Billion Dollar Brows | The review!

Billion Dollar Brows 60 Seconds to Beautiful Brows - £24 at boots for the powder and brush

This little set is a lifesaver, especially for those days where you don't have much time to spend on your brows. 

A little goes a long way, and I have a feeling this product will last me a very long time. The powder can be purchased on it's own for £18 and comes in Taupe, Light brown and Blonde. I tried Taupe and I have to say that colour looked really natural for me.

The brush also retails on it's own at boots for £17, meaning buying the set is totally worth it.

The brush was really useful for evenly distributing the powder, and the spoolie was perfect for blending the product in for a more natural finish, This is a great kit for a quick tidy up and it makes light work of adding depth.

Above is all of the fantastic brow boosting products that I received to try. Now that I have road tested these I can give you my honest opinions.With the exception of the items from the 60 seconds set, the other items come together to make the Billion Dollar Brows Best Sellers Kit which retails at boots for £49.50.

This is a really comprehensive kit which means super precise eyebrows are totally achievable at home, no salons and no tattoos required. The first time I used the kit it took be approx 30 minutes to get 2 perfect brows, I have since had a fair bit of practice and have got my time down to 10 minutes!

Universal Brow Pencil by Billion Dollar Brows £17 at boots

The Universal Brow Pencil is suitable for many skin tones and hair colors and can be applied in layers to the darken the final result. This doesn't require sharpening and comes with a spoolie brush for effortless and effective blending to assist you in achieving a perfect finish.

Billion Dollar Brows Brow Duo Pencil - £20 from feelunique.com

This is a fabulous 2 in one product, on one side you have a concealer and the other side has a highlighter. I draw around my eyebrows with the concealer and use the below smudging brush to distribute evenly. I then go back under the brow with the highlighter and blend this out using the below brush, this helps to create a really distinct and neat brow look. These are both really easy to blend and look natural once applied.

Smudge Brush - I haven't seen this on sale in boots or on feelunique.com

This is a really soft brush which made blending a treat. 

Billion Dollar Brows Clear Gel - £17 from boots or feelunique.com

This completes the set and a sweep of this formula is all you need to put those brows in their place. Its super strong and lasts throughout the day. On the days were I am feeling lazy I skip on all of the above and just use this, and to be fair it works pretty good on it's own too!

These products may seem expensive, but I believe that each one of them will last a considerable amount of time. I have purchased cheaper brow kits before, however they have been a waste of money so far as they haven't been that easy to work with so I haven't got much use out of them.

           

Here are the finished brows, sorry I put my hat on and then thought to take a picture of the finished look. By that time I had committed to the hat hair that would follow.. I'm sure you understand.

Cookie x 

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Frugal Cookie | What I do | How to be FRUGAL/Savvy

Hi Everyone,

Just a quick post to recap on some of the things I now do since challenging myself with frugal living.

Firstly a little about why I am doing this, it's not to be cheap, it's to be smart and efficient with my money. I want my money to work harder for me, essentially I love spending and buying new things, however I need to be careful. With adulthood there is responsibilities such as mortgages, bills, rent, etc, basically, enjoy being young! Enjoy living rent free and appreciate the benefits it brings while you can - that would be my advice to you.

Before buying our house I spent most of what I earned without much thought about 'what if?', these days I have to save for things that may or may not happen such as the need to replace a boiler or a detrimental piece of machinery or furniture within my house. It's worth being sensible, redundancy is very common in today's current situation and I've been there before.

Don't get me wrong, I still splash out on things but in order to do this I make sure that I'm saving in other areas.

Here are some of the things that I have done to date, hopefully these may even give you some inspiration too.

