November Favourites ’18

Image taken from GIPHY

We are FINALLY in December and I’m not quite sure if I’m excited or meh about Christmas yet… Or the fact that 2018 has flown so damn quickly! Also I’m 29 in almost less than a month. Urgh can’t deal with that right now. 😛

I’m going to try so hard to do Blogmas this year as I would really like to. It wouldn’t be something special every day, but it would at least be SOMETHING on my blog, you know? I’d mostly try and fill quiet days in with advent calendar stuff, as well as what I’ve been up to.

Due to the fact November flew by so quickly, I feel like I never got the chance to really think much about what I loved. I had a long think about it though and I finally came up with what I loved throughout the previous month!

• Marc Jacobs Decadence EDP.

My brother actually bought me this perfume a couple of years ago for Christmas AND I KNOW perfume has a use by date on it (like all things…) but I never adhere to these things. 😛 I really love this scent as it’s so unique and yet has a feminine and slight masculine scent. The bottle itself is gorgeous! This is a proper going out perfume, but I love using it all the time. I’ve used this most of November and it’s reminded me 1. How much I love it and 2. How well my brother actually knows me when it comes down to perfume! 😛 He always buys me the best stuff. 🙂

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

This isn’t the BEST eye balm in the world, in the sense of it isn’t helping any ageing lines that I might be starting to get… However I was quite poorly for a couple of weeks in November with labyrinthitis. It honestly sucked. This eye balm really helped though when I felt tired and like shit. I do really love this eye balm, it’s not thick and heavy like most eye creams. It’s really light and leaves a lovely cooling feeling after.

• Lush Prince Of Darkness Fresh Face Mask (review here).

I picked up this face mask from Lush at the start of November when I went into London. Aside from online the only place you can get this face mask in store is in the Oxford Street store in London. I had 5 empty black pots so I picked this up for free! It’s by far one of my favourite face masks and I use it once a week. It really does help my skin after I’ve had a bad breakout. It clears out my pores and scrubs my face to make it lovely and soft. I definitely recommend giving this a go if you’re combination skin like I am!

• Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera.

This is my life saver and game changer! I’ve been on and off over the years about which lip balms have changed my life. Last year when my lips kept splitting in the corners this was something I ended up buying to try and help my lips. It helped so much! Since then I use this daily, whether I’m in or out of the house. It’s also great to use underneath lipstick to keep my lips lovely and soft. Out of all the flavours, scents etc out there the aloe vera one is by far my favourite. 🙂

• The Body Shop Banana Body Butter.

Since I started using The Body Shop banana range, it’s certainly made me realise how much I love The Body Shop for their products. They’re just great and at an affordable price too! I LOVED the banana range and I’m so gutted it’s now gone. It wasn’t around long enough for my liking. BUT I love using the body butter on my hands to keep them lovely and soft. I know this is really odd, but their hand cream doesn’t do anything for me. Only the hemp one works. I do love this though as it smells delicious and really does moisturise my hands when they need some major TLC!

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

Image taken from GIPHY

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite TV Show – The Office (US) and Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai.

I couldn’t just name one TV show this month. I loved both of these equally! Thanks to Dane’s brother and his girlfriend we discovered that The Office (US) is fucking hilarious! I’d watched the UK version of it growing up and rather liked it, in a weird way. There are some really funny and iconic moments in the show, but my favourite part is how frustrating Jim and Pam are! In the sense you want them to hurry up and get together. 😛 Jim is by far my favourite character and the way John Krasinski plays him, he does such an amazing job at making the character so natural, normal and relateable.

The second show I’ve been loving is an anime that Dane has been watching for a while now, but every time he’s asked me to watch it, I was either too busy with my blog, playing games or I just couldn’t be arsed to watch it. Finally I gave in and began to watch it towards the end of November. Oh man it’s such a good anime and I’m glad I decided to watch it sooner rather than later! It’s about a guy who sees a girl dressed up a bunny girl in the library and he’s the only one who can see her! Then it goes on from there. It’s definitely worth a watch as it’s pretty unique. It’s on Funimation and Crunchyroll and is only subbed.

Favourite Film – Bohemian Rhapsody.

Oh man I honestly LOVED this film so much! I actually saw it at the end of October but it was pointless mentioning it last month. Alongside Deadpool 2, this was definitely one of my favourite films this year. It was amazing, beyond amazing! I grew up listening to Queen with my mom in the car whenever we were out and about so I do have a love for the band. When the trailer for this first came out I KNEW I needed to go and see it, Dane wanted to see it too. However as the release date loomed Dane changed his mind, “I don’t think I’ll enjoy it as much as I thought I would.” I was desperate to see it and as I didn’t think I’d be able to go with anyone else, I booked it regardless for us both. We left the cinema with Dane loving the film more than I did! I cried throughout the film and I just felt for Freddie Mercury. It makes me wish he was still alive. If it’s still showing and you haven’t seen this film yet, please do.

