Veet Easy Wax*

When the Veet Easy Wax advert popped up on my screen a few weeks back, I rolled my eyes and muttered, "yer right", to my mam. I'd tried the Veet wax products before, the type which you warm up in your hands, with no luck and left in a sticky painful mess. I was also annoyed by the advert, showing a model with silky smooth legs pretending to wax away invisible hairs, so when I got an email inviting me to try the Veet Easy Wax for free, I jumped at the chance; "Let's see how well it works on my leg hair", I thought.

The package arrived on my door a few days later and I ripped it open:

Inside I had a self heating device and cap, wax refill, 12 strips, 4 wipes, a base and, an electrical cable to plug it in.

I scoured the instructions and popped the wax cartridge into the device before plugging it in. I then had to wait twenty minutes for the wax to heat up.

After the twenty minutes, I applied the wax to the back of my hand only to find the application more sticky than smooth. I figured that the wax hadn't reached the correct temperature and left it a further ten minutes.

mmm leg hair

After that further ten minutes, I applied the wax in a line onto my thigh and stuck down one of the non-woven strips. I rubbed the strip a few times, grabbed the top, closed my eyes and ripped back against the direction of the hair.

And it wasn't that bad.

Now, I am used to having a wax in a salon, so I might be used to the pain that comes with waxing, but for a home wax kit, the pain wasn't too bad.

I kept waxing away and soon I was out of the strips. I'd managed to do both my legs from my knee to midway on my thigh:

Look at that sexy line of leg hair

Negatives:
I was pretty shocked how quickly the strips had run out in relation to the amount of wax I still had left; if I wanted to do both my full legs, I'd have to buy an extra pack for £2.93 for 24.

While the wax did take off the majority of my leg hair, it did miss thin hairs and it was tricky to do the backs of my leg.

I don't think it would be suitable for those with very short or fine hair.

I wasn't quite brave enough to use this on my bikini area so I think I'll be sticking with my local salon for that.

Positives:
This is one of the better home wax sets I've tried and it's great that you can buy replacement wax and strips at a reduced cost.

It really was quick and easy to use, and the wipes got all the wax off and soothed my red waxed leg.



I don't think I'll be hanging up my razor any time soon, but I found this great for doing the tops of my legs as I hardly ever shave them due to lack of time.



You can buy Veet Easy Wax from Boots
or go to Amazon and enter EASYWAX4 at the checkout for money off.

My new love: Lime Crime's Velvetine in Red Velvet

Oh my goodness, I am in love!

I first discovered Lime Crime's Velvetine liquid lipstick after reading Karla Powell's blog and, straight away I knew I needed it in my life.

Lime Crime's Velvetine is a lipstick which goes on as a liquid, like a gloss, and dries as a matte. I searched high and low for a UK supplier but everywhere seemed to be sold out! Eventually, CutECOsmetics sorted me out and before I knew it, that coveted lipstick was mine.

How classy is the packaging? I feel like I'm opening a pack of retro sweets. The Velvetine range comes in two colours (Suedeberry and Red Velvet) and I bought colour 'Red Velvet'; a beautiful deep rose red. 

The packaging continues to be beautifully retro and the pigmentation is fantastic! I couldn't get over how bold the swatch looks.

L: Natural Lips, R: Velvetine Lips.

The red lips definitely pack a punch. I applied it with a lip brush as the formula threatens to bleed before drying to a matte. In hindsight, I should have used a lip pencil to make my cupid's bow a bit more defined, but it looked fantastic nonetheless.

The blue undertones in this red lipstick made my teeth look bright and white and was so suited to my complexion. I couldn't stop posing! I was worried that the matte would make my lips look cracked and that the formula would dry out but, I was pleasantly surprised when neither happened.

Drinking tea, Eating chocolate and Kissing: the life of a blogger!

The wearability of Lime Crime's Red Velvet really impressed me. I managed to drink, eat and do a kiss test and the colour remained throughout. While some of the lipstick did transfer, overall the colour remained bright and matte. The small size of the packaging means that, even if some of the colour is transferred, you can easily slip it in your bag for touch ups.

I am super impressed with this lipstick and it was only after two meals and 6 hours that the pigmentation started to wear off. A great bonus of the Velvetine meant that it was easy to remove with swipe of a makeup remover - no scrubbing my lips with wipes. 

Lime Crime's Velvetine is a great addition to my makeup and is simply perfect for any retro pinup look.

Lime Crime's Velvetine in Red Velvet and Suedeberry retails at £11.50 and can be purchased here.

Hello! Sorry it's taken so long to update but between my leg and moving back to Sheffield (to a house with no internet), I've been swamped! Thank you for being loyal readers and normal blogging should now resume.

