LANEIGE Two Tone Matte Lip Bar in Red Velvet – Review

This is officially the first review of 2019 on my blog! It’s been a long time coming and I do apologise for that. To be fair this review is a day behind and that’s purely due to how busy I’ve been with life. I could keep apologising for this, but I’m human.

I am so excited to be writing this review today as I’ve really fallen in love with the product I’ll be talking about and in all honesty, I want to talk more about Korean beauty on my blog this year.

As you’ll have seen from the title of this post, I’ll be reviewing a lip product today, a lipstick in fact. This is a product I’ve owned for almost a month now and I can’t rate it highly enough! As always I’ll write an honest review and give as much information about the product as possible.

Grab yourself a cuppa and sit back as I review one of the amazing lip bars from LANEIGE.

From what I can tell LANEIGE seems to be quite a high brand in Korea and due to that the prices of their products seem to be a little bit more than other Korean brands such as Etude House, Tony Moly and more. Whether this is true or not, I’m unsure.

Although you can buy the two tone matte lip bars on Yes Style I picked mine up on eBay as I found someone was selling the shade I wanted cheaper. I paid £16.99 for mine, but at the moment Yes Style are selling these for £17.41, link here if you wish to check them out!

There are 10 shades to choose from,

The two tone lip bars are; Burgundy Mood, Red Cashmere, Powershoulder Pink, Fitting Rose, Sunshine Coral, Apricot Candy, Rose Layering, Raspberry Latte, Soft Knit and Red Velvet which is the shade I picked up.

Red Velvet is literally a red velvet dark red as the main colour, which a lighter red alongside it.

The product itself claims to give you an ombré look on your lips with a matte finish, but at the same leaving them feeling soft and moisturised.

The packaging for the product itself isn’t anything special and is pretty basic, which I like! Don’t get me wrong, I love packaging that stands out and gets heads turning but at the same time I’m not all that arsed if it’s “boring”.

To get the lipstick up and out of the tube you just pull the slider down on the side and you can bring as little or as much of the product up as you need. Personally I just bring it up enough so I can use some of the product on my lips.

As both the name of the product explains, as well as the pictures the lipstick is two toned. This is so you can create the ombré look on your lips.

Now the way you apply the two toned lipstick isn’t as straight forward as you might think, this being said it isn’t super complicated or anything either!

For the lower lip you want the darker colour at the top and the lighter colour at the bottom.

For the top lip you want to turn the lipstick around and instead have the lighter colour at the top and the darker colour at the bottom.

The reason it needs to be this way is so you get the darker colour inside of the lips and the lighter colour on the outside, hence giving it the blurred out and ombré effect on the lips. I’ve popped photos above of how the lipstick needs to look as you’re holding it to apply to both lower and top lips.

Then when you’re happy with the result you’re ready for the day and can go!

As I always do, I show off my mug wearing the lipstick. 😛

The lipstick itself is pretty opaque and a little bit goes a long way! I feel like I only need to apply one coat of this to the lips and I’m done for most of the day! The only time it wears away is if I drink loads, eat something or apply Vaseline over the top for some moisture. I’m sure if I applied a red tinted lip balm it would work better with the lipstick. I worried due to the matte look of these that they would be incredibly drying, but they’re so comfortable and even when I was really poorly last week I knew I could wear this and not worry about my lips drying out. Even with dry lips this worked!

I always apply some Vaseline on first and as I’m finishing getting ready I’ll let it do it’s work, rub the Vaseline in a little so it’s not too greasy and sticky and then apply the lipstick over. It means I still get some extra added moisture underneath the lipstick.

I found the lasting power of this lipstick was pretty amazing in all fairness and I don’t really feel like I need to reapply it and even when I do it feels so quick and easy to! It doesn’t feel like a chore.

So overall, what do I think about the LANEIGE two tone matte lip bar? I bloody love it!

I’ve been eyeing up the two tone tint lip bars and they were the first ones I wanted out of the two. When I saw these however I knew I had to pick one up. I love wearing blotted ombré lips to be honest with you so this is perfect for me. It doesn’t have the staying power of a liquid lipstick which I love! I had a massive thing for those for some time and now I can’t stand them.

Lip products like this are right up my street and if you love the look of the blotted and ombré lips too, then I HIGHLY recommend you pick one of these up!

What do you think of the LANEIGE two tone lip bar? Would you pick one up to try or give it a miss? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time all take care and I hope you’re having a lovely week so far.

Lime Crime Plushies – Review

Woohoo I haven’t written a review in what feels like FOREVER. I’ve been sitting on these and waiting for the right time to write a review on them and it finally feels like time to get something done and out there.

As I always do with reviews, I’ll talk a little about the company, the products and show plenty of pictures of the items.

So I’m binge watching The Office whilst I write this, so let’s get on it!

 

Lime Crime have been around for 10 years now and at first everyone went made for their products, but a while ago people were boycotting them. Over the years I’ve on and off wanted to try and use their products, but always been apprehensive due to various different things.

Years ago me and my friend Claire were talking about make up brands we love and she was telling me about how much she loved Lime Crime’s Velvetines liquid lipsticks and even showed me some. I loved the texture of them, as well as the how long the product lasted. I wanted to order one but I was really into Jeffree Star liquid lipsticks at the time and for a year I couldn’t wear any lipstick products due to an infection/eczema on my lips.

Thankfully I can now wear my favourite lip products again, but from having the year hiatus from them it’s made me realise that I don’t really like liquid lipsticks anymore, or at least not half as much as before. I still love my lipsticks, lip creams and lip tints but I really did miss how long lasting liquid lipsticks are.

When Lime Crime announced their Plushies back in January this year, I got a little excited to see what new product they planned on bringing out. When they revealed it and showed swatches of the lip product I knew I eventually had to own it!

I’d on and off wanted to buy some lip products from Lime Crime in the past, including their Diamond Crushers but every time I went to websites and added them to my cart I just never really ended up going through with it. I’m glad I didn’t in the end as I don’t think I’d have worn them.

After months of even being undecided about the Plushies, I FINALLY ordered not one, but two shades and they have fast turned into my go to lipsticks to wear for work and on days off.

I ordered Cherry Soda and Gum Drop from Beauty Bay quite a while ago it feels now and since then I’ve worn both shades a handful of times. I’ll be talking about both shades, how they look and how they both wear as I feel they’re both somewhat different.

Experience the softer side of a bold matte lipstick with Plushies, the new generation of nude lips. Non-opaque, soft focus formula enhances natural lip color while making your lips look as plush as a teddy bear! This highly pigmented and long wearing soft matte lipstick keeps its just-applied look for hours. Choose from our selection of 18 different shades, our collection of soft matte lipsticks has something for everyone. Offering a burst of creamy color and full coverage, this formula goes on silky smooth and sets to a beautiful matte finish. One coat is all you need for that coveted my-lips-but-better effect, or build to your liking for more intensity. Show off your beautiful natural lips with the blackberry scented Plushies from Lime Crime.

Plushies are a liquid lipstick but softer in texture and feel and are made to look more natural to application and colour payoff. They remind me of a lip tint but more opaque, which I really like! These feel really velvety when worn but last ALL DAY! They’re so much more comfortable than a liquid lipstick too, well in my opinion anyway.

Make your lips look as plush – and playful – as a cuddly toy with Lime Crime’s new generation of nude lip colours. The velvety matte, soft-focus formula enhances your natural lip colour with touch-proof, hassle-free, all-day wear (it’s so comfortable, you’ll forget you’re even wearing it) and it’s infused with an irresistible candied blackberry scent. The super-sweet shades range from sheer golden brown ‘Butterscotch’ to deep red ‘Jam’ via sheer berry ‘Gum Drop’. They’re utterly irresistible!

Before I talk about the shades, I want to quickly talk about the packaging. It’s so cute and playful and reminds me of something you would have seen in the 90’s/00’s, which is what Lime Crime is all about! The tube itself contains 3.5ml of product which is clear so you can see the product inside. The lid is a gorgeous baby pink shade with a cute white teddy on. Such a lovely touch and the rubber feel of the lid makes it feel comfortable and easy to hold when applying the shade.

The first shade I’m going to talk about is Cherry Soda, which is actually a limited edition shade made only for certain stores. It’s a soft cherry red and is such a gorgeous shade of red for all times of year, especially autumn and winter! This is the colour that I’ve always wanted to get out of all the Plushies but at first this colour was one I just didn’t feel like I could get on with and due to that I worried I was going to regret my decision of buying it. More recent however I’ve really got along with Cherry Soda and it’s such a fabulous shade, which I cannot wait to wear more of during the Christmas period this year!

