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Not just another beauty blog...

Archive: April 2012

Sorry if it looks a bit gross
Good morning, how were your weekends? I felt I needed to share my love of this product with you, I've had it for really quite a long time now and have used it on and off for years, but I find it's one of those things that I just don't think about when I'm doing my routine in the evening. I always forget to use it and end up just sticking my moisturiser on and leaving my skincare routine there (or sometimes, shock horror, skipping the moisturiser all together. Terrible, I know!). However, over the past month or so I have been making a concerted effort to use this about 3 times a week and, let me tell you, I have rediscovered my love for it in a massive way! 

It claims to (as it says on bottle) "Renew and Rebalance" and contains lots of natural goodies to help boost your skin's recovery whilst you sleep. First of all it smells amazing! I remember when I first started using it and I thought the smell was a little overpowering, but now I absolutely love it and I find it nice to apply it and breathheeee in the scent. Ahh. Secondly though, and most importantly, it really works. Whenever I've used this I wake up and, whilst the effect might not be immediately noticeable in the morning, throughout the day I'll look at myself in a mirror and really notice how glowy my skin looks. It costs £40.25 for a 28ml size bottle which may seem like quite a lot, however, it lasts forever (literally!). I've had this one for a long time and, whilst I might not have been using it on a regular basis, I have used it a fair amount and you can see that there is still plenty left. You only need 1 pump per evening (and probably not every evening) to massage into your skin to leave it feeling gorgeously soft and healthy-looking.

I would definitely recommend this product for anyone looking to add a bit of luxury into their evening skincare routine, it's brilliant! Have any of you tried it? What did you think if you have? I will be doing a review of the April GlossyBox very shortly (now that it has finally arrived) so keep a look out for that, I actually think it was a really good one this month! It's a good job after it taking so long anyway! Hope you're all fantastic and I shall speak again soon :) Byebye! 




Evening all. I went for a little afternoon stroll and decided to take a few snaps along the way. I am by no means a photographer. I'm not even an amateur photographer, I'm an amateur picture-taker at best, but since having my iPhone I have started to take more. It was never something that bothered me, having a crappy camera on my phone, and I never thought I'd really use it even if it was good, but since having it I've been quite snap happy. It's nice to stop and think about what you're looking at, even if it's something you've seen a million times before, and try and see it in a new way. One of my new year's resolutions was also to take more pictures, so I thought I'd share a few with you. It's also pretty incredible what good quality pics you can get off an iPhone, I think it's amazing. I'm sure all the photographers out there will look at them and think they look terrible compared to the fancy-schmancy cameras out there, but never mind! Back to beauty things tomorrow ;) Also, is it really Friday? This week has flown by!


Thanks for reading. 
Speak again soon :) 
Bye for now!



Good morning! I am currently trying to recover from the biggest shopping high ever! I popped into town yesterday just to have a mosey around and went into TK Maxx. I love going into the one near me because it always has great things in and, as always I headed straight for the make-up section (I don't know if they do make-up in all of them?) and was absolutely de-light-ed to see a fresh influx of Stila products! They were all packaged in little bundles of 3 and, like a lot of things in TK Maxx, you have to spend a bit of time (I think I was around the make-up area for at least 40 minutes haha) rummaging through to find some hidden gems. My total haul cost £30.97 and also included four (yes, four!) full size Nail's Inc. polishes. 



Pretty amazing for the price, no? I am SO happy with my purchases! I'm going to show you all the polishes in this post and then save the Stila stuff for another one. I would definitely recommend popping into your nearest TK Maxx store to see if you can pick up some bargains as well! I got these four for £14.99 which, considering a full size bottle at normal price costs £11, is an absolute steal! I am in nail polish heaven! They're all duo-chrome polishes, which I adore, and all have very fine shimmery/glittery particles. The last one 'Wardour Mews' is the one I chose to wear for now, I've taken pictures of it in different lights so hopefully you can see it in all its gloriousness! 




First up 'New Burlington Place' 


'Regent's Park Road'


'New King's Road'


'Wardour Mews'

So there we go! I would say that after that I don't think I'll be needing to buy any new products for a while but, as we all know far too well, that never really happens does it?! Hope you enjoyed and I'll have a more in depth look at the Stila things in the near future. Have you bought any exciting things recently? I'd love to see them and have a nosey around! And let me know if you find any bargains in TK Maxx! Hope you're all staying fabulous and I shall speak to you soon! Bye!


p.s. I'm doing another blog hop over on BlogLoveTherapy, go and check it out and get hopping if you like and also let me know if you found me through there!


p.p.s. Sorry there's a lot of pictures in this post!



