What's in my Bathroom Cabinet...

Monday, 26 November 2012

Whenever I stay over at friends houses I can't resist having a sneaky peek in their bathroom cabinets...I think it must be the beauty lover in me..well that and I'm a little nosy lol! So I thought maybe you might be interested to see whats in mine...

I actually keep some things in my cabinet and some on the windowsill near my shower but for this post I just put everything in the cabinet :-)



TOP SHELF
C+M Deep Purifying Cleansing Gel (Asian brand but I don't recommend this product) here
Boots Natural Collection Vanilla Body Spray here
Anatomicals Could We Be Any More Pacific? Marina Bath Foam here
Boots No.7 Gentle Foaming Cleanser
and the usual girly things lol


MIDDLE SHELF
St. Ives Apricot Scrub (no bathroom is complete without this lol) here
Sanex Dermo Sensitive Deodorant here
Nivea Rich Nourishing Almond Oil Moisturiser here
The Sanctuary Warming Charcoal 5 Min Thermal Detox Mask here
Kose Softymo Hyaluronic Acid Cleanser here (I've been hanging on to the last drop for dear life..I cant bear to part with it! lol)
Soap & Glory Clarity Foaming Face Wash here
Nip +Fab Clean Fix Cleansing Oil here
Sephora Pineapple Body Scrub
Champneys Citrus Blush Body Scrub here (this is divine!!)
Ren Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask here Sample


BOTTOM SHELF
Fab India Shea Butter Soap here
Ayuuri Purifying Sandalwood Face Mask here
Champneys Watermint Body Scrub here (so lovely!)
Lakme Strawberry Fruit Blast Face Wash here
Vatika Almond Enriched Hair Oil here
Amla Hair Oil here
Parachute Coconut Oil here
Soap & Glory Scrub 'em & Leave 'em  Body Buff mini here
Johnson's Baby Soothing Naturals Intense Moisture Cream here (this smells so clean and wonderful!)


I also thought I would show you the other little things in my bathroom...
Timotei Vivid Colour Shampoo and Conditioner here- I've been using this for most of this year. It's really gentle on my fine hair but works well and smells absolutely gorgeous...do you remember the blueberry hubba bubba from when we were kids? Yeah it smells exactly like that! The conditioner pictured is from the 'fresh and strong' range which I bought for the first time this week because they ran out of my usual 'vivid colour' one...typical just when I am doing this post!
Radox Cherry Blast Shower Gel - Heaven for me :-) 


Imperial Leather Citrus Burst Hand wash - nice fresh lemon/lime scent


Hope you enjoyed poking around my bathroom! As you can see I'm a bit of a cleanser hoarder lol! What products are you enjoying right now?

Cherry Lane xoxo

Candarae Brown Circle Lens Review from IszoCircleLens.com

Sunday, 25 November 2012


A few months ago I was lucky enough to be given my first pair of circle lenses to review by IszoCircleLens.com. Woohoo! I have to admit I have really bad eyesight...unfortunately I inherited my bad genes from my dad :-( I've been wearing contact lenses for over 10 years since I was 16 so I'm very experienced in using them.

The lenses were sent by registered post from Malaysia where Iszo are based and arrived in less than 2 weeks from Malaysia. Thankfully I didn't get any customs charges either!  The lenses were well protected in bubble wrap and came in a cute organza bag...a nice little touch to make the delivery feel even more special like I was receiving a gift :-)
The pair I received were called 'Candarae Brown' circle lenses....

Diameter : 14.5mm
Base Curve : 8.6mm
Water content : 38%
Lens lifespend : 1 year
Certs : ISO 13485, CE 1293 
Manufacturer : The Dolly Eye
Price: $22

I'm wearing contact lenses so I found them really easy to pop in. I usually wear the lenses for around 12 hrs and they feel comfortable for most of the day. I actually have dry eyes (yes thats a real thing...my optician told me lol) so I normally go for a higher water content lens than these normally. Overall the lenses are comfortable, its just because I have dodgy eyes they began to feel a little dry towards the end of the day. 


I've been wearing these lenses for almost three months and I really like them. At first it was a little strange seeing my eyes look so big and whenever I passed a mirror I would steal a glance and think..woah! But I actually really love the effect, its makes me look so awake! And the thing I really liked about these are that even though they are patterned (which I was a little scared of when I first saw the photo of them) , they are quite subtle and elegant....just giving me a hint of golden hues.


All Iszo lenses also come with a cute little lens case like the one before. I didn't use them because they were a little impractical for me. Each of my eyes need a different power of lens so I always use cases which are label left and right just so that I'm always sure that I am putting the correct lens in each eye.