Also, one last favour, because Google Reader is shutting down tonight, I would like all my lovely readers to please follow me over at BlogLovin' by clicking HERE

 Thank you! xxx

Disapointing NOTD: Barry M & Model's Own

I love painting my nails and I'm a sucker for any type of nail gimmick but here are my nail polish disapointments.

So whilst I was browsing the Barry M stand in Superdrug, I couldn't help but be lured in by the Sequin Nail Effects in colour SNP1 and in all honesty, I wish I'd never bothered:

The first top coat wasn't too bad, but didn't give the effect I had in mind (white nails with rainbow sparkles please). I also was not best pleased with the sand like texture but battled on and applied a second coat to see if it got any better:

It looks like a pixie threw up on my nails

The second coat made my nails look worse, not better! The rainbow sparkles clumped together and the white sandy texture was rough and uneven.

I'm not quite sure what went wrong with this nail varnish; was it the sandy texture? or the clumpy sequins? or the white base coat?

There's far too much going on with this polish; perhaps had it been a rainbow sequin topcoat, it would have worked much better.

I'm probably going to throw this sequin nail effect polish out and I most definitely wouldn't recommend buying the range. 

My second nail disappointment comes in the form of Model's Own Neon Ice in Toxic Apple:

Now, there's nothing wrong with this varnish per say... It applied like a dream and gave off a great neon glow after just two coats. I suppose this is a personal dislike; the nails really stood out so much that I got a headache looking at them.

My headache got so bad that I had to do something to tone the neon down:

Do I match the car or does the car match me?

I managed to turn the overly neon into a cool bit of nail art which looked so much better and got me loads of compliments.

Model's Own promised neon colour, and they delivered... it just wasn't for me. I might be swayed into buying a different neon colour but this Toxic Apple will be banished to the nail art drawer.

Roxy is moving flats!

Hello my lovely readers!

You may have wondered why I've been a bit quiet on here and twitter... No? Well I've been moving flats! My boy and I have finally got a little place to call our own! Now, as I currently reside in Wales, I had to get the train up to Sheffield to go to our old house, pack all my stuff up and then get it moved across; no easy task in a cage and on cructhes!

I had the easy job of packing up all the stuff. My poor boy had to get this lot down two sets of stairs then in a car then into the new place.

The first thing I done when I got to our new place, obviously, was organize my clothes. We get a giant wardrobe each so I was super excited to get everything organized. I managed to fill my wardrobe up far too easily (and that's after a trip to the charity shop).

The boy and I had a deal; I bought all the soft furnishings but he would buy all the big things like new desks and bookshelves. Now not to blow my own horn, but I think I am awesome at picking out furnishings:

How cute is this stag cushion? I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it and needed it in my life. I was actually quite lucky as I didn't know the colour of the sofa so I took a gamble in getting brown/cream coloured items. Luckily for me, my gamble paid off. 

The sofa is my domain and the lazy-boy was claimed by the boy as soon as we walked in. I bought this lush mustache cushion in Primark with the intention of putting it in the master bedroom but I think it looks ace on his chair and makes the place look a little less feminine.


After moving into our new flat, we went out for a celebratory breakfast:

I had three pancakes with blueberries and creme fraiche, and the boy had pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, and it was so delicious. 

Normal posting will resume this week and I hope you enjoyed my little lifestyle post and I might do another one if this proves popular.

P.S. There's still time to nominate me for Best New Beauty Blog in the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards *hint hint ;) * 

Benefit Swansea's Boutique Launch

Warning; photo heavy post!

I was a very lucky girl to receive an invite to the Swansea Benefit Boutique launch and was super excited to go and see the boutique in action. I was completely blown away by how amazing the Benefit stand looked and was whisked away down a corridor into Beauty School.

Bronze Betty, Beauty School, Smooth Sally

The Beauty School room, which can be booked for parties, held cute pink table and chairs and the wall was decorated with the story of the Benefit founders. At the back of the room, the range of Benefit products were displayed and begging to be tested. We were also tempted by a cake stand full of pink glittery Welsh cakes.

Straight away, we were allowed to dive in and try out the new products. 

 I was drawn straight away to the 'Creaseless Cream Shadow', which I got swatching straight away:

L2R:Holy Smokes, My Two Cents, Always A Bridesmaid, No Pressure, Bikini Toni, Birthday Suit.

As you can see, the shades of the ceaseless eyeshadow are absolutely beautiful and have the cutest names. My favourite shade is 'Holy Smokes' (the black colour), which creates a fantastic smokey eye look just by applying and blending with your finger across the lid. 

