September Favourites ’20

Wow, did September fly by or what?! I can’t quite believe it’s October and I’m still saying and writing September down when referring to this month.

As I mentioned this time last month, September is my favourite month of the year, for autumn and it’s always the month I have associated with as a “fresh start”. This is down to starting education in September and preparing myself for that. I was one of those teenagers who started a new year of school with a “new year, new me!” approach… But never really changed much. xD

However, September 2020 for me has been… Shit. Due to lockdown I haven’t been able to do stuff I usually would in the run up to autumn, which sucks, but without saying too much, I’ve been grieving during September and I can only see October being the same. This is also why there wasn’t a blog post last week.

Aside from that September was just bland really. I had to “take a stand” and look after my mental health. I’d found being part of group chats and Discord chats to be too much for me and I’ve ended up muting them for the foreseeable future. That “new year, new me!” stance I’ve always had since the age of 13 appears to have been used this year for sure! xD

This months favourites are strange. I found that a lot of beauty related items I’ve loved have been holy grails for me, especially for my hand, which flared up with my dermatitis. SO, I hope the one product mentioned may help others out there who have dermatitis like myself, or eczema.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

Anyhoo, enough of me waffling and being depressing (ha! xD), on with the monthly favourites for September!

• Happy Place Cosmetics Wild Child Body Scrub.

I got this body scrub towards the end of July/start of August in my Happy Place Cosmetics monthly box. This is my favourite item that was in the box, but I was wary I wasn’t going to like the scent after reading the description on the website. It’s described as being a dupe of Lush’s 29 High Street scent. This is a definite dupe, but back in the day when I was a Lushie, 29 High Street wasn’t a scent I particularly liked. However, it’s really grown on me and actually reminds me of Christmas! It’s a warm foral, but fruity scent! Lush say that 29 High Street is said to be the scent of a Lush shop when you walk in. I think this has changed the past 8 years however…

Honestly though, the Happy Place Cosmetics body scrubs are AMAZING and by far the best I’ve ever used. They’re really scrubby, but they also foam up too depending on how much water you add. I don’t feel like I’ve had a body scrub work as well as these do. I use them once a week and they make my skin lovely and soft. At the time of writing this post (evening of 30/09/2020) there are some body scrubs available on the Happy Place Cosmetics website, so if you’re interested in them, go and check out the website.

• Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm.

When I say this product has been a lifesaver, I really mean it. I’ve mentioned on and off on my blog how my eczema/dermatitis is really bad on my hand the past year and at one point over the past month it got so bad and uncomfortable. So much so, it was waking me up in the night due to how itchy it was. I decided to research what products I could buy and use on it after washing my hands and in between the ointment my doctor had prescribed me. Lyonsleaf came up and after doing a lot of reading and watching of reviews on YouTube, I decided to order myself a little tub. It’s honestly amazing stuff! It’s greasy in consistency but a little goes a long way. It doesn’t have a scent or taste when applied to the skin, but in the jar it does remind me of a Sunday dinner/gravy sort of smell, which is so odd! I really do recommend this though if you have really dry skin and need something to soothe it, especially if it’s just patches like what I have.

• Doll 10 Doll Skin Perfecting Treatment Powder.

This is something my mom bought me as a gift quite a while ago. I’ve only really started to use it during lockdown whenever I’m popping out for the day, or fancy wearing doing myself up as if I’m going out for the day. Lately I’ve been venturing out a little more, whether it’s going for a shop, getting my nails done or running errands out and about. This is a light translucent powder which goes on pretty straight forward. It’s been my go to really to remove any excess oil on my t-zone. I couldn’t say if it actually keeps the oil at bay all day but it works for me enough at the moment during “lockdown” and whilst I’m working from home. I’m never usually a fan of loose powders as I find they often don’t get picked by the brush (if that makes sense?) which can wind me up a little as I feel like I’m constantly trying to get an even coverage on my face. This being said, this powder is pretty good for that!

• Nivea Blueberry Blush Lip Butter.

I mentioned this a couple of months on my monthly favourites and I’m mentioning it again! This lip butter by Nivea is so lovely to use and as sad as it sounds, it’s a treat for me to use throughout the week during work. It’s buttery, creamy and a little goes a long way. It feels really nice and moisturising on the lips and it smells absolutely gorgeous! I love blueberries and especially love blueberry scented things so this is right up my street. I usually go to Vaseline when it comes to lip balms, but I’m really loving the Nivea lip butter lately, so this is definitely a product I’ll repurchase in the future. I highly recommend it is you want a good lip butter/cream. It’s not greasy or sticky, yet it lasts ages on the lips!

• Bath Bake Love White Cocoa Fluffy Whip Soap.

The final product I want to talk about for the beauty side of my monthly favourites is Bath Bake Love, an independent beauty brand I have fallen in love with during lockdown. I’d like to write a blog post about them in the future, but I don’t know when it’ll be. Anyway, this is the first and only fluffy whip soap I’ve tried by them and it smells of white chocolate/white hot chocolate. It’s divine and it isn’t just me who loves it too, my boyfriend has really taken to this and has been using is everyday to wash with in the mornings. It’s a thick creamy soap, it looks more like a buttercream than soap and it smells like it too. A little goes a long way and when used in a sponge or a shower puff it really foams up and leaves you with loads of lovely smelling lather/bubbles. This can also be used in the bath, which my boyfriend has done. Bath Bake Love has definitely become a must have for our shower and I cannot wait to try and own more of their products in the future. They currently have their Halloween range on their website, so make sure to go and check them out. 🙂

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

Gif taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – The Boys.

First of all, sorry for the C word being used on the gif… Butcher is one of my favourite characters for the way he is, so I had to include that gif. 😛 We are already six episodes into season 2 of The Boys and so far I’m really enjoying it! There’s been loads happen since season 1 finished last year, which is always good. One of the episodes so far felt really slow and I know I wasn’t the only person saying this. Monday morning meetings are spent with my team discussion the episode of The Boys from the weekend and what we thought of it. We’ve all had the same feelings about it and so far we are all loving it! I really do look forward to spending Friday night or Saturday morning watching the latest episode with Dane. The Boys reminds me of Preacher, which ended last year, just after The Boys began. They’re both based off of comics of the same dark comedy, so they’re good in my books! I definitely recommend checking out The Boys and Preacher if you have Amazon Prime, as that’s where they’re hosted.

Favourite Movie – I’m Thinking of Ending Things.

Although we watched this film at the end of start of September it’s the only film I’ve really watched lately that I could think of adding to my monthly favourites this month. This is one that Dane had watched the trailer for, heard about online and really wanted to watch. We popped it on and I swear throughout we were constantly questioning what the fuck was going on. It’s a psychological drama about a young woman who is contemplating ending the six week relationship with her boyfriend as they drive to his parents house so she can meet them for the first time. It spirals from there, but I don’t really want to say much in case it reveals any spoilers but it’s based off of a novel and is directed by Charlie Kaufman the guy behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you have Netflix or are able to watch it another way I highly recommend it. 🙂

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Oops…

Oops indeed. I didn’t read anything this month. I really need to just have an evening off of my phone, Nintendo Switch and laptop and just read! Sometimes though I just don’t feel like I have time. I’m always trying to make way for everything and reading takes a back burner. Earlier today I ordered Aggretsuko Vol. 1 comic book! I love Aggretsuko so I’m rather excited for that to arrive tomorrow or Friday to read over the weekend… If I’m able to! Honestly though, I have so many manga volumes and comics to read. I really need to get on it!

Favourite Music – PVRIS – Use Me.

