Daniel Sandler In Love Scented Candle

I love scenting my home with scented candles, and when I first read about the collaboration between one of my favourite make-up brands (Daniel Sandler) and my favourite candle brand (Jonathan Ward), I knew that it wouldn't be long before one of these candles made its way onto my mantelpiece.

Jonathan Ward's candles are made of organic soy wax, which is hand-poured into hand-blown Italian crystal glass. The wax is so pure that you can use it as a hand or body cream. The scent of the candle is a delightful blend of Daniel's favourite scents: sandalwood, vanilla, light musk, amber, patchouli, clove, cardamom, violet, black pepper and sheer white floral.

At the moment there is a fantastic offer on Daniel Sandler's site where you can buy two of the candles for the price of one. As an added bonus, you also get free delivery when the order is over £24. So if you love the sound of this candle, then stock up now! If you only want to buy a single candle, you can also find them on offer at Amara and Escentual.

All For Eve Body Scrub

I love my 'All For Eve' red lipstick and nail polish,  created by Daniel Sandler and Sophy Robson respectively, but for some reason I have never tried any of the other products the brand offers. 'All For Eve' products have been created to raise money for the 'Eve Appeal', which raises funds for research into gynaecological cancers . 'All For Eve' was set up by George Hammer, the man who brought brands such as Aveda, Urban Retreat and Ruby & Millie to the fore of the beauty industry in the UK. This was in response to the loss of his sister in law to ovarian cancer in 2008.

However I have now added to my 'All For Eve' collection by purchasing the body scrub (£7.50), which has been created by Urban Retreat. I don't know about you, but for me, body scrubs can be really hit or miss. They are either too grainy and so irritate the skin, or are so 'gentle' that they don't appear to do anything, making them completely pointless. However, I think I might just have found 'the one' for me. When I first opened the pot, the scrub's creamy texture made it look like a rich body lotion, and so I was doubtful as to whether it would really deliver as a scrub. However, I definitely wasn't left disappointed, as this scrub not only got rid of my dry skin, but also delivered a micro massage (courtesy of the jojoba beads) and left my skin feeling as soft and smooth as if I had applied moisturiser. For me, this product is a total no-brainer: supersoft skin at a great price AND helping charity at the same time. What is not to love? The question is, which product to try next?!

100 Follower Giveaway: Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush & Waterbrush

 Typical. Just as I reach a Goggle Friend Connect milestone - reaching 100 followers - they decide to do away with it. Anyway, to celebrate reaching 100 followers I've decided to channel my inner Father Christmas, and do a little giveaway. The prize? Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush in 'Pop' (a Limited Edition shade) . To help give the best possible application I am giving away a Daniel Sandler Waterbrush with the blush. I chose this as the prize as it has had some great reviews, (including from me!), and I know that a lot of people are keen to try it. You can check out my review here.

To enter, please leave your name and email address below, so that I can contact you if you are the winner. I am really interested to know how you access my posts, i.e. via Twitter links; on Bloglovin' etc, so it would be great if you could let me know in the comments box when you leave your details.

You will get an extra entry by tweeting: 'I entered @LouiseHartrey 's Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush & Waterbrush giveaway over at www.louloumuses.com '

If you share the giveaway via  my blog's Facebook page then you will get another entry.

The giveaway closes at 11:59pm on 28th December 2011.

Good luck!

Clarins Central Pharmacy - 25th Anniversary

Last week I was invited along to the 25th Anniversary celebrations of Central Pharmacy in Cardiff. The store, which is at the heart of one of Cardiff's most popular shopping areas, is a beauty blogger's paradise, stocking a wide range of brands, from Clarins to Daniel Sandler; Dior to Nuxe. In addition to all the beauty loveliness stocked instore, Central Pharmacy is also home to a Clarins salon, which is one of only 76 salons in the U.K to have been awarded Clarins Gold Salon Status, so you can be assured that you are receiving the highest standard of Clarins service.

At the event we were given the opportunity to be given makeovers, using the latest Clarins makeup collections and were also given a demonstration of the Clarins Professional TriActive Facial and Body Treatments, which have been developed over five years.

There are six different types of Tri-Active facial, which are designed to address specific skin concerns:

• The Youth Activator
• The Lifting Line Smoother
• The Radiance Reviver
• The Moisture Replenisher
• The Skin Healer
• The Detox and Shine Stopper

The treatments have had some great reviews, e.g. 'Elle' UK's Georgia Collins has described the treatment as "one hour and twenty minutes of utter bliss", so it was good to be able to see the results up close. The treatments looked very relaxing, and the ladies who were having the treatments looked great after they'd finished, and were really pleased with the results. After the demonstrations, a large number of ladies rushed to book themselves in for the treatments after being impressed with the results.

