Botanics Radiance Balm- First impressions & Giveaway

Hello lovelies! If you have read my boots haul post then you'll know that I picked up a tube of Botanics All Bright Radiance Balm, the new beauty cult favourite, so I believe. I've had this product used on my face before make up applications over the past few months so I finally decided to grab my own tube and test it out.

First impressions as an everyday applicator? Wow. Since I am using it myself, I didn't think it would apply as beautifully as it did when I have make up artists apply it as a base. I thought it was something they did that made it work it's magic, but no!

Make Up Application-

In my recent haul post I had picked up a new foundation, as I felt my all time favourite foundation ( L'oreal True Match )  wasn't matching my skin texture any more. I decided to use the balm under the L'oreal True Match foundation as I didn't want to open my new foundation.

I was amazed at first at how my foundation blended, in my eyes, perfectly. It didn't look grainy which was the problem I was having and why I felt my one true love foundation wasn't my one true love foundation any more, but using this balm underneath as a base was perfect. It left my face with a smooth texture and I'm now100% positive that my one true love foundation will remain my go to foundation thanks to this balm, which is a major plus because I wasn't looking forward to buying multiple foundations till I found the perfect match again.

Make up free-

Today, I wasn't feeling the best, so make up was the last thing I wanted to do. I decided to apply my usual moisturiser and then on a whim, I applied the balm over my face once my moisturiser had dried into my skin. It is now evening time and my skin is still glowing and I received a wonderful compliment today on my skin which boosted my confidence, I may wear no make up a lot more often now. 

Overall first impression rating, 9/10. Simply because I have a hard time giving 10/10 ratings based on a few days of use, after a few weeks I'll let everyone know what my new rating is or if it stays the same.

Usually this product is €7.99, which I would pay for it, but at the moment is is €3.99 in boots across Ireland. *Bargain*

The product is light weight, dries within a minute and gives a healthy and natural glow, which it says on the label and anything that stays true to it's word is a winner for me. 

I think the main winning factor for myself was the fact it made my favourite foundation suit my skin again! It also made me realise maybe I need a new skincare routine coming into this new season.

*MINI GIVEAWAY*

To celebrate being long listed for the Irish Beauty Blog Awards and because I fell a little in love with this product, I'm giving away three Botanics Radiance Balm, All Bright, to three readers and a surprise each.

GIVEAWAY // DETAILS BELOW // FB PAGE - http://t.co/938kLes4pG // STAY FABULOUS AND KIND ♥ #irishbbloggers #bbloggers pic.twitter.com/a3sCEeY6ip
— // Melly // (@MermaidMelly) April 27, 2015

This giveaway will close on Friday the 1st of May when the winners will also be announced. 

Thank you to everyone who reads my blog and please, Stay as fabulous and as kind hearted as ever.

Lots of love, 

Melody x

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Mini Boots Haul!

Hello lovelies, today and finally the first post of this week and to end this week off is a quick haul and details. As of this new coming week I will have tons of material, posts and events up along with a giveaway that has been well overdue,  but until then lets get down to the beauty business.

So as usual, pay day happened and I found myself in the city centre. 

First stop when I finally have money in my pocket is always boots and as it turned out I actually needed to go, not just wanted to go. 

Maybelline FIT me!

The main reason I stopped off in boots was for a new foundation. I have always been a huge lover of L'oreal True Match, but recently I've found it doesn't quite suit my skin, maybe my skin type has changed of the skincare routine I have began using just doesn't match up with my former foundation, but any ways I picked up this beauty as I've heard wonderful reviews and thought I'd try something new. 

Retails at €11.99.

Review coming soon. 

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

Once again, I need to just get this out there but I am completely and utterly in love with Collection and all it's products. I never really dabbled in Collection make up before but over the past few months I have bought multiple products. So affordable and I picked up this new bright concealer to go with my foundation for €4.99, it's on special at the moment.

Usual Retail Price €5.49. 

Natural Collection- Lip & Eye Liner

These two were a spur of the moment purchase. I was heading for the checkout, doing really well with only three items in total and I thought 'I need a new lip liner, oh and maybe an eye liner too'. The Natural Collection do wonderful products, but their liners are my favourite as they have stay wear power beyond belief and often I choose these lip liners over MAC, so that's saying something. 