Cherry Soda applies really nicely without any patchiness or streaks throughout, but before now it has done so I feel like you need to apply this in one go and not layer, otherwise that patchy look will be there. I just love how delicate this red shade looks, like just bitten lips which is a trend I have ALWAYS loved! I love bold shades, but to have a bold shade and it also be delicate and blotted looking is really nice and a total game changer.

The second shade I picked up is Gum Drop. I’ve always liked the idea of picking up this shade as it reminds me a little of MAC Rebel, which is one of my favourite lipsticks! It’s a sheer berry colour and looks so perfect if you want to experiment with a dark berry shade, but don’t want it to be too out there and in your face! This is definitely a shade to wear during autumn and winter, berry doesn’t really shout spring and summer to me. 😛

Unlike Cherry Soda this has always applied like a dream and has rarely been patchy or streaky. At times it has been but it’s nothing a bit of blotting can’t deal with! Like Cherry Soda, this also looks like a blotted colour but the colour also packs a punch, which I really liked. Something that I noticed on both of the Plushies is that they have a fruity and sweet scent to them, but I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly they smelt of. When I searched for it online, it turns out it’s blackberry sweets, which I think is really cool! Blackberry does seem a tad random to me though… These are also meant to wear like liquid lipsticks, which I tend to find they do to be honest with you! I’ve worn these at work all day and they’ve lasted well. If anything they’ll start to wear down on the inside of my lip and this will usually happen after drinking loads of water/hot drinks and then eating lunch.

They feel really velvety on the lips too and you wouldn’t even know they were there!

Overall I LOVE Lime Crime’s Plushies and they’re definitely a game changer for me. As I said before, liquid lipsticks aren’t really my thing anymore but I wanted something like them with a good staying power. The blotted and nude look and payoff of the Plushies really works for me and it’s something that I’d been after for the longest time. Of course I picked up the brighter colours but they have LOADS of nude and natural looking shades, there is just something for everyone.

I have my eye on more shades in all honesty, including Angelic (sheer muted mauve) and Sorbet (fire red).

What do you think to Lime Crime’s Plushies? Have you tried them and if so which shade(s) do you like? Do you want to try them and if so which shade(s) do you want to try?

Also make sure to let me know which Lime Crime products you like the look of, own etc!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a lovely weekend and are having a good week so far.

Coventry Bloggers – The Body Shop Event*

Oh man I have been M.I.A. this past week and I am so sorry! I’ve been a mixture of poorly and too busy with personal life to do any blog work.

FINALLY THOUGH I am here and I am talking about an amazing blogger event I attended last Friday, which the gorgeous Emily over at Drained Beauty organised.

As the title reads, this was for the Coventry Bloggers community, which I’m proud to be a part of! I know, I’m not from Coventry BUT Dane is so we both visit the area regularly.

I was so excited for the event and made sure to leave work early so I could get to the event in good time. This is my first (and hopefully not last!) blogger event of 2018, so I couldn’t wait for 4pm to hit so I could leave work and make my way to Coventry.

Can I just say, the weather was so shit as I got off of the train in Coventry, it was chucking it down so I legged it from the station to the town centre. Thankfully it wasn’t raining on my way home, even though I’d bought an umbrella as soon as I got to Primark. MEH!

Anyway! I got to the event with about 15-20 minutes to spare and got to meet the lovely ladies who would be attending the event. I just want to say, the Coventry blogger babes who were at the event are by far some of the nicest I have ever met! I’ve been to many events in the past and whilst I’ve met some absolute beauts, they weren’t as friendly and chatty as the girls were last week.

Not only were the bloggers at the event lovely, but the two members of staff were also amazing. They were approachable throughout the event about all sorts and were thorough whenever they were talking about certain products. So thank you so much girls for holding an amazing event!

Right, onto the event itself now! I’ll be talking about all the new products we heard about, as well as what I got in my cute little goodie bag and what I bought.

The event itself worked out that we would have a nose around the shop, talk amongst ourselves, to one another and the staff all whilst trying certain products.

The first new product we were shown and told about is the limited edition banana range! I’ve already spoken about this on my blog and even reviewed the body yogurt (which you can read here).

Although The Body Shop has banana hair care in their permanent range, the body care is sadly only limited edition and I assume will be around until the Christmas stock is out. I’ll be sad when it goes, especially the body butter and body yogurt.

In the range there’s three items shower cream, body butter and body yogurt. The girls were telling us how banana is great for dry skin due to how rich in potassium they are. This helps to repair and hydrate dry and damaged skin. After hearing about the banana range and how amazing it is, we were offered demonstrations with both the body butter and body yogurt. I would have had a go, but I already own the whole range so I already know how amazing it is!

Before the next demonstration and talk went ahead on another new product, we were left to take ALL THE SELFIES with the banana range! I did a couple myself with two of my favourite products from the range. I cannot tell you how amazing the banana range is and I swear we all need to get a petition started for The Body Shop to keep it forever!

The next products we heard about were new face products that The Body Shop have in stock, as well as some old favourites that not many people know about. The first item we heard about is their liquid peels and they showed us the Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel, Drops of Youth Youth Liquid Peel and Drops of Light Liquid Peel. I had a go with the latter and it is pretty cool and yet gross all at the same time!

Sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the demonstration I had on the back of my hand, but I’ve used liquid peels in the past by Korean brands. It’s a gel consistency and the more you rub onto your skin the more it works on the skin to gently peel away any dead skin. It’s gross and satisfying seeing all the gunk that rubs off of your skin! I love using my Korean one once to twice a week and I honestly plan to buy The Body Shop one in the future! This leaves your skin looking and feeling fresh, as well as brighter. I love how there’s the two different liquid peels to choose from. I tried the Drops of Light, but I’m 30 soon so I need the Drops of Youth one me thinks.

Alongside the liquid peels, the girls were also telling us about the new face mask to join The Body Shop’s growing collection! We heard about a couple of the face masks, but the newest member of the family is Mediterranean Almond Milk With Oats Instant Soothing Face Mask.

This face mask is designed for people with sensitive skin and is 100% vegan! This face mask also acts as an exfoliating face mask and reminded me of porridge when I looked at it inside the jar. It helps dry and sensitive skin from feeling tight and itchy, all whilst gently exfoliating your skin to leave you with smooth hydrated skin! I don’t know about you guys, but this is very much needed throughout the winter months, so this will be great to dig out whilst having a hot bath as the weather gets cooler.

I gave this a go in store on the back of my hand and it felt so gentle and the sort of product you would use in a spa. I know one of my friends definitely wants to give it a go after I showed it her, due to the sensitive skin idea! There is nothing worse than having sensitive skin and not being able to use face masks due to that.

The other face mask that the girls were talking about is the Japanese Matcha Tea Pollution Clearing Mask. I’ve wanted to try this since it came out and I had a little look at this face mask on the back of my hand, which felt amazing! I definitely need to give this a go in the future, especially as autumn and winter will be here before we know it.

After we gave the face products a go that the girls spoke about, they were showing us this box with loads of things inside of jars that you can look at. Each jar explains what the item is inside and where it has come from in the world. They also have the cards which explain where EVERYTHING comes from that goes into our products, which I think is amazing! If you visit the Coventry store the girls told me you can ask to see this box and honestly have a look when looking at certain products! It’s really interesting to see where they come from.

BUT an awesome fact one of the girls told me has really stuck with me since then and I’ve been sharing it with everyone I know! Basically Hartley’s sell seedless strawberry jam. Someone at The Body Shop knew this face and asked Hartley’s what they do with the seeds. I can’t remember what Hartley’s said but now they give the seeds to The Body Shop, which goes into their Strawberry Softening Body Polish. How cool is that fact though?!

After that we again got to have a little look around the shop, give the face products a test and take lots of pictures! I went around the bath products and had a nose at what The Body Shop has to offer. I’ve bought some of the bath bombs and bubble bars to try and so far I’ve tried the strawberry one, which I’ll also be reviewing VERY soon!

The last products that the girls told us about were make up related and sadly I didn’t get any pictures of the girls talking about these. I can of course fill you in on what new products we were told about.

The girls were talking about the new Matte Clay Powers that have recently launched, which come in six different shades. Sadly I don’t wear make up like this so these didn’t interest me in the slightest! They look pretty good for the price though and I’m sure they give good coverage too.

