Haul - Naked Body Care

Yes I bought the £8 Groupon for £20 off an order at Naked Body Care as I thought it would be a great opportunity to buy somethings which are on my wishlist and my order arrived this afternoon! And I have to add it was beautifully packaged:

What I ordered:

Clear Anti-Dandruff Shampoo - £3.99

Clear Anti-Dandruff Conditioner - £3.99

Looking Good Soothing Eye Gel - £7.49

Up Tone Girl Gentle Toner - £4.49

Perfect Getaway Cream Cleanser - £4.49

Blinkingly Lovely Eye Make-up Remover - £4.49

The make-up remover, eye gel and the shampoo and conditioner are all new products and I'm really excited to try the anti-dandruff ones as I am trying to find a good paraben and SLS free product to control my scalp eczema.

I will review all of these once I've used them!

Did you buy the Groupon, what did you buy? Which Naked products would you recommend?

New Body Shop duo body butters

The Body Shop have come up with a new product, a duo body butter. The pot is divided into two sections where in one half the product is developed for normal skin and the other half for dry skin. It seems such a simple idea it makes me wonder why someone hasn't thought of it before!

The butters are available in four different scents: macadamia, vanilla, floral acai and sweet pea.

These RRP at £12.50 but they are currently priced at £10.00 as an introductory offer! Buuuuut if you have a Love Your Body card on the 2nd June they have a 30% off event so you could get the body butter for £7!

These are available exclusively at The Body Shop.

PTD - Challenge 51

At Pear Tree Designs this week the challenge is to create a card with sparkle! I designed this:

I could have gone all out with the glitter but I was pushed for time so stuck to gems instead which lets face it aren't as much fun!

Cards are to be submitted by 4pm on Sunday! Good luck!

The week that was....

This week, what a week! I finally got a date to start my job....13th June is the day! Eek I'm excited but so so nervous!

I've been trying to get my house sorted and things sorted out for when I start work full time as one week I'll be working 37.5 hours and the other I'll be working 45 hours as I'm staying on working every other saturday at my current job. It turns out I have a lot of stuff to get done in a short space of time!

I'm also drafting lots of blog posts that I want to do so that my blogging hopefully won't take that much of a back burner. 

Work this week has been one big fat pain the bum. Well one person has made it like that. Makes me glad I'm kind of leaving!

I've also had to write lots of complaints about things ranging from my local supermarket having basically no food, a well known beauty store being disgustingly dirty and to a golf company who's £5 2-3 day delivery service turned into a 6 day delivery service, we got the money back for that!

Also I had a lovely response to a post I did as thank you to everyone who responded and for the lovely email I received, the sender knows who she is!

Finally I've had this for a while but kept forgetting to post it so back to the Royal Wedding we go, I thought it was funny:

New Angelic skincare range from L'Occitane

L'Occitane have just launched a new range of skincare for dull and dehydrated skin using the essential oil of angelica.

During the middle ages in France, angelica was known for it's medical properties and as a herb and was highly recommended for the overworked!

In this new range there are six products:

Cleansing gel - £15.00 for 200ml

Toner - £14.50 for 200ml

Hydration cream - £29.00 for 50ml

Eye roll-on - £15.00 for 10ml

Protective lotion SPF 15 - £24.00 for 30ml

UV shield SPF 40 - £25.00 for 30ml

Has anything taken your fancy? I'd like to give the eye roll-on a try.

These are available from L'Occitane boutiques and online.

NOTD - Rimmel & Models Own

Todays NOTD is Rimmel's Purple Reign with Models Own black shatter over the top.

I struggled with light on this photo but it hasn't come out too bad!

Review - Soap and Glory Sugar Crush body scrub

Yes another Soap & Glory review! And yet another product rave! This time I'm reviewing their Sugar Crush body scrub. I was slightly apprehensive about using this as it is a sugar scrub and in previous experience sugar scrubs left me feeling exfoliated but sticky, ewww! But this one was different.

It contains smashed brown sugar, sweet lime, almond oil and macadamia grains so you can imagine it does give you a proper good exfoliation!

It is quite thick in texture and you need very little, I use it with exfoliating gloves so I really do use a little amount. Also with the sweet lime it smells gorgeous and the smell lasts after you've got out of the bath/shower which I love.

My legs which had been very dry due to me neglecting them and not moisturising were crying out for a good scrub and this left them feeling lovely and smooth. I have already recommended this to several friends and at £9.45 for 450ml it is slightly better value than the other Soap & Glory scrubs.

Has anyone else tried this? Or have I persuaded you to give it a go?

