Review Thursday: Lush Shampoo Bar

Hey Guys,

I can't believe it's Thursday again! They come and go so quick. Todays review is going to be about the Lush Shampoo Bar. Now I bought this for my friend for Christmas and really wanted it for myself, so then much to my surprise I received this off my other friend! Yay.

Now Lush describes the bar as:

"A solid bar with cinnamon, clove and nettle to stimulate and reset your hair to its former glory. We've jammed this unpreserved, unpackaged shampoo bar with as many stimulating ingredients as we can find to get the blood flowing, balance the scalp, and boost hair growth."

If you don't like cinnamon this definitely isn't for you because the smell is strong and it lingers in your hair, if like me, you don't use much conditioner the smell stays put. I personally like cinnamon so I quite like the spicy scent.

When I first saw this I found the concept of essentially using a bar of soap on your hair as shampoo very odd, however when using this it's not as strange as you'd think. You can either lather it up in your hands and then apply it to the roots or wet it and rub straight onto your hair. I find just lathering it up in my hands does the trick fine. It lathers up really well and easy to distribute all over the hair just like a liquid shampoo.

Theres also no tingle to the scalp, which I thought there may be as it's suppose to stimulate the roots, but I'm quite glad theres not.

What does the shampoo actually do? Yes it cleans the hair leaving no residue, so it does the shampoo job, but does it do what it claims? Now my hair grows fairly quick using normal shampoo but I really do feel like this has accelerated my hair growth. I've also noticed that after use my hair feels thicker and more lively, even with naturally thick hair this product make it's feel healthier. However the one thing I have noticed is it leaves my hair feeling a little dry but because I use a leave in conditioner after washing the moisture locks back in.

I wash my hair every other day so I only use this product once or twice a week because I also use purple shampoo before going out on the weekends.

The only downfall I can think of is when it comes to storing this product in between washes it is a little tricky. I found you can't leave it in the shower because the product will just wash away and you can't put it into a air tight container because the outside dries into a thick gel..its strange. So I've found a old conditioner mask pot which has a flip lid so I can protect it from running water but not keep it air tight.

Anyways thats about it for my review, I hope it was useful. I really like this product and would definitely recommend it. Don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' for updates and come back at the weekend for the next instalment of the #2014bloggerchallenge!

Catch Up With Me: Volume 4

Hey Guys,

I don't think this post is going to be that long because to be honest it's been all work work work since Christmas and very little play (last catch up with me post). However lets start at the beginning of January...

New Years Eve was so good, I went down to Southampton with some of my old uni friends and got drunk basically. There was quite a big group of us and we went to our favourite club and it was just a really good night, well I'm pretty sure it was. I woke up with a full face of make-up, lashes still in tacked with my dress on, one word messy. It was so worth it though, I love going out for New Years, most people say it's overrated but I've had 5 amazing ones, straight. Next year I'm planning on Dublin!

New Years

Work has been absolutely manic lately with all the general weekly and monthly meetings to do theres also all the New Year bits to get done. However I've just finished my 8th week and still loving it. I have another 5/6 weeks till my probation periods up so fingers cross it'll go permanent.

This month I also started my weight loss journey series which went down so well with people contacting me. I'm so happy that I can share my experiences and help others anyway I can. However this month has shown a couple of milestones in my weight loss. The first was since starting my new job I haven't had the time or energy to do my daily exercise, I also haven't exactly been eat badly however I haven't eaten well and with Christmas, there was defiantly some chocolate and alcohol being consumed. So I kind of expected I would have put on some weight since starting the job but when I weight myself the first weekend after Christmas, much to my surprise, my weight didn't change at all. So after 44 days of no exercising and a little naughty bits here and there I stayed the same weight. YAY, this makes me so happy because it means my 'healthy eating' instead of dieting is working and I'm able to maintain my weight loss. The next couple of milestones is I am no longer obese, I've moved into the overweight category, seems so odd to be happy about this but I'm over the moon. The final one is I have in total officially lost 2.5 stone which means I'm half way to my goal with another 2.5 to go!

