February Favourites ’20

I know I mentioned on my life lately post that I would only be uploading/posting on Saturday’s moving forward, but my monthly favourites have always gone up on the 1st of each month. This isn’t a tradition I’m letting go of anytime soon! PLUS I didn’t see the point in having a post up on the 29th February and then one on the 1st March. It just seemed really pointless at the time…

I know February is a short month anyway, but damn did it fly by! Although to be fair, waiting for payday to come around felt like forever… 😛

February was a bit like a roller coaster with lots of ups and downs, but overall it was okay… I ended up having flu towards the end of the month, which sucked. I’ve come out the other side into March though, so it’s all good!

I’m so damn excited for this month. There are three games coming out that I’m excited for AND of all my favourite game franchises too! Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Persona 5 Royal. So yeah I think March will be a busy one for me. 😛

After coming back from Japan I’ve felt a little down with some post holiday blues, but I’ve tried to get back into the norm again and I’m okay… 😛 Until I go on another holiday! 😛 Speaking of Japan, I know since I’ve come back I’ve only done one post but I’m trying to pace them out nicely. I don’t want to flood you guys with Japanese content and as I would like to write more about Japan on my blog in the future, this isn’t exactly a bad thing!

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling away… On with my favourites from the month!

• Original Source Tropical Coconut & Shea Butter Shower Gel.

Okay I’ll be honest with you guys… I originally had a different product here for my favourite this month but that has been removed, scraped and GONE! Why? Because I learnt how shit the product actually was! The shower gel in question was Treacle Moon Gentle Powder Love Bath & Shower Gel. This shower gel smelt great, wasn’t cheap and ended up leaving my skin sore, dry and flakey… Which sucked! I had lovely soft skin during my trip to Japan, so the fact I came back and my skin had dried out, I put it down to a mixture of the products in Japan being better and the cold weather in the UK. Alas, this wasn’t the case. It turned out that the Treacle Moon shower gel is just… SHIT. I picked up this Original Source shower gel as to be honest, their products are always good. Not even a week into using the product and my skin has already improved, which I am so happy and relieved about. I get bouts of eczema and I started to panic this was one of them. This shower gel is amazing, not just for it’s ability to bring my skin back to life… It smells of creamy coconuts, which in turn always remind me of Fuerteventura and sunshine, but it’s cheap! This bottle cost us a £1, whilst the Treacle Moon cost me £3! I think I’m going to write a complaint as I’m annoyed at what it did to my skin. Sorry for the ramble by the way… 😛

• Sand & Sky Australian Pink Clay Porefining Face Mask.

I picked this face mask up on the plane home from Japan. I’ve wanted to try this face mask for a while now, but just never got round to picking one up. I didn’t realise how expensive it was until I checked out how much it retails for… £40 and up! Shocking price to be honest with you… So when I saw this for sale on the plane for £35, I thought I would treat myself. I’ve used it a couple of times now and I really love this! I find if I’ve broken out and I used this face mask, it really does help my spots to calm down and go away! I use this once a week/fortnight due to using other products, or my skin not needing a face mask. However, due to the price, I don’t know if I will repurchase… 😦

• Etude House Dear Darling Water Gel Tint in shade PK003 Sweet Potato Red.

After picking up the Etude House Dear Darling tint in Japan, I knew I had to get another one. I’ve had the sweet potato red shade on my wish list for quite some time now, so I found one on eBay and ordered! I am so glad I picked up this shade for so many reasons. The shade itself is gorgeous and reminds me of a colour I could call “my lip colour but better” if that makes sense? Also this is the newer packaging and product formula for this tint and this is SO MUCH BETTER! You don’t get loads of product on the applicator, it’s not as watery and it’s just great. I’ll definitely be reviewing these tints very soon!

• The Body Shop Peppermint Reviving Pumice Foot Scrub.

I picked a new one of these foot scrubs up from The Body Shop as I was in DIRE need of one! I’m going to put it down to that bloody Treacle Moon shower gel again, as my feet were so soft and smooth during my trip to Japan… My feet needed some major TLC this month so this foot scrub has been really good to use on my feet a couple of times a week, just to give them a good scrub over! I like to use this in the shower as the last thing I do before I get out and then before I put my socks on I’ll slather my feet in my favourite lotion. My go to at the moment is the Childs Farm Baby Moisturiser with Shea & Cocoa Butter – which you can read about on one of my previous favourites posts here.

• Maui Moisture Smooth and Revive Vanilla Bean Shampoo.

