say that this one will probably win (but, that’s Urban Decay’s specialty.. Anyway, this isn’t relevant, another time, Devon…)

Swatches;
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From left to right, applied over Urban Decay Primer Potion; Foxy, Half Baked, Booty Call, Chopper, Tease, Snake Bite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout.
Foxy – Blends in very well with my skin tone so I had to really pile it on to get it to show up on the camera. Would be very good for a base, nude cream, matte.
Half Baked – One of my favourites, a very striking copper with tonnes of shimmer, goes on highly pigmented.
Booty Call – Again, a nice base to use, I used this and Foxy towards the inside of my eye to brighten it up and highlight on the brow bone. This is shimmery.
Chopper – A nice bronze with a pinkish base, very shimmery, goes on easy.
Tease – A matte brown with a pink/purple base, as with most of these shades it’s highly pigmented.
Snake Bite – A shimmery dark brown, not much more to say.
Suspect – A shimmery medium brown in between Chopper and Snake Bite.
Pistol – Grungy grey with a silver shimmer, very good for smokey eyes. Has a veeeeeeeeeeery slight green base.
Verve – A shimmery silver with a brown base, very reflective and blends beautifully.
YDK – A darker version of Half Baked and a shimmery version of Tease, very pigmented.
Busted – A much darker brown with grey hues.
Blackout – A very pigmented very black-black. I used this to line and blended it (see below) but it also stands well as a liner without blending for a more striking look.

A quick look using Foxy, Half Baked, Booty Call, Snake Bite, Pistol, Busted and Blackout (to line.)
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I definitely need to play with this palette a bit, I really like it. I might not even bother getting the original Naked palette, if I do it’ll only be to review.
Although in the palette it seems that there’s an amount of fallout when picking up the colour on to the brush, once it’s on the brush and when you’re applying them the shadows have very little fallout. I’d imagine that if you weren’t wearing a primer there could be some shimmer left on your cheeks from the eyeshadow after a while, but with the primer there’s no issue.
And, excuse the lack of foundation, etc, in the picture above, I literally used some concealer under my eye, primer on the eye and then the shadows. Couldn’t be bothered to do a whole face, the review is about the shadows not the rest :P

The mascara used above is new, Benefit’s “They’re Real!” Mascara;
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This is actually the best mascara I have ever used. It really opens up the eye, the brush grips on to the eyelashes as it coats them with a non-sticky mascara, I didn’t need to separate any lashes, even when I used two coats. It stays on for a long time even without eyelash primer and doesn’t seem to flake and come off on to the skin even after wearing it for ages. So good I bought two tubes!

By Devon | Posted in Eyes, Kits/Sets | Tags: , , | Comments (3)

My first Glossybox and an OOTD

February 21, 2012 – 4:49 pm

You may notice that my blog is starting to look a little different, and that www.fat-nurse.com is redirecting to www.eightforawish.com. What’s up with that?! Read this post first, I’ll explain at the bottom.

Right, another day another beauty box!
This is the second of three different beauty boxes I’m now subscribed to, for the first see my post on Carmine, over here.
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This is Glossybox, and if you saw my post about Carmine you’d know that I’m quite interested in this whole beauty box trend that’s going about at the moment, especially as it’s low-cost and will give me 4/5 items to review per box (I’m subscribed to three different companies’ boxes which means ~15 items,) per month for you guys :D Fantastic. Also, it means that I can try things I never would have tried otherwise. Bonus.

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Similar to Carmine, Glossybox have a lovely fancy box (which my Mum will be having, she loves her boxes,) and came with nice shiny packaging. I prefer Carmine’s box, but maybe that’s because it was green and black, which is pretty much my favourite colour combination.

One thing, I am a little disappointed that my Glossybox isn’t Valentine’s-themed like it shows on the landing page of their website. Maybe that’s because I didn’t subscribe until after Valentine’s day, so it’s probably not their fault.

Ok, so what do we have?

