Makeup Monday // L'oreal BB Cream

Hello you beautiful lot! Just letting you all know I'm on holiday (finally!!) So posts are scheduled for today, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday as normal. However, I won't be able to read comments, comment or talk to you all for a whole week!! I know it sounds so bad. I will miss blogging, but a break is always good! Hopefully my scheduling will go to plan, if there are any issues with the posts, I apologise deeply and will deal with any errors when I get back next Monday! Thank you for reading and let's get on to this makeup review!! 

It's July tomorrow which means Summer and Summer = light makeup bases. Am I right ladies? Last Summer I thought I'd try a BB Cream so I picked this one up from L'oreal. This was the lightest shade available so I thought there would be no problem...

Product:

Okay so the product itself comes out of the tube a white colour. It has these smart pigment capsules which blend to your skin colour....... Apparently. I tried it and it didn't work out too good. It was way too dark for my skin tone, which was disappointing as this was the lightest shade available. If you look at the pictures below you can see the colour difference on my hand. The product clinged to my dry patches and overall I just did not like the BB Cream.

Packaging:

The packaging is sleek and I love the metallic purple on the white tube. It really stood out to me in the store. However the fact that this is a squeezy tube means that you won't be able to get all of the product out of it. A quick tip would be once you've squeezed what you think is the whole of the tube out, cut across the tube and scrape out the rest of the product into a separate container for the next use. 

Price:

The price of this BB cream is £9.99. I just don't think it's worth it. It's not a great BB cream and you can find way better for a similar price.

You can buy this BB Cream from Boots by clicking here.

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

Mini Is Better // Holiday Help

As you all know, I'm going on holiday soon... In fact I'm jetting off tomorrow for sun, sea and cocktails!! I am so excited. So in preparation for this week away, I went to Superdrug and bought minis. I love minis. Mini things are cute and lovely and small and fun... Just me? Okay I apologise for this obsession. I just love anything mini okay?! As I am so excited by travel size products I thought I'd write you all a cheeky extra post this week! How lush am I right?

Superdrug have an offer right now where they are selling 3 travel size products for £3. They're good brands too! I bought my essentials and didn't buy any face washes or cleansers as I will be taking full size products just in case I break out on holiday, which I really don't want. So here are the six products I bought in mini, cute form.

Original Source Lemon and Tea Tree Shower Gel / Head & Shoulders Classic Clean Shampoo / Aussie Miracle Moist Conditioner

Sensodyne Total Care Toothpaste / Listerine Stay White Mouthwash  / Gillette Satin Care Radiant Apricot Shaving Gel

All of these six products came to £6. I've never tried any Aussie products so I'm excited to give that conditioner a whirl! All the other products I've tried before and I know they work well for me. Writing this post has got me super duper excited to go now. I just want to be there. I will be there tomorrow around 9pm. I can't wait. Hope you all have a great week!

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

Makeup Review Monday // Collection Bronzer

Due to the sunshine I'm feeling like a bronzed goddess. I decided to look through my bronzer collection and came across this product from Collection, so I thought it would be perfect for a Makeup Review Monday's post here at Hannah Notes. 

If you're like me, in the Summer I love to tan. Makes me feel so happy and healthy. However, due to my extremely pale and red skin, my face doesn't seem to change colour. It stays pink and my nose goes red. Attractive. I discovered bronzers when I was sixteen/seventeen and I bought this shimmery one last year. Most of the bronzers I own are matte, so I thought one with shimmer would be ideal as I have dry skin, so it will make me look more dewy and healthy. 

PRODUCT

The product is very shimmery, almost glittery... Which scares me. The top layer of the product is basically full on glitter. The bronzer is very pigmented and very orange. Too dark for my skintone sadly. However, as I don't like to use this product on my face, I thought about using it on my body. The glitter in the product acts as a highlighter. So I take a sweeping of this product down the middle of my legs to make them look longer and also dab a little on my collar bones. If I'm a bit tanned, it does work well on a night out. 

PACKAGING

The packaging is good in my eyes. You get a lot of product (19g) so this will last you a lifetime. The packaging has recently changed but it's still the same bronzer! It's great for the amount you get and the price you pay.

PRICE

£4.19 for a 19g product is amazing when compared to spending £27 on an 8g product, Nars Laguna Bronzer for example. Obviously the product isn't amazing, but it works well for your body. If you have a darker skintone it will look lovely too!

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

A Lazy Girl's Hair Care Routine

Hair for me, is a huge chore. If I could afford to pay someone to do my hair for me everyday, I would. I hate doing it, I hate the effort it takes to look good and I had the process of drying it! Urgh... However, as I am a 'beauty blogger' I thought I'd take some time out from hating on my hair to write a post dedicated to it. Some of you may be very excited to read this, but others may not... I thought it was suitable for this blog as I've previously done a skincare routine post. 

