Christmas 2016

Well I’ve took the decorations down and I’m a little sad that it’ll be another 11 months before they’re back again. So I thought I’d write this little post to keep the Christmas spirit alive for a little longer.

Christmas is a time to be spent with loved ones, family and friends, and this is just how we spent this year. As well as loving the time spent with the most important people in my life I’ve greatly enjoyed having free time, time where I can switch off and properly relax for a while. I think the horrid cold that stuck me to the sofa for the 3 days after boxing day helped a lot with this. I’m not someone who can relax and do nothing for too long, I get a little bored and I feel really unproductive. However, what I’m realising now is that it’s super productive to relax and do nothing because I’ve come back with even more drive and inspiration. I’m ready to get all the posts uploaded and bake all the yummiest of foods.

During the time off I’ve started to set myself some goals for this new year,  I don’t like using the term resolutions because people tend to forget about those by mid January. I actually want to stick to these and work on myself over the next year. One of these goals is to upload to this blog more regularly, so you can monitor how well that goes!

Along with all the awesome family time and board games, Christmas is a time of giving and receiving. So I thought I’d give you a little look at what I got this year.

Beauty Products

I got a lot of beauty items this year and I’m super happy about this as you can never have enough, especially when they include Liz Earle, L’Occitane and Lush. I use Liz Earle skincare every day and I think I now have enough to get me through most of this year (I also managed to pick up their new  Superskin eye-cream in the sales, yay!). Knowing my love of Lush my husband treated me to the Oh Deer Tin, which is full of lots of Christmas goodies and the bathroom now smells very much of the Randy Butter. To go with all the bath goodies I also now have a cute set of candles and reed infusers from Scantury to make my bath times so very relaxing. Lastly, as I absolutely adore the L’Occitane Cherry Blossom range and my husband picked me their box up as an early gift this year and I’ve been covering myself in the perfume ever since **insert all the eye heart emojis**

Cosy Gifts

My husband always gets me some new PJs and other cosy gifts, it’s become a little tradition, that I LOVE. This year I got the cutest and snuggliest badger slippers and heart PJs from Next. Along with a mermaid blanket from Lipsy, and our friends also got me a different mermaid blanket so I can be a mermaid all around the house now 🙂

Funky Bits

Lastly I wanted to show you these other awesome little bits that I got. I love random little bits, especially ones with animals. These gifts include an adorable narwhal light, I mean who doesn’t love narwhals they’re the unicorns of the sea! The cutest little cat hand warmers, an I Fucking Love You mug, some lollies with some interesting phrases on ;), an owl tea set and a Lulu Guinness umbrella (I can’t wait to use this!!).

I’ve had an awesome Christmas and New Year and I hope you have too! Roll on the next one.

 

 

NYX Liquid Suede

Since it’s national lipstick day I thought it was a great time to share these 2 new beauties that I picked up last weekend. I was super excited when I walked into the Boots in Nottingham to find they’ve got a whole NYX section now, I had to pick something up and I’ve been wanting to try their liquid suede lipstick since I picked up my last 2 lipsticks from them (you can find the blog post here).

I’ve not long started getting into lipsticks but red is definitely my favorite. So I was instantly drawn to this lovely deep red which called Cherry Skies. I then browsed their other colours, with purple being my favorite colour I took the plunge and went for this bright purple which is the Amethyst shade. I was rather worried about this one as its very different for me and as a general lipstick colour, but I LOVE it! I think it adds a nice bit of pop to my makeup. I’m going to need to be careful what I wear it with and I’m not sure I’ll be wearing it around the office but I’m going to be braving this colour a lot in future.

The lipsticks themselves are great, they’re easy to apply and top up during the day, the little curve of the brush really helps when applying. They last well and don’t dry out your lips whilst giving a nice light matte finish. I do now however need to get a red lip liner to go with this one as the edges can get a little messy, I’ll be looking for one of those on my trip into Boots tomorrow!