Oh and one very big thing that did happen to me this month! I hit over 100 Bloglovin' Subscribers! I literally cannot believe it. It makes me so happy that there are people out there reading my little space of the internet. I've never had confidence in my writing due to being dyslexic so it means the world that people are reading and commenting on my posts :). So thank you everyone who's followed me it's means more than you can imagine!

Other than going out a few times here and there I don't really have much more thats been going on to be honest. However after a few years of battling different things within my life I finally feel like I've got my shit together and I'm in such a good, positive, healthy place right now. Last year was amazing for me but I can already see this years going to be BIG and I am so excited.

That's it for this months catch up, thank you again for all your support in reading my little blog, it really does mean the world. Although if you new here then hello and don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin' here. You can also follow me on Twitter and Instagram for my daily ramblings.  

Posts you may have missed:
Weight Loss Journey Part 1
Weight Loss Journey Part 2
Wishlist: Mac Edition 
2013 Favourites

Review Thursday: Ferne Eye Crayon

Hey Guys,

Welcome to review Thursday!
Today I am going to give my review on these eye shadow crayons by Ferne. This make-up is a collection created by Ferne Cotton sold in Boots. I never really buy from her collection simply from not even thinking about it, but I picked this little set up in the Boots when they has the Christmas 3 for 2 deal, I can't remember how much I paid but it was around the £8/£10 mark.

Within the collection there are four eye shadow crayons and a liquid felt tip eye liner.
They don't have any colour names but you can see below you get a green, champagne, purple and bronze colours which are all quite shimmery.

I picked these because I really liked the tones of the colours and I thought as there not to bright they would be good to use as a base for eyeshadow. The pigmentation is really strong and with one sweep the eyelid is covered. There really nice just worn on there own because they catch the light slightly looking like you have more make-up on than you do.

I really like the cute polka dot packaging and the way there a stick form instead of in a pot. The formula is a dry but creamy constancy making them not wet at all. They almost remind me of when a felt tip pen is running out, although there not so dry that they drag across the lid.  

I bought these mainly to use as a base so I could put shadows on top to make the colour really intense and develop them into a smokey eye. However after a few hours they really start to crease and wear off which is really annoying. I've found that if you only put a very light amount on they don't crease as bad but it's still pretty annoying to keep having to touch up.

As I found that they do crease over the lid, I haven't given up on them yet because I really like the colours! I've now started to wear them along the outer corners of my water line, like just underneath to give a slight shimmer to a day look.

The green and champagne colours are my favourite.

The felt liners quite nice too as it has a good fine tip and is really easy to apply, my only issue is, is that the darkness of the black doesn't last all day. Although it is good for a evening out just not a 9 hour working day.


I think thats all I have to say about these little crayons, a nice spontaneous find but to be honest I wouldn't recommend them, I think you can get a lot better in the drugstore for a similar price.

Monthly Wishlist: The Mac Edition

Hey Guys,

Happy Monday! Today I am going to show you my Mac Make-up Wishlist. 

(I got the pictures from Google, so sorry if there a bit naff.)

Matte Bronser/ Select Cover Up Foundation/ 266 Small Angle Brush/ Coffee Eye Liner/ Black Ice Eye Liner/ Russian Red Lipstick/ Showstopper Eyeshadow Quad/ Soft and Gentle Mineralising Skin Finish/ Viva Glam 1/

I'm thinking next pay day I'm going to do a big Mac shop because I don't own much Mac products but know I have a job I can afford it yay!

I really want to make my own quads for different looks like a brown, grey and black smokey eye so if anyone has any suggestions of colour please let me know in the comments :)
Or any general Mac products you'd recommend?


See you Thursday for Review Thursday!

#2014BloggerChallenge: Skincare

Hey Guys, 

So the second instalment of the 2014 blogger Challenge. This post's topic is all about skincare! 

I have been racking my brains all week thinking how the hell I am going to go about this post, as when it comes to facial skincare I'm absolutely clueless! I mean I'll tell you now I am terrible at looking after my face, I've only just started using a cleanser on a daily basis and I've only just stopped using baby wipes to take me make-up off. Naughty beauty blogger. Until while watching the Snooker Masters Final it clicked,,my body is covered in skin why just restrict to my face. I use so many different products on my body especially my legs, why don't I talk about that?