I picked this shampoo up just before I went to Japan and I have no regrets! I was after a shampoo that would lather easily, smell amazing, give my hair all the benefits we seek from a shampoo AND not contain any sulphates. This shampoo ticks all of the boxes and I couldn’t wait to talk about it on my blog this month. This shampoo goes a long way and you only need a little because of how thick it is, which is perfect for me. I hate shampoos where you needs loads in order to get a decent lather behind it. This smells so creamy and to be honest with you, I wish Maui would create a shower gel that smells just like this! I would be in heaven. 😛 This shampoo is for smoothing and reviving your hair… I don’t know if I need these benefits for my hair, but even so I really love this shampoo. It isn’t cheap at £5.99 BUT when you can buy Head & Shoulders for a £1 less… FYI Head & shoulder is one of the WORST shampoos out there that you can buy!

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from Tumblr

Favourite TV Show – O Maidens in Your Savage Season.

This is an anime me and Dane binge watched not long after we got back from Japan. Dane is great at finding new anime series to watch together and this is one I fell in love with. It’s about a group of girls in a literature club who are going through puberty. You see the view from both the girls and the guys and how they’re all impacting each others sexual feelings… And awakenings if you will. It just reminded me of being a teenager and it’s a typical coming of age anime, which I LOVE.

Favourite Movie – 1917.

I loved this film so much. I was intrigued by it, but not fussed about watching it in the cinema… However, after someone I work with went to watch it and told me how amazing it was, I soon changed my mind. That and everything I had heard about it, I knew I had to see it for myself. Me and Dane booked it in the week after work and we’re so glad we did. We fell in love with this film for so many reasons. The way it is filmed, the editing, the acting, the story, just everything about it. I ended up crying at the end too… If you haven’t been to watch it yet, I recommend you do so as soon as possible before showings stop.

Image taken from Tenor.com

Favourite Book – Guys…

Guys I’m sorry. February was a bizarre month of being hella busy after Japan (both social and work related), as well as me being poorly with flu/chest infection… It sucked and reading was the last thing I wanted to do. It sucks because I said to myself that once I returned from Japan I would catch up on my manga so far as well as read new manga series. This hasn’t happened and I’m annoyed. 😦

Favourite Album – Billie Eilish – When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

I decided this year that I wanted to listen to more music. I find I listen to the same stuff all the time and there are a lot of artists out there I would like to discover more of. Billie Eilish is an artist that blew up and I admit, I do like a couple of her singles (“Bad Guy” and “Lovely”) so, why not listen to her album? I didn’t fall head over heels in love with it, but I did enjoy listening to it whilst driving to and from work, as well as whilst I was at work. I especially love the song “Bury a Friend” which I haven’t been able to stop listening to since I first heard it! I definitely recommend giving this album a listen. It reminds me of a new genre of “depressing pop” and I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing…

Image taken from Amino Apps

Favourite Game – Neopets and Pokemon Shield.

Okay… Hear me out. Since before Christmas I have wanted to play on my old Neopets account. Sometimes I just want to play something simple, but I couldn’t get into my account due to email and password issues. I reached out to Neopets for months for help, but I didn’t receive any. After some digging around I finally managed to get into my account and since then I’ve been playing it for a few hours everyday! I forgot how shit, but addictive the games are, how you can grab a free slice of omelette and jelly daily and basically how the website hasn’t changed since I last went on in about 2016/2017… This being said it has really cheered me up to play after work when I’ve been feeling blue. It especially kept me entertained when I was poorly with my flu too, which isn’t a bad thing. Next month I will be super busy with games, so Neopets won’t have as much attention… 😛

Towards the end of the month I was really poorly (still am NGL!) and had to have some days sick at home. Due to the boredom of not being able to do much (apart from binge watch episodes and clips from Would I Lie to You? I decided to pick up Pokemon Shield again and try to finish the game, as well as complete my Pokedex. Well, this has now become an addition for myself AND Dane, who said he wouldn’t pick Pokemon back up until June when Isle of Armor and The Crown Tundra are released. We are both working together now to complete our Pokedex’s and we’ve really been enjoying it!

There you have it guys, those are my favourites from February! Again, I honestly cannot believe how quick this month went by. I am so fucking hyped up for March for so many reasons! All the games, being able to go to Birmingham Comic Con, a blog related event I’ll be attending and more! 😀

What were your favourites from February? Do you have any exciting things coming up in March? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’ve had a lovely weekend so far. 🙂

January Favourites ’20

Guys we are officially into 2020 now and I can’t believe it’s already February! January flew by for me due to being in Japan for 2 weeks but even so, still can’t believe how quick the month went by!

I know for a lot of people however January was very slow… 😛

January’s favourites are going to be a bit odd due to being away in Japan, but at the same time they’re going to be good, I know they are! I’m not changing how I write my favourites at all. I’ll still be sharing 5 beauty related products I have been loving as well as my favourite TV show(s), movie(s), book(s), music and game(s). 🙂

I hope the start of 2020 has been great for you guys, my readers and I hope it hasn’t been rough at all.

On with the favourites!

• Japanese Character Bath Bombs.

