Olympic Inspired Nails- Medal Metallics!

Hello Lovelies!

I don't know about you but I'm getting very caught up in all the Olympic fever at the moment (currently sat watching/ogling the men's gymnastics, enough said.) and I might be going up to London tomorrow, so naturally I thought I should show my support with some Olympic themed nails. After a few tricky ideas involving Olympic rings and Union Jacks I thought I'd do something a bit simpler and more wearable, yet still effective with medal inspired metallics...  

To create this bronze, silver and gold look I used the Barry M foil effect polishes in 'gold' and 'silver', Maybelline Colorama in 'toffee' and Rimmel's 'disco gold' top coat. I'm so ridiculously impressed with the Barry M foil effect varnishes as they cover completely in one coat and really do look like they could be nail foils...

What do you think of my medal metallic nails? Have you been enjoying the Olympics?

As I said I've had another nice day cheering at the TV and chilling with my boyfriend, then tomorrow we should hopefully be having a day in London as my boyfriend wants to see Batman at IMAX and I really want to go to the new Victoria's Secret!

Have a lovely night everyone!

Love Meg

x

Video- Natural, Bronzed and Glowing Summer Makeup Tutorial

Hey Girlies!

When it comes to daily make up I think it's really easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut always using the same products and doing the same routine. This is why I've recently been trying out lots of different looks using products I sometimes ignore and I've actually discovered lots of different products and looks I really like, very natural 'no make up' make up for example. I turned the latest look I've been loving into a make up tutorial video for a natural, bronzed and summery face with a subtle smoky eye and bright lips (also no eye liner for once, shock horror!) and if you want to give that a watch then here it is-

Please do subscribe to my youtube channel if you like this video and as always here are the products I used in it...

I can't believe that when I filmed this video and took that photo last week it was glorious sunshine, but right now I'm watching the Olympics surrounded by a huge downpour! Oh well, it's nice to make your face look sunny even if the weather isn't :)

What are your favourite make up products and looks for summer?

I hope you've all had a lovely weekend!

Love Meg

x

The Real Techniques Expert Face Brush

Hey Girls!

I first fell in love with Real Techniques (which is a makeup brush range by Samantha Chapman from Pixiwoo if you don't already know) when I bought the stippling brush and thought it was the best thing I'd ever used to apply my liquid foundation and cream blushers with and the review for that is here if you're interested- amazing-real-techniques. However, being the fickle beauty obsessed person that I am I couldn't just be content using my stippling brush to apply foundation as a few weeks later the blogasphere exploded with hype over the buffing brush from the Real Techniques core collection. But even though I desperately wanted the buffing brush as soon as I read the reviews, I thought I'd hold out for the similar expert face brush to be released so I didn't have to pay for the three extra brushes in the core collection that I didn't really want, so finally after a lot of waiting I can now review that for you...I'll start with the basics which are that this brush retails for around the £10 mark which is pretty reasonable, but the downside is it's not in shops like Boots yet and only available on a select few websites meaning you'll have to pay postage. I got mine for £9.99 on love makeup, but it's also on Amazon for slightly more. The back of the packaging describes what it is and what it claims to do...

I always appreciate the sleek boxed outer packaging these brushes come in, but I must say I'd probably prefer a classier and possibly plain black brush design similar to Mac or Stigma brushes, rather than the coloured aluminium design they've gone for. Saying that, I do quite like that the brushes can stand up and also have a large sturdy but light handles for you to grip. The quality of both the bristles and casing is also of a very high standard considering Real Techniques is a drugstore brand.

Now onto the actual important matters like does this brush actually do what it promises and beat the stippling brush...I've got to admit the first few times I used this brush with my various liquid foundations I was a little disappointed as it seemed to create a lower coverage and a less air brushed finish than my stippling brush. However, I now know that's because I was trying to use it as if it was the buffing brush in big circular buffing motions, but in fact they are totally different brushes very different in shape and created for different purposes (The buffing brush was in fact created for the application of mineral and powder foundations, not liquid!) Once I realised this I tried using it more like you would a regular foundation brush, by dipping it into product on my hand and applying it with small paint brush style strokes blending as I went and now I absolutely love it! 

