Half Price YOU Beauty Advent Calendar

An email has just popped into my inbox from Latest in Beauty to tell me that the YOU Beauty Advent Calendar is now half price.

If you enter the code: EX2649 at this address you can purchase it for £29.98 + £2.95 postage. A total bargain at £32.93.

However, as much I want to spread the exciting news about this offer. I have to say it has left a very bad taste in my mouth and I feel a bit upset with Latest in Beauty. 

I asked for the advent calendar as my Birthday present and have been looking forward to opening it on 1st December. Knowing that my boyfriend forked out nearly £60 when he could have bought it today for half that price is gutting. Plus it would have still arrived in time for the start of December and my Birthday so it turns out there was no incentive for making the purchase so early.

I know companies will reduce the price of items once Christmas is over but this is even before the start of advent!

I'm currently looking into whether I can return the advent calendar to take advantage of the half price offer and am about to send Latest in Beauty an upset email.

On a separate note; Latest in Beauty also made out that if you bought it early you got free postage which was also a bit of a con. I've never seen it for sale yet without free postage on offer (or at least a code to get free postage on it). 

Gutted :(

Help wanted - make up removing and facial cleansing...

Recently I've become very interested in how best to remove make up and then cleanse my skin. 

I'm ashamed to admit that for the last 10+ years I've stuck to a basic routine of face wipe, facial wash and then moisturising before bed. However over the last few months I've realised this routine isn't really cutting it - my skin is very dry and I've got fine lines appearing round my eyes. 

So I'm doing some research to find a new routine. Do you have any suggestions of good products to use to remove make up and then cleanse my skin? What do you use? 

I'm not sure I can give up on water completely so I'd still like to use a cleanser which involves water in the process and I need something that will remove heavy eyeshadow easily.

A full post of my findings will be coming soon...

x

Guest post: Pumpkin and chickpea curry

Okay so tonight Mike wants to share with you a curry he made...

Ingredients:

2 locally sourced (Dunham Massey) organic pumpkins!
Loads of garlic, peeled and chopped
Small onion, sliced on the mandolin
Cumin, cinnamon, chilli flakes, mild chilli powder
1 yellow organic fresh chilli, chopped and deseeded
Chopped fresh organic ginger
Half a tin of organic chopped tomatoes
Little bit of red curry paste
Veg stock 300ml
1 banana
Can of chick peas
Organic brown rice

1. Start by chopping and preparing all the ingredients
2. Fry the onions for 5mins until brown
3. Add garlic, ginger and spices (in your own quantities, it can be quite experimental!) for another minute
4. Add chopped tomatoes and fresh chilli, cook for another minute
5. Add pumpkin and red curry paste, cook for 3 further minutes, then add 300ml of veg stock
6. Stir well, simmer for 20mins until pumpkin is tender
7. Throw in the thickly sliced banana and the tin of drained chickpeas, simmer for 5 further minutes and serve with rice (if using brown rice like Mike did, remember to put it on around 30mins before you require it as it takes a LOT of cooking!)

N.B you don't have to use organic ingredients, Mike was just feeling very chuffed with his shop at Unicorn grocers in Chorlton (Manchester). Also Mike is my boyfriend and wanted to get in on the blogging action, hence this cheeky guest post :)

Sunday round up

A quick Sunday round up...

My Latest in Beauty advent calendar taking pride of place on the kitchen table, I can't wait to start opening on 1st December. It's actually my Birthday present (which is on 19th December) and I think getting 24 days of presents is even better than just one on the day. I've deliberately not looked closely at the picture of the goodies inside that I've seen online so I can be surprised :)

I finished using this tub of Body Butter Duo Vanilla from The Body Shop yesterday. I don't think I'd recommend it as a body moisturiser, it has two sides: one for normal skin and one for dry skin. Both were very greasy and smelly and took some rubbing into my body. I have very dry skin so was disappointed that it didn't help me more. It's not put me off trying other Body Shop moisturisers though as I've other good experiences of their products previous to this one.