Whilst I was in Japan I used quite a few of the character bath bombs they had for sale in the shops. They didn’t cost much (Between £2-£4 depending on the character and store) and were really nice to have handy in the hotel room if we’d had a long day of walking and needed a soak. Dane actually used and had more baths than me, which was a massive shock! We’ve brought loads of these back to the UK with us, as we loved them so much. They often come with the characters inside that is on the cover. For example I picked up a shiba dog bath bomb and hence got a little white shiba dog inside, so cute! These weren’t bad for the price and one bath bomb was definitely enough to feel pampered. I felt soft and smooth after using one of these in the bath. I honestly recommend them if you’re in Japan! I feel like they’re better than Lush to be honest with you… 😉

• Etude House Dear Darling Water Gel Tint in shade RD302 Dracula Red.

I bought this lip tint whilst I was out in Japan and I honestly regret not buying more! It’s a gorgeous dark red shade I have had my eye on for years! It wasn’t expensive either, which was even better. Aside from my Laneige lip bar, this lip tint (review here) was my go to lip product the duration of my holiday! It’s really easy to apply and a little bit of this product goes a long way. I mostly like to use it to give a bitten look to my lips, which wasn’t easy to do with this lip tint at first, but the more I have done it, the easier it has gotten. I will be writing a review on this lip tint, as it’s too good not to share on my blog!

• L’Occitane Zesty Lime Hand Cream.

I haven’t used this hand cream for quite some time, which is mostly down to using up other hand creams first! This is a gorgeous thick hand cream that smells of limes, yummy!  I remember stocking up on loads of these during my MA in 2015 so I have a lot to use up! I decided to take one with me to Japan to use during the day and it really was a treat to use in the mornings before we ventured out for the day, as well as whilst we were out and about. I’ve stopped using it since we got home, but this really did help my hands when they were feeling dry and sore. I was recently diagnosed with having a form of dermatitis on my hand, which kept flaring up during the trip. This hand cream really did help it on bad days, alongside my dermatitis creams.

• Tepika Hand Sanitiser.

I know this is a strange one to add this month to my favourites but I just need to mention it for so many reasons! First of all look at the packaging… It has a cute little happy raccoon on it! Due to this me and Dane called this the “happy raccoon” whenever we wanted to use it. Aside from the cute raccoon on the front, this was also really good because it didn’t smell overly alcoholic, was gentle on my eczema skin and the packaging was handy for how you get the product out… I feel like that last part didn’t make sense! Either way this stuff is amazing and I honestly need to try and figure out a way to ship some over to the UK!!!

• Marc Jacobs Decadence EDP.

This is a perfume I keep reaching for at the moment and it’s the one I took with me to Japan too. The scent is perfect for any time of year and any occasion. My brother bought it for me quite a while ago now and it was so funny how this perfume came to be my gift. Just before Christmas in 2015 I went to Fuerteventura with my dad for a few weeks. This perfume was quite new so I decided to give it a try and see what I thought of it. I loved it and was close to buying it… But instead me and my dad went to a bar for some drinks. Just as we sat down with drinks my brother called my dad and said, “I’ve given mom Nat’s Christmas present.” Fast forward to Christmas Day… My brother bought me Decadence… Which I had nearly bought! How crazy is that?! So yeah, this is one of my favourite perfumes and I always wear it when I fancy something unique and different. I also love the bottle is comes in, which is in the shape of a handbag, strap included… 😛

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Favourite TV Show – Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer.

I actually watched this documentary towards the end of December but thought it was worth a mention as I really enjoyed watching it. What you think is a documentary about a cat killer, actually turns out to be a human murder. I remember Dane telling me about the murder not long after we got together, so when we discovered what the documentary was about, we were even more interested whilst watching it! This documentary is very triggering in various ways and upsetting due to that. I love watching stuff like this, so I really enjoyed it. Definitely go and watch on Netflix if you can!

Favourite Movie – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I watched this film on the flight home from Japan and it was really good! I don’t recall if me and Dane wanted to go and watch it in the cinema when it came out here, but either way we got to both watch it for free! It’s about an actor and his stuntman, as well as some other characters throughout. It’s all based around true events, as well as fictional characters. Whilst it’s a great film, I did start to wonder halfway through, “Where’s this going? What’s the point?”. This was quickly answered however, in such an amazing way! I honestly recommend you watch this film if you get the chance to! It’s not the best from Quentin Tarantino, but it’s still decent. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – …

I didn’t read anything as I was on holiday… This was not a holiday where I could lounge around and read… I swear I am going to start reading more now I’m back from Japan. I have so much manga to catch up on. I need to make a monthly list of which series/volumes I plan to read!!!

Favourite Album – My Chemical Romance – “Welcome to the Black Parade”.