 

L2R: Holy Smokes, My Two Cents, Always A Bridesmaid, No Pressure, Bikini Toni, Birthday Suit.

 There are four colours that I didn't manage to swatch; Blue My Mind (a shimmery blue), Skinny Jeans (pewter), Bronze Have More Fun (a dark bronze) and R.S.V.P (a shimmery champagne). 

Seriously ladies, get out and try these shadows- you will fall in love. 

With my arm plastered in cream shadow, I set my sights on the longwear powder shadow:

 L2R: Blingo!, Raincheck? Pinky Swear, It's Complicated, Call My Bluff.

L2R: Quick Look Busy, Kiss Me I'm Tipsy, Nude Swings, Thanks A Latte, Pause For Applause, Milk It!

Unfortunately, in all the excitement I missed out 'Glit-Y Pleasure', a golden sand sort of colour. These power shadows have a great pigment and can be mixed together to create lush combinations (give me Blingo and Pause For Applause any day!). 

Next up, and my personal favourite, is the Ultra Plush Lip Gloss. 

(Swatched on the lovely Alyson)
Left to Right: Ice Breaker, Poutrageous, A-Lister, Lollibop, Fauxmance, Kiss You.

 Again, how cute are the names of the colours?

You might have seen me on instagram with A-Lister applied. The lip gloss mixture is so smooth and creamy and smells absolutely devine.  We built up the colour slowly and worked it into my lips for maximum effect. The end result was a beautiful soft pink. I actually really regret not buying this now and is on my wishlist!

 I also managed to try out Fake Up, as I missed the launch and hadn't managed to check it out for myself. 

 

Fake Up in Light, Medium and Dark.

As I'd missed the launch of fake up, I managed to get some time to check it out for myself. The lovely Alyson applied the lightest shade to my eyes, nose and lips and I was blown away by how wonderful it worked to hide problem areas and worked great in defining my Cupid's bow. I was sold and bought one right after.

 Finally, we were shown around the tanning and waxing rooms. Benefit Boutiques offers Fake Bake tanning for that glowing tan and a whole range of body waxes. 

The waxing service was especially impressive as Benefit offer hot wax as well as strip wax. Julie, the wax expert at Swansea explained that if you've ever had anything waxed, you probably had strip wax, a honey coloured wax which is smoothed and taken off with paper or muslin cloth.

Benefit however, offers hot wax. The hot wax is, as the name suggests, hotter and blue in colour. It's spread onto the area and left to dry. When dry, the ends of the wax are picked and the whole thing is lifted and taken off, taking all excess hair with it.  I would definitely recommend having the hot wax as it is a lot quicker, less messy and hurt less (great for more intimate areas).  

Strip wax, The Wax station, Hot wax

At the end of a being pampered and made over, we were given amazing goodie bags! I was so shocked to receive something as we'd be spoilt enough. Inside the bags were a full sizes Porefessional, They're Real and Porefessional. I was blown away by these gifts (two are top sellers) and  I'd run out of my Porefessional. Check for reviews on my goodies soon ;)

I had an amazing day and couldn't stop smiling all the way home.

Thank you to Alyson, Joanne, Lindsay, Julie, Daniella, and the rest of the team at Benefit Swansea!

xxxx






P.S. I'd be honored if you nominated me for the Cosmopolition Blog Awards for New Beauty Blog.

 

Cardiff Haul! Topshop, Primark, Boots and Superdrug!

I just got paid and so when my parents said they were off to the Royal Flower Show in Cardiff, I jumped at the opportunity to go with them to grab some new clothes and makeup.

My first stop, was Topshop to scour the sale rails. There wasn't anything that particularly caught my eye but just when I was about to give up, I spotted this little beauty:

 

Open Back Dress by Oh My Love- £12

 Unfortunately, the sales assistant said they didn't have a disabled changing room (hmm remember my last post?) and I just went ahead and bought it in a size Medium, which is a little bit tight on me, but I hope to slim down into it.

 My next stop was good ole Primark. I bought mainly home items but I managed to blag this beautiful dress:

 

 Vintage Fields Prom Dress- £13

I absolutely love this dress, it's so cute and summery. I can't wait until the sun pops by Wales so I can wear it out.

 Next stops were Superdrug and Boots, where I picked up lots of goodies:

 

Essie nail varnish in Aruba Blue and Turquiose & Caicos, Sally Hansen Double Duty Top & Base coat, Primark fruit fashion nails,

 

 B. Pure Micellar Water, Revlon Photo Ready Cream Blush Flushed, YSL Rouge Pur Couture in No. 24 Blond Ingenu

Hope you enjoyed this post! Look out for the reviews of my purchases soon! :)

Living on Crutches

I'm not sure how many of you beautiful readers are aware, but I am in a Illarov Frame. I had an accident back in December which turned my life upside down. If you would like to read about it, I have a separate blog here: http://externalfixatordays.blogspot.co.uk/ (Warning, might be a tad graphic).

