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. 😛

April Favourites ’17

Easter holidays are over, all the chocolate eggs have been sold or are still on sale in the shops, and Mini Eggs won’t be back until New Year… This is the saddest thing for me. I fucking love Mini Eggs! 😛

But we’re into May now and happy May Day! I’m off work for a change and I intend to spend the day doing sod all and chilling out with Dane. I might make us sausage and mash… Love it!

ANYWAY! With a new month of course comes my monthly posts, including my favourites. April was a funny month, but I discovered a lot of new items this month gone and luckily stuff I needed… Not just buying for the sake of it. 😛

• Imperial Leather Marshmallow Shower Cream.

I’ve used this in the past and I’m pretty sure it has featured on my monthly favourites before. It being featured on here again just shows what an amazing product it is! I actually forgot how good it was until I recently started using it again. It smells beautiful and leaves your skin not only smelling yummy but feeling lovely and soft too. For only a £1 you cannot go wrong!

• Vaseline Lip Therapy with Cocoa Butter.

It’s shit to admit but my lips are STILL bad. Well they appear to be on the mend now and better than before but still bad… Urgh. I finally got some decent answers from two doctors recently and was given the right treatments. Alongside using the treatment creams I’ve also been slathering on this Vaseline in between applications to keep my lips nice and moist… Ew I hate that word but it’s the only word I can use right now and it be accurate. This tub is for around the house, as I bought an aloe vera one for out on the go and for work. I don’t like that one as much as the cocoa butter though to be honest. I find the smell to be fresh, but that doesn’t apply when on the lips. I feel like the cocoa butter scent is lovely both in the jar and when applied to the lips. You can never go wrong with cocoa butter to be fair! I love this better than the original Vaseline though to be honest! 😀

• Boots Essentials Cucumber Eye Gel.

I needed a new eye gel last month and wanted to make sure to get something that would cool my eyes whilst hydrating them throughout the day. I wouldn’t usually go for a low budget eye gel due to the whole, “It’s not going to do sod all…” but I thought for £1.50 it wouldn’t break the bank to give it a whirl! I hate eye creams and have always opted to buying gels if I can. This one is amazing and really does soothe and cool tired eyes either in the morning before work or after a long day in the evening. Either way I love this and I think I’ll end up buying another soon for mine and Dane’s holiday in September!

• Barry M Molten Metal Nail Paint in shade Copper Mine.

When I was off work during April I decided to paint my nails as due to the job I do I’m not allowed to wear it whilst working. I have a couple of these Molten Metal polishes but this one is my favourite. I find the copper shade suits my yellow skin tone the best and it just looks gorgeous too. The formula is lovely and it lasts ages before chipping! Even whilst doing loads of work on the house last week it hardly chipped. This was without a top coat too! I’ll be reviewing these very soon as they deserve a review. I plan to get myself the new holographic shade that recently came out. These are on 2 for £7 at the moment so I’ll be getting that and another shade.

• Radox Feel Heavenly Bath Soak with Coconut & Milk.

Finally we have a bubble bath on my monthly favourites. I still use my Lush products, don’t get me wrong but more often than not I find if I overuse them it actually causes more harm to my body than good. That and I try to make my money last at the moment. ANYWAY! This bath soak was bought on a whim that I wanted something nice and light to use on days off work and before bed. This is a gorgeous bubble bath where a little bit goes a long way, but I always add a generous amount to my bath to create LOADS of bubbles. I always find this leaves my skin lovely and soft after use. It’s amazing.

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

Favourite TV Show – Sirens (UK version).

This is a show I recently started to re-watch. It was out YEARS ago… (looks on Wikipedia) Holy shit 2011 was when this show first aired. I feel old. Very old. ANYWAY! As the title may give away this show is about 3 paramedics and it shows what they get up to during their shifts. It also shows a couple of members of the Police and Fire Service too. This is fiction I’ll have you know and is actually a comedy. I love it so much though, it just makes me laugh. There are some serious notes in it however and with that it does remind me of Only Fools and Horses. One moment it can be side splitting funny and the next bringing a tear to your eye. If you’ve never watched it and you fancy giving it a go then I think you’re only options now are going to be watching it online for free, or as a shitty YouTube upload. I’m being naughty and watching it online for free… Hey! I’d buy it if I could!

Favourite Film – Your Name (Kimi no Na wa).

Last month me and Dane went to go and watch this after he found out it was showing in the Mockingbird cinema in Birmingham’s Custard Factory. He booked it that day and that evening we were off to watch it. Oh my God it wasn’t even what I was expecting it to be to be honest. I knew what the basic plot was for the film but it has a lot of twists and such throughout the film. I don’t want to talk too in depth as I worry it could spoil the film for anyone who hasn’t seen it. You can watch a trailer here if you like the sound of it. BUT to be honest if you haven’t heard about it by now, whether you’re an anime fan or not then where have you been hiding? It keeps being spoken about how it’s the best anime film for quite some time. 😛

Favourite Book – K-ON!

As regular readers of my blog will know I have been reading nothing but manga since the start of the year and whilst it is an expensive thing to keep on top of, it is so damn worth it! I recently purchased all of the K-ON manga to read and whilst I am only somewhat through the series, I am in love with it. It’s just great to see some of my new favourite anime characters come to life on the pages of the manga as well as through the anime series. I’ll be reviewing in the future!

Favourite Songs – George Michael “Freedom! 90” and “Careless Whisper”.

This is kind of random I suppose but a few nights ago I just started listening to songs from the 00’s… Which led to songs from the 90’s and for some reason that then led me to listen to some of George Michael’s best singles. Of course he died at the end of last year which was a real shame. He was a talented guy in every way! I have always had a place for “Freedom! 90” and I don’t know why… I especially love the music video as I think it’s so clever, alongside the song as a dig at the music industry. 😛 Thanks to Deadpool now whenever I hear “Careless Whisper” I just think of Ryan Reynolds singing it at the end of the film. HA! 😛 BUT instead of popping either of the songs mentioned above I thought I would attach Seether’s cover of “Careless Whisper”. It’s amazing in my eyes and they did a really good job!

Favourite game – TsumTsum.

This is a game I have owned for as long as I’ve had my iPhone 6 to be honest… I remember when I went on holiday with my dad in November 2015 playing it whenever we were near a WiFi connection! ANYWAY… This is a game I have been playing nonstop this month and it’s one I always forget that I love to play. It’s a game that you can actually pay to play in Japan as an actual arcade game. I would love to play it like that! I’ve attached a video above of Sharla playing it! It’s just a great, free and relaxing game to play. It’s one of those where you need to match up 3 plus of the same Disney character to get rid of them, get a high score, coins etc. With those coins you can buy new characters etc. If you love Disney and love the Tsum Tsum’s then you’ll love this!