With the announcement of My Chemical Romance coming to the UK for 3 dates in June, I have been listening to them loads both during my time in Japan as well as when I got back home. I tried to order tickets to the first 2 shows My Chemical Romance announced, but was unsuccessful, which sucked. I was definitely in a sulk about this… UNTIL my friend Claire brought it to my attention that they had announced a third show! I managed to get tickets which I was SO HAPPY ABOUT!!! That day I did nothing but listen to My Chemical Romance during my shift at work. It was bliss and I loved every moment of it. 😛 I’m so excited for June now, I’ll be going with Dane too and it’ll also be the third time seeing them live… YAY!

Image taken from Polygon.com

Favourite Game – Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX.

I know this game is only a demo at the moment but I have been LOVING it so much! I played both of the original Mysery Dungeon games this one is based off of and I was beyond excited to give the demo at go. I played a little of it on my way to Japan on the plane, but I played more of it on my way home whilst we waited to board out flight, as well as on the plane. It looks amazing and plays really well. I’ve already pre ordered the game and cannot wait for it to arrive! I’m going to finally be kept busy on my Switch again in March and I am beyond excited for that!

So my first favourites post of 2020 is complete! I cannot believe it is already the start of February. Can you guys believe how quickly 2020 is going by already?!

How was the first month of 2020 for you guys? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as what your favourites were this month!

Until next time all, take care and have an amazing weekend. 🙂

January Favourites ’17

Woohoo a New Year and therefore a new favourites post, BUT I have decided to change it up again this year! Instead of just writing about my beauty favourites, I’ll also mention one favourite TV show, film, book, song and game. Of course as it always has been, my favourites will focus on beauty.

So without further ado let’s get on with talking about my favourites!

• My Face Shop x Kakao Friends Clarifying Foaming Cleanser.

I picked up this foaming cleanser around my birthday when I popped in TK Maxx to have a look for some goodies. It only cost me £2.99 which I thought was a bargain and I wish they had more of these in stock as I would have bought more. This is one of my favourite cleansers at the moment to use as it leaves my skin feeling squeaky clean and fresh. It’s said to leave your skin looking brighter and I can’t say as I have noticed this severely but I do feel like my skin looks healthier since using it. You only have to use a little bit too because as soon as the cleanser gets into contact with water it foams up loads on your face. If you can pick one of these cleansers up then do as they’re worth every penny.

• Lush Bubbly Shower Gel.

This as many people will know was one of Lush’s new Christmas additions in 2016 and I am so sad that I was never able to get anymore of this. I’m glad however to have picked up a little bottle to see what it was like as aside from Snow Fairy and The Comforter this is one of my favourite shower gels to date. It smells of oranges and lemons and is really refreshing to use in the mornings or to perk you up in the middle of the day. I’ve been using it lately when I’ve been on the really early shifts at work to perk and wake me up in the morning.

• The Body Shop Drops Of Youth Concentrate.

This was something else I picked up from TK Maxx for the bargain of £14.99 when it was originally meant to be over £30! I worried I would regret picking it up but alas I love this serum so much and it’s something I use on a daily basis! It’s a lovely cooling serum and a little bit goes a long way to cover the whole face and neck. I use it after my toner and eye cream and before my moisturiser. I would recommend picking it up if you want to introduce an anti-aging serum in your daily beauty regime.

• Blistex Intensive Moisturiser Cherry.

My lips have suffered during the harsh cold days lately and I’ve found only this seems to have fixed them and even then they’re still very blistered and sore. This is a thick cream lip balm that smells and tastes of cherry drops, yummy! A little goes a long way but I do find I have to keep applying it to ensure that it’s doing its job to its fullest.

• Soap & Glory Butter Yourself Body Lotion.

This is an odd favourite this month because I haven’t been using this the way it should be… Instead of using this as a body lotion I use it as a hand cream during my shifts at work. I often get water on my hands and wash them a lot so it’s necessary to keep them hydrated when hand creams and lotions to make sure my eczema doesn’t flare up again. This body lotion works remarkably well as a hand lotion and it also smells amazing! I keep it inside my Etude House seal pot which did originally have a green tea hand cream in, but I used it all. Hey! Why through away such a cute little pot when I can re-use it?

So now my beauty favourites are done, time to talk about the miscellaneous favourites of the month!