Using it this way made foundation application so quick and easy and left my face looking more flawless and airbrushed in no time. It also made my current choice of foundation, the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, give a much greater level of coverage than usual whilst still creating a natural and dewy finish. Also, even though you don't use buffing motions with this brush, the dense and broad brush head seems to really get the foundation to sink into my skin instead of just leaving the product sitting on top, which the stippling brush had a tendency of doing. 

So yes this has replaced my beloved stippling brush in my foundation routine at the moment (although I do still love and recommend the good old stipple) and in my opinion it's another resounding triumph from the lovely Samantha Chapman! Has it completely got rid of my need to try the buffing brush? hmm I'd be lying if I said I still didn't want to see what all the fuss was about, but now I'm so happy with this one I'm pretty sure I don't actually need it!

Have you tried this brush yet? Or are you a fan of other Real Techniques brushes?

I've had a pretty long and boring time today as I was just at work from 9-5.30 so now I'm just chilling out with the Olympics and some Christian Grey...pretty sure I'm starting to get a bit obsessed with those books now hahaa

I hope you're all having much more exciting evenings!

Love Meg

x

OOTD- Sun, Sea and Shades of Grey

Hello Lovelies!

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I've been so busy that I've hardly been near my laptop! This is partly because I've been working quite a bit, but mainly due to my attempt at spending as much time in the sun as possible as we've had some unbelievable summer weather. One of my favourite sunny days this week was spent with my friends at Broadstairs beach so I thought I'd show you what I wore and a few snaps of the day...

Bralet- Ark

Shorts- Levi Vintage

Belt- New Look

Bikini- La Senza

Sandals- New Look

Sunglasses- New Look

Nails- Barry M 'Peach Melba'

  

Cheeky fifty shades reading...

As it was an incredibly hot day and I was just going to sunbathe for most of it I decided to keep everything simple and minimal so my peach bralet, shorts and sandals seemed like a good option for a casual, comfy beach outfit. I then chose to wear my favourite La Senza leopard print bikini underneath so I could change into wearing just that and soak up as much sun as I could and I'm actually very happy with the natural tan I've got this week just from English weather! I also kept hair and make up minimal with a front french plait and messy bun and only BB cream, concealer, blusher, mascara and some rosy lip vaseline on my face (which is pretty amazing for me considering how many products I normally use!) 

Have you all been enjoying the hot weather this week? What do you like wearing to the beach?

I know this is pretty late night post from me but I've been distracted by the Olympics opening ceremony so far tonight, but still really wanted to get a post up. I thought the ceremony was brilliant and I'm feeling very proud to be British right now :) Other things I've been loving this week have been the new Batman film which I went to see with my boyfriend on Tuesday, the girly night in I had last night where we all drank too much wine and ate too much chocolate and also the news I got that my boyfriend has secured an internship at a really good company in London for his university year in industry which he starts the week after next. I'm so proud of him, but you can expect more blog posts and videos from me once he starts as I'll have lots more time to kill! 

I hope you're all having a great night and also feel proud to be British!

Love Meg

x

Video- Made in Chelsea Inspired Makeup Tutorial!

Hey Girlies!

As you may already know I am a massive fan of Made in Chelsea, mainly because of all the gorgeous skin and make up going on in that show, particularly from Millie, Caggie and Louise.

I thought it would be fun to do a make up look inspired by the tanned, natural, classy and glowing make up of the Chelsea girls and if you fancy watching it then it's here... 

Even if you don't fancy watching it I thought you might like to see the products and tools I used to create this look (I'll be doing a full review of the MyMix foundation soon)-

Are you a fan of Chelsea girl make up?

Please don't forget to subscribe to my youtube channel if you like my videos! 

I've just been filming summery themed videos today and enjoying the sunshine, I can't wait for tomorrow as I'm heading to the beach with the girls so it's hopefully goodbye fake tan, hello au naturale!

I hope you're all enjoying the sunshine too!

Love Meg

x

It's a Love Hate Thing: John Frieda Full Repair Deep Infusion and Styling Spray Review.

Good Evening Girlies!

