Halloween nails

Happy Halloween everyone! For the last of this week's Halloween-themed posts I thought I would do some spooky nails for you, so if you're going out to a party tonight you can have a go yourself!

Luckily I had all the shades I needed in my collection, which actually tells me my collection is way too big. I'm not one for tricky nail art and I didn't really have all of the right tools I needed but I'm really happy with the results.

Let me know what you think in the comments and tweet me your own nail art pics @cherryp13.

Poundland Ceramic Halloween tealight holders

Bit of an odd post from me today. Usually it's all beauty, beauty, beauty and the odd bit of fashion/lifestyle but keeping with the theme of the moment I thought I'd post about these absolute bargains that I found recently.

Usually I'm not much of a celebrator of Halloween. I guess unless you're a child or have a party to go to, there's not much you can do to 'celebrate' but this year, instead of trying to beat them I thought I'd join them and get involved a little bit. Hopefully this week's worth of posts has done the trick (ha!).

When I was planning this week's Halloween-themed posts I knew I had to have some of of accessory/background to photograph on/with and while I was browsing in Poundland recently I came across these. They're ceramic tealight holders, if you couldn't tell, and I think they're absolutely brilliant. Perfect for this time of year if you're looking to decorate the house a bit or you could use the pumpkin one as an alternative to a real one and have it lit in your window.

A lot of people may not want to use these all year round but I don't see why you couldn't. I especially love the black pumpkin one and it's eery smile.

What Halloween decorations/accessories are you loving this year?

Makeup Revolution Give Them Nightmares Palette

So here we are, the palette I have been waiting absolutely ages to feature! I wanted to dedicate an entire week to Halloween-themed posts so when this dropped through my door I thought it was absolutely perfect.

The Give Them Nightmares palette is just amazing and absolutely brilliant for creating Halloween looks on the spookiest day of the year. I was planning all sorts of out there looks but unfortunately I'm not the best at actually executing them so I've gone for a pretty simple look, which would be great if you are heading to a party and don't want to go full on fake blood and witches nose.

I like the fact that the palette rotates around four main colours, green, blue, purple and black and then provides different shades of these so you can really build up colour and do some serious blending. For my look above I've gone for the green shades, all of which are super pigmented and apply like a dream. There is a bit of fall out on application, which is a bit annoying, but nothing a quick swipe of a cotton pad won't fix.

The shades are all extremely soft and blendable and some of them contain glitter so you can add a bit of sparkle to your look. The shadows last ages as well so they're really ticking all the right boxes.

While the palette is perfect for this time of year you could definitely use it all year round - maybe stick to the plain colours and use them subtley to create an every day look.

I am really loving this palette as you can tell and I had great fun creating this look. I've teamed it with one of the brand's new lipsticks, which I featured here.

Have you tried the Give Them Nightmares palette? Tweet me the different looks you've created @cherryp13.


*This palette was gifted to me by the brand and I have given an honest review.

Lush Halloween 2014

While this isn't the entire new Halloween range from Lush, I have to say these are probably my two favourite products from it. I chose the Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar as it's the most representative of Halloween of course and I've never tried anything glittery in my bath before so thought I'd go all out.

This is definitely glittery and then some. It's so glittery in fact that trying to photograph it was a bit of a nightmare as I ended up with glitter all over my hands and the camera, oops! It's not easy to get off either so I'm now a little worried of emerging from the bath when I use this, I might look more glitter ball than subtle shimmer.

Despite this looking like a pumpkin it smells insanely good, exactly like Refresher sweets. Does anyone remember those? This smells exactly like them, I can't get over how good the scent is. The bubble bar contains juniperberry, lime and grapefruit oils, which are all so uplifting and refreshing, I can't wait to give this a go.

The second product I picked up was Wizard's Hat…which doesn't really look like a wizard hat in all honesty. It's a bit smushed but it still smells great and lovely and fresh. This is another bubble bar and contains energising tangerine oil and purifying juniperberry and fennel essential oils to help banish stress. I also can't wait to try this one, but again it's another glitter fest. I think I'll use these quite sparingly so I don't over do the glitter but all in all I really love them. They're so my sort of scents and they're really reasonable too.