Image taken from weheartit.com

Favourite TV Show – Sherlock Series 4

This will always be one of my favourite TV shows as I have some very fond memories behind it. One being that my best friend Gabriella got me into it in the first place and second of all I remember my boyfriend Dane wanted to catch up on series 3 episodes online whilst he was on a snowboarding holiday and suggested we watch them at the same time during a Skype video conversation. Other than that I LOVED series 4 and although I am sad to see the show come to an end the three last episodes had me on the edge of my seat, but not as much as the last! My favourite moment was the start of episode 2 when Sherlock goes out for chips with Faith and tries to stop her from killing herself. I thought it was heartwarming myself and really pulled on my heart strings.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Favourite Film – Gone Girl

Although this isn’t a new film and is also one I watched back in December, I couldn’t actually think of a new film I’ve watched recently… I was going to mention Star Wars: Rogue One but meh I saw that nearly two months ago. That was still a great movie mind! But Gone Girl was amazing to be honest and one that kept me constantly shouting at the TV and to Dane about what’s going on throughout the film, until the truth is finally revealed. I might watch it again in the week if not in a bit as I really did love that film. I wouldn’t mind reading the book to see what the differences are between the two, as well as see how it was written. If you’re interested in watching it it’s on Netflix.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Favourite Book – Your Lie in April

Of course it’s going to be this manga. I haven’t stopped talking about it since around Christmas and I have fast become obsessed with it, as have most people! I’ve only read volume one of the manga so far but after I’ve done loads of blog work I’m going to sit down with a nice cup of tea and continue to read the series as I love the anime so much, so I know I’ll love the manga just the same.

Favourite Song – The Pretty Reckless – “Absolution”

I love this song so damn much and it’s one that I’ll listen to loads as and when I can. I recently saw them play live in Birmingham and I had such a lovely evening! Sadly they didn’t play this, but that’s not a problem. It’s from their second album Going To Hell.

Image taken from Nintendo UK website

Favourite Game – Pocket Card Jockey

This is a game on my 2DS that I have been addicted to since I downloaded the demo of it! I immediately bought the game when the demo ended as I was just enjoying playing it. It’s especially good for relaxing if you feel stressed of anxious, which I’ve found has helped me a lot throughout the month. You’re a jockey and in order to win your races you must play solitaire and win games etc etc. That’s the only way I can describe it. The demo is still available for the game and to buy it it only costs £6.29. The game itself reminds me of a horse racing game me and my dad used to play at an arcade years ago when I was little.

So those are my favourites from January! January was a weird month for me to be honest and I know February isn’t going to be that much better sadly due to some personal stuff going on at the moment. Sadly I won’t be sharing any of that on my blog, but just know that I am okay and I’m slowly on the mend.

What were your favourites from January? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and see you soon.

Big Beauty Haul

Why do I always do this? Say I’ll save money and then spend it as soon as payday comes. Oh dear.

Saturday me and Dane popped out to buy some stuff for the house and as we always do when we have to make a shopping trip like that we pop to Homesense, because Homesense is amazing!

I ended up spending quite a lot of money in the beauty section there as well as at Boots.

So I decided to show you all what I bought as there are some real gems in this haul. Enjoy!

As well as Homesense I also popped into Boots as well as The Body Shop for some freebies.

I picked up so many sheet masks when I was in Homesense… I could have easily picked up more but I had to watch my money. I picked up three Tony Moly masks, two avocado and one red wine. I’ve got a couple of these masks already (tea tree, lemon and aloe vera). These cost £1.99 each… Which wasn’t cheap in my eyes as I’ve bought these before for a £1 each. I’ve never heard of this brand before but I also picked up some by a brand called Forever Young. These are in the green tea pore control version but they had quite a few different types. I settled on these as Dane has big pores, I love green tea and these will help to calm down my oily t-zone. You get five of these in a packet and they cost £4.99 so these seem more reasonable than the price of the Tony Moly ones.

Another Koren beauty item I picked up is the Etude House lip gel patch. I have heard about these time and time again over the past couple of years and have always wanted to try it out for myself. So when I saw two of these up for grabs I knew I had to pick them both up. As I’m writing this blog post I currently have one on my lips. It feels like jelly and surprisingly sticks onto the lips fairly easy. It smells of sweet cherries and you can really feel it working. I left it on for 20 minutes and it left my lips feeling lovely and soft! These cost me £1.99 each which isn’t cheap. I’ll look on eBay for these in future!

The next two things I picked up are by a brand called Caim & Able who are an Australian beauty brand. I picked up one of their bath salts and body scrubs. They had a couple of different ones in stock but I had my eyes on these two. The bath salts are coconut and lime which sounds right up my street! I love things like this so I’m really excited to use this soon! It’ll be lovely to use before going out in the daytime on my days off work. The body scrub is clementine and coffee and I LOVE coffee body scrubs! They’re great for cellulite which is what I’ll be using this for. These cost £7.99 each, I don’t think you can pick them up in the UK. If I love these I’ll be making sure to review them.

The final thing I picked up from Homesense was something for Dane. It’s some ingrown eliminating pads by Bliss. He’s always having problems with ingrown hairs on his face so I picked these up for him to try. If they’re any good I may have to steal a couple myself to try. These are meant to cost £28.00 but I picked them up for £5.99.

My next stop (as I mentioned) was Boots as well as The Body Shop for my freebie face mask samples. I got two which are British Rose and Ethiopian Honey. These will be exciting to try soon.