So I am going to take this skincare opportunity as a cry for help for my face and my approach on tackling dry skin, especially on the legs!

I'll give a brief background about my skin, I have has a few problems to say the least where I had to take antibiotics for nearly 5 years. Until I realised that the doctors really had no clue what was wrong with me. So I took matters into my own hands and eventually discovered the problem was mainly down to my contraceptive pill. Good one national health. 

However my skin is very dry and quite sensitive so I have to be very careful of what I use as it may aggravate my skin. Anyways back to this post I am going to show you what I use, some new some old products, and what I like to use to battle my dry skin. 

Soap&Glory Clean On Me/ MíAFLORA Coconut Oil/ Dermal 500 Lotion/ Soap&Glory The Righteous Butter/ Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub/ 

First up lets start with showering:
On a daily shower basis I've recently been using the Soap&glory Clean On Me and I love it, it smells amazing and feels equally good too. In the past I would normally use a sensitive body wash which did me fine until I was given this for my birthday and oh.my.god I've never looked back! My skin feels so silky and nourished, which my dry skin just drinks up.

Also in the shower maybe twice I week I like to give my skin a bit of a buff and a scrub. In the past and a personal favourite is the Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter range. What I really like about this scrub is because it's a sugar scrub it's more gritty than beady, if you know what I mean. I like this because the sugary texture feels a bit more oily than a beady based scrub which I feel sometimes leaves my skin feeling tight and drier.

At the moment I'm using the Palmers Cocoa Butter Scrub, this one doesn't leave me skin feeling too tight which is good however I'm very undecided on the smell as it's very sweet.

Boots Extract Cocoa Butter Sugar Scrub/ Palmers Cocoa Butter Scrub/  

Next up: out the shower and daily moisturising, now I have three different types of products depending on what state my skins in.

When I feel I just need a bit of moisture but my skins feeling extra sensitive I call on my Dermal 500 lotion which is prescribed by the doctors. This one has a light constancy which quickly sinks into the skin leaving no residue, very good for sensitive skin. It's also designed for use on rashes and after shaving which was good for me when I had my skin problems.

When my skins behaving, which is most the time nowadays I like to call on a body butter as a moisturiser doesn't always cut it with my dry skin. At the moment I'm using Soap&Glory The Righteous Butter which I really like, it's not too heavy with a kind of soufflé feel and dries fairly quickly leaving no oily traces. It has the standard S&G smell which I've always liked so a big thumbs up from me.
Other body butters I really like are the Boots Extracts Cocoa Butter and The Body Shops Almond or Coconut body butters.

Last but not least my beloved coconut oil! This stuff is a life saver, it does take forever to soak into the skin but the results are worth it. This stuff helps dry skin, ingrown hairs, reduce redness, helps scars, heals cuts- the works! (You can read my full post on this stuff here)

I'd also like to give a mention to this product, Jergens Cocoa Butter, I've currently run out but with an overwhelming amount of body stuff for Christmas I haven't re-purchased just yet. Although this stuff is great. Normally moisturisers don't do much for me but because of the cocoa butter aspect this is great on dry skin. I also like the skin firming one in the range but tend to only use that on my stomach and arms. 

Right that's it for this post, for what I thought would be quite short I've managed to waffle on for a long time! I hope you've enjoyed this post about skincare and please do let me know if theres any products which you recommend. 

Also if anyone reading who has a clue about skin care for faces then please help me, my skin is very dry and acne prone towards that girly time of the month..help please. haha. 

Review Thursday: Seventeen Phwoarr Paint Concealer

Hello all!

How are we this Thursday? My week so far has been manic which I don't expect to change any time soon, but hey I like it that way!

Todays post I'm going to be giving my review on this Seventeen concealer.

I bought this concealer by accident to be honest, I was browsing my local Boots one day and picked it up just to have a look, then bumped into someone I knew and the next thing I know I've been to the checkout and it's on my receipt. However accidental purchase for the win, I love this concealer! 