So those were my favourites from April! I can’t believe how quickly the year is going by though to be perfectly honest. Next month me and Dane will have been in our house for a year and I don’t know if I like that or if it scares me a little. Time is going wayyyyy too fast and I don’t think I like that. It also means next month marks our four year anniversary which IS exciting and I don’t mind that. 😛 It does feel like we’ve been together longer mind.

What products were you loving throughout April? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time take care all and I hope you have a lovely bank holiday Monday. I know I will be. 😛

November Favourites 2014

Christmas is just around the corner and as I say every favourites post, I can’t believe how fast the year has gone. To think in less than a months time it’ll be a New Year, Christmas will be over and I’ll be older.

November went by really quickly and it actually took me ages to try and think about what my favourites were throughout the month, as it just flashed by!

Eventually I came up with my ten favourites and here they are.

 

• Yankee Candle’s Simply Home Candle in Lemon Cream.

I’ve owned this candle for quite a while, but since having the house to myself the past two weeks, my boyfriend and I have been burning this loads as we love the smell and look how low down it is now! This was really cheap too from a market nearby where I live, only £6 and this is a medium jar, which usually retails for £9, so I did get it at a bargain. I haven’t seen this for sale in-store anywhere since buying it, which sucks as it smells delicious. It reminds me of lemon cake, most of all like the one you can get from Costa Coffee, which just smells lush! It’s a really strong candle too and when I first used to burn this I used to have to keep my window open as it used to give me a headache. I’ll definitely buy this again in the future, as well as one of the Simply Home candles again as they’re a great price and are actually Yankee Candles, but under a different name. They’re worth just as much as the Yankee Candles themselves. Check these out if you haven’t before.

• The Body Shop Glazed Apple Shower Gel.

I LOVE the Glazed Apple collection from The Body Shop this Christmas and I’ll really be sad to see this go at the end of the month. I love apple scents and this really does smell of fresh apples, but with a sweet scent too. My friend Mali over on her blog (link) reviewed this not long after it came out in October and described it as smelling like Hubba Bubba apple bubblegum and she’s so right! I love using this shower gel in the mornings before I head to university as I smell of it for a while before I leave the house and the fresh but sweet apple scent really does wake you up. It makes lots of lovely bubbles and a little bit of it goes a long way. My boyfriends been using this loads too and he loves it. I’ve also tried the hand cream from this collection and have literally just ordered the bubble bath too. I’m excited to try it out! I recommend picking up the Glazed Apple products as soon as possible as soon enough Christmas will be over and these will be coming off of the shelves too.

• Angel by Thierry Mugler EDP.

Sadly a few months back I ran out of my Angel and luckily I have a refillable bottle so it doesn’t cost me much to get my star bottle refilled if I want to. So for less than £30 my Dad was lovely enough to go and get it refilled for me and since then I’ve been using Angel once again. This is one of my favourite perfumes and has been since it came out in the early 90’s. My Mom used to wear this loads when I was a kid and because of it, the scent always reminds me of her. I love wearing this throughout the winter season as it’s such a warming scent and it lasts ages too so if I’m busy I don’t have to worry about topping it up every hour or so. If you’re thinking of getting this someone for Christmas, or even yourself definitely pick up the refill bottle! You save so much money in the long run.

• Dettol Moisturise Aloe Vera & Milk Protein Hand Wash.

The Dettol hand wash is back on my sink and boy have I missed it! I love the Dettol hand washes, they’re sure to clean your hands from bacteria, smell delicious and leave my hands feeling moisturised and lovely. This was on offer in Asda for just 95p, which I thought was great considering the Dettol hand washes are £1-£2 usually. This smells delicious and I can’t even describe the scent, other than fresh and like milk and honey. I’ll definitely be picking this up again as it’s made my hand lovely and soft, and not many hand washes out there does that to my hands.

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector.

I still own this hand cream and I have to just say how lovely it is! Since picking this up on my 24th at the start of the year it has done nothing but keep my hands soft. This is definitely one for autumn and winter as it’s a very thick hand cream that is designed for dry to very dry hands, which I suffer from terribly at this time due to my eczema. However, as of yet I haven’t had any problems (touch wood!) and I have a feeling it’s because of using this hand cream everyday. I got this for £5.00, instead of the full price of £11.00 and whilst it is expensive it really is worth the money! I recommend this and have written a review for it in the past (check that out here) and I will tell people to try this over and over again as it really is amazing and a real skin saver!

• Bath & Body Works Pocketbac Anti-Bacterial Hand Gel in Graham Cracker Marshmallow.

I love Bath & Body Works, but I hate that they aren’t available in this country, GRR! I usually pick up my Pocketbac’s from eBay and that is where I bought this one from. This hand sanitizer smells of yummy chocolate crackers and it really is delicious. As all Pocketbac’s the scent is really strong and lasts ages. I’m usually asked what perfume I’ve put on whenever I use this as it just smells THAT strong, never a bad thing. As well as that it keeps my hands germ free and clean throughout the day. I love using this in class as my lectures are due to start and it really is a treat to use. I always sniff my hands after use too and it really does smell yummy. If you like the sound of this just go and search for it on eBay, I’m sure you’ll find one on there somewhere.

• Carmex Lip Balm in Strawberry.

I’ve posted about this lip balm various times on my blog and even written about it in the past (which you can check out here) and once again it is rearing it’s strawberry scented head. I love using the original Carmex but as that is seeing it’s last days I have started to use the Strawberry one more. This smells lightly of Strawberries and you can taste it a little when you put it on the lips, but it isn’t anything major. This lip balm is gorgeous and a little bit of it goes a long way. I love using this alone and under lip products. My lips over the years have been dry and chapped throughout the winter season, but since discovering Carmex last summer my lips since have been lovely and soft… I do use other lip balms by the way! I find this one works nice underneath lip glosses but with lipsticks (depending on the formula) it doesn’t work as well if you don’t blot afterwards… But I often do this anyway. I’m going to try the cherry flavour when this has finished, can’t wait!

• Rimmel Glitter Bomb Top Coat in Bedazzle.

This was one of my more recent beauty purchases and it’s a gorgeous glitter top coat. I know I don’t need anymore make up products, I know this but who can deny something as lovely as this? This top coat is a dupe of OPI’s Polka.com nail lacquer and I’d wanted that nail polish for nearly two years, so the fact that I have bought a great dupe for over half the price isn’t bad. I need to post a review of these in the next few weeks before Christmas and New Year roll around, but this is such a great top coat to wear alone or over a nail polish colour. It has purple, blue and pink glitter running throughout and is really girly! Perfect for New Years parties and I can see me wearing this loads in December.

• Vaseline Lip Therapy with Aloe Vera.