PVRIS new album Use Me came out at the end of August and it’s one I’ve been listening to on and off throughout September, but I definitely need to listen to it a lot more. I wanted to share one of the songs from the album that I’ve already fallen in love with, starting with “Loveless”. This song is clearly about a breakup but it’s got such a lovely acoustic melody behind it, as well as powerful lyrics that a lot of people who have or are going through a breakup can relate to. I just love it so much and after I heard it for the first time, I replayed it a few times and got the lyrics up to read as it played and sing along to. Who else does this? 😛

Overall I really love Use Me but I think it’s one that will have to grow on me. I love PVRIS’s previous two albums so much, but that isn’t it. I think due to the fact 5/11 songs on the album have come out gradually the past year as singles and EP’s, nearly half of the albums isn’t a “surprise”, if that makes sense? Even so, I still love it! PVRIS has fast become one of my favourite bands the past year and a half and that’s not going to change.

Favourite Game – Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition (Nintendo Switch).

I only bought this game about a week ago but it’s already earnt it’s place on my monthly favourites for September due to how much I’ve played it already! The week I bought this was when I received some bad news and I looked on the eShop for something simple to play, but not for a lot of money. I picked Not Tonight up for a BARGAIN price of £1.94! I think it was 90% off so the game was roughly £19? Crazy how cheap this was, but totally worth it! It’s set after Brexit and you’re playing a bouncer with European in their blood. You live in a dump, work for shit money and have loads of bills and taxes to pay. You have to check the ID of people coming in pubs, clubs, festivals, events and even on the border of the UK. I love it, it’s such a “relaxing” game to play which has a dark sense of humour about it. Some people I’ve spoken to about the game said it sounds depressing. It’s really not. If it’s still on offer on the eShop I highly recommend it, I’m sure you won’t miss £1.94 eh?

So, there we have it, my favourites from September. I’ve had to write this post the day before it’s due to be out and I honestly can’t believe tomorrow is going to October. This year has flew, even with the circumstances of COVID. I wish September hadn’t gone by so quickly and I wish myself and my family hadn’t received the news we did… I’m kind of glad for a new month due to that, but at the same time, I don’t know what October will bring. Fingers crossed something good, eh?

What have you been loving throughout September? Are you excited for autumn, the nights starting to draw in and Halloween? I’m excited for Halloween! I’m going to try and use October as the month to watch Halloween movies I’ve always meant to. 🙂

Speaking of, what’s your favourite Halloween movie? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, stay safe and take care all. 🙂

May Favourites ’20

It’s safe to say that May was weird and really shitty… For me at least anyway!

As many of you may or may not have noticed, I was quiet on my blog this past month and the reason for that being that I just didn’t feel up to writing any content… Which makes me feel incredibly sad. I wanted to write, but I just didn’t have the mental energy to. Most evenings after work I found myself crawling into bed (yes, even during the hotter days) with my laptop and Switch Lite and did nothing constructive. I binged TV shows, played Animal Crossing and that was about it.

Image taken from The Latest Kate

I’m not meaning to start off this months favourites with a sop story but I just want to be honest as to why my blog was so quiet this month. I’m hoping that June will be better and I can continue to bring you all the geeky, kawaii content that I know you all love!

Aside from May being rubbish, May was also a month that seemed to fly by and I discovered some new things, as well as remembering and enjoying some old.

• Molton Brown Fiery Pink Pepper Bath & Shower Gel.

I recently discovered that I had a bottle of this in my bathroom cupboard and was delighted! In May we had some water damage from our bathroom to the kitchen and I was and still am gutted. So, this has been lovely to rediscover and use every other day in the shower. The scent left behind on the skin is strong and lingers around for ages after you get out of the shower, which I don’t often get after I’ve had a shower. I know Molton Brown isn’t cheap, so I don’t know when I’ll ever buy a bottle of their bath & shower gel again. I think I might treat myself in the future, but it’ll depend. I highly recommend though if you love your showers and want a real treat!

• Nails Inc Ocean Ever After Nail Polish.

I have been blown away by this nail polish the last couple of weeks of May! It has lasted over a week without chipping and I am so pleased. I really miss having my nails painted with gel and I honestly can’t wait for my nail tech to be open again so I can go and get pampered. Whilst I wait for my nail tech to open her salon, I’ve been painting my nails again, which honestly I have somewhat missed. As I write this post I’m still wearing this gorgeous blue/green shade is still intact and I love it so much. It’s the perfect shade for summer due to the mermaid effect and whilst I’m not getting comments on it due to isolation, I know when I’ve worn this in the past, people have always commented. This was part of a duo set, which I have a feeling Nails Inc don’t sell anymore. 😦

• Nivea Blueberry Blush Lip Butter.

This is another product I recently rediscovered as I needed another lip balm. I used to use this one loads during a period when the corners of my mouth were prone to infections (I know that’s gross, but it’s true!), and for some reason I discontinued use. I think this was down to Vaseline working better at the time alongside the steroid cream I was given. However, it’s back out and being used daily and it is amazing! First of all, I love blueberry scented (and flavoured) things and this smells so fruity and yummy. This really is a lip butter, it’s thick and a little goes a long way. It feels really nice on the lips when applied and like it’s actually moisturising. I especially love to use this before bed, so I can wake up with soft lips in the morning. Although it’s pink in the tin, it doesn’t tint or change the colour of your lips, which is great too. I definitely recommend this.

• Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover.

As I mentioned previously above, due to COVID I’m not able to go and get my nails done by my nail tech, so I’m doing them myself at home. I decided to buy myself a cuticle remover from Amazon so I could do my nails properly. I hadn’t touched my cuticles over a month and they were pretty bad. I couldn’t wait for this remover to arrive, as well as the cuticle remover tools I’d ordered too. This works amazing and it only takes 15 seconds for it to work it’s magic as well. A little goes a long way and it doesn’t hurt or sting when applied. I even did Dane’s nails with it too to see what it could do. The results were amazing. I use this once a week when I paint my nails, I don’t know if that’s too much or not, but it’s what I’m doing. 🙂

• The Body Shop Peppermint Cooling Foot Spray.

With us in the UK being graced with warm weather at the moment, both me and Dane have been using this cooling foot spray at the moment. It’s so refreshing to use throughout the day whilst we’re at home, especially when you’re feeling really warm! They always say if you’re feeling either hot or cold, you need to cool/warm your feet up for your whole body to cool/warm up. This definitely applies to me, so when I’ve been really warm in the day, I’ve sprayed some of this on both the tops and bottoms of my feet, let it dry and then gone about my day. It’s so quick drying and due to the size of the bottle it’s handy to take out and about with you if need be. I always forget how much I love this foot spray!

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

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – Jackass.

I’ve been binge watching a lot of shows this month, especially as I needed to cheer myself up after a few crappy things happening. I haven’t binged Jackass for a while now, so I decided now was a good time to do so. So far I’ve only watched season 1 and 2 of the show but I always forget how much I love it, certain scenes and how much I miss Ryan Dunn (who died almost 10 years ago). The guys are currently working on Jackass 4, which I am so excited for. I am wondering what will happen however, as this will be the first film without Ryan Dunn. Nonetheless, I am still really excited and will continue to binge watch the rest of the show, as well as the movies.

Favourite Movie – Unbroken.

This is a film that Dane popped on one evening for us to watch and I ended up finishing watching it on my own (as he had things to do). This film is amazing and I loved every moment of it. It’s directed by Angelina Jolie and is all about an American man fighting in the Second World War. He is captured by the Japanese and sent off to various prisoner of war camps. It’s all based on a true story and it’s a really emotional watch. It’s on Netflix and I can’t recommend it enough to watch. I might watch it again soon in the future, as I loved it that much.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – Skinema.

Yes. I actually read a book! Well, part of a book anyway. I read and I haven’t done that for months… If not years at this point. This book was actually kindly bought for me from Estelle (go check out her blog over at Estellosaurus!) after sharing my Amazon wish list (which I’ll link here). I was so happy when it arrived as I have wanted this book for years! I actually bought it from Amazon before Christmas but it got lost in the post so I had to get a refund. I even tweeted Chris Nieratko telling him I’d ordered the book and he replied! Told me it’s probably going to be shit so to be prepared. So far, I love it and it was a mixture of what I did and didn’t expect it to be. I highly recommend reading if you’re a fan of Jackass, as well as have a dark sense of humour and open to anything.