In Boots I picked up a couple of things I needed, as well as a couple of treats too. I needed some new hand wash for the bathroom and I really love the Baylis and Harding ones as they keep my hands looking and feeling soft and smooth. This is in the scent eton mess and although I am not a fan of the dessert I love the smell of this! It’s making me feel all Christmassy as well which is always good! This was just over £2.00.

I repurchased another bottle of my favourite shampoo which is the botanical shine shampoo by Liz Earle. It’s sulfate free and only costs £10! You get 200ml which isn’t loads but it lasts me a good couple of months which suits me fine. I love this stuff and as it’s for all hair types anyone can use it.

I got a couple of make up items too, including a clear mascara which by Collection which I used on my eyebrows to keep them in place. This is cheap as anything at £1.99 and it lasts months! As well as that I also picked up two Maybelline items as they were on buy one get one half price. I picked up the new baby lips shade in chai tea latte. I’m not a fan of the Starbucks drink but these smells delicious! Really warm and comforting, perfect for autumn which is looming. It’s a dark red shade like burgundy but when applied to the lips it looks a dark pink almost raspberry shade. I know I’ll be wearing this loads for the rest of the year. My final purchase was one my mom told me about and encouraged me to buy, which is one of Maybelline’s new lip products called colour drama intense lip paint. I picked up the shade vamped up which is an intense dark purple. I applied a little bit to my lips and it looks and feels amazing! This is definitely a product you can work with as with the more you apply the more intense the colour pay off gets! I can’t wait to wear this throughout autumn and winter.

So that was what I picked up over the weekend! I’m meant to be saving money, which I will be doing now.

What have you been buying recently? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

August Favourites 2014

It’s September… Really 2014, really? I know I say this every month and I think I always will but bloody hell is this year going quick! They say times goes fast when you’re having fun, but I wouldn’t say this year has been 100% fun… I’m going off subject now!

It was actually really hard to pick my favourites this month, I don’t know why!

• I Love… Cosmetics Hand Wash in Mango & Papaya.

I bought this on a whim as it was only a £1, I needed hand wash, and I rather like I Love… Cosmetics products. I’ve been using this for the past couple of weeks now and it’s a really lovely hand wash to use. It leaves your hands feeling lovely and soft, as well as smelling fresh and beautiful! I would definitely try their other hand washes and I’m sure I will be as soon as this one finishes. A little bit of this hand wash goes a long way, which is great! Try it whilst it’s on offer for a £1 in Boots!

• Guerlain La Petite Robe Noire EDP.

I’ve mentioned this perfume before in a previous favourites post and I still love it! During the cold and rainy weather this has been the scent that has really picked me up when I’ve been feeling a bit sluggish and bleh. I think this will definitely be my scent for autumn and winter this year, as it’s such a lovely warming scent and you can’t go wrong with that, eh? If you want to read more about it, check out this post.

• Soap & Glory Sugar Crush Shower Gel.

I LOVE this shower gel so as soon as some of my shower gels were finished up and thrown away, I was able to pull this out of my toiletries cupboard and pop it on the side of my shower/bath. This smells like key lime pie and due to the citrus scent of it, it really does wake you up when you use it, making it perfect for mornings when I feel really sluggish! I’ve worked a lot of early shifts at work throughout August so this really did help wake me up! I’ve already used quite a lot of this shower gel, which  is hardly surprising and as soon as it runs out, I’m sure I’ll pick up another bottle. You can read more about this here.

• The Body Shop Hand Cream in Coconut.

These are some of The Body Shop’s newest products and I was counting down the days until they came out in store to buy! I randomly popped into one of The Body Shop stores for a look and they had all the samples for their new hand creams out for people to look at and try, but they weren’t for sale. I asked when they would be out, as I was sure I read on a blog that they would be out in August, however I was told by the cashier that they wouldn’t be out until late September. So I let out a disappointed sigh and forgot about it. I randomly popped in for a look and they had them for sale, IN AUGUST! So I picked up Coconut and Strawberry and all I have been using when at home is the Coconut scent. It smells so beautiful and is really relaxing to sniff whilst snuggled up in bed. It leaves my hands gorgeous and soft and even my boyfriend has noticed how it has made my hands feel lovely! This and the Strawberry scent will be reviewed very VERY soon so keep your eyes peeled for it!

• Etude House Peel Off Base Coat.

Peel off base coats are now becoming something new that all nail polish wearers need, especially if you love wearing glitter nail polish! OPI have brought one out but at a high price, and one I don’t wish to pay for myself. SO to eBay I went (as I always do) and discovered that Etude House have a peel off base coat! So for £3.70 (including P&P) I bought this and it arrived pretty quickly too, as I ordered it from Korea. Since then this has been a staple of mine whenever I use glitter nail polish. I’ll be reviewing this in September as it just NEEDS to be spoken about in further detail.