Good morning everyone! Just a quick little review today from me! There has been so much hype over the last few weeks about this new range of make-up from Rimmel so I thought I would go and see if it was all worth it! I have been on the lookout for a new concealer for under the eyes anyway, as previously I was using the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection but finding it too heavy and cakey for the under eye area so I've been wanting something a bit lighter and with more brightening properties. I've been using Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer for about a week now and finding it...fine. It's a lot more light weight than the Collection 2000 one and I think if you have really dark under eye circles then this wouldn't be enough to cover. However, it does have quite a nice brightening effect. It doesn't look too heavy and hasn't gone cakey at all so at the moment I am definitely liking it, but wouldn't say rush out right now to buy it! Overall I'd probably give it a 6/7 out of ten but I think I'd be re-purchasing once this has run out. 


Thanks for reading, going to paint my nails now but can't decide what to use so will have a little rummage through my collection. I hope you're all having a fantastic day! Have you used this concealer? What did you think of it? And do you have any other great under-eye concealers I could try? Au revoir for now!



Good afternoon everybody, I hope your weekends are going swimmingly. I have another weekend wish list here, consisting of lots of gorgeous things that have caught my eye, but that unfortunately the bank balance just won't allow. Ah well. Yesterday I did actually buy something that I have been wanting for ages and I found the perfect ones. It's these loafer things from Fat Face (not usually a shop I go in but they had some really lovely things in there) and I love them! They were only £35, are real leather and feel really good quality. I've been needing some new shoes for a while and desperately wanting some brown ones so these were definitely calling to me. They also had them in this grey suede which were equally as nice, but (for now) these brown ones seemed slightly more practical, what with our rather inclement weather. 
Now, onto the wishlist. I have to admit I popped into Zara on Oxford Street on Friday and was so very close to buying a bag but somehow I managed to resist. However, looking on their website now I can feel a purchase coming along very soon because they have some absolutely beautiful bags on offer at the moment. They are gorgeous. So be warned, if you go and look at their website, you will want to buy everything! Let me know what you think of the things I'm lusting after at the moment and what's on your wishlist, I'd love to know!
Blazer Now £30 @ Topshop
Rose Gold Toe-Cap Flats £29.99 @ Zara
TenderTone Lip Balm in 'Tread Gently' £11 @ MAC
Messenger Bag £19.99 (BARGAIN!) @ Zara
Egyptian Print Dress £25 @ River Island
Neon Messenger Bag £59.99 @ Zara
I really hope you're all well and are having a great weekend, I'm just busying myself working on some new posts today and its just started chucking it down outside so I'm quite glad to be tucked up inside and doing some writing and browsing on the internet. Things could be a lot worse! (May have also just eaten another Easter Egg. Oh god.) Speak soon everyone, bye for now!!



Good afternoon lovely readers!
Something went very wrong with blogger this morning and somehow ended up deleting this whole post that I had all ready to put up today! Bad times indeed! But never mind, I shall try my best to recreate the literary masterpiece that once filled the screen (pah!) and I hope you enjoy!


So this nail look was achieved using a polish that, to be honest, I was very disappointed in. It's Maxfactor's 'Angel Nails' (hence the title) and was one of those nail varnishes that look so gorgeous and promising in the bottle but, unfortunately, that gorgeousness did not transfer to the nail. I thought it was going to be a soft pink, shimmery, interesting colour (added interesting because pink and shimmery sounds awful) but it just ended up being very silvery and very blah. In order to try and find a use for it instead of just cluttering up my overflowing nail varnish drawer, I added a glittery topcoat in the form of Revlon's 'Belle' and whilst it's an alright look, I'm definitely not in love with it. I prefer something a bit more striking and this just isn't doing if for me. But anyway, didn't want to deprive you of a nail look any longer and thought I'd let you know my thoughts on the colour as well. Hopefully the next one will be a winner! 
I also wanted to say thank you for all your lovely comments about winning the Next blogger award, your comments mean so much to me and I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. As always, I would love to know what nail look you're wearing today so leave your links below and thank you for reading! Speak soon, I hope you're all having a great Friday!





Hello there! Just thought I would share with you some very exciting things that have been happening recently! Apart from reaching 80 followers (can't believe it!) I have also been awarded Next's Blogger of the Month for March! I was so excited to receive the email asking whether I would like to have this award, to which I obviously said Yes!Yes!Yes! I want to thank Next for giving me this, it means a lot to me that the posts I have submitted to their blogger network (find it here if you don't know about it already) have been recognised and hopefully enjoyed. I am loving every minute of blogging and receiving some acknowledgement that I'm doing something right is amazing!


As well as this they were also kind enough to let me choose something off their website! I chose a green maxi skirt which I will definitely feature in a future post. I don't own any maxi skirts at the moment so thought I couldn't really go wrong by choosing one from them. Anyway, just wanted to share that with you! You should definitely go over to the blogger network if you haven't already, it gives you inspiration on what to write about and can give your blog some more exposure by going up on the website! Enjoy if you do go over!


Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying the posts and speak again soon!





Quite a while ago I picked up one of these cream puff matte finish lip creams from Collection (2000 - why have they changed their name?!) after hearing about them from Lisa Eldridge on one of her YouTube videos. I picked up the colour 'Cotton Candy' and have to say I absolutely love it. I don't really know why I haven't been back to get the other colours (I believe there are 4 available) because they are so good! The consistency is very smooth and, even though they give a matte finish, I don't find them overly drying at all. They taste and smell lovely (quite sugary and sweet) and wear really well (gently fading after a couple of hours of wear). At only £2.99 each I think they are a no-brainer and I am led to believe that they are pretty much the same as the NYX Soft Lip Creams that I've also heard a lot about. There are more colours available in that brand but I don't think they're as readily available as the Collection 2000 ones (you can get them in Superdrug and Boots).


Here's what Cotton Candy looks like on...
(Sorry they're not the best pictures)
I have also tried using this as a cream blusher and find it works quite well. I know it can sometimes be a bit iffy using products where they're not supposed to go but I really don't think it matters a lot of the time. As a cream blusher it blends in seamlessly because it has such a smooth texture and gives a really lovely pink flush to the cheeks. I would say it doesn't have the best staying power on the cheeks but if you built it up I reckon it could be a keeper ;)! 


Have you tried any of these lip cream type products? What do you think? Hope you're all having a fantabulous day! 







Just a quick post today, I'm currently working on a little post about my day away yesterday, with lots of lovely pictures, so keep your eyes peeled for that! But for now, a very random beauty favourite for me at the moment is this hand cream from, of all places, Laura Ashley. It's not a place I would necessarily go to for anything beauty or cosmetics related, and it's not something they do as a permanent line, but I picked this up a few weeks ago and have been loving it! It is a seriously good moisturiser, it doesn't leave your hands greasy (which, in my opinion, is the worst side effect of some hand creams) and leaves my hands moisturised for a long while. You get 275ml of product in a pump bottle, which is extremely handy and, whilst I'm not in love with the bottle or general packaging, the product inside more than makes up for it. 

I think the scent is a love it or hate it kind of thing, I know a couple of people who are definitely not too fond of it, but I personally love it. I don't really know what it actually smells of (it's called Falling Leaves, but who knows!) but it's kind of slightly floral (?) and not sweet at all. I am really bad at describing smells, clearly. But anyway, if you can find it I would definitely give it a go because it really is very good. I've used a hundred different hand creams in my time and this is definitely up there with my favourites which include the L'Occitane one in the silver tube (can't remember what it's called) and the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula thingy (the concentrated one) which I use when my hands are in desperate need of a moisture injection. 

What's your favourite hand cream? Let me know in the comments and also let me know if you've ever tried this one! Hope you're having a great day!



Good afternoon and happy Friday to you all! I popped in to my local town earlier and saw that the Boots 3 for 2 offer on all make up was still on! I have so far managed to resist the lure of this magnificent offer but today, I caved. Firstly because the Bourjois nail varnish that I have been wanting for agggggesss (see here) was back in stock so I just had to get it! It's number 25, I don't think it has a name which is rather disappointing, and is the most gorgeous bright pink with a hint of coral. It's what I'm wearing in the look in the pictures below (as well as Rimmel's 'Aqua Cool' number 420) and I love it! I was inspired to do this look by Fleur, from FleurDeForce, in her latest video (watch here) and absolutely love it! I think it makes such a nice change and allows you to use more of your nail varnish collection! You could use either clashing or complimentary colours and I think the effect would be just as good. 




As well as the nail varnish, another thing I picked up was Rimmel's Lash Accelerator Mascara in Black. I used this a couple of years ago and really really liked it but never re-purchased it because I am incredibly fickle with mascara. I'm hoping it will be as good as I remember but if not, I'll just have to go and try another one! I also picked up one of the much talked about L'Oreal Colour Infallible eyeshadows. I got the colour Sahara Treasure which really is a gorgeous. It's a shimmery golden taupe kind of colour which I think would look great as part of a smokey eye look to brighten it up a bit. On first impressions I thought it looked a bit chunky and hard to use, but actually it glides on really smoothly and blends effortlessly. I haven't actually worn it yet so I don't know about staying power, but I will definitely let you know. 