Favourite Songs – Bush – “The Sound of Winter” and Institute – “When Animals Attack”.

I’ve been binge listening to Radio Bam since lock down began over two months ago and I’ve now finished it. Two of the songs I discovered years ago through the episodes and now love are my two favourite songs this month. They’re both bands fronted by Gavin Rossdale by the way. Out of the two I love “The Sound of Winter” the most as it has such a great sound behind it. These are just songs I’ve found myself listening to almost everyday whilst working and doing things in my own time (such as writing and playing Animal Crossing). Go and give them a listen if you like rock music and haven’t heard them before. 😀

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Still Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Is it really odd for Animal Crossing to be here again this month? I’ve not played anything else in all honesty and I think it’s obvious why. This game is going to be on my monthly favourites for quite some time now due to how excited I still am to play it. For the whole of June there will be a new event coming called Wedding Season Event, which I am really excited for! We haven’t yet seen Reese and Cyrus yet in New Horizons so I’m excited to see them both soon! It is getting to a point at the moment with Animal Crossing where I would like some more events to come, as well as the introduction to some old and very loved characters. I’m really missing The Roost and Brewster right now, so I hope we hear about it from Nintendo soon. 🙂

So there are all my favourites from May! I can’t believe we’re already in June. June is always a momentous month for me. It’s the month we got the keys to our house, but most of all it’s mine and Dane’s anniversary. We’ve been in our house for 4 years and together for 7 years. All that time has really flew by and I can’t quite believe it to be honest with you. I’m also excited for June to come along as May was shit. June will hopefully be the month we get things done and sorted… Which I may talk about more in the future. 😀

So, what were your favourites from May? Are you going to check out any of the things I mentioned in mine? Let me know in the comments! 😀

Until next time, take care and stay safe. 🙂

October Favourites ’19

We literally have 2 more months until 2020… This is scary. I can’t keep saying each month, “WOW THIS YEAR IS FLYING BY!” because it’s so repetitive… It is scary though, isn’t it?

October was a pretty busy month for me! As I write this blog post I’m currently on my last day off from work after an amazing week off. We didn’t do much in all honestly, it was more of a mixture between doing things fun together and relaxing separately and doing our own thing. We also went to the Pokemon Center in London on Monday, as most of you seem to have already read and enjoyed! It was a crazy day and I will link the blog post here so you can go and read it for yourself.

October really did fly by and I’m so not ready for November already! It’s going to be such a great and yet busy month, but I’ll talk more about that on my monthly newsletter, which will be live later today. SO make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already so you can see what I’ll be up to this month. 😛

Anyhoo, I’m going to plod on with the favourites of the month!

• Nivea Indulgent Moisture Coconut Shower Cream Gel.

I picked up this shower cream gel from Poundland (obviously for a £1) on the whim that I needed some more shower gel and this stuff sounded good. For a £1, this is such a great shower gel as it really does leave my skin feeling baby soft after getting out of the shower. It has a gorgeous soft coconut scent to it too, which is always lovely! Coconut scents really do remind me of Fuerteventura so I always love to use coconut scented stuff in the shower/bath. This is such a good find for the price and I’m definitely going to pick it up again in the future.

• Baylis & Harding Oatmeal, Milk and Honey Cream Hand Wash.

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this hand wash on my blog before and it’s really one I love! It’s not the best in the world for my eczema prone skin, but it’s better than most, that’s for sure! I recently had a phase of using Method’s foaming hand wash and I tell you what, it ruined my bloody skin! It made my hands so sore and they would split if I didn’t put much hand cream on them. Once those hand washes were used up, I decided to go back to my Baylis & Harding one, which smells gorgeous and keeps my hands feeling clean and somewhat soft. I really need to find a good hand wash for my hands. 😦

• Bath & Body Works Black Cherry Melot Hand Sanitizer.

I recently had a clear out of some of my old beauty related matter and I stumbled across a little metal tin FULL of Bath & Body Works hand sanitisers! At least 10 in there that are either brand new, or been used a few times. I was in need of some more sanitiser to keep in my bag so I decided to throw the Black Cherry Melot one in. This smells gorgeous and reminds me of autumn due to the warming scent of black cherries. Whilst me and Dane were at the Pokemon Center in London we used this hand sanitiser before we had something to eat and the scent lasted ages! It’s gorgeous! I’m planning to use up all of the bottles I have and then somehow buy some fresh new smells in 2020. 🙂

• Lush Candy Cane Reuseable Bubble Bar.

This doesn’t look like the traditional/usual Candy Cane from Lush and this is because I’ve broken it up so it’s a little easier to use in my bath sieve. I’ve used a couple of chunks of these this month in the bath and even used one in a bath I ran for Dane. This isn’t something I’ve picked up recently and was actually a part of a Secret Santa gift from my previous job last Christmas. The person who bought me my Secret Santa gifts did good and I loved everything she bought me! 🙂 This bubble bar doesn’t smell anything like peppermint, as you would expect it to and it doesn’t even smell of candy, as the name could suggest. It smells of bloody lemon… Lush’s favourite scent (insert face palm here)… This being said it leaves a lovely light red colour in the water and leaves me feeling soft. This has lasted ages and as you can see from the photos, I still have a fair few chunks left. I actually plan to use this in the bath tonight! 😀

• Taya Copaiba Amazon White Clay Advanced Blend Thickening Shampoo.

Finally we have a new shampoo! I was in need of something new as my previous one was really close to running out. I decided to go with Taya Copaiba again as I loved the shampoo I had previously from the brand. This one is a thickening shampoo and it really does thicken! I’ve used it a fair few times now and do feel like my hair looks and feels thicker after drying and especially when I plait my hair ready for the day! The only issue I’ve had so far is that this seems to take a lot to foam up and go through the hair without using too much product. I’m sure this is something I will get used to soon. 🙂

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

Image taken from GIPHY

 

 

Favourite TV Show – The Dog House.

This is a TV show over on Channel 4 that me and Dane binge watched recently in a couple of days. We love dogs, so when we saw there was a TV show to show people rehoming dogs, we knew we had to watch. There are so many lovely dogs on the show and it makes us happy to know they were all adopted by loving families. We wish we could get a dog, so the fact we can’t, it’s nice to get some joy from TV shows like this. 🙂 Plus all the cute dogs and puppies on there made us happy! It’s an 8 episode series and sadly we have now finished it. 😦 I hope we get a second series of this show already.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Movie – Joker.

We haven’t been to the cinema since July, so I decided to book for us to go and watch Joker a couple of days after it came out. It was worth going to and both me and Dane loved it! The film is a mixture of drama and thriller and really does work well. I love seeing how Arthur declines throughout the film and how well this is done by Joaquin Phoenix. The best thing about watching this in the cinema was the sound, which was amazing! Honestly loved this film and I’ll definitely look at picking it up on DVD or Blu-Ray when it comes out.

Image taken from Good Reads

Favourite Book – Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe (link)

I haven’t been reading my manga/comic books again… I honestly just don’t feel like I have time to sit and read right now and I know this sounds like an excuse but I honestly do feel that way. I would take books with me to work to read, but I like to do my blog work on my breaks at work and soon enough I’ll be taking a Switch to work to play… Probably… Either way, you get the gist! This being said, I have on and off been reading a cartoon over on Webtoons right now called Lore Olympus, which is about Hades and Persephone. I’m really enjoying it and I really need to keep on reading it.

Favourite Album – Calvin Harris – Ready for the Weekend.

I go through phases of listening to certain albums that I haven’t listened to for ages. The album I am talking about this month is one of them. I LOVED Calvin Harris back in the day, but after the Motion album, I kind of fell out of love. He’s just changed a lot from back in the day and whilst he’s improved dramatically, I just have too many memories of his first two albums and how much I loved them when I was younger. They were all the songs I’ve heard when on nights out with friends and I especially loved Ready for the Weekend because of this. I remember when “Flashback” came out and I was at my “going out” prime. I was out most evenings partying with friends and would always request this song to play. I still love it to bits and whenever I’ve been driving home from work I’ve played it. Honestly, just love it! 😀

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Borderlands 3.

