Secret Beauty Blog -

Next to blusher my most favourite beauty item to purchase is shower/bath products. I LOVE taking a shower with an amazing smelling shower gel or soaking in a bath filled with fragrant bubbles but I hate to think how much money I’m quite literally pouring down the drain. I absolutely LOVE Lush but with a bath bomb costing around £4 on average just for one bath it’s a lot of money to spend, especially when most chemists/supermarkets/pound shops offer big brand bubble baths which you can get at least 10 baths from with change from a pound.
Gone are the days when I used to spend £21 on a shower gel (Clarins, I’m looking at you!) and onto raiding the high street for budget body goodies. I’m a big fan of Soap & Glory, and look forward to discovering more of  their new offerings (and collecting my Boots points along the way!) Another brand I absolutely adore is Philosophy, the Amazing Grace fragrance is so soapy and fresh I could wear it all day every day and never tire of it. They also do some of the most amazing shower gels I’ve ever used I £19 a bit too …

This is a bit of an old ‘tag’ post but I was looking at my makeup collection recently and wondered just how much I had spent on it all. Now it would be a bit of a task to tally everything up but I could easily put a price on my most used everyday products, so here they are! I didn’t purposely try to pick my most expensive items, these are genuinely what I use every morning for work.

All prices taken from the brands official websites (and escentual.com for the Vichy & Jack Black where I purchased them)
Clarins Skin Illusion foundation – £24.00
Vichy Dermablend foundation (used as concealer) – £15.50
Clinique  stay-matte sheer powder (to set base) – £20.00
MAC Blot powder (for touch -ups) – £17.50
Clarins Mosaique bronzer – £26.00
No.7  blusher – £9.00
Clinique Superfine liner for brows – £11.00
Lancome Hypnose Drama mascara – £20.45
Illamasqua Precision Ink liner – £17.00
Jack Black lip balm – £7.25
MAC Creme D’Nude lipstick – £13.50

Which all totals to….
£181.20
Oh wow…. I really didn’t think it would be that much! I’m not a makeup snob or anything, but I do think you should really invest in good basics like foundation and mascara. Having oily skin I do …

I LOVE when Boots give out the No.7 vouchers! When I used to work for them, combined with staff discount the face wipes and nail polishes were free! I’m always a sucker for a bargain and I can’t help myself but have a nose around the stand when I get given a voucher. Here’s my latest purchases.

As I have a bit of an obsession for blusher at the moment and absolutely LOVE my No.7 powder blushers I thought I would give the Cheek Tint in ‘Peach Silk’ a try. I’ve also been wearing my MAC Creme D’Nude lipstick a lot lately and thought maybe a lip liner would help it last, so I also picked up the Perfect Lips Pencil in ‘Nude’.

First thoughts – I love the blush! The colour is perfect on me, I find some peaches can wash me out and look a bit odd but this is like a peach/bronze so works really well on my skin tone. It has a slipper texture which makes it a dream to blend, but you have to be quick as it soon dries down to a powdery finish. As with most cream blushers (bar MAC CCBs) this lasts …

A girl can dream, right?

Nars – Cheeks Set £55.00 (Worth £82!)
As if I don’t have enough cheek products already…. But this is just too good of a deal! And I don’t have any of the products included so for me this is a must lust have. I wish Nars did more of these blush duos.

Juliette Has a Gun – Not a Perfume £59.00
I had a small sample of this and it smells absolutely incredible. Very unique and very me.

Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess – Sea Star Bronzing Blush £29
Another cheek product, but this is oh so pretty! I love cheek products that double as both a blush and bronzer, perfect for holidays!

Shu Uemura – Eyelash Curler £20.00
My ELF curler has almost given up the ghost, the pads are knackered and the ’scissor’ mechanism is a bit off-point so I really want a good quality pair as I really think they make a difference in my eye makeup and what with these having such a cult status I’ld love to give them a try!

ModelCo Fibre Lash – Brush On False Lashes £35.00
I LOVE the concept of this, the look of false lashes with the simple application of a mascara? Sign …

Described as a “mouth-watering, luscious” scent, Calvin Klein Eternity Moment is an eau de parfum spray that offers a fresh new take on the signature Eternity fragrance for women. The sensual fragrance blends notes of pomegranate, florals and Chinese pink peony blossom to create a fresh, delectable aroma.
I absolutely LOVE Calvin Klein Eternity. Originally launched in 1988 (when I was just a year old!) Eternity has been a best seller ever since and has legions of fans. I really started getting into fragrance aged around 14 and loved strong, vibrant scents that entered the room before you did. Eternity still is one of my favourites, the base note of sandalwood is very prominent and flutters around a dominant mix of musk and floral. I always have a bottle on the go and it never fails to get me compliments, and the odd raised eyebrow when I tell people what it is!
Eternity Moment was launched in 2004 with the ad campaign fronted by Scarlett Johansson. I recently picked up a bottle (unsniffed) for the bargain price of £27.99 (100ml, CheapSmells.com) after reading numerous rave reviews. I wasn’t disappointed when it arrived on my doorstep yesterday morning! Perfect for the warmer …