I have a bit of a love hate relationship with John Frieda products, some of them I adore and will buy again and again (Yay for 3-day-straight!), but others seem to be over priced and do absolutely nothing for my hair (I'm looking at you frizz-ease deep conditioner). However, when the new Full Repair range was launched a couple of months ago it seemed to be met with a more united positive reception from the blogging world so I thought I'd give a couple of things from the range a go. But lo and behold we have yet another love hate situation with the Full Repair Deep Infusion and Styling Spray...

Perfect Ends Deep Infusion...

I thought that I'd start with the product I love and that is the Perfect Ends Deep Infusion. This is a lightweight serum that is supposed to repair the look and feel of damaged hair, as well as protecting it from heat styling. The first thing I really love about this product is how light it is, as I find some oils and serums can be very heavy and really weigh hair down, but once you've dried your hair after applying this you can't feel it at all. This also means a little product goes a long way which makes it great value for money at £6.99 for 50ml. As for the difference it makes to your hair, I personally thought my dyed and heat styled hair was softer, more shiny and looked healthier after using this and for this reason I think this would be a great alternative to the very expensive Moroccan oil. Definitely something to pop into your basket next time you're at Boots of you're looking for a cheap way to spruce you're hair up :)

Heat Activated Styling Spray...

Now onto the hate part of this post and I'm afraid it's about the Heat Activated Styling Spray. I was so excited to try this product as it's a spray which not only acts as heat protection, but is also meant to keep your heat styled hair in place for longer. As I always find any curls I put into my hair with my ghd's just fall out again very quickly I had high hopes this would keep my curls going all day or night and I was incredibly disappointed when they seemed to fall out even quicker than before! I have tried this many times and I can honestly say it's never helped to keep any style I've created through heat in tact for longer. Really not even worth the £5.99 for 100ml  I paid, although I suppose that's an okay price for a heat protector.

Have you tried anything from the John Frieda Full Repair range? Have you found anything that keeps your curls in place all day?

I've had such a perfect couple of days as me and my family and boyfriend went down to Portsmouth to see my sister in a show last night which was amazing and it was so good to see her. Then today we went to the sunny beach in Portsmouth and I relived my childhood a little bit with candy floss, 2p machines and crazy golf, just wish I'd put some sun cream on as I'm now sporting some very special strap tan/burn lines! 

I hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Love Meg

x

July Lust Haves and Must Haves.

Hey Girlies!

I think today it's time to do my favourite monthly feature, lust haves and must haves, where I go in search of more purse friendly alternatives to the loved and luxurious favourites. So let's see what you can save money on this week...

Lust Have- Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick £32

Must Have- 17 Shimmer Brick £4.99

Lust Have- River Island Spiked Ear Cuff £10

Must Have- New Look Spiked Ear Cuff £3.99

Lust Have- Caudalie Beauty Elixir £24

Must Have- Botanics Rosewater Toning Spritz £4.99

Have you tried any of these products or have any other good dupes to recommend?

I've just been having quite a chilled out time this week with my boyfriend which has been nice, but I have a busy time again from tomorrow starting with a weekend in Portsmouth to see my big sister so today I made sure I did lots of blog stuff and worked out quite a bit. My boyfriend has just bought us a gym rope to work out with so I spent quite a bit of time skipping round the garden looking like a right numpty! I honestly don't know what the neighbours think of me sometimes...right, I best go and get ready now as I'm off to the cinema tonight to see Magic Mike for the second time, clearly the 2 hours I spent last Monday watching Mr Tatum and Pettyfer strip wasn't enough! 

Have a great night everyone!

Love Meg

x   

Please Vote For Me! Best Newcomer Cosmo Blog Award...

Hello Lovelies!

I can't believe I'm actually writing this, but two days ago I got an email saying that my little old blog had been shortlisted for the Best Newcomer Award at the Cosmo Blog Awards 2012! Needless to say I was certainly not expecting it and spent a good few hours bouncing around my living room and pinching myself. 

I want to say a huge thank you to any of you lovely people who voted for me or just like to read my blog as I certainly wouldn't be writing this post if it wasn't for you.

If you are reading this and do like my blog then please make my day and follow the link below to vote for me to win the award, it only takes a click...