Yet more free stuff! I heard about American Apparel giving away free polishes through another blog and as I don't work near to an AA I had to send my boyfriend to pick it up for me. He chose well and I've been wearing the navy shade (Passport Blue if you were wondering) since! Thanks Mike :)

Favourite Blog and Turnip Inspiration...

Most of the blogs I read are beauty based. However amongst these beauty blogs are a few others on subjects ranging from: bees, fashion, pubs, architecture and food.

My favourite blog on food at the moment has to be Desert Candy. Desert Candy covers all kinds of Middle Eastern cookery. It has been running since 2006 so currently I've lots of posts that I'm still working through, which is lovely to do when I get a spare minute, kind of like a online cookery book.

I discovered Desert Candy when I was looking how to make Arabic/Turkish coffee (which I'm intending to do another post on at some point) and I've been reading it ever since.

The most recent post on Desert Candy is on pickled turnips, which weirdly coincided with me going to a farmers market yesterday and buying turnips and beetroot. I regularly have lunch at a takeaway called 'Falafel' in Rusholme (Manchester's curry mile) and I'd always wondered what the bright pink pickle thing was on the mezze - turns out its turnip pickled with beetroot!

As I had both items after visiting the farmers market, and I had the recipe at my finger tips thanks to Desert Candy, I decided to make my own pickled turnip to have with hummus and pitta which is staple for me. I won't bother putting the recipe here as you can read it on Desert Candy but here are some pictures of my pickled turnip...I let you know how it tastes!

Mini REN reviews

 

Ages and ages ago I did this post about receiving the REN six of the best box. Well last week I finally started using three of the items and thought I'd share my thoughts in case anyone was thinking of buying a full size of any of them...

 

Mayblossom Balanacing Cleansing Gel

 

I've been using this as a facial wash, its for combination skin so not ideal for my dry skin, however it smells wonderful and leaves my face feeling clean but not dry so its fine for me to use for a few days. Its only 25ml so I reckon it'll be finished by the middle of next week. Unfortunately when it arrived it had leaked - hence the tape holding the top together!

 

Active 7 Radiant Eye Gel

 

I've never used a specific eye cream before but as I've started to notice fine lines around my eyes I was more than happy to give this a try. It is sensitive enough not to irritate my eyes but it has no smell and so far I've not noticed my eyes feeling any better or worse than they did before.

 

Omega 3 Night Repair Serum

 

Despite the fact this product has a slightly 'fishy' smell about it (I seem to remember another blogger mentioning this to me and they sent theirs back) I actually like it! And as I've had the box since July I didn't think REN would accept me returning it. It goes a long way, one tiny pump covers my face and neck and it definitely moisturises it. I only use it at night and my face feel softer in the morning which makes me feel happy. Not sure I'd buy it again for a while as I've got a few other serums to use but its definitely my favourite of the three products! 



Ojon offer - TODAY!

So you've probably seen this on various other blogs (I know I have!) but if you go to your nearest Ojon stockist and take an empty shampoo or conditioner bottle, fill out your name and email address, you will receive a full size Ojon shampoo and conditioner FREE!

I walked into Manchester this morning (getting very hot and bothered in the process as it has gone  super mild and I was still dressed for the thick of winter!) as the big Boots stocks Ojon. The store opened at 8am, I got there at around 8.30am and there was already a mini queue! I think there are 8000 free bottles nationwide so I don't think they will last long but its definitely worth a go if you have a stockist nearby.

The bottles both have their barcode crossed out with marker pen which I assume is to prevent resale but I'll be keeping hold of mine to use after I finish my Liz Earle shampoo and conditioner :)

Speaking of Liz Earle I also noticed that the new concession has opened in the Manchester Boots which looks lovely. If you can use your advantage card points to pay that's even more exciting as I've got around £35 in points at the moment and was wondering what to do with them! I couldn't stop to look as I had to get to work (hence the 'on desk' shot above!)  but I'll probably head back in later this week to have a good browse.

Have you taken advantage of the Ojon offer? Is it a brand you recommend?

Straight Outta McColl's!

This month's Glamour magazine has just hit my local McColl's. I'm not usually a women's magazine reader apart from when I get passed them second hand or there are freebies to be had! 