Okay I want to start this by saying I don’t use this on my lips, I use it on my eyebrows… Yes I know that sounds weird but hear me out. I have HUGE eyebrows and without a gel or Vaseline to keep them looking neat and tidy they would be an unruly mess! I apply a little of this onto my eyebrows and then use an eyebrow/eyelash comb to smooth them down and make them look tidy and straight. I recommend this if you have thick eyebrows like I do, I wouldn’t wish to use a coloured gel on mine as they’re black so they can’t really become any darker than they are already. Plus Vaseline doesn’t cost much either, which makes my wallet happy.

• Maybelline Color Elixir Lip Lacquer in Raspberry Rhapsody.

I wrote a review (you can check that out here) about these when they first came out and ever since I’ve loved these and have been meaning to order some more for when I go on holiday in the New Year (which I’ll do after Christmas!) as they’re just such lovely shades. This is definitely one of my favourite shades as it’s a gorgeous purpley pink shade and looks beautiful on the lips, leaving a slight stain as well as keeping them moisturised and feeling great. I often opt for these if I’m not in the mood to wear a lipstick as they’re easy to apply and last ages so I don’t feel the need to reapply them often. If you haven’t tried these yet, get from under that rock you’re clearly hiding underneath and give these a go!

So those were my favourite products throughout November! I can’t believe it’s December already. Speaking of which, what do you all think of my new header? Christmassy huh?

What did you like using in November? Let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all.

April Favourites 2014

I can’t believe it’s May already, we’re almost halfway through the year! My parents were right when they told me, “the older you get, the quicker the years fly by!”

It’s May and a lot is happening this month and I have a long weekend coming up in June, which I’m excited to tell you all about next week! But for now, I’m going to share my favourites from April, which range from beauty, fashion and general.

So without further ado, let’s get on with the post.

P.S. I have another item to mention aside from the ones pictured above, but a separate picture of this will be featured below.

• Elemis Skin Nourishing Shower Cream.

This is a shower cream I have come to fall in love with VERY quickly after my Mom gave it to me. I know my Mom gives me a lot of beauty products, but it’s usually because she buys something and gets the same product she ordered free, which she will usually donate to myself. This is the same story with this shower cream and I am in love with it! It’s a lovely creamy shower gel that smells very fresh and floral, but it also smells milky and creamy too. Not only does it smell lovely but a little bit goes a long way and after using this my skin is left feeling soft and smooth! I worked a lot of early shifts at work in the last week of April, which meant I didn’t get time in the mornings to apply some moisturiser, however with this shower cream I don’t need to worry about that. Due to the milk proteins in this shower cream it means that it moisturises the skin beautifully whilst I wash with it, as well as after I rinse it off and dry my skin, as well as leaving me smelling beautiful! This is a real treat to use and I’m growing to love Elemis products since Christmas when my Mom gave me lots of lovely Elemis products.

• The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector Hand Cream (mentioned here and here).

I know this was in my favourites last month, but I just love this hand cream so much that I just HAD to mention it again! I’ve pretty much stopped using my Hand Food hand cream by Soap & Glory, as my daily moisturiser due to just loving this one so much. The smell of Hand Food has started to make me feel sick when I use it, as well as not feeling as if it moisturises enough, so I’ve been using my Hemp hand cream pretty much everyday, even when I’m not at work. This hand cream is for very dry skin, thus it’s a very thick hand cream which is great for my hands when I’m suffering with eczema, as well as when I’m not. I love The Body Shop’s hand creams and I think in the future I’ll be purchasing another one, probably the Absinthe one in the near future! I’ve reviewed this hand cream before, the link is above next to the name of the hand cream itself.

• Jean Paul Gaultier Classique X EDP (mentioned here).

I bought this perfume nearly a year ago after eying it up for a couple of months and finally took the plunge when I fancied treating myself. I’m not halfway through the bottle and throughout April it was pretty much the only perfume I used for work. It’s a lovely feminine and grown up smelling perfume, whilst being sexy all at the same time and whilst I’ve only been wearing it for work, it has really perked me up to wear it, especially during the mornings when I’ve needed a pick me up to keep me awake. As it’s an EDP it lasts longer than an EDT would and this lasts quite a long time, which is good for me during my working hours! I’ll spray it before I start my shift and maybe halfway through my shift if it’s quiet and I get a chance to, but even then I can still smell it slightly at the end of my shift even if I don’t get the chance to top it up! I love this perfume and I really want another one of Jean Paul Gaultier’s scents soon!

• Aloe Vera Face & Body Cream.

I’ve owned this cream since November when my Mom brought it back for me from her holiday to one of the Canaries Island’s. She didn’t intend to give this to me, but when I explained I needed a face cream to use at my boyfriends, she gave me this to try out. As a face cream it did an okay job, but as a body cream it works a lot better! Aloe is good for cooling you down and as the weather has been warm on and off throughout April, I used this when it was really warm outside and it worked a treat at cooling me down! I usually use my Soap & Glory body lotions but when the weather is warmer these lotions tend to make me sweat a little bit more at work than I really wish to, but this cream really does keep me cooler than the Soap & Glory ones would. As well as that, this does make my skin lovely and soft, as well as smelling fresh and lovely! A little bit of this cream goes a long way too and when my Mom goes back to the Canaries Island she visited, I’ll be asking her to pick me up another pot of this, as I can see it going rather quickly during the summer when the days are warmer and I start catching the sun and tanning. Obviously this specific cream isn’t available in the UK, BUT Body Care sell something similar to this for just over £1.00, so go and check that out if you fancy trying out a cream like this.

• Tanya Burr Lip Gloss in Exotic Island (mentioned here).

I popped this lip gloss down on my wish list in March and now I finally have it! At the start of April I picked up this lip gloss and since then I’ve used it nearly every day. This is by far the best drugstore lip gloss I’ve ever used, EVER! The way this applies, the pigmentation, the scent, the colour, everything about this lip gloss is great! I’m currently in the process of writing up a review for this, which will be live on my blog at some point this month (so watch this space!) and I can’t wait for you to all read it. This lip gloss is just beautiful and for £6.99 it’s well worth the money too. The gloss colour is very pigmented and it isn’t sticky which makes it perfect to apply when on the move, so this good for me with my job. As well as that it also feels very moisturising which means I don’t need to faff with popping on any lip balm if I’m in a hurry. The shade of this gloss is Exotic Island and the shade is a pinky purple shade and reminds me of a subtle version of Rebel, which I love as some days I won’t feel up to wearing Rebel so this is a great replacement for it. I won’t talk too much about the lip gloss here as I want to talk loads about it on my review, so keep your eyes peeled for that soon if you wish to know more about it.