The packaging isn't amazing but it's not bad and this little compact cost me £5.49, which I thought was quite a lot for number 17 brand. Nevertheless it's small and easy to carry about, it also has a fairly big mirror which really works for me. 

On the pot the product is described as 'heavy duty under eye concealer' and is suppose to 'wage the war on under eye circles'. The product itself is really thick and creamy with quite a dry formula until it hits the skin an melts slightly. The concealer works wonders by covering up any dark circles and leaving a dewy brightening effect.

The colour I got was in 'fair' which is a great colour match for me. The colour itself is fairly peachy but not overly pink. Which for me is good because my skin is quite pale and I don't have much redness at all. The colour of the concealer really matches my foundation too which is perfect. 

Previously I've never actually applied under eye concealer because to be frank I never knew you could do that. I know blasphemy. Till the beauty blogging world showed me the errors of my ways I now never leave the house without it!

When I first applied the product I though it was a bit light for my skin and made my dark circles looked worse. Although I found this was because I wasn't putting too much on as I was using a brush. So now I apply this product with my forth finger straight from the pot and blend out under my eyes. This works really well for me as my fingers melt the product which helps it blend and erase my dark circles.

Overall I would definitely recommend this product, the bad side is theres only two shades, medium and fair.  However if your lucky enough to get a good colour match then do go try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Has any one else tried this concealer and love it as much as me?

My Weight Loss Journey: # 2: Goals, Planning & Tracking

Hey Guys,

So here is part two of yesterdays post all about my weight loss journey, if you missed yesterdays post you can catch up here. Basically it's a little introduction to my weight history and realising where my problems with weight gain lie.

This part I'm going to talk about the importance of goal setting, planning and tracking, I'm also going to share with you my personal goals and the way I track progress.

First up: Goals! 
The importance of goal setting is that if you have no end goal how do you know when you've achieved something? This kind of goes for everything.
I like to set a long term end goal and also little goals in-between. This ables me to keep on track and know what I'm doing. I just think it's a bit depressing setting a 'I want to loose 5 stone by next Jan' because come April I'll be like oh I'm still so far off that goal. So by setting little goals in between it gives you the motivation to keep going and carry on!

For my goals I set up a little picture which I've stuck on my wall:

 As you can see I've reached my first mini goal and my second goal I'm 2lb off!
I'll be honest I had to re-adjust my goals because with my new job I don't have as much time to exercise so It's going to take a little longer to reach my goals.

As well as setting goals of what you want to loose you need to have other goals in the sense of why are you doing this weight loss and want do you want out of this at the end. From my personal journey I want to improve my relationship with food, I want to be aware of what I'm putting inside my body and when loosing my weight know at the end I can maintain it. So I don't just want to eat rabbit food for the next year I want to eat well and healthy.
However my main goal at the end is I want to be able to wear a pair of TopShop light blue skinny jeans and a pale pink jumper from Ralph Lauren. This is quite specific but I see my friends buying Topshop jeans and I'm so jealous as they just do not fit me. In terms of the Jumper when I was 12 I went to Ralph Lauren feel in love with the jumper, which my friend ended up buying in white, and I was gutted because even the large didn't fit.

Planning
Planning comes with two aspects. The first one is plan your goals with achievable dates, be realistic, like me I know with my job I can't exercise as much as last summer because back then I had to much time but now my time in limited. So being realistic my weight loss may not be as stable as before.
The second aspect of planning is planning what you are going to eat, when your going to eat it and when your going to buy it!
For the last 6 months every Saturday morning I'll plan the meals for the week, go food shopping and only buy what I need. I find if you don't plan what you're going to buy you will end up buying stuff you do need and that extra stuff I bet you anything will be chocolate and fizzy drinks.
I also plan when I eat my food:

• 7:30 am: Breakfast: Typically high fibre cereal 
• 11am: am Snack: a Banana 
• 2pm: Lunch: Leafy green salad and a form of low fat meat 
• 4pm: pm Snack: This tends to be my down part of the day when I get really tired and hungry so I'll have 35g of nuts and dried fruit
• 7pm: Dinner: Typically 40g brown rice, chicken and green beans 

My dinners do vary so it's not boring but you get the idea. However next months post will be dedicated to what foods I eat and what works for me.