Then we were told about the new lipsticks that have recently come into store. I feel bad that I can’t remember for the life of me what they’re called and I can’t seem to find them on their website! They’re matte style lipsticks but with shine and comfort that a matte lipstick doesn’t bring with it. They came in a lovely variety of colours, with mostly nudes, pinks and reds! I sadly didn’t give them a go as I didn’t want to end up buying loads of lipsticks. 😛

However, I did give their Shine Lip Liquid’s a go as the holographic style packing was bringing out the magpie in me!

One of the exciting things we learnt about from The Body Shop girls is that The Body Shop is rolling out 3 for 2 in some stores right now, including the Coventry store as a trial run. This 3 for 2 applies to pretty much everything in the store and will enable people to try all sorts of different products! The 3 for 2 works like most offers of the same name, you pick up 3 products and you get the cheapest free!

 

Sadly I didn’t make the most of this promotion as I’m trying to be good, but I did end up buying one of the Shine Lip Liquid’s, which I have fallen madly in love with and worn ever since buying. I’ll definitely be reviewing this in the future! I picked up Blueberry Chew, which is a gorgeous pink with blue tones and shimmer. It’s definitely a lip gloss. These come in nine different shades, some shimmery and some normal. I would love to pick up more of these in the future!

Then it was time to grab my goodie bag and make my way back to Birmingham. I ended the evening buying 20 chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and going around the local area playing Pokemon GO. Oh how the other half live. 😛

I thought I’d show you guys what I got in my goodie bag as it’s so lovely and perfect for myself. I did want to give some of the products in here a go before writing this post, but sadly I just haven’t had time to. Hopefully in the future I can give them a go and give a proper review!

First of all I’ll show you guys the gorgeous cosmetic bag* I got in my goodie bag! It’s a black bag covered in pink bunnies, writing which says, “Forever Against Animal Testing” and The Body Shop logo.

Inside the pouch are three products, a full size bottle of Strawberry Shower Gel*, a full size tube of Almond Milk & Honey Calming & Protecting Hand Cream* and a travel size bottle of Banana Truly Nourishing Shampoo*.

I’ve used the Strawberry shower gel for about 20 years now and it’s always a fond favourite to have in my shower. Dane loves it so much that he bought 2 massive pump bottles in the sale! So this will go down a treat in my bathroom.

I’ve grown to love the Almond Milk & Honey range SO MUCH recently and I especially love the hand cream. Sadly however it doesn’t do as much for my hands as it could and should. This being said I still use it and use it daily at work.

Finally the banana shampoo has been a love/hate product of mine and Dane’s since we started dating. One minute I love it and what it does for my hair and the next I feel a bit meh about it. Mostly because you pay quite a lot for the product and I don’t feel the price is worth what it does. Sorry The Body Shop! Dane loves it though and these little travel bottles are handy for have for weekends away.

The other goodies I got in my bag came in this cute little pink and white polka dot paper bag. Inside there are loads of little samples, including the Japanese Matcha tea Pollution Clearing Mask*, Mediterranean Almond Milk With Oats Instant Soothing Mask* Vitamin C Glow Revealing Liquid Peel*, Banana Shower Cream* and finally the Banana Body Yogurt*.

I honestly cannot wait to give the liquid peel and the matcha face mask a go over the weekend! I plan to have a proper pamper day on Sunday and these two will be used in that regime. 😛

As I mentioned I bought the Shine Lip Liquid in the shade Blueberry Chew and thanks to my £5 discount voucher, I managed to bag it for £2! Bargain!!! I honestly can’t wait to review this on my blog.

Overall I LOVED this The Body Shop event and I cannot wait to attend more Coventry Bloggers events in the future. Again I want to say a massive thank you to Emily for hosting the event, as well as allowing my brummy self to attend. 😛

I’m going to pop the Coventry The Body Shop Instagram down below, make sure to go and check them out and let the know I said hi! 😀

LoveYourBodyCov

What do you guys think to some of the newbies that The Body Shop are bringing out? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time all, take care and I hope you’re ready for the weekend.

Wish List Wednesday – The Body Shop

I wasn’t planning on doing a wish list Wednesday post for quite a while, but recently The Body Shop came out with their limited edition banana range and I NEED it in my life! I was actually going to order them over the weekend, but I’m leaving it until payday as I need to be good.

So I thought this would be the right time to talk about the banana collection on a wish list Wednesday post, as well as talk about some bath goodies The Body Shop have out now!

• The Body Shop Banana Shower Cream – (link)

As soon as I heard about The Body Shop bringing out this shower cream, I was so excited! Finally they had listened to me (obviously they didn’t… :P) and my cries for a banana range, other than the hair care! I used to love the shampoo due to the scent but I stopped using it as it didn’t do anything for my hair. Sadly the banana range is only limited edition, but I’ll make sure to stock up due to that! When pay day hits I’ll be ordering one, maybe two of these to try out!

• The Body Shop Mango Bath Bomb – (link)

I recently found out that The Body Shop now stock bath products and as I’ve recently stopped buying from Lush, I’ve been on the look out for somewhere new to get my bath time treats. Christmas 2016 They brought out some little bath fizzers which I tried and loved! I love the sound of mango though, especially for summertime and the best bit about these? They’re super cheap and affordable!

• The Body Shop Banana Yogurt – (link)

I’m not someone who moisturises. I have been on and off in the past but these days I’m not arsed. Why? Because it makes me feel hot and sticky and due to that I HATE it! In the past I’ve given The Body Shop’s body sorbets and I loved them. I just felt like they weren’t moisturising my skin, which is a shame. The body yogurts sound similar to the sorbets but much more moisturising! I’m definitely going to pick one up to have a go with. I love the smell of banana so much and I’ve heard this smells of foam banana sweets, yay!

• The Body Shop Coconut Bath Bubble – (link)

Not only do The Body Shop now sell bath bombs, but they do bubble bars too! This is super exciting as I LOVE bubble bars! I especially love that they sell one in coconut as this is one of my favourite scents from The Body Shop. They have another two scents too but they’re both bleh! I’m definitely going to give this bath bubble a go and like the bath bombs, they’re at an affordable price.

• The Body Shop Passionberry Lip Balm – (link)

I don’t really wear many lipsticks anymore, at least not at the moment anyway! I love wearing lip balm and rings and I’m always on the hunt for something colourful and conditioning. I know The Body Shop ones are pretty good and at a good price. There’s a couple of different flavours and shades but I like this purple passion berry one the most.

• The Body Shop Banana Body Butter – (link)

If there is one product I hate by The Body Shop it’s their body butters! I’ve owned a couple in the past and using them has been such a misery for me. They’re just too thick and I always ended up throwing them away, giving them away or using them as hand butters. If I was to buy this banana body butter I’d use it as the latter, a hand butter. My hands get really dry and whilst L’Occitane helps them, I would like to find something else that helps them too, especially if it’s banana scented!

• The Body Shop Green Tea Bath Bomb – (link)

The final product on this wish list is yet another bath bomb! I’ve not tried any of the green tea range from The Body Shop but I have smelt it in the past and it smells so refreshing and summery! It’d be nice to use this bath bomb on a hot summer evening to relax and unwind. Again, these bath bombs are affordable so I wouldn’t feel guilty picking it up.

So those are The Body Shop products that I have on my wish list/future purchasing list. I’m going to wait until I get a decent discount code or venture in a store before I pick anything up.

Have you got your eye on any goodies from The Body Shop? Let me know in the comments what you want to pick up!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week.

Collection Velvet Kiss Moisturising Lip Cream in Rosie – Review

I don’t feel like I’ve bought myself a new lip product in forever… Probably hasn’t been since I was abroad in Fuerteventura and that was 7 months ago now. WOW! This is has just been due to lack of monies as well as not really wearing lipsticks.

I love wearing lipstick but since starting my office job I find I love wearing lip creams and lip stains more often. On a recent Superdrug shop I picked up one of the Collection velvet kiss lip creams and I opted for the shade Rosie. I’ve used the Collection lip creams in the past but they used to be called Collection 2000 then and the lip creams were called cream puff (you can read the review here for one I used to own back in the day! :P). They also didn’t stock as many shades then as they do now!

These lip creams are exactly the same as they used to be back in the day, which made me so happy when using it for the first time. I guess I wish I’d picked up one of my oldie but goldie shades, Cotton Candy (which is now just called Cotton).

But for now, it’s time to talk about Rosie (which I also recently mentioned on my March favourites)!

This is a gorgeous blue red shade which is just a classy red lipstick colour and one anyone can wear, in my opinion.

