To the test - the This Works: Sleep duo

My husband travels a lot for work. Last weekend whilst unpacking his suitcase he presented me with a little white box that he'd picked up in his hotel room. It was the This Works: Sleep duo. This time I'd struck lucky because I had been looking at the full sized version online just the day before!

The small white box contains two small tubes with products to help you get a better night's sleep. The first is the This Works: Deep Calm Pillow Spray. The 5ml pump spray contains a fusion of calming oils such as Lavender, Vetivert and Camomile. You simply spray it onto your pillow as you go to bed and the theory is that you get a better night's sleep.

MAC Monday: MAC Greenluxe Veluxe Pearlfusion Eyeshadow Palette

The MAC Greenluxe Veluxe Pearlfusion Eyeshadow Palette is a little compact containing 5 eyeshadows. Greenluxe is the green palette amongst the 6 MAC Veluxe Pearlfusion Palettes that came out last summer.

The individual shades don't seem to have names, but they range from shimmery champagne shadows to greyish-khaki greens through to browny dark greens. Don't be afraid of it being green, even if you don't normally wear green eyeshadow this could be for you. The greens are warm yellowy brown tones and certainly not blue, cool pastel greens (in case the idea of green eye shadow conjures up an image of 80s horror!).

MAC Greenluxe Veluxe Pearlfusion Eyeshadow Palette swatches in artifical light

MAC Greenluxe Veluxe Pearlfusion Eyeshadow Palette swatches in natural light

Rita Ora for Rimmel - Lose Your Lingerie nail polish review

Rita Ora for Rimmel: Lose Your Lingerie nail polish

I bought this nail polish a couple of weeks ago. I had heard that Rita Ora had done a collaboration with Rimmel and I really liked the look of this pale baby pink nail polish called Lose your Lingerie.

I have always found Rimmel nail polishes to be great products - they apply well, last on the nails and of course are very purse friendly! So I had no qualms about giving this one a go.

MAC Monday: MAC Pressed Blot Powder

The Make Up Artist I used for my wedding first recommend MAC Blot Powder to me. At my trial she suggested a few things I should buy to use throughout the day and Blot Powder was one. This was a few years ago now and to be honest I wasn't really interested in make up then. But I dutifully trotted off to Selfridges and bought the powder.

To be honest I don't recall whether I actually got round to using it on my wedding day - as I said I wasn't really into make up back then and I was too busy enjoying myself to care about a shiny nose! So after the wedding it was relegated to the back of a drawer - I even recall considering throwing it out a few years ago... Thank goodness I didn't!!

MAC Monday: MAC Swiss Chocolate Eye Shadow

Seeing as it is Easter weekend, what could be more fitting than MAC's Swiss Chocolate eye shadow? This week's MAC Monday looks almost good enough to eat!!

MAC's Swiss Chocolate is a matte shadow, it doesn't look like much in the pan but is nicely pigmented, soft and blends well. It is a great crease or transition colour depending on how bold you want to go, or you can use it over the whole lid for a simple look.

I bought Swiss Chocolate a few months ago when I wanted a darker brown matte shadow to use in the outer corners of my eyes or as eye liner. MAC's Espresso often gets mentioned in this category, but Swiss Chocolate is a warmer toned brown with more of a red undertone. I had been so impressed with MAC's Soft Brown eye shadow (a lighter but similarly toned brown matte shadow - see my review HERE) that I knew the warmer tones complement my blue eyes better and so it was an easy decision. I bought it in the pro palette form to add to my growing collection of MAC shadows. They are slightly cheaper to buy this way and easier to store and transport (I also find that if I have shadows in the single pots lurking in my drawer I tend to forget about them!).

MAC Monday: MAC Chroma Copper Cobra Nail Polish

MAC Chroma Copper Cobra Nail Polish

I don't know whether 'vintage' make up is a thing or not, but this week's MAC Monday choice is definitely vintage! I mentioned this nail polish a few weeks ago during the weekly #30sbloggers Twitter chat (Sundays 9pm UK time), so I just had to review it soon. Not only that, but this nail polish was my first ever MAC purchase!

I bought the MAC Chroma Copper Cobra nail polish on a trip to London back in October 2000.... yes 2000 (I did say vintage!). To put in context how ancient this is - I was visiting the Millenium Dome when it was still an exhibition and not the O2 Arena as you know it now. I went with some friends and part of our adventure was a little shopping trip to Harvey Nichols. Desperate to buy something, I found myself on my first ever visit to a MAC counter - and it was this nail polish that caught my eye.

MAC Monday: MAC 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush

MAC 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush

You can have the most fantastic products, but you also need the right tools to get the best from them. This couldn't be more true for something like eyeliner. So this week's MAC Monday is all about one of my favourite MAC brushes.

I wear eyeliner every day, sometimes pencil for a softer look, sometimes liquid liner for a sharp defined look, or very often gel liner for something in between. Gel eyeliner is a fantastic look for everyday - precise but soft at the same time. I have always been a fan of good old liquid eyeliner - but it is not for the faint-hearted. To apply it right you must be bold and fast to make sure that line doesn't waver. It is also a struggle to get it even on each side - after all they do say 'never ask someone wearing liquid eyeliner why they are late'....

In contrast gel eyeliner gives a similar look to liquid, but you can apply it slowly and build the line slowly. The key to this is finding the right brush. Many gel eyeliners don't come with a brush when you buy them, so you need to make sure you have the right one in your toolkit. For my money, the MAC 210 Precise Eye Liner Brush is it!