• Vaseline Paint The Town Red Lip Tint (review here).

I remember when this lip tint came out around Christmas time, I was so excited for it and used it all the time, but after a while I discontinued using it and it just sat either in my hand bag or on my bed side table, waiting for the day to be used again, which came at the start of April. I started using it again alongside one of my red lip glosses whilst at work, so that I didn’t have to worry about applying said lip gloss whilst being busy at work and due to this I’ve remembered why I love this lip tint so much. It’s easy to apply and leaves a lovely dark pink/light red tint on the lips, as well as leaving my lips feeling moisturised. I don’t like to dunk my finger into pots like this whilst I’m out and about so I literally use this like my EOS lip balm and apply the product straight to my lips. It tastes and smells yummy too, like winter berries! This is a favourite to use at work, as well as if I’m just popping to the shops and not bothered about applying lipstick/lip gloss but fancy a bit of colour. I don’t know if these are still for sale as they were limited edition for winter, but I imagine that shops are still selling them. Check out my review that I’ve linked to above!

• Barry M Limited Edition Birthday Nail Paint for Superdrug (mentioned here).

When I first saw this nail paint reviewed by Brit Nails I KNEW I needed it in my life! It’s one of the most gorgeous glitter nail polishes I have ever laid eyes on and the fact that it takes two coats to achieve it without needing to apply it over a base colour is amazing. As soon as I bought this I applied it to my toes to see the colour pay off and boy was I impressed! After two good coats of this polish it looks beautiful and it does the same when applied to my finger nails too! It’s a beautiful hot pink colour with various chunks of glitter throughout it which range from pink, white and purple shades. I painted this polish on my toe nails when I first bought it at the start of April and at the end of April it’s still lasting well! I think this will be a gorgeous shade for summer and I’ve been wearing it loads during my weekends off of work, as well as any of the days I have off during the week too. This is a limited edition polish so if you wish to have it in your collection, get down to Superdrug ASAP as I don’t know if it’ll be on the shelves too long or not.

• Yankee Candle Sweet Strawberry Candle (mentioned here).

This was one of the two presents my boyfriend bought me for my birthday present this year and finally at the start of April I finally bought myself a large shade to use with this candle. I did start to burn it on my birthday but I noticed it wasn’t burning evenly and for over 3 months I left this candle unburned until I bought myself a shade to use with this to prevent it burning wrong. This is a large Yankee Candle and whilst I don’t use any of my Yankee jar Candles without a shade I knew I didn’t want to use this without especially as it was a present. As soon as I received my shade I haven’t stopped burning Sweet Strawberry! Every other afternoon/night after a long day of work I’ll pop this on until the early or late evening and my room smells so sweet and gorgeous. I love this candle so much and I know in the future I will be buying more large Yankee Candles.

• Animal Crossing: New Leaf on Nintendo 3DS (mentioned here).

Ever since buying my 2DS I have been in love with it and it’s probably one of the many reasons why I have been blogging less than I used to. My boyfriend also loves his 2DS, so I’m glad I’m not on my own with this love. The second game we both bought was Animal Crossing and from previously owning it on both the Game Cube and the Nintendo DS I HAD to get it on the 3DS too, especially for the fact that you’re the mayor of your own town. This is by far the most exciting Animal Crossing game out of them all (in my opinion anyway!) and due to this I haven’t been able to put it down. On Easter Sunday my boyfriend and I sat in my bed all day playing the game until we couldn’t really play it anymore. If you own a 3DS and you’re after a new game, then definitely pick up Animal Crossing: New Leaf, it’s an amazing game and well worth the money as there is never really an end to this game.

• Animal Rella Crew Neck Sweatshirt.

This was a random purchase when I went down to Milton Keynes at the start of April and I’m so glad I bought it! My boyfriend, our friend and I went down to Milton Keynes so that the boys could go snowboarding whilst I looked around the shops and after they were finished we would go around the shops together. I eyed up this sweatshirt whilst I was on my own and after the boys came and joined me I showed this to them to see what they thought of it. They both agreed it looked nice and after trying it on I fell in love with it and bought it straight away, wearing it later on that afternoon, as you can see from the above image. I ended up wearing this sweatshirt the whole weekend, no lie and since then I’ve been wearing this once during the week, as well as every weekend too. This sweatshirt isn’t just comfortable but it works and goes with EVERYTHING! I can wear it around the house, to pop to the shops in, if I’m going out anywhere nice with my boyfriend, etc. I’ve come to fall in love with sweatshirts over the years but thanks to this little baby, I love them more than every now. I just had to mention this sweatshirt, it’s gorgeous and I can see me buying another Animal one in the future.

So those were my favourites from April! There was a mix of all sorts in here, which I thought was a nice change.

What have been your favourite items from April? Please let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had a great April.

Lush Santa Baby Lip Tint – Review

Back in October I made a huge Lush Wish List full of Lush’s Christmas products for 2013 and I imagine like most wish lists, they contained Santa Baby Lip Tint, just like mine did.

Lip products wise I’ve only ever owned the Bubblegum Lip Scrub by Lush, which in all honesty I felt was a waste of money!

I’d had my eye on this for ages so when I finally went into the Coventry store in November (you can find the haul for that here), it was one of the last things I picked up, sneaky Lush keeping these at their till!

When I tried this out in the store I loved it, the colour pay off was amazing and although it felt dry, I knew I would be able to prevent that with some generous applications of lip balm and gloss throughout the day.

I tried this on the evening after buying it and it was gorgeous! Tasted like cola and when I was giving my boyfriend forehead kisses, it didn’t transfer onto his skin!

However when I got home with this I found it to be really quite drying and it wasn’t staying on my lips. I felt somewhat disappointed at first but then I thought to myself that I’d only just tried it, I had to give it a chance and boy am I glad I did!

This has fast turned into one of my favourite shades to wear to feel Christmassy and I’m going to tell you why!

As you can see Santa Baby comes in a little tin, which is handy to keep in your pocket or handbag, which is what I’ve been doing with it. Although this is tiny, you don’t really need a lot of product to get good pigmentation.

The use by date on my Santa Baby is 19/11/14 which I reckon I’ll have used up by then and possibly looking forward to Lush bringing this out again for 2014.

As you can see Santa Baby is a red lip tint, which is more orange toned but with plenty of applying of this product you can make it a somewhat classic red, but personally I like the orange tint this one gives. As well as that it smells and tastes of cola but it’s not too strong or noticeable so even if you aren’t a huge cola fan, I reckon you would like this one.

Santa Baby doesn’t just make your  lips look gorgeous and red for the Christmas season (or any season for that matter) but it also moisturises your lips too as it contains fair trade shea butter, whilst cherries and dates give it that sweet cola scent.