1. Streamlining/ getting the best deal

• Swapped from a mobile contract costing £35 per month to a PAYG top up of £20 per month.
• Less visits to the hairdresser, gone back to natural roots and rather than paying £60 every 6 weeks I am now spending £30 - £40 2-3 times per year.
• Less visits to beautician and home waxing saving £25 per month
• Selling lots of clothing, furniture and things that are no longer required on local facebook groups
• I am shopping smarter, I have swapped certain products for cheaper brands and sometimes even a stores own brand, there are some things I wouldn't dream of swapping and other things where I wish I'd done it sooner! I am also using coupons and vouchers wherever I can, take a look  at in store magazines such as that from Boots, Tesco and pets at home as they usually contain some great coupons.
• SUPERSAVVY ME - Frequently has coupons for Proctor and Gamble products such as Pantene, Ariel and many well known brands. They also run a lot of competitions and do several giveaways each month.

• MYMAIL - Printable coupons, sometimes for the amount that the product is on offer for, therefore sometimes FREE.

• CARING EVERYDAY - Printable coupons from Johnson & Johnson brands.

2. Freebies and Prize Wins

There are so many Freebies out there it is unreal! Online there are many freebies, see below for some of the sources that I have used.

• SOPOST - This  is a fantastic freebie tool, businesses use this company to distribute free samples of their products to the general public and potential future consumers. I have received in excess of 10 great beauty and food freebies this way. Some SOPOST are obtainable by entering a persons email, others you will need facebook for and some you will need twitter for, the idea is you send one to a friend and they send one to you. Obviously in order to receive the item you will need to provide your name and address.
• GOOGLE FREEBIES - I googles freebies in UK, you will come across lots of resources which will point you in the right direction of the latest freebies. Here are just some of the websites - http://www.latestfreestuff.co.uk/ , https://www.magicfreebiesuk.co.uk/ , http://www.freestufffinder.co.uk/

3. Review and Campaign freebies | (WOMM) Word of Mouth Marketing Campaigns
 
I have received a considerable amount of free items to review from the below links.
 
With these websites all you need to do is sign up and provide information about yourself and your shopping habits, they will ask you to complete surveys from time to time, usually this is the gage whether you are compatible with a  product and whether they can then offer it to you to test.
 
Once you receive  your free product you then normally have around 60 days to try it and spread the word about your experiences. There is also activities such as sharing on facebook, twitter, submitting photos and videos and more.
 
The more surveys you do and the more active you are the more chance you get for future campaigns, I have found I go for ages without being offered one and then all of a sudden I get 3 invites.
 
The campaigns can be for anything, to date I have received lots of food items (they will usually send vouchers, especially for fresh food), body and skincare items, I even received a Dyson hoover worth £420 form a campaign, I would recommend doing this if you like to try new things, or even if you just love a freebie! Remember though, if you don't complete any of the campaign activities afterwards it is unlikely that you will receive further items.

• BZZAGENT UK
• ORCHARD AT TESCO
• TESCO HOME PANELS 
• SUPERSAVVY ME 
• TOLUNA
• AMAZON REVIEWS -  For this you just sign up to the website and you will need to have an amazon account. There is some free items and some really discounted items which you can have in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. I have just started doing this and have received a few freebies this way, thanks to Amber for the great idea (check out her blog here)
• BLOGGERS REQUIRED - This is a great resource, this lists blogger projects that you will need to apply to, if you are accepted you will usually be sent an item to review, each project will differ make sure you read the description to see if its definitely something your interested in.
• BRANDBACKER - This works in a similar way to bloggers required, you will need to apply to trial a product, therefore you will need to sell yourself with an effective pitch.

4. Surveys

You can make a few quid completing online surveys, however this can take time so I personally don't do these as I work full time and for the return I would get its not worth giving up my evenings.

•  INBOX POUNDS - Along with paid surveys inbox pounds also does paid emails, they will send an email into your inbox and you can get a penny for clicking on the link - this takes a long time but it does mount up and it's very little effort, I am on nearly £20, yes it's taken me a year but all I have had to do is visit a few websites.
• TOLUNA

5. Reviews for companies

Another way that I have received quite a lot of review items is by approaching companies asking to try products in exchange for a review. I also welcome companies contacting me to ask me to review items, if you would like to send me something to review please feel free to get in touch by email: rebellious_cookie@hotmail.com

6. Be inspired

Finally I haven't being doing this alone, there are so many people who have influenced me along the way from thrifty friends and relatives to YouTubers and bloggers alike. I will be putting up a post soon sharing some of the best frugal/freebies bloggers and YouTubers around, please watch this space.