This is a lip cream and oh man it really IS a cream! It’s so comfortable and easy to apply to the lips and feels lightweight and like you’re not wearing anything throughout the day. My only issue with applying however, is if you’re in a rush this won’t be straight forward to apply without a lip liner, but if you have some time it’ll be fine. I find using this with a lip liner causes it to last a hell of a lot longer than without one. I also found the colour is stronger with a lip liner underneath too.

With this being a lip cream it’s not glossy and it’s not matte either like a liquid lipstick. It’s the same consistency as a normal lipstick would be, it’s just more comfortable to wear for how long it lasts.

This is incredibly pigmented though and I find with just one dip into the tube you’ll get a good payoff on your lips. Maybe two if you want to ensure there’s an even application.

If I use a lip liner with this I’ll blot the lip liner before applying the lip cream itself, which I also blot too to try and help it last longer! I’m not had a problem to be honest with doing this. The only time I’d found it’s worn off quickly is when eating but I think that’s normal… It’s not a liquid lipstick. 😉

For the 5ml you get in the tube and from what I’ve learnt in the past from using these before, that 5ml lasts BLOODY AGES! Unless you use this everyday then you will get your moneys worth.

May I also add this has an amazing scent to it! It reminds me of the MAC lipsticks that have that yummy vanilla scent behind it. For people who don’t like their lip products scented, this isn’t strong in my opinion but you could always give the tester a smell in store and see for yourself if it would put you off.

These are also really easy to remove with a bit of make up remover and a cotton pad, or even a baby wipe.

I’ve gone back to my old review when these were first out in 2013 (God I feel old…) to compare things from then, to now.

Now time to cover the negatives that have been commented on time and time again by various different blogs. These products CAN be drying but I find that if I put more of the product on or some clear lip balm then there’s no issue to be had. I usually pop some Vaseline, Palmers lip balm or Chap Stick over the top and I have no problem. This being said, for all I know during the colder months my lips may dry more with these products, but I put that down to the weather, not the product itself.

I remember commenting how people had complained about them being drying. I’ve never had a problem with these being drying, but because these days I wear lip balm more than lip products I feel like I NEED to apply a lip balm all the time. That’s just me, it’s not due to a drying feeling.

These products are amazing, my own flaw and complaint with them is that they only have four shades to choose from, but the two shades that I own and like (Cotton Candy and Fairy Cake) are pretty damn good and will both work throughout any season.

I love that I wrote this because almost 5 years later they’ve FINALLY brought out some more bloody shades out! The 4 shades they originally had has now upped to 10 now! It’s crazy! I would love to pick up more of these shades, especially Cotton which is the pink shade I used to wear all the time when I was younger. They appear to have discontinued Fairy Cake which is really sad. I’d love to have that shade again, even if it’s changed names.

Of course as I always do with lip product reviews, I show off my face wearing them! 😛

So overall and almost 5 years later, what do I think of the newer versions of Collection’s lip creams? I think they’re still as good now as they were back in the day, if not better! We now have more shades to choose from and at the same great price as they used to be!

I definitely recommend these for anyone who wants to give lip creams a go, especially if you like either nude or darker shades.

Will you be picking up Rosie or any of the other shades? Do you already own one or a couple of these already? Make sure to let me know what you think of these in the comments down below!

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

March Favourites ’18

Happy Easter everyone! I do apologise that this post is a day late (well I’m being naughty and putting it up as if it was actually on time… ;P) but it was my first Easter that I’ve had a 4 day weekend and not had to work! I also spent it chilling with Dane, as well as with friends and family which is the best way to spend it.

Now I’m finally getting the chance to work on my monthly favourites whilst I watch some gaming YouTube videos. Finally, here are my favourites for March!

• Palmolive Naturals Milk & Honey Shower Gel Cream.

Not long ago I picked up this HUGE pump shower gel cream and I only got it for £2.00/£2.50 from Morrison’s on a food shop and at first I regretted it but this was near to half price so I was pretty happy at the bargain I grabbed. ANYWAY I started using this at the start of the month and it’s lasting agggges! You only need a little and it foams up gorgeously as well as leaving you smelling amazing and feeling lovely and soft. The milk and honey Palmolive shower cream reminds me of Fuerteventura for various reasons, the main one being back in the day when we first had the house there we took loads of “home comforts” and this was one of mine that my mom bought for me, so the scent always reminds me of my younger years there. Now it’s coconut scents that do it for me! 😛

• Diesel Loverdose Eau de Parfum.

I’ve been using my Miss Dior Blooming Bouquet EDT for what feels like forever and halfway through March I decided it was time to start using something else, something that I love to the moon and back. Loverdose by Diesel is one of my favourite perfumes and this is actually my second bottle now! It reminds me of my best friend Jacqui as when it first came out she got a bottle for her birthday and showed me it. Now when I wear it it reminds me of her. It has a unique fragrance and reminds me of a mixture of liquorice (which is actually contains!) and tequila. If you’ve never given this gorgeous perfume a sniff, then get on it! Even if you don’t like liquorice, you’ll love this. 😛

• Collection Velvet Kiss Moisturising Lip Cream in shade Rosie.

Whilst on a quick shopping trip to Superdrug in March I was having a nose around the Collection stand for my staple eyebrow gel and noticed the lip creams. I used to use these back in the day when they first launched and during the summer months I used these to death! I decided it was time to pick up a new one, but instead of going to the shades I used to use (Cotton being one of them) I decided to pick up the red shade Rosie. I love wearing red lipsticks and I actually haven’t worn lipstick properly for months. Since buying this I’ve used it about a handful of times alone and with a lip liner and it’s so good! It lasts ages and feels so comfortable when wearing it. I’ll definitely be reviewing this in April. You can check out the review one of the old shades Fairy Cake here for the time being.

• Nails inc Nail Polish in shade Dream Dust.

I feel like I haven’t worn my unicorn Nails inc polishes for ages! So I decided to grab Dream Dust to wear every other week throughout the month and throughout Easter. I forgot what a gorgeous shade Dream Dust is to be honest with you. It’s a shimmer gold glitter with a mauve base shade. It’s so shimmery and is definitely an awkward shade to remove but whatever! It’s a shade you can wear throughout the summer, especially for holidays! This lasts a long time too so I’ll definitely make a habit of wearing it more often at work. I loved Nails inc polishes back in the day when I was a student but then I sort of fell out of love with them. Since picking up the Beauty of Dreams gift set before Christmas last year (you can read about it here!) I’ve realised that Nails inc are still an amazing nails polish brand, if not even better now than they used to be!

• L’Oreal Hair Expertise Sleek Smooth Intense Shampoo.

I recently started using a new shampoo and this is actually the same if not similar to one I use when I’m in Fuerteventura (which you can see here) as it’s just one of the best and affordable! When I came home I searched for this shampoo straight away and bought that as well as another type of sulphate-free shampoo. Since starting to use this shampoo my hair has felt so smooth and looked less frizzy too. I’m so glad I started being sulphate free with shampoos this past year as it’s really helped my hair and to be honest since finding budget friendly shampoos, it’s helped my wallet too. 😛 I really recommend the L’Oreal sulphate free shampoos if you want to give this type of stuff a go as they’re super cheap from Superdrug and more often then not, on offer too.

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

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – Violet Evergarden.

I feel like I’ve mentioned this anime on my blog in the past and I’m pretty sure it was when Dane wrote a post on here with me not long ago (you can read it here). He introduced me to this anime when it first started but like he always has a habit of doing, he got me to start watching it at episode 3. I watched a couple of episodes but I just couldn’t feel like I was getting into it. Then a couple of weeks ago he said he’d watched episode 10 and that I needed to as well. We started watching the anime together from beginning to episode 11 and oh man, I have fallen in love with the show. Every single episode is also heartbreaking and I was silently crying at most if not all of the episodes. I’ll copy and paste the synopsis as I’m awful when writing what stuff is about without worrying of ruining it!

Synopsis (source: Anime Expo) – There are words Violet heard on the battlefield, which she cannot forget. These words were given to her by someone she holds dear, more than anyone else. She does not yet know their meaning. A certain point in time, in the continent of Telesis. The great war which divided the continent into North and South has ended after four years, and the people are welcoming a new generation. Violet Evergarden, a young girl formerly known as “the weapon,” has left the battlefield to start a new life at CH Postal Service. There, she is deeply moved by the work of “Auto Memories Dolls,” who carry people’s thoughts and convert them into words.

