Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Morphe Brushes Travel Set Review

Morphe Brushes Travel Set

Morphe Brushes Travel Set

Morphe Brushes Travel Set



Morphe Brushes Travel Set

Morphe Brushes Travel Set

Morphe Brushes Travel Set

Morphe Brushes Travel Set

I always feel like I'm being misleading when I put nice pictures next to a negative review. I do apologise if you clicked here in the hope of fining a positive review!

I bought these brushes from Beauty Bay around a couple of months ago, alongside some brushes for my Mum for Mother's Day and some other bits. I've heard a lot of good things about Morphe, their brushes and shadows in particular. This set cost me £19.75 for 12 brushes and a pot. It doesn't sound too expensive in the world of makeup brushes, but it was honestly such a complete waste of my money.

The only brushes I can speak highly of are the foundation and concealer brushes. Even saying that, they're not that great. The foundation brush is the exact same standard as any old foundation brush - it did the job. 

The eyeshadow brushes however, are horrid. They are all an awkward size and are the least soft eye brushes I've ever used. Maybe I'm used to Zoeva and Real Techniques brushes, but I'm pretty sure it is not good to have brushes scratching your eyelids. All of the blending and crease-esque brushes are far too big to do any detailed kind of work with. Not that you'd want to, because they hurt your lids. Oh and they shed.

But that shedding is nothing in comparison to that of the face brushes. I tried to use one of them as a buffing brush with a liquid foundation, it was a complete and utter mess. It shed everywhere on my face, have you ever tried to take off those hairs when they're mixed in with liquid foundation? So gross.

I do really like the little pot it came in, but the brushes are so useless that it really just doesn't matter. I'm really disappointed to be quite honest. I bought a different little set for Mum, and she seems to like them. I had a little feel of them and they're much softer than these ones, so maybe the quality varies amongst their brushes. Who knows. All I know is that I wont be ordering anything else from Morphe again!

Thankfully, I own around a hundred other brushes, so don't worry - I will be able to put on my makeup without these ones! It's just a shame that I spent £20 of my hard-earned student loan on them. Never mind! I've added some of my favourite brushes below though, if you were interested in ones I actually DO like!

Anyone else always feel like they should end a blogpost with 'Best Wishes'? Definitely been sending too many emails recently...

Thank you for reading! I would love to hear any experiences you've had with Morphe. 

Love, Gweni xxxx 


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Some brushes I ACTUALLY like!

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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Make-up London Academy Matte Primer

MLA Primer

Makeup Academy London Primer

Makeup Academy London Primer

Makeup Academy London Primer

Makeup Academy London Primer



A couple of months or so ago, I was contacted by the team at Makeup London Academy, asking if I wanted to review any of their products. As a self-confessed makeup addict, I of course accepted their request. I chose the Face Matt Gel Primer off their website, and even received the product the next day!

I had actually researched the company a couple of years ago, when I was considering getting some makeup qualifications. I started a blog instead and I am yet to get any qualifications! They provide a range of makeup courses you can take in London, as well as professional makeup services for occasions. It seems as though they have now decided to branch out into creating their own makeup products!

First of all, the bottle looks and feels expensive. I am a fan of the clear bottle and it has a very handy pump. The pump dispenses the exact right amount of primer for your entire face, a big plus for me. The primer is really easy to apply, it rubs in quickly and doesn't feel heavy on the skin. It does have quite a strong smell at first, a sort of citrus but slightly ethanol smell to it. It is not particularly unpleasant, it is just strong! Once it is on the skin, and the makeup applied, you can't smell it all anyway. 

On a daily basis, I have been using Estée Lauder Double Wear as my foundation, which I have found to work really well with the primer. It blends really easily and I have found it has an instant mattefying effect on the skin. My foundation looks flawless with this on and lasts all day. I recently combined it with the Illamasqua foundation on a night out, and my foundation the next morning was still perfect. What more do you want. 

After having an uneventful experience with the Smashbox primer, I am glad to have found a primer that actually works for me. I am looking forward to using it in the Summer as well, where my skin demands a little bit more from foundation!


Thank you for reading.

Love, Gweni xxx





Don't forget to keep in touch!


This post contains press samples but all opinions are my own.



Check out some of my other favourite products
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Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Organique Sugar Scrub Review

G Beauty: Organique Sugar Scrub Review

G Beauty: Organique Sugar Scrub Review

G Beauty: Organique Sugar Scrub Review

G Beauty: Organique Sugar Scrub Review


This Orchid & Curacao Sugar Scrub was given to me to review, as part of the hundreds of products Justyna has given me from the Organique Store in Birmingham! The quality of this product is as great as ever and it's even bright blue!

This scent is my favourite scent out of everything any beauty product I have ever used. It is a sweet, but floral slightly powdery smell. Who knows if that makes sense. I don't have any other orchid smelling products to compare it against, but I do have a feeling that it is a main contributor to the amazingness of it. 