I could have mentioned this game on last months favourites to be honest, but it came out at the end of September, so I didn’t play it much throughout September. This game was constantly played by both myself and Dane and I’ve honestly enjoyed it so much and still am. I’m not a massive fan of first person shooters as I’m just rubbish at them, but the more I played Borderlands 3 the better I got and the more I enjoyed playing! I decided to go for a siren and have really enjoyed stomping on my enemies and sending them flying. 😛 We’ve also played this online with friends, which has also been loads of fun! 😀 November is going to be such a busy gaming month what with Luigi’s Mansion 3 being out now, as well as Pokemon Sword and Shield. So, make sure you’re prepared for lots of game talk in November’s favourites post. 😛

So, that is all of my favourites from October! I honestly can’t believe how quick this month has flown by! It’s been a really busy one, but one I have loved too. I was so excited for certain things such as the Pokemon Center London, getting my nails done at a salon and especially my week off with Dane. It’s been good but I don’t know if I’m prepared for Christmas yet… 😛

How was everyone’s October? What were your favourite things and what did you get up to? 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! I know I am. 😛

April Favourites ’18

Image taken from GIPHY

Oh man I had to use that gif! I’ve never done this before so any time is better than no time! 😛

April went by so damn quick to be honest and I can’t believe that not only is May here, but that Avengers Infinity Wars is also here and breaking everyone’s hearts.

I’m off work tomorrow (YAYS!) so I’m going to have a blog and chill day. For now though I’m catching up on some housework whilst doing some blogging.

This months favourites are pretty good (in my opinion anyway!) and I’m loving everything on this list, which I hope you do too! 😀

• Jo Malone Cologne in Earl Grey & Cucumber (review)

This is an old favourite of mine and one I tend to use on and off whenever the mood takes me. It’s one I got through my old job at Costa Coffee and since then I use it on special occasions. I think pretty much every weekend in April however, I’ve used this when going out! It’s a really strong perfume so you can use it once and it’ll last for ages! I love the scent so much and although I love it more during autumn and winter, it’s been so refreshing to use during the spring month of April!

• Antipodes Deliverance Hand Cream.

I was bought this as a Christmas present back in 2015, which I know is forever ago and probably means that it’s out of date but I don’t care. 😛 When tidying stuff in our bedroom a few weeks back I found this hand cream again and have started to use it. I use it daily now, especially at work and it’s really helped my hands with their recent spell of dryness! It smells really nice, just like lemongrass and isn’t too heavy and thick on your hands. I just love it to use throughout my shifts at work, as well as on the go. I’d definitely buy it myself.

• Nivea Peach Shine & Cherry Shine Caring Lip Balm.

I would just talk about one of these this month but I love both so much equally that they both need to be spoken about! I used to use the cherry and strawberry Nivea lip balms ALL THE TIME during my final years of school! I just feel like a kid again and it’s so weird. The cherry one is tinted so you get a slight pinky/red tint, which is lovely. The peach one you don’t really get much of a tint. They both smell amazing too, which I love the most! Towards the end of the month my lips have been splitting again at the sides, so sadly I haven’t been able to use the lip balms.

• Newtons Labs T-Zone Spot Zapping Gel.

This is an oldie and goldie I have loved on and off over the years. I always have a supply of it in case I break out badly and need it. I don’t know why but a couple of weeks ago my cheeks broke out so badly that I worried it was the start of acne. Thankfully due to other beauty products it’s now passed, but I do feel this tea tree gel really has helped too!

• The Body Shop Strawberry Shower Gel.

This is always a firm favourite of mine and Dane bought it for me for my birthday this year. I started using it FINALLY in April and I always forget how much I love it. It reminds me of when I was a child, my mom would always buy it for me and I fondly remember using it before school most mornings when I was in primary school. It’s definitely a great shower gel to start using with spring here!

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

Image taken from Amazon.co.uk

Favourite TV Show – Hitoshi Matsumoto Presents Documental Season 1.

Oh man if there is a show I have thoroughly loved and enjoyed it’s definitely Documental! Dane was watching it one morning and got me to watch the start of episode 3, I really got into it and continued to watch that episode, as well as 4 with him. I then went on to watch episode 1 and 2 on my own. Since then I’ve watched it again, as some of the moments in episode 3 and 4 are absolutely hilarious! It’s created and presented by a big Japanese comedian, Hitoshi Matsumoto. 10 Japanese comedians are locked in a room for either 6 or 9 hours and the one whose left in the room will win 10 million yen! Each comedian has taken in a million yen, which obviously makes up the prize money. The one who will win the 10 million yen needs to be the one who doesn’t laugh or smile. Some of the stuff the comedians will do to throw one another off is just amazing. I’ve seen online that there’s 3, maybe even 4 seasons now and I cannot wait for them all to come out!

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – Black Panther and Marvel Infinity War

I know I’m talking about two Marvel films, but I just have to! First of all just before Dane’s birthday we went to see Black Panther and it’s fast turned into one of my favourite Avengers movies! There was so much action going on throughout the movie and it was perfect. I especially loved Erik Killmonger (reason why the gif is of him! :P) and he stole the show, well… Movie. 😛

The second film on this list is Infinity War. I’m not going to talk too much about this film here, obviously due to spoilers and shit. Let’s just say both me and Dane were really excited but nervous to go and watch it. We went in excited and unsure what to expect, but left feeling confused and depressed. Honestly I felt low the whole of Sunday, as did Dane. I think I can speak for us both when we say we want to go again soon to see it.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Book – K-ON!

I love K-ON! the anime so much! So this time last year I ended up buying all of the manga because I needed more. I’ve only just recently started reading them of late however! I’m currently on Vol. 3 and loving it! I just love getting to work early most mornings and reading them before I head in. It’s also funny reading them during my shifts at work during my breaks too. I can’t wait to finish reading them however though now.

Favourite Song/Album/Artist – James Arthur.

This is thanks to the radio at work to be honest. Both of these songs come on on a daily basis and I love them so much! James Arthur has such a lovely singing voice and I’ve found myself singing along to these songs most days throughout the month. There isn’t much more music I can talk about on here really as I haven’t listened to much more in all honesty.

Favourite Game – A Way Out.

During our depressive state after Marvel Infinity Wars me and Dane decided to buy this on the Xbox One. We’ve been playing it together and we’re having so much fun. It’s about two guys and you get to pick who you play as. Leo is already in prison, but you start the game either playing as or witnessing Vincent coming into the prison. From there you have to work together to escape prison and both take on the same person who caused you to be in jail in the first place. Or something like that anyway. 😛

So those were my favourites for this month! I still can’t believe it’s May! There’s loads of stuff coming up in June, I’ll have to write about it towards the end of this month.

I’m sorry my April favourites are up late today, I’ve just been so incredibly busy over the weekend and yesterday, but I’m sure it’s worth the wait!

What were your favourites throughout April? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

February Favourites ’18

It’s now March and we are well and truly having a second winter instead of starting spring! We had snow only a couple of days ago, which pissed me off something rotten. I want longer days now to involve some nicer weather NOT SNOW AND ICE!

Hopefully with March here we will start to have some spring days on their way too now. I’m excited for going on long walks in the evenings after work with Dane, as well as on the weekends.

For now however, it is time for February’s favourites!

• Lush Supertramp Bubble Bar.

Sadly I don’t have this to show you anymore as it’s alllllllll gone! I love Supertramp bubble bar from Lush, it’s definitely one of my favourite products. I’m not a massive fan of earthy or grassy scents but I adore this! Whenever I use it it really does lift any sort of head cold I may be suffering from. It’s definitely a great bubble bar to use in the colder months and with all the bloody snow we’ve had, this has been such a lovely pampering one to use in the evenings after work. This is an Oxford Street exclusive but you can pick it up on the website which is awesome! I usually buy loads of these whenever I go down to London, but thankfully I won’t have to do this anymore.

