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Thursday 15 December 2011

GHD Hair Straightners...

GUUUUUTTED was an understatement of two morning's ago when I went to turn on my straighteners to sort my mop of a head of hair out, just to find that one plate isn't heating up anymore! Normally GHD is a well respected, high quality brand, so I was upset to find they weren't working, and only a week earlier my mums had broken too and weren't heating up at all. We haven't even had them a year... I was not impressed.

I'm also quite disappointed over how the white is rubbing off the product. Unfortunately there is alot of fake GHD's flying around the market at the moment, however the ones my mum and I own are 100% genuine. They retail at about 99£ for the original standard black set, however the Pure Edition (shown above) cost us £129 per set, so I'm not impressed.

I tweeted about them, and kindly GHD tweeted back to fill in a repairs form and send them off, which I won't do over the Christmas period but perhaps after when delivery and corries have slowed down a bit. However I'm not entirely sure if the warranty exists for the two sets we own as we didn't buy directly from GHD. So gutted, and I can't be forking out £129.00 for another set before Christmas time so I'll have to make do without. LUCKILY my brother ALSO owns a set of Pure Edition straighteners (his are still working fine) so I guess I'll be using them for the next few weeks. :)

Thanks for reading, and you can make your own mind up about the quality of GHD. Let me know if you've ever experienced any problems with them etc.

:) xxxx

Friday 9 December 2011

Spinning Classes!

This review is a little different to my normal beauty related blogs, however I think it kind of has some reference? Spinning classes are basically an intense exercise cycling session. It's roughly an hour long, most of the time one session per week and the general idea of it is theres about several people all lined in a semi circle and you all basically just peddle with the instructor in front of you.

Now let me be clear, spinning to benefit your health or to get a toned bikini body for the summer, is A-MAZ-ING. It focus' on your legs, and benefits all parts. With an experienced instructor they even manage to fit in helping your abs too! I have been going spinning with my brothers girlfriend for almost 10 weeks now, and although I lost about half a stone before I started, since I have gone to lose a further stone! I'm so close to my target weight now that I couldn't be happier (of course you need a proper diet with it).



My instructor says that after 15 weeks of Spinning you will have more or less THREE times the stamina you had before! I think that's incredible!

Although it is a very difficult thing to stick to, if you find the right partner and start from the beginning (you do need to build up to manage to peddle longer and faster) I believe it actually becomes quite fun. And it's definitely rewarding when you see that you've burnt 600 calories off in the end!


Thursday 8 December 2011

Amsterdam Bound!

Okay so it's the 8th of December and I haven't wrote a blog post for ages! Sorrrrrry, I've been super busy with work, Christmas and finally Amsterdam! So I thought I would write a little post on my time in the 'Dam!

So, we booked with P&O Ferries for a mini cruise. Jake and I went from Hull King George docks to Rotterdam, on the Pride of Rotterdam (boat name).


This was the only photo I managed to get of going over the Humber Bridge, just look at the weather we was going in to, in comparison to the weather on the mirror of Jake's car behind us! Ha! Good of British weather. This was on Monday afternoon on the way to Hull port...

A photo of the Pride of Rotterdam.

And I just have to say how extremely helpful the Dutch staff are on there!

So inside the ship was everything, they catered for absolutely everyone of all ages. There was a show lounge for the younger generation with a show on every night by a good band that sung songs ranging from the 70's to the 00's! There was also a bar in there and an attached casino (Jake was very happy about that!). There was children play areas, with ball pits etc. and for the older generation there was the Sky Lounge that had a piano player and was all very relaxed. And if that wasn't enough there was an inboard cinema with both Dutch and English films. It was all very nicely laid out and pretty.


So we boarded the boat at Hull at 5pm (London time) and arrived at Rotterdam at appox. 9am the following morning (Holland time). However Jake and I woke up earlier to see the arrival.


Amsterdam looking all lit up and pretty at about 8am!

It was then about an hour and a half bus journey to the city. We actually didn't get that many photo's of Amsterdam because it rained and hailed quite a lot!




Just some photos of the city centre. Actually not that busy! But almost everywhere we nearly got ran over by a bike. And I love how the Dutch are extremely good at speaking English!