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Becca Beach Tint Watermelon
This is a waterproof lip/cheek stain, and at 7ml this is the full retail size which retails for £20. Remember, these boxes cost £10 + P&P so there it goes, paying for itself! Anyway, I quite like the colour, I’m not a big fan of lip/cheek stains, I normally just go with a Bare Minerals blusher and some lipgloss, but still nice, I’m sure I’ll find a use for it.
Edit 1: Actually, my Mum has stolen this from me. She likes the colour and it suits her a lot more than it suits me, she’s wearing it now and at first thought it said “bleach tint.” I face-palmed. But, she says as a lip tint it’s not sticky and is going to “wear it down the pub tonight and report back to [me] after a few beers.” She’s pretty optimistic, so let’s see how it lasts. I’ll edit this post when she gets home tonight to update.
Edit 2, a couple of hours later: “I have never had a lipstick like this. Normally a little bit comes off but nothing came off when I was drinking, NOTHING was on the glasses! It’s really, really good, never had one like this. We’ll see how it is later, but none of it has come off, see? [She shows me.]“
Edit 3: “I can definitely see why this would be worth £20. The colour is well nice too. It hasn’t come off on any glasses or any of my fags or anything. You could use it as paint to be honest! You definitely need a lip brush though, I had to put it on with my finger. But I’ve tried millions of lipsticks, 1000 kisses, all night wear, NOTHING has been this good.”
They are all my Mum’s words, verbatim with no editing by me ;P My Mum. Now there’s an endorsement if I’ve ever heard one.
If anyone is interested there’s a discount code GLOSSYBOX for 20% off at www.beccacosmetics.com.

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Dr Bronner Lavender Hand Sanitiser
Well damn. Colour me impressed. I love the smell of lavender, it’s so calming and it’s one of my favourite flowers. Being a student nurse it’s important to keep my hands clean, but normal alcohol gel smells horrible, leaves my hands stinging and dries them out to high heavens. Although this version is still an automatic paper-cut finder – as all alcohol gels are – at least this one smells lovely. I was actually really, really happy when I saw this, never heard of the brand before but this will be carried with me everywhere from now on. This is also a full size product, worth £3.99, but I would gladly pay more than that for it.

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Awapuhi By Paul Mitchell Wild Ginger Treatment Oil
Now try and say that after a few beers.
This was the “meh” item of the box for me, I have hair that I HAVE to wash and condition daily otherwise it gets greasy, so adding any serum or oil is a huge no. This is meant to be a hydrating serum to be used after hair has been washed in order to smooth and seal dry hair. I gave this to my Mum as her hair is dry, she really likes it and says that it smells nice (I also don’t like the smell of ginger, but never mind.)
My Mum put some on this morning and said, “that hair stuff is well good I put some on this morning and it made my hair well smooth and shiny and not-frizz. Definitely give that hair thing a good review. I’ll probably buy the full size, you only need a little bit and it will last ages.” (SiC.) Well there you go, if you can’t trust my Mum’s review who’s can you trust?
This bottle is around 25ml, a quarter of the full size. The full 100mls retails for £25.95.

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BM Beauty Pure Mineral Eyeshadow
This eyeshadow is fairly nice, I got it in shade ‘storm cloud’ which is a grey with a green base, fairly difficult to show on the picture but I hope you can see what I mean. I haven’t really experimented with it on my face yet, and the swatch you see above isn’t over any primer, but it appears to be fairly hard-wearing and feels light. I’ll have to give it a test run to see if it’s actually any good, but from what I’ve seen it’s alright. It’s a 1g pot, the full 2g retails at £7.00.

