Yearly Archives: 2015

So, here we are again! For anyone new to the BBB Dream Boxes with Latest In Beauty, they happen twice a year, with a minimum of 15 full and sample sized products for you to try. Part of the pleasure of being a beauty blogger is that I get to try and test so many products and if I find something I really love, I try and ensure that it’s included in a box so that everyone else can see if they like it as much as I do. The aim of the Dream Boxes is to give the best possible value within the box (it’s over £110 value this time), as well as offers from the brands included, with a mix of luxury and great budget performers. The box is £21.95 including postage. The link is at the bottom of the post.

Last time, the Dream Box crashed my site and then crashed the Latest In Beauty site, so we’re going for an early start on this one and hoping that it might stagger traffic a little.

Salon Science Reglosse Smoothing Serum Full Size: When I first tried the Salon Science range last year, I was so impressed with it, I immediately wanted it for the box! I use this serum all the time now for its ability to soften and relax the hair without weighing it down or leaving an oily feel. Value: £18. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off all products with BBB code.

Scottish Fine Soaps Luxury Soap Full Size: I love proper bars of soaps, and these are soft, lathery and gorgeously scented, Portable tins that mean you never need face a bland hotel soap again. And, the 40 year old family run business is from Scotland, like me, so it’s a pleasure to present a quality brand from my home. There are two varieties: Au Lait (a sweet, milky scent) and Sea Kelp (a fresh, green scent). Value: £4.95. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 15% off all products with BBB code.

Vita Liberata Luxury Tan 20ml: This brand is a long-time favourite of mine for self-tanning. In fact, if at all possible, I don’t use anything else. When I first came across it, Vita Liberata wasn’t as readily available as it is now and I used to stalk every single branch of Boots I passed to stock up! It gives a warm, natural looking tan that lasts and lasts (this is the 2-3 week last formula) without drying out the skin. There’s also a mini-mitt included and you can use it on face and body. Value: £9. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 1/3 off the Phenomenal collection with BBB code.

Orelia Gold Tattoos: I absolutely adore gold temporary tattoos and wear them frequently through winter and summer as an accessory (I love bracelet effects best of all). Orelia’s temporary tattoos are reflective of the brand’s jewellery – innovative, beautiful and exciting and it’s a natural fit with Vita Liberata for golden skin with a flash of metallic. There’s a mix of 9 different styles so which one you get will be a surprise. Value: £5. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off everything with the BBB code.

Crabtree & Evelyn Pear & Magnolia Body Lotion 50ml: I love the scent of pears, and in this travel sized body lotion, it’s predominant with a gentle backdrop of magnolia. Once it quickly sinks into the skin, you’re left with instant softness and a gentle trail of fragrance. The body lotion feels far more luxurious than the price would suggest. Value: £5. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off all Crabtree & Evelyn with BBB Code.

essence Nail Polish Full Size: I’ve got two little essence polishes for this box in two wearable colours (each box contains both), so that you can see how budget nail varnish should be done! The formulas are strong and reliable – even outperforming much, much pricier brands in terms of wear. The shades are split into a nude and a pastel so you can experience different textures for clean, spring looks. Value £3.60.

Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Melting Cleanser 15ml: I can remember being so impressed when I first discovered this product! It’s such an unusual texture, being part gel and part balm, and I used the entire full size pot down to the very last drop. It leaves skin gorgeously soft and properly cleansed. Value £3.05. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: Free African Red Tea Foaming Cleanser with 2 products purchased with code.

Eye Of Horus Charcoal Obsidian Goddess Pencil Full Size: One of the softest, most blendable eye liners I’ve ever discovered – an absolute beauty if you love to smoke up your eyes. I use mine on both inner and outer rims – it’s rather addictive! We have a big split of colours from smoky black to the brightest of blues so that you can start experimenting straight away. Value: £17.99. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off the entire Eye of Horus range with BBB code.

Benefit They’re Real Mascara Remover 7.5ml: This is a miracle formula that makes even tough mascara glide away from your lashes without pulling or tugging. It even works on waterproof mascara and it’s fine for sensitive eyes or contact lense wearers, too. Value: £2.18. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: Free in-store makeup lesson.

Roger & Gallet Fleur de Figuier 1.5ml: Fleur de Figuier is the freshest burst of summer, full of fruity notes in a light juice that instantly gives your senses a lift. This fragrance range has a special place in my heart (and has been in previous BBB Boxes) – behind the brand is an amazing team who truly have a passion for what they create. Value: £1.26

Bourjois Rouge Velvet Full Size : These beautiful velvet textured lip shades are such a deserved success for Bourjois. They’re easily outperforming luxury competitors by giving strong pigment and last with a soft finish every single time. We have two stunning shades; Nude-ist or Don’t Pink Of It, for nude lips with attitude! Value: £8.99.