As soon as we got there we headed to Madam Tussuad's, which was meant to be 48 euro for us both to get in to, but we went to a tourist place who offered it to us for 32 euro in total with V.I.P access! Yay!
We got plenty of photos there :)



Jake with two important Chinese people! And the second photo is me and Spiderman! Woo! The Madam Tussuad's isn't quite as big as the one in London but it is still very good!

Because it rained and we didn't quite know where we were going we didn't actually enjoy Amsterdam that much, we enjoyed the boat more! And we only managed to buy Jake one purple polo and me some AMAZING red suede heels (more to come on those though).

But overall the trip was good! Food on the boat wasn't as cheap as could be but it was good. It was about 32 euro for breakfast and 39 euro for dinner :).

The trip only cost us £79.00 for both of us because if you booked before the end of December it's 2 for 1. But it's a fab experience and I will definitely be going again, just maybe in the summer time!





Tuesday 29 November 2011

Carmine Beauty Box: November 2011

Hurray! The little black box arrived on my doorstep on last week all wrapped up in a orange box, you can immediately recognise it from any other package! Excited wasn't the word for it!

So I'm going to do a full review on the box, I have received the October box but I wanted to see if Carmine could maintain the high standard in that box as in the Novembers.


In the same high quality box as the previous months came in (I like consistency) it has the lush logo, easily recognised. 

Open it up...


And it arrives in a form of tissue paper and the Carmine introduction card all wrapped neatly with a red ribbon (kind of christmassy)!

So this months products are...

                                                 1.           2.        3.          4.        5.

Product One: Neom Organics Body Wash or Lotion
The bath and body equivalent to fine chocolates and champagne, this organic product from an award winning brand is packed with the fragrances of lavender, jasmine, basil and more! Just what your body needs to feel cleansed and refreshed - to perfection
(Major apologies if images are rotated, can't work out how to change them as they auto change when I upload them! :( boo...) But besides that! This product is actually the only product I haven't tried and tested yet, but if you excuse me the cream is a very thick rich luxurious texture and I cannot wait to try it! And a 240ml is priced at about £24.00 so hopefully it will be worth the money and once I really know how it works I will let you know. I smells of lavender and although I'm not a huge fan of lavender I really really like the smell of it, its a really unique fresh smell.



Product Two: Dainty Doll Eye-liner Pencil

From the make-up line of fashion icon and solo artist Nicola Roberts, this eye-liner pencil contains skin-loving vitamins and is just oozing with colour. Perfect for creating a variety of looks - from soft definition to fold, smokey eyes

I'm actually not that impressed with this product. I am naturally a huge fan of eye-liner, however it needs to be really pigmented and the led needs to be soft, which unfortunately I don't find this is. I find it difficult to even get the colour to show on my hand. I received the colour green, which I don't really use that colour so I've given it to my mum and she's finding it difficult to use too. I love the packaging however. But overall it's not my favourite product.


Product Three: New CID i-Pout Lipstick

No, it's not an apple product - but a revolutionary and incredibly wearable lipstick, equipped with a built-in mirror and light for perfect application in absolutely any circumstance 
Cute little packaging!
I LOVE this product and I am not normally one for lipsticks but considering this colour looks so incredibly bright it is completely wearable and such a lovely colour to brighten up these cold winter days!

What also caught me about this product is the light and mirror and although I have seen this on a lip-gloss before I haven't ever brought one. But it is a great idea for nights out with the girls or going to concerts!

The product is pigmented excellent with maybe more blue in it but it is lush! It stays on all day too, which I find is every difficult to find in a lipstick. It doesn't stick to the glass when you drink and just dries like a balm to your lips, I am so impressed.

The colour of the lipstick. 
Although the colour seem like a bright red, it actually comes out a natural not overpowering reddish pink. Super cute for a night out or a day of shopping!

So excellent product New CID I will definitely be ordering some more from you!




Product Four: Cosmetics A La Carte Brow Ink

Not to be confused with a felt tip pen, this soft, semi permanent ink will add the perfect definition to your brows by allowing you to draw in individual hairs. The best part is it doubles as a fabulous eye-liner!

I haven't ever really used one of these before so I was excited to try it. And I can say I was very impressed. I do have quite gappy eyebrows (not really bad so I can live with them) but it happens because I get them waxed, so to be able fill them in and even make the brow a little bit darker, as it is in fashion at the moment, I'm really pleased with it. I think Carmine are fab to send out the email asking what colour you would need, I think that's a lush was to taylor the box and customer service! However Im not so sure about using it as eyeliner! :)

Product Five: Lulu's Time Bomb
Its true - you can go back in time. At least, your skin can. This extremely powerful anti-ageing time machine does all the work to prevent ageing while you get a good nights rest.
(and now my images are upside down!) Anyway Ive given this to my mum to trial as I'm only 17 and I'm not sure this will take too much effect to me! I Don't actually have results back from it yet but as soon as I do you will know!





