After been away for a while, I decided to do a "Top 5 Mac Lipsticks" based on my personal tastes. All of these five shades are different and look amazing on the lips. However, the texture is matte which means that some may not really like it as it can sometimes dry your skin, but on lips with no dryness issue it will look fantastic. Sorry for the picture quality and I hope you enjoy my picks.

"Flat Out Fabulous"

"Relentlessly Red"

"Heroine"

"Nouvelle Vogue"

"Ruby Woo"




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That's a swatch of the colours in my hand

Let's talk about Soap&Glory

I came up with the idea of a Soap&Glory product review after a nice and relaxing bath after a hard day. Soap&Glory is one of the reasons I wanna take a shower or run a long bath, scrub and moisturise my body. Soap&Glory is a company that mainly makes shower and bath products, everything we need to feel nice and clean in a daily basis.It also makes cosmetics whose quality is amazing especially when compared to the reasonable prices. After going through the difficulty of choosing my four favourite Soap&Glory products, I eventually and happily present it to you. 

Moving clockwise , there is the most amazing Bubble Bath which has offered me hours and hours of relaxation in the bath. It smells amazing and it's easy to use since you just put as much as you want in your bathtub's water and ta-dah!You've got your bubbles waiting for you!It's the Calm One Calm All Bubble Bath made from lemon balm, mallow and moisture-magnetising skin conditioners. Apart from the unbelievably sweet smell it does help you dive into a relaxation mood, more like nirvana, leaving your skin soft and nice-smelling. 

Next to it lies the Hand Food which is basically a hydrating hand cream and is literally food for your hands. I normally hate hand creams because they always leave you with an oily, greasy feeling and the only thing you want to do is wash your hands, so they are of no use. However this hand cream is a really fast-absorbing one and non-greasy that at the same time makes your hands soft and hydrated. It's a winter essential for me since I always need to moisturise my hands from getting dry from the bad weather,

The next two products are small ones, because I got them in travel size as they appeared to be more compact and handy to me. The one on the left is the Scrub 'em and Leave 'em body buff. It's a scrub and it's used to keep all the dead cells away from the body and make your skin breathe. You just put the amount of scrub you need to use on your hands and then with circle moves rub it on your body and finally rinse it off until it all goes away. After you've scrubbed your skin and in order to avoid any kind of dryness, body butter is highly recommended. And there's nothing best than the Daily Smooth Body Butter with Roseship Seed Oil and Cocoa Butter. Like all of the other products it does have a smell that gives you the feeling of being in a spa. It's an amazingly-effective dry skin Formula and gives all the hydration that your body needs.

These are not the only products of Soap&Glory but just a small sample of what this brand offers to you and your skin. There is an incredible wide range of sweet and fruity smelling products which I hope you are excited about. You can find those products on their website www.soapandglory.com but unfortunately there isn't shipping to every country.

My London Experience

What can I possibly say about my trip to London?I can only express my feelings by saying that this was by far my best time in London since the last time I was there. London has always been one of my great loves and the city where I would love to live for the rest of my life. And that was exactly the reason why I decided to take this short trip to the European capital. I spent four days in London from the 22nd to the 26th of January and stayed at a friend's house who was lovely enough to have me at her home. I lived in central London, hence I was really close to a million of sightseeing and things to do or just a few minutes with the bus or the underground. I arrived really late on the night of 22nd and had to wait in the airport until next morning when I could get a bus from the airport to London. Next day I didn't do much, mostly wandering around the city having Starbucks and Costa coffee and enjoying the air of the picturesque but also modern and nonetheless wonderful London. In Saturday I decided it was time for "shopping action" in the famous Oxford Street. A street long enough to fit at least half of the population of London since Saturday was the best day for tourists and locals to enjoy their shopping. The crowds of people were amazing and most of the shops packed with people. However, the shopping experience was pleasant enough and I had the opportunity to go to the majority of them( Debenhams, House of Fraser, Topshop, River Island, Selfridge's etc.). When the shopping finished and I could not feel more exhausted I just rested at home with my friend and at night we were lucky enough to enjoy one of the world's most famous pizza called Domino's. Everything was really delicious and finger-licking.

Next and sadly final day in London, I decided to stick to my relaxing programme and go for breakfast at My Old Dutch, an incredible and yet unmissable pancake house where your stomach and your mind go crazy with the huge variety of pancakes served. The service was amazing and the pancakes incredible( btw I got butterscotch pancakes with strawberries, blueberries and maple syrup). After filling our stomach with this yummy breakfast we went to the most popular and expensive shopping mall in the UK, aka Harrods. Harrods was an experience on its own and you can't get enough of it even if you stay for a whole week in it. It's huge and it's really easy to even get lost in it. However, it's a really nice opportunity to see all the expensive bags, clothes and millions of accessories. What is more, Harrods' restaurant and patisserie are something you should definitely see and I highly recommend you grab one of these huge slices of cakes that are available.

The last day on the 26th of January I didn't really have the time to do more things since I was leaving early that day so that was mostly what I did in London.