Shower Products

Head & Shoulders shampoo is a must for my dry scalp. Why dandruff, why?! I also started using this conditioner from Lidl and wow, it is amazing. Makes my hair silky soft and you only need a small amount to coat your hair with. I would recommend this to anyone with dry and damaged hair.

Out Of Shower Products

This is the Lazy Girl's Hair Care Routine, so usually I'd just leave it dry by itself, no product or hairdryer necessary. On days where I actually need to do it I use this Anti Frizz Serum from Superdrug and put it into the ends of my hair and blow dry. I only ever straighten or curl my hair for interviews, date nights or going out so I only use hairspray then too. My favourite is this one by Pantene, number four! This paddle brush is essential for long haired girls like me. I picked it up from Avon.

That's it. Short and sweet. Ooozing laziness for all my hair lazy ladies out there! Wow that's a mouthful, hair lazy ladies, hair lazy ladies. Definitely pick up the Cien conditioner from Lidl next time you're in there, it's mega cheap too!! Don't use a massive blob though as it's uber nourishing and if you use too much your hair will look disgusting haha! You won't be disappointed if you use a little bit!

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

You Say Orange Is The New Black?

Items from left to right: Fanny Crown Aztec Orange Dress, Boohoo Button Down Cami, Boohoo Stripe Maxi Skirt, ASOS Slim Ankle Grazers, Topshop Underwear Set, Missguided Eyelash Lace Playsuit, River Island Floral Top.

I have been inspired. Yes. Inspired. Anyone watched the new series of Orange Is The New Black yet? I logged onto Netflix and watched the whole series in a couple of days. Addicted? A little. I love the whole women outlook on prison. I love the stories of each character. Most of all I love how it's inspired by a true story... Kind of unbelievable that it is. But hey ho, it's a good watch.

The show is out there, I mean it's raunchy, but, I like it. 

As it's Summer I thought I'd make a whole post dedicated to the colour orange. I've had this idea for a week now and I was so excited researching all the pieces and I hope you like them! What's your favourite?

Who's your favourite character on Orange Is The New Black? Mine is Suzanne (Crazy Eyes).

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

Makeup Review Monday // Urban Decay Primer Potion

Can you believe it's the third week of June already?! It's going by so quickly!! I still feel like it's April the latest. I've been nineteen for three months now... What the!? Anyway, enough of worrying about how fast time is going by and onto today's post. It's all about the Urban Decay Primer Potion.

I had never tried any eye primer before using this little gem. What was I doing with my life?! If you don't use an eye primer I highly suggest getting a sample from somewhere and trying it immediately. Oh my gosh. The difference and eye primer makes is seriously amazing. This eye primer lasted me around seven to nine months and it's only the travel size. Definitely worth the money. 100%.

PRODUCT

The product itself is a nude liquid which when smudged onto the eyes feels velvety soft. Applying this nude primer onto my lid and then applying any colour, be it nude, black or bright, makes the eyeshadow stand out and look much more true to colour. The fact that the primer is velvety makes shadows super easy to blend and you can really create the perfect smokey eye with this product. I mean PERFECT.

PACKAGING 

Like all Urban Decay products the packaging is cute. A purple container in the shape of a mystical potion bottle... It is the Primer 'Potion.' I love the font on the bottle I love the shape of the applicator. I just love it. This product will change your eyeshadow experience, trust me.

PRICE

When it comes to price, it's not the most affordable makeup item ever, and some people would argue eyeshadow primers don't work. But, I would actually repurchase this. The only reason I haven't yet is because I'm trying a Revlon eyeshadow primer right now. This Urban Decay Primer Potion currently retails at Debenhams for £8 (travel size) and £16 (full size). Not too expensive considering it's a high end product, I suppose.

If you haven't tried this product or any eye primer, in fact, I am begging you to try one just once and see the difference an eye primer can make to your eye makeup. Serious loving for this.

Thanks for reading! 

Follow me on Twitter!

Follow me on Instagram!

Hannah x

Pretty Twisted // Jewellery Haul and Review

Today's post is all about this jewellery brand Pretty Twisted. I came across this brand on their Instagram account @weareprettytwisted. They have a huge range of jewellery, bath products, clothes, phone accessories and hair accessories. They're all gorgeous and unique. 

I ended up buying three items, two for myself and one for my friend as it's her birthday at the end of this month. For myself I bought a tattoo choker and an anklet, and for my friend I bought her a sun choker. This purchase only cost me £10.50 and that's including the shipping costs. 