If you’re looking for a new lipstick I highly recommend checking out what NYX have to offer, and go for the bright shades they’re well worth it!

                      

Top 5 Makeup Products

I’ve been meaning to write this post all week but the heat and PMS has just killed me off. So now the weather has cooled down a little and I can string a few sentences together, I’ve took some time to sit on the laptop and put this on here. I’m also nice and content after a trip to Reds True BBQ and getting a Bubble Tea from the Asian supermarket =)

I’m going to share my top 5 makeup products, these are products that I use all the time and I don’t know what I’d do without them.

 

1. I’m going to start with something that I’ve been using for at least 8 years now (where has the time gone?!!?), BareMinerals Original Foundation. This is the first foundation that I actually liked when I was first starting to wear foundation, I never got on with liquid foundations at the time. Since then I’ve found some great liquid foundations but this is still my main go-to foundation. I have this in Fairly Light but they have a wide range of colours to suit all skin tones, it gives great coverage whilst being light to wear and easy to apply.  You can also use this foundation as a concealer which makes it a handy product to have around or take away with you. I have some NYX makeup brushes which work so well with this powder as a foundation and as a concealer, much better than the Bare Escentuals ones I had before.

2. Next is Benefit POREfessional face primer. I spoke about this in my previous post (here) but I really do love this product. I have combination skin which can get quite shiny throughout the day, this primer helps keep my skin looking less oily and my makeup in place. It also gives a great base to apply your makeup to.

3. Another Benefit product I love is their Roller Lash mascara. I like to have long looking lashes and mascara is my must have item. I’m always on the hunt to try out new mascaras and when this came out I was really excited to try it and not at all disappointed when I did. It goes on really well and really does help curl your lashes, with the little hooks on the brush. There’s also no clumping which is amazing as so many mascaras claim to give you better lashes and they just clump together and look terrible.

4. To add to my roller lash I also use eye lash curlers each day. I’m currently using a No7 pair of curlers but any in this style are good for me. They give a nice open eye and add to your mascara for extraly lovely eye. You could also quickly curl your lashes without adding mascara if needed or if you’re having a makeup free day.

5. Lastly is Benefit’s Shy Beam highlighter (I think I may have a little Benefit obsession..). I got this in a set for Christmas and I’ve been using it pretty much every day since. I also got the high beam which is great for when you’re going out but for every day use I prefer the shy beam as it’s a little more subtle. This is a cream highlighter which makes it easy to apply, now I’m not one for loads of makeup or contouring but I apply this to just under my eyebrows and then also on my cheek bones.

What are your favorite must-have makeup products?

 

Why I Adore Liz Earle

Hey Guys!

I wanted to share my love for Liz Earle with you all. If you’ve not heard of this brand before it was created in 1995 by a couple of women living in the Isle of Wight. Yes it’s a premium brand but I think it’s well worth the extra pennies.

I’ve been using the products for many years now (much thanks to my mother-in-law who introduced me when I was in my late teens). The products are full of naturally active ingredients and it’s all animal friendly and cruelty free.

Liz Earle is most famous for their Cleanse and Polish and I can totally see why, its amazing! It’s like a nice rich cream and melts away makeup and dirt when applied, you then use the lovely muslin clothes with warm water to polish and remove. It will leave your skin feeling clean, healthy and nourished, unlike some cleansers where your skin feels tight and dry after use. They also often sell limited edition scents which come in gorgeous bottles. My parents got me the Rose & Cedrat for my birthday and I was super excited to use it. It’s now part of my morning routine and I’m wondering why I ever starting using anything else in the morning. They also got me the hand cream which smells divine and leaves your hands nice and soft, it’s also a nice handy size for your handbag.

I also love their Eyebright, it’s great to use on those mornings where you’re eyes don’t want to stay open and are all puffy and sleepy. You can keep it in the fridge for added soothing or apply it to 2 cotton pads with a face mask and relax. I really need to get some more of this, as I could have really done with it this week. Puffy red eyes are not the one, damn you summer cold!
Another fav of mine is the Superskin concentrate, you can get this with a roller ball end which makes it super easy to apply. I use this most nights under my moisturiser to keep my skin looking and feeling healthy. It’s full of oils and vitamin E to help all skin types, it also has a great aromatic scent which is super soothing before going to sleep.