I would highly recommend Iszo lenses, the service I received from them was impeccable. They answered all my emails and questions very quickly with kindness and efficiency. They have a huge range of lenses so go check them out here! :-)


Cherry Lane xoxo

Note: This is a sponsored post but my review is written with honesty and integrity :-)

Black Friday Sales in UK? Yes Please!!

Friday, 23 November 2012


Hiya! This is just a quick post about some of the Black Friday sales in the UK and available to the UK. In case your don't know, Black Friday is the biggest sale event in the American calender. Every year the day after Thanks Giving is known as Black Friday and all the retailers in US have huge mega sales. This tradition is now starting to spill over into the UK too so I wanted to share with you the sales I know about available to us UK customers and also a few that are available interntionally. If you know of any other's please comment below! :-)

50% off everything at Coastal Scents (I)
40% off everything and free delivery at myFaceCosmetics
20% off everything plus free international delivery at Beautybay.com (I)
20% off everything at NYX Cosmetics
Free interational shipping with Sigma (I)
10% off beauty with 'SELF10' and 20% off everything else with 'SELF20' code at Selfridges
Around 40-60% off selected items plus free international delivery at BeautyExpert.co.uk (I)
35& off and free delivery with 'SECRET' at The Body Shop
30% off everything at Omorovicza
£10 off a £20 spend with code 'BLACKFRIDAY' at LoveHeartsandCrosses.co.uk
50% off at Sedona Lace (I)
20% off at BeautyJoint (I)

Note: (I) Indicated companies which ship internationally

Are you tempted to make a little splurge? I definitely am! Let me know what you guys have bought :-) Have fun shopping!!

Cherry Lane xoxo


Presents from Dhara aka The Happi Therapy in India!

Tuesday, 20 November 2012

I am so excited about this post I could actually burst!! Check out this amazing package from Dhara from The Happi Therapy blog in India!

I 'met' Dhara earlier this year and as soon as we started chatting that was it...it was like I had found a long lost sister! We became friends instantly and even though we haven't met in person she has become such a great friend to me. She's totally addicted to make-up and is literally an expert when it comes to Mac products. I'm so happy that Dhara finally decided to start her own blog recently, sharing her knowledge and enviable make-up collection (just check out this post on all her green eyeliners alone!) with us all. But her real passion is nail polish! She is a polish fiend! What she doesn't know about polish, isn't worth knowing...ok maybe that's a slight exaggeration lol but she knows her stuff! You might remember the gorgeous Revlon polish she reviewed for my blog recently.

So a few months back Dhara said she wanted to send me a few things and I was so excited I wanted to return the kind gesture and send her some things too so we spent a few months planning, dropping hints and getting so excited about it all then once the packages had shipped there were all kinds of delays but finally I received her box and I was soo happy with it!! Here are the goodies....

Everything was wrapped so beautifully 
FabIndia Shea Butter Soap
Lakme Fast & Fabulous polishes in Silver High and Aqua Blaze. Colorbar polish in Rosie 015
A touch of glamour with some lovely hair pins and earrings
Cute nail stickers..cant wait to give these a go!
Lakme Absolute Nine to Five Lipstick in Apricot Nectar
Colorbar iGlide Eye Pencils in Jaded, Flirty Turq and Amethyst Spark...these are soooo good!!
Nail art pens..woohoo! :-)
Lakme Absolute Kohl Liner...this is was the one I really wanted to try!
The best thing was this beautiful note Dhara wrote for me...I will cherish it forever :-)

Thank you so much Dhara for these gorgeous gifts! I absolutely love them! As soon as the box arrived I ripped everything open and started swatching and trying everything lol! Totally in love with the Colorbar Jaded iGlide and the Lakme kohl liner. I will posting swatches and reviews of these soon!

You can check out Dhara's blog, The Happi Therapy here :-)


Cherry Lane xoxo

♥ Heart to Heart ♥

Monday, 5 November 2012



I wanted to share with you part of myself which I normally don't feel comfortable talking about even with my friends because I'm a pretty shy person.

I have Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS as its commonly known as. Its something that has affected me since I was at university. There are many different symptoms of PCOS. Some lucky ones might only be affected mildly whilst others may suffer from symptoms such as irregular menstruation cycles, acne, weight gain, excess hair in the places you don't want it and hair loss in the place you do want it! I wont go into the details of the condition because I'm sure you can Google it and find much better descriptions that I could ever give. But I wanted to share with you one of the symptoms that I have experienced personally and that is severe hair loss.