Image taken from Otaku Magazine USA

Favourite Book – Giant Spider & Me.

I discovered this book whilst I was visited my friend Sophi in London. I was after a new manga to read online as I’d read all my books I’d taken with me for entertainment on the way there. I can’t remember how I discovered this manga to be honest with you, I just know I found it on a UK anime and manga blog. It sounded weird but different, so I gave it a go and whilst I didn’t fall in love with it, it’s something I found myself reading each morning I woke up, as well as partly the way home from London. I occasionally read it before I head into work if I get there early. It’s based in a post apocalyptic world where this girl lives on her own and whilst out she finds the giant spider, who ends up becoming her pet/friend and lives with her. From there she starts to meet more people who have to come to accept the giant spider etc. It’s a very sweet manga and one I recommend people to read, especially if you hate spiders. This isn’t a normal spider and I don’t mean in just the size of it. 😛

Favourite Music – Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace.

This is by far my favourite Foo Fighters album. As odd as it sounds it’s been there for me through so much over the years. When I’ve been happy, sad, angry and depressed. Lately I’ve listened to it loads as it’s such a great diving album to listen to. I love listening to it before I go to work as well as before I head to my pole and hoop classes with my bestie Jacqui. I’ve popped the whole album above so you can give it a listen for yourselves if you haven’t already. Some of my favourite tracks from it are “The Pretender”, “Let It Die”, “Long Road To Ruin”, “Come Alive”, “Stranger Things Have Happened”, “Summers End”, “Statues” and “Home”. So most of the album really. 😉

Image taken from GIPHY

Image taken from GIPHY

Favourite Game – Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Pokemon Let’s Go: Eevee.

Oh man November was just full of games and being poor. 😛 Spyro and Pokemon are both massive games from my childhood and both make me feel really nostalgic. Within the space of a few days both Spryo Reignited and Pokemon Let’s Go came out! I’m still working my way through both games. 😛 First of all I want to say how much I was pissed off about Spyro. Not in the sense of the game but how bloody pisstakey it was for me to get it! So I pre ordered it back in August ready for the original release date of September. The game was pushed back to November so I had to wait another couple of months. Fine. BUT when I didn’t even get it the day it came out due to “courier issues” I was pissed. So I complained to Amazon and they ended up refunding me for the game and allowing me to keep it. It arrived the next day. So I’m pretty chuffed by that result. 😛

ANYWAY on about the game! I LOVE Spyro Reignited so much and they did such a good job on it! I played some of the first Spyro game but fast got bored after I finished the first world and levels. I felt like it lacked what the second and third games brought to the table. So I ended up moving onto the second game, which I’ve nearly completed! They’ve got some of the old voice actors back to reprise their previous roles, as well as some new ones. I love that Cassandra Morris (voice of Morgana in Persona 5, as well as many other things!) does some voice work in the game. I haven’t played the third game yet, but I know I’ll soon get to that this month!

With Pokemon Let’s Go I decided to opt for the Eevee option as it’s one of my favourite Pokemon. I loved Pikachu growing up, but the older I’ve got the more overrated Pikachu has become. Nintendo did such a good job with this game and aww man I couldn’t be happier with it! I think I’ve only had one issue with it so far and that’s that the 2 player option is shite. It’s not for adults really, it’s for children to play with their parents and introduce them to playing Pokemon. It’s a great idea to be honest and there’s nothing wrong with it per say. It’s just not any good for older gamers. Dane has also loved playing this and intends to take it with him whenever he has to work away from home! We’ll probably end up getting the Pikachu version sooner rather than later. 😛 Dane even contemplated getting me a Switch so I could play at the same time as him. The catching system for the game is amazing and works really well! This being said I’ve only used the Poke Ball controller (which I bought with the game) which I find looks like it works better than the joy cons. They seem super faffy! Handheld mode is definitely the best way to play the game though. I plan to write a massive post about the game eventually (probably this month tbf…) so I don’t want to talk too much about it to be honest.

So those are my favourites from November, the month that went by in the blink of an eye and left me feeling poorly and poor! 😛

How was November for you guys? What were you loving throughout the month? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Again, I am going to try and do Blogmas this year, but don’t get too excited for it as to be honest I can’t see it happening. xD

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re kicking off December with Christmas music and films. 😛

My Daily Skin Care Essentials

Okay at the moment I am so DONE with how clammy and hot it has been. I love the hot weather, but I really don’t love it in the UK. Maybe it’s because work is hot and stuffy and maybe it’s because the UK isn’t prepared for heat? Meh either way, I just want a little bit of rain, if not for my gardens sake over my own!

Today’s blog post is one I’ve always thought about writing, but never have until now because I thought my skin care routine was boring and that no one would ever wish to see it.

This being said, why would it be boring? Especially if it works for my skin type! I feel like recently I’ve hit a jackpot with my skin care and FINALLY found some products that work for me and leave my skin looking great, as well as feeling good too.