• Romantic Bear WOW Long Lasting Lip Color in Watermelon.

I have been meaning to reviewing these for the longest time, but as of yet I haven’t gotten around to it. I haven’t used any of my lip peeled stains for a while but recently I just fancied giving them a go. I’ve been using various colours, but the shade Watermelon is the one I go to the most. It’s a light blush pink shade which I love wearing for work. I apply lip balm over the top and my lips stay lovely and soft all day! These are really great products for the price too, I can’t wait to finally review them this month!

• Barry M Under The Sea Nail Paint in Butterflyfish and Jellyfish (review here).

I couldn’t decide between the two but if there’s a nail polish I’ve been wearing loads this past month, it’s these two beauties by Barry M! They’re from the new Under The Sea collection, which I reviewed recently and linked above. They’re gorgeous nail polish shades to bring us into spring… When it FINALLY gets here! I couldn’t decide between the two shades, although I’ve always loved Jellyfish more.

• Elemis Collagen Cleansing Balm.

This is an old favourite that I come back to time and time again! My mom bought me a new tub for my birthday, which I was really grateful for. I’ve been using it a couple of times a week when I feel like my skin really needs it. My skin has been really bad this past month, which in itself sucks as I constantly look like a spotty teenager! This balm has really helped with soothing my skin when it feels dry, but I definitely don’t feel the need to use it daily. This balm is amazing for removing make up too, apparently. As regular readers will know, I don’t wear a full face of make up so I wouldn’t know. My mom is the one who has told me it’s great at removing make up. 😛

• Nivea Cashmere Indulgent Moisture Caring Hand Wash.

We use these hand washes at work and when picking up some new hand wash last month I decided to grab one of the ones we use at work, as well as a couple more of the Nivea hand washes. This is one of the ones I’m using at the moment and it’s amazing! It’s a lovely thick hand wash, well more like a cream really and smells delightful! Usually my hands will flare up with eczema with hand washes towards the end of the packaging, but this one I’ve not had ANY issues with! Savers sell these for a £1 each so I definitely recommend them if you fancy giving something new a go.

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

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on this Wonderful World!

This is an anime that Dane has loved since it first came out and I never understood his love for it until recently! He got me to start watching it with him and it’s a mixture of funny and random as hell! I bought him two of the girls (Megumin who is the red witch character in the gif and Darkness who is wearing yellow in the gif) Nendoroid characters, which he loved! So with finally having most of the characters it was time to watch the anime he loves. It’s just so random and hilarious! Although I’m happy Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid won the anime comedy award at The Anime Awards recently. I do feel like KonoSuba deserved it more.

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Film – A Silent Voice.

I know this isn’t exactly a new film and I know I’ve mentioned it before but I gave this another watch in February and I forgot just how much I loved it. This time I watched it in dubbed and although I prefer the subbed version, it was still lovely to watch. I just forgot how much I loved the story, as well as the manga which fast became one of my favourite manga series to date! If you haven’t watched this and you want to, DO IT! You won’t regret it! Word of warning, it’s not the most delightful and merry of anime in the world and it can be incredibly depressing. It made me cry at the end when I watched it recently… Oh what a weed I am. 😛

Image taken from Wordery

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life Vol. 1

I picked up a couple of new manga books in February but only read them as the end of the month was drawing to a close! If there is a manga series (and anime) that I have fallen in love with since 2017 it’s Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid! It’s so adorable, funny and kind of cringey all at the same time, but that’s why I love it so much. This new spin off series about Kanna, the youngest dragon is ADORABLE and if I do say so myself, drawn so much better than the original! I already can’t wait for volume 2 to come out in June, which I already know will be here before I know it.

Favourite Song/Album – Keane Hopes and Fears and The Killers Hot Fuss.

These are two albums I listened to quite a bit throughout February and I think it’s mostly due to the fact I fancied a blast from the past. These were two bands I listened to growing up and these two albums were my life at one point. They both came out in 2004 which less than a month apart from one another and I remember buying them with my pocket money from Sainsbury’s after school. I mostly listened to these on my drive to and from work and there would be tracks coming on that I found myself saying, “Holy shit! I forgot this song even existed!” but finding myself remembering the lyrics as I sang along. Let me also add that I had the BIGGEST crush on Brandon Flowers growing up and it was thanks to Smile Like Your Mean It where my crush on him began, as well as for guyliner. OH and of course it was the song that introduced me to the band. 😛

Favourite Game – Erm…

So I haven’t really been playing any games recently. Not for any reason in particular either other than I can’t be arsed… I’ve probably played the odd game with Dane or a couple of mobile games but nothing to write home about, sadly. I know we both want to get a couple of new games this month so I’m pretty sure my March favourites will have a game in there! 😛

So those were my favourites from February! I can’t believe we’re already into March and here’s fingers crossed for no more snow and more sunshine.

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

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

June Favourites ’17

It is now July and month seven of the year! 2017 is going by so quickly and whilst a part of me is somewhat glad about that, it’s also always creepy when we edge into another month. Soon it’ll be August bank holiday, then holiday and autumn, then Halloween and bonfire night, and then Christmas and New Year. Fuck. Stop time just for a bit. 😛

I loved all my favourites from last month as I discovered some new beauty products and was reminded how good some oldies are too. So I hope you enjoy this months favourites post. ^_^

• Imperial Leather Foamy Banana Hand Wash.

I’ve been eyeing up this hand wash for ages, but never bought it as me and Dane have had LOADS of hand washes to get through. Then towards the end of the month I was able to pick up a couple of these in Poundland. They smell amazing, just like the shower cream and bubble bath. So far since me using it my eczema hasn’t disliked it, so I’m hoping and keeping fingers crossed that I’ll be okay with it! If so I’ll be buying this and using it as our regular hand wash for as long as possible. 😛

• Nivea Blueberry Blush Lip Butter.

I picked this lip butter up randomly when on an alcohol run before going to a friends BBQ. I’d forgotten my tin of Vaseline in the house and I KNEW I would need something for my lips. I’ve mentioned a few times this past week that my lips are still playing up on and off so I need constant moisture to keep my lips soft and from splitting again. This lip butter is amazing! I love blueberry scented things so this smells divine, but it’s also a thick lip butter which actually feels like it’s working. I have it for around the house as well as for in my handbag when I want something thick on my lips. I recommend these though if you’re not a fan of Vaseline and want to try something different.

• L’Oreal Paris Hydra Genius Liquid Care in Normal To Combination.

I recently reviewed this (which you can read here) and I love it so much! June has been a pretty hot month and we had some of the hottest days of the year during the month. This liquid moisturiser was wonderful to use towards the end of the month and really is something that had to feature on here! It’s also helped my skin quite a bit with my oily t-zone. Can’t complain about that at all! 😛

• MUA Luxe Inked Lip Stain in Sangria.

This is a lip stain I bought months ago but hardly used, until recently. I tried blending this with the shade Dewberry to create blended look with my lipstick. Not only did it look great when I applied it but it lasted ages too, which I was really happy with! It’s so comfortable to wear especially in the warm weather. My only issue with it is it smells and tastes disgusting! >.<

• The Body Shop Oils of Life Twin-Ball Facial Massager.

This is a product I bought over a year ago and one I had hardly used until recently. With the warmer weather I thought it would be nice to use this massager on my skin after my serum and moisturiser. This has especially worked well teamed up with hydra genius! Due to the metal balls it feels lovely and cooling on the skin which I love the most about it. I don’t know if I’ve noticed any differences in my skin  by using it yet however. I also use this under my eyes after applying my eye gel to help with my eye bags. The Body Shop have in fact released one specifically for the eye area so I’ll be buying that one very soon!

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

Favourite TV Show – RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9.

Oh my God what a season this one has been! It’s definitely been one of my favourites for a long time and that is just purely down to Sasha Velour, who in turn has become my favourite drag queen. At the time of writing this (21st June AKA 2 days before the final!) I am really rooting for her to win this season. She fucking deserves it to be honest. She’s funny, unique, beautiful and not to mention down to earth and not fucking fake. I hate fake queens so damn much!