When applying this to the lips I’ve come up with my own method of applying it. I know you’re probably meant to put it straight onto the lips but I like to apply a lip balm before hand as I find it helps the lip tint to glide onto the lips without any dragging, due to it being dry. The one I have been using the most with this is Vaseline’s Paint The Town Red  Lip Tint (review here), which works perfectly with Santa Baby! I apply Paint The Town Red first and using the same finger (my ring finger) I apply Santa Baby over the top. I usually blot Santa Baby a couple of times after applying the first time and apply another generous amount. The lovely woman who served me in the Coventry Lush store suggested that you can apply this with a lip brush, but when I tried that I found it more awkward than using my finger, but I guess it’s each to their own!

On the lips this lasts ages! I’ve worn it to work and after six hours of talking and every now and then having something to drink I usually come home and it’s only just wearing away! This makes me happy as it means I don’t have to worry about reapplying with dirty fingers.

This is the perfect red lip for Christmas, as well as for the duration of Winter which is officially upon us on Saturday!

This would make an awesome Christmas present for someone if they want to create the perfect red lip or for someone who loves Lush. Added bonus points if they love the taste of cola!

At £5.50 each these aren’t cheap at all, but to be honest I think they’re worth the money. I know so many people who will pay a lot of money for a MAC matte red lipstick and whilst as a MAC lipstick lover I can totally understand this, some people can’t really afford MAC and at £5.50 this is definitely a stocking filler, if I do say so myself.

Of course this is a limited edition product for Christmas, which is somewhat sad as this is really nice but of course there is It Started With A Kiss which itself was originally meant to be a Christmas product, but was kept as a permanent product!

Overall I love Santa Baby Lip Tint and whilst it is on the expensive side, I use it all the time for work as well as when I’m out with family and friends as well as when I run errands.

So, what do you think of Santa Baby Lip Tint? Will you be picking it up, or have you already? Let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and I hope you’re getting ready for Christmas! Less than 10 days to go now!

October Favourites

Wow is it really November? I’m 24 in nearly 2 months time, how did this happen!? I’m getting old readers! Anyhoo I have a HUGE favourites post for you this month, as you can see from the image above. In total there are 11 products I’ll be talking about today, all as amazing as one another, so without further ado (and to save you reading about how quickly the year has gone by), let’s get on with the post!

• Australian Bodycare Tea Tree Oil Skin Wash.

When I was young my Mom would buy Australian Bodycare products for us to use and I loved their skin wash, shampoo, conditioner and especially their face wash, which kept my spots at bay whilst I was a teenager. However the shop we used to buy all these from stopped stocking them and we weren’t able to find them again to buy, until recently. QVC have started to stock these and at amazing prices so my Mom bought us a set to use and she donated the skin wash to me as she remembered how much I loved it when I was younger. This is a huge 500ml bottle and I know it’s going to last me ages! Since using this I’ve noticed that a horrid patch of spots that always lingered on my chest have now vanished and my skin has never felt so soft before without using a moisturiser after showering. As well as that, this stuff smells amazing, just like tea tree and a bonus is it lingers on the skin afterwards too, but only a slight smell, nothing strong. I feel so fresh and clean after using this skin wash and I think it’s going to be something I keep in my shower for a long time and now that QVC are stocking it, as well as other popular websites on the internet, I know I’ll never lose it again from the side of my bath.

• Gillette Satin Care Sensitive Shave Gel with Olay.

I mentioned this in my recent haul post from when I went shopping with my friend Poppy and for probably a year now I haven’t owned a decent shave gel, until now of course. Since swapping from men’s shave foams and shower gels I’ve noticed that the skin on my legs and underarms isn’t as dry as it used to be after shaving and that’s really nice. Plus I’m weird and have a patch on  my left leg that at times can be left really sore and irritated after shaving, but since using this gel I’ve not had that trouble, which is really nice as it used to be so painful at times and sometimes through all that pain, it wasn’t even shaved properly half the time. As well as feeling lovely on the skin it smells nice too, which is always good! You only need a little bit of this gel and it foams up really well and it goes a long way. I got this shave gel half price in Boots and I’m probably going to buy another one (or two) to see me through the rest of 2013, as I really like this shave gel and whilst I’m poor, I don’t really want to pay full price for one, when I can get two for the same price. Smart thinking, huh?

• Yankee Candle Simply Home in Lemon Cream.

I’ve been burning this on and off throughout October, usually during the day as lately I’ve been getting headaches and sore throats from burning scented candles, which really sucks so I need to keep a window open whilst it burns so that the scent isn’t too intense for me. I bought this candle at a market stall in June for just £6.00 and before now in the past I’ve bought various different Yankee Candle tarts and samplers from the same stall too. This candle is amazing and smells just like lemon butter cream, which I LOVE. If you’ve ever smelt Morrisons own brand lemon butter cream, then that is EXACTLY what this smells like. It’s a massive jar too so this will last me ages. It’s a very strong scent and I’ll only leave it burning for a couple of hours whilst I write to try and relax me. I would like to own more Simply Home candles and I have a few in mind I’d like to get, including Cherry and Christmas Treats.

• Lush FUN in Pink.

I’ve owned this since Lush first brought their FUN collection out and recently with Lush announcing their Christmas range for 2013, I’m trying to use up some of my Lush products so that I can fill my Lush container full of yummy new things to try out! Lush have of course brought out a FUN product for Christmas, GOLD and I really want to get my grubby mitts on one! I used Pink in a couple of baths throughout October as a bubble bar and as a wash and FUN really does go a long way! It always leaves my skin feeling soft and beautiful, as well as smelling gorgeous! Pink reminds me of Rock Star Soap and Creamy Candy Bubble Bar, which is why I bought it. I’ve used Rock Star Soap once and whilst I didn’t get an allergic reaction to it, like I do with most of Lush’s soaps, I’m too scared to buy a chunk incase this actually occurs, so I’m glad that Pink exists so that I can have the scent of Rock Star to wash with, but not have to worry about any bad rashes on my skin. Whenever I used this in the bath, the smell lingers in the bathroom for up to two days, which I really quite like and whenever I popped into the bathroom I got a whiff of it. Lush definitely need to create some more FUN colours, purple and orange would be amazing! I need to try more of the FUN products and I think I’ll be doing just that in the New Year.

• Gucci Envy Me EDT.