I hope this post have gone some way toward inspiring you to use your money a little more wisely and perhaps to seek out relevant freebies where possible. As always if you have any questions please feel free to comment below or contact my by email (details on my Contact Me page or above).

Please leave me comment below if you could like me to expand on any of the topics I have mentioned above. I do plan to do some more posts going forward where I go into more detail on certain aspects such as sourcing review items and WOMM campaigns.

Cookie x

InstaNatural Cellulite Cream

Last month I was sent the InstaNaturals Stretch Mark and Scar Cream to review, see my review here.

I was so impressed with the cream that I was thrilled to be given the opportunity to try another of their products. 

This time the product they kindly sent me was their cellulite cream. I have been using this on my thighs and the backs of my legs.

  
This cream contains caffeine, retinol, cocoa butter and shea butter.

                    

 Here's what I thought! 

• This is quite a thick and soft cream, it's beige and my first thoughts were that it looks like hummus in colour and texture.
• Thankfully It doesn't smell like hummus, it has a lovely natural scent.
• I use this in the evenings as it takes a little while to soak in and I don't have the time in the morning.
• So far I have to say I haven't seen a great deal of change after using this product but I will continue to use this until I come to the end of it and if I see noticeable results I will definitely do a follow up post/or video to discuss the results.

This product is available to purchase on Amazon here, currently on sale for £21.95 for 120ml (usually £49.95).
 
Cookie x

*I received this product in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

OZ Naturals - Super Youth 2.5% Retinol Moisturiser REVIEW

I got to try this product as part of a campaign that Oz Naturals were running with Brand Backer.

This is a great deep moisturiser. It's quite heavy so I think it's possible designed for older skin (I'm 27), but as my skin is fairly dry this works well for me.

I do only use this at night as I feel something lighter is required in the day time, but I may use this in the daytime during the winter months to protect my skin against the wind and cold.

It smells pleasant and hasn't caused any adverse affects. It's fairly reasonably priced (£19.60 per 100g) and you only need a small amount because its really hydrating. I use a little and then a bit more if required because I don't want to overload my skin and cause any outbreak.

I would recommend this to people with older skin, or skin like mine that is quite dry or damaged from the sun.

Having now done some research I can tell you that Retinol is a form of vitamin A which can assist in making skin look and feel younger. It is also said to be effective at managing acne and eczema, as well as improving discolorations and some of the effects of sun damage.

I also found the below information and advice relating to retinol based products

Buy retinol products only if they are packaged in opaque containers which are meant to minimize or block air exposure and light (don't buy it in see through containers or jars) because all forms of vitamin A break down and deteriorate when repeatedly exposed to air or light.

Not all skin can tolerate retinol. It may cause irritation, such as redness and flaking (because of this it may be worth incorporating a retinol product slowly into your regime, i.e start off with using it every other day) - if irritation occurs, symptoms should subside within a few days as your skin adjusts to regular use. If the side affects get worse or do not subside after a few days you should discontinue using the product.

Exposure to sunlight can make retinol unstable, so it's best applied it at night. And if used during the day it's recommended that you use some sort of sunscreen to avoid exposing the retinol to the UV light.

These are all fairly interesting points and I would always recommend doing some research when using a new product, especially if it contains ingredients that you aren't familiar with.

Cookie x

Oz Naturals Hyaluronic Acid Serum - Review

Image from Amazon.co.uk

I have been using this Hyaluronic Acid serum for almost a week now and I must say that my skin feels amazing.

To be perfectly honest my skin is fairly young, I am 27, and I have taken care of my skin. I thought that my skin was already quite soft until this came along and now it’s even more so, which I didn’t think was possible.

I have a lot of freckles and I have been trying to use a cream which helps to fade freckles and also contains an SPF, something within that cream was upsetting my skin and making it prone to itchy and dry patches.