Get yourselves a nice cold drink, maybe an ice cream or an ice lolly and prepare for this evenings blog post! Not only has it taken me a whole 6 years to write this post, but I’m spontaneously writing it at nearly 9pm. Oh dear, I hope it’s good reading. 😛

I have 6 main items I use when doing my morning skin care routine, some of them are recent newbies and some are products I’ve used on and off over the years. BUT it is finally so amazing to find products that work with my skin, and don’t cost a fortune to pick up either!

• Australian Bodycare Skin Wash.

This is the first thing I’ll use everyday as a part of my routine and it’s only recently that I’ve started using this on my face. My skin was breaking out constantly and I started to worry I had acne and was feeling ugly constantly. I looked how I did when I was 13 and very much so like a pepperoni pizza! You can use this skin wash all over your body and considering I always use it on my body, using it on my face couldn’t hurt, right? It was amazing to be honest with you and it’s really changed my skin for the better this past month! You don’t need a lot of this either, which is even better considering this is a 1000ml bottle. I need to get some refills for it as soon as I can.

• Clean & Clear Blackhead Clearing Cleanser.

This is the newest product in my skin care routine and it’s one I’m so glad I picked up! I needed a new face cleanser/toner and I usually pick up a tea tree one. They didn’t have that sadly and my mom has always raved about this cleanser, so I thought I’d give it a go. If I didn’t like it, I could always give it to my mom and pick up a different one. This is amazing to be honest with you and I feel like it really does lift up any leftover muck from my pores. Gross, but true! 😛 This is also really refreshing to use whilst the weather is hot.

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

This is an eye cream/balm I’ve been using for many years now and chopped and changed using it on and off for various reasons. I always go back to it though because it always leaves my eyes feeling cool, moisturised and although not looking “better”, they certainly look somewhat refreshed. This lasts ages too as you only need a little bit and it doesn’t cost a fortune either. My only issue with this is that it doesn’t help with ageing, which I probably need to start thinking about now… 😛

• LOreal Paris Hydra Genius Liquid Care (review here).

This is by far my favourite product alongside the tea tree skin wash in my skin care. This came out last year and it released at such a great time considering it was boiling when it came out. This is now my second bottle and look how much I have left! I’ll buy myself another bottle soon enough to be honest with you as I love using it everyday. As you’ll read from my review, this is a really light formula, which goes a long way and leaves your skin feeling moisturised and cooled down. It’s perfect to take abroad with you (if possible) due to how cooling it is. I especially love using it after a face mask.

• Rimmel London Insta Fix & Matte Translucent Powder.

This is my second one of these now and I love it so much! This is probably the only bit of make up I always use to be honest with you. Due to my combination skin, I get an oily t-zone and due to that I like to matte it down as much as I can, with as little effort as possible. This powder is really light and doesn’t do a heavy coverage at all, but nonetheless for me it does an amazing job!

• Collection Colour Lash Clear Mascara.

Due to having such big eye brows I need a good clear mascara to keep them in shape all day long and this is by far the best and most affordable clear mascara on the high street! I used to use the Miss Sporty one but the staying power wasn’t as good as it could have been. I’ve not really tried any other brands, I don’t need to considering how great the Collection one is! I recommend it if you want to use a clear mascara on both your eyelashes and eyebrows.

So those are my daily skin care essentials and my favourite ones to be honest with you! There are other bits and pieces I like using on and off too, but they don’t get a mention here. 😛

What are your daily skin care essentials? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re excited for the weekend, I know I am. 😛

June Favourites ’18

I cannot believe it is July! I ended off June by getting incredibly drunk and nursing a monster of a hangover with McDonalds chicken nuggets. xD

Oh dear. It’s a lovely warm day though, I’m between doing housework and blog work and getting ready to go out to a wedding this evening. I usually get my monthly blog posts written up and scheduled about a week in advance, but sadly that isn’t the case this month… OOPS! 😛

Anyway, enough blabbering, on with the favourites this month! 😀

• Australian Bodycare Tea Tree Oil Skin Wash.

If there is a product that I have REALLY loved lately, it’s definitely this tea tree skin wash, which you can use all over your body, including your face. My skin has been breaking out really bad lately, so much so that I worried I might have acne. Alas, it was just some of the products I was using on my skin as since I started using this stuff on my face it has changed dramatically! Not only that but I use it on my body too as a shower gel and I always get out of the shower feeling fresh and clean! I always forget how much I love this skin wash and from now on it’s definitely going to be a constant piece of my shower/bath!

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

I recently picked up this old favourite again as I was in need of a new eye gel. I’ve used this on and off over the years and never had a problem with it, but sometimes I’ve found it to be too expensive for what it is and that’s why I didn’t pick one up. However, recently I found it at a price I was willing to pay and oh man, I forgot how great this eye balm is! As many of us Brits know, it’s been really hot in the UK most of June so this eye balm has come in handy for helping cool down my eyes early in the morning, as well as in the evening before bed.