Now unless you’ve been living under a rock (or just don’t have Twitter!) you would know GlossyBox mania has got everyone excited. As soon as I had heard about them I signed up straight away, I LOVE the idea of getting deluxe samples delivered to my door and at just £10 I thought it was very reasonably priced. Some argue you are just paying for what would get free, but I’ve never received a 30ml Nars item free before
A bit more info about GlossyBox -
If you want to regularly receive luxury product miniatures from top brands that fit your care and styling habits, then simply register on our website. The unique appeal of GlossyBox is that as a recipient of the box you can create your own personal beauty profile on our site. This information will help us to choose the right products to fit your needs and tastes.
The GlossyBox will be sent out monthly. In addition to high-end luxury product miniatures, the box contains product information, application notes and tips and tricks about beauty and style. Our GlossyBlog publishes interesting features on a regular basis.
Our product selection is original and innovative. You can try them out …

Clarins have really pulled out all the stops with this gorgeous collection for Summer 2011 and I was lucky to get my hands on a few pieces to show you. The gorgeous mosaic bronzer is the focal point of this collection, with the extremely popular Crystal lip balms making a comeback, along with my new obsession, Colour Quench lip balms which are packed with shimmer and are perfect for sexy, summer nights.

The Mosaique Collection

Mosaique Summer Bronzing Compact £26.00
The fusion of texture and shades of this multi-toned bronzing powder make for the perfect bronzed glow. The terracotta mix adds a more realistic tan effect, and just a light dusting is enough for a ‘back from the beach’ hue. The quality is absolutely amazing, as you would expect from a high-end product, it simple glides on the skin almost like a creme but maintains a toasted, soft-focus sheen that lasts all day. With the large mirror, this is definitely a holiday handbag essential.

L-R Crystal lip balms in Crystal Coral & Crystal £16.50
The prettiest lip balms ever, no? Although I don’t find these hydrating enough personally they work well under lipsticks and have an almost matte feel to them, there’s no …

Due to my life being somewhat haywire from the end of last year I missed my blog birthday, which was the 1st January! It’s a bit late… I know, I know. I wanted to hold a small giveaway to thank everyone who follows, reads and comments on my posts as honestly without reader feedback this blog probably wouldn’t exist anymore. You can throw around the ‘I blog for myself’ bullshit but if no one read what I wrote, well I probably wouldn’t write anymore.
Anyway, I picked up the ‘My Paradise’ cheek powder from the new Surf Baby collection and I’ve had Chez Chez Lame (Cham Pale) for a little while (both brand new, untouched!) and thought they would make perfect prizes for 2 lucky winners!
A few rules to get out the way first -
You must be a follower of this blog to enter via Google Friend Connect.
The giveaway IS open internationally.
You can tweet me @thekarleighshow mentioning my giveaway with a link to this post for 2 extra entries
Please state which powder you would like to win, you CAN NOT win both or enter twice.
Please leave your full name and email address with the simple line ‘please enter me’.
I will use …

I LOVE NYX! The eyeshadows, lipglosses and blushers are amazing quality for the price and with 50% off you can add to your collection without breaking the bank.

Cherry Culture is based in the US but I’ve ordered from them many times and never had any problems, I’ve only waited roughly 7-10 days for delivery and they offer PayPal as a form of payment so it makes it even easier.
Simple use code NMS50 for 50% off sale items.
Participating items are marked with SALE and includes many items from the NYX line including the infamous round lipsticks, cream blushers and jumbo pencils.
Hurry, the sale ends Sunday 8th May!
Shop HERE

I didn’t ever intend to buy any makeup from Topshop, I try to stay away from buying into hype, especially with cheaper products as they rarely live up to my expectations and I have so much of everything I really don’t need anymore to add to the scrap pile! Regardless, I always have a browse when I get wind of a new collection and couldn’t help but notice how similar the Coy lip pencil is to the NARS Bolero velvet matte lip pencil from the new Summer collection. And of course, you never buy just 1 thing, can you?
I wasn’t prepared to pay £4 shipping and luckily I had a day uptown shopping planned and I must say I was really impressed with the layout in the London store! I was expecting one crappy little stand that had been pulled apart and had hardly any stock but it’s like walking into a mini department store, there’s even an SA on hand to help out, and every stand was clean and well stocked. There was tissues and MU remover on hand aswell as several stations with illuminated mirrors with disposable tools so you can try before you buy. I …