Both liners retail at €2.49, bargain prices.

Botanics Radiance Balm- All Bright

Ah Botanics! Becoming a bit of a cult beauty favourite over the past few weeks is this wonderful balm. I manage to grab the last one in store for an amazing €3.99, on special.

Usual retail price is €7.99. 

Even then it's worth the money, all my MUA friends have raved about this product! Get it while it's on this amazing special offer, you will not be disappointed!

That's all I bought in boots yesterday, all products will feature in reviews or at some point on my blog and across my social networking sites. 

Until Next Time,

Stay Fab!

♥ Melody ♥

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Oh My Gosh!

Hello lovelies. I am terribly sorry for the lack of posting and empty promises, the weeks have just gotten away from me with college but I am back in action.

Lately I have been obsessed with longer lashes and over the past two months I have been using Gosh Growth Mascara. I've mentioned this numerous times in tweets and to my friends but still, I've slacked and not done a review.

Gosh Growth Mascara isn't something new to the Gosh family or my make up bag, I use to use Gosh Growth Mascara a couple of months ago, but forgot to repurchase and well, I don't know how I could forget such a wonder. 

It's 'magic' wand grips lashes to elongate and spread the lashes. It have a growth formula which promises that you'll see 'visible' results within two weeks. Within one use I noticed a difference but after two months straight of use, I have noticed my lashes are longer and thicker and even darker! 

The jet black formula can be scary, so if you're not into dark and thick lashes, I'd only use one coat or give this mascara a miss, but for those lash loving gal's or anyone willing to try something new give this little gem a go.

Pros
Longer Lash results are true to the stamp on the bottle. I noticed visibly longer lashes after two weeks but after a prolonged wear of two months I have noticed a dramatic change.
The wand is perfect, I'm not usually a fan of plastic wands but this one grips every lash perfectly to elongate those lashes and widen those pretty peepers.
It's a decent price and lasts a really long time, I feel like I haven't even got quarter of the way through my tube yet!

Cons
The formula can become quite sticky on your second or third coat and when on a night out you want to apply as much as possible without getting spider lashes, so a lash separator is needed. Have one handy!
The mascara seems to have tinted my lashes black and no I didn't leave product on I am serious when I say my lashes look like they've been tinted, which I shouldn't complain about but at the same time I don't like have dark lashes without any product on, I feel it doesn't suit my complexion. I am of course the epitome of pale Irish.

Overall I give this product a 9 out of 10.

You can purchase this product at any Gosh store or online and is under promotion at the moment at €9.99. Usually retails at €12.99. 

 Stay Fab

Melody x

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Pimpin' My old heels!

Hello wonderful fashions guru's! 

I was sent a sample from Shoelicks* to try out, they let me pick the design I wanted, which I chose leopard. They were really quick with delivery which was great. 

Essentially their customization stickers for your shoes, kind of like those stickers boy racers put on their cars...but for shoes.
The product comes in a small package like above with two stickers, one for each sole of the shoe and a little instruction leaflet.

How did the easy peasy three steps go for me?

Well it took several attempts at step one, and two... okay and maybe step three. I'm not very good with DIY products, but I always give them a good go.

Step one was imprint the shape of the sole onto the sticker, so hold the sticker against the sole of the shoe and press heavily and get the shape imprinted onto the back of the sticker. It took me about ten minutes to get the shapes on both stickers.

Step two didn't take as long as I thought and with my shoddy scissor work I cut the shape out. Which is essentially all step two involves, cutting around the lines.

Step three was the hardest for myself to achieve, one because I'm bad with any stickers, I can't place things perfectly and my shoddy scissor work really didn't get the full tight shape of the sole. So once I finally got the stickers on, may I add that adhesive, even if they're re-usable in a sense, was bloody tough stuff! No need to worry about loosing a sticker in the rain.

When I placed the stickers on, FINALLY, I used the scissors to cut around the edges and refine the placement. Well as refined it was going to get with my limited skills.

'Pimpin The Heels'

Verdict

I was pretty impressed with this product, I don't want to just big something up because it was sent to me, and on my blog I'm pretty honest about everything I love and what's good and bad about it.