• L’Occitane Almond Foot Cream.

I don’t actually know if L’Occitane even sell this anymore but I’ve started using it lately to help soften my feet. On and off for about a year now I appear to now have eczema on one of my feet, which sucks. Since using this food cream in the mornings before work the eczema has improved dramatically! Some days I don’t use it, but most days I do. Due to the almond it smells really good too and has a matte texture to it so it doesn’t leave your feet feeling greasy after use, which is great!

• Le Mini Macaron Gel Manicure Kit in Midnight Blueberry.

I’ve wanted to try the Le Mini Macaron gel kits for agggges! It started off as a Kickstarter and I remember discovering it after it had finished. I’ve had my eye on the kits online for a while but I didn’t feel that the £30-£35 price tag was really worth it for what you get. However, recently House of Fraser had some of the kits on offer for just £10! So I finally picked one up. I’m so glad I did as I now have a new found love for gel nail polish and since then I’ve used more gel polishes with it than the one provided in the kit. Sadly House of Fraser don’t have anymore of these kits left. 😦

• Tangle Teezer The Ultimate Finishing Brush.

I picked up this hair brush when I went to Bristol at the start of June and oh my God, it has changed my life so much! For about 5-6 years now I’ve been using this style of brush, but never the Tangle Teezer brand. I knew I was in need of a new hair brush so I decided to use my Boots points to pick up one of these brushes, as well as their smoothing tool brush which you use when blow drying your hair. Their brushes are just amazing and I cannot wait to review them both on my blog.

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 10.

Holy shit this season was crazy of RuPaul’s Drag Race and I’m not going to lie or reveal any spoilers, but I am so annoyed at who won… But whatever. If there was one queen on this season who I loved to the moon and back, it’s Monet x Change. She is such an amazing queen and she made me laugh constantly and SHE SHOULD HAVE FUCKING ONE! My favourite moment in this season is the clip I’ve posted above, and it’s definitely one of my favourite moments EVER! 😀

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Film – The Shawshank Redemption.

This is such a random film to have on my favourites this month, but it’s probably the only one I’ve actually watched. I fancied watching it after realising that Hank in Detroit:Become Human is the mean prison ward in this film! I just felt the need to watch it again really and I always forget what an amazing film this is. I’m watching it right now as I write this blog post… 😛

Image taken from giphy.com

Favourite Book – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid.

I bought quite a few Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga’s in June as 2 of them came out. I always love when I get the newest volume because I can carry on where the anime left off. I don’t feel like I need to write too much about this manga series as I feel like I wrote WAY TOO MUCH about them throughout June. 😛

Favourite Song/Album/Artist – Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can’t Swear Out.

I don’t know quite why, but recently on my journeys to and from work I’ve been mostly listening to A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out and it really took me back to over 10 years ago when it came out. I remember going and buying it one weekend and I listened to it so much at school. I just forgot how much I love it and it’s such a great album for summer too. I don’t care how old the album is, it’s still a classic!

Image taken from knowyourmeme.com

Favourite Game – VR Chat and Pokemon GO.

Well this is a game I’ve wanted to play for the longest time and although I only have a handful of times, I LOVE IT SO MUCH! The first time I went on the game I was incredibly overwhelmed and confused, I didn’t even turn my microphone on as I was too anxious to talk. The second time I went on the microphone was on and I had an amazing time with random people, one even told me how to do bits and pieces on there and it was lovely. As I wore a skin of an anime girl, I become some Ugandan Knuckles’s queen! It was hilarious and Dane filmed the whole thing. I’m really hoping to start making gaming videos with Dane. Keep eyes peeled for that in the future. 😛

Image taken from giphy.com

Image taken from giphy.com

I couldn’t not talk about Pokemon GO this month as I recently downloaded it again and since playing it with Dane and our friends I am in love with it! 😀 We’ve been out with our friends a few times now to play it and walked around our area as well as parks. I’ve also bought the Pokemon GO Plus so I can still play whilst I’m out and about without pulling my phone out of my handbag. I’ll be talking about that very soon! But yeah, I love Pokemon Go and I cannot wait to play it more over the summer.

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

Until next time, I hope you all have a lovely day and are enjoying the warm weather.

October Empties

Another month, another empties post. I think I have come to the decision that in 2015 empties posts will be no more on my blog. It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing them, because I do but having to store empty bottles in my bathroom for a month is somewhat hoarding behaviour and I don’t like that personally. Hey if I finish off a product I REALLY liked then I might just mention that in my favourites or something, but either way having to collect a bag full of empty products just is annoying and it annoys my family too, so I can see next month being my last empties post.

But for now I shall tell you about what I used up throughout October!

• Superdrug Nail Polish Remover.