Have you tried anything from the new Halloween range?

Makeup Revolution Atomic Lipsticks

I have to be honest with you. I'm not keen on lipsticks. I never wear them. I don't know what colours suit me and I don't really know how to apply them properly. It took me a good few attempts to get the finished looks above after I kept smudging them all over the place and ended up looking like a clown quite a few times.

I was hoping to swatch all of the shades but when it came around to the red one I just couldn't get it right and threw a bit of a strop, so two swatches was the best I could do. Although, the green is swatched in a post coming this week so keep a look out for that one.

While I don't usually wear lipsticks I wanted to give these a try as Makeup Revolution had very kindly sent them to me. I also wanted to see if I could pull any of them off because they're quite out there colours for me. They're actually perfect for Halloween, which is why I've waited until this week to feature them. I think you can create some pretty great looks with the darker shades and even the red too.

The sparkly purple is actually really pretty and although I'm not 100% sure it really suits me, I do quite like it. I'm by no means a lipstick expert but I found each one a tiny bit thin on application. It took me a few times to get a fully covered lip. I've not read about this problem in any other reviews though so I am not sure if this is just me? It might be an idea to apply them with a lip brush as you can work the colour in a bit better.

For £1 these are real bargains and even if you do pick them up just to create a Halloween look it's totally worth it. I'm really pleased I gave these a chance and while not every colour is really for me, it's been really interesting to play with them and get myself used to applying and wearing something on my lips for a change.

Have you tried any of the shades from the new Atomic range?


*These items were gifted to me by the brand and I have given an honest review.

The Sunday Catch Up #41

So my week off has been and gone and this past week I've been back at work and back to normality. Looking back the week has gone pretty quickly. On Tuesday evening Vince and I met up with a couple of friends from college and we went to a pub for dinner. The pub is new so it was really, really nice and the food was delish too. For some reason we had a touch of the giggles on the night so it was a pretty good night over all.

Yesterday Vince had a very, very rare day off. He literally never has a Saturday off so it was really nice to have a lie-in and then we headed to Bristol for a bit of shopping. I completely forgot I still had vouchers left over from my birthday so I picked up a new jumper with one of them. I didn't get much else to be honest, but it was nice just to be out of the house and actually do something. Admittedly I did come home and have an afternoon/early evening nap followed by trashy TV and a takeaway for dinner. Perfect!

Today has been a bit more of the same. I've spent most of the morning cleaning and now doing today's post. During my week off I scheduled all of this upcoming week's posts so I don't really need to do any photographing/blogging today, however I feel like I should incase next week's weather is bad. Talking about this upcoming week, I have a whole week of Halloween-themed posts coming and I'm really looking forward to seeing how they go down. The first one will be up tomorrow! There's a tiny sneak peek in the pictures above.

How has your week/weekend been? Let me know in the comments.

Before you go, catch up on this week's posts:

Lush Rose Jam Shower Gel

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette

Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Mask and Scrub

Barry M Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette

Lush Rose Jam Shower Gel

Having recently seen lots of bloggers featuring Lush's new Christmas range I just had to pay a visit and pick up a few bits. The Rose Jam shower gel was what I was really interested in. Usually at this time of year I'd pick up Snow Fairy straight away but thought I'd go for something different this time around.

Rose Jam is a gorgeous, deep red colour, which really makes it stand out on the shelf. It not only looks warming and comforting, but the scents included in it make it a real treat for your skin. It contains nourishing argan oil, organic rose absolute and rose oil together with a Fair Trade vanilla pod infusion. It smells amazing. Usually I go for sweet/floral/fruity scents and this one is a lot stronger and sharper, yet I really love it.

The product itself is a lot thicker than some of the other shower gels, almost jam like, funnily enough, and it really lasts a long while on the skin after you've got out of the shower. This is when you know it's a good shower gel as you can still smell it on your skin a couple of hours after. It also leaves the skin feeling lovely and soft thanks to the different oils within it.