I'm up against lots of amazing blogs so every vote would really count and make me an extremely happy bunny :) You have until the 31st of August to vote...

Have a wonderful day!

Love Meg

x

Video- June Favourites!

Hello Lovelies!

I've just uploaded another video, which is my belated June Favourites...

As you can see I've been loving a nice mix of great affordable products and if you want to know more about them then why not give my video a little watch...

I really am going to try and get my July Favourites up on time, I promise! So if you want to see that and lots more videos then pretty please subscribe to my channel :)

I've had a very fun girly day today with an indoor picnic as the weather has been awful yet again! I also got some incredibly exciting blogging news today, but I'm going to write a whole post on that either later tonight or tomorrow so just keep your eyes peeled!

I hope you've all had a great start to the week!

Love Meg

x

OOTD- Top of the Crops

Hey Girlies!

It feels like I haven't done an outfit post in forever, basically because as it's now July I've been in the mood to do nice summery outfit posts, but in Britain July is apparently the month you have to get the winter wardrobe out again so I haven't had the chance to. However, yesterday we had a rare day of sunshine (well until it chucked it down haha) so I thought I'd grab the opportunity to adorn a ridiculously summery outfit and get some nice garden shots... 

Crop Top- Topshop
Shorts- Topshop
Jacket- Miss Selfridge
Sandals- New Look
Jewellery- Primark
Sunglasses- New Look  

This outfit is pretty much made up of my new bargain buys. For example, I got the shorts in the Topshop mid-season sale for £12 (£10.80 with student discount) down from £30! I'm so obsessed with anything of the peach/coral/orange variety at the moment and also anything high waisted as I think it's a very flattering shape for me, so these shorts had my name written all over them (well, not literally, that would be very odd) It's my first step into the pastel/candy denim world too and I'm loving it...so much so I've also now got the Topshop jeans in the same colour, but more on those later. Another thing I've being loving from Topshop is their crop tops. They were on a two for £10 offer when I got this white one (they're only usually £6 anyway) so I also have a black one. Originally I was just going to wear them for working out, but I actually love pairing them with high waisted bottoms, as they show just a nice amount of tummy and are perfect for when a bralet is a bit too revealing or when the bottoms aren't incredibly high waisted like these shorts. I then just added my trusty Miss Selfridge denim shirt/jacket for a bit of extra warmth and coverage and think this will definitely be one of my staple looks for summer. 

Nail Polish- 17 'Tropical Island' and Barry M foil effects 'Gold'

The sandals and Jewellery were equally good bargain buys, as my Mum picked up the sandals for me for about a tenner from the 915 section of New Look because I only have size three feet, which is cheaper as you don't pay tax and the collar type necklace and bangles were just £5 altogether from Primark and I've had quite a few compliments on the necklace already. Gold detailing is my favourite thing to put with summer outfits so I love all these accessories and the beading on the sandals too. 17's 'Tropical Island' (another orangey coral, what a suprise!)and Barry M's foil effects 'Gold' are also fast becoming my new favourite nail polish combo.

What do you think of my first proper outfit of this summer? Have you seized the chance to wack out the summer clothes yet?

I had quite a fun morning today as I was helping my sister get ready for a wedding she was going to and I love any excuse to do people's make up! It was really nice to see her too as she lives in Portsmouth and doesn't come home very often. This afternoon I've just been chilling and working out with my boyfriend, then tonight I might be going to a club in town with my friends, but then again I might be boring and just go for girly predrinks as I'm working 9-5 tomorrow. Clearly I'm not a very hardcore student!

I hope you've all had a great week!

Love Meg

x

My New Favourite Lipstick: Barry M 147 (dupe for Nars Bolero, Topshop Coy/Whimsical)

Hello there lovelies!

This post is going to be all about my new favourite lipstick, the Barry M lip paint in number147 which is also known as 'peachy pink'. There was a time back at the start of the year when all I wanted to wear was baby pinks, but now the summer (well, typically rainy British summer) is here I have become obsessed with peaches and corals, particularly of the nude variety. So when I tried this colour on at my friend's house last week I knew I had to have it!