• Bath & Body Works PocketBac in Crisp Morning Air.

This is one of the most beautiful PocketBac’s I have come to own and it’s all thanks to Hollie over at Eating Lipstick, who has recently posted quite a few Bath & Body Works haul videos over on her YouTube channel. She mentioned how beautiful Crisp Morning Air smelt and I knew I had to have it. SO I once again ventured over to eBay and found someone selling it for a good price, so I ordered it straight away and I couldn’t wait for it to arrive! When it finally did I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t ordered something that I may not like and it really does remind me of autumn. It has a lovely crisp warming scent to it, apples, cinnamon and just yummy goodness but not like a cake smell. It’s hard to describe but I recommend ordering it, or smelling it if you’re over the pond at the moment or soon. I wrote a post about hand sanitizers recently and this one was mentioned in that post, you can check that out here.

• Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Lip Balm in Berry Bomb.

Another month, another Baby Lips lip balm! This is by far my favourite out of the four I’ve tried! I had seen swatches of this online from bloggers from over the pond so when I heard that it was going to come out in the UK I was super excited! This is a gorgeous purple shade and smells delicious, like dark berries. The only flaw with this is that I’ve bought a shoddy lip balm as this rubs up the side of the tube and before I know it this will break soon, I’ll probably need to buy another one soon. ANYHOO! I love to use this over my purple lip products whilst at work and on the go. Even on its own this shows up really lovely and I really like it. I can see this being a staple, I keep it in my handbag all the time.

• Carmex Lip Balm in Strawberry (review here).

I’ve been using this a lot lately at home, due to the weather being on and off hot and then cold my lips have taken a turn for the worst and got really dry and sore and to be honest I think Carmex is what has helped them go back to being lovely and soft. This tastes vile mind, I won’t lie nothing like strawberry if you ask me and I much prefer the original due to that, however my original is now close to running out and I need to use this lip balm up anyway! This is alright to use underneath some lip products too, especially stains and lip crayons. I can’t wait to finish this mind so that I can try one of the other Carmex flavours, which include Cherry and Mint.

• elf Cosmetics Lip Exfoliator.

I read a review for this lip exfoliator a while ago and thought it sounded ideal! I ended up purchasing it as a treat and I’ve ended up being unsure of how I feel about it. It DOES work and leaves my lips feeling lovely and smooth, but at the same time the stick has actually gone a bit deformed in the tube, making it a little awkward to use. This isn’t a major issue mind! As I mentioned above my lips have been horribly dry during August so this and Carmex have both been lifesavers! If you’ve tried Lush’s lip scrub and found it was too fiddly to use then I recommend this for sure! I find the Lush lip scrubs are rubbish and too awkward to use, so this is much easier and tidier too.

• Collection Lip Butter in Perfect Plum.

I LOVE this lip crayon! I don’t think I’ve ever liked one as much as I do this one. My best friend and I whilst looking around the shops stumbled across these in Boots and we both decided to take up their 2 for £5 offer. I bought Perfect Plum, a near dupe of MAC Rebel and she picked up Vintage Rose. This is so creamy and smooth to apply to the lips and lasts ages too! It’s easy to apply too and doesn’t need sharpening, which makes it great to use on the go or at work. I recommend these to everyone and soon I’ll be writing a review for this as it’s too good not to share and talk about.

Wow I can’t believe it’s September! I’m actually really excited as August was a pretty crap month for me and this month I aim to sort my life out… Well try to anyway, and that’s all you can do!

What were your favourite products for August? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time take care all and happy September.

August Wish List

My wish list for August was without a doubt a really hard one to put together. Some months I’ll want everything I can get my hands on, and others I won’t want hardly anything. There are quite a few items at the moment that I really want and some I’m not so fussed about. I am trying my best to save money at the moment, but the past month has been tough, with needing to buy my new glasses, as well as other mishaps along the way. However at this moment in time I’m able to start saving again and trying my best to be good (which I’m sure won’t last that long!) so as usual, spending ban or not I am going to keep on wishing for things that I probably won’t buy… Yet anyway. 😛

• Etude House Peel Off Base Coat.

I discovered this nail polish base coat on eBay recently, whilst trying to find another peel off base coat. I’ve heard quite a few reasonable things about Etude House and whilst I have never tried their products myself, I could see me picking this base coat up. Basically you apply this to the nail like a normal base coat, apply your nail polish on top (this is designed to remove glitter polish easily so…) and then a top coat. When you’ve had enough of your polish you just peel it off of the nail, simple as that! I could do with this for my glitter polish, as well as my average nail polishes as I would love to be able to wear polish days after work, but it can be so awkward with the faff of removing it before work or after an evening out. This wouldn’t break my bank at £3.50 either (P&P included!) so I think I shall be ordering this pretty soon.

• New Look Blue Paisley Print Crochet Hem High Waisted Shorts.