Overall FAB box yet again by Carmine and I will definitely be looking forward to Decembers. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks for reading! :)



Thursday 24 November 2011

(Mini) How To: Head Kandy Hair Extensions

I've been trialing Headkandy's hair extensions since April this year, I think they are a great buy. The quality and quantity of hair you get is amazing. You get an incredible 10 wefts of hair, perfectly designed to clip onto different areas of your head. I believe there is something like 24 clips in all, so I don't think you could possibly get many more clips on your head! They begin at £69.99 for the 12-14inch length all the way to £99.99 for the 24-26 inch length (all excluding post and packaging). What I have found with these extensions in comparison to others is the excellent range of colours for highlighted hair there is, I believe there are 20 different colours available! I challenge you to find a hair colour that isn't there! (Discarding brightly neon coloured hair!) :)

I thought I would do a mini 'how to' on putting the extensions in, and before and after shots! I use the 20-22inch extensions in paparazzi highlights. I have recently brought a new set of extensions from the company as I completely wrecked my old one - entirely my fault :( But I deem to look after this set!

Soo....

They arrive from Mr Postman the day after you order them (Yes! You did read correctly, next day delivery!) Looking all neat in this box,


So once you open it, you find the instructions, and your 10 wefts of hair! :) Looking like this...



10 very healthy smooth looking hair, you just can't help yourself but run your fingers through it, I guarantee 90% of the owners of these hair extensions did just that!


Along with the instructions, each weft of hair is labelled with a number (1-8, then two one clip wefts of hair unlabelled). Weft 1 to 4 all are place on the below and on the crown of your head, then wefts 5 to 8 are on the sides of your head giving the illusion longer hair! :)

So before I put the hair extensions in I took a photo just to show you the difference...

The before photo:


My hair, as you can see, is only shoulder length, whatever I do I can't get my hair to grow! So extensions were the next best thing!

Because this is only a mini 'how to' I decided just to show how to put the side extensions in, so first you begin to section your hair just above your ear, like so.


And then place one of the two clip wefts neatly in the parting. Let down the hair you've clipped up, and hopefully it'll look something like this!



As you can see, you can probably see the difference between the hair, but once you have the second weft in it disappears. You then repeat the same process to put in the second weft just a bit above where you put the first weft.




Immediately you can see that you cant tell where the real and extension are! Once you've done all this process to both sides and the back it should look complete!

The after photo:


Hopefully this review/mini how to convinced you to buy them because they are well worth every penny!

Thanks for reading :)


Tuesday 22 November 2011

L'oreal Volume Million Lashes

This is easy my new favorite mascara, and trust me I've used alot! Rather than your mascara clumping or loosing its effects over the day, it sticks and remains all day and looks lushh! This little beauty is available in Boots (www.boots.co.uk) or Superdrug (www.superdrug.co.uk).


The packaging is quite simple, just the gold tube with a blue band with Volume Million Lashes written on it, rather eye catching and pretty really. The brush (below) is quite thick, making it a bit difficult to get to the corner lashes but with the plenty bristles it really separates your lashes in a neat and an effective way. The product inside is plenty thick, if your after seriously black thick mascara this isn't the product for you but if your more into the thinner separated lashes and more 'natural' look go out and buy this product now! Its so affordable too, I believe its around £9.00 in the drug stores and it is well worth it. Also being that the products been around for about nine(ish) months then there is a good chance that you will to pick it up cheaper! :)


Let me know if you pick it up or what you think of it! And what you think! Thank you for reading :) Follow me please!

Sunday 20 November 2011

Apologies :(

One mahusive apology that I have been super inactive on Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, infact just my whole social life. I have been locked away at work for these last five days and with only two more long shifts at work I hopefully will have some more posts on the way. I may also be a little less inactive than usual because mum's going away to Somerset (down southish) for a week and my dads a hopeless househusband, so I'm going to reckon he'll be needing some help! :)

Tuesday 15 November 2011

Jakes Surprise!