I've never bought from Pretty Twisted before so I didn't know what to think of the brand. However the shipping was so fast! I ordered these on the sixth of June and by the next day, which was a Saturday, the items had arrived. What amazing service!

Here are the products I bought. Tattoo choker - £3, sun choker - £3, anklet - £2.50. The items are well priced and are a great quality. I highly recommend ordering from this brand. Especially if you're looking for some cool chokers! That's why I looked at this brand, they have a whole section just on chokers. In love!

(I paid for this order by myself and was not paid to do this post)

I'm in love with my items and I hope you like them too! They came in this pink holographic box which I thought was super cute for the price you pay! Visit their online store by clicking here.

Let me know if you order anything from this brand in the comments below. 

Thanks for reading!

Hannah x

Skincare and Holiday Haul

So I took a trip to Asda the other day to pick up new underwear for my holiday but I also found a few bits and bobs that took my fancy. If you don't know what Asda is, it's basically Walmart. If you don't know what Walmart is, it's a supermarket.

I love the underwear at George @ Asda, it's really good quality and true to size. I picked up a t-shirt bra for just £4 and it's way better quality than the cheap ones from Primark. I also picked up three pairs of knickers, as they were on offer 3 for £6. They're so comfy. If you're on a budget, check out Asda for underwear girls!

I then picked up a pair of plain white flip flops for laying around by the pool on holiday, for just £2. I picked up a pair last year from Primark and they were so comfy in the warm weather, so hopefully these are on parr with the Primark flip flops.

I also picked up a snake print dress for £12. Yes. £12! They had another really cute dress there for £8 with zebras all over it. I was tempted to but I settled for the snake print. This dress is perfect for on holiday as it's a thin material meaning that it will be cool in the warm weather. The back is also longer than the front which means no bums will be flashing anywhere haha!

I had a gander at the swimwear and wasn't going to buy anything. But then, I saw a bandeau bikini for £6. I had to pick it up. I live for bandeau bikinis, they're perfect for tanning in! No strap lines please!! How gorgeous is this lime green colour though??

I then popped to Boots and picked up some new moisturiser. I was looking for something tailored for dry skin and came across these Nivea beauts. I bought the day and night cream as my skin is getting quite crap lately and I'm on a mission to get it looking good for when I'm on holiday! So far, I'm loving the combination of the both! I also repurchased the Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water as it is brilliant.

When I came home, my Avon delivery had arrived with my suncare bits. I have an SPF 50 sun cream, an aftersun spray and an SPF 30 lip balm which I can also use on my cheeks and nose. My skin is so fair and burns so easy. Must protect this!!

Hope you enjoyed my haul! Random last minute bits for my holiday woohoo!

Thanks for reading!

Hannah x

My Summer Scent

Last year I was on my way home from Spain and I spotted Red Jeans in the airport and I had to pick it up. This purchase was completely influenced by Barbara from The Persian Babe on YouTube. I have watched her for so long and ages ago she mentioned this perfume so I had to try it out. I have never had so many compliments whilst wearing this perfume. Friends, family, work colleagues, everyone asks what I'm wearing. I've even been described as 'the girl that smells like a worldie.' Charming!

The packaging is so cute. It comes in this tin which I like to keep as it looks nice in my bedroom! It would also be goo to keep makeup brushes or eyeliners inside once the perfume is empty! It then comes in a glass bottle with a pink liquid insides with a red lid. It looks so nice! 

Now I wouldn't know where to begin when describing the scent so I'm just going to take a quote from Boots:

'Top note: Peach, blackcurrent apricot, freesia

Heart: Violet, rose, lily of the valley

Base: sandalwood, vanilla, musk'

It literally smells divine. Perfect mix of florals and sweets. Buy here!

This is my second bottle of Red Jeans and it's officially my signature scent of summer. Brings back such lovely memories of my first summer holiday!

If you get a chance definitely smell this perfume as it's gorgeous and doesn't break the bank at under £15!

Thanks for reading!

Hannah x

Ah-mazing Dresses at Fanny Crown & Discount Code

Today’s post is all about a brand I have fallen completely and utterly in love with. They are called Fanny Crown and are located in Paris. Yes, that’s right, PARIS. Ohh lala! Fanny Crown offers so many gorgeous dresses including wedding, prom, graduation and cocktail dresses in a variety of styles and lengths. So you will find something you love on the website. Dresses can be tailor made to fit your body measurements so your gown fits like a glove and looks fabulous on you; what else is excellent about this company you may be wondering? They accept PayPal and ship worldwide!! What more could you want, eh?