If you fancy giving this anime a go you can find it over on Netflix where it’s in English. It’s being aired at the same time as in Japan, which is amazing. It’s such a beautiful anime both in the way it looks as well as the story line.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – 10 Cloverfield Lane.

I remember going to the cinema to watch Cloverfield and all the rumours around it of people running out of the cinema to be sick due to the motion controls of the camera. FYI I was fine. 😛 I loved the film at the time and have since then watched it about a handful of times. When 10 Cloverfield Lane was announced I wanted to go and watch it, but no one else was really arsed. Years later it was put up on Netflix and me and Dane decided to give it a go. This is a film that really keeps you on the edge of your seat for various different things! You’re constantly wondering what is happening outside, as well as inside the bunker that the three characters are staying in. You have some awesome character development which is quickly snatched away from you by the time you start getting to know them and liking them. If you haven’t watched 10 Cloverfield Lane, then I definitely recommend it!

Image taken from Wordery

Image taken from Wordery

Favourite Book – I Am A Hero Omnibus Vol. 1 and 2.

This was one (well technically two) of the presents I got Dane for Christmas just gone and after he read Vol. 1 he gave it to me to show me some awesome scenes in the book. I checked them out and as it was halfway through the manga I decided to give it a read for myself and now I’ve ended up reading more than Dane has considering he’s only read the first volume and I’ve now read both the omnibus volumes he owns. It’s about a zombie apocalypse that hits Japan, with our “hero” being an anxious manga artist who sees things late at night and dreams of being a huge manga artist once again. It’s so well drawn and very realistic, you’re just hooked on it and want to keep reading. I actually finished the second omnibus volume in almost two hours… FYI it is a huge book! That and I’m a slow reader. 😛 Hopefully he won’t read this post but I intend to get Dane the rest of the omnibus volumes for his birthday.

Favourite Song/Album – Various…

Meh I wasn’t really sure what music to mention on my blog this month as I’ve just been listening to all sorts really… Mostly stuff I’ve heard on the radio at work, as well as some oldies I love. I’ll post above some of the songs I’m loving and quickly why below.

Dua Lipa – New Rules – I don’t know what it is that I love about this song and originally I was into an 80’s remix I heard on the radio first. I just find the song is really catchy and Dua Lipa has a lovely singing voice too.

Joyce Manor – Make Me Dumb – I first heard this game on Forza Horizon 3 as Dane bought it aggggges ago to play on his Xbox One and since then I’ve loved it! It’s such a catchy and upbeat rock song and due to that I just had to have it on my iPod for drives to and from places.

Paloma Faith – Crybaby – I don’t know what it is about this song but I love EVERYTHING about it! Paloma Faith is an artist I’ve listened to more of since 2016 and her voice is amazing, as well as her lyrics. This song is one that you’d listen to when you feel like crap and you need some encouraging words to listen to. It’s not a slow sad song, it’s an upbeat “pull yourself together, it’ll be okay” type song and I think that’s what I love the most about it.

Image taken from GAME

Favourite Game – Miitopia.

YES FOR ONCE IT ISN’T PERSONA 5 ON MY LIST! Sorry I love Persona 5 so it will come up a lot on here… In fact be prepared to hear about it next month as the anime series for it starts in less than a week now! 😀 Anyway… I got myself a new 2DS XL recently (which I’ll be writing about at some point on my blog) and I feel like since picking this up, I’ve been picking up my DS a hell of a lot more now I have a new one. I’m going to put it down to the screens being shit loads bigger and better at that! I picked up this game the day before I flew to Fuerteventura in September last year and Dane loved the look of it so much he got himself a copy too! Basically you play the hero and an evil guy has come and taken everyone’s faces, so you need to go and fight him and his minions to get them back. As the name suggests, it’s based on your Mii’s, the little customised characters you create on your 3DS and Wii, I don’t think the Switch has really bothered with it. I was close to finishing it before we came back from Fuerteventura but never did. HOWEVER, since picking up my 2DS XL I’ve played more and oh man, I forgot how much I love it! It’s an RPG game but it’s such a lax one at that, which is why I love it so much. Basically if you loved Tamodachi Life on the 3DS and you love RPG’s then you will love this! They do have a demo on the Nintendo eShop so check it out.

PHEW finally I have my favourites from March written down and done! I swear I can’t believe how quickly the year is going already and it’s my last day off of the Easter holidays too. SAD TIMES! 😛

I’m off to go and chill out, whilst attempting to eat some of my chocolate eggs. I bought myself one this year and received one from my manager as well as Dane’s parents. I’m not a massive chocolate person, so my chocolate eggs will probably last months. 😛

How many chocolate eggs did you get for Easter? Also, what are your favourites from March? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and Happy Easter!

Romantic Bear WOW Long Lasting Lip Color – Review

I wasn’t sure what to write about on my blog today, I’m not going to lie! I feel like I’ve had a bit of writers block but I haven’t at the same time… It’s weird! I know one thing though, that I wanted to get a review written but at the same time I wasn’t 100% sure on quite what I wanted to review.

Then it hit me! I’ve been meaning to review my Korean beauty peel off lip stains for AGES, since I got them last year in fact, but every time I went to something happened.

I wanted to ideally do a comparison post between two different brands, but that would have taken forever and I said, something always happened to stop me from doing that or having time to at least do that.

To be honest with you, I also wanted to show each shade on my lips but sadly that would also take too long to do and I wanted to get this review done sooner rather than later! Especially when I’m loving using these so much lately and want to share that! Applying each colour and then scrubbing it off to apply the next would be havoc for my lips. Due to this, there won’t be any lip swatch style pictures on this review. However, I will be showing how all the shades look on my arm, so that’s better than nothing, isn’t it?

Without further ado, review time!

I got these lip tattoos last year from Amazon. I bought two different brands, Berrisom and the brand I’ll be reviewing today, Romantic Bear.

I wanted to talk about the Romantic Bear ones first as I found they were the better ones out of the two, but after I review this and the Berrisom ones I’ll be comparing them both on a separate post, so keep eyes peeled for all those posts!

I first picked up one of these at Birmingham Anime and Gaming Con back in 2016 for £2 and I picked up the shade Sexy Red. I used it for ages and fell in love so ordered myself all 6 in a pack. The new Sexy Red I received I gave to my friend Gabriella to have a go with!

These didn’t cost much to be honest and were so damn cheap! For 6 shades they only cost me about £3 with postage. They took a couple of weeks to arrive, but they were worth the wait! Sadly, I’ve since checked Amazon to see how much they’re going for and it’s just over £10 for 6. I’m sure eBay will be a cheaper option as I have a feeling these came from China. I’ll make sure to link some places at the end of this post for where you can get some yourself if you want to.

I’ve found that Romantic Bear is a “knock off” version of some higher Korean beauty brands, in this instance I think these are a copy of the Berrisom Oops My Lip Tint Pack product.

From top to bottom: Sweet Orange, Lovely Peach, Watermelon, Rose Pink, Sexy Red and Cherry Red.

So, down to the product! You get 6 shades in a pack which are Sweet Orange, Lovely Peach, Watermelon, Rose Pink, Sexy Red and Cherry Red.

If you haven’t heard of peel off lip stains before, then don’t worry I will explain!

Due to this being a peel off lip product it’s VERY gloopy and when you first try using them it can be very messy and on the fiddly side. This is completely normal! I know in the past when these first became a trend people would use a lip brush to apply these, but I personally found that that made it even harder to apply them, so I gave up on that idea very fast.

These have an applicator on the end like what you would get with a lip gloss which made it somewhat easy to apply. I don’t have an issue myself when applying these myself but I have found that the applicator could be smaller so that people with thinner lips or people who want to make sure to get an even definition on their top lip can.

When I say they’re gloopy, it is pretty much like glue and it kind of is really. Sometimes it’ll get stuck on the applicator itself and dry, so will need to be peeled off. This can be pretty satisfying to do! 😛

Avoid getting it into your mouth if you can for a couple of reasons. 1. Depending on the colour it cane make it look like your gums are bleeding and 2. It tastes DISGUSTING! It doesn’t have a scent either, it just tastes vile really and nothing polite. It can be ignored though and the amount of times it’s happened to me. It’s not nice but it’s tolerable.

On the tube itself there isn’t any directions of how long to leave the product to set. I had seen people post online that they’d left them for 5-10 minutes but this entirely depends to be honest. It depends how much or how little you apply.

Sweet Orange applied to the back of my hand. This is straight after application.

When applying on the lips the product can sometimes come out quickly so a lot of mess can ensue, as well as cause more of an application to be made than what was wanted. This can cause drying down time to increase, which I’ll go into.