For £4.75 for 100ml this is quite a little bargain. It will last for ages as well as you only really need to apply a little bit of product as it lathers up nicely. It's absolutely perfect for this time of year too thanks not only to the colour but the comforting scent too.

Have you tried Rose Jam? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette

Barry M Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette - £6.49





If you read this week's review of the Barry M Starry Eyed palette you would know that I was a bit disappointed with the application/blendability of the shadows, so I was a bit hesitant to try out the Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette, however I really like it.

It's mostly made up of shimmer eyeshadows with a little eye primer on the end. The shadows themselves are really pigmented and apply really nicely, despite there being quite a bit of fall out. I really love the sparkly copper/red colour - it's great for a smokey eye and I actually added some of the gold sparkle shade, which looked great.

The green shade, as pictured above, is also really vibrant. Probably not something I'd wear on a daily basis but it would be great for a special occasion.

Overall I really like this palette. It's kind of autumnal but isn't completely full of nude/brown shades, which is nice. All of the shades are really wearable and last absolutely ages too. There is a teeny tiny downside and that is that the fall out of the eyeshadow goes all over the primer, making it unusable, which is a shame.

I would recommend this palette if like me you want to wear shades that are a bit different from your usual ones.

Have you tried the Super Chic Shadow & Primer Palette? Let me know your thoughts.

Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Mask and Scrub

Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Mask - £9.66*
Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Scrub - £7*



I must apologise as I'm a bit late on reviewing these products, I've had them for quite a while now and have been trialling them quite regularly. I have to say I'm very impressed.

All skin conditions suffer from dehydration thanks to climate, stress and pollution among other things, so the new Hydrabio range is aiming to combat this by retraining the skin to boost its natural hydration process and rebuild its defences. It's all very complicated, but all I know is that it seems to be doing what it says on the tin.

Both products contain Aquagenium®, which is a biological complex that stimulates the skin’s ability to fully generate moisture, while locking in the essential moisture level on the skin’s surface. I'm always very wary of using scrubs on my face as my skin is very sensitive but the Gentle Moisturising Scrub is really kind. Using it's magical powers it raises your skin's tolerance threshold while respecting the skin's sensitivity. It's also hypoallergenic, which is great for me and my skin is left feeling super soft and not harsh/stripped like many other scrubs leave it feeling.

I usually use the Moisturising Mask after the scrub and leave it on for about 10 minutes or so. It's a very thin mask that sinks in to the skin really well, leaving it feeling moisturised and hydrated. Used together these products can really help in the fight against dehydrated skin and I've seen real results in my own face. My skin feels much healthier and more glowing if that's possible. Most importantly it's feeling more hydrated so I'd really recommend picking these up if you can as they're definitely worth your hard-earned cash.

Have you tried the Bioderma Hydrabio Moisturising Mask and Scrub yet? Let me know what you thought of them in the comments.


*These items were gifted to me by the brand and I have given an honest review.

Barry M Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette

Barry M Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette - £6.49





I recently bought the three new Barry M palettes and this is the first of three posts about them. I absolutely adored the original Natural Glow & Blush Palette and the more recent Summer Love Palette so I was really excited when I heard there were some new launches.

I recently gave the Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette a try, which is full of gorgeous autumnal colours in mattes and shimmers.

While the shadows are gorgeous to look at, especially the shimmering ones, I found them a tad disappointing to apply. The first look above is made up of the rich red/gold and brown but I found they didn't blend together very well. You can't really see the gold shimmer in this look. I even added the shimmering red/brown shade at the end of the palette and I don't think this really worked either, which is a shame. The brown has really dominated the look, which isn't a problem if, like me, this is your usual go-to colour but it would be nice to see that spakle coming through. I think the shimmers work much better on their own or you could try adding a drop of water to create a more vibrant colour. I've actually seen them swatched on people's arms on other blogs and they look great individually.