As a versus to the previous product I tried out a few years ago, it was much better!

Pros

- The design and print was brilliant, there was no blurry imagery, which I'm always afraid of happening with any product that involves printing.

- The steps were easy enough for someone like myself who was very limited in anything like this.

- There was no over-use of packaging, it's a slim packet which can be sent through an envelope so postal isn't that expensive.

- The adhesive is super strong, so you won't loose your stickers in the rain!

-The price is affordable for such a product which is good, in my opinion I would never pay anything over 4 quid for this product, as it's basic DIY and there's no need for fancy numbers on two stickers for your shoes, so well done to Shoelicks for the affordable pricing.

Cons

- The easy removable isn't so easy, as I had to remove the stickers to replace them once or twice and that adhesive, although it's in the plus side, it has it's downfall for a shoddy DIY gal like myself.

- It's hard to get the imprint onto the sticker itself (step one), you are told to press heavily but I find if you're placing them on heels it's going to be much mpre difficult. Shoelicks do advise that placing the stickers onto flat shoes will be much easier.

Overall I give this product a 9 out of 10.

The price is worth the product. There's a range of designs to chose from and they are easy enough to apply. Just be warned that even though the adhesive is a plus, if you have limited skill it's going to be a messy few minutes trying to place the sticker and peal off, but I suppose once you've got the knack for something like this you'll be flying!

Thank you to the Shoelicks team who have been great over the past few weeks with information and discussions and sending me one of my favourite designs.

The team have also been so lovely to send me a promo code for all my readers and followers to get 33% off your first order from Shoelicks, just use the code 'pimpmyheels' and buy your first pair of Shoelicks for £2.00 (€2.73).

Shoelicks are available in selected River Island stores but for best access to the product you can find all the designs and more at Shoelicks.com.

Look out for my new pimped heels on my Social Networking sites over the next few weeks!

Lots of love,

♥ Melody ♥

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Gosh Prime'N'Set*- What's the verdict?

Hello gorgeous people. So I've tried and tested Gosh 'holy grail' Prime'N'Set powder over the past few weeks since the launch/previews which I attended. You can read about the day here.

With the goodies I received the first thing I wanted to review was this translucent, velvet touch powder, which can be used as a primer before applying eye make up and highlighters and also as a setting powder. 

I was going to use the powder as a primer for one week and then just as a setting powder but I decided to do this on two separate occasions to see what the difference was using it for only one type of application and not both. 

Primer

As just a primer it was good. My eye make needed to be touched up once, but it was from fall out on my crease as the shadow I used wasn't from one of my main palettes. Shadow problems..

Setting Powder

As a setting powder it was great. I have a small bottle of setting spray from Mac that I ran out of and another setting powder from an old Rimmel range that I think was discontinued after a while. I usually just used compact powders as a sort of 'setting' powder for college days and days I won't have my make up on long.

Verdict

Long story short, this product worked best together. As using them separately they did do the job, but the best result was when I used the powder as a primer and a setting powder. 

I only applied this as a primer to my under eyes, eyelids, brow bone and bridge of my nose and used my usual liquid primer for the base of my face.

Pros

It's has a mattifying texture, which is a plus because I love all things matte.

There's no fallout from the brush which I usually find with powders but even wearing a black overall I had no powder fallout after applying. 

It's light weight and doesn't feel like you're clogging up your pores with layers of make up. 

My make up for a day and night out, roughly 14 hours on the go, lasted all day with no touch up needed, only for my lipstick of course. 

It's great quality for such a low price.

Cons

The packaging is a bit finicky, having to screw the lid around is tricky when in a rush. 

Overall it's a strong 8 out of 10. 

Gosh Prime'N'Set is available in all Superdrug stores and also online. 

Superdrug also have a buy 1 get the second item half price on Gosh products at the moment which you can find here. 

Lots of love,

Melody.

If you have any questions or queries on any information given

in the post above please contact me on one of the social media links below.

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Five baby steps to a better you!