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Como Shambhala Invigorate Shower Gel
I really like this. I can’t quite figure out what the oils are, all it says is “a revitalising blend of essential oils that puts you in a perfectly uplifted mood.” I think I can smell some lavender, some mint, rose — Oh, wait, it says on the front of the bottle.
Lol, I kept that in because I was sitting here smelling the stuff like a fine wine trying to figure it out. There you go kids, it helps to read the bottle.
Still, I was quite accurate! It actually contains eucalyptus, geranium (kinda like rose,) lavender (that was right) and peppermint (so was that.) Haha.
This sample should last a couple of showers, it’s 50ml and the full 300mls retails at £20.00. Quite expensive for shower gel, I think, so I doubt I would buy the full size version. However this mini is lovely and I am really enjoying using it. I don’t really feel particularly invigorated after I use it, but maybe that’s because I use it to wash with when I’m in the bath, and I usually bathe at night time. Ho hum. Lovely sample anyway.

So overall, a REALLY good box. Upon first impressions, even though I much prefer Carmine’s presentation the items I got from Glossybox will probably get more use by myself (and Mum.) Then again, I’ve only had one box from each company so far so let’s see what future boxes bring. I also have another beauty box subscription which I’ll end up making a post about when it comes through, I’m sure.

If you’re interested, go check out Glossybox, or Carmine, if I had to recommend just one, so far that would be Glossybox.

And a quick OOTD to show that I’m still posting clothing too, just going through a beauty/make-up phase;

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Loving these leggings right now. They’re just normal leggings but with a PU panel at the front, from the Grazia range I think. These are in a 16 and they fit just about right (I have so many leggings now that are too big, I’m glad that I’m feeling healthier but it’s bloody expensive to replace clothes!) They’re comfortable and don’t stick because on the inside there is a kinda fabric-y bit that stops the paneling from touching the skin. The tee? Meh, not too amazing, but right now I can’t find anything in my wardrobe that I want to actually post.


Top @ Simply Be.
Leggings @ Simply Be.

Now, about the blog…
Yes, Fat Nurse has a new name. Eight For A Wish. Why? Simple! Magpies.

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret, never to be told,
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten for a bird you must not miss.

Sorry that it’s in a transition phase at the moment, so the layout looks a bit dodgy, but trust me, when it’s all ironed out it will look fantastic.
If you could update your bookmarks and any links you have to me please do so (if you have blogs with links to me, please update the URL and blog name,) however fat-nurse.com will automatically redirect to eightforawish.com for the next year.

Also; I’m cleaning up my blog, getting rid of some older entries, playing with the design so if anyone notices broken links, anything buggy or what-have-you don’t worry for the moment, I’ll let you know when it’s “done,” so you can tell me if there’s anything left broken. Going for more of a magpie theme.

By Devon | Posted in Beauty Boxes, Eyes, Fashion, Lips, Make-up/Beauty, OOTD | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Comments (8)

Small Benefit haul

February 18, 2012 – 5:02 pm

I’ve recently spent a fair amount of money on Benefit products, there are more than in this post but they will be up soon. But I thought I’d review these 3 briefly :D Ignore the background on these photos, I didn’t have time to set it up all nice and clear as the light was fading.

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Remove It Makeup Remover.
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First off, I love the packaging. Benefit always has good packaging with their products and this doesn’t disappoint. I don’t even want to throw away the box. The bottles themselves look like potion bottles! Anyway, this is an oil-free cleansing makeup remover :D I usually use a Johnson’s makeup remover because it’s more sensitive and my eyes are sensitive to makeup and remover. Unfortunately this is no exception, when this reached my eyes it stung like a bitch. The back of the pack claims “this no-rinse formula does not sting or irritate eyes,” well, maybe not for normal eyes :( It was horrible. Not as bad as “normal” makeup removers I will add, but for my eyes I will continue using a creamier solution rather than a liquid. However, for the rest of my face? Lovely. Makeup was removed in one swipe with a little bit of the remover on a ball of cotton wool. It even took of stubborn waterproof makeup easily. It smells really nice, very gentle on the (non-eye,) skin and is now gonna be my go-top makeup remover.