Finally, I picked up a long-overdue moisturiser. My favourite one of all time, the Clarins Daily Energizer Cream-Gel, ran out about 2 months ago and I've been getting by on various samples and remnants that I have left over from other moisturisers. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to buy a new one but today was the day, and I thought I'd give something else a go. So, I picked up the La Roche Posay Effaclar Mat Sebo-Regulating Moisturizer (long name), formulated for oily skin. It claims to moisturise, mattify, refine the pores and slow down sebum production (i.e. the stuff that makes skin oily.) Since I have relatively oily skin I thought I would give it a go, and at £13.50 it's about £6 less than the Clarins one. 
Have any of you tried this moisturiser? I'd love to know what you think. I hope you enjoyed this post and liked the nail look :) I hope you're all having a fantastic day and are looking forward to a nice weekend. I'm super excited about going back to my uni town tomorrow for the day and who knows, I might just pick up a few more things to write about ;) Speak soon and bye for now!

p.s. I might have to eat my words from what I said about the Revlon nail polishes in this post because I have to say it lasted really well! I had it on for about four days and there was minimal chipping which surprised me because I've used both before and they chipped quite badly. What can I say!!



Well I am very pleased to announce my first ever blogger award! And by two people! The lovely myminibag and Sarajayne at Goldilocks xo awarded me this award and I am very grateful indeed :) Go and check out their if you want to, they're great. My Mini Bag is a place to find great deals and savings because the blog focuses on bringing you the latest promo codes and special offers that are available! Very handy indeed! Sarajayne does fabulous hauls and beauty reviews as well as fashion and general things about life, which everyone loves to read about I'm sure - I do! Thank you again!






As with many other blogging things there are some rules:


1. Thank the person that nominated you with a link back
2. Tell 7 things about you
3. Pass this on to 10 newly discovered blogs and let them know they received the award.


7 Things About Me
- I have a degree in Geography with Business
- And I miss uni a lot sometimes
- I nearly always fall asleep when watching a movie, even in the cinema
- I drink too much coffee
- I love driving
- I listen to the same song/album for weeks on end until I get bored of it
- I'm going out with an identical twin



10 newly discovered blog to pass the award on to!

Apologies to all of you who have been awarded before but I love reading your blogs and so had to include you! Thanks again for the award I am so pleased to have been awarded it and I look forward to more blogging ahead! Hope you've all had a great Thursday!






Good day! 

Here is the final review of the sixth book in my new year's resolution. I should really be either further through my 7th book or on my 8th by now but haven't quite managed that because I had a bit of a lull after finishing The Hunger Games. My opinion hasn't really changed from what I thought a while back when I was only about a quarter of the way through. It is definitely aimed more at the teenage audience than The Hunger Games was, and I found myself struggling to get through it just out of boredom. To me it seems the story is so obviously trying to appeal to those that liked Twilight and such stories, that it comes across as try-hard and contrived. Again, I do want to point out that I am obviously not the target audience for this and so my opinion probably doesn't count for a lot, but as it was recommended for those that liked The Hunger Games, I do feel disappointed. I would say teenage girls aged between maybe 12-16 would enjoy this but apart from that, I can't really see how anyone older than that would. The story is fine, it doesn't seem to go anywhere very fast and is incredibly predictable, but I'm sure for anyone who is in to werewolves and easy-to-read stories will find it mildly enjoyable. 

There are two other books in the series called Linger and Forever, but I'm not going to being rushing out to buy them. The first book obviously ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (predictable. obvious. blah.) but to be honest I just don't really care what happens to the characters. I feel bad doing a negative review and even worse because I'm doing a negative review of a book not aimed at me, but for those of you not in their target market and who may have been thinking about reading it I would say maybe try something else. But that might just be me! If you enjoyed it then great, I just don't enjoy stories like this and am just not really into the whole Twilight-esque stories that are going round at the moment. Sorry for being so negative but I thought there wasn't much point giving it a rave review if I didn't enjoy it and this blog is a place to express what I think so there we go! Hopefully the next one will be more enjoyable for me! 


The one I've started now is a biography called 'Wildflower'. It's about a woman named Joan Root who was a wildlife filmmaker and conservationist who was mysteriously shot dead in her home in Kenya. I don't tend to go for biographies but this seemed interesting and I definitely feel like I need to read something a little more intellectual at the moment! 

Will do an update when I'm part way through to let you know how it's going but for now, farewell and hope you're having a really great day!



Yet another nail post featuring the very popular Revlon 'Minted' polish. I seem to have rediscovered it after it living in the bottom of my nail varnish drawer for about a year. One of the main reasons it's not one I use a lot is because I'm not actually a huge fan of Revlon varnishes in general. I find that they chip really easily on my nails and a lot of the formulas take a lot of effort to get looking good. Some of them are very thin and this look that I'm wearing today has taken 3 coats and a lot of time because they also don't dry particularly fast. But anyway, I do like the colours together and hopefully with a good topcoat they'll last long enough. The grey is also a Revlon polish in 'Silver', although I don't really know why it's called that because it isn't shimmery or glittery at all, so don't be deceived!



Hope you like the look and there will be more nail posts to come soon :)! Hope you're having a fabulous Monday and as always I would love to see your latest nail posts!





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