Fanny Crown is an amazing and luxurious company who contacted me to ask to join this competition to win a dress of my choice. It was so hard to find THE dress but after looking at so many drop dead gorgeous dresses, I found this floor length, orange, Aztec embroidered beauty (Buy here.) This would be so perfect to attend a wedding I’m going to next year. It screams Summer and I love how bright the dress is. Recently I have been getting adventurous with my clothes and bright colours get you noticed! Which is great when you’re a diva like me haha!

This post is going to be all about my dream dress and how I would style it for the wedding. I’ll discuss makeup, accessories and even what hairstyle! So if you’re into all of the above, please enjoy reading the rest of my post!

Makeup

My favourite part of a night out is doing my makeup. As this dress is so bright, you may want to tone down the makeup, however, I feel like a red lip would complement the dress really well. Also, I feel lost without a red lip, it just completes my look, you know?! I’ve gone for MAC’s Russian Red as it is blue toned so it will make my teeth look whiter in photographs!

For my eye makeup I thought I’d go for a matte smokey eye. I would use a soft brown colour all over, with a tiny bit of black just to emphasise the crease of my eyelid. Also I would use a little bit of shimmer on my inside corner of my eyes to highlight them and make me look more radiant. For this I would use the Urban Decay Naked Basics Palette or anything similar!

Accessories

I wouldn’t go too overboard on accessories, because if you know me, I’m not big on jewellery anyway! But I absolutely fell in love with the cute bracelet from Ernest Jones. How pretty is that? The rose gold goes so well with the gorgeous Aztec embroidery on the upper part of the dress! I may wear some rose gold studs also but that would be it with jewellery!

For shoes, I’d go for nude strappy sandals, just like these from Dune. Simple and chic; so the dress stands out more! These sandals are gorgeous and are totally worth the money as they’d go with any outfit really!

Hair

Hair up is a must. I’d probably go for a milkmaid braided style with little strands hanging every now and then to frame my face a little bit. Then the neckline of this dress can be exposed and so will my décolletage, which I find to be an absolutely delightful part of my body.

If you have a special event coming up soon I highly recommend Fanny Crown as their dresses are just perfect. You will definitely find it difficult to fall in love with just one! Click here to head over to Fanny Crown's website!

To make this post even more exciting, Fanny Crown are also providing Hannah Notes' readers with a discount code for 15% off! The coupon is valid between June 3rd - 19th July 2014. All you have to do is enter this code at the checkout - HANNAHNOTES14

How exciting right?! I'd like to thank Fanny Crown for contacting me and asking me to join this competition and for giving me the coupon code for all my lovely readers! 

As always, thanks for reading!

Hannah x

Collection Lasting Colour Lipstick // Makeup Review

It's Monday which mean makeup review! Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and have had a great day so far! It's June which means I go on holiday at the end of this month!! YAYAYAYAY! Expect packing blog posts and outfit organising! Today I thought I'd write about a lip product because, if you didn't know this already, I am a lip product addict and need help. When I'm in Boots or Superdrug I always end up buying a new lip product! I just can't help myself! Is anyone else like this, or is it just me?

MY NATURAL LIPS

My lips are very dry and chapped most of the year. I always use a lip balm before applying any lipstick and at the moment I'm using the Nivea Hydro Care. Mostly because it's cheap and has an SPF of 15 included, which can never be bad. I tend to always go to Nivea for a good, hydrating lip balm. My lips are quite large and are a prominent feature on my face. They're quite pale and take to many lip colours nicely.

PACKAGING 

The packaging is rubbish to be honest. I've got two of these lipsticks and the older one has broken. It's basically a black plastic case. When you compare the packaging to the price you are paying for the product though, it is a fair casing. The way the lid goes onto the bullet is quite secure too which is always a plus. However, on Sweet Tart the lid barely stays on due to the damage on the case!

PRODUCT 

I have two colours, one in Sweet Tart which is a Barbie pink and then one from the Gothic Glam collection in Revenge. Both colours are creamy and easy to apply, however 'lasting colour' isn't really applicable in my opinion. As the lipsticks are creamy and moisturising, they don't have a good staying power. If you're eating or plan on kissing anyone whilst wearing this lipstick, blot lots of times because they WILL transfer and can get really messy (especially if you're intoxicated while applying the lipstick haha). I love the colours of this lipstick and the formula is gorgeous, I just wish they lived up to their name, 'lasting colour.' That would make these lipsticks ah-mazing. They're brilliant buys for the price you pay. 

PRICE

One of the best things about this product is the price, £2.99! I know £3! SO cheap and cheerful when you need a lipstick pick up on a rainy day shopping! Also, right now in Boots they're 2 for £5, so get down to the Collection counter! Collection Lasting Colour Lipsticks at Boots.

Hope you enjoyed reading this post!

Hannah x