Sweet Orange drying down, almost ready to peel off!

I personally leave these to dry down for a max of 15 minutes. I like to apply them last thing in my beauty regime so that I can go and do bits and pieces before going out. Such as have the loo, maybe do some washing up, possibly text some people. Anything where you won’t have to use your lips.

Sweet Orange being peeled off.

After 15 minutes you can sometimes feel if dry as it will begin to shrivel up and come away form the edges. It will also feel a little tight too. You’ll know when the middle is dry too as you peel away, but you can always have a tap with your finger to see for yourself.

Gross little peel! This goes straight into the bin! 😛

After peeling off you’ll sometimes be left with a little residue, which I find can be easily removed by dabbing some tissue on those parts. I’ve found with rubbing it can remove the colour, which you obviously don’t want!

When removing this I find that whilst a make up remover can help, just a normal baby wipe can help too with some Vaseline on it.

Excuse all the swatches! Sweet Orange colour left behind, which as you can see is a beautiful Tango orange colour!

This is said to wear for up to 12 hours, do I think it does? No, not really! It does also depend however on what type of food you’re eating. I drink a lot of hot drinks during my shifts at work so these stains can wear off very fast.

After applying them I always apply some Vaseline or any lip balm really over the top to keep my lips lovely and soft.

These have recently become my favourite lip product to use on a daily basis as they’re so comfortable to wear, won’t  leave any marks behind and last long enough to make you satisfied.

Due to the way you have to apply this product it’s not really something you can use on the go, unless you don’t care about looking weird for a max of 15 minutes! I’d use this at work but I don’t want people wondering what’s wrong with me. 😛 That and I have to answer phones so it wouldn’t really be convenient!

Overall, what do I think of these? First of all I love all the colour choices you get BUT the lightest shades are pretty poor in colour if you like a strong colour, like I do. My least favourite shade from the bunch definitely has to be Sweet Orange. It’s such an ugly colour! This being said though the pigment is amazing! My favourite shade is a toss between Watermelon and Cherry Red.

For the £3 I paid for these at the time they were definitely worth the money! Even that for each one would be worth the money in my mind as they’re really good quality for how cheap they are!

Do you think you’d give the Romantic Bear lip stains a go? Or have you already given the peel off lip stains a try? Make sure to let me know in the comment!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a lovely week!

February Wish List ’18

I can’t believe we’re already into month 2 of 2018! To be honest I’m not going to complain as January sucked! For the first couple of weeks of January I was poorly with various different things and in the end me and Dane pretty much worked out that I had the Aussie flu that was going around, which of course sucked! I booked 4 and a half days off work for my birthday and not only was I poorly for the whole of it, but Dane was also away for work so I was on my own. YUCK!

ANYWAY enough of me moaning, this wish list is one I was rather excited to do as there’s loads of awesome bits and pieces on it, however I am so stuck for money lately and especially since my car has recently been MOT’d and taxed! But my little red bug is my baby and I must take care of it, because let’s face it, it takes care of me 5 days a week. 😛

Random but I decided recently that I will no longer be showing the prices of items on wish lists. The reason for this being is that the price changes CONSTANTLY! Especially on websites such as Wordery, which I have featured twice on this post with the manga books. Of course I will continue to leave links for items so you’ll soon find out how much items are for yourself. I will still be talking about what a “bargain” something is or if it’s expensive. So you’ll get an idea from that alone.

So, let’s not delay anymore, on with the wish list!

• A Polar Bear In Love Vol. 2 – (link)

As regular readers will know for my birthday at the start of January I received A Polar bear In Love Vol. 1 from Dane (you can see what else I got for my birthday here) and I read it within a few days as I was so excited to! I now really want to get Vol. 2 which is released at the end of this month. I can’t wait to see what happens next in the story as it’s just so damn cute! 😀

• Pusheen Trinket Tray – (link)

I’ve wanted this cute little trinket tray for a while now but every time I contemplated buying it I changed my mind due to monies and that I didn’t exactly need it at the time. NOW however I really do need it as I want something to keep my jewellery in, such as the new ring I received for my birthday, my watch and my Thomas Sabo bracelet.

• Kimi No Na Wa/Your Name Bracelet – (link)

For my birthday in the evening me and Dane ate Japanese food and watched this film. After watching it I had a nose on eBay to see what merchandise is around from the film and I found this bracelet which is what Taki wears in the film. I’d love to have something like this from the film and I’d wear it all the time and for just £3.99 it wouldn’t break the bank to buy either. I’ll see if I fancy getting it throughout the month.

• Pusheen Door Mat – (link)

Me and Dane decided recently that we need another door mat, but this one would be for inside by the back door. I want something nice to match up to our awesome Deadpool one by the front door! I’ve had my eye on this one for a while and now it’s available to buy from Truffle Shuffle I really want to get my hands on it as soon as possible. I’m pretty sure we’ll be picking this up when we can.

• Barry M Cosmetics Under The Sea Nail Paint – (link)

Barry M are really on it lately with their releases and it includes some of their newer products they released at the end of January! I’ll be mentioned two here but this is one of them which is a mermaid inspired nail paint collection called Under The Sea. In the collection there are four shades Angelfish (pearlescent orange/nude), Jellyfish (purple/green), Butterflyfish (blue/pink) and Pinktail (pink/orange). Jellyfish and Butterflyfish are the two shades I’m after as I find they’re the prettiest and most aquatic/mermaid looking. I love wearing nail polish these days thanks to work so I’m always after getting pretty polishes to wear now! Barry M are really good with their nails paints so I’ll definitely be giving these a go.

• Persona 5 Morgana Nendoroid – (link)

If there is one Nendoroid I REALLY want right now, it’s Morgana from Persona 5! I was actually hoping Dane would have bought me him for my birthday but most websites in the UK who sell Nendoroid’s don’t actually have him until this month so… I recently shopped with Gamersheek and this is who I’ll be hopefully buying Morgana from them this month as I have a 10% discount code too! I just need him in my collection, especially being a huge Persona 5 fan! 😀

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life Vol. 1 – (link)

This was actually a manga Dane had ordered me for my birthday but the website stopped selling it and cancelled his order. NOW it’s back on the website I’ll be ordering it this month to read at some point. I love reading Miss Kobayash’s Dragon Maid and I’m currently all caught up until Vol. 6 comes out in May, so I may as well read Kanna’s Daily Life next. ^_^

• Barry M Cosmetics Holographic Lip Topper – (link)

Alongside Barry M’s Under The Sea nail paints they’re also bringing out these lip toppers which I’d also love to try! I keep lusting after the Lime Crime lip toppers but they’re expensive to be honest with you and if the Barry M ones do practically the same job then win win! I definitely want the blue and the pink shades.

• Chamilia Disney Lady and The Tramp Charms – (link) and (link)

When I saw these advertised about on Instagram I was SO HAPPY! I have been waiting for Lady and The Tramp charms for way too long and at £35.00 each they’re a bargain too! Apparently you can put these on Pandora bracelets but to be honest with you I’d fancy picking up a Chamilia bracelet for a change from Pandora. They sell Star Wars charms which is AMAZING! 😀 I’m going to keep my eye on picking these up when I have spare cash.

So there’s my wish list for this month! I’m still saving money or paying for other things so I’ll be watching my money again this month and only buying things I actually need or REALLY want.

What items do you have on your wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and hope you’re having a lovely weekend!

 

What I Got For Christmas!

Christmas is nearly over and bloody hell it went by fast! I can’t believe we’ve had the three magical days fly by us and leave a coating of snow behind.

I hope all of my readers and blogger friends had an amazing Christmas and (although it isn’t important) I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas! I know I did and more!

So, (as pretty much most bloggers do now!) I thought I would write about what lovely gifts I got from Dane, my family and friends this Christmas.

I want to disclose here that this is by any means me showing off what I got this year and I never feel like when I read fellow bloggers posts, or watch YouTube videos about it that people are meaning to show off. I love reading and seeing what my fellow bloggers received (as I’m a nosey bitch! :P) as it’s nice to see goodies they’ve wished for throughout the year as well as special meaning behind them! If you feel this is me showing off, click off of this post now because, ain’t nobody got time for that!

NOW! On with the post!

When writing this post I haven’t actually received all my gifts and one of my best friends still hasn’t been able to give me hers, but I’ll be seeing her around my birthday so I can definitely mention it then!