EDIT: HOLY FUCKING SHIT MY GIRL WON! I am so damn happy that Sasha won season 9! She’s the only queen who wasn’t in the bottom two throughout the competition and I only realised that whilst watching it. That shit she pulled with the rose petals. Fuck yes my lady!!! I have to add that I also loved Peppermint’s performance too and I’m very glad that she came second! I’ve already said that as soon as Sasha Velour announces doing some dates in the UK I WILL be going! 😀

Favourite Film – Split.

After 5 months of saying we would watch it, me and Dane FINALLY watched Split and let me tell you, I loved it. I wanted more from James McAvoy’s character as I loved him so much. He’s also one of my favourite actors and has been since the start of his career when he played Steve in Shameless (the UK one of course, not the shitty American version!). I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about this film and how some people loved it and some hated it. I honestly can understand why people didn’t like it, but I felt it worked really well and the twist at the end was pretty awesome. It’s very mental health related and that’s something you find out at the end which is really interesting. It just worked so damn well and McAvoy’s acting was fucking perfect.

Favourite Book – Erm…

I’m not going to lie. I haven;t been reading fuck all this month. I keep meaning to take Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy to work but I always forget. That and I feel like I hardly get any time to even read a decent amount. I have ordered some manga recently so I’m sure I’ll be reading that soon. ^_^

Favourite Song – Persona 5 OST – Behind The Mask (Instrumental).

I feel like I do nothing but talk about this game and erm why the fuck shouldn’t I? IT’S AMAZING! I am legit spending my day off tomorrow by playing this and doing housework. That is so sad. 😛 ANYWAY! The soundtrack from this game is an actual God send for me and I’m fully addicted to it. I need to download it as I want it to listen to whilst on holiday. I’ve found in the past that it’s really good to listen to whilst doing blog work as it’s really interesting. If you love jazz music, you’ll love this album. There is also a version of the song with lyrics/singing but I prefer the instrumental version.

Favourite Game – Pokemon Magikarp Jump.

I so desperately wanted to talk about Persona 5 again, but I can’t possibly. I spoke about it last month. 😛 BUT I have been loving this iPhone game! It’s an official Pokemon game and has been out about a month now. You basically train your Magikarp to jump as high as possible so that it can compete against other Magikarp! It’s kind of addicting and I often play it on my lunch break at work. I know a lot of people who have given it a go and got very bored of it, often deleting it. I love it though! What I find is the best thing about it? You don’t need to be on a wifi nextwork or 3G/4G to play it. WIN WIN!

So those are my favourites from last month. What products were you loving? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and have a lovely weekend.

March Favourites 2015

Wow it’s April already and I’m somewhat excited for this month. It’s my boyfriends birthday in a couple of weeks and I can’t wait to give him his presents.

As well as that it’s Easter and soon we can have a couple of lazy days to eat chocolate… Well you might be able to, but I probably won’t!

Either way March flew by and it was a pretty decent month. It was hard to try and think of some favourites as I hadn’t even realised how much I was even using some of my products until I looked around my room and pretending I was getting ready to go out.

That sounds bizarre I know, but here we go.

• Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Eastend Snob.

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this lip liner, so after swatching it in Boots, I decided to pick it up. Since buying this I’ve done nothing but use it. This is a gorgeous pink nude lip liner that works on its own or underneath a lip colour of a similar shade. The best thing about this lip liner is the packaging. It isn’t one you need to sharpen (which I HATE) and instead is one you quickly twist up to get more pencil. It’s also really creamy to apply but I always pop some lip balm on underneath to keep my lips moisturised, as well as give myself some more comfort when applying this. I’ll hopefully review this soon, as it’s just too good not to. But even so, I doubt there is much point as this lip liner is loved by so many that people probably already know how good it is. We shall see!

• Lush Pot O’ Gold Shower Jelly.

I’ve really started to get back into the shower products by Lush lately and I find they’re at a pretty decent price too. Their Mother’s Day range has now come and gone and we currently only have the Easter range left to take advantage of whilst it’s around. Which of course I have done. I remember smelling this jelly a while ago and I didn’t think much about it, but when I popped back in a few weeks ago I fell in love and bought it straight away. It smells just like Honey I Washed The Kids Soap which I LOVE. Not only that but it’s a gorgeous yellow gold colour and gives off a bit of shimmer when you use it. I’m going to be reviewing this before it leaves us soon as it’s just too good not to talk about. I can’t wait to review it now.

• Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy EDP.

I’ve mentioned this perfume time and time again on my blog and this is my second, maybe third bottle of this now. It’s by far one of my favourites and will always be one I pop on during the summer too. This smells yummy and of berries, especially blueberries and is very strong too. It doesn’t remind me of the original Fantasy in any way, shape, or form (which I also really like) which is what I love the most about it. The bottle even looks gorgeous! This is a strong perfume too and whenever I wear it out I get compliments of how nice I smell, which I can’t complain about! Just love this one so much.

• Nivea Rescue & Care Hand Balm.

My hand creams have been letting me down lately, even my L’Occitane ones which I’m pretty disappointed about. So whilst I was out food shopping I picked this one up which was on offer at the time. It’s one of the best hand creams I’ve bought for a long time! I use this before I pop out the house for the day and it leaves my hands lovely and soft for ages. It also has a light and pleasant smell to it which I really like. For a hand cream that is aimed towards dry and chapped hands, it isn’t thick which is another plus for me. I’d definitely pick this up again, probably for my bag next.

• Burt’s Bees Refreshing Lip Balm in Pink Grapefruit.

This was one of my Christmas presents from my friend Poppy and it’s one I’ve really enjoyed using since then. I love Burt’s Bees lip balms and sadly I recently accidentally left my one in my work trousers, which resulted in a ruined lip balm. I was gutted but oh well, shit happens. Either way the Burt’s Bees lip balms really are moisturising and I find this one is rather thick for a tube too which I love. I’ve been applying this throughout the day when I’m at home, as well as in the evenings and before bed. It smells of pink grapefruit which really wakes you up if you use it in the morning. I would love to try more Burt’s Bees in the future!

So those were my favourites for this month. What products have you been enjoying? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

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

January Empties

Another month, another bag of empty products to show off to you and I have to add, this months empties and the first empties of 2014 are boring! So this post isn’t going to be very long at all… Sadly.

I’m sure they’ll be more interesting as the months fly by, but for January, it’s boring. Sorry in advance!

• Dettol Honey Nourishing Hand Wash with E45.

These will be featuring a lot in my empties videos in future and there should be another one of these in the photo, but I only used up another bottle after the 1st February. I love this hand wash, so much so I spend nearly £5.00 a month just to use it, but I’ve started to buy it in bulk just so I have one spare in the cupboard incase. As I’ve mentioned on previous favourites and empties posts, this is the only hand wash that leaves my hands lovely and soft, as well as smelling great and being clean! I recommend this hand wash to everyone and they come in various different ones, not just honey! Due to this keep being in my empties posts, I don’t think I will mention this again in future, although I will show it in my pictures. What’s the point in keep mentioning this! xD

• Asda Essentials Sensitive Shave Gel for men.

Yes this is for men! But I couldn’t afford the Gillette shave gel at the time and whilst I was buying some food I picked this up for less than £2.00. It was horrible and quite frankly I’m glad it’s finished! It caused me to have rashes on my legs and under my arms which wasn’t any nice and I ended up giving my boyfriend the last of this to use up to shave his ginger stubble off with. I’m glad to see the back of this and won’t be buying it again, unless my boyfriend is in need of a cheap shave gel!

• T-Zone Spot Zapping Stick.

I actually wrote a negative review on these a couple of years ago now as for a while I was getting terrible spots after using this, but I think that was down to a face wash, or product I was using at the time. However since then I have been using this again and not had any problems! The only problem I have now is that I don’t think you can buy this anymore and instead I’ve bought a gel version of this. This is a liquid which is a roller ball and you roll it onto the skin however you do so wish. This won’t break the bank to buy and I think depending where you buy it it’ll be £1.00-£2.00. You can pick these up pretty cheap in Home Bargains and Body Care. These are great for on the go as all you have to do is roll the product on where you want it to go and voila, you’re done! This is a great product and I feel rather bad writing a negative review but I guess things change.