This seemed a pretty good offer to me though: sparkly Nails Inc. nail polish and a magazine for just £2! My local McColl's had four copies with each different shade so I had my pick of colours, I went for the Glamour Glitter which I'm intending to use over black polish the next time I paint my nails.

Have you picked up Glamour and any of the other shades? x

The good and bad by my bath...

There are two products currently at the side of my bath which couldn't be more opposite! The first which I love is REN Seaweed and Sage body wash. The second is L'Oreal Perfect Clean foaming cream wash which I really dont.

 



REN Seaweed and Sage body wash:

I started using this last night as a bubble bath. I used around four 'squirts' which I found to be a bit too much, this info cheered me up as it means it will last longer than expected. The bathroom was filled with a lovely relaxing fragrance which made me feel very chilled out. The water felt softer and there was a nice amount of bubbles to soak in. Definitely a winner :)

L'Oreal Perfect Clean foaming cream wash:

It's always seems easier to talk about things you don't like rather than those you do. And this is rubbish! I don't really like L'Oreal normally but I was tempted to buy this as I had a voucher which made it extremely cheap. I've been using it after taking off my make up in the bath and its so drying. Despite the fact it markets itself as a 'cream' wash it definitely isn't. It comes out of the bottle looking like hand soap you would get in a toilets. There isn't much of a smell and leaves my skin feeling dry and wrinkled.

It also comes with a ridiculous contraption called a 'scrublet' which sounds much too similar to a 'scrubber' for my liking. I used it a couple of times when I first started using the wash and found it make no difference whatsoever.

I'm not one to give up when I start something so I'll probably use it until the end of the bottle (daft I know) but I'm really looking forward to using a nicer less abrasive facial wash/cleanser soon.

Why Do You Wear Makeup? | TAG

I'm a bit unsure how these TAG things work but I've just seen one come up on Wonderful You blog which I thought I'd get involved with. I've been meaning to do a blog post on my journey through make up so this seems to ask all the right questions! Here goes:

1. When did you begin to love makeup?

I can remember desperately wanting to wear make up from being about age 12-13, both my older sister and Mum wore make up so I couldn't wait to get my own collection of lotions and potions to wear like they did.

I don't think I was allowed to wear make up properly until I was about 14 . I have a memory of hiding a Collection 2000 red lipstick and black mascara that I'd got free in Shout magazine (showing my age there!) which I'd look at longingly on a regular basis until I was allowed to start using them. Of course when I could finally use them they both looked terrible on me!

2. How do you feel without makeup?

The honest answer is terrible! I really do. I was actually late for a meeting on Tuesday and didn't have time to put any make up on and I felt half asleep and half finished all day! My eyes don't feel awake until I put all my eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara on. Plus they look red and ill! Putting make up on makes me feel more colourful, more human and I really enjoy the 5-10minutes I spend getting creative with eyeshadow each morning!

I've always been a 'blusher' (I feel this deserves a blog post on its own!) so when I put my foundation on in a morning I know that the inevitable facial flushes won't be so noticeable!

3. What do you like about makeup?

My main passion is eyeshadow. I can take or leave foundation, powders, lipsticks etc. I like the hundreds of colours in different palettes and the shimmer, colour and difference they can make to my eyes. I like mixing and matching them and then adding in coloured mascara and eyeliner. Basically whenever I see an eyeshadow palette I have to have a second look and then usually make the purchase!

My favourites are the cheap and colourful - I'm not really fussed by expensive classy palettes that most people seem to favour. I need people to know I'm wearing eyeshadow if I'm going to make the effort putting it on!

4. Three 'Holy Grail' Items:

I hear a lot about Holy Grail items on blogs but I have to say I don't really have anything in particular! I like to keep changing what I'm using on an almost weekly basis. At the moment I like Liz Earle and REN for skincare and my make up is a selection of MUA, H&M, Boots, M&S and various other odds and sods.

  

Deliveries x 4

So even though I was off work and away from blogging for a good few weeks I still managed to flex my ordering skills and had these four boxes arrive:

 

So what did I receive?