This is a bog standard nail polish remover and a very good one at that! I’ve had this a while and that’s because a little bit of this goes a long way so it’s taken me well over a year to get rid of it! I would have re-purchased this but at the time of realising I needed some new polish remover I ended up picking a cheap bottle up from Home Bargains. I would definitely buy this again as it was really good at a cheap price.

• N SPA Cherry Body Scrub.

I mentioned this in my September Favourites last month and I can safely say I would re-purchase this! It lasted ages, smelt gorgeous and left my skin feeling and looking gorgeous and soft! It wasn’t the best body scrub in the world but for the price I paid it did a really good job in my opinion. Check this out if you’re after a decent body scrub on a budget.

• The Body Shop Hand Cleanse Gel in Pink Grapefruit and Sweet Lemon.

I LOVE The Body Shops hand sanitizers, I’ve said this time and time again and I mean it! I’ve recently picked up 3 more as I just can’t live without having one of these in my back pack, nor my apron at work. They work really well to keep your hands germ free and smell gorgeous too. The Body Shop have these on 3 for 2 so I suggest you grab some bargains with these. One thing to say on these though is that Sweet Lemon was a limited edition scent from a few summers ago so you can’t pick this up anymore, gutted!

• Simple Kind To Skin Antibacterial Hand Wash.

I loved this hand wash and over the years my hands either loved it or hated it, so I’m glad they saw my side as to how amazing it is. It’s a gorgeous fresh mint hand wash that leaves your hands smelling, feeling and being clean and fresh. I was meant to re-purchase this but when I went to the shop to buy it, there weren’t any left so I was left buying something else. I will be picking this up again soon mind, I don’t think I can live without it now.

The reason for these three products having an edited image is that all I have left of the two Lush products are empty wrappers and due to wanting to get all the product I resulted in cutting up the Hand Food tube to nothing… Now that that is cleared up… 😛

• Lush Magic Bath Bomb.

I owned this bath bomb for an age, another purchase from my friend Mali (maliberrymakeup) and one I had saved and saved until I didn’t want to save anymore and a few baths later this was gone. It was an enjoyable bath bomb but not one I would buy again in a hurry. It had some sort of seaweed inside which grossed me out a tad and I had to scoop it all out of the bath water before I got in. It did seem to help my aching muscles though which was lovely and the blue bath water with red made it a purple shade which I adored. It’s a shame this is limited edition as it’s such a nice shaped bath bomb.

• Soap & Glory Hand Food hand cream.

I have had a love hate relationship with this hand cream from day one and whilst it was a lovely hand cream, it had a horrible scent which I really disliked. This kept my hands gorgeously soft throughout the months I used it and it was a staple for my back pack. Would I buy this again? Possibly if they change the scent WHICH I have noticed they have done with one of their Christmas sets. I pray that they bring out Hand Food in the Sugar Crush scent. I CAN ONLY PRAY!

• Lush Candy Mountain Bubble Bar.

I love this bubble bar so much and I finally used mine up from last Christmas, in preparation to buy another this year. This has the same scent as Creamy Candy Bubble Bar but it just looks that little prettier, don’t you think? This is a real girly bath bomb and also a real treat for myself when I fancy something sweet after a long day. The scent lingers on the skin for ages and I just can’t get enough. Will be buying some more by the end of Christmas to keep me through 2015.

So those were my empties, and they were also all spoken about short and sweet, I do apologise for that.

What products have you used up this month? Let me know in the comments!

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

September Favourites 2014

I know this post is a week late, but as they say, better late than never!

It’s late because I’ve honestly just been too busy to do any writing, although I managed to get my wish list written okay… I put that down to picture-taking though!

So finally my favourites post is here and I really have loved September. It wasn’t so bad and even involved a fresh start that I’ve needed for a long time! I’ve been at university for three weeks now and whilst I am extremely nervous, I am really enjoying it.

Without further delay, my favourites!

• N SPA Cherry Body Scrub.

After using up my body scrub I decided it was time to buy a replacement and whilst I wanted to buy a nice one for myself (The Body Shop, or Soap & Glory) I opted for this one by N Spa, to try and save myself a few pennies. I bought this one and a Raspberry one, which I am yet to try. This body scrub I at first thought would be rubbish but alas I was wrong and it’s turned out better than I thought it would be! There’s a few things I really like about this, first of all the fact it lathers up when applied to the skin! I use it with my sponge and it really does leave me feeling soft after use, but what else is great about this is how it smells delicious! Although I do sway more towards citrus and strawberry scents, I am a total sucker for cherry too and this is a nice black cherry scent that any cherry scent fan will fall in love with. N Spa is a great and affordable brand and I recommend it to anyone fancying trying something new.

• Simple Anti-Bacterial Hand Wash.