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Triple Performing Facial Emulsion.
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As I do have oily skin that is prone to breakouts I continued with the oil-free theme and bought this moisturiser. One of the bonuses of this is that it contains SPF15, and even though it’s rainy in England and I hate the sun anyway, it’s always good to know there’s a backup :P I burn like hell. Anyway, this moisturiser is really lightweight, silky and leaves my skin so smooth. Sooooo smooooooth. You would not believe.
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Just two pumps are needed for me to get good coverage on my face and neck, and it doesn’t leave me feeling sticky either. It claims to be triple performing, and it apparently hydrates, protects and comforts the skin. So there you go.

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It’s Potent! Eye Cream.
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Now, I have horrible bags under my eyes. I may be 20 but a combination of little sleep, stress and my skin type means that I have dark circles under my eyes :( But instead of just concealing it, I wanted to do something about it, which is why I picked up this eye cream. Benefit claims that it helps fade dark circles and smooth fine lines.
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The formula is extremely light and shares the same fresh scent as the other two items. It doesn’t say that it’s oil free, but it doesn’t feel oily or leave my skin feeling gross. I can’t say whether it’s been effective as I only started using it a couple of days ago, but if anything it definitely leaves the skin under my eyes feeling a lot smoother.

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My potions all together :D They also have a cleansing wash in this range and I’m considering buying it as well, but that will have to wait until I have more money :)

What do you guys think of Benefit? Does anyone have any recommendations for makeup removers, moisturisers or eye creams?

By Devon | Posted in Make-up/Beauty, Skin | Tags: , | Comments (9)

My first Carmine box (January’s box)

February 17, 2012 – 5:14 pm

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So, beauty boxes seem to be the new thing. I signed up to three of them, the first one that I received was Carmine’s box! As it was my first box I got it for half price – yay!

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I like the presentation of the box, it’s black, sleek and feels pretty hard wearing. I might gave it to my Mum, she likes boxes and wouldn’t let me throw it away.

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Basically beauty boxes work like this; You pay £10 (or so) a month to receive up to 6 luxury beauty samples. Some are full size, some are smaller, however it’s nowhere near as crap as those little samples you get in magazines. Ugh, those annoy me. Anyway, this month I had 5 items.

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Korres Wild Rose 24-Hour Moisturising and Brightening Cream
Sample size tube, smells DIVINE. Obviously to be used sparingly but as it appears to be a facial moisturiser I wouldn’t go piling it on anyway. Feels very light. I approve!

Eldora False Eyelashes
I don’t like false eyelashes, I have sensitive eyes, so I won’t be using these. However they are full size and come with glue, so I suppose for some people this would be a win.

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Balance Me Radiance Face Oil
I don’t put oil on my face. I have greasy skin as it is! However my Mum LOVES this and has stolen it from me. It smells nice and does feel very light, especially for an oil. Claims to make you “literally glow,” to use before moisturiser to help keep the skin soft and supple. I’m 20, my skin is soft and supple! Still, a nice product.

Westlab Himalayan Pink Salt
These smell AWESOME. I love my baths, they’re spa-level crystals and I can’t wait to have a bath with these. It claims to detoxify the skin, containing minerals and natural materials, quite a big sample that would probably last two baths.
I like this.
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Eyeko Fat Eye Stick
I thought it was black, and I was kinda “meh” about that. BUT IT’S GREEN. Well, green/blue. This is a full size sample and they retail for £10 on their own, so I suppose that covers the whole box even without the rest of the samples. ESPECIALLY as my first box was half price! It’s a big chunky eye crayon that glides on really, really smoothly. The fact that this is not only a full size product but also green in colour makes this box for me :P HIGHLY pigmented, I didn’t even use any primer potion.

If anyone is interested in signing up to take advantage of Carmine’s first-box-half-price offer I would suggest going for it. The February box will be mine in about two weeks, so I’ll do another review then. Until then I’m definitely impressed with this service :D Let’s see the other boxes from different companies I ordered as they come through! What do you guys think about beauty boxes?

By Devon | Posted in Beauty Boxes, Eyes, Make-up/Beauty, Skin | Tags: , , , , , , , | Comments (4)
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