My Mission to Tan - Garnier Ambre Solaire Natural Bronzer

My second attempt at finding the perfect tan was with Garnier Ambre Solaire Natural Bronzer in Light.

This is marketed as a 'Velvet Touch Bronzing Gel with naturally derived tranning agents plus apricot extract. It is said to give a natural and uniform tan with reinforced moisturising power.'

I have really liked using this tanning gel and it seems to be virtually impossible to stuff up the application of this product. I am not the most patient person and have a tendency to just slap on my moisturiser and tanning products hastily after showering without taking much heed to perfect application and I have not seen one streak or dark/patchy areas appear anywhere.

I really love the consistency of the gel and it's so easy to blend it into the skin and ensure even coverage over your whole body. Being that this is the 'Light' version of this product I tend to apply it two days in a row to get the depth of colour I think looks good and it seems to last without needing extra applications for at least three days as long as I religiously moisturise every day, something I'm trying to stay in the habit of doing now after being naughty for so long and only moisturising every second or third day. I know, shocking isn't it?

The gel is quite moisturising itself as well so I don't need to use a separate moisturiser on the days this product is applied.

The smell isn't too bad either. It's not exactly great, but it's certainly not too unpleasant and tends to be practically unoticeable by the next morning which I like.

This tanner is so good I'm almost tempted to finish my mission to find the perfect tanner right now. But, for the sake of curiosity and also because ending this mission so early is just plain old boring, I am going to be on the hunt for an even better tanning product instead. I'm sure there has to be one out there.

Has anyone else used this tanner and found it as good as I did?

Michelle

Calvin Klein Haul

Recently Oz Sale had a sale on Calvin Klein cosmetics and I just couldn't help myself from getting a few things. Frankly, I must be terribly ignorant because I didn't even realise that Calvin Klein made cosmetics and that is what mainly intrigued me to try some of the products.

Here is what I got:

* Creme Lipstick in First Kiss - This is a nice nude lipstick bordering on being slightly pinkish. It applies nice and smooth and even has a pleasant taste (something that is actually quite important to me in a lipstick).

* Intense Eyeshadows in Merlot and Gold Lame - These are lovely pigmented eyeshadows. Merlot is a dark purple which will be great as a crease shade and Gold Lame is a really pretty golden colour that will nice as a highlighter.

* Delicious Pout Flavoured Lip Gloss in Breathless - This is a really pretty pale pink gloss with a slight glittery shimmer to it. It tastes really yummy too, kind of like those jelly lollies you can get.

Anyway, that's my little toe-dip into the work of Calvin Klein cosmetics. Overall I'm really happy with the actual colours as it's always so hard buying from the internet when you can't see a product in real life.

Has anyone else ever tried Calvin Klein makeup before??

Michelle

November Lust Have It Box

I was very excited to receive the November Lust Have It box yesterday as I normally don't get it so soon and have to wait until almost a week after it's despatched before it arrives but surprisingly it only took two days this time.

This is what this month's box looked like (apologies for the crap lighting. I think I must live in the darkest house on earth!)

This is what it contains:

* RoC Complete Lift Lifting Daily Moisturiser (3 x 5ml) - This moisturising cream is enriched with hydrating agents for comfort lasting all day long. It targets skin firming and offers a new Lift and Fix technology. It plumps and hydrates the skin and makes it appear more dense and supple.

* Nude by Nature Mineral Lip Liner in Chique Natural (Full size) - This lip liner is 100% natural with no toxic ingredients and delivers long wearing, waterproof colour. The colour is your typical nude (see below picture) and it seems to glide on quite smooth. It also has a lip brush on the other end which is interesting. I'm not really sure if it's to use for smudging the liner or for applying your lipstick over the top.

* Lancome Tresor Midnight Rose (2 x 1.5ml) - This is a colourful, upbeat and joyful fragrance which embodies a mischievous femininity. I've sprayed this on myself already and find it VERY sweet. It may be a little too sweet for me but I'll see if it ends up growing on me.

* Hawley International Miracle Shine 2 Step Miracle Nail Shiner (Full size) - Creates the ultimate shine. One side prepares the nail and the other side shines. This seems to be an awesome nail buffer. I've played with it on a couple of my nails and can't stop staring at how shiny and smooth they are!

* Kerastase Nectar Thermique (5 x 10ml) - This protects the hair fibre from the damaging effects of heat styling. Hair is instantly nourished, facilitates the easy glide of the brush or smoothing iron for shape styling and has frizz control for a silk-like feel.

So, that's it for the November box. I'm not as impressed with it as I have been with the previous month's but that could be because the novelty of receiving these is wearing off a little too.

What does everyone else think of this month's box?

Michelle

Book Review - 'Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing' by Gabrielle Lord

Normally I'm a big fan of Gabrielle Lord books because it's nice to read about familiar places and things being that she is an Aussie but this book just didn't seem to do it for me.