I used the shimmering blue colour on its own in the second look above and this looks really great and vibrant, however this wouldn't really be a colour I'd wear on a regular basis. There was quite a bit of fall out on application with these shadows as well, which is a tad annoying.

Overall I think the palette is really pretty, with some great shades and a fab blusher to boot but it didn't really give the results I was looking for. It's fine if I want a brown/autumnal look but the blendability of the shadows left me feeling disappointed. There's no doubt I'll use it every now and then though.

Have you tried the Limited Edition Starry Eyed Shadow & Blush Palette yet? What did you think?

The Sunday Catch Up #40

I can't believe my week off has come to an end. It's not gone too quickly thank goodness and I've definitely made use of the free afternoon nap time. On Monday it was my birthday and Vince got me a lovely bunch of roses, a new perfume (reviewed here) and vouchers for Topshop. He also took me shopping Bristol during the afternoon and out for a meal in the evening, which was lovely!

I also got a bunch of flowers from my nan and grandad, which are really lovely, and vouchers/money from friends/family. I've still got some vouchers left as I couldn't find anything when I was in Bristol so need to have a browse online. All in all I had a really nice day but I can't believe I'm 26 now, old lady!

On Wednesday I went to Bristol again with a friend I haven't seen for a while. We went for a bit of a look around and some lunch. I bought a few odd things but STILL have vouchers left, haha. It was a really nice day, despite the rain, and good to catch up too as it's been absolutely ages.

I also got quite a bit of blogging/photography done during the week too. Not as much as I planned so I'm going to have to get some done tomorrow as well, but I am planning a week's worth of Halloween-themed posts from the week commencing October 27 so keep an eye out for those. If you're a fan of the Cherry Pie Facebook page you might have already spotted some sneaky peeks.

From Wednesday onwards the week went a bit quicker than I liked. Yesterday I popped round to my nan's in the morning as she's just got a new puppy. He is a Yorkshire Terrier (I think), called Barney and he's so, so cute. He's so tiny as well, smaller than my cat! It really made me want a dog, although I know really that it's not a good idea at all, he was just so sweet and friendly.

Before I go I just wanted to thank all of you who have followed me as there's now more than 1,400 of you! I can't believe it! If you're not already following, why don't you?

And before you go, why not catch up on this wek's posts:

Lush Christmas 2014

Marc Jacobs Limited Edition Pink Honey

Lush No Drought Dry Shampoo

Lush Christmas 2014

Tis the season to be jolly…sorry, I know it's a bit early, but try telling all the shops that. Christmas seems to get earlier and earlier this year and most shops now have Christmas stock in before they even get Halloween stock.

I've been seeing lots of bloggers featuring the new Lush Christmas range so I thought I would pop in while I was in Bristol and pick up a few bits myself. It was difficult to choose what to get to be honest but I picked up the Dashing Santa bath bomb as I thought it was quite fun. For £2.95 it's really worth your money and it's made to uplift your mood thanks to Christmas scents of satsuma. This is right up my street as I love nothing more than a really scented bath and citrus fragrances are some of my faves.

While I didn't pick up a Snow Fairy shower gel, I did pick up the heavenly scent in a different form - the Snow Fairy Sparkle, which is a lovely, shimmering massage bar, perfect for making your skin super soft thanks to its shea, murmuru and cupuaçu butters.

I also p-p-picked up a penguin…The Christmas Penguin bubble bar to be exact. This fella is so cute I couldn't resist. I think I tried this last year but I've picked it up again as the scent is so fresh and can create loads of bubbles, perfect!

This year I have become a huge fan of Lush. In the past I have popped in to stores and bought a few bits here and there but now I've really developed a love for its products and I'm really impressed by its huge range of Christmas stock. This is just the tip of iceberg really as there's so much more within the range. I'd love to try out the Northern Lights bath bomb and the Baked Alaska soap, which looks amazing.

I'll be giving everything featured here it's own dedicated post in the very near future and you can read my thoughts in much more depth. Have you tried anything from the new Christmas range yet? What did you think?