To be honest I'm pretty new to Barry M lip paints, my only experience of them before has been pretty bad as I seem to have only tried the very chalky ones, but as many people say the consistency varies so much between them that you shouldn't let this put you off.  And at only £4.49 I'm very impressed by the nice sleek black packaging. The colour itself is very much the lovely 'peachy pink' Barry M promises, although there are definitely some coral undertones to it which makes it look more orangey in the pan. I did find it hard to photograph a true representation of the colour, but you can just go by the fact it's in the same colour vein as the famous Nars Bolero, Topshop Coy and Topshop Whimsical, but obviously with a much smaller price tag! Some people have said they find this lipstick chalky and drying, but although it is very matte and I would like it to glide on a little better, as long as I prime my lips with a little Vaseline first it doesn't look chalky or drying. I also find it's incredibly pigmented, very long lasting, transfer resistant and wears off the lips evenly.

Overall, I'm so happy this lipstick has walked into my make up bag as it's the perfect everyday peachy coraly (excuse my poor English!) pink summer shade that looks great with a tan and is a much cheaper alternative to splashing out on Nars 'Bolero' or even Topshop 'Coy' or 'Whimsical'. I just wish they smelled as good as MUA or Mac lipsticks...
Are you a fan of this lip stick? What other Barry M lip paints would you recommend?

I had such a fun girly day yesterday as me and my friends went to see 'Magic Mike', which was a really good film and not only because Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer spend most of it naked haha Today I'm trying to make the most of the rare sunshine and I actually managed to take some summery outfit of the day shots earlier which will be up soon!

Have a lovely evening!

Love Meg

x

Makeover...Quick, easy and cheap glamour!

Hello Lovelies!

I've got a bit of a different post for you today as it's a makeover/tutorial type one starring my lovely friend Alice. Alice wanted to get some new core items for her make up bag so I gave her a little makeover using some of my drugstore favourites so she could see what she liked. Like me, she's on quite a strict student budget so I chose nice purse friendly items and she also likes her make up to look quite natural and be quick to apply so I kept this in mind by using a fairly minimal amount of easy to work with products and I think she looks gorgeous!

Before...

and after!

The look I created with the make up below consisted of a natural base with statement eyes and lips that could be worn during the day or night time. The first thing I did to create this look was apply the Collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer in 'light 2' to any blemishes, open pores and under eye circles. I then lightly stippled one and a half pumps of Bourjois healthy mix foundation in '52' all over her face to cover redness and even out skin tone. Because Alice has oily skin I then powdered over this with Rimmel stay matte powder in 'Transparent' using my Ecotools powder brush. To finish the base I added a touch of MUA blush in 'shade 4' (such an amazingly pigmented blush for only a £1!) on the apples of her cheeks up to the cheekbones using the Ecotools blush brush, which gave her a lovely healthy glow. Next I moved onto creating some statement eyes by lining the upper lash line with Maybelline gel liner and very subtly lining the lower lash line with Rimmel soft kohl, which were both in 'black'. This added definition to the eyes as well as making it a suitable look for both day and night. To finish the eye make up I added a few coats of 17's wild curls mascara (which is my friend Lydia's new absolute favourite). I fancied pairing the glamorous eye make-up with colourful lips so used the L'oreal rouge caresse in 'cheeky magenta' to add a wearable, yet bright pop of colour. The rouge caresse's are great for a girl like Alice who doesn't like to wear much lip product, because they are so easy to apply and are more like a long lasting, non sticky, pigmented balm than a lipstick.

The affordable and brilliant products I used to give Alice a new look

My friend Faye finished the 'makeover' off by giving her some gorgeous curls using her Enrapture Totem Hair Styler, which I'm now adding to my wish list after seeing how easy it was to create such lovely curls and volume. Alice really loved the overall look and is going to buy everything I used, although she's going to get the lipstick and eye liner a bit later so it actually only comes to £25 for everything else that will totally update her make up bag! Just shows you don't need to spend a fortune to get a fresh new look :)

What are your drugstore favourites? Have you updated your make up bag lately?

I was very sad that Andy lost the tennis on Sunday so having a make up night with the girls was just what I needed on Sunday night! and I had a lovely day yesterday too as I went to see the new Spiderman film with my boyfriend, which I thought was so amazing (turns out new Spidey is quite a dish) Right now I'm just sat on the sofa in work out gear staring at the rain outside...so much for my afternoon run today!