I know I used to say last year and the start of this year how after finding Dettol’s hand wash I would NEVER use another hand wash due to my eczema, but I have broadened my horizons lately, as regular readers will know and this is a hand wash I HAVE used in the past and had problems with. This is a mint scented hand wash and due to that I was already sold, the anti-bacterial  side of it was just a bonus really! However when I used this about a year ago my hands were left tight, dry, and extremely sore and due to it my eczema was worse than it needed to be! I vowed never to use it again, but I didn’t keep it. Recently my mom decided to bring this into the kitchen for us to use and as I thought it would be better for my hands than fairy liquid, I reluctantly started to use it. My hands have been nothing but soft and not exactly perfect, but not as bad as they originally were with previous uses of this hand wash and I was pleasantly surprised! So I decided to pick one up for myself and I am glad I did, especially for a £1! I recommend it, especially in the run up to Christmas as the mint scent really does remind me of the time of year.

• Dolly Mixtures Shower Gel in Pina Colada.

Dolly Mixtures is a new brand that Asda have brought into their stores and I have wanted to buy all the shower gels they sell, but as I don’t have the room, nor the money to buy them all I decided to just pick up one instead, which is Pina Colada. I’m a sucker for the drink, as it’s my favourite cocktail and I love pineapple and coconut scents, especially together. I wanted a bog standard shower gel to use before work and this one was the perfect choice! The scent really uplifts me and wakes me up in the mornings before I head to work, and the way this leaves my skin feeling and smelling is divine! At the time of buying this it was on offer at £1, but it retails for £2, which is definitely worth the money! As soon as this runs out I’m going to buy another scent to try! I can see me buying these for friends this Christmas as they’re really nice and for the price, a real sweet treat!

• Garnier Pure Active Wasabi Fresh Face Scrub.

This was a spontaneous purchase as my Soap & Glory face scrub finally saw its last day and I threw the rest of it away, I think I’d have it nearly 2 years and with a shelf life of just a year, I wasn’t going to risk using it anymore! I had a look at loads of face scrubs during a visit to Tesco and this one was half price so I had a look and decided to buy it. The day after buying I decided to give it a go and it was amazing! It foamed up, which I really like in a face scrub and just felt like it was really working to cleanse my skin, as well as wash away any dead skin, as well as clear my blackheads. After using it I decided to read the back of the tube a little more than I had done in the shop and as I read  more I read how it is formulated for men. YES, MEN! I bought a man’s face scrub and you’re probably shaking your heads at me or laughing, but does it really matter who it’s made for? I don’t think so and since using it my skin has really improved and even my boyfriends has too! I really want to try the face wash next as if the scrub has left my skin looking good, then I’m sure the wash will too.

• Maybelline Color Elixir in Fuchsia Flourish (review here).

I have never loved a lip product as much as I love Maybelline’s Color Elixir’s! I want to get more shades yet but out of the three I bought this one has been the most worn and therefore most loved. It’s a gorgeous dark pink and is wearable day-to-night and leaves a lovely subtle stain behind. I have really enjoyed wearing this for work but I’ve also loved wearing it for university too as it’s easy to apply, leaves your lips feeling soft and nourished as well as giving your lips a pop of colour. If you want to know more about it, go and read my review, it’s been linked in the title.

• Chapstick in Apple.

I LOVE apple Chapstick and when I spied 4 of these for a £1 in Pound World I decided to get myself some! This is probably my favourite lip balm ever as it smells and tastes delicious, just like fresh apples and keeps your lips soft and smooth, can’t really complain with that! I have really enjoyed using this at university as traveling to and from uni, as well as to and from lectures I sometimes just want to keep my lips hydrated instead of looking colourful so the days that I don’t wear lipstick/gloss there this lip balm comes in handy. Plus I love wearing it at work too!

• Simple Moisture Boost Hydro Mist Spray.

I bought this for uni and it’s really been a savior to use after work whilst I make my way to university! It really does refresh my face and I even use it throughout the day and after work even if I don’t have uni. I’ve never used it before and whilst it was half price I thought I would pick it up, as I have wanted to try it since it came out. I really like Simple’s products as they’re perfect for my sensitive skin and never break me out or cause any issues on my skin. With the moisture boost it really does help bring some moisture into the skin and refresh your skin after a long day. It’s really nice to use after a hot bath because of that too, as well as after using a face scrub or face mask. I recommend it if you’re busy like me and want something to freshen the skin up whilst on the go!

• The Body Shop Strawberry Hand Cream.

I had the coconut hand cream on my favourites last month and now I have the strawberry one this month! All I’ve been using is the strawberry hand cream as it’s kept my hands lovely and soft, as well as smelling delicious! This isn’t a huge tube either so it fits perfectly into my handbag. It’s just a gorgeous light hand cream that absorbs quickly and leaves my hands feeling soft and smooth! I really need to review these in the future so keep your eyes peeled! I recommend these if you’re like me and don’t like thick, greasy hand creams.

• Viktor & Rolf BonBon EDP.