• Nivea In-Shower Body Moisturiser Skin Conditioner in Dry Skin.

I have two of these here that are both samples I received back before Christmas and I thought I would start to use them up. I have owned the full size version of this product in the past and at first I loved it, but after I while I grew to think it was just easier, as well as nicer to just stop being lazy and apply a body lotion after having a bath or shower. I think this stuff smells vile and since being reminded about that, I’ve realised that I don’t like this product at all and will probably give away the rest of the samples I have to friends, family, etc. I prefer to use a dry skin lotion that I used to use to wash my hands with, it does just as good a job and doesn’t have a horrible smell to it.

• Montagne Jeunesse Dead Sea Face Spa Fabric Face Mask.

I love this mask and I will keep saying it every time it pops up in my empties! This is one of the quicker and easier face masks to use out of all the Montagne Jeunesse masks. You pop this on your face and sit back with a good book for 5-10 minutes, or like me until I reach a new chapter! This masks contains dead sea salt and seaweed which is great for combination skin like mine and also leaves your skin feeling clean, soft and refreshed! I love this mask and will keep buying it as long as it’s available to buy in shops.

• Montagne Jeunesse Strawberry & Cream Face Mask.

I HATED this mask! It caused me to break out and have terrible rashes all over my face and I just wish I hadn’t used this. The smell of this was beautiful though and the only positive side of this mask… Alongside the fact that it didn’t break the bank to buy this. It didn’t do anything good for my skin and quite frankly it wasn’t worth the money at all. BLAH what a load of bloody rubbish!

• Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Mask Face Mask.

However I do LOVE this mask and it’s one of the few I can use and my skin will be beautiful after use. It leaves my skin feeling and looking lovely and soft, as well as fresh and gorgeous looking. It also smells amazing, just like hot chocolate! It contains chocolate and shea butter so this does nothing but positives to my skin, as it just adores shea butter. I always say nothing but good things about this mask and I think in future I will just be picking this one up, alongside the sheet masks as these seem to be the only masks that don’t break me out or cause rashes.

So those were my empties from January! I told you it wouldn’t be anything special, didn’t I? Sorry about that!

What were your empty products this month? Do you like or hate any of the ones I mentioned above? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all!

August Empties

Wow, I don’t think I have ever used up so many products for an empties post before! I used up loads throughout August because I want to try and bring in some nice new things to try when the colder months start to come upon us soon. Plus I want room around my bath as well as in my cupboards. Glad to have the extra space now to be honest. 😛

• Imperial Leather For Men Purify Hair & Body Wash.

Yes I know this is for men but this is such a lovely shower gel to own. It reminds me of when I was little and would smell all my Dad’s various aftershave and lovely smelling men. It only costs a £1 and lasts for quite a while. It has a very fresh masculine smell and I tend to use this if I’m feeling tired and grumpy as it just gives me that energy that I need to get me through the day. The smell lasts on your skin for ages too. I usually pick one of these up for my Dad as this is actually his, not mine but I finished the bottle off for him the other day as I plan to buy him a new bottle next week. Get this if you like masculine smells or if your boyfriend/husband keeps using your shower gel.

• Imperial Leather Precious Night Blooming Jasmine & Cotton Milk Body Wash Gel.

My Mom actually brought this up to the bathroom after saying she didn’t want it anymore and thought I might like trying it. It was okay, but I don’t know if I would but this myself. I’ve used Imperial Leather’s body wash gels before and they’re really nice and easy to use if you need to quickly have a wash or want to shave your legs with something nice. I tried to shave my legs with this and it was terrible, the gels aren’t as good for this as they used to be. It smelt really nice and was a real treat to use after a busy day at work if I just wanted to jump in the shower and jump back out again. I remember seeing that Imperial Leather have a lemon and lime version of this, I’d love to try it so I think I might pick one up to try in the future. Glad to see the back of this though, was clogging up the side of my bath!

• Nivea In-Shower Body Moisturiser For Dry Skin.

This was mentioned in my May favourites and although I loved it back then, I’m glad to see it in my bin! This product was great to be perfectly honest and was an essential when I was getting ready to go to work and out and about. I didn’t need to worry about moisturising everyday and took a weight off of my mind. However after a while this just seemed like a chore to use and it got left for a while. I remembered it this month though and thought it was time to finish the bottle and throw it away. I didn’t have much left and I’m rather glad. I have considered re-purchasing this but I think I need to stop being so damn lazy and just start moisturising my skin again. I do recommend this to people who don’t have time to moisturise as it’s a great product!

• Tesco Gentle Cleansing Bath Bubbles.

This was an amazing product and I know I’ll be re-purchasing ASAP. I could be less of a stingy bitch and opt for Johnson’s Baby Bubbles but I thought these did a great job for the money. It smells just like Johnson’s and reminds me of when I was a little girl, something that is comforting to bathe in after a rough day. After a while I was using this as a shower gel and then eventually as a shaving gel/foam. This lathered up really well on the skin and made shaving easier than it usually is. I’m actually rather sad that this has run out now, but as I said I’ll be buying a new bottle as soon as I can.

• Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo.

I’m really sad to see this finished, especially as I can’t afford another bottle. When my Mom gave me this I couldn’t wait to see the back of it as I just couldn’t get along with it, but after a while I realised what I could do to make it work and key presto, we worked together in harmony. This shampoo was lovely and smelt just like oranges and lemons. You didn’t need much to get a good lather, just very wet hair and a 50 pence piece amount would go all over my hair (which as you know is really long and thick!) which makes a really nice change. I would buy this shampoo again in future, but I’ve got my eye on one I really want to try out when I next have money. But this left my hair soft, smooth and with lots of shine.

• Tesco Moisturising Bath Bubbles.

This is pretty much the same as the gentle bath bubbles, only not as universal. I tried to shave using this and it didn’t work whatsoever and left me with that horrible, uncomfortable pain you get with dry shaving. This was lovely to use in the bath too, as this left my skin baby soft and the same was accomplished when I used it as a shower gel too. I might re-purchase this in the future, but I’d find myself going for a scented bubble bath over this one to be honest. Not a bad product though!

• Carex Nature Protect Hand Wash.

As regular readers will know, I love Carex hand washes and I also have eczema so I’m always on the search for a hand wash that will calm it down a little. This hand wash smelt amazing as it contains manuka honey and oat milk, which is a smell I love quite frankly but its “moistursing action” as it claims to have on the back, was none existent for my skin. From day one of using this hand wash my hands continued to be dry and flaky, which isn’t an attractive thing at all! I couldn’t wait to use this up and as soon as I found the Cola Bottles and Strawberry Laces versions by Carex this hand wash was quickly finished and replaced. Won’t be buying it again as it just did NOTHING for my skin, infact I feel like it made my hands worse as since it being in my empties bag my skin has improved. I’m sure this is just my skin trolling me and not the actual product by the way.

• Carex Cola Bottles Hand Wash.

I’ve mentioned this before on an empties list here  and it’ll continue to find its way here until the sad day comes upon us when Carex discontinue it… Which I hope isn’t soon. It smells just like fizzy cola bottles, makes my skin look and feel nice and it’s just perfect for children. Nothing more I can say about this really and I know I’ll continue to re-purchase it!

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

I LOVE this eye balm and I can’t wait to get my hands on another tube. This stuff is quite pricey for a 15ml tube but it lasts absolutely AGES! It’s a cooling balm that leaves your eyes feeling more awake and cooled, perfect for if your eyes are tired and ache after a crap nights sleep. You need the tiniest amount underneath your eyes and just gently dab into the skin using your ring finger. I’ll be reviewing this in future as it’s just too good not to. I have mentioned this before on my March and June favourites if you would like to read more about it.