So, I woke up Saturday morning, rolled over and saw a hugeeee smile on Jake's face, to be the reply, "I've got a surprise for you!" Just to let you know, Jake is THE least spontaneous person you will ever meet in your entire life, he's just extremely laid back, so excited wasn't the word for the feeling. However, I wasn't allowed it till Sunday!

So Sunday morning he took me to an off-road, to my excitement I found this....


LITTLE BEAUTY!

Omg, I fell in love with this! It's a 1.3ltr. Ford KA in metallic black! If you know me personally you will know this is my dream car sat in front of me, the colour was just a massive bonus!

(I did give some money to Jake as I didn't feel like I could accept it without some kind of return)

Let me know if any of you have Ford KAs and what you think about them! :)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday 13 November 2011

Balance Me Hand Cream

OMG. So I am one of those people who've been through every single different hand cream, Soap and Glory, Dove, Burts Bees, but I never really noticed any difference in my hands, so really I haven't ever been too bothered about hand cream. UNTIL, I received the Carmine Beauty Box just under two weeks ago and I've only been using products in turns and finally I got around to the Balance Me Super Moisturising Hand Cream - this stuff is a saint! It begins a little bit greasy, but as it drys you can REALLY feel the effects of the cream and it is fab. My mums even started using it, she's more addicted to the stuff than I am!

The packaging is a traditional squeezable tube. And it is an attractive bright orange design that really draws you in. You only need very little product to feel the effects. Price wise, for 100ml it is £14.50 from the Naturisimo website including delivery, but I believe it really is worth every penny!

LUSH LUSH LUSH product Balance Me!!

http://www.naturisimo.com/products.cfm?id=2072&gclid=CIyqkIWBtKwCFRRc4Qod03hcFg

Friday 11 November 2011

Top Five Christmas Presents for F&Fs!

WARNING. IF YOUR FAMILY OR A FRIEND OR ANY PERSON I WOULD BUY A CMAS PRESENT FOR, PLEASE EXIT THIS PAGE :)!

Okay so I actually wish I had started Christmas shopping earlier this year to be honest. I didn't realise how many people I've got to get presents for, the list is never ending! But I have got to admit I have found THE best Christmas presents ever this year. So I thought I would do a little top five Christmas present ideas! Most of these I am actually getting people so hopefully this blog post won't be viewed by any family or friends!

5. At number five is Nomination Charm


These are such lovely presents for people (girls mainly). If you don't know what a Nomination bracelet is, it is basically a charm bracelet, however the charms clip on instead of the traditional bead. They're easy presents to buy, you just cannot go wrong! The person I am getting this, is actually THE hardest person to buy for ever, but I know she owns one of these and wears it like a religion. They also aren't over priced like the Pandora bracelet or LoveLinks, so a pretty little gift for a girl :)

They're available at http://www.lovethosecharms.co.uk/nomination-charms-uk/ Starting at about £16.00

4. Every boys dream Gaming Chair


Personally I don't understand the love for Xbox or PS3 but this little devil who's receiving this seems to be addicted to them! I don't have much to say about this one but I know for a fact all the men in my family seem to want on to hook up to the gaming stations.

I think you can get them from Argos or Game, maybe Currys (Ive not hunted this one down yet lol!) I believe they start at about £150.00

3. The sweet sweet smell of Hugo Boss Orange Perfume


Now I really hope my family or friends aren't reading this because everyone will know who this little beauty belongs to. This fragrance is not overpowering, however its got a kind of sophisticated smell to them - And it sticks ALL day. Mmmm mmm mmm. :) Lush smell, would recommend it for anyone! However mainly girls, tough luck lads! :)

Available from Boots for around £40.00

2. Forrrrrrrr! St. Andrews Golf Course


Now I will give this one away, it's my dads present. HE is the worlds biggest golfing fan, and as a darling daughter I found a gem of a bargain on www.groupon.co.uk. Because Groupon are a time limited website the offer has now gone but there are still some good ones on there! It is basically a weekend away to I believe is the number one golfing course in the United Kingdom, and my dad is obsessed with it, so he'll be a very happy chap!