Lastly is Tracking

Pure and simple: How are you going to track your progress? 

Again tying in with planning, I weigh myself every Saturday morning at around 10:30am. I only weigh myself once a week because your weight on a day to day basis can change so much and I find doing that gets me down. For example one day I'll be a l lb lighter the next I'm 2 lb heavier, who's got time for that disappointment eh? Although once a week works for me, I've got a friend who likes to weight herself everyday and that works for her, so it's what works for you. 

Tracking progress is so important, simple to know where your at. I personally use the Nintendo Wii to weigh myself as it keeps track for me, tells me my BMI and also what category I'm in (obese/overweight). I also like using this because you get a little graph which you can see below. 

I also, once I've weighed myself I write it down on my calendar so it's an everyday reminder of how far away from my next goal I am.

So that's the end of the second part, part three will be posted next month on the 10th February. However depending on how well these posts go down I may start posting about it like every other week, if you would prefer that then please comment away and I'll see what I can do.
Again I'm not saying what I've done will work for everyone but if your stuck in a rut and don't know where to begin it could be worth a try? I really hope I'm making sense and I can make a difference in your weight loss!

For you beauty readers if you've got this far I will be posting a review on Thursday and a beauty or fashion related at the weekend, but for now have a good rest of the week and I'll be back soon.

My Weight Loss Journey: # 1: Starting out

Hey Guys,

So on Saturdays post I mentioned that I'll be posting something which has taken me a while to put together and feel ok talking about. It's not necessary something which I find hard to talk about because I'm proud of my achievements, it's just, I'm not sure why I keep putting it off I just do. Something somewhere keeps telling me not to but I've got a couple of emails asking me to, so if I can help even one person then it's worth the anxiousness to put it out there.
I know most of you reading will think I'm silly worrying about it, but it's you know that one thing that makes me nervous talking about.

Anyways now that's out the way as the title suggests I am going to start talking about my weight loss journey. I've decided that once a month I'll post something about it. Now in the starting few posts it'll be like different aspects of going about weight loss then I move into my monthly achievements as they happen and more of in the moment than starting out. This particular post is going to be in two parts as it's a little long, so I need to break it up.

I also want to get this out the way now. I am not saying that my methods will work for everyone, I am also not saying that this is the only way to go about weight loss it simply just works for me.

Now that little introductions out the way lets start! 

I suppose I'll start with my weight history. I have always been a big girl since I can remember. I've always been active playing football, cricket, netball, rounders, pretty much everything I love sport. However I also love food, it was my relationship with food which was my main problem. I was your typical eat when I'm happy, eat when I'm sad even eat when I'm not hungry. This even goes back to when I was younger I would like take the whole packet of biscuits to my room instead of my allocated 3. Instead of buying a little freddo like most 10 years olds I'd buy the big box on celebrations. Anyways you get the picture. I'll mention that my parents never over feed me I was just very good at getting more food and hiding it in my pockets and that. When I started getting regular pocket money my brother would go off and buy CDs, a new football and there was me a massive bag of sweets and chocolate. No wonder I was 19 stone at age 19.

I remember when I was younger from the age of 9, my weight always matched my age, so when I was 9 I was 9 stone, all the way up till I was 16 leaving school at 16.7 stone. I then went to college and only crept up to about 17 stone because I was a little more active and other circumstances I can't talk about. By the end of my first year of university I was at my largest, weighing in at 19.7 stone. Over the summer of 2010 I didn't like the thought of hitting 20 stone so I did more exercise, reduced my eating and cut out excessive alcohol! With this I managed to come down to about 17.7. When I went back to University in September, starting my 2nd year, I decided to join a gym, not to loose weight because dieting at uni is never a good idea. So my main goal was just not to put on weight. So jumping to my final year (4years in total) I left university weighing just over 17 stone. This is where my real journey began.

Wow that was a long introduction, but I really do believe if you don't understand your history with food you can't pinpoint the problem and really go into losing weight with a clear direction.