I hope you've all had a great start to your week!

Love Meg

x

NOTD- Wimbledon nail art!

Hello lovelies!

I don't know about you, but I am ridiculously excited for the men's Wimbledon final today, after all this may be the only time we get to watch a Brit have a shot at the champion title so I thought I'd get into the spirit of the day with some fun tennis nail art that I did last night whilst watching that amazing men's doubles final (yay John Marray!)...

Just in case you can't figure out what the nail art is meant to be from left to right we have a rain cloud, strawberry and cream, union jack, tennis ball and tennis court. I'm definitely going to paint all my nails like strawberries soon as that one was so easy and I think looks the most effective, however I won't be recreating the union jack any time soon as it was very fiddly! 

I used all the polishes above to create this look, which are all nice and affordable drug store items that shows you don't need to spend a fortune to create some nice nail art. Oh and I do hope you appreciate the grassy background as to get it I had to take these photos in the rain this morning wearing pyjamas, biker boots and a rain mac! Pretty sure the neighbours will think I'm crazy now...

What do you think of my tennis nail art attempt? What's your favourite design for nails?

Right I better go and eat strawberries and cream whilst shouting various supportive things at Murray now!

Have a great afternoon if you're watching the tennis or doing some other fun thing,

Love Meg

x 

Save or Splurge on gradual tanning lotions...Garnier V St.Tropez

Hey Girlies!

I do love comparing drugstore and high end products, because I think  it's important to know if splashing the cash is actually worth it or if you're better off saving you're pennies. I've done a couple of these before, but felt like it was time to do a summery themed one which is going to compare the two gradual tanning lotions I've been using. You might know that in about February I became addicted to my St.Moriz tanning mousse and have been applying it religiously every week since (click to watch my St.Moriz tanning routine) However, more recently I've been getting really fed up of putting so much effort into tanning, only to have it go patchy after a few days. Don't get me wrong I still think the St.Moriz mousse is an amazing product for the price, but I wanted something that was less effort and provided me with a constantly nice, even and natural glow. As I'd been saving my Boots points up I thought that I'd see if the St.Tropez Gradual Tanning moisturiser would help me achieve this and now I've been using it for a few weeks I thought I could not only review it, but compare it with the Garnier Summerbody lotion, which I did a full review on last year here-garnier-summerbody

Availability

Both products are available in Boots and Superdrug, although St.Tropez isn't available in smaller stores. 

WINNER- GARNIER

Price

St.Tropez comes in at a very pricey £14.39 for 200ml, whereas Garnier would only set you back a tiny £3.58 per 200ml.

WINNER-GARNIER

Packaging 

I quite enjoy the shape of the Garnier bottle and it does have a nice fresh look about it, however there is no denying that St.Tropez looks a great deal more sleek and classy and is the sort of bottle you want to have out on display.

WINNER- ST.TROPEZ

Application

Application of both is incredibly easy as you apply them like a normal moisturiser and don't have to use a mitt. However the application of St.Tropez seems to leave me with slightly orangey hands if I don't properly scrub them, whereas you can get away with a light rinse or wipe on a towel after applying Garnier and Garnier also seems to glide on better and dry more quickly. 

WINNER- GARNIER

Moisture 

I don't just want the lotions to tan, but also moisturise and Garnier definitely does this better as it feels silky on the skin and blends in beautifully, providing me with the all day moisture it claims to deliver. St.Tropez on the other hand feels thicker and harder to blend in so consequently doesn't feel quite as moisturising.

WINNER- GARNIER

Smell

Both products claim to have got rid of that biscuty fake tan scent and I'm afraid to say both of them lie! St.Tropez smells like they've mixed it with a bottle of perfume and Garnier's 'summer fresh fragrance with extract of Apricot' certainly has digestive undertones. However, they are both much better than Johnson's holiday skin which smells like it was made at Mcvities and I find that if I apply them before bed they get a chance to develop and I can just shower off the smell in the morning.

