Thursday 17 April 2014

Testing foundations in drugstores?

I was in Superdrug today, and whilst I was waiting to get my eyebrows threaded as they have an eyebrow station there, I decided to go look at the Borjouis Healthy Mix Serum as I hadn't tried it before (blasphemy, I know) and for me, buying foundations in drugstores is a nightmare. My skin has a yellow undertone, simple enough but then - then there is my cheeks. My cheeks are very pink so trying to buy a foundation that has both pink and yellow undertones is, as I've already said, an absolute nightmare, so I tend to stick to tinted moisturizers which do not have the same amount of coverage as a good foundation which led me to looking at the Borjouis stand. Full circle!

Last time I was in a drugstore buying foundation it was when Rimmels Wake Me Up foundation came out, and you weren't able to test the foundation before you bought it so you would have to go by the  look of the bottle, which I thought I would have to do today but imagine my surprise when I realized there's tester pots. These teeny tiny little pots which had a teeny tiny little spade type thing under the lid so I was able to pick the correct shade of foundation. When did this magnificent thing happen? Is it new? Why did no one tell me?!

I was so happy with my discovery that I tested every single foundation they had in the shop on my hand, completely forgetting to buy the foundation I wanted so I am having to go back tomorrow and pick some up but I don't really care, I'm still reeling from the tester pots which is so sad, I realize aha.

Did you guys know about these? When did they come out?!

Thanks for reading,
                             R x

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Absence?

Hello everyone..

First and foremost, sorry. I said I would be posting twice a day and unfortunately that has not happened for quite a while. My bad.

I do, however, have a very good reason! My mum had pneumonia the last few weeks and has been in and out of hospital, so I've been spending time with her making sure shes okay and taking care of things around the house, as well as studying, homework and school.. There just wasn't enough hours in the day for blogging too.

Thankfully, she is home and has been given the all clear - she still has to take it easy, but she is quickly building up her strength again so that means I can get back to this! yay!

Anyway, this was just a quick note to let you all know that I haven't given up on my blog yet (I mean its got one follower - I'm 'known' now pfft) so keep checking for more!

R x

PS ~ has anyone seen the Amazing Spider-Man 2 nail polishes that Revlon are doing? Definitely on my list!

Wednesday 26 March 2014

Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2-in-1 | Review



The Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2-in-1 is a product I recommend to family friends and the next door neighbours gran. I love it that much. In fact, if this was Tumblr I would write '10/10 would recommend'. Yes I gosh darndley would!

I prefer to use it as a wash in the evenings as I feel it unclogs dirt and stubborn makeup a lot better than my Simple Facial Gel and makes my skin feel just lovely before bed. Its creamy but hard to smooth on the skin but I find if you just add a splash of water it'll glide on like a dream :)

I love using it as a mask on Wednesday evenings (which is tonight hurrah!) and on Sunday's. I chose these days as Sunday is the start of the week, and Wednesday is half way through so this gives my skin a nice deep clean, unclogging every little thing that previous washes missed. Its just that good.

The product is soft clay based, so you do need to work quickly so it doesn't set on the skin before you get it exactly where you want it, this can be a bit of a pain in the arse but whatever I love it regardless. I really do find that it unclogs pores and reduces spots, which is what it promises to do and really what more do you want from a product? It does exactly what it says on the tin which is what I signed up for!

All in all, fabulous product - please do go and buy!

As always, comment below or tweet me at PrettyInNeutral if you fancy a chat. Oh! I now have a facebook page, which is just Prettyinneutral so please like the page :)

                                             Rachel xo

Non-Beauty Favourites

                 
       (I got this picture straight from my private instagram, that's why its black and white)

You can never go wrong with a good book - and Dracula is a GREAT book, and All Dogs Go To Heaven is a classic. I love both of these items, I have for a very long time just gaaaahhh. If you have never seen or read them then do so now as I'm pretty sure that its a crime punishable by death to not have.



I mean.. Harry Potter. Another classic and I'm lucky enough to own the collection in this snazzy box which has Hogwarts around the side and oomph. Its beautiful. Harry Potter has always been one of my favourite book series' (along with the Lord of the Rings) so yeah. This stuff is gold.


Last put not least.. These boxer shorts I spotted in the Officers Club. Aren't they amazing?! I fell in LOVE with them when I saw them last weekend, and am hoping to make a sneaky purchase if I see them again when I'm in town on Saturday.

What are your non-beauty favourites?

Rachel xo

Top 5 Beauty Blogs

I am on fire today! well.. yesterday, its now 00:01 here in the UK but you know what I mean.

No one would be on my blog - hell, my blog wouldn't exist - if we didn't like reading beauty blogs, so I thought we should show a little appreciation to the Greats or who I think is great anyway.

I love reading beauty blogs, learning more about other peoples personal style, their opinions on brands that you love, just seeing the world from a different perspective in general, so I thought I would give you a list of my Top 5 Beauty Blogs!

ViviannaDoesMakeup - I love Anna's blog, she's funny, she's smart, she's honest which I think is a great quality for a beauty blogger to have, we trust their opinions (or we should be able to) and I just think she's a genuinely nice girl. Her blog is fantastic, she posts everyday and not everything is about makeup she offers a selection of topics, things such as 'How to Start a Beauty Blog' which I linked to in my Revamp post, she's posts her week in instagram photo's and ugh everything about this blog is beautiful. She's one of the people in the blogging community I idolise.