This is how I make my cage look a tad more friendly

When my accident happened, I lived in Sheffield with my fiance and my friends but since the accident, I've had to move back to my other home in Wales so that my parents could look after me. As I rely heavily on crutches to get around, I don't get out much apart from the odd trip to the local shops and Physiotherapy/Hydro pool therapy.

As I had a hospital appointment in Sheffield, my parents suggested I could go up by train a few days early to see my fiance and my friends and I could even catch the last hockey game of the season. I'm going stark crazy being left in the house all day so I jumped at the opportunity to have some sort of independence. Trains booked and bags packed, I left home and made my way to Sheffield.

My first problem arose when we arrived at Bristol Parkway Station as the lift was out of order. Luckily, I can weight bare and slowly made my way up the three flights of stairs. We got to the top and I had a lovely hot chocolate before wanting to use the toilet. My father went to the guard to collect the disabled key when he was told "The disabled key got stolen, you'll have to get the replacement key from Bristol Council". My dad pointed out two problems with the guard's response; one, Bristol Council was god knows how many miles away and two, it was a Bank Holiday and the council would be shut. The other option was for me to go back down the stairs to use the ladies down there. Luckily for me, someone manged to magic up a key for the disabled toilets.

Drama over with, right? Wrong.

I'd booked my seats in advanced as crutches take up room and my leg needs to be stretched out. When I got on the train, I was told that reservations were not working and that there were only four carriages. This meant that I'd lost the seats I'd booked and was now perched on the edge of a seat only for my leg to be hit by every passing traveler. I told the ticket man that I needed to be moved and he just shrugged and told me nothing could be done. I also asked if I could have assistance to get off the train as I had my crutches and my bags for him to reply, "You have to book assistance in advanced. No one can help you". It took everything I had not to cry.

Eventually, at Birmingham, another four carriages were added meaning I could move and luckily, my fiance could meet me at the platform to help me get off.


Everything in Sheffield was going well except for one day. I knew it was going to be one of 'those' days when I got on the tram and no one offered me a seat leaving me to stand on crutches for twenty minutes. While I was upset and in pain, I was looking forward to shopping in Meadowhall so let it blow over.

I arrived at the MAC counter in Debenhams to find it slightly busy and perched myself at the foundation desk to wait for someone to assist me. I waited for thirty minutes, asked twice and saw five people who arrived after me get served before me.  It wasn't until I was leaving that an assistant stopped to talk to me. I was annoyed to say the least.

After Meadowhall, I came back into Sheffield city center to go to the Primark there. I managed to get around fine but I'd never knew how annoying the baskets are! The round baskets are so difficult for someone on crutches to use and continuously kept swinging against me and putting the balance of my crutches off. I found a few items and hobbled on over to the changing rooms to try them on. The assistant took my items and handed them to me. I struggled to take them and as I'd chosen a few maxi skirts, they dragged across the floor as I was unable to carry and use my crutches at the same time. I asked for help to take my items to the changing room but the girl ignored me and continued talking to her friend at the desk. I was left to go it alone.

I later paid for my items at Primark and went on over to Topshop, except I couldn't get in to Topshop. The Sheffield version has an escalator up into the shop, something which is impossible for me as they move too quickly for me to get on and off. I was really disappointed.

Ever since I had my accident, it's really opened my eyes up to how people and shops treat those who are disabled. Toilets are normally dirty and difficult to open, shops have rails and displayed fitted tightly together, staff ignore your needs and stare and people are clumsy and rude.

Of course, I have been in shops which have really helped me out and some people will offer to help if I'm struggling with something so I can't tarnish everyone with the same brush.

I will be able to walk normally again in about two months but some people are on crutches or in wheelchairs for life and I just hope that services will improve to be more disability friendly.



Thanks for reading through all this, normal blogging will resume when I'm feeling a little bit better.

 

Have you been Bitten? Revlon Just Bitten Kissable

I've been Bitten

I had a clean and polish at the Dentist on Thursday, and seeing as my mam had the day off and I felt sorry for myself, we decided to go shopping. Seeing as my teeth were now lovely and clean, what better way to show them off with a bright lip colour? My braces make my lips very dry (despite using every type of balm) so lipstick is out of the question for me and I can't stand lip gloss (unless I'm in a party mood) so my choices in lip wear are pretty limited. 

