Wax Lyrical Emperor's Red Tea Candle

Wax Lyrical is a candle brand that I haven't tried before. It is a British and privately owned brand making scented candles and reed diffusers in Cumbria. For a new range, Wax Lyrical have teamed with home decorating and design company Fired Earth and have released seven tea inspired scents in glass containers to compliment their popular colour palettes.
After an in-depth smell test to decide which one I liked best (I was at least 15 minutes) I chose Emperor's Red Tea. Wax Lyrical describe this as...

'an intense sensual scent with fresh citrus of bergamot warmed by rose pepper and red tea, 

resting on a base of a precious woods and vanilla".

Sounds quite nice doesn't it, but to be honest I wouldn't be able to pick these notes out by just whiffing it as I'm hopeless at it but vanilla and a wood combo is what I normally go for.

Burn time is 90 hours for the largest two wick size which I purchased. It burns evenly and fills the room with its lovely scent. After I left the room to go to another part of the house I could smell it quite plainly in other areas which was a pleasant surprise. After blowing out and leaving to cool overnight I could actually smell the candle when I walked past it the next morning.

Overall I'm very impressed with this and will definitely splurge in more from other ranges that Wax Lyrical produce. This large candle and the Fired Earth range retails at £35 but I bought it for £22 at my local stockist. Small size candles cost £20 and the reed diffusers from £14 from the Wax Lyrical site.

Rachel xx

Colab Dry Shampoo ~ Invisible Sheer

Back in October model and beauty blogger Ruth Crilly launched her own range of dry shampoo. I have a been a big fan of Batiste for many years and always repurchase whenever I run out, so when my latest can finished I decided to try something new. Colab is branded at being sheer invisible leaving hair without the chalk like residue that makes hair look like you've aged 10 years in just one spray. The dry shampoo come in five scents ~ London, Rio, New York, Tokyo and Paris. I picked up the travel size version of 50ml but they all come in a full size of 200ml for £3.50.

So, do I like it? Well yes, I do. It leaves my hair feeling fresh and soft and excess oil seems to disappear. The London scent is quite subtle which is something I always look for. There is a little bit of chalk residue but only if you don't shake the can vigorously and brush hair through.

I never thought I'd find another dry shampoo that I'd happily give up Batiste for, but Colab has won first place so I will purchase the full size.

You can currently buy both the travel and full sized from Superdrug and Feel Unique.

Have you tried it? Let me know in the comments below.

Rachel xx

 

Essie ~ Sunday Funday ~ A Pop of Colour for Spring

Spring is on the way! Days are lighter for longer and the birds are chirping first thing in the morning. I hate Winter, especially January so when March comes I start to feel happier.
I generally love a bright nail colour, but tone it down in the colder months, so this week I treated myself to a new colour by my favourite brand Essie called Sunday Funday. This was part of the Summer 2013 collection and is a lovely coral colour with a hint of shimmer and is a cross between red and orange. As always, a great formula and I applied two coats. I bought mine from Boots for £7.99. Happy days! :)

Any colours you recommend for Spring?
Rachel xx

MAC Lipsticks | Odyssey & New York Apple

I can never go to Cardiff without stopping at the MAC counter in Debenhams. During my last visit there I knew I wanted to pick up some make up to take me through the Winter months. Although I can't wear lipstick to work I do like to indulge in MAC, as I like the quality and wearability. I chose some other products as I was making the most of the recent 10% discount, but the two lipsticks I bought were Odyssey and New York Apple, both in a frost finish.

Odyssey is a really nice rosy purple and it's not too dark for my skin tone. I do like a wine/berry colour and this has a nice hint of shimmer to it but not overly. I feel this might be best suited to evening time due to the darkness of the berry tone.

New York Apple is actually the first red lipstick I have owned, and I feel I've taken a bit of a chance with this. It's described as a muted red with a hint of gold shimmer and perfect for the festive season. A typical classic red just doesn't suit me. The good thing about this shade is that it can be applied quite lightly for a sheer coverage if preferred and buildable to an intense red. The only downside to this colour is that it dries quite matte, which is something I don't particularly like in a lipstick, but can live with as a good gloss over the top rectifies this.

Both lipsticks are part of the permanent collection and cost £15.50

Rachel xx