Now I'm going to talk about how I went about starting my weight loss journey.

Admitting the problem
The first thing like I said above is to really getting under of your own problems and think about what the main problem is. This could be that your eatings good but you don't exercise or you simply just eat too much cheese etc.
I worked out my main problem was snacking and drinking, and I don't even mean alcohol. Yes I drank quite a lot of alcohol but because it was my final year I was only going out like every other week, if that.
So my problems:

• Coca-Cola
• Sugary coffee and full fat lattes 
• Pringles and popcorn
• Chocolate

When I finished university I realised on a daily basis I was consuming..(this is when the anxiety about admitting this comes out!) On top of my meals, which where actually fairly healthy, I was consuming approx. 12 large cups of caffeine (either coca-cola or coffee), a tube of Pringles, a bag of sweet and salted popcorn and more than likely a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate to end the day. Wow writing all that makes shit real..no wonder I was fat. 

Doing something about it: 

Now that I had worked out my problem areas it was time to strip them out! However my method wasn't just to wake up one day and stop because I think my body would go into shock because of lack of sugar. As crazy as that sounds. 

So in June each week I would cut something out of my diet, for example the first week I stopped eating crisps, the next Coca-Cola, 3rd week chocolate and so on. However when it comes to coffee if you're used to drinking a hefty amount a day I do not advise you to just stop. I did and was in bed for 3 days, instead I cut down to like 2 cups a day, then to one, then tackled the no sugar in my coffee and finally switched from green milk to red. Every little helps. 

I'm going to leave it there for now because otherwise this will be one hell of a long post, as it already it! However you don't need to wait too long as I'll be putting part two up tomorrow which will be about setting goals and planning. For the people who come here to read beauty there will be a review post up on Thursday! 

I hope people have enjoyed this post and it's not too boring but I really wanted to start bringing my weight loss into my blog as it's a big journey for me and I though it would be nice to share.

See Part 2 here!

2014 Wishlist/ To-Do List

Hey Guys,

Every month I always post a monthly wish-list but as it's the beginning of the year I thought I would post a yearly list. I'm not one for making New Years resolutions but these are some things that I would really like to happen this year however there not exactly things that I can do overnight they take a bit of time to achieve. You could call this my 2014 To-Do list.

1. Firstly I would really like to move out!  I currently live at home with my Mum and Dad and well I'm 22 and would really like my own space. I was at uni for 4 years and loved having the freedom of cooking when I want, sitting in the living room and just leaving my stuff where I want to without being told off. I'm not saying I'm a messy person or that living at home is hell, it would just be nice that if I put something somewhere it wont get moved. My plan now is as soon as my job goes fully permanent (hopefully in March) I will start looking for a flat with one of my best friends, Tom. I'm not planning on moving far away from home but I want to be closer to my friends and living closer to town as at the moment I live in the middle of nowhere..theres not even a local pub!

2. Secondly I would like to buy myself a car. I was very lucky when I was 17 to be given one for my birthday, which sadly died about 20 months ago..RIP little fiat bravo. For now I'm borrowing my Mum's old car which I'll either buy off her or buy myself a different car depending on my financial situation.

3. 2013 for me was all about get my head together, you know get the positive thinking going. Which now I would say I'm quite a positive person and always look for the good out of a bad situation. This year is all about my body. This year I really want to get my body healthy and happy. Now I've had a head start on this one as I started losing weight in July last year, so my relationship with food is a lot healthier. Although this year I want to continue my weight loss, get to my goal weight but also be able to maintain it!

4. I also this year want to get back into my sports I used to play. I used to love playing football and cricket but had to stop because I occurred a bicep injury. Now that that's better I really should get back into it! Or at least I want to do a mud run or something a bit crazy haha.

5. My last thing I really want to do this year is get my blogging hat on and really go for it. I want to get involved with other bloggers, getting involved in the blogging community and really make my blog a blog worth reading. I might even start looking into getting my own domain name.


Right that's it, there all do-able they just need a little time, money, determination and a little pixi dust!

