Softlips Cubes: Review

With Valentines day just around the corner, I thought it’s best we start talking lips. We all have them, some are thin, some big, some small and some not so small. And although there isn't much that we can do about the size of our lips (other than the surgery route), we can control how they feel. No one wants to be walking around with chappy mc-chappertin lips. It’s not pretty and it certainly is painful. So over the next few weeks, we’re going to be going through a little lip service. And first on the agenda, Soft Lips Cubes.

It would appear since dear ol’ EOS (Evolution Of Smooth) launched their spherical balms, the worlds going spherical silly. Sephora have their own in house brand of spherical lip balms that not only smell good, but provide some subtle colour to your lovely lips. And then the other day I stumbled upon these guys…

Softlips Cubes

A friend of mine had posted them on her Instagram and I immediately wanted them. So I hopped online and found The Bikini Club South Africa, click here  This awesome company not only sells some pretty stunning bikinis, but they also sell a bunch of other cute lip goodies, but my eye was on the Softlips Cubes, and I was determined to get what I was coming for. So I made my purchase on the Friday evening and by Tuesday morning they had arrived on my door step.

So lets get down to business.

If you have ever used Soft Lips before you will be familiar with their products. Each of the cubes contain a similar formula to the classic chapstick balms that they sell. They boast a 5-in-1 “lip perfecting” formula that is said to hydrate, replenish, smooth, protect and add shine. In my honest opinion only 3 out of 5 of those actually matter to me. As long as my lips are hydrated and the product can assist with replenishing the delicate lip skin, I am happy. It’s even more of a bonus for me when a product can protect my lips from the harsh South African sun, so hey with an SPF of 15, this product is looking good in my books so far.

It contains a few more interesting ingredients that I am sure many of you beauty lovers out there have become familiar with, Shea Butter, antioxidant, Vitamins A,C & E  and of course the SPF 15. So suffice to say your lips will be protected and feeling silky smooth. 

There are currently three cubes available for purchase

Vanilla Bean

Pomegranate Blueberry

Fresh Mint

Each of the flavours actually tastes and smells of their names, and all have that signature “cooling” feel that we’ve come to love from Softlips. 

These cubes retail for R 100 each on the Bikini Club South Africa. I haven’t been able to find them at another online store, but I’m pretty sure someone else will soon be picking these up. 

I must just say that these are quite a bit smaller than your EOS balms, but if you are a die-hard Softlips lover, that won’t matter much.

If you would like to try out the Soft Lips Cube in Vanilla Bean, keep your eyes on the blog as I will be having a giveaway very soon with one in!

Until next time…

Two of a kind....

It's no secret that I love nail polish. My collection is sitting at about 104 bottles (the last time I counted) and there was bound to be a day when I would purchase two of the same colour. Little did I know it would be from two different brands. And to make matters worse, I love them equally.

Let's bring in the said nail polishes

So on the left we have Morgan Taylor's - Water Baby. On the right we have Sorbet's - Vanilla Ice.

I first bought Water Baby in November of 2014 and I picked up Vanilla Ice in the end of December 2014. It took be about two weeks to click that I had basically bought the same polish, but with that, a scientific experiment was born....*puts on evil scientist hat*

I decided I was going to give these two an equal shot to state their case. I painted one nail with each colour and rocked that look for a full week.

I didn't put any base coats on or any top coat, this is the rough and tumble testing Luna Lacey style ;)

Needless to say, my clients thought I was crazy, but hey, it's all in the name of beauty. You're probably thinking why haven't I set this post up as a "Splurge vs Steal" kind of post, well this is where I will present my first facto to you.

Price

Sorbet - Vanilla Ice retails for R 90.
Morgan Taylor - Water baby retails for R 110.
So with a R 20 difference, it all depends on your preference or if you would like to buy a chocolate or not :)

Formula

My second facto to present to you is the difference is formula. Both have a formula that lasts for an extended period of time, between 3-5 days (without a base or top coat). With a base and top coat they go as long as a week. However, with both polishes I have a little application issue. I don't know if it's just me and I need more time to get used to the application, but this is what I found.