All in all, London is an amazing city with numerous things to see and do and it's the city where dreams can come true. 

London Vlogging available soon

Haircare Essentials

I think it was about time I talked about haircare products. Winter can make hair dry and dehydrated and it can look like crap if we don't take good care of it often. Also drying our hair and straightening it can only result to damaged hair and that's something no girl wants. So I reviewed on some products which I think are hair saviours.

I am totally a fan of these two amazing products which have absolutely changed the way my hair looks now.The one on the left is the Pantene Pro-V Balsam Spray Conditioner and you can apply it  either to wet hair after your shower or even dry hair. It helps hair strengthen and makes fine hair less prone to damage from styling. What is more, I recently discovered as a friend told me that it also works in order to untangle hair.

The second product is one of the first serums that I totally believe it worked for my weak and damaged hair. It is from Garnier Fructis and it's one of the new serums for Volume and Strength. It smells amazing and you kinda get this feeling of just leaving the hairdresser's. To be honest, I didn't expect it to be so good but it is. You apply it along the ends of your hair and just leave it and enjoy the wonderful smell.

Next two products are from Toni & Guy. Personally if I could own the whole Toni & Guy stand I would consider myself extremely happy. However, I have only got two products and they are simply amazing. The first one on the left is a heat protection mist which you can use right before any kind of styling. I have been using it for a pretty long time because I straighten my hair in a daily basis and all I have to say about this product is that I am so in love with it. If it wasn't for this my hair would be destroyed. Next thing on my favourite haircare list the Sea Salt Texturising Spray and I mostly use it throughout summer and especially my summer vacation, because it makes your hair look like you just went out of the sea, giving you this wavy even curly result that nothing else can give you. I love the fact that it turns my hair from a total mess to a kinda natural and care free look and it's a light-weight product. Besides who doesn't love having the beach look all day long during her holidays?

        So basically these are my haircare essentials that I wear all year long and don't know how I could survive without them. They are very reasonable priced and I would 100% suggest them to all of you

Love and Kisses to all,

Alina

Beauty hauling!!!

Hello,

After a lot of thought I ended up deciding that the best first post for my blog would be a beauty post of the cosmetics I purchased recently. Besides is there any girl that doesn't love her makeup?I don't think so. And that's why I've been looking forward to share my new cosmetic with you. As far as face products are concerned I got the "Porefessional Primer" from Benefit which basically promises to minimize your pores and set a perfect base for your foundation.Although I haven't had the opportunity to try yet, I would say that based on the reviews it appears to be a product which just works miracles for every type of face because of it's lightweight, oil-free and silky consistency. If anyone of you has tried it, then let me know in your comments.Personally I can't wait to try it on next time I do my make-up. Also I really needed a new and innovative blusher so when I saw the packaging of this Too Faced "Pink Leopard" blushing powder, I immediately fell in love with it and I can't believe that such a beautiful product would be added to my make up collection. Eyeswise, I thought I should try a new mascara after the Haute too Naughty mascara from Mac since I got a bit tired of it, and got the "They are Real" Benefit mascara which promises amazing results and up to 94% bigger lashes. I hope it works fine for me since it's the first time I'm purchasing it. Next, I chose a product for my brows since they really needed serious help. I accidentally run into one of the Maybelline "Brow drama" brow shaper which is surprisingly good according to its price. It's the second time I'm getting it and I'm happy that such a product exists in my life. Last but not least, lip products. If you get to know me better you will realise how crazily mad I am about lipsticks and generally anything having to do with my lips. I don't know why I just got pretty obsessed and use a great variety of them almost every single day. New entrie to my make-up collection are the new "color drama" lipliner (but also used as a lipstick) in a fluorescent pink. After that, comes a lip miracle called Revlon "Colorbust" in the shade 220 which is not simply a lipstick, but also a lip balm with incredible moisturising abilities and with a great smell of mint which makes you feel fresh and clean for the whole time you are wearing it. Last but not least, I recently found out how important in my life Nyx cosmetics are since they combine good prices and quality of the best highstreet products. And that is exactly the reason I got two of the soft matte lip creams in the shade "Milan" and "Antwerp" which might look like a lip gloss but as soon as they touch your lips they become matte and can literally stay there forever. Finally, I chose to get a lip pencil in the shade "Pale Pink" in order to make my lips better shaped and to fit it with my pink and nude lipsticks. That was my Beauty Haul for now and there is soon going to be a YouTube video about it. Till then have a great time

Much love to all of you, 

Alina

Introduction to my blog

Hello to everyone,

If you are reading this post, it means you've visited my brand new blog.Welcome to all of you and I hope you really like it. Basically this is a blog about what I and all the girls love, beauty and fashion. I have put much effort and passion into making this big step. Apart from the blog I am going to be having videos on YouTube with the name velvetandroses. My promise to you is that I will try my best to meet everyone's expectations, by putting all my love to my blog and my videos. 

Love and kisses to all, 

Alina