WINNER- GARNIER (I personally prefer their Apricot cover up to the St.Tropez's perfumey one)  

Colour pay off

I have both the lotions in the darkest versions as I find that you don't really notice much difference at all with lighter ones and I'm really impressed by the colour pay off of both. However, I think the Garnier one takes more applications to achieve a good colour, whereas the St.Tropez one has such an incredible colour pay off that you can notice the difference after just one or two applications and easily build it up to the same colour you'd get with an instant fake tan.  

WINNER- ST.TROPEZ

Shade

It is not only the amount of colour you achieve that's important, but also the actual shade. Both lotions do well in this round as they create very nice natural golden tans with green olive undertones that ensures you avoid the orange TOWIE look or fake look, however St.Tropez wins as the shade is deeper.

WINNER- ST.TROPEZ

Coverage

I imagine that to achieve perfect even coverage from both you should ex foliate before applying them, however I don't want to be constantly ex foliating so it's lucky that the coverage of both is pretty nice and even, although because St.Tropez is darker this makes patchiness on places like the neck and chest and product build up on dry areas more noticeable.

WINNER- GARNIER 

Longevity 

Depending what I'm doing I'd say I apply these on average every other night to every two nights so I haven't really given them chance to properly fade, but as St.Tropez is darker it certainly lasts longer and requires fewer applications.

WINNER- ST.TROPEZ

CONCLUSION-

Splurge with St.Tropez-4 points

Save with Garnier- 6 points

WINNER- Save with Garnier!

So although St.Tropez has incredible colour pay off, Garnier pips it to the post with it's amazing price and great usability. Although I think using a combination of the two is perfect as it still allows you to save money, whilst getting a deeper more instant tan.

Are you a fan of gradual tanners? Have you tried these two or do you have other ones to recommend?

I've just been at work today and now I'm writing this whilst watching the tennis, I can't tell you how excited I was when Murray got through to the final last night, my Mum's already rushed out and bought the strawberries and cream for tomorrow! I was out for a curry with the girls yesterday evening so tonight I'm just going to stay in and watch 'Superstar' as reality tv combined with musical theatre is probably my idea of heaven in a tv show haha

I hope you're all have a great weekend!

Love Meg

x  

£50 Simply Beach Giveaway!

Hello Lovelies!

I've wanted to do my first giveaway to thank you all for supporting my blog for ages so was thrilled when the lovely swimwear and lingerie company, Simply Beach asked if I wanted to give away a massive £50 gift card for them! 

Even though the sun isn't shining as much as we'd like just yet I thought this would be a great summer giveaway, whether your going to wear your new swimwear on a sunny beach or in the garden. I'm so impressed by the range of products Simply beach offer, as they not only do they have a wide range of swim wear from brands such as DKNY and Elle McPherson that cater for everyone as it comes in plus size and cup size forms too, but they also do beach clothing, lingerie and accessories. 

I thought I'd show you some of my favourite beach things that I've picked out from the website that are all under £50... 

If you like the look of these then why not go and check out all the other things Simply Beach have to offer at

www.simplybeach.com

For details about how to enter this exciting give away have a little look at the rules below-

-The only essential rule is that you must be a follower of my blog on google friend connect 

then for extra entries that will improve your chance of winning you can-

- Be a subscriber of my youtube channel for one extra entry (Meg91G)
- Follow me on twitter for one extra entry (MegGunn_)

-Follow me on bloglovin for one extra entry

-Tweet about this giveaway for three extra entries

- Mention this giveaway on your blog or do a blog post about it with a link to this post for five extra entries 

If you'd like to enter please leave a comment below stating how many of the above things you've done and your username for each thing your following me on so I know how many entries to put you in for. Please also link me any blog post and twitter mentions and also leave your email address so I can contact you if you've won!

I am going to run this giveaway throughout July so the closing time will be midnight on the 31st of July. I will then generate the winner completely fairly and randomly using the www.random.org number generator and announce the winner the following day. 

Good luck and thanks very much for entering!

Love Meg

x

p.s Just so you know the prize will take the form of a £50 online discount code and not an actual gift card.

Also, you can follow me on google friend connect even if you don't have a blog by signing in with a google email account and clicking 'join this site' above the followers box.