The brand is ever growing and includes amazing skincare, body care, hair care, makeup, and even perfume ranges. It’s been lovely watching her brand grow over the last few years and see all the lovely items they’ve been creating. The hair-care smells divine and I would totally recommend you trying it out. I’m looking forward to picking up more items as there’s lots of great looking products that are finding their way onto my ‘To Buy’ list.

If you’ve not tried any of the Liz Earle products I’d highly recommend you picking some up, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with them too! You can now pick them up from quite a few Boots and John Lewis stores, as well as QVC and their online website. They also have a few stores around the UK which offer treatments as well as the product, I may need to plan a trip to one of those……

 

Pay Day Beauty Haul

I find the real joy about getting towards payday is planning your shopping list for when the day finally comes around. This month I knew I needed a couple of my day to day products topping up but I also decided to try out some NYX lipstick. Now I’ve never really been one for lipstick, I had found that it didn’t last long and I spent most of my time worrying if it looked a mess! But I took the plunge and I’m really glad I did.

I took my time browsing the Boots site and looking at all the options, I was quite set on trying some NYX Matte lipsticks but I had no idea which one or what colour. I then took to the internet to look at other lovely bloggers and youtubers to find the ones they recommend and the colours I liked the best. I finally decided to try the new NYX Lip Lingerie range in Embellishment and the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Copenhagen. I then selected their click and collect to pick it up in store the next day, I just managed to make it back to the car before opening them up to test one out… Patience has never really been my strongest point.

NYX Lip Lingerie

I’m in love with this!

The Embellishment shade is quite neutral with a slight purple tone. It gives me a little bit of a Gothic look due to my pastey (or porcelain, which I’m told sounds better) skin. It goes on smoothly and even though it’s a matte lipstick it doesn’t feel dry, it has a moosey texture at first which becomes more matte after applied. It also lasts extremely well and I’ve found it only needs a couple of top ups to last the entire day. You can find this here.

 

NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream

This also has a great texture and staying power. It doesn’t feel as moosey and smooth as the lingerie range but still really nice to apply and wear. My husband was actually shocked that my lips felt dry when he kissed me, he wasn’t expecting that when they were bright red! The colour of this is a bright but it’s more of a deep red, which also works well with my pale complexion. You really can’t beat a good red lip, it works with almost anything and can really set off an outfit. This can be found here.

     

Garnier Micellar Water

I picked up a small bottle of this the other month to try out as Micellar water seems to be really big at the moment. I already use the Garnier Miracle Sleeping Cream so I hoped with getting Garnier they would work well together. I now use this every night on a couple of cotton wool pads to remove my makeup, it removes all makeup even around the eyes. I’ve found my skin feels clearer, especially my pores around my nose and chin since using this and it also extremely kind and not at all harsh on the skin. I still use a hot cloth cleanser each morning but this is so handy to make me be bothered to properly remove makeup and the fact that it leaves my skin feeling fresh and clean is even more of an incentive to get into a good routine. Yes I can be a little lazy when it comes to removing makeup at night, I just want to sleep you know! You can find this here.

Benefit POREfessional  Face Primer Balm

I got some of this in a couple of sets at Christmas and I was really excited,I’d wanted to try it out for a long time. I feel like I have quite noticeable pores and my skin gets quite shiny throughout the day. This primer has helped with these problems and when I started to get to the end of the last mini tube it was really time to invest in some more.  If you’re concerned about your pores this primer is where to start, it will reduce their appearance as soon as it’s applied and it will help your makeup last longer throughout the day. You can find this here.

I’m now thinking about my next pay day and what treats I’m going to get. More NYX lipstick is tempting but I think I might end up with a Lush haul this month, the face masks and bath bombs look amazing!