The first gift I want to talk about is the gorgeous little Sylveon print that Sarah over at Raiin Monkey sent me in the post! I wasn’t expecting it and it’s so sweet of her! I’m going to pop it up in the office somewhere so I can look at it whilst doing blog work. 🙂

My friend Jacqui was able give me hers from both her and her boyfriend Chris and it was such a thoughtful and beautiful gift! It may not look like much to many, but we’ve had quite a few cocktail evenings together and my cocktail shaker isn’t the best. It gets stuck and then you struggle to get the lid off. So they bought us this Smirnoff kit, with a gorgeous red and silver shaker in (it matches our kitchen!) as well as a glass and measure cup in! I couldn’t be any happier with it to be honest.

My friend Sophi sent me a little box of goodies and I love them all so much! She sent us some little Japanese sweeties (which sadly we ate before I took my pictures! :P), a Pusheen tote bag and some Pusheen socks, as well as a pair of fox socks. I can’t complain at getting socks and I’ll be wearing them to work to keep my feet toasty over the rest of the winter months! OH and she also put in a cute little Pusheen keychain too, which I’ll pop on my tote bag!

Speaking of Pusheen! Dane’s brother and his girlfriend bought me a gorgeous boxed Pusheen mug with socks! I love it so much and am currently drinking some lemon green tea from it. The socks that came with it are so adorable and have paw prints on the feet. As well as that they also gave me a cute Minnie Mouse face mask as well as a Winky Lux flower balm in green. When you apply it to your lips it works with the PH and turns into a gorgeous light pink! I can’t wait to use this and I’ve wanted one of these since they first came out!

My aunt and cousin both bought me and Dane this gorgeous dachshund pillow which I’m going to have for the chair in the office! As well as that they also picked me up a gold fox keyring which was popped into my Christmas card.

Dane’s gran bought me a little something for Christmas and that’s a Bailey’s gift set with a little glass and some Lindt Lindor chocolates, which I LOVE! This will be enjoyed New Years Eve or on my birthday for definite! 😀

My sister in law and  my nephews bought me a cute little lip butter set, and it’s so strange! They’re lovely and you get three flavours, coconut, cherry and peppermint.. I’ve never used a lip butter like this before but I’ll definitely be keeping these for work and around the house!

Dane’s parents bought me some lovely gifts and one that really did make me chuckle! The first gift I noticed they’d bought me and one they get me every year is a Lush Christmas gift set! This year they bought me The Snowman gift set. This one contains The Snowman bubbleroon, Butterbear bath bomb, Man In The Moon bubble bar and Snow Angel bath melt. I’m super excited to try Man In The Moon!

They picked me up three hot chocolates on sticks! I LOVE these and they actually bought these from one of our friends coffee stalls in Coventry! These are so amazing and work really well! They bought me a normal one, a mocca one and a peppermint one! I can’t wait to try the peppermint flavour and I’ll definitely make it in my new Pusheen mug. 😛

One of my favourite presents from Dane’s parents has to be the Your Name Blu-ray that they bought me! This isn’t just the ordinary Blu-ray either, but actually a collector’s edition so it comes with both Blu-ray, DVD and also a CD of the films soundtrack! It’s such a beautiful film and was one of my favourites I’d been to see in the cinema last year. I definitely recommend watching it if you get the chance, or if you have Amazon Prime as it’s on there to watch in both subbed and dubbed right now!

Finally the present that made me chuckle is this little pom pom… That is actually a panic alarm! You pull the keychain and it makes a very loud noise! I doubt I’ll pop this onto my handbag but I’ll definitely keep it inside of my bag for emergencies! You never know to be fair. I get why she picked this up for me though to be honest! In my old job I would get to the car park at 5.30am, I would be the only one, it was dark and at one point we had issues with people hiding in the dark on the level of the car park I was on. It did frighten me! So this gift whilst being strange, as very thoughtful all the same.

Now onto the gifts that Dane bought me, I’m going to save the present my mom bought me until last. Usually I would save Dane’s until then, but wait until you see what she bought for me!

Since moving into our house we have a tradition now of making stockings up for each other, which consist of cute little bits and pieces, as well as Japanese sweets! This was no acceptation this year and we both gifted each other Japanese gifts!

He picked me up an assortment of Japanese treats, which includes some Puccho sweets in ramune flavour (Japanese soda), some sour candy sweets which are also ramune flavoured, some Pokemon grape gummy sweeties and some green matcha flavoured Kit Kats which are MY FAVOURITE! Finally he bought me a Gudetama DIY kit where you get to make a pudding version of Gudetama to eat! I cannot wait to do this and I think I’ll be saving it for my birthday. ^_^

Also in my stocking I had a few other bits and pieces such as a new refill for my Filofax and what a cutie he is, he bought me on in pink! I need to use my Filofax more this year!

Also in my stocking and presents overall was a couple of little Pokemon goodies, all of them are so cute! The first thing I opened was this Eevee pouch type bag, which is an official Pokemon Center item! I don’t know quite yet what I’ll use this for, but I can see it being for feminine products once a month and maybe some random handbag bits and pieces. This was a gift he’d asked me if I liked the look of when we were both having a nose online for gifts for one another. I wasn’t all that fussed at the time but all the same when I opened it Christmas Day I still loved it! It’s a little Eevee which you’re meant to rest over a glass, but I can see me sticking it to the PC monitor or even by the side of my bed. Another Pokemon gift he bought me was this blind box (although he knew which one he’d ordered) which contain desk buddies. Dane bought me this Pikachu one which holds your mobile phone for you. He bought me this to have for work but I want to have it for by my bed! It’s so cute and such a thoughtful gift all the same.

One of my favourite gifts from Dane just has to be this onigiri squishy keyring from Tofu Cute! I get anxious during long car journeys, as well as in other certain situations! This not only feels relaxing to squish over and over, but it’s also scented with (what I think anyway) strawberries! On the way to and from Coventry for Christmas Day I was squishing away at this, as well as whilst at Dane’s parents on the day! It’s going to end up living in my handbag for when I feel anxious or angry and need to relieve some tension.

One of the presents I had asked for for Christmas after discovering its existence are these Haku chopsticks. Haku is the dragon from Spirited Away and is my favourite Studio Ghibli character! I didn’t know if these chopsticks would be real or fake, but when I inspected the packet they are in fact real and Studio Ghibli approved!

The first main gift that I opened was this, The Manga Cookbook, which also came with a pack of chopsticks! I love cooking Japanese food, especially if I’m craving Japanese and I can’t and don’t want to go out and eat or buy any. This is a cute little gift and I can’t wait for me and Dane to cook recipes together from it.

The next gifts are these two little Pokemon Center plushies, which are like Beanie Babies! I’ve been collecting these for a few years now, thanks to Dane but they’re now so hard to get hold of! I found someone in the UK selling these 2 for a decent price and I didn’t know if Dane wou;d pick them up or not… Alas he did and they’re so adorable! We have a Flareon and a Raichu here and they’ll go so well with my other Eeveelutions, as well as with my Pikachu!

If you got back and take a look at the Christmas wish list I made on Christmas Eve (which you can read here) you’ll see that I wished for a lot of anime shows/films on Blu-ray and apart from one, all of the ones I asked for I got! Two of those being A Silent Voice and Your Lie In April part 2. Alongside Your Name, A Silent Voice was one of my favourite films from 2017 and I’m so stocked to have it on Blu-ray! The box itself is gorgeous and I cannot wait to binge watch it with Dane one of the evenings this week. This is the collector’s edition Blu-ray too, which also includes a DVD and a special booklet that tells you all about the film, as well as about the manga.

The second Blu-ray Dane bought for me is part 2 of Your Lie In April, which is the final part of the special collector’s edition! He bought me part 1 and the special box at the start of the year for my birthday, so now I’m so happy to finally have the box set completed! This is definitely the first thing I’ll be watching with Dane out of all of the Blu-rays I received as I want to binge watch all of this with him! I haven’t continued to watch anymore of it until I had all of the box set for us to binge watch!

Aside from my main presents this was probably one of my favourites to be honest! It’s The Art Of Persona 5 and I have been lusting after this book since they announced it way back in the summer! I’m so pleased Dane bought it for me to be honest as on Christmas Day after I opened it I had a good flick through the whole thing and I cannot wait to sit down with a cup of coffee and read the whole thing, cover to cover. This year I discovered Persona 5, as well as the Persona franchise! I haven’t fallen in love with a franchise this hard since Pokemon and I am so chuffed that back when it came out at the start of the year that I bought it.