This is by far one of my favourite perfumes. I bought this bottle back in 2005 when I last went on holiday and sadly I don’t have all that much left. I only use it for very special occasions such as my birthday, other people’s birthdays and late at night if I fancy wearing it. My family has gone on holiday and they were lovely enough to ask if I wanted anything brought back and the first thing I came up with was this perfume! It isn’t expensive to buy online but seeing as I’m really quite poor at the moment, I can’t really buy myself a new bottle. I wore this quite a bit during October though, especially when my boyfriend came round to see me as he hadn’t smelt this before and seeing as I really like it, I thought he might to and he really does, so that’s good! Plus for an EDT this perfume can be quite strong and lasts quite a while and is probably one of the only EDT scents I’ve bought for myself. I can’t wait to get a new bottle of this, it was one of the first perfumes I bought for myself and its been sat in its packaging and finally in my perfume box (yes I have a box!) for nearly 10 years! It’s probably gone bad by now, but it still smells amazing! If you haven’t smelt this, I suggest you do so as its beautiful.

• Decleor Hydra Floral Multi Protection Light Cream.

I didn’t buy this myself, my Mom actually gave it to me when I said I needed to get some new moisturiser to tide me over until I can afford my Clinique Moisturising Gel. I didn’t think I would like this at first as due to my skin type it gets on better with gels than creams, but this is really nice! It’s definitely a cream, but it’s light enough to not sit on my skin for ages like most creams do. I’m not a huge fan of the smell but it doesn’t really linger all that long so it doesn’t bother me. You only need a 1 pence piece amount of this and it really does go a long way and makes my skin feel really soft, almost baby soft! The only flaw with this is it feels slightly greasy on my hands and whilst other creams the feeling may go away, this doesn’t and I need to wash it off of my hands after use every time. That doesn’t take long to do however and it’s worth it for my face feeling and looking as nice as it does after use. This stuff isn’t cheap and as the tube isn’t very big, I wouldn’t personally buy this myself, unless I had the money to splash.

• Soap & Glory Puffy Eye Attack Eye Gel.

This was another product mentioned on my recent haul post, as I needed a new eye gel and this was the one I decided to buy. For £12.50 I wondered if I’d bought something that wouldn’t last that long, but you need the tiniest amount and this product goes a long way! I love eye gels as like moisturisers, eye creams sting my eyes and don’t sink in, leaving them feeling heavy and to be honest, yuck! Eye gels soothe my tired and aching eyes with that cooling feeling they leave behind which wakes them up at the same time. This eye gel does just that, it relieved the ache and wakes them up! My eyes aren’t that puffy to be honest, but if they were the slightest bit puffy I’d like to think that this gel will help that out a little. I gave my boyfriend some of this to try and he commented how he really liked it. I love the packaging for this product to. It’s so simple and for a little pot you do get a lot of product, which I know is going to last me quite a while! Definitely worth every penny.

• Vaseline Lip Therapy in Aloe Vera.

This isn’t actually mine, it’s my boyfriend but after forgetting I’d left it in my bag on my way home Sunday night, he told me to keep it and that he would buy another one. Although I have my steroid cream for my eczema it doesn’t seem to be working right now and my knuckles are incredibly sore and red, which makes it at times really quite painful as the skin is splitting open. My Garnier hand cream usually helps, but at the moment it’s making the pain worse due to the skin being split open and as I’m only allowed to use my steroid cream once a day, it’s been quite painful. My boyfriend told me to use his Vaseline, which has been helping a little, as well as soothing the pain and as my best friend also suffers from eczema, she’s suggested Vaseline in the past too. I’ve been applying it as much as possible and the cool feeling from the aloe vera has definitely helped soothe my knuckles, but this being said they’re still incredibly painful.

• MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint & Lip Balm in Broken Hearted.

I wrote a review for this in October which you can read here and this has been something I’ve been using on my late shifts at work, as well as when I’m popped out quickly during the day. It’s really creamy and makes my lips look a lovely light pink, as well as conditioning them too. It glides on easily and quickly and with its precision end, you don’t really need a mirror when applying it either. It smells and tastes amazing too, which to me is always an added bonus with lip products. If you want to know more, go check out my review about it.

• MAC Lipstick in Rebel.

This is my favourite lipstick, as well as my favourite MAC lipstick. I never wear it during the spring and summer months as it’s a dark berry – vampy shade but during the autumn and winter months, it’s all I’ll wear! It’s a satin finish so it’s not quite matte, but it’s not exactly creamy either. I like to blot this when wearing it so it lasts longer. It also smells of vanilla, but it reminds me of fresh doughnuts! I’ve been wearing this out and about when seeing friends and when I’ve been out with my boyfriend too and it’s been nice wearing it again and I’ve forgotten just how much I love wearing it too. You can read my full review for this here, it explains more about the lipstick so make sure to check it out if you would like to know more.

• Vaseline Lip Tint in Paint The Town Red.

Once again, another product I spoke about in my recent haul and since buying it, I haven’t been able to stop using it! I’ve been using it around the house, at my boyfriend, in the car while traveling, at work and everywhere you can think of! This is a limited edition lip tint for autumn and winter and I’m really quite sad about that as it’s truly amazing! It glides onto your lips easily leaving behind a faint pink tint and smells of winter berries, which you can taste slightly when it’s on your lips too. I just love this product and I’ll be making sure to stock up before they’re discontinued! I’ve written a full review of this here so make sure to go and check that out for more information.

So those were my favourites for October, that was a long post, has taken me over an hour to write!

What products did you like using throughout October? Let me know in the comments!

I’m off to start NaNoWriMo, so until next time, take care all!

Vaseline Paint The Town Red Lip Tint – Review

I think it is safe to say that most people use Vaseline Lip Therapy, why? Because aside Carmex and Chapstick, it’s probably one of the best lip balms out there! I myself have only ever owned one tin of the classic blue Vaseline and that was when I was 14 and suffered with really dry lips during the winter.

Since then I’ve owned Vaseline’s limited edition Lip Therapy in Pink Bubbly, which came out last year. The year before that we were graced with crème brûlée, which I stupidly never picked up and wish I had. This year Vaseline have brought out Paint The Town Red, a limited edition lip tint for this autumn and winter!

I knew when I spotted this in Boots during my shopping trip last month that I had to buy this and in my basket it popped itself. You can read about that shopping trip over on my most recent haul post.

I’d read other beauty bloggers reviews on this and I found that people either loved it or hated it. People who loved it seemed to be regular Vaseline users but as well as that they loved how it tinted your lips and how yummy it smelt and tasted whilst the people who hated it ranted how this was a waste of money as it didn’t tint and it smelt synthetic and horrible.

I won’t lie, I love this product and I haven’t put it down since buying it, so for £3.49 it’s been work every penny to me and I’m already contemplating stocking up before they’re discontinued.

I know there are probably hundreds of reviews out there of this but I wanted to share my thoughts on it, as I just love it so much!

Like all Vaseline Lip Therapy, Paint The Town Red comes in the classic metal tin, but of course due to this being limited edition, it comes with a pretty design on the front. As you can see its red paint dripping down the tin onto a black background to create a building affect, which I think is a cool idea.