As a product, it's really easy to apply. I just scoop some out with my fingers and rub it in, in circular movements on my skin. As a scrub, it is obviously a little rough on the skin. However, when washing it off, it becomes really soft and moisturising. I think that may be the shea butter in the formula. 

It leaves your skin feeling ridiculously moisturised - especially considering it is an exfoliator. I don't feel the need to moisturise afterwards at all, I don't even think you're supposed to. Although I wouldn't mind getting my hands on the moisturiser that goes with it!

Don't forget to use code 'gbeauty' for 10% off! 

That concludes my post on my favourite Organique product so far! What do you guys think?

Love, Gweni xxx


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This post contains press samples but all opinions are my own.



Check out my other Organique posts!




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Sunday, April 03, 2016

Shapeshifters Birmingham Review

In October, I decided to join Shapeshifters for an 8 week stint. I was feeling groggy and wanted to take charge of my health and thought getting a personal trainer and an eating plan was the way forward. I'm planning on writing often so this might end up being a long post!

The team at Shapeshifters provide you with an eating plan, tailored for you and your aims. My aims when joining were just to burn off some of my fat and hopefully be a bit more toned. I also suffer from various health problems, a bit of IBS and trichotillomania, and I was hoping that by making my body healthy it would have a positive effect on my digestive system and hair pulling.

The programme that I'm on provided an eating plan, 8 weeks of training (3 x 30 minute sessions a week) and 3 progress reviews. One before you start, one after 4 weeks and another at the end. This is where they fat test you and take all of your measurements. My food plan was given to me a week before my training started.



26th October 2015 - The Diet

It has been a full week of being on the diet so far, I am on 2 shakes and 2 meals a day plus various supplements. The first few days were the hardest, as I am used to eating at least one bit of chocolate a day and the chocolate flavoured protein didn't quite cut it. I pushed though though (with a big thank you to tea) and after 1 whole week, I am feeling like I am actually putting in worth while things into my body. I am eating vegetable after vegetable and feeling very smug about my life. 

The meals can be slightly bland but I'm allowed pink himalayan salt so that brings out a bit of flavour for me. I am also allowed to use various herbs and spices which has helped a lot. Unfortunately, I did find out that I was allergic to paprika through this diet. I don't know what's sadder, the fact that I'm allergic or that I had to give up that meal I had spent a good half an hour preparing and cooking. Right now, it is the latter.

Apart from swelling up and having my housemate running to get me an antihistamine, the diet is going well. I don't feel like I have lost any weight as such yet but it is early days. The shakes themselves are not the most fabulous things but they're drinkable. I have to add beetroot juice to the shakes and I am not particularly loving that. I've never been much of a beetroot kind of gal so it has been difficult for me to drink it twice a day but I've gotten used to it. I hope I can mix it up a little bit further down the next couple of months! 

27th October 2015 - First Gym Session

My first gym session was today! My trainer is called Matt and he seems nice. The session itself was a bit of an induction into the stretching and foam rolling which I'm going to have to do by myself before every session. The foam rolling is really weird but feels good on your muscles. The stretches are pretty standard and easy to follow. I was hoping that the lunge stretch would help me be able to do the splits but Matt pretty much shot me down, so that's that. I also asked if I would be able to get abs by the end of the 8 weeks and he said no to that as well. At least I have been warned! I'll show you Matt, mate. 

We then did a mini session, starting with some core work. He was nice to me and gave me all of the baby things to do. I like to think he was impressed by my natural core ability, but probably not. I was trying to make jokes for the whole half hour but I don't think Matt wants to be my friend. This makes me sad. I'll crack you Matt pal, don't you worry. 

He then took me over the Bike of Doom, my least favourite part. I am pretty much the most unfit I have ever been and cardio is not my friend. It was not fun. That was the end of the session. I went back up to the flat and lied down on the floor for a good half an hour. I feel seriously ill after cardio, which I am hoping is due to my being unfit at the moment. No pain no gain ey. 

My body isn't particularly sore at the moment and I am hoping it will stay that way. My next session is in two days time and I am not looking forward to seeing how hard he's going to work me in a full session. 

13th November 2015 - End of Week 3

I'm at the end of my third week of training and I'm already feeling the benefits! I've been able to get to sleep at a normal hour and I've been getting up at 8am every morning (sounds silly but this is honestly a huge achievement for me!). I had a few IBS problems and they seem to have cleared up for the most part, presumably as a result of the diet. 

As for the sessions. I'm not going to lie, I really struggled with the first 4/5 sessions but I think I'm starting to come through the other end. My body is starting to get the hang of it! Every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I do 30 minutes worth of weight training with Matt and then he sticks me on the bike for 15 minutes at the end. I'm starting to feel really good at the end of the sessions. Me and Matt are also getting on well, I like to pretend that I'm his favourite client. 

I am starting to form a real hatred to the leg press though. 