Hello lovelies. 
Over the past few weeks I've been trying to better myself, health wise mainly but mentally too, and I've been thinking of little things I could do for myself to be happier, healthier and feel better about life overall and motivated. So here's my five baby steps that I've been trying to take at least every day. 

Make a playlist

The first thing I did was make a playlist of happy, motivating songs. Songs that get me dancing in the morning when getting ready for college or something I can listen to when doing assignments. 

Here's a few of the songs featured on my 'happy' playlist:

Pharrel Williams- Happy

Mark Ronson FT Bruno- Uptown Funk 

T.I Ft Rihanna- Live your life

Calvin Harris- Pray to God

Maroon 5- Sugar

Ariana Grande- One Last Time

One Direction- Live while we're young (yes...it's on there)

Read a book

I used to be a really big reader but I stopped reading for a year or two for god knows what reason, so I've been playing catch up with all the books that have been released. At the moment I'm reading Looking for Alaska by John Green. Its my second time reading this as I couldn't really remember much from the book after the first time round other then crying a little bit. 

My advice, pick up a book, even if you're not a big reader, you can buy short novels or go to the library and get them for free, even if you just read a few chapters it's bound to relax your mind. Read an actual book though, none of this iPad and kindle stuff. Which comes to my next part..

Social Media Ban Hour

So every day I've banned myself from social media for one hour at least. I think this has been the most helpful thing I have started doing. My life revolves around media, my chosen career, my friends I talk to them through social media and everything in my life is technology based, so for at least one hour a day, I've gotten up to five at the most may I add, but for at least one hour a day I turn my phone off and just read my book or watch a show I love. 

Try it for one hour, turn off everything that connects you to the Internet and just watch an old DVD or read a book, I swear you'll feel so refreshed after such a short time. I'm working on making it a day and soon a weekend and then a week during summer to detox my mind. 

Watch something you love

I love Disney and Netflix and watching TV shows on loop, which can also fry your mind. I have been binge watching a lot lately, which I must stop, but I just can't because all my favourite programmes I need to catch up on. It isn't a bad thing at the same time, as long as I find balance, which I'm working on. 

Find a TV show that makes you laugh or cry or shocks you or a film that makes you feel good and just sit down when you have a free hour, when you're locked out of social media and just watch it and actually laugh. Not this half laugh thing we all do because we're too busy scrolling through facebook and watching a vine..really laugh!

Walk more

As I've changed my eating habits and diet and I'm working on bettering myself, I've also began walking more, I was at least once a week for a pro-longed amount of time. Of course I'm walking everyday but that's to a destination, the only destination I have on my own 'walks' is to walk until I feel like I've cleared my head, exercised enough and feel good. Fresh air is great to calm down after a hectic day. 

There's a difference between walking somewhere and going on a walk, remember that, so you may be walking all day but over thinking of everything you have to do, so going on a walk is nice. 

There's five little things I've been trying to do everyday day or at least three times a week. 

Let me know below what you do to relax and calm down and make yourself happier.

For a more in-depth look at how I'm making my life happier and healthier and how you can do the same check out 'My Happy, Healthy and Hilarious Life'.

Kisses,

Melody

Update!

Hello again. 

It's been a while since I blogged which is something I'm actually really annoyed about, but unfortunately life took over. 

I just wanted to give everyone who reads my blog an update on what's been going on and what's going to happen. 

As of nearly a month ago I had to take an unscheduled blogging break due to college life and personal reasons. I felt that although this is something I'm really passionate about, I wasn't able to give it my full focus and I didn't want to post half arsed content which had no passion behind it just to fill up post space. 

So I took a break. Which I feel was actually really good for myself, my college work and my blog as I can now get back at it, full steam a head. 

I have lots of posts lined up and planned, special guests and also videos coming up and lots more exciting things happening!
I also have planned out my next Giveaway! Which is over-due by almost two months...oops!
It's going to be a big one and I'm going to link it with my next milestone.

I have finally set up a facebook page too!

So starting today G.F.D, is back in action and I am sorry for the prolonged break, it was only mean't to be two weeks at most.

Next post is due up this evening at 6pm!

I have also set up a schedule for posts going up from from now on at G.F.D, there will be a new post up at least two to three times a week depending on my college and work schedules.

Love, 

Melody.