 

The first box was something of a surprise from What's In My Handbag? I have to say I really didn't think I'd receive anything from them. I'd seen the website mentioned on other blogs and when I filled out the online form to try a sample it asked if you had a blog, so I was expecting them to only send out the samples to people with big blogs.

 

In case you haven't heard of the website - their main purpose is to find out what beauty products people (mainly fashionista types) carry around in their handbags and to spread the word about must have items. I have to say I've never been very fussed by looking through the actual site - I prefer people on their blogs doing features of what's in their handbags rather than celebrities.

 

So here's the sample I received:

 

 

I found it impossible to take a good picture of this particular box but inside is a sample tub of OSKIA renaissance mask. It seems very swish in its own glass jar and fabric bag. I'm looking forward to giving it a try soon.

Next up is my usual monthly 'Latest in Beauty' sample box (£1.50 text for three samples) in fact its taken me so long to do this post I'm due to get my next one this week!

 

The box contains: 5 x Lavera organic wild rose intensive face cream samples (which I've had before and liked), 2 x Boo Boo Mummy body smoother samples (these might be sent to a friend who recently had a baby) and finally the product I'm really excited to try: Sanctuary Spa 30 Day Thermal Tranformation mini kit. I'm a sucker for self heating products!

 

Onto the next box:

 

 

 

It's another one from Latest in Beauty! They ran a free postage offer if you ordered five products, so as I'd always wanted to try Weleda I decided to order some of their samples. I got 2 x pomegranate firming night creams, 2 x pomegranate firming serums and 1 x pomegranate firming day cream. The Weleda items came in their own boxes with metal tubes which I think looks lovely!

 

To make up numbers I also purchased a Melvita youthful skin cream and fresh micellar water. These look okay but it's mainly the Weleda items I was after! 

 

The final sample pack is again from Latest in Beauty (I'm all over their website!) and was a one off sample pack of Aveda thickening hair conditioner and exfoliating shampoo:

 





I've just ran out of conditioner so these will getting used in the next couple of days. The pack arrived in a funky shiny silver envelope which will be getting re-used on someone else near Christmas time I'm sure!

I'm very chuffed with my latest selection of products but I'm sure there will still be more to follow as always! x

Rosehip Jam (and a return to blogging)

So I think its safe to say at this point that I'm never going to be the world's most frequent blogger. I'm always impressed by my favourite bloggers who can post several times a week. But I find that having a full time job doesn't lend itself to having a full time blog, so my loyalty has to lie with what pays the bills! However that's not to say I'm giving up the blogging, so I'm back with a recipe for rosehip jam I made this morning.

 

This jam came about after find a bag of rosehips at the bottom of the fridge. My boyfriend had collected them last week but he's off in Kosovo at the moment (on a holiday with his friends). So I was left sans boyfriend but with a rapidly 'getting funky' bag of rosehips!

I did a bit of research and found a recipe on the Guardian website which I felt I could tailor to my rather small bag of rosehips. Here's the low down:

1. Wash the rosehips, cut in half and scoop out the middles:

2. Put in a pan with a small amount of water, bring to the boil, then let them bubble for around 20 minutes. During this time I kept mashing them with the back of a spoon and adding extra water. They will turn to a pulp eventually:

 

3. Once you've got the pulp, take off the heat, strain through a sieve and put back in the pan with an equal amount of jam making sugar:

4. Let this bubble for a few more minutes until it is all dissolved and thickens. I had a small sterilised honey jar to hand and then poured the mixture in:

 

As you can see the jam didn't quite make the top of the jar but it's a nice amount for us to use next week on toast. The label was from Ikea and was mainly stuck on to cover the old label which I'd not bothered to take off!

 

I've not put exact measures or timings down as when picking items such as rosehips or berries its hard to be accurate so I find it easier to improvise! Do be careful to scoop out all the seeds though as they are an irritant.

 

Leanne x

Woe is me :(

Very quick blog update to say there will be no new beauty reviews for the next week or so. I'm currently off work poorly and typing this one handed!