It comes in the little round 20g tin like all the Vaseline Lip Therapy’s come in, which is good as it means it’s easy to fit in my pocket, on my desk, bed side table, bag, etc easily with no worries, but in a way this proves a problem, which I’ll talk about later on in this review.

When Vaseline described Paint The Town Red as a lip tint, they weren’t wrong. It’s bright red and looks so beautiful and eye-catching when you first open the tin and for me, every time I open this to use. It makes a change to a boring light pink or clear Vaseline Lip Therapy, don’t you think?

The balm itself contains Vaseline’s Petroleum Jelly, as well as some other skin caring products that make sure to keep your lips lovely and soft when they need that care most, but Paint The Town Red (as you can see) contains a lovely red tint. As I mentioned before, a lot of people are complaining how it doesn’t show up red enough for their liking and that other balms on the market show up a lot brighter. I won’t lie, this is true but if you apply enough of this onto the lips you’ll get a red shade similar to the colour pay off you would get from doing the same with Maybelline’s Baby Lips in Cherry Me. Personally the colour is just enough for me as it’s definitely noticeable when applied to the lips. This being said my lips are rather pigmented naturally anyway so this just enhances that for me.

Paint The Town Red doesn’t just look amazing but it smells and tastes wonderful as well! It’s enriched with a spiced berry flavour, perfect for autumn and winter and it isn’t a really strong scent, but it’s not weak either. As soon as you open the lid and have a sniff you can smell it straight away and it definitely reminds me of winter walks around The German Market and hot winter drinks in pubs and bars. It doesn’t just smell that way though, you can taste it on your lips too!

I’ve been using this at work a lot but instead of using my fingers, where get all dirty from making drinks, touching plenty of money, as well as cleaning plenty of things throughout the store I just brush the balm against my lips instead… I hope this makes sense as it does to me with the way I’ve written it…

This is so easy to just throw into my apron pocket and easy to pop on my lips as and when I need to. I’ve had a few comments from customers asking what it is as they recognise the little tin, but not the bright red jelly inside of it. Most of them have commented saying how they’ll be trying this out, don’t need to thank me just yet Vaseline. 😉

As I mentioned I’ve been using this a lot, especially at work as I’ll apply my dark berry to dark pink lipsticks and as my shift goes on, the lip colour will often feather or vanish completely and I don’t really get time to reapply, so I’ll just pop some Paint The Town Red on instead as it doesn’t take that long and keeps my lips feeling soft and nourished.

Now onto one of the flaws I have found with this product… When I pop out with my boyfriend or even on my own down the road to the shops I’ll usually take three things, my iPhone, my wallet and a lip balm, this at the moment being Paint The Town Red. I don’t bother taking a bag with me when I’m just taking three things as it just seems silly so I’ll carry my wallet like a clutch bag and my  iPhone and my lip balm go into my pockets. Due to this being in a tin and my body being warm, when it’s sat in my pocket for a maximum of say… 15 minutes it can start to go really warm and melt a tad which thank goodness hasn’t ruined this balm, but due to worry of it happening I’ve had to try and find other places on me to keep it which usually ends up in a coat pocket, my boyfriends coat pocket or at home due to worry of ruining it.

This isn’t a big problem though and during the colder months will be no issue as I’ll keep it in my coat pocket.

I apologise now if I look poorly or like crap in these photos. I wasn’t feeling too great to be perfectly honest but I knew I needed to get these blog pictures taken to be edited and uploaded on here. The photos probably don’t do the lip tint any justice either, even though I applied loads to my lips!

Overall I love this and I really can’t get enough. When I have some extra cash I’ll be stocking up on these, as well as buying a few friends of mine a tin of their own for Christmas as two of my friends use nothing but Vaseline and I know they would both love one of these.

It leaves a lovely red tint to your lips, with a gorgeous smell of winter berries all the time keeping your lips soft, smooth and kissable! I really want Vaseline to make this a permanent product as it’s just wonderful! Please make more tinted Lip Therapy Vaseline!

What do you think of Paint The Town Red? Do you love it, or hate it? If you haven’t tried it yet, will you? Let me know all your thoughts in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all!

A Sunday Catch-Up Haul

So last Sunday my friend Poppy and I met up after 4 months of not seeing one another to have a much-needed catch-up, as well as do a little bit of shopping. We were both super excited and couldn’t wait to get together to do what we do best, drink coffee and talk about make-up!

I told myself I wouldn’t spend much and in just a few hours I spent about £50… Oops! I won’t be treating myself for ages though now and will be making sure to save up as much as possible!

Otherwise I’m not that bothered, it was a lovely day and all the things I bought were definite essentials and at one point I came out with something that sounded rather like something Rebecca Brandon (née Bloomwood) would say from the Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella… (I love that series!) But I’ll explain that later into this post!

The weather was pretty crap but I’d started my journey to town rather well, as I made my way from Coventry for a change. The train journey was pleasant and it only took me 20 minutes to get to Birmingham. It’s weird, from where I live it can take maximum an hour, but yet from Coventry it doesn’t even take half an hour… Weird, huh?

As soon as we met up we went to go and get hot chocolate to warm us up as it was pretty chilly and was raining none stop! I enjoyed my mint hot chocolate, Poppy enjoyed her soya hot chocolate and when we were warmed up and had a mini catch-up we headed over to Zara to make a must-needed purchase.

Poppy had her eye on the Mini Office City Bag (which you can find here) which she picked up in Navy. I’d never bought anything from Zara before, so I’d never looked at the bags either and I was expecting this bag to be at least £40-£50 but when she said it was £29.99 I was really surprised! She picked it up in navy and it looks gorgeous, she wore it all day whilst we carried on shopping. I’ve never seen someone so pleased with a new bag purchase before, she is adorable, bless her. FYI this bag also comes in burgundy, which looks really nice!

After this I made Poppy come with me into Primark, while as boring as I sound right now, I needed some new socks for work but I left with a new set of pajamas too!

I’m a big kid when it comes to 101 Dalmatians, like most people are about The Lion King or any of the Disney Princesses. Lady & The Tramp and Bambi are included in this too. I’d heard from a friend that Primark were selling 101 Dalmatians pajamas, which made sense as I recently bought myself some slippers of the same Disney movie from Primark too. There were two different sets, this one, which as you can see is shorts and another with had trousers, but out of the two, this was the only set in my size! I’m going to be checking quite a few Primark stores throughout the month to try and track down the other set. I really could do with some new pajamas and I might as well get some cute ones that I’ll love. I own too many 101 Dalmatians pajamas sets now… It’s a tad worrying! This set was £7, which I thought was good! I had a very anxious Wednesday afternoon so as soon as I got home I had a relaxing bubble bath, put on my new pajamas and slipped into bed to relax some more for the evening. These are really soft and fit comfortably, well worth the money I paid for them! If you would like to pick these up but sadly can’t find them in Primark anymore, they do have them on eBay, but they’re more expensive than they are in the shops, which is a bit crap.