Here's the general overview:
'Gemma Lincoln, the private eye whose tangled past was the subject of Feeding the Demons has never been busier. She's investigating the disappearance of millionaire Benjamin Glass; she's trying to discover who killed her old friend Shelly, a sex therapist, and she's also closing in on a killer who targets sex workers.
She's traded her old .38 for the new Glock. But a flash new weapon is no defence against the oldest betrayal of all. Is Gemma's beloved Steve two-timing her? And if he is, what can she do about it? And why is some unknown person determined to destry Gemma's business?
As the separate investigations hot up, the deadly connections between them all start to emerge. In a desperate race against time to save Steve's life and her own, Gemma must face the worst that the underworld can throw at her. But her latest error of judgement may prove fatal to them both'

When I read that I got excited thinking that this was going to be an action packed story. Well, I'm sorry to say, but it wasn't.

I feel the whole book was a little disjointed with stuff happening all over the place without really bringing anything together. There were a lot of connections going on but to me they just didn't seem to work all the time.

I can see that the author is trying to make Gemma out to be an independent and strong female who knows what she wants and goes and gets it but to me she just seemed a bit annoying due to the rash decisions she was always making at the drop of a hat and quite a lot of the time I was reading along and thinking 'as if'.

Her whole over-reaction with Steve was just plain annoying as well. She knew all too well the job he was doing yet always seemed to have a problem with every aspect of it. To me this was very frustrating.

Anyway, overall I thought this story really just lacked 'oomph' and it was a bit of a struggle for me to actually finish reading it. The pace finally started picking up towards the last 30 pages or so but until then it was a fairly weak plot.

Considering how much I have enjoyed all the other Gabrielle Lord books I have read I must say this one was kind of disppointing.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars.

Has anyone else ever read this book and have an opinion on it? What about any other Gabrielle Lord books?

October Empties!

Ok, so I made a pact with myself at the beginning of October that I would make it 'Sample Month' where I would try and use up as many samples of everything that I had.

Even since subscribing to some of those monthly beauty sample boxes I've become inundated with samples and thought it was time to finally start using them all. It was kind of fun to use a few different products that I wouldn't normally and has made me a bit more adventurous now in wanting to buy different things.

Here is what I managed to get through in October:

* Rexona Womens Naturals Deoderant - I know, this isn't anything even remotely exciting but I included it because it is one of my favourite deoderants of all time and I seem to gravitate towards buying it again and again. It's a nice light scent that doesn't overpower any perfume I might wear and most importantly it always keeps me feeling fresh, even at the gym. An all round excellent product.

* Nivea Irresistibly Smooth Body Lotion - This was a nice moisturising lotion that isn't too overpowering scent wise like some of the other Nivea products can be and it left my skin feeling lovely and soft.

* Dermalogica Microfoliant - I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this product. I do like it but it's a little bit much for my sensitive skin on a daily basis. See my review here.

* Kerastase Elixir Ultime - This was a great product to keep mu hair frizz free. I applied a small amount to my hair after showering and it made it feel so soft when dry. It has an awesome smell too!

* Shu Uemura Skin Purifier Cleansing Oil - I wasn't a fan of this product at all. I've seen so many people rave about it but it just didn't do it for me. I just couldn't get the hand of using an oil to cleanse and I always felt as if my face was still greasy and dirty after using it.

* Lancome Genifique Youth Activator - I absolutely love this serum. Since using it I have really noticed a difference in the texture of my skin. It's the first time I've ever used something where I have really noticed such a difference. This product is definitely going on my Christmas wishlist!

* Clinique Turnaround Body Lotion - This was a nice body moisturiser but I didn't notice anything majorly different with my skin after using it to justify the normal price tag. It moisturised, it had a light fresh scent, that's about it really.

* A.S.A.P - I've been using up a lot of samples from this brand as I received a heap from Beautyheaven a while ago. This month I finished some of the Sheer Tint Moituriser (I am in love with this product, see my review here), some of the Daily Exfoliating Facial Scrub and some of the Gentle Cleansing Gel (I have reviewed this here). I still have heaps of these samples left which I will most likely finish in November.

* Pure Fiji Coconut Milk Shower Gel - This was a nice shower gel that had a lovely smell. Unfortunately there wasn't really enough in the bottle to get a good feel for the product as I think it only lasted about 3 or 4 washes.

* Sundari Sandalwood Cleanser - I received a few samples of these from Beautyheaven a while back as well and have been using them sparingly as this product seems to burn my face a little for some reason. Obviously there is something in it that reacts to my sensitive skin.

* Garnier Body Intensive 7 Day Repairing Lotion - I loved this lotion. I coated myself in it every night after showering and my skin never felt so soft. This will definitely be a moisturiser that I will keep using in the future.

Anyway, that's about it for now.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Michelle xx