After a year of having an achey elbow last week it got really bad, puffed up and basically gave up. I've not been able to move it since. I think its all down to 8 years sat at a computer repetitively moving my mouse and probably sat with bad posture!

My arm is now in a sling, I'm on super strength prescription painkillers and I'm back at the doctors next week to check its progress and have tests to check there's nothing underlying that could be causing it.

This all means blog wise that no beauty products are being used. I keep looking longingly at my samples but with only one hand/arm in full working order no make up is being worn, no nail polish painted and just trying to do anything in the bath is impossible.

Fingers crossed it starts to heal soon. My moral to this story is: if you work at a computer, take breaks, make sure you sit properly and if your hand, wrist, shoulder, back etc start to hurt, do something about it sooner rather than later! Or you too will end up an old lady like me with a puffed up arm and no make up!!!

Have you had any workplace injuries that I should watch out for too??

Free stuff top tips

'Martin's Money Saving Expert' weekly email has just arrived in my inbox - with two beauty freebie tips offs:

If you buy The Daily Telegraph on Sunday (it costs £2) there is a voucher for a free L'Occitane product worth £8.50, you can choose from:

• Verbena shower gel.
• Verbena body lotion.
• Aromachology radiance shampoo.
• Aromachology radiance conditioner.

Item have to be bought in a stand alone store and luckily for me (if I get round to doing it!) there's one on King Street, Manchester.

Secondly, if you are an 02 customer and get priority moments you can use a code to pick up a Body Shop hair kit. Has to be claimed by tomorrow. Kit includes shampoo, conditioner, hair butter and comb.

Any other good freebies out there at the moment that I need to know about? x

Offers and purchases...

Over the last few weeks I've been taking advantage of the British Gas free swim offer which I've been meaning to mention on the blog. If you register your details, select your local pool and a date that suits, you can then go for a free swim for up to two adults, twice!. The offer ends tomorrow BUT if you register today or tomorrow you can still select dates going into September.

It's been made all the more awesome by the fact that I was able to select the pool nearest to me, which only happens to be in the Beetham Tower/Hilton Hotel on Deansgate, Manchester! I'd love to be able to show you pictures of the sheer luxury of it all but cameras aren't allowed (understandably). 

The pool itself isn't that big but its lovely and clean and features a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna.You also get a towel provided and a bag to take home your soggy swim wear :) The second amazing thing is that it has glass panels in the bottom looking onto the hotel reception and is glass paneled all the way round the room so you can look out onto the Manchester skyline (or sunset as I saw last night).

My second top tip for bargains is via Stylist magazine (the freebie magazine that you get at stations if you are a commuter) and is for 50% off online orders at the Body Shop. The code is ES40 and runs until 4th September 2012.

Final tip is for REN skincare (honestly I'm not sponsoring them or anything!). I've just purchased a new shower gel and used code: HAIRCARE to receive a free shampoo and conditioner, along with 2 x free mini samples. I'm looking forward to receiving a parcel from them in the next day or so :)

Off the subject of online offers and onto my trip out at lunchtime today to Superdrug, here's what I got... (excuse the shaky camera phone shot - I was just so excited to share!)

Its the GOSH holographic hero nail polish, £4.99. I'd read about it ages ago and tried to find it on ebay but it was ridiculously expensive and I didn't have the time or money to spend tracking it down. 

I also bought the Me Me Me Arch Angel brow kit, £7.50. I saw it when I was working through my blog reading earlier (sorry I can't remember which blog it was on!) and the results looked great. You use one end on your actual brow and the highlighter end underneath your brow to lighten and brighten the eye area. Can't wait to try it later.

So much for my 'I'm not buying anymore toiletries' stance I took a couple of weeks ago! x

Bramble bashing!

A post or so ago I mentioned I'd been bramble picking. Well not one to resist free stuff I've been back a few times since and found myself with a fridge full of brambles:

Last night I decided to do something with them all and found this recipe online for making bramble jelly using only blackberries (not sure what the difference between blackberries and brambles are??), lemon and sugar:

It promised to be 'quick' in the title so I thought 'yes - this is something I can start at nearly 9 o'clock at night and be done by 10!' Ha - as if!