Since using this product as a base it feels like the other cream is being absorbed better into my skin rather than just sitting on the surface.

This is great because it’s allowing me to use a cream that I would otherwise stay well away from.

I’m really happy with this product and will definitely be a returning customer.

The serum is very viscous and easy to apply, it gives a great deal of hydration however it’s not greasy. It really is the perfect consistency and is a terrific beauty buy!

This item is available to purchase on Amazon, click HERE - Currently on sale for £19.50 for 30ml (usually £39.99)

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Oz Naturals Ocean Mineral Facial Cleanser - Review

This product retails at £16.53 for 118ml (quite expensive compared to Clinique's £16 for 200ml facial wash).

I received this product through brand backer from Oz Naturals and it is the 2nd item that they kindly sent me to try. All they ask in exchange is for an honest review on Amazon, heres my Amazon review

Whilst this product made my skin feel nice there are other products that also do that for less money, another thing which puts me off slightly is that I can't purchase this item in a local shop (to my knowledge) and my postman can be quite heavy handed with things, usually meaning anything packaged gets squashed. I also like the experience of going into a shop where I can, and another bonus with Clinique is that they run gift campaigns where you receive free products when you buy items, I tend to wait until these offers are on before purchasing. Another bonus with buying from boots of course is advantage card points, of which over the years I have racked up £100's!

The cleanser made my skin feel clean and cared for, so wasn't harsh or drying, however the 1st time I used it I got a shock as it really stung my eyes. The 2nd time I was wise to this and made a conscious effort to avoid my eyes. I think because the product is so thin it very easily gets past your eyelids.

If I had to give this product grading I would say 7/10 as it is a good product, but for what it is the price is fairly steep and as above there are many similar ranking products that are cheaper.

As always please comment, follow and share my blog.

Thanks for reading

Cookie x

Products to review - July

This week I received quite a few products to trial and review

 

1. Oz Naturals - Ocean Mineral Facial Cleanser which can be found here

I came about this opportunity on BrandBacker, if you're not already signed up I would recommend it, check it out http://www.brandbacker.com. If you get chosen they will give you a link to the item on Amazon and a promotional code so that the product is free. In exchange for the product you must give an honest and unbiased review on Amazon.

 

2. InstaNatural Stretch Mark and Scar Cream which can be found here

This was advertised on http://bloggersrequired.com/, again I would recommend having a look here as they put companies in touch with bloggers and have many projects on the go which you can apply for. For this product I was again given a product promotion code for Amazon, I have been asked to review the product on my blog and to also leave an honest and unbiased review on Amazon.

 

 



3. Lipcote

I bought this many years ago as a teenager and think I used it once before it went missing in the bottom of my bag with many other impulse buys!

I contacted the team at Lipcote and a nice member, Daria, very kindly offered to send me a trial. Thank you and watch this space for my honest review.

The product was beautifully packaged, along with a handwritten compliments slip - always a nice touch!

 

4. Nair Lavender Wax Strips

 

I had  no idea this was on it's way so it was a pleasant surprise. I applied for this using https://uk.toluna.com/ which is primarily a survey site but also sends products out for testing too.

 

 

Please comment and follow my blog.

 

Reviews coming soon!

 

Cookie x

OZ Naturals Rice Enzyme Dermafoliant - Brand backer

I signed up for a site called brandbacker about a month ago and they put companies in touch with willing bloggers and you can apply for assignments/trials.

I applied to try some OZ Naturals products and received an acceptance message a few days later. They gave me the option to choose which product I wanted to try so I completed a form (they gave me through a link) and confirmed that I wished to try the ancient orient rice enzyme dermafoliant - this was great as I am looking for the perfect exfoliator.

In exchange for the product all you need to do is complete a review on Amazon, here is My review.

 

One of the great things about this company is that they are happy to let you try their products for free, they have since contacted me again and I am going to try their hyaluronic acid serum  and their  ocean mineral facial cleanser. 

 

Big thanks to Oz Naturals and Brandbacker

 

                               

 

Cookie x