Water Baby has a tendency to be streaky when applying.
Vanilla Ice has a tendency to be patchy when you apply it. I tested both after two coats (I'm a two coat girl).

As you can see, two coats doesn't cut it with either of the brands, so three it is. Once the have dried, Water Baby has a very very slight chalkish (is that a word?) finish. What I do love about Vanilla Ice is that it has more of a gelish look to it when it dries

Availability

Many of us live extremely busy lives, so when something is easily accessible, we are more likely to purchase that product than a scavenger hunt search for a product. I'm talking drug store availability now, I know that quite a few salons carry both products. Currently Morgan Taylor is only available at selected Dischem stores, where as Sorbet polishes are available at Clicks stores nation wide.

Colour Longevity

This for me is a deal breaker, up there with a chip on the first day, I hate it when a colour changes over a period of time. You start the week with pale pink nails and end it off with grey nails, not cool! Both of these products have a colour longevity that I would write home about, or a blog post ;) The colour doesn't fade or change (I was dishes daily), it's as baby blue on the 5th day as it is on the 1st.

Now that I've given you the run down on these two blue hues, I can honestly say I don't know which one I would choose for the rest of my life. I love them both, its probably my love for the shade. But as time goes on and I have the chance to extend my research, who knows who would come out on top. I do notice that I lean more towards Vanilla Ice as I prefer the finish, but I did fall in love with Water Baby first, oh the love triangle that has formed :)

I'd love to hear if you have tried either of these brands and what you feel about them, so leave me a little comment and maybe you can help a sister out!

Until next time...

Hair At Home - Revlon Luxurious Colorsilk Buttercream

So as you can tell from the title of this post, we will be chatting hair today. I am a girl that loves a little DIY, and what better DIY is there than dying your own hair? For many of you, this probably sounds super daunting, but if you're anything like me *cough* controlling perfectionist weirdo *cough* you have a certain look in your mind and anything less than that is unacceptable. I have been through many a hair dresser and many a style, come 23 years old I decided dying and cutting my own hair was something I wanted to try, and I've never turned back.

Along my hair dying crusades I have tried many a brand, some have been good to me, some not so much. But none have stuck out quite like this one...

Revlon Luxurious Colorsilk Buttercream in 10N Black. I found this little gem whilst roaming around on Beauty Bulletin. I had never seen the product before and was a little reluctant to try it. I have nothing against Revlon, but a year ago I strayed from my trusty Garnier colour and tried another product, needless to say I ended up not being able to breathe from the fumes, even when I went outside. I then got really ill and it was basically a nightmare. But I was feeling adventurous one October morning and decided to try this out. And I was so unbelievably happy.

Lets get to the nitty gritty of this bad boy. Unlike the majority of hair colours on the market, this colour doesn't contain any ammonia, none...nothing..nada. And what a freaken pleasure. Now I'm not saying it smells like roses and daisies, but it doesn't have that suffocating scent that makes you feel like you need to get away...but can't.

Revlon's Luxurious Colorsilk Buttercream boasts 3 of natures beauty butter helpers, mango, shea and coconut. Mango to nourish, Shea to hydrate and Coconut to condition, and this product definitely walks the walk and talks the talk. After colouring my hair I popped on some of the brilliant 3 buttercream conditioner and let it get to work. Once out of the shower I let my hair air dry, I was so happy with how soft and shiny my hair looked. Not to mention the deep rich colour!

In this one little miracle box you get the following...

Your developer, colour and the holy grail of conditioners!

For me, the true test of a colour is how it fades with time, you heard me, I want to see if fade. The dear RLCB doesn't fade, well not to my eye any way. The colour is as rich on week 7 as it is on day 1.

