NOTD - Leighton Denny Golden Girl Swatches

Today's NOTD is Golden Girl by Leighton Denny. I chose this one to go with a red one-shouldered dress and gold belt I wore to dinner Friday night.

It's got quite an Antique gold look to it, with a lot of yellow and bronze to it. The shimmer in it gives it almost a gold leaf effect. It applies nicely and dries relatively quickly.



It's not my favourite gold, but I don't know why really. There's just something about it that doesn't inspire me very much. That aside, it is a good quality nail polish and the formula works nicely.

XoXo Rouge. 

Hair treatment review- James Brown Photo Fabulous Intense Treatment

I have recently started having highlights put through my hair. It's very long and very fine and needs washing everyday. Normally my hair is super soft and shiny. Too much so some of the time (it was very traumatic as a 9 year old when scrunchies were in fashion and they refused to stay in my very soft hair). It takes abuse well, regular heat styling and dying leaves no noticable damage to my locks. I'm lucky like that. And as a result my hair has been my pride. The one element of my appearance that I am consistantly happy with. Free from the insecurities that plague the rest of my appearence as with most women.
That was until the highlights.
The highlights, though lovely in their caramel - honey goodness, have damaged my hair. It's dry on the ends and is a nightmare to brush through. The healthy gloss that was once resident on my hair no longer bothers to grace me with its presence. And I am feeling very sulky about it. (I am an only child- I sulk- alot).
So I am now on the hunt for the perfect deep conditioner to revive my locks to their former glory.

Attempt One is a James Brown treatment that promises glossy and moisturised hair. You put it on from root to tip after washing your hair, leave for at least 30seconds then rinse thoroughly.

I hate to say it... but I wasn't all that impressed with this one. The texture didn't feel particularly silky when applying and I doubted then whether it would work all that well. My doubts were justified. My hair was just as dry on the ends, no more shiny and no healthier looking. In fairness, it did rinse out easily but its smell lingered on my hair, and (this could just be me with my fussy sense of smell) it was rather sickly after a while and a little too strong.

This is not a product I would buy again and my search for a lovely hair masque continues. Anyone got any recommendations for me to try?

XoXo Rouge

NOTD - Essie - Jamaica Me Crazy swatches

Today's NOTD is Essie's Jamaica Me Crazy, a lovely pink shot with a subtle shimmer. This is the first Essie nail polish I have bought and whilst I love the colour, I'm not overly crazy about the brush. It doesn't apply as easily as some polishes but the overall effect after a couple of coats is lovely none-the-less.

XoXo Rouge

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel in Yogi Flow Review

This is a gorgeous foaming shower gel that I recieved in Glossybox's December Beauty Box. It smells amazing (Indian rose and Sweet Almond Oil) and feels so soft on the skin. I cannot rate this enough and I'll certainly be replacing it when it runs out for the bargain price of £6.50 for 200ml.

Has anybody tried this in the other scents? If so let me know how you rate them.

XoXo Rouge

Carmine Beauty Box October Review

I have just jumped on the beauty box bandwaggon- big style. I have signed up to four monthly subscriptions. The first of which arrived today. It's the October box from Carmine and I can quite cheerfully say I am super duper impressed with it. For those of you who don't know what Beauty Boxes are, they are boxes filled with 5 or 6 (depending on the company) deluxe sample size or even full size high end products delivered every month for you to try. And it is always a surprise as to their contents. This might put some people off but to me it's like somebody sent me a perfectly packaged beauty related surprise in the post.

The box arrived throught the post in a lovely bright orange box. I thought that this was fab and couldn't have been happier with it. Until I opened the package to discover that inside was an even nicer box - the proper beauty box.

The box looks very stylish and is really sturdy - a box I could re-use for years.

The colour scheme inside is really striking and colourful and I would now recognise a Carmine beauty box a mile off.

The anticipation as to the contents grew and grew as I continued to play a solo game of pass the parcel. As I opened the black box I discovered the contents were hidden with black tissue paper, a card containing information on all the products and a lovely red ribbon bow.

My only snag was that all the products had been shoved to one side - Its unclear whether this was done by Carmine or, as is more likely, happened in transit. Maybe more of the lovely red stuffing is needed.

So here's the reviews for the products included.

A full size Trind Nail Repair.

The bottle looks lovely and the polish goes on nicely and dries quickly. Only time would tell how good a nail strengthener it is though.

A deluxe samle size Balance Me hand cream.

 This hand cream smells a little strong to me and boarderline masculine, however if you are used to, and like, the smell of aromatherapy oils then this will be fine for you. It sinks in well and a little goes a long way with this product.

Deluxe sample of Caudalie Vinosource Quenching Sorbet-creme.

This is lovely. I have oily skin but it can get dehydrated when I've been working in a room full of central heating or air-con. As such, I can find a lot of moisturisers too rich and greasy and they tend to just sit on my skin. This does not. This is lovely. It feels cooling and refreshing when applied, a little is all that is needed and it sinks into the skin beautifully. It has a very subtle fragrance which matches its refreshing texture.

Full size Daniel Sandler Eye Delight in Ice.

This is a stunning, fine textured, loose pigment eyeshadow. I love it. It's highly pigmented but can be blended easily.

Full Size The Balm Blusher in Frat Boy.

Aside from the stunning vintage packaging that would look impressive in anyone's make up bag, this blusher is lovely. I've swatched it pretty heavily on my hand here but the peach/apricot/dusky pink coloured blush can be blended nicely.

I found that the Daniel Sandler Eye Delight shown above looked lovely dusted lightly on top of this blusher as a highlighter.

Carmine have produced a wonderful box (with contents worth around £50 this month) for only £10 a month plus £2.75 P+P. Long may it continue.

XoXo Rouge

NOTD - Zoya Faye

Today's NOTD is Faye by Zoya. It's not the kind of colour you see everyday and that's partly why I like it. It has a real two-tone effect - in some lights its a gold colour and in others its closer to purple. The pictures below are all of the same nail polish, just taken at different angles or in different lights.



The formula is quite thin and needs at least two coats (that's how many are shown below, but a third coat wouldn't hurt). The polish levels nicely and the fine shimmery particle have huge impact.



You can see from the pictures that the colour changes massively but this is what I like, no love, about it. It doesn't seem to be very easy to get hold of Zoya polishes over here other than the odd website or ebay. So if anyone knows of any stores in the UK that stock Zoya please let me know.

XoXo Rouge.

NOTD - China Glaze Watermelon Rind

Hi Guys. Christmas season is quickly approaching so I'm all about sparkly nail colours at the moment. This one by China Glaze, Watermelon Rind, is a dark emerald colour packed with tiny sparkly particles. It's perfect for Christmas or for any other occasion where you can make up an excuse to wear sparkly polish.

The formula goes on quite thinly but nicely. It requires two coats for full coverage but levels out well.

Unfortunately these photos don't quite do it justice. Its packed full of tiny sparkles that shimmer in even the dimmest of lighting.

Xoxo, Rouge