Deciem Hand Chemistry 30ml: If you’re a regular reader of BBB, you’ll know this is my favourite ever hand cream. Put it to the ten day test and see the results for yourself – Hand Chemistry has put its money where its mouth is using a high percentage of active ingredients, and the formulation is transformational for needy hands. Deciem is brand to keep your eyes on – they’re adventurous, exciting and deliver on claims. Value: £8. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 20% off Hand Chemistry lines with BBB code.

Nuxe Masque Crème Fraiche Full Size: Nuxe is the most requested product for my beauty boxes from BBB readers, and at last, it’s here! This is a wonderfully soothing and rehydrating mask that left my skin looking more vibrant and much smoother. It’s an absolute skin treat that I’m so happy to be able to share with you. Value: £18.50. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 15% off your first order with BBB code.

Dr Organic Lip Balm Full Size: I was so taken with these balms when I tested them out earlier in the year that I knew I had to include them in the next box! We’ve got three variants; Cherry, Mint and Argan, each with SPF15, for smooth and noticeably softer lips. Value: £3.40.

MakeUp Revolution The One Fluid Blush: I’ve included this lightweight and fluid textured blush because it’s really one to try for the beautiful, real-skin sheerness that it gives. If you haven’t used a fluid blush before (there aren’t many around), my advice is to put a couple of drops into the palm of your hand, swirl a brush over it and blend over the cheeks until it’s seamless. Makeup Revolution is storming the budget beauty market with their affordable and quality products. Value: £3. #BBBDreambox3 Offer: 25% off all MUR with BBB code.

Sorry, we’ve had a mixed bag of posts this week what with egg separation and arm pits, I promise we’ll be back to beauty soon. I just need to be able to get through the door of the beauty room and I can get started with some photography and makeup tinkering. Mr AMR may well have to use a battering ram to get me in, as a pile of something heavy (possibly candles) seems to have avalanched from the shelves, jamming the door firmly shut!

Anyway, from eggs to arm pits to pavlova. This pavlova malarkey has been something of an ongoing saga – I was intending to make Nigella’s Prodigious Pavlova for Christmas Day but things just kept happening that should, by all accounts, have given me a little inkling that perhaps the pavlova wasn’t meant to be. Firstly I couldn’t find a baking sheet to fit the oven, so off Mr AMR went to get one from Tesco. Then I didn’t have any caster sugar, at which point Mr AMR gently suggested that maybe a Pavlova Postponement (PP) was prudent, especially as he had been back and forth to the shops in excess of five times already, collecting important things that I had forgotten for the Christmas period. (Bread, milk, potatoes, butter, the list goes on.)

After the three-day Pavolva Postponement, I decided to try again but my fruit had gone off and so had the cream. It was as though the pav was never meant to be!

A week later, and armed with fresh ingredients, I began to make my meringue base. All went well, thanks to the ready-separated egg whites (see here) and the handy meringue-making tips on Google (make sure you have a clean glass bowl, add the caster sugar a little bit at a time). By 10pm, I had produced the most perfect, peaky, glossy white meringue. All ready to be piled up with folds of luscious cream and tart globs of passion fruit. (If you want the recipe, it’s easy to find on Google – it’s from Nigella’s Christmas book, circa 2004.)

Now I know that what you are about to see looks like some kind of brain operation being performed on a sheep, or perhaps a post-mortem being carried out on The Snowman‘s head, but I want you to know that when I finished the pavlova it actually looked rather impressive. It was only when I realised that things had gone drastically wrong that I decided to do a photo, and by then I couldn’t be arsed to make it look nice. I had also battered it with a spoon in a temper and the side had collapsed:

Ha! What went wrong? You may well ask. It all looked perfect, and I was about to pour on my homemade raspberry sauce, when Mr AMR (who was busy licking the spoons and whisk beaters and so on) said, “is the cream supposed to taste this weird?” The cream was completely off! I mean disgustingly off! (PS Sainsbury’s, you owe me big time – the use-by date wasn’t even close and I am mentally scarred by the whole saga.) So, the whole pavlova went into the bin.

I realise that I may have bored some of you to tears with this post, I just needed to get the whole thing off my chest. Usually I’d make my Mum listen but she was busy moving an apple tree in the garden and didn’t have time for the whole, unabridged story. Back to beauty tomorrow – I’m never attempting a pavlova ever again!

The post The Big Pavlova Disaster appeared first on A Model Recommends.

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