Finally after making our way out of Primark we headed back to Zara as I saw something in there I really wanted and just had to have after spotting it from our previous visit there.

We walked past many hooks with scarves hanging off of them in Zara but this one stood out to me the most, a black and red striped scarf, that is long enough to wrap around yours as well as another person’s neck beside you. This is described on the Zara website as a Long Narrow Scarf With Stripes (which you can find here) and I got it in burgundy. The red is looking brighter on the pictures I took, when it’s more of a wine red, which I really like. This is super warm and since buying it I’ve been wearing it to and from work in the car, as well as when I went out Wednesday. I can really snuggle my face into my scarf, which I like and I haven’t bought myself a decent scarf for quite a few years now, as I’ve been a snood lover for a while. This was £19.99 which shocked me when I checked out the price tag, as every time I have been into Zara, their clothes have always seemed really expensive to me, but for how big and how warm this scarf is, the price didn’t bother me at all. This was a real treat today and one that I don’t think I’ll be regretting anytime soon. It goes with everything from my pleather spiked biker jacket, to my navy military coat, to even a grey or navy boyfriend cardigan. This will keep me really warm this autumn and winter and with the weather becoming so bitter and cold, it looks like I chose the perfect time to buy this.

We wandered around for a while, including Selfridges where I found out how much I need certain Laura Mercier products in my life (post about those in a few days!) as well as finally swatching MAC Speak Louder, which will definitely be my next MAC purchase… When however, I don’t know!

We went for lunch and some tea, as well as more catching-up and one of our last stops was to Boots, where I needed to pick up some essentials, as well as a few treats.

I had a list inside my head of certain things I needed to get, but I ended up bringing home a couple of things I really didn’t need. At the moment Boots are doing one of their 3 for 2 deals, so although I didn’t intend on doing this, I ended up being sucked into it and picked up three items, getting one free, hooray!

I knew I wanted to pick up Vaseline’s latest limited edition, Paint The Town Red lip tint as whilst some beauty bloggers had reviewed it as overrated and rubbish, most had reviewed it as being a lovely product to use on their lips and went on how good it was. So I decided to pick it up for myself! I’ve been using this loads since I bought it and I’ll definitely be writing a review for it! It leaves a lovely dark pink tint to the lips, which is perfect if you don’t fancy wearing lipstick but would like a hint of colour, plus it smells gorgeous and it reminds me of autumn. This was £3.49 but so worth it and I know come Christmas I’ll be buying these for my Vaseline loving friends, as well as picking some more up for myself before they’re taken off the shelves. If you can’t find this in stores to buy, you can pick it up from Boots and Superdrug.

Oral-B 3D White Brilliance toothpaste is the only one I’ll use since it came out… Well until something I think is better than this one comes out anyway! My Mom bought us some to try when it first came out a couple of years ago and since then whenever I’m close to running out, I’ll pick up a new tube. I run out of this every 3 months or so and since using it my teeth just look so much better and even my dentist agreed! It’s £3.49 a tube but it doesn’t bother me, as I really like this toothpaste and I use it day and night!

I nearly forgot I needed shave gel and I haven’t treated myself to a nice, woman’s shaving gel for quite a long time now! I usually opt for men’s shaving foam as it does a great job, but after buying a cheap can of shaving foam, my legs ended up breaking out in a terrible rash from an allergic reaction and I felt like the skin was being taken off of my legs, instead of my hairs. For a while I discontinued using any shave foams or gels and opted for using conditioners and shower gels instead, which didn’t do so much better for my skin either! When I looked at the women’s shave gels I saw that certain Gillette shave gels were on offer at £1.74 each, I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have one of these. I decided upon the Satin Care with Touch of Olay for Sensitive Skin as it sounded rather appealing. Not only is it suitable for sensitive skin but it also moisturises as you shave, which is exactly what I need for my legs of late! I gave this a go on Wednesday during my relaxing bath and afterwards my legs felt so beautiful and smooth and shaving them with this gel felt lovely too. I don’t think I would repurchase this at its full price of £3.49, but if I got it on offer again, I don’t see why not!

I needed to get another product for make my 3 for 2 offer and even though I don’t need anymore shower products, this seemed like something I wanted to give a go after Poppy telling me how lovely it smelt. I love strawberry scents, even though I hate them to eat or drink. I gave this a sniff and it reminded me of the Strawberry Shower Gel by The Body Shop, which is a firm favourite from my childhood. I’ve used Natural Collection products since I was a child too and Wild Strawberry has been around for ages, but I don’t recall ever trying it myself! The shower cream sounded yummy and as it was £2.00, it became my free product in the 3 for 2 offer! I gave this a go before going to work on Monday and it really did perk me up! It left my bathroom smelling lovely, as well as leaving my skin the same, as well as it being soft too. I’d love to try more of Natural Collection’s shower gels/cremes as although they’re a tad expensive at £2.00 each, it’s not as expensive as some shower products, eh? I can imagine my boyfriend stealing this whenever he comes over in future and I can hardly blame him! You can find this here on Boots website.

Last of all I had thought about picking up a new eye gel whilst shopping in Boots, but I was only going to pick up my good old Simple eye balm, but I wanted to try something new and decided to pick up Soap & Glory’s Puffy Eye Attack Turbo-Boots Hydragel. I’d looked at this before and thought how cooling the gel felt on the back of my hand, so who only knows how it would feel on my eye! I decided to go for it as you only need a little bit for the eyes and it goes a long way! I reckon this little jar will last me for 6 months, if not more! I tried some of this when I got home on the Sunday afternoon and it felt lovely on my eyes and when I’ve used it before going to work and out during the day it’s felt really refreshing on my eyes too! This was a pretty expensive purchase at £12.50 but it was a treat and it’ll last me months! You can pick this up in Boots and a lot of Soap & Glory products are featured in the 3 for 2 offer, which is what I bought mine in. I know I’ll be reviewing this in future as my eye bags can be quite big depending if I’ve had much sleep or not, so I’m going to be trying this little pot out day and night to see how it does!

So after another sit down with some pots of tea and some gossip to be had, it was finally time to go home and at the last-minute Poppy decided to drop me off at home, seeing as it was on her way, which was lovely of her!

I had such a lovely day and it was great to see Poppy again, as I had missed her terribly!

I’m now poor and need to stay in eating cheap meals, but at least I’ll be clean and warm eh?

Have you been shopping recently? What did you buy nice for yourself? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care and I hope you all had a great week.