The only little thing that isn't so peachy for me is that this colour stains, and bad. So make 110% certain that you have all the colour where it's supposed to be!

The current retail for a box of this dynamite is just R 99, however Clicks sometimes has specials on the range and I picked mine up for R 79. With 22 different shades to choose from, they have you covered :)

If you try these out, I'd love to know! So pop me a comment and lets chat about hair!

Until next time...

Welcome to 2015!

Weeeeeeee! We're into a new year with a million possibilities, I personally couldn't be more excited, but I'm sure you can tell that by now :)

So welome to 2015 and to the new look of Luna Lacey, do you like it, do you hate it? Let me know! So I thought to kick off this year (two weeks in) I would share with you guys what I am going to achieve this year. Now I know that sounds super cocky, but let me explain. I have an all or nothing personality, so for me, if I give myself the option to NOT achieve something, my laziness will more than likely take over and I won't do it. So after 26 years on this earth, I have finally found a way (I hope) to ensure I stay on track with things and keep my dreams in sight.

So let me introduce you to my working To Do In 2015 List!

This is my little desk area, with my giant bulletin board in front of me so that I can stare at all of my important info. You can see on the top righthand side I have begun my To Do In 2015 List. I call it my To Do List so that I have no choice in the matter but to complete the tasks :)

I've split my list into two parts, the hearts are "New To Do's" and the circles are some of last years To Do's that I would like to keep moving as well as some of my favourite quotes.

So here is a closer look at 2015's To Do's

I'll briefly take you through these 6:

1. Stop Procrastinating: I spend a large majority of my life stressing about things I could sort out if I just tackled the situation as it arose. I have a terrible habit of putting things off to the very last minute if it's not something I want to deal with. Over the last two weeks I have started just tackling things as they come and I've noticed my stress levels are a lot more manageable.

2. Stay Positive: This one seems pretty obvious and self explanatory. I suffer from a hereditary condition (I won't go into detail now, as thats a completely different post) that basically makes many days a struggle to keep happy, so this little heart is to make sure I keep my mind where it is supposed to be.

3. Follow A Routine: I have discovered, after many many years of not doing it, I thrive in a routine. I am a complete control freak, so when I have no idea what's coming next, I get in a coo coo head space and then nothing gets done. So I have vowed to follow a routine to lessen the stress and make the most of each day!

4: Complete five 10km Road Races and 1 Half Marathon: Yes I am a runner, I love to run. I never used to, I used to freaken hate it. There used to be sports days at my school where we had to run and I would plan like 3 days before that I would gradually get sick so that I didn't have to run, crazy I know. But then I hit my 20's, made a massive life change with regards to my condition, and found running. I love it, it keeps my head clear, my goals in focus and my body strong. I run with my dad, so it's also a great time for him and I to chat. My first 10km will be on Friday the 13th of February, by no means am I the best runner, but I do this for me and I love it :)

5. Incorporate More Fruits and Veggies In My Diet: Again, pretty self explanatory, but for me my brain couldn't comprehend this in 2014. On average you are meant to have 5 portions of fruit / veg a day, in a year that equates to 1825 fruits/veg going into your body for that year. In 2014 I was lucky if I put maybe 200 portions past my lips. So I vowed this year I would change that, and to date I have, which I'm super happy about :)

6. Build My Brands: This one is one I am super serious about. You may know that I ran a business with some friends for about 3 years, up until the end of 2014. I made some serious decisions in December and decided to do things on my own. It's going to be one of the toughest things I do, but I'm so excited about it. I also want to build Luna Lacey to a point were we have a little army of weirdo's doing our thing in a community together. 

Now that I have taken you through this years To Dos, here are a few of my favourite quotes and some of last years To Do's

The great thing about this board is I can keep adding more To Do's, I can keep evolving and bettering myself as the year goes!

I would love to hear what your resolutions, goals and to do's are for this year, leave me a comment of pop me a tweet!

Until next time...