The beauty therapist was really helpful, and was more than happy to give guests advice on which products would work best for their skin concerns, and also the best way to apply the products in order to maximise their effectiveness.

At the event it was great to be able to meet my fellow beauty blogger, Ms Red, of Ms Red's Beauty Blog, who I'd previously only known from Twitter. I also got to meet the lovely Sam from Clarins HQ who was wearing some fabulous Alexander Wang-esque boots from TopShop, which I was disappointed to find out were from a previous season, so will never be mine!

Ms Red

Central Pharmacy is owned by the same family who run Escentual, and it was lovely to be able to chat to @EscentualRakesh about the store and its plans in the forthcoming months.

Just before I left, I took advantage of the 25% discount being offered for the Anniversary celebrations, and purchased Daniel Sandler's limited edition 'In Love' candle, which is burning as I type. That was my consolation for not being able to attend Daniel's instore appearance later that week.

I might not have won one of the prizes (£75, £100, and £150 Clarins prize hampers) in the fantastic raffle that everyone had been entered into, but I was more than happy with my goodie bag which contained a powder compact, a mini Beauty Flash Balm (one of my Holy Grail products), and a mini HydraQuench Intensive Serum Bi-Phase.

Daniel Sandler Watercolour Blush in 'Pop' (Limited Edition)

It's that time of year again, when companies from Estee Lauder to Asda urge us to 'Think Pink'. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. In addition to raising awareness of the disease, the month also raises a lot of money for Breast Cancer charities, via the sale of a host of pink items.

I have only used a few Daniel Sandler products but have been really impressed with them, so I was really keen to try this, as his legendary 'Watercolour' blushes were next on my 'to try' list (which seems to be growing by the day!). Daniel has created a new limited edition shade, 'POP', especially to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support. Only 250 of these have been produced, and they are available exclusively at Escentual for £14.50.

I love this shade as it is a perfect perk-me-up pink which gives a beautiful flush of colour. The colour is best applied with one of Daniel's waterbrushes, which are currently on offer for £5. I already had one of these from when they were offered as a free gift with any Daniel Sandler product a few months ago. One of the things I liked about this was that the colour was buildable, so that I could get exactly the intensity I was looking for, without worrying that I would look too 'Aunt Sally'! This blush gives a really natural flush to the skin, with just the right amount of 'pop'.

1 sweep of Watercolour Blush

With a second sweep of Watercolour Blush

So if this looks like your kind of blush, get yourself over to Escentual . This shade is selling fast! There are lots of other lovely shades in the Watercolour Blush range too, and this month Escentual are donating 10% of the selling price of the Watercolour Blushes to Breast Cancer Care.

Fine Print: I was sent this product for review purposes.

To GlossyBox or not to GlossyBox?

The discussion between beauty bloggers on Twitter has been raging: to GlossyBox or not to GlossyBox? If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then here’s what GlossyBox have to say on their website (www.glossybox.co.uk)

“With the GlossyBox you receive the most interesting beauty products and latest make-up trends every month directly to your home. Each GlossyBox contains five selected luxury product miniatures. The product range is diverse, ranging from a luxury lipstick to a trendy hair care product from a cutting edge brand. All product miniatures are carefully selected and tested by our experts. Find your new favourite indulgent products to soothe those daily stresses or to add glamour to a party night.

With the GlossyBox many surprises and beauty tips await you. Let us find the right products for your type and let us guide you through the vast world of beauty.”

So basically, five luxury beauty treats landing on your mat every month, for the sum of £10. The idea is similar to the Birchbox service which runs in the United States.

There was a lot of discussion on Twitter as to whether this was a good idea or not. Quite a few people seemed to think that they would rather go in-store to get samples from brands they know they like. However I decided to trial the service, as not living in London means that my local department stores don’t always have the new brands I want to try, and I don’t always want to order an untried premium brand online, in case it doesn’t live up to the hype. 

I think a lot of people felt it was worth trying the service at least once though, and this feeling heightened once GlossyBox started dropping teaser tweets into people’s timelines hinting that Nars products would be making an appearance in the first box. Anyone who’s read my blog (for which I’m giving you a big virtual hug to say thank you) will know that I have only recently discovered Nars products. My first purchases were two of their fabulous blushes: Orgasm & Instant Cheekbones a.k.a Sin, and I soon added a Laguna bronzer to this list. These purchases were the start of a love for Nars that I know is shared by a few a LARGE number of bloggers (Is there a collective noun for a load of beauty bloggers?) If they have got Nars products in there then there will be some very happy GlossyBox customers out there.