I've been hearing good things about Revlon's Just Bitten Kissable range on the blogsphere and deciding I wanted a change from my usual peach colours, I went for number 020 Lovesick, a bright pink balm stain.

I must admit, when I went to apply my new balm stain this morning, I was a little worried.  This colour is so bright and so out of my comfort zone.

 I love this design; the silver end twists to released more of the product and the tipped end makes it easy to apply. 

Here I am without any product on my lips:

And here I am with the balm stain:

What a difference right!? I am totally in love with this product. I kept my eye makeup simple and let my lips do all the talking ;)

I love how this stain brought colour into my face and didn't take it away like I expected!

Seeing as this product is marked as a balm stain, I wanted to test how well it actually stained my lips. After applying, I went out where I ate, drink and talked. I was out for roughly 6 hours and did not reapply in that time.

Here I am after I cam home:

Ignore my face/teeth urg

While my lips aren't as pigmented as when I first applied the balm stain, they are still slightly coloured despite all the talking, eating and drinking. 

I am really really pleased with this product. I love absolutely everything about it and I'm really considering buying some other colours. No wonder the bloggersphere love it!

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable retails at £7.99 and is available in 7 difficult shades from Superdrug or Boots. 

Have you tried any of the Just Bitten Kissable colours?

Goodbye Google Reader

Google Reader News 

When Google announced that they were axing Google Reader, Twitter went mad! I briefly skirted over the tweets and decided it wasn't anything I needed to worry about... boy, was I wrong? 

A few hours later, I logged onto my Blog Twitter (@Roxysmakeupbox), only to discover that Google Reader is what I, and probably many of you, use to read my favourite blogs on. The reason for the destruction of Google Reader, is to lure us onto Google + and sorry Google, I'm not going to play.

What can we do?

I, for one, am moving over to Bloglovin'. 

Why? 

Because it's easy to use and has an app for the iPhone (and will for Android soon). 

How do I sign up?

Sign up to Bloglovin with your email and follow the instructions to claim your blog! Easy peasy.

But what about the blogs I follow? How do I follow them on Bloglovin'? What if they don't have BlogLovin'? 

Whoa whoa whoa there, don't fret lovely blogger! You can import the blogs you love and follow on GFC/Google Reader with BlogLovin' by going to this page and following the instructions. When you refresh your BlogLovin' dashboard, all the blogs you follow are there, just like magic!

While GFC is around for now and is not on the Google Kill list, I can't see it existing sans Google Reader for long.

If BlogLovin' doesn't appeal to you, you can sign up to similar services such as SheSaidBeauty or Baobella 

Now that is all said and done, you can follow me on all three services:

 

Red Nose Nails!

Hello and Happy Red Nose Day!

I think you must've been living under a rock to not have noticed the build up to Comic Reliefs' Red Nose Day. Whether your office has dressed up, you've watched the charity specials or you're sporting a Dinoroar red nose, the giving spirit is in the air and it's easy to get involved.

Whilst I would normally by a nose or t-shirt from TK Maxx, something caught my eye whilst I was shopping in Claire's...

...RED NOSE NAIL WRAPS!

 

These designer nail wraps are a Claire's Accessories exclusive and a £1 donation will be made to Comic Relief from the sale of the nail wraps.

Every year there's a theme surrounding Red Nose Day and this year's theme is Dinosaurs which I absolutely adore! There are three characters; Triceytops (on my index finger, far right), T-Spex (on my ring finger), and Dinomite (on my little and middle fingers). Dinomite is definitely my favourite. I love his smile!

In the pack of nail wraps, there are 16 transfers and a nail file and pointed stick to push back cuticles and press down the transfers.  

To apply, you first buff the nail, then wipe with acetone to clean the nail before applying the transfer. To finish you use the nail file included to shape the transfer to your nail. The whole process took me around 20 minutes as it's quite tricky to apply the transfer without any bubbles. 

I also had a little trouble getting the right size transfer for my nail size and as a result, some of the transfer overlaps onto my skin or you can see part of my nail.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my nails, they make me giggle like a kid when I look at them and they've been on for 5 days so far with no problems.

But nail wraps weren't the only thing I bought....

...POM POM GOOGLY EYED RED NOSE HAIR ELASTICS

(I'm actually just a big kid)

I love wearing my hair in bunches and so this double pack of pop pop hair elastics were a must have for me. I adore them, and who can blame me? Claire's make a donation for the sale of these guys too, so it really is a win-win situation.


Have you guys done anything for Red Nose Day?

(In light of recent events, could you please follow my blog on bloglovin'? Just click the button below)