The basis idea was to simmer them, add the sugar and lemon, rapidly boil then sieve them into a hot bowl. Once the sieved mixture was in the hot bowl you could decant it into sterilized jars....

This sort of went to plan with the exception of it not taking an hour and ending up with my kitchen resembling a murder scene...(that's not my foot by the way, its my boyfriend's. My toes are much nicer!)

The end product does not have a jam consistency. It's more like a strawberry sauce to go on ice cream. But it does taste nice. So a jar is heading off to give my sister when I see her tonight whether she wants it or not! She's getting the better jar of the two, we'll use up the messy one!

Have you had any jam disasters, any tips on how I can get my jam to set (if I ever put myself through jam making again!) x

Bye Bye Beekeeping

I've had a little blog spruce up today as I realised my blog blurb mentioned that it was a place to talk about starting beekeeping. Unfortunately that adventure is now over. I handed in my beekeeping notice this week.

I had great hopes of looking after my own hive and being a top beekeeper but after completely the training and fortnightly trips to Heaton Park I realised that wasn't going to be the case. There are a few reasons I decided to quit.

Firstly I was struggling. I came to understand that I didn't have the same passion other people had and I was starting to dread attending each week.

I couldn't lift the brood boxes and frames without my feeble arms shaking.

I wasn't taking in all the information about laying patterns, swarm control and disease management.

I was still scared of the bees and hurting them or worrying they would sting me.

I found out that in my heart of hearts I think bees should be left to do their own thing and not be interferred with, apart from by trained professionals. I honestly believe that it should be regulated hobby, people should at least complete their first BBKA exams before owning them.

The people at Heaton Park are doing a brilliant job trying to educated and train people and I have nothing but good things to say about my time attending the Monday night sessions. Plus I wish all my fellow beekeepers at Manchester Art Gallery the best for their bees and I hope to occasionally post updates about them on this blog.

For any aspiring beekeepers out there I would definitely say 'give it a go' but before you do I'd recommend reading a few books/blogs on the subject to get a feel of what's involved. Good Luck!

x

Since my last post...

I have:

* Been off work poorly with a sore throat and general off 'colourness'. Which gave me time to:

* Read the first of the Fifty Shades of Grey book and move onto the second one. When I first started on Fifty Shades of Grey I thought it was quite gripping and a real page turner. However after the first half I got a bit bored by the indecision of the main character's 'will I sign the contract', 'am I enjoying this', 'he's so attractive but messed up' pondering. So why have I started the second book? Who knows! I'm only skim reading the series so I reckon by the end of this week I'll have finished and the trilogy should be back with my friend who has kindly lent them to me.

* (After feeling better) I went bramble picking yesterday with my Mum & Dad. I live pretty centrally in Manchester (which is amazing after years of commuting from various different sides of town) and near my flats are large wastelands which are fascinating and full of wildlife and foraging opportunities. They are also full of rubbish and general nastiness - but I try to look past that! The brambles are just becoming ready so it was fun filling an enormous bag with all the ripe ones. Weirdly I'm not actually a fan of berries but the fact they are free really impresses me :) My next step is another trip later in the week and to find recipes to do something with them. Any ideas welcome! I'm thinking jam as I can cope with berries when they are all sugared up!

* Got totally up to date yesterday with all my boring paperwork, cleaning and tidying. YES!!

LOVE YOUR SKIN - LONDON, shopping code

Latest in Beauty have just sent round a code for new company:  Love Your Skin - London. It gives you 30% off and free postage on online orders. The code is LIB30E.

I'm currently trying to hold myself back from using it! Their website is: http://lys-london.com/ I've had a quick look and the cheapest items are from the body range and start at £12.99. If I wasn't trying to save for a month or so I'd be straight there!!

Leanne x

Big spender

So as mentioned on my post yesterday - I've been doing a fair amount of spending recently. The most recent two boxes to arrive at my desk were from Latest in Beauty and REN. 