1. And FINALLY, number one is............. Yankee Candles 12 Days of Christmas


This present is amazing, I found this one at work actually, wandering around on my lunch break. It's basically a little book like gift box, with 12 Christmas samplers of Yankee Candles. I think this is lush! In fact I loved it that much I brought two of them! They're such a festive present too, which I don't think you find very much. Nor are they over priced so I was very please with this beauty.

http://www.yankee.co.uk/yankee-candles/3700/12_days_of_christmas_br_by_yankee_candle.aspx?expandable=5 (Sorry for the long link)


Let me know what you guys think on Twitter etc. ! I would love to see your Cmas ideas! :)

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Carmine Beauty Box: October 2011

So I'm a bit late with this one. I first heard about it on Twitter, which every other person was raving over. Most people have heard of GlossyBox etc. but I found Carmine was a brand new released box, that I could follow from the very beginning. If you haven't heard about Carmine Beauty Box's or GlossyBox, they are basically a company who you subscribe to and for a small fee (£10.00 + £2.75 post and packaging) they send you a box once a month with five different products inside. Plus you easily make back the £12.75 you spend with the products inside!

I don't really plan on doing a review of the first box, as I have seen THOUSANDS of them and they all say the same thing, how good the packaging is and the products inside, in which I completely agree. However, I find that this is the first box they've released and the standard may drop, (I really really really hope not!) So I plan to do a review of the second box they release.

I do have to say what really got me about this product, isn't the products or how neat and stylish the the packaging is, it's actually how incredibly good the customer service is! You can always guarantee a reply on Twitter, so you can talk to them directly. I think so far the products, box and customer service is 10 out of 10! However I hope they can maintain this for Novembers box. Hurrrrry, I don't think I can wait much longer! :)

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter.co.uk/rhythmdebeaut

Disclaimer: I am not involved with Carmine or their affiliates, this is all 100% my own opinion. I brought the box with my own money and was not given it by the company.

Thank you for reading! :)


Tuesday 1 November 2011

Review: Garnier Summer Body Gradual Tan

Who sent this little beauty from the place above?! And who of all recommended it to me? No-one other than the mother! Between mum and me we must have tried out every single fake tan there is on the shelves, but this one really did catch our eye!

Now that it's November, as the days are getting shorter and the mornings are dark you suspect that your skins going to lose that tan you've been working on all summer, and to be completely truthful its heart breaking! But with this little gem you can either maintain that tan or build up a beautiful NATURAL looking tan (Not orange).

With me, I am easy the most paliest person your'll ever meet, scrap that actually. I have the most paliest with the most reddish tone to my skin, so if I was to apply normal fake tan my tan actually comes out an odd colour. Whereas I found with Garnier their product allowed my skin to show off a kind of sunkissed glow! Thank the Lord! It also had none of that 'buscuity' kind of after smell on it, which was a Godsend because that smell is vile. Instead it was replaced with an apricot smell, that is devine!



So basically it is a simple lotion that is easy appliable with a tan applier (Superdrug) and gradually builds up over a 12-hour period. (Also it is fantastic for leaving on over night, without the streaks and smudges you get with other brands). It also includes a moisturiser that leaves your skins feeling super smooth. The packaging, as you can see above is a simple gold-yellow bottle which is easy squeezable and I believe the standard size is 250ml! I think it is avaliable in Boots and Superdrug for around £5 which I think is an absolute bargin! So thank you Garnier, and thumbs up for such a lush product!!

I am not impressed!

Soo... the other night I thought I would have a quick browse of my YouTube account and see all the new Vloggers videos, only to find my account had been cancelled! In my panic I tried my Blogger account to yet find that had been deleted too! HOW OUTRAGEOUS! I was in bits. I had worked so hard on it to launch it and just when it was getting going it had been somehow deleted. I emailed both YouTube and Blogger but there was just no reason behind the cancellations apart from apparently I had cancelled them, which is so untrue. There is nothing I can do so my previous account 'Clare Louise Blog' has changed to 'Rhythm De Beaut' (French for Rhythm of Beauty, or if your a proper French speaking person Rhythm of Beauty). I couldn't tell you if it was a hacker or not, but I have recently changed all e-mail addresses (I am now available on rhythmdebeaut@hotmail.co.uk) my passwords have also changed. But let it be a warning to all of you!

However! I'm okay, I like a challenge and I will not let it beat me, so therefore this will be my main channel from now on! :) I really would love it if all my old subscribers, followers etc. would follow this. It would make me so happy :)

Follow me on Twitter? @rhythmdebeaut

Much Love xxxxxxxxxxxxx