Finally we have the main gifts from Dane and my favourites! These are the 2 Nendoroid’s that Dane bought for me this Christmas and I was so surprised to be honest with you! I mentioned on my Christmas wish list that I had a feeling Dane would have bought me Yuri but when I opened Viktor and THEN Yuri I was so happy! I couldn’t have asked for better Nendoroid’s to have received this Christmas and I feel like such a lucky girl. We have no room right now to put these up anywhere so sadly they’ll be staying in the boxes until we have room. But I love my 2 YURI!!! boys so much and I cannot wait to play with them and display them in the future! So many YURI!!! On Ice Nendoroid’s have been announced lately that we will definitely be getting in the future!

Dane really spoilt me this year and I am so grateful for everything I received! I know I have another present arriving that he ordered me, it’s nothing special but it’s the thought that counts! FYI it’s a Macaroon Treats Yankee Candle!

Now onto my final present and definitely the one that blew me away the most. I was so surprised when I opened it to discover my mom had bought me a Dyson hairdryer! I know these aren’t cheap to be honest and I’ve lusted after one since they were announced, so the fact that my mom bought me one makes me feel so loved and special. I still can’t believe she bought it for me and after trying it, I really do adore it. I wish she could read how thankful and grateful I am.

So those were all the goodies I got for Christmas and I am so, SO thankful to everyone who bought myself, as well as Dane gifts this year!

What did you get for Christmas? Big or small I would love to hear what you got from loved ones. You know where to tell me. 😉

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re all resting after loads of Christmas and Boxing Day dinners!

November Favourites ’17

It’s December and it’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This year I even have not one, but two advent calendars and I have work to thank for both of them!

November for me was a mixture of a shit month and an amazing month, the latter outweighing the two. As many of you may have read, I left my old job in retail/hospitality and joined my new job in admin! I’ve just wrapped up my third week and I am still loving it. I just can’t believe how quick those three weeks have gone and I am now well and truly into the Christmas spirit!

This past week though I have been so drained that blogging has sadly taken a back seat. Even my favourites post this month is late being written due to this, so I do apologise for my silence the past week. Blogging will be back on schedule after today, I promise.

For now it is time for me to do the first out of both my monthly posts, the first of course being my favourites!

• Lush Snow Fairy Shower Gel.

As soon as me and Dane got back from our holiday in October, I knew it was time to get the Snow Fairy out of stash of Lush goodies! I always buy in the Boxing Day sales or get gifted a massive bottle of this glorious pink goo every Christmas/Birthday and I always save it for when Christmas is upon us. It just reminds me of Christmas and the closer we get to Christmas, the more excited I get! This scent is just Lush to me. Although not Snow Fairy, The Godmother shared it’s scent with this and that was the first Lush product I ever bought, so that already has a close spot in my heart. I love this shower gel though, but I’m so gutted Lush discontinued the large 1kg bottle this year.

• Lancome Miracle EDP.

I always forget that I own this perfume, until recently! This is an old perfume to be honest and one that is probably WAY out of date by now. I’ve owned it since Christmas 2012 when my brother bought it for me. It smells so strong and whilst this isn’t a bad thing, it’s definitely changed from what it once was. I decided a week ago that I would use up as many perfumes as possible and just re purchase ones that are my favourites, as well as any new ones I REALLY want. I have way too many perfumes and there’s only one of me. This is a gorgeous and strong EDP though and one that I can only highly recommend for women in their late 20’s and up as it’s a pretty mature scent.

• L’Occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream

This hand cream is amazing and I always forget this. The day I started my new job I decided I would start using this again and my hands are so grateful for it. I don’t really use it throughout my shift, as I use another one but this has been helping my hands in the morning before I leave for work and if my hands are super dry. I still have my massive tube as well, which lasts FOREVER! Best hand cream for sure, always helps my eczema during the cold months.

• MUA Lip Liner in shade Dark Thistle.

This is a lip liner that I bought to accompany and work with any raspberry pink lipsticks I own and to be honest whilst I LOVE wearing it with those, I especially love wearing it on it’s own with a bit of gloss or lip balm. This is pretty much how I’ve worn it the past couple of weeks and probably how I’ll continue to wear it! These lip liners only cost a £1 and not only do they last ages on their own, as well as with lipsticks but they’re also super comfortable to wear AND even come with their own sharpener. I definitely want to invest in picking up more of these.

• Carmex Lip Balm in Cherry.

I picked this up for my holiday to Fuerteventura back in September and throughout the whole holiday I used this constantly, only to come home and not use it. I threw it into my handbag the first day of my new job and since then that is where it’s stayed. I use it all the time at work and due to my office being warm this melts a little which makes it so much easier to use than it usually is! You can apply loads of this and it really does keep my lips feeling moisturised and soft. I’ve heard that Carmex have brought out a sugar plum flavour, which I intend to pick up asap!

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

Favourite TV Show – The Sinner.

This is a show that Dane told me about ages ago and had found online for us to watch. I never watched it and neither did he. When we found out it would be on Netflix we jumped at the chance to watch it. We binge watched it in a mere matter of days and the story is amazing! I didn’t know it was based off of a novel until I was searching for the trailer above, but it honestly doesn’t surprise me! It’s a thriller about a woman who murders a man on a beach and no one knows why. You find out more about her past as well as present as the story goes on and it really does keep you on the edge of your seat. If you fancy something to binge watch like this, please watch! I’ve also linked about the main song of the show as it’s amazing and as soon as I finished watching the show I went to find it so I could download it!

Favourite Film – The Boy & The Beast.

I have literally just finished watching this film. For ages now Dane has been trying to get me to watch this and for ages I said, “Nah I don’t want to, I won’t enjoy it.” Well it just goes to show how well Dane really knows me, it would seem more than myself as I loved watching this film. I thought it was going to be full of karate and kung fu style stuff, which is wasn’t. That’s why I thought I wouldn’t like it! It’s by the same people as The Wolf Children, which is one of my favourite anime films, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that I loved this film. This is currently on Amazon Prime Video to watch as subbed.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Vol. 4.

I’VE STARTED READING AGAIN! I took some manga with me to work recently and actually read some, woohoo! It’s nice being able to get back into reading again as I’ve really missed it. It’s especially nice to have my lunch at my desk and read a manga. I have a feeling I’ve got some manga for Christmas this year so I need to make sure I read loads now before then to make sure I have time to read that too. 😛

Favourite Song/Album – Radio Bam.

If there’s one radio show (aside from any Tim Shaw has hosted!) I wish could come back, it’s Radio Bam, even if it came back as a podcast! I always forget how funny and random this show is and not only is the music amazing that Bam Margera plays throughout the shows, but the stories him and his guests (mostly the cKy guys) tell are so damn funny! Well, to me anyway. I’ve downloaded 100 episodes (there are 302 in total) and I’m currently listening to episode 17. The thing that made me think about downloading and listening to these again is the rush hour traffic I get stuck in on my way to work. I love listening to music on the way to work, but if I could listen to an episode of this instead, it would definitely make for an interesting change. I’ve popped up a funny moment above, I will say the show IS OFFENSIVE so this sort of thing won’t be for everyone, it is however for me, so sorry. 😉 The clip above is definitely one of my favourites.

Image taken from weheartit.com

Favourite Game – Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, South Park: The Fractured But Whole and Sims 4.

Oh man this month has been about ALL THE GAMES for me! Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp came out and if you don’t know it by now, I’m a HUGE Animal Crossing fan! I’ve played all the games so when Nintendo announced a phone game, I knew I’d fall in love. When it came out in Australia and I saw my friends in the UK playing it, I was insanely jealous. So when it finally came out recently I downloaded straight away and since then I’ve been addicted.

As well as that I’ve also been addicted to playing Sims 4. Me and Dane played the demo of it on the Xbox One and although we enjoyed playing it, we didn’t like the way it played on the console. During Black Friday we picked it up online for less than £20 and we don’t regret it one bit. We’ve played it loads since and will probably spend most of tomorrow playing it together in bed, as well as on Sunday!

Finally I finished The Fractured But Whole and oh my God what a fucking ending! Although I’m not 100% sure/keen about the game play in the second game, I definitely love the story so much more! You can really see why it was getting delayed for so long, the guys did an amazing job with it and now I can’t wait to play it all over again to try and get all the trophies, like a sad git I am! 😛

So those are my favourites from November! I can’t believe in 30 days we’ll be looking to start a New Year. This year has gone by way too fast, can time just stop for a little? 😛

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

Until next time all, take care and I hope you have a lovely weekend!