18th November 2015 - Mid Programme Progress Review 

I had my four week review today. Adele pinched all of my fat and weighed me. I've lost 2kg and an inch off my waist! I don't know if I feel like I've lost weight myself, because it's only a pound a week it isn't a drastic change. I'm happy with the results so far! As my main priority was to feel less lethargic, healthier and fitter it doesn't bother me too much if I'm not a skinny size 4 by the end! I've been sticking to the diet most of the time but I have been partial to a cocktail (or five) on the weekends so I'm sure I could have lost more weight if I wanted to. 

1st December 2015

I leg pressed 75kg today! Come at me world.

I also had to spend a lot of money on protein, I'm so poor.

4th December 2015

For some reason I did my core session with another guy, who is training to be a personal trainer, today. I absolutely owned him. He was seriously struggling with the plank. That made me feel really smug, not going to lie.

EDIT: He is no longer training to be a personal trainer. (no comment...).

5th December 2015

I can definitely feel myself getting stronger, I'm not struggling half as much with the sessions anymore. I'm used to them in the sense that I don't want to throw up or faint afterwards, but Matt does keep upping the weights so I am actually working harder but I can handle it. No idea if that makes sense or not!

I feel like I have lost some weight on my stomach area as well which is a massive plus. I've started running as well and managed to run for 4.3km today without stopping!

10th December 2015

Ugh none of my old dresses fit me around my waist. Woe is me.

13th December 2015

I HAVE ABS!!!! Well, not really but it's the most amount of ab I have ever had before sooooooooooo?



17th December 2015

I had my last review tonight. I haven't lost any weight on my legs apparently, but that can be down to lack of sleep and too much alcohol (both of which I am guilty of) so I'm not too upset about that. I have lost another 1.5 inches off my waist and lost another 0.5kg. I was neither happy or sad about these results. I was glad that I did loose weight, but that's the problem with weight loss, you always want to loose more than you have. I know that I lost that weight healthily, whilst giving myself a break one treat a week to keep me mentally in check, so I really can't complain!



Conclusion

Weight lost: 2.5kg (around 5.5 pounds) including 2.5 inches off my waist

After reading my first entries in this post - I can tell you that I am a completely different person when it comes to exercise now! I can more than handle the gym and cardio is not an issue at all. I almost forgot how useless I was after those first few sessions!

I have kept off most of the weight since then and trying my hardest to get in as many workouts as possible!

I ended up not taking the supplements in the middle of the eight weeks because I kept getting that weird allergic reaction at the start, which I thought was paprika. Turns out, I was just taking one of the supplements wrong, I was supposed to take it after a meal and not before. That was a bit annoying, as I'm sure my results could have been a little bit better but never mind! I'm going to use them this term anyway.

As for helping me, my IBS is so much better. Cutting out dairy and gluten has definitely improved my digestive system. I also feel much better for putting in the right amount of food in my body. Despite the sugar cravings after meals (do they ever leave?), I feel satisfied food-wise for the majority of the time. The beetroot shakes are still a bit rank but they're drinkable. Ish. 

Although I am still suffering from Trichotillomania, it was definitely improving before Chrsistmas. Before the holidays, my lashes were really starting to grow back and I do think that exercise helped me just feel better in my body and that transferred to my hair pulling. Unfortunately, essays took a pretty big toll on me and the hair pulling, not really a surprise. It didn't cure it but I now know that exercise helps curb the hair pulling, so I will definitely be trying to keep up with that. Ain't nobody got time for having bald eyelids! 

I was happy with the results of my body. I lost a bit of weight and toned up my body. I even had some resemblance to abs at one point! I will definitely be trying to get them back soon. I enjoyed pushing my body to do something it doesn't usually do. Unless making and drinking tea counts as exercise? 

Having someone telling me what to do was definitely one of the best parts of the eight weeks, I never would have done it all without Matt nagging me. I got on well with him, I think he enjoyed telling me to keep my head still, listening to me moaning about the leg press and having his brummy accent mocked. I'm really glad that we got on well, I would have dreaded going to spend half an hour with someone who wasn't going to at least have a bit of a laugh.

I've learnt a lot about what to do in the gym and that was definitely a good investment for me. I'm unfortunately too poor too carry on this term but can still go to a different gym, utilising the knowledge that those eight weeks gave me. 

It was definitely worth my hard earned money and if you can afford it a personal trainer and a nutrition plan, I would definitely recommend it.

PHEW! Well done if you read all of that! 

I know it was a pretty long post, but I feel like I've gotten pretty much everything in. The only thing I haven't mentioned is the price, I can't actually remember how much it cost me in the end but I think it was around the £500 mark and then I ended up spending a good couple of hundred on the protein and supplements etc. Again, a good investment if you can afford it! 

I hope that helps anyone who is looking to do a long gym stint with a personal trainer or even looking for signing up with Shapeshifters! Like I said, I would definitely recommend it.

You can check out their website here

Thank you for reading!

Love, Gweni xxx 

P.S. I wrote this post a while back - I just got a little bit nervous posting it!
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