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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

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!

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.)

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!

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;

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.)


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;


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!

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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;

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.

Remove It Makeup Remover.

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.

Triple Performing Facial Emulsion.

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.

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.

It’s Potent! Eye Cream.

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.

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.

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?

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

The eyeshadows are Midnight Cowboy, Midnight Rodeo, Midnight 15 and AC/DC. The first three are shimmery nudes/browns and the last being a dusky purple.
Swatches as shown in the above order;

Midnight Cowboy – Similar to its cousin, Midnight Cowgirl, which was shown in my last post. But this has a more silvery base to it. The pigmentation is a lot more also, as are the pinkish undertones.
Midnight Rodeo – See my last post! Love it!
Midnight 15 – A fairly sheer version of Midnight Cowboy, it has the same silver base and it took a few coats of application, but appears more neutral than the others.
AC/DC – The odd one out! As you can see it’s quite a rich purple with silvery undertones. It adds the right amount of difference in a mostly nude palette.

Full size Lip Junkie lipgloss in Midnight Cowboy.

Lol, the dreaded lip-area close-up. As you can see, it’s a sheer and shimmery nude, it works well with the shades from the collection. I like UD’s lipglosses because they’re cool and minty, they’re not sticky and they seem to last for ages. This is no exception!

And just a snap of the mini-brush with its big brother.

NOW! My hat… Guys. I wish I could tell you where to get it but I can’t. Well, I can… It came from a market stall outside the Boots shop in my town. That’s the best you’re gonna get, I’m sorry. BUT OH MY GOD HOW CUTE IS IT?!

I love it. I LOVE IT. I. LOVE. IT. It’s warm and furry, it keeps my ears warm, it keeps my head warm, it keeps my neck warm, the scarf part has pockets… Just… This hat. Oh god <3

Here’s a couple of quick reviews followed by some Urban Decay swatches from their fourth Book of Shadows.

This is a Lovedrobe dress from Evans, I wanted it because I love long-line tunics/tops/dresses, and I’m quite enjoying the current trend in military/utility-style shirts. Plus, it’s green.

It has a tie-belt that’s meant to be tied at the front in a bow, but I’m not very good at that kind of thing so my belt part just looks a bit silly. Still. The material is really nice. And you see those lace-ish things that are hanging around the lower half? They can be tied to create a more or less ruched look. Mine are only very loosely tied, but you can see the effect.

Dress @ Evans.
Leggings @ Evans.
Boots @ Simply Be.

This dress is from the Frock & Frill range at Simply Be, it’s also available in black and I am extremely unhappy that it’s now out of stock in all sizes because I wanted the black one too :( Bleh. Oh well. Long-time readers may recognise that it’s similar to an Asos Curve dress that was showcased at the very opening of the brand, and indeed that is true. However the lace overlay on this dress isn’t quite as nice as the one on the Asos Curve one, and the same goes for the lining. The lining is slightly see-through, as you can tell, but other than that it’s a nice dress that I have happily added to my wardrobe. It also has a tie around the waist to the back, so you can pull it in a bit more.

Dress @ Simply Be.
Leggings @ Evans.
Boots @ Simply Be.

I’ve also had Urban Decay’s Book Of Shadows IV for AGES and never got around to reviewing it so I will do a quick one here!

It’s a bit of an odd one. As you can see, there’s a phone holder (that’s my iPhone, YES THIS IS DOG,) because it actually comes with a small speaker. I assume it’s so you can put on your makeup while listening to some tunes, but I put my makeup on at my computer anyway, so a bit useless, still… I guess it’s a little gimmicky for me. But other than that, it contains 16 shades of eyeshadow, a mini tube of their AMAZING Primer Potion, Zero liquid liner (I’m the WORST with liquid eyeliner, so that won’t be used!) and a mini tube of their Supercurl Mascara.

The goods.

I usually use Maybelline Colossal Volum’ mascara, but that’s probably because I’m too lazy to go out and find a better one. But very few I have tried don’t match my current one. Still, I thought I’d give the UD ones a go because I love UD. And actually, I was quite impressed.

As you can see the brush has a nice curve to it, which confuses me. I never get the right way to put on mascara if the brush is anything but straight. Does the arch of the curve go towards your lashes or away? How do you apply it? I don’t know! So I usually end up doing it wrong and poking myself in the eye (almost every time I use one of these brushes it happens. And even sometimes with a normal brush, I’m hopeless with makeup!) Anyway. It’s actually quite nice! It went on well, I managed not to poke myself in the eye and it didn’t clump up my lashes and make them go all spidery.

Anyway, here are the swatches! All applied over UD’s awesome primer potion.

From left to right; Blue Bus, Gunmetal, Cobra, Baked, Bender, Gravity, Lost, Hijack.

Blue Bus – Eh. I’m not impressed with this. It’s not very pigmented, the picture above shows many layers of me trying to make it look nice. This is the only real crap one in the set. Glad it’s out of the way first.
Gunmetal – A nice grey, slightly shimmery with a touch of glitter. Not overly glittery though.
Cobra – Very close to black, has a greeny-brown base to it with gold glitter.
Baked – My FAVOURITE by miles! VERY pigmented, beautiful golden-bronze, shimmery but not glittery.
Bender – Guys, it’s green. I love it. Went on very pigmented, shimmery but no glitter.
Gravity – A surprise for me, I’m not a huge fan of purples but this is a smokey kinda violet and I think it’s very pretty.
Lost – Another one I LOVE. Similar to Baked but it’s darker sister. Obviously a brown base, quite rusty in colour, very pigmented and shimmery.
Hijack – I don’t know what Hijack is trying to be, but it’s similar to a grey-blue-green kinda oilslick. Doesn’t go on too pigmented, took a few coats to get it to this colour. Not a fan, which is a shame because in the box it looks like a really nice greeny-blue, almost like the feathers of a magpie. Alas, no magpie look for me :(

And the other half;

From bottom to top (I messed up and started going half way around my arm, deal with it,); Midnight Cowgirl, Sin, Midnight Rodeo, Crystal, Bust, Missionary, Skimp, Zephyr.