I'll just quickly mention, I would normally be posting my beauty wish-list on the second week of the month but I've decided that because I'm going to be posting two beauty and two lifestyle posts a month, every monday, I'm going to do them alternatively. So as last week saw my 2013 beauty favourites (read me) I'll be posting a lifestyle this Monday!

The lifestyle post thats coming to you on Monday has taken me quite a while to feel comfortable about posting, so check back then to see what it's about. Thats all from me for now, so I hope everyone is having a good weekend and I'll speak to you Monday :).

Review Thursday: Soap&Glory Loved&Glossed Lips

Hey Guys, 

So now that it's the New Year and I've just about settled into my new job I'm really going to try and make sure every Thursday I put a review post up. 

So today's review is on the Soap&Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Sticks. I got these in a 3 piece set from Boot's in the Christmas 3 for 2 deal. I love the little tin they come in with the traditional Soap&Glory style packaging. Although I got mine free because of the deal you can pick them up from Boots at £8 each here.

The gloss sticks themselves are in black packaging with pink writing, also containing a strip of colour above where you twist to get the colour up to show what colour they are. They seem to be made out of a like a tinny plastic, so not the cheap plastic some come in as they feel more sturdy.  

I love the formula of these their so creamy and buttery which simply glides on the lips giving an even sweep of colour, gloss and shine. They almost feel like the NIVA lip butter tins because the texture is just so creamy. They smell fairly sweet and almost coco buttery which is probably why their so moisturising.

The Pigmentation isn't the boldest, like other lip crayons I own, but the coloured gloss they leave make up for it, although the colour is build-able with heavy application. The main thing I really love about these is that they are what I call hand bag friendly. I find this mainly because my problem with my favourite lip colours, the Bourjois Colour Boost sticks, is that they melt quite easily and I found especially through summer being in my handbag wasn't good for them. Although these S&G ones are so thick and buttery they just don't seem to melt.

My three gloss sticks which came in the tin are colours "Plum Jam", "Fuchsia-Ristic" and "Nudist". Another thing I really like is the fact that they don't contain the traditional tingle sensation most S&G lip products have. I like it sometimes but with an everyday colour it's not for me. What these do instead is give incredible gloss from the buttery formula.  

All in all I love these, there great to have chucked in your handbag for on the go use, as you don't need a mirror to apply them. I love that with this collection tin I got 3 shades which are completely different; a red, pink and nude. They are now very happily in my new Ted Baker make-up bag (which you can read about here), that come with me every where I go.


Have you guys tried these, or know any similar products? I would love to know :)

So that's it, I know it's not the most detailed review but the bottom line is I love them!

2013 Favourites!

Hey Guys, 

Normally I would be posting a monthly favourite at this time of the month however with the New Year I thought it would only be appropriate to do an end of year favourites. This is a collection of things I've been loving most the year round (depending on when I bought them) and always come back to using on a regular basis.  

Lets jump right in!

Real Techniques Blush Brush, Real Techniques Detailer Brush, Mac 217 Brush.  

First up are brushes, now I haven't always been a user of make-up brushes in other years until I started watching YouTube and reading blogs. This is when I started to see the importance of a good brush and the different brushes available. My far favourite have been the Real Technique brushes as their so affordable and great quality.

My two absolute favourites are the Blush and Detailer brush. I love the Blush brush because it's so fluffy with a domed structure and tapered tip it's perfect for applying blush to the apples of my checks. It is quite big but I personally love big brushes for blush and I'm thinking about buying another one for my bronzer.

My second favourite is the Detailer brush. I like this brush because it's so soft yet stays in shape. I like using it for inner corner highlight and adding precision colour to my lids and underneath my eyes, especially for a smokey eye look.

Lastly my Mac 217 brush, oh my this was a complete game changer to eye make-up for me. I love how fluffy it is and blends eyeshadows beautifully. I've never been able to master a smokey eye until I found this tool!

 Maybelline Gel Liner in Black and Natural Collection Eyeshadow in White Opal. 

I've been using my maybelline gel liner ever since it first come out. I always use this when I'm going clubbing because it gives me that dramatic black unlike any liquid liner was able to. I also like it because the problem I find with liquid liner is the line needs to be perfect otherwise it looks wonky, but with gel by using a brush it's easier to apply and because it gives an almost textured smudgy look you can get away with not being so neat.