Oh my life I have been lusting after this perfume ever since it was announced late January and I finally got my hands on it in September! I didn’t have to pay for this 30ml bottle and it was worth £55. It wasn’t a gift and it did cost me something, but not cash. If I explain where I got it from and how I’ll also be talking about my job and where I work, which I don’t wish to do on my blog… ANYWAY I have it now and it’s one of my favourite perfumes! It’s such a gorgeous sweet scent and not only does my Mom love it, but my boyfriend really does too. I’ve already asked for one of these in a 50ml or 100ml for Christmas! I WILL be writing a post about this soon!

• The Body Shop Pink Grapefruit Hand Cleanse Gel.

As regular readers will know, I’m a total sucker for The Body Shop’s hand sanitizers and I love to use them for work and keep them in my bag for on the go. I think I’ve tried them all apart from Mango now and this is one of my favourites out of the all! It’s really strong citrus wise and when I use this at work it really does perk me up and wake me up. Like all the hand cleanse gels, it’s a strong scent and as soon as I use it I get comments, positive of course. As usual, I recommend these to everyone to try at least once!

So those were my favourites for September… FINALLY!

I’m sorry for the wait, but sadly my studies for university come first at the moment.

I shall have my empties post up tomorrow though, so don’t worry.

I hope everyone’s week has gone off to a good start and until next time, take care all.

July Favourites 2014

I can’t believe it’s August already and I also can’t believe it’s been raining. I started writing this post up on Friday and literally sighed after each time that I looked out the window, how dramatic huh?

This months favourites are pretty summery, which is to be expected after all the lovely weather we’ve been having the past month. Fingers crossed this rain passes so we have some more.

There are quite a lot of new products featured on here that I’ve either only just reviewed or really need to get round to reviewing, sooo if you see anything you would like to see being reviewed, PLEASE let me know in the comments!

This post is going up later than my usual favourites posts, but I’ve just been so busy and such that I sadly didn’t get time to post this until today. Oh well, better late than never!

Image taken from thebodyshop.co.uk

• The Body Shop Banana Shampoo.

The reason this is a picture taken from The Body Shop’s website and not an actual photo of said product is because I don’t actually own this shampoo… But my boyfriend does. I bought him this just before we went to Bristol in June as part of his anniversary present and to this day he has loved it. Whenever I stay at his house I use this shampoo and it really does leave my hair feeling soft and smooth, as well as looking healthy. The most appealing thing to me about this shampoo is the smell! It smells like real bananas, which makes me happy, as (random fact!) I’m actually allergic to bananas and due to this I often have to avoid banana things that contain actual bananas, just incase they cause me to flare up. However I gladly discovered in Bristol that this shampoo doesn’t set off any allergic reactions, so since then I’ve used this on and off. I do intend to buy my own bottle of this soon, when however, I don’t know! This is for all hair types and I really do recommend it, especially if you love the smell of banana as much as I do!

• The Body Shop Body Sorbet in Strawberry.

When I heard about this coming out well before June, I KNEW I needed it in my life! As much as I love having soft skin, like pretty much most women out there I loathe moisturising. It can take ages (well 10 minutes for myself) and never wants to sink in as quickly as well all hope. I have found moisturisers that DO sink in, as well as the patience to apply them, but during the recent hot summer days it just feels too hot and clammy to wear any moisturiser. However, The Body Shop have brought out their Body Sorbet’s just in time! These cooling moisturisers help keep your skin soft and smooth, as well as cool feeling and smelling gorgeous. They come in 5 scents and the one I picked up was Strawberry, my favourite Body Shop scent. You can read my full review for this here, but I have  loved using this throughout July and I know I’ll continue to enjoy it throughout the rest of the year, not just during summer.

• Britney Spears Midnight Fantasy EDP.

This is the only celebrity fragrance I currently own and is by far one of my favourite fragrances to wear. It smells gorgeous and lasts all day and for an 100ml bottle it costs just £19.99, bargain eh? But anyhoo, as to why I like this in the first place… When the weather is really warm I often reach for stronger perfumes and this is probably one of the first ones I will reach for, for many reasons. Not only is it a strong perfume but it also smells of blueberries, which is a really nice for the summertime, I think anyway. I’m near the end of my massive 100ml bottle, so I am going to be buying a new bottle really soon as I can’t really live without it. I love wearing this for work as well as over the weekend as it’s just a lovely perfume to use to keep you smelling beautiful all day long.

• The Body Shop Vitamin E Aqua Boost Sorbet.

I heard about this coming out over the pond in America because it had even hit shelves over here in the UK the same time as the Body Sorbet and I have to say how much I love this stuff! I was hesitant to purchasing it, even after testing it out in store (and admittedly falling in love with it) I didn’t feel it was worth the price tag of £12. However I walked around town for a while after trying it and decided that it was actually something I needed in my life, even for £12. The sorbet is both cooling and very hydrating for the skin, as well as that it’s also meant to leave your skin with a matte finish too, which is pretty much what my skin needs, as it’s combination. I already know I’ll be re-purchasing this moisturiser, and will be writing a review up of it very soon! My skin has improved so much since using it.