• Montagne Jeunesse Crystallised Honey & Passion Flower Face Mask.

This mask was VILE and by far the worse one I have ever used. You warm it up, apply, leave it for 10-15 minutes and wash off. I decided to have a bath when I used this so left it in my bath for about 15 minutes whilst I shaved and washed my face ready to pop the mask on. The mask was a gel textured when warm which I thought was odd, so I popped it on. After wearing the mask for 5 minutes I tasted something sweet on the corners of my mouth and when I looked in the mirror to see if it was the mask, I was shocked to see the whole mask was melting off of my face! I immediately washed it off and two days later I broke out in terrible spots. Thanks a lot face mask. I won’t be buying this again, that’s for sure!

So those were all my empties from August! I’m not sure if I’ll have that many again for a while, but I’m sure I’ll have enough to make a post in October.

I can’t believe it’s September already, can you?

What products did you use up this month? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care and I hope everyone has a good weekend!

January favourites

Okay I know this is 10 days late, I’m sorry about the lateness of this post, I’m never usually so late about getting these posts up on my blog. However the reason for this only being written up and posted now is due to how busy I’ve been with work. 5-6 days in a row and I’ll finally have a day off so I’ve not had much chance to take pictures and write the post up without falling to sleep or to be honest being too lazy and lethargic to do anything about it.

But the wait is over and finally, here are my favourites from January.

• Love Diane EDP by Diane Von Furstenberg.

Bless my brother he bought me this for my 23rd birthday at the start of January and since then it’s all I’ve used pretty much. At first I was rather disappointed with this perfume as I would spray it and no scent would linger, but maybe this is due to me using stronger perfumes for a while beforehand. Who knows! Anyway I decided I would use this for a month at work and see how I got on and due to being at work so much this is all I’ve used for the majority. I’m under halfway through the bottle now, which is a shame as it’s a 50ml bottle too but it’s lovely and refreshing. I’ll be talking about this some more in an updated perfume collection post towards the end of February. This is all I use for work lately so I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be replacing it with when the bottle runs out! We’ll soon find out eh? The 30ml bottle retails for £28.99 whilst the 50ml bottles retails for £43.99.

• Clinique dramatically different moisturizing gel.

I’ve noticed over the years that with the 3-Step products from Clinique that people either love or hate them. I can see why people love and hate this products, but I can safely say that I love the 3-Step system and have done since I was fourteen/fifteen. It was only last year when I decided to start the 3-Step again that I realised that maybe the lotion wasn’t for me, even though I am skin type 2. Whenever I put the lotion on it would sit on my skin all day and it would end up making me sweat due to it feeling too heavy on my skin, this ended up breaking me out more than I was in the first place. So upon talking to one of the lovely ladies at Clinique, she agreed that my skin was better suited to the gel, which is for skin types 3 and 4. Due to the cold weather and all the snow we’ve had lately this gel has been a saviour! My skin has been so dry on my nose and forehead that this has just been some sort of drink for my skin. I love it, it’s just a shame it runs out every 6 months, but so worth the money! The pump which I have costs £29.50 but a 50ml tube is £17.00. If you fancy trying this product but don’t want to pay a lot, ask one of the ladies at Clinique if you can nab a sample to try, is what I did when I first tried the gel!

• Tesco moisturising bath bubbles.

For a while now I’ve been craving a bubble bath full of Johnson’s blue bubble bath, but for over £1 for a bottle I thought sod it and walked away. However this and the normal blue-bottle of Tesco’s baby bath bubbles took my eye, they were on offer for 2 for £2 so I couldn’t help but grab a bargain! After a long day at work and in Wolverhampton visiting two of my closest friends I decided to have a long bath with this and it felt amazing. This is really moisturising and my skin felt silky smooth afterwards. Not just that but it smells identical to Johnson’s, which of course is a plus side of it. As well as putting it in the bath I’ve been using it in the shower before work to comfort me somewhat. It’s lovely and makes my skin feel silky smooth all over again! I recommend this for mothers with babies for sure, as well as for anyone of any age, especially if you don’t get time to moisturise due to a busy schedule, like myself.

• Carex strawberry laces handwash

I’ve been after this handwash for MONTHS after seeing people on their blogs and Instagram talking about it. There was also a chocolate orange one out (if I remember right anyway!) and that sounded delicious, but I couldn’t find that one when I looked. I was only wandering around for a mooch when I found this and snapped one up straight away. They were and are still only 90p each as they’re half price, but since using this I would for sure pay full price to have this by my sink. As I’ve mentioned many times, I have eczema but as well as that I also have sensitive skin, so as soon as my skin has got used to certain products it sometimes rejects them, my hands so this ALL the time. However they have got better and better since using this hand wash so I can only keep my fingers crossed it stays that way. As well as it killing germs and keeping my hands soft and smooth, it smells amazing! Having a cheeky sniff of it now as I type this up. If you can get hold of this and love sweet smells, do it! You won’t regret it!

• Nivea sensitive pure gentle care 48h deodorant stick.

I sweat like no ones business, especially at work. Half the time you never stop, you’re always on your feet and keeping busy. It was getting so bad with my sweating that it was making me rather paranoid and anxious. I decided I needed change and my Lynx deodorant wasn’t working for me anymore, so it was used up and binned and off I went to try to find something better. A spray was out of the question, I’ve learnt over the past 10 years that they don’t work for me and I needed something else. Thanks to my Boots advantage card I had a voucher that gave me 1/2 price on women’s deodorant so I thought I’d try a roll on, one of the dry ones as I’ve had many bad and embarrassing experiences with the wet versions. After a month of use I can happily say that I don’t sweat as much as I used to and I really do put it down to this deodorant stick. It’s lasting well and it’s easier to pop into my handbag than a huge can of Lynx or Nivea spray. I recommend these to anyone who suffers with constant sweating, mines not happening as much as it was before and I’m glad. Never been happier and feel more relaxed now and for £2.50 it’s worth feeling that.

• Philosophy purity 3-in-1 cleanser for face and eyes.

I received this back in the summer from Debenhams Beauty Club after entering a competition via their Facebook like page. I never really tried it until around Christmas time and I really love it. Due it only being a small tester it’s only used once in a blue moon, that being when I have a relaxing bath and I don’t wish to use my Clinique face wash. I put a little bit on my face brush and it really does go a long way. After scrubbing and rinsing off my face, my skin feels baby bum soft and I don’t even feel like I need to use a moisturiser afterwards! I’d love to start using this as part of my daily routine but I love my Clinique 3-Step system too much. We’ll see for in the future. My Mom bought a bottle of this back in 2011 and she uses it often, she loves it and uses it to wash her make up off, which is what this is for! It works as a cleanser, toner and make up remover. It’s amazing stuff and worth the money, even though I got my cute little bottle for free.

• The Body Shop chocomania body scrub.

I got this cute little tub in my chocomania gift set in the Christmas sales and I love it so much, I’ve not used a scrub like this that worked really well for years so I’m glad that I bought the tin for this alone! The tub is a 50ml and so far it’s gone a long way, although there is only a few more uses left out of it (one I’ll possibly be using tonight before I go to bed). To me it smells like chocolate, but to my friend Gabz and my Mom, it smells like shit (saying poo is so… youthful…?) but I can’t agree with them there! I use this scrub all over my body, especially my arms, thighs and bum and it leaves me feeling silky smooth! Can’t help but run a hand over my bum to feel what a great job this product has done. I’ll definitely be buying the 200ml tub of this, which is priced at £12.50. I recommend getting a sample from The Body Shop as I know for me with my sensitive skin, sometimes products can be too gritty or just the wrong ingredients for my skin, so I’m glad this works for me! I’ll be posting a review for this as soon as the tub is empty and I buy a new one.

So that was my January favourites! I apologise again for how long it took for me to write this post up, but at least it’s here now and there’s plenty of goodies I’ve spoken of and mentioned.

Look forward to seeing you next month for February! Enjoy this month guys, Valentines Day and Pancake Day are upon us this coming week!