I spotted these shorts on a blog post by ellistuesday and fell in love with them straight away! I popped into New Look in Milton Keynes to try them on and possibly buy them, but I discovered they had none left in that store, nor any of the other New Look stores I could go and continue my search at. So I haven’t bought these… Yet! I have seen them though and they are gorgeous and I really do want them. I’d wear them both in the warm and cold months. In the warmer months I would pair these with a white vest or t-shirt and in the jumper with a cream jumper, or a burgundy jumper. I’d order these online, as that’s the only place that stocks my size at the moment… Although in truth I am in two minds about whether to order these or not. We shall see!

• Born Pretty Holographic Nail Polish in shade #10.

Another nail polish found on eBay, oh how I love eBay, you can find some complete bargains on there (jots down in notebook “Must make a blog post about eBay!”). I stumbled across quite a few of Born Pretty’s holographic nail polishes that I liked the look of, but out of the small few I fell in love with, this is by far the shade I want the most. A gorgeous ocean blue shade, this blue holographic nail polish would look gorgeous for a summer holiday, as well as some scale patterns painted on to make them look very mermaid. I only have one holographic nail polish and I really do crave  more! This costs less than £4.00 including postage from eBay which I think is a complete bargain!

• While (1<2) by Deadmau5.

I am a MASSIVE fan of Deadmau5 and he’s an artist I listen to quite a bit so when he announced a new album earlier this year, I got super excited! Now it’s out and I’ve only heard a couple of tracks from it, crazy huh? I basically just want to wait until I own the album to listen to all of the songs from it. I do really need to pick up more of his albums, as whilst I own them I don’t physically own them… If that makes sense. xD But either way I really can’t wait to pick this up soon.

• Britney Spears Fantasy Twist.

As Midnight Fantasy is one of my favourite perfumes and over the years Fantasy has grown on me, it sort of makes sense for me to pick up this twist set, doesn’t it really? Both of them together are 50ml, but of course are 25ml each. I really would like a perfume that I can throw into my hand bag before I head out of the house in a rush, as well as before work and these just seem perfect! These won’t break the bank for me to buy either at just over £20 too, especially with the discount that you can get from Voucher Codes. I could really do with some new perfume, I’m slowly running out and it’s making me sad!

• The Body Shop Banana Shampoo.

This was something I’ve just recently spoken about on my July favourites and I have to say how much I do really love this shampoo! I do not as of yet own it, but I can see me buying it this weekend. I bought it for my boyfriend as part of a huge anniversary present and he loved it, and so did I when I tried it out. It leaves your hair feeling soft, smooth and shiny as well as smelling amazing! For £4.50 this shampoo wouldn’t exactly break the bank and it really is worth the  money. I recommend giving it a sniff when you’re next in The Body Shop, especially if you love the smell of banana as much as I do.

• Maybelline Baby Lips Electro Lip Balm in Berry Bomb.

When the Baby Lips first came out, I KNEW I needed to try at least one of them, after them being ranted and raved about for years. Finally when I gave these a go I did enjoy and love using them, but this love soon faded. I’ve only recently come to fall in love with them all over again and I already know that I want to try Berry Bomb, for a few reasons. I wear a lot of dark pink lip colours, which border on purple sometimes and whilst I’m working or out and about I do like to top these up with lip balm and this dark pink/purple lip balm would work perfectly with those! Plus I assume it smells and taste of blue berries… Or at least I would hope so!

• Illamasqua Matte Lip Liquid in Forbidden.

I recently read a review for this liquid lipstick and I fell in love with the colour, so one afternoon in July whilst I was shopping in town I went and swatched Forbidden for myself and I just fell in love even more. It’s a gorgeous baby pink shade, that surprisingly suited my yellow skin tone. I nearly bought it there and then but I knew I needed to save money, so I left  it. Sadly it’s now rumoured to be discontinued, but once again eBay has come to my rescue! God bless eBay, I swear. I have heard bad things about Illamasqua’s liquid lipsticks but quite honestly I don’t care if this doesn’t last that long, as the shade Forbidden is divine and one I need in my collection for sure.

• MAC Lipglass in Sweet Strawberry.

Now this is from the old Hello Kitty collection, that came out in 2008/2009, I’m not 100% sure but I remember craving after that whole collection as a teenager, and sadly I never picked up a single thing from it. I remember wanting Big Bow lipstick and this lipglass. I found a seller online who has these for sale, brand new in the box, for less than £10. Legit and everything my MAC loving friends! I was close to buying this on Monday after hearing some rubbish news, but I didn’t and decided to be good. I have so many lip products at the moment that I never know which to use next! I can definitely see me buying this soon mind, as I would wear the hell out of it over the Christmas period.

So those are my wish list bits and pieces for August! What have you been lusting over at the moment? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and see you soon.