• Benefit Benebalm Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm.

I can’t remember when these came out, but I remember reading about them being released and I was so damn excited! There are four of them to choose from and when I went shopping with my friend Poppy back in June in Milton Keynes, we popped into Boots and my advantage points were burning a hole in my pocket, so I decided to treat myself to this lip balm and I’m really glad I did! It was a tough choice between Benebalm, Lollibalm and Chachabalm, but I love my reds so this one won! This lip balm is super hydrating and lasts for ages. It’s been a staple for long close shifts at work, where I’m usually too busy to get a chance to keep reapplying lip products. It’s nice worn alone or underneath/over a red lipstick. I’ve teamed it with my Lush Santa Baby Lip Tint (review here) quite a lot throughout June and it’s worked really well! I’ll definitely be reviewing this soon, as well as buying the other balms in future.

• MAC Goddess of the Sea Lipstick.

As many will know, this lipstick is from the Alluring Aquatic collection and one I snapped up pretty much before it was due to be taken off the shelves forever. I was going to buy this lipstick in Bristol after swatching it the first day I was there, but by Monday it was taken off of the shelves and I was told it was no longer available to buy. Fast forward a week or two later and I had it in my possession! I picked it up from the MAC counter in Birmingham’s Selfridges and the woman who sold it me was so lovely! Anyhoo… This shade is gorgeous! A dark violet-purple and due to it being a cremesheen it is perfect to wear during the summertime, as it feels comfortable and the colour just works perfectly! I’ve been wearing this loads during my time off work, as well as in work. I’ve had many compliments on it and upon telling customers it was by MAC they just sighed and said, “I can’t afford MAC!” oh dear. xD But anyhoo… This WILL be reviewed in the future, probably one of the days this month. I can’t wait to review it quite frankly as this has fast turned into one of my favourite MAC lipsticks and I wish I had picked up two of these now so that I had a spare for the future.

• Maybelline Baby Lips in Cherry Me.

As my previous reviews of Baby Lips show (Mint Fresh review and Pink Punch review), I’ve owned these lip balms before and whilst I loved them at first, I slowly grew for forget their existence and for a while they just sat in the bottom of my handbag gathering handbag dust. However everyone has always ranted and raved about Cherry Me the most, including my closest friends. SO I decided to pick it up for myself to see what was so great about it, and I really do love this lip balm. It reminds me so much of Nivea’s Lip Balm in Cherry, which I used to own and use every moment of the day when I was at school. I remember it well and the scent just reminds me of that time. I pretty much just have this lip balm for work to apply to my dark and red lipsticks, it works beautifully over Rebel, for example. I can see this being my go to lip balm for winter time mind as it tastes gorgeous, smells gorgeous too and is lovely to wear and quick to apply! Another product I’ll be reviewing soon!

• Simple Kind To Eyes Soothing Eye Balm.

This is an eye balm I have gone back to time and time again and this is it. It’s always been gentle on the skin around my eyes, as well as doing what it actually should. Other eye balms don’t compete against this one, price tag included on that! I’m just glad to have this back in my beauty regime as it’s just something I can’t really live without. In this warm and humid weather it can make my eyes feel very dry and tired, but this eye balm leaves them feeling cool and awakened, which is definitely what I need for early starts at work! A roller ball eye gel would work wonders too, but I never find these work as well as they should. I definitely recommend this one though if you’re after something cheap and cheerful, which will actually do what it says on the tin.

• Ciate Nail Polish in Pillow Fight.

This was a freebie in Marie Claire magazine back in June and I picked up two of these magazines for the nail polishes. I wrote about the first Ciate set I picked up, but I managed to get myself another set, which included Pillow Fight. Pillow Fight is a gorgeous purpley grey nail polish and something different, that I knew I needed to have in my collection for autumn and winter. This being said I have been wearing it a lot over the course of June and it has worked beautifully with some glitter nail polish too! I would definitely and probably will in the future buy the full size version of this, as it’s just too gorgeous not to keep in my collection.

• The Body Shop Hand Cleanse Gel in Strawberry.

I love scented hand sanitizers and whilst I love my Pocketbac’s, they’re too pricey to keep using 24/7, so I opt for The Body Shop’s versions instead. I’ve pretty much tried all of them bar a couple and my most recently used one is Strawberry, which has fast become one of my favourites. I keep these in my handbag to use whilst on the go, as well as for work and I always get lovely compliments about how gorgeous they smell, mainly from my manager who can always smell when I’ve used it! They usually have their hand sanitizers on 3 for 2, so I always pick some up whenever I pop into The Body Shop!

So those are my favourites for July! What products did you enjoy using last month? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a great weekend!

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!