I'd never heard of REN until I saw it as a freebie pack on a magazine this month, and then  again mentioned on Em's Mixed Bag. However due to the fact they are offering 10% off for first time orders, four free samples and a best of box set free of charge I wasn't able to resist. Here's what I got:

I was a little bit disappointed by the size of the shampoo. The picture doesn't really show it very well but it only appears to be a holiday size. I'm used to 200 - 300ml bottles of shampoo and didn't clock that this was only a 100ml bottle. Also in the box set one of the items was leaking. I didn't know whether to return it or not?

Onto my Latest in Beauty goodies. I've used Latest in Beauty for ages. I love getting their 'free' box every month. Though this month there seems to be a shortage of new samples, so I'm holding on to order until they get some fresh stuff in. For that reason I ended up ordering from the 'pay' part of website. Here's the goodies I purchased...

I'm using a selection of these items to make up a personalised beauty box for my sister's Birthday at the start of August. I don't think she looks at my blog very often so hopefully I'll manage to keep it a secret until then!

Have you tried REN or do you use Latest in Beauty? x

Ebay beauty bonanza!

Due to the fact that I've been going a bit mental recently buying lots and lots of new beauty products I decided the only way I could justify the spending is to have an ebay sale of all my old stuff. You can find my big clear out here. Not that I'm biased or anything (!) but there's some really good stuff, including samples galore, a swish DKNY bag, oh and a pair of Dr Dre headphones, which are nothing to do with me, but my boyfriend who is kindly selling everything for me. Here's a few pictures of the items for sale...

Liz Earle in Leeds Part Two

I promised to put up some pictures of my purchases from the Liz Earle evening. Here they are:

I know I know - I went crazy! I keep feeling guilty about buying so much stuff. I think it was the combination of the free flowing bubbly and the excitement of being surrounded by just so much Liz Earle stuff! However I did also get some free stuff...

Mascara and eyeliner from the new make up range.

Free bag for spending £60 - gulp! I've been wearing it every since. It looks great with my summer denim jacket and its so useful as its packed with pockets for storing everything.

Pictures that should have been posts!

When I'm out and about doing things or making purchases, I always think 'I should do a blog post about this!', I take a picture and then never get round to it. Below are lots of pictures and brief descriptions of what should have been posts...

A while ago I decided to have a mini clear out of nail varnishes, instead of just putting them straight in my car boot/charity shop bag I thought it would be fun to do a nail varnish swop with my friend. Above are the lovely new ones I have to add to my collection after the swop. Most of them are brand new. Swopping is a great idea if you have a friend (like mine!) who can't resist buying new nail varnishes but then only wears them a couple of times. I'm definitely guilty of doing that!

Over the jubilee week I was in Belgium for a holiday. I couldn't resist having a look round for make up we can't get here. Above are my purchases. The Catrice nail varnish (the metallic looking one on the left) is also reviewed here by The Sunday Girl. It was very disappointing as it looked lovely in the bottle but once applied it looked a horrible gold colour which is never a tone that suits my pale skin colour. 

So far I've tried both nail varnishes, the nude lipstick, magnet for with magnetic nail varnishes, quick dry liquid for with nail varnish and the yellow eyeliner. I'm yet to try the eyeshadows. Out of those purchases I'm very happy with the purple polish, quick dry liquid and nude lipstick, the rest are just average. However I'm not too worried as the whole haul came in at under 12 Euros.

Ages ago Burts Bees had a sale on where you could get a mystery bag for £20. The picture above shows what I received. So far I've given some of the items away, used most of the bath cream and am yet to use the body lotions. I was very pleased with the bag especially as I had a discount code to use!

 

Finally M&S have a fantastic make up range out as part of the Limited Collection. I think its limited (hence the name!) so get it while you can. The pressed powder is great - I've been using it for a few weeks now. The nail polish is thick and gives full coverage in two coats. The only thing I'm on the fence about is the eyeshadow. The middle green colour is lovely but lends to crease. The other two shades are 'hard' in the tub and no amount of rubbing my applicator across them brings the colour off & onto to my on my eyelid.