Midnight Cowgirl – A really pretty gold, takes a few layers to get a dark colour, but these were taken in direct sunlight so maybe they don’t do the colour itself justice. If you have the patience, get some water, use a wet brush and apply it. THEN the colour shines through beautifully.
Sin – Looks very pink in the photo. It’s a kind of dusky-grey-pink base with shimmer in it. A few layers and it looks beautiful.
Midnight Rodeo – Another favourite! Like the middle twin between Lost and Baked, it’s a rusty-chocolate brown that goes on super-pigmented and leaves a great silver-flecked shimmer.
Crystal – Another let down really, just a fairly boring blue-grey. Doesn’t even look promising in the box. This took a few coats.
Bust – Now on to the row of matte colours. Bust is a matte version of Lost and Midnight Rodeo. It’s a nice, chocolate brown with a grey base to it. I like it.
Missionary – A light brown-grey, comes off fairly pinkish on the skin, but it’s not overly girly. Still a neutral shade.
Skimp – A slight shimmer to this one, it’s a nude-white, which is why it’s barely visible on my skin because it almost perfectly matches my skin tone. Very nice and sheer enough to be used just to add a little more sparkle to the rest of your make-up. Can be used on its own for a conservative look.
Zephyr – A proper white. Not much shimmer going on, quite matte. This actually goes on quite well, despite it being hard to see in the picture. It doesn’t need too many layers to be built up and is fantastic for highlighting brow bones or blending.

A lot of people are saying that this box is a let down in comparison to their others. I have two of their other Book of Shadows’ (two and three I think, can’t be bothered to dig them out,) and although this one contains more neutral or toned down shades it still holds its own merit. Less pop-ish but still a good set.

And here’s the picture I took after playing with Baked, Lost, Midnight Cowgirl and Bust.

Also; I need to change my blog header, I haven’t had purple hair for months…

The actual salon itself is situated in the town centre, right near the railway station and a bus station, which I think is one of the weirdest places to have a day spa.. But, hey. When you actually get in you totally forget where you are. There’s ambient light, soft music, reaaaally comfortable chairs in their waiting area – far from the world outside (which was a crappy, rainy afternoon otherwise.)
I was talked through what was going to happen by one of Kavala’s therapists and then was left in the room to remove my top and take my bra straps down, but leaving my bra on and leaving myself covered with a towel. These kind of things don’t really bother me, but I can see that other people might be a bit worried about another person seeing their body. In honesty, the therapist doesn’t see anything. You’re basically lying on a really comfortable chez-longue/bed kinda thing and essentially tucked in to the towel, as if you’re laying in bed, with just your shoulders above the cover. So really, there’s nothing to worry about.
Now, I can’t tell you exactly what went on because I was so damn chilled out, it is so relaxing.. They have music or you can bring your own, but I like the kinda relaxation music they had going on so I was happy with that. The therapist talked me through every step of the way, but that was because I told her I was going to type this up on my blog. At your request they can either talk to you and let you know what’s going on, or just be quiet and let you enjoy the facial.
I had a myriad of treatments, including Vitamin-C booster serums, a steam pore-opening treatment, some amazing smelling orange and citrus oils massaged in to my skin (I have oily skin, so you think “oil?! What?” But trust me, it works.. Somehow it clears up the excess oil produced itself by the skin,) and I also had a Papaya Enzymatic peel, which smelled of pineapples and was very mild, as I had recently had a few breakouts and the therapist didn’t want to aggravate my skin, otherwise she would have gone with a stronger exfoliator.

Following this I had a Japanese Sulphur Mask placed on my face which felt very odd, but quite similar to clay masks. It was wonderful over my temples and really helped me relax. Especially as, following this, I was given a head, arm and hand massage! I was in heaven.
After the treatment and after I re-dressed myself I looked in the mirror and was actually shocked. I had noticably less blackheads and the redness from some of my spots had definitely gone down. But the thing I noticed the most? The dark circles around my eyes had pretty much subsided – and they stayed like that for about two weeks (my sleep pattern is atrocious, I always get dark eyes.) But I wanted to touch my face all the time, obviously a stupid thing to do for someone with oily skin like myself, it was just soooooo soft! Argh, I want another one!

I’ve been there once before but never wrote a review about it was it was really near when I first started blogging. I had a foot massage last time and I LOOOOOVED it. I can say that Kavala is consistent with their quality of products and treatments. I even got a little bag of samples to take home with me and try on myself – something every customer who gets an Elemis facial gets to take away with them. I haven’t used them all yet but the ones I have used are lovely.

This whole thing lasted just over an hour, for £50 I would say that is WELL worth it. If you pay another £25 you can get a back massage with it also, which I could only imagine is fantastic. I’m definitely going to be returning to Kavala in the future and when I do I’ll post here, but for now… I just have to say – wow.

I’m probably going to ask my Mum to buy me some Kavala gift vouchers for Christmas because for what you get the prices are actually really, really good.
Definitely something to add to your Christmas list.

Here’s a discount code to get 15% off of any order of €10 (around £8.60,) until December 25th. Just enter “fatnurse15″ at the checkout. I would say that their jewellery would make great gifts for friends and family around Christmas time.