Lily Pebbles - A stable in everyone's beauty blogger LBB, Lily is funny, she is direct and very honest about the products she shows on her blog. If she doesn't like something, or doesn't think a product is worth buying she tell us which is a quality I can appreciate. She also posts 'lifestyle' posts about things to do around London - places to visit, hidden gems etc. which is great for anyone visiting or moving there, gives us a little personal insight. The photographs on this blog are something I aspire to be able to produce as I am currently using my phone which, you can see if you compare my pictures to hers are absolute rubbish. Very jealous ;)

Shirley's Wardrobe - I have no words for this blog. It is beautiful, it is stylish, it's everything you could ever want. The only thing about Shirley's Wardrobe is that Shirley doesn't post that often (as you can see her last post was on the 18th of Feb) but when she does OH LAWD. So worth it.

Essiebutton - another blog I love. I just can't get enough! Estee is one beautiful woman and she pulls off every single look she has tried and I am so jealous of her I can't even put into words aha. Her blog is stunning, she is stunning, her damn dog is stunning okay?! Just go check her out!

Patricia Bright - Last but certainly not least, Patricia Bright. Whenever I feel sad, I look at her blog. Whenever I feel angry, I look at her blog. Whenever I feel - well, lets just say I am always on her blog. Always. I love what she posts, the pictures, the makeup, the outfits.. everything is just perfect. She literally brightens up my day.

And there we have it. My Top 5 Beauty Blogs. All these girls have a YouTube channel, so be sure to check them out -subscribe and all that jazz.

Who are you guys' top 5 favourite beauty bloggers?

                                                Rachel xo


Tuesday 25 March 2014

Revamp!

Hey guys :)

To avoid confusion, I'm just letting you all know that I've changed the URL, Twitter and Instagram associated to this blog to Pretty in Neutral as it seemed to fit more to my personal style :)

Its also down to this blog post written by Anna from Viviannadoesmakeup about starting a beauty blog, she said to choose a name I would be happy to keep if I decide to keep up at this and RachelQueue was thought up on the spot and seemed a bit silly so.. yeah :)

Check out Anna's blog and YouTube - she's one of my favourite beauty girls online :)

     Rachel xo

Simple | Skincare


The Simple skincare brand is by far my favourite. Its full of 'Vital Vitamins' and 'Skin Loving Nutrients' and has zero perfume or colours which they say is so it 'wont upset your skin' which is highly reassuring, as I've mentioned in my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish review that I have very very sensitive skin. Simple is actually the only skincare brand that I've tried that doesn't cause my skin to react :)


  • Kind to Skin: Refreshing Facial Wash Gel. This gel contains Pro-Vitamin B5 which just means it restores, softens and smoothes your skin - and lets be honest, who doesn't want that?! It might just be me, but this cleanser makes me feel very awake and wide-eyed so I prefer to use this in the morning and my Neutrogena Visibly Clear 2-in-1 in the evenings.

  • Kind to Skin: Cleansing Facial Wipes. I actually use these before the Refreshing Facial Wash Gel as these wipes also work as a makeup remover, even removing waterproof mascara which can be hell on earth if you just want to crawl into bed after a long day, so these things are time savers. Again, these wipes have Pro-Vitamin B5  but they also contain Vitamin E, I'm sure a lot of you have heard/read about Vitamin E or even used a Vitamin E product before as the BodyShop has a whole collection dedicated to the stuff - Vitamin E is an antioxidant that protects and restores the skin., which is great.

  • Kind to Skin: Hydrating Light Moisturiser. Again, this product contains Pro-Vitamin B5 and Vitamin E so, it restores, softens, smooths, protects, and moisturises.. all in the one bottle? BRILLIANT! The only thing I don't like about this moisturiser is the smell. To me, it's almost like cardboard.. do you know what I mean? but all in all, it's a great moisturiser for summer as its light and won't be too heavy on the skin. It does leave a kind of dewy finish on the skin, so be careful in your choice of foundation when using this :)

  • Spotless Skin: Rapid Action Spot Zapper. The final product I have, is a roll on with almost the same consistency as the Refreshing Facial Wash Gel, is meant to 'zap' spots in just 4 hours and whilst I can't say that it does, it definitely reduces redness around the spot making it seem less noticeable. I keep this in my bag at all times, just in case, as it does say to keep applying until the spot has disappeared. This has 4 'spot fighting ingredients' that calms and soothes redness and 1 'natural antibacterial' that helps fight spots. I put this on before my foundation to help keep redness at bay.
And there we have it! An overview of these products by Simple. If you haven't tried this brand before, or are thinking of going back to it, please do. I find my skin looks its best when I use Simple religiously, better than any other skin care brand I've tried anyway.

Let me know what you think of Simple by commenting below or tweeting me at TheRachelQueue :) Also, if you would like to keep up to date on my posts (trying for twice a day) then follow RQ on Bloglovin' - there is an icon on the right :)

                                             Rachel xo