My little Natural Collection pot it's such a pretty colour. Although it's white it also has a slight shimmer to it making it pearly. I like to use this in the inner corner of my eye and finds it really brightens up my eyes and makes me look more awake. I also like the fact that because it's this pearly colour you can wear it in the day for a wide eye look and also it contrasts really nicely in a black smokey eye. (full review here)

Bourjois Colour Boost 'Red Sunshine', 'Orange Punch', 'Peach on the Beach', 'Plum Russian'. 

Oh the Bourjois Colour Boost lip crayons, my heart melts. If you've read my blog a lot you'll know I'm obsessed with these, I love them! There a dupe for the Clinique Chubby Sticks which I've never personally tried before because the price tag in out of reach for me. But these Bourjois sticks are so good they're so easy to apply, give great pigmentation, the perfect amount of gloss and wonderful staying power. I'm just in love with them. (full review coming soon)

 TopShop Glitter Nail Polish 'Adrenaline' and 'Tingle'.

My nail varnish collection was complete when the purple toned one came home with me. I could not believe how good it was, the colour was opaque within 2 coats! They are both full with tiny specs of multi toned glitter which catch the light so beautifully. They are the best glitter polishes I have ever come across and love wearing them on my forth fingers with a similar colour on the rest.

Schwarzkof got2be 2 Sexy Big Volume volumizing spray mousse.  

Now this product smells incredible, just like strawberries! I've tried many different mousses to get volume and I always end up using too much and my hair just goes sticky and crispy. Then I found this..in a spray bottle. The mousse itself does a great job, it lifts my roots and gives instant volume with staying power. Although I don't think I would get along with it as well if it wasn't in a spray applicator, because of the spray function you can apply it exactly where you want it without using too much.

Michael Kors Rose Gold Watch.  

This was a present from my Mum for graduating and I haven't stopped wearing it since I got it in July. How could you not love it! I can't pick out or explain why I love it so much, but I do. I love the chunkiness, the roman numerals, the dials, everything!

The colour orange.

This pick is a little bit broad it is simply the colour orange. I've really enjoyed wearing this colour be it dresses, nail varnish, jackets, lips, the lot. My obsession started with wearing pink a lot which then moved to coral which turned into bright vibrant orange! However my problem now lies that I have so much orange I need to do a separate orange wash, next on my list are the orange skinny jeans from H&M for summer!

New Look Heel Boots. 

Last but not least these heeled boots from New Look, now I know they look a bit battered but thats because there my go to shoe for a night out. I've had them for just over a year now and they have been worn to death yet still going strong. I really like the fake suede look because it means they don't stand out to much with the bulkiness of them so you can get away with wearing them with dresses. I love the lace up style and I tend to wear them quite lose so they don't look too like riding shoes, if you know what I mean haha.


So that's it my 2013 favourites. I'm so excited for the next year ahead and can't wait to discover new beauty and fashion favourites!

Have any of you used any products I've mentioned?

My First Ever Pay Day Present!

Hey Guys,

How we all doing on this Sunday?

Todays post I'm really excited to write about because as the title suggests it was my first ever pay day at the end of December. Although I'll say now of course I've been paid in the past, I'm 22 I've had jobs before but these jobs where just to get me by when I was at college and university. This pay day in special. It's special because it's the first one in a job that I absolutely love, it's a proper job and the start of my career.

As it was my first proper pay day I decided I would buy myself something special to remind me of how hard I've work to get where I am today. I bought myself the most beautiful Ted Baker purse and make-up bag to match. I bought mine in the light orange/coral shade, mainly so I could actually find it in the black bag haha but also because I love the bright orange colour.

It has this cute clip fastening with the signature T and B gems.

and the make-up bag has it's little white bow in tack.

I know that was a little picture heavy for one purse and a make-up bag but man I just love it. Every time I use my purse now I remember how proud I am of myself and although this all seems a little extreme my feelings towards a purse but it really does mean a lot to me.