My GlossyBox hasn’t been delivered yet, so until I can comment on the contents I’ve been thinking about what would be in my ideal GlossyBox. Here’s my list so far:

·    Nars – Albatross highlighter; Orgasm Illuminator; any of their lip products, Sheer Glow foundation….. (here endeth this sentence before it starts to resemble a Nars product list!).

·    Alpha-H – I’ve been impressed with this brand from my use of their 7-piece Daily Miracles set from Beauty Expert so would love to try more of their range.Until the 31st May you can get 15% off your order at Beauty Expert when you enter the code LOVELY at the checkout.

·    Daniel Sandler – I’ve heard some great product reviews and have been impressed with the base brush I’m using from his range and also his Eve lipstick for All for Eve which raises funds for The Eve Appeal which I purchased from Beautique.

·    By Terry – Ever since reading about Touche Veloutee on Chic Beauty Blog and Rose de Rose on Welsh Beauty Blog I have been lusting after this brand. For those who don’t know, this range was created by Terry de Gunzburg who created the iconic Touche Eclat for YSL. Thankfully for my bank balance there isn’t a branch of Space NK near me so I haven’t added anything by this brand to my collection…yet!

·    BioEffect – I was lucky enough to get a sample of this (worth £30) after finding out about their sampling campaign via the lovely British Beauty Blogger. Whilst I was impressed with the results, I couldn’t quite justify the cost to myself (£125 for 15ml or £76 for 5ml) so didn’t purchase it.

So have you ordered a GlossyBox or did the concept not appeal to you? What products would be in your perfect GlossyBox?

My Current Routine - Part II: Make-up

Here is the second part of my 'current routine' series of posts, and this time I'm looking at the contents of my make-up bag as opposed to every bit of makeup I own, which would be a much longer post! I'd be really interested to know if you have tried any of these products and what you thought of them.

Foundation – Estee Lauder DoubleWear in Fresco. This foundation is great and is a Holy Grail foundation for a large number of bloggers. It gives great coverage which lasts and lasts. If you'd like to give it a try, pop along to your nearest Estee Lauder concession to get yourself colour-matched and try a free 10 day sample.

Powder – L’Oreal True Match – This was bought after a Twitter cry for help as I needed to buy some powder to apply before going out after work and had left my compact at home. Great value and does a great job.

Concealer – GOSH TouchUp concealer (for undereyes) and Benefit It Stick (on blemishes). Although I am reasonably happy with these products I am still searching for the perfect Holy Grail concealer. As my undereye area has been known at times to have more bags than a Louis Vuitton flagship store I am always searching for ‘the one’ when it comes to concealers. When I find it you will be the first to know!

Blush – Nars blushes (which I LOVE) in either Orgasm or Sin (which has been described as "instant cheekbones"). I had never tried a Nars product until I read a few tweets about them, and I now wonder what on earth I was putting on my cheeks before I discovered Monsieur Nars’ blushes. The pigments and textures are fabulous. I also use Nars Bronzer in Laguna.

Lips – I think that this is one of the areas that has been most influenced by my discovery of beauty blogs. I used to be slightly hesitant about veering off the ‘natural pink lipgloss’ path but since I’ve discovered the joy of a good beauty blog I have been trying out a variety of different shades and textures. Here are some of my current favourites: Lanolips lip ointment in Apples (gives a lovely red sheen and leaves my lips really soft); MAC Viva Glam in Cyndi (a coral-red lustre); Guerlain Rouge G in Gaela (a pink which is bright enough to give a pop of colour without being too 'in your face', and it comes in the most gorgeous case) and All for Eve ‘Eve’ lipstick (a classic red) created by Daniel Sandler.

Mascara – Paula’s Choice Illicit Lash Mascara – I hadn’t come across this brand before until I read about this product on three blogs within the space of a week. With my cosmetic curiosity piqued I decided to order it from http://www.paulaschoice.co.uk/ and my lashes haven’t looked back. This mascara gives me lovely long lashes, and I never get any of the flaking that I’ve had with other products.

Eye-liner – L’Oreal Super Liner in 'Carbon Gloss' – very easy to apply and long-lasting – what’s not to love?!

Eye-shadow – MAC 'Retrospeck' and MAC 'Sumptuous Olive'; GOSH Waterproof shadow stick in 'Love that Brown'.

Brows – I never really used to do much to my brows, but once I started using a brow kit I haven't looked back. Just the simple act of brushing them through properly and applying brow powder gives some more definition to my face. I'm currently using the GOSH Brow Kit after buying it as part of a 3 for 2 offer in Superdrug.

So have you used any of these products, and if so, what did you think? Have you got any recommendations for me?