When I was younger I had really thick strong shiny hair but as I got older my hair shed more and more. Over the past 5 years in particular I noticed the crown of my head thinning more. When I look at photo's of myself I can see that my hair near my parting has thinned out alot and my scalp is particularly visible. I felt so embarrassed by it and it has really affected my confidence.

Over the past few years I have made a conscious effort to take care of my hair as much as possible...
  • Washing my hair every other day or less if I can get away with it with the help of dry shampoos
  • Using mild shampoos, nothing harsh like the anti-dandruff ones
  • Reduced heat considerably, drying naturally as often as possible
  • Using the low heat setting on my hairdryer to straighten and style my hair rather than straightners
  • Always using heat protectant
  • Using a hair oil like Coconut  Oil, Amla and almond oil once a week as deep conditioner
  • No chemical hair dyes at all (until about 2 months ago)
All this has really helped the condition of my hair making it feels stronger and more nourished. I've also noticed that my hair can grow much longer too without needing a cut (around 2 inches) and I have more little hairs growing but sadly I haven't seen any significant improvements.

I have to admit I have never really used any products before which are specifically designed to stimulate hair growth because I have been reluctant to use harsh chemicals on my scalp in case it gets any worse. However I am about to start trying out a few products which have had clinically proven results for some people.

So this is my little heart to heart and my hair story so far. Over the next month or so I will feature a few products which I have been using recently to help me with my hair dilemma which I hope some people will find interesting.

Cherry Lane xoxo

Giveaway!! 'Say Yes To Colour' & Win L'Oreal's Casting Crème Gloss! {Closed}

Friday, 12 October 2012

Oh yes its giveaway time!! By pure coincidence I had been planning a review on L'Oreal's Casting Crème Gloss which I had used about two months ago and just as I started writing my review a few days ago L'Oreal India contacted me to let me know about their 'Say Yes to Colour' campaign and asked me if I would like to host a giveaway for one lucky winner...well as I had already used the product and love it, how could I say no!


L'Oreal Paris recently launched the Say Yes to Colour Campaign in India which aims to empower women to take control,let go of your inhibitions about colouring your hair, embrace creativity and bring out your individuality!

L'Oreal's campaign aims to educate women about the benefits of colouring your hair and Say Yes To Colour! Since, some women are apprehensive about colouring their hair; L'Oreal want to introduce the safe No Ammonia Casting Crème Gloss. They are aware many woman may have concerns about colouring their their and so as part of their campaign they have busted a few myths on their Facebook Page. For full details of the product and my full and honest review of Casting Creme Gloss click here. In short though, I really like this product because...
  • Its so simple to use! Just mix two bottles, apply to hair, 30mins, wash et voila! 
  • It does not contain any ammonia so felt gentle on my hair 
  • The colour lasted much longer than I imagined (still vibrant today after double the time they state on the box) 
  • The Royal Jelly and special conditioner helped my hair to feel SO soft after I used it and gave me a lovely shine 
There are 11 different shades available and to help you pick the shade which suits you the best, you can take the 'My Hair My Colour' quiz here.

L'Oreal have started their Casting Crème Gloss 'Say Yes to Colour' pledge on Facebook where they are inviting you to join the movement and colour your hair!

To win a box of Casting Crème Gloss in the colour of your choice all you have to do is...

1. Be a follower on my blog via GFC (hover over the black bar on the right and you click on the first icon to follow me)
2. Take the 'Say Yes to Colour' pledge on L'Oreal's Facebook page here.

For extra entries you can Like my Facebook Page, Add me on Twitter etc as listed in Rafflecopter.
This giveaway is open to Indian residents only and the winner will be announced on Monday 22nd October.

Good luck!!

Cherry Lane xoxo




a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note: This is a sponsored giveaway.

Review: L'Oreal Casting Crème Gloss Hair Colour

Wednesday, 10 October 2012

Ciao Bella's!! Over the past two years I have been giving my hair a real detox...no dyes, drying hair naturally as much as possible and trying not to use any heat and so far I have been pretty successful! My hair has been feeling stronger, healthier and is growing more! But I have started to notice a couple of grey hairs and even though the condition of my hair has improved I was feeling abit fed up with the boring flat tone of my hair so I decided it was time for a change!


I have very thin hair and am very careful about products I use so I knew I wanted a colourant which would be gentle on my hair (well as gentle as a colourant can be anyway). After scoping out all the different boxes in Hair Colour section at Boots I decided to go with L'Oreal Casting Crème Gloss in 454 Chocolate Brownie mainly because it free fr
om Ammonia and contains Royal jelly so I figured it would help to condition my hair during the process. Also the promise of 'shimmering colour' and 'intensely conditioning for satin soft, voluptuous hair' clinched it for me! How could I say no to that!

I wanted a shade which was still dark like my own hair but would give me a rich brown tone and make it look shiny so I opted for 454 Chocolate Brownie. Looking at the colour chart it looked good but we all know that colour charts are never really accurate.


L'Oreal Claim:
Casting Crème Gloss is the perfect hair colour for women who prize quality and care over everything else. It is a no ammonia hair colourant that gives your hair rich, visibly shimmering tones and a stunning glossy shine. Enriched with Royal Jelly, a naturally occurring substance known for its rare nutritive and rejuvenating quality, Casting Crème Gloss ensures that post colouring hair is left revitalized with a glossy shine. Its crème formula contains a special patented conditioning complex that helps protect the hair fibre inside and out for exceptionally soft voluptuous hair. It is easy to apply, takes just 20 minutes and comes in a do-it-yourself kit which saves unnecessary trips to the salon. The delicate fragrance makes colouring a luxurious treat! It delivers on every aspect, quite like the modern woman.

My thoughts:
This kit was extremely easy to use. You just have to squeeze the tube of colourant into the plastic bottle, shake thoroughly and its ready to apply. The precise nozzle made it apply and I didn't find that the formula dripped once it was in my hair which is good because the last thing you want is colourant dripping down your neck. It doesn't have a strong nasty scent and best of all it only takes 20 minutes to develop. I left it on my hair for about 10 mins longer just because I was in the middle of something at the time. After I washed the colour out I used the conditioner provided which was really lovely and contained enough product to last a couple of washes.


Overall I was pleased with the result. It didn't change my colour too much which is what I wanted but just gave it a subtle sheen and warmth. My hair didn't feel dry afterwards, in fact it actually did feel really soft and healthy which is a huge tick in my book. I think the only point which it didn't quite deliver was making my hair feel voluptuous but like I mentioned my hair is quite thin so it never really feels very voluptuous! lol

This is semi-permanent colour which L'Oreal say lasts upto 28 shampoos. I first applied the colour just under two months ago and I can still see the colour visable in my hair today and still covering the couple grey hairs I have. Its obviously not as vivid as it was on day one but I'm pretty impressed with it considering in theory it should have faded out completely a long time ago.

Before
Check out my sexy PJs! lol
After

In summary...
Product is easy to apply
Only needs 20 mins to develop
No harsh scents
Contains NO Ammonia!
Hair felt soft and shiny
Colour lasted much longer than expected for a semi-permanent colourant

I'm really impressed with L'Oreal Casting Crème Gloss and would definitely recommend it.

L'Oreal Casting Crème Gloss is priced at £6.49 at Boots and Superdrug in the UK and around Rs499 on UrbanTouch
If you are new to home hair colour kits and would like some further information, L'Oreal India have created some FAQ which you can read here.
You can also visit their Facebook page and take their 'My Hair My Colour' quiz to help you pick a shade. Click here to take the quiz.

Cherry Lane xoxo

Top Tip: If you put some Vaseline on your hairline and ears it will create a barrier stopping the colourant from staining your skin.

Disclaimer: I purchased this product with my own money and all views are my honest opinion.

Barcelona Beauty and Fashion Haul

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Hi beauts! I've come back from holiday in Barcelona and the Spanish coast and picked up a few things while I was out there.


El Corte Ingles is the biggest department store chain in Spain so a trip to Barcelona definitely would not be complete without have a mooch around their flagship store in Plaça de Catalunya. While I was there I picked up this face mask.


Lemon Peeling Face Mask by Mascarilla Facial - €1.03 from El Corte Ingles


And I also got this free little sample of Apivita face cream :-)


I came across a Kiko Store in Plaza de España and went kinda crazy when I saw that all the polishes were just €1.50 lol


Kiko Nail Polishes in 216, 215, 261, 277, 238, 302, 335, 245 - €1.50


Kiko Smart Eye Pencils in 806 and two 800s - €2.50
806 is a matte purply blue and 800 is a gorgeous shimmery champagne 


Kiko Super Gloss lip gloss in 110 - €4.90
A pinky nude shimmerless


Teal Top from Zara for €12.95
I also picked up this simple t-shirt from Zara made of 100% linen. I've never seen a linen like this before...its quite light compared to normal linen fabric I'm familiar with which makes it really nice and confortable


Watch from small street store - €5
Lastly I came across this little gem in the town were were staying in. Its a watch with a purple silicone strap, white enamel and rose gold coloured face with little crystals accents. I love the combo of purple, white and rose gold...as soon as I saw it I was in love and for just €5 it was an absolute steal!



I'll be doing some reviews and swatches of the polishes soon so watch out! :-)

Cherry Lane xoxo