PTD - Challenge 50

At Pear Tree Designs the challenge is a sketch so yo just have to design a card using the sketch below:

I designed this:

I wanted to use soft colours as I normally use brights and I think the greens and lilacs work really well.

The prize is six digi images from Cardmadfairy's Card Creations and all entries to be submitted by Sunday 4pm!

EOTD - L'Oreal and Maybelline

I haven't done one of these before because I'm no good at all these fancy eye shadow techniques, I just apply one colour and then abit of mascara! I should really play around more and get into watching YouTube tutorials!

So here is my first EOTD:

Not very adventurous but I wear this colour all the time. It's great to wear for any occasion.

So what did I use:

Eyeshadow - L'Oreal Real Silver holographic

Eyeliner - Maybelline gel liner

Mascara - L'Oreal waterproof Telescopic in black

Also you may notice from the ginormous photos, yes I agree they are quite scary, I don't wear mascara on my lower lashes, does anyone else just wear it on their top ones like me? I'm not sure why I don't but I don't think I ever have, I suppose it's just one of those things!

Hope you enjoyed this change in post!

The week that was....

What a week I've had! I think you all know this as it's all I've been moaning about on Twitter for the past week but my phone broke :-( Yes my beloved BB gave up. First I thought it was my sim card as it wasn't being recognised, then it started working again, then it broke again, I tried another sim in my phone but that didn't work either but my sim worked in another phone. Confusing? Yes it was, as was the lovely man from Orange who decided to send me a brand new phone.

So on friday I couldn't wait for my new phone to arrive and when it did....it still didn't work. It had the same problem so I decided to get up early on Saturday and go to my local orange shop to see if they could help. They were really helpful and rang up customer services for me and they arranged for a new sim card to be sent out which would be delivered today (sunday) between 1pm and 5pm!

So at 9am I was shocked when the courier was ringing my doorbell with my new sim. Actually I think he was more shocked seeing me with a birds nest in my hair, my manky PJ's and no make up on! But the good thing is that my phone is now in full working order but with a new BB pin so I've had to add everyone again which is a pain!

So apart from that little set back I still have no date to start my new job but I did have a test run driving there on thursday which went quite well, except for my mum and dad shouting at me for making a wrong turn, me shouting back at them and then finally them shouting at each other! Talk about stressful, you have no idea!

So there we have it my quite boring week! Hope you've all had a good one!

Yummy image from: weheartit

Haul - Next, Boots, Superdrug & Primark

If you follow me on Twitter you may know that I'm having problems with my phone so today I decided to go to an Orange shop for them to help so whilst I was there I thought it would have been rude for me not to have done a little shopping!

Next

Coral big bow top - £14

I actually got this last week but haven't posted it yet and it's what Im wearing now so they are nicely linked!

Boots

Models Own nail polish

Champagne - £5

Black shatter - £6

Silver shatter - £6

Currently on 3 for 2 so I got all three for £12

L-R: Champagne, black shatter over hot pink and silver shatter over hot pink.

Superdrug

Witch pressed powder - £3.49

Primark

Flip flops - £2.50

Cotton wool pads - £1

Nautical beach bag - £5

So that's my quick haul post! Hope you enjoyed reading!

Products I regret buying

I thought I'd do a different post today and one I've never done before. There aren't many products I buy and then think "why on earth did I buy it?" but there have been a few including these four:

Left - Right - Tresemme Intensive Conditioner, Toni & Guy Firm Hold Hairspray, Benefit Confessions of a Concealerholic and L'Oreal Studio Secrets Primer.

Tresemme Intensive Conditioner

I first used Tresemme years ago when it first came out and it just doesn't agree with my hair and scalp. So what on earth possessed me to buy 4 tubs of their intensive conditioner I really don't know. I use this very occassionally so the huge 500ml tubs will last me a lifetime at this rate!

Toni & Guy Firm Hold Hairspray

I have review this already and that can be found here but in a nutshell it's sticky, the hole always blocks and it's the worst hairspray I've ever used.

Benefit Confessions of a Concealerholic

I couldn't wait for this to come out! I was so excited! But for £28.50 it was a major waste of money. It contains two shades of boiing concealer in mini sizes which are stuck in the box, a mini lemonaid (also stuck in the box), a mini eyebright (can't be removed), 2 mini brushes, a mini that gal face primer (can be removed) and a mini erase paste (also can be removed). The amount of product you get for the money is teeny. I've only used the erase paste and I've just started using the primer. A complete waste of money.

L'Oreal Studio Secrets Primer

When I first bought this I loved it, then loads of other primers came onto the market and these just highlighted how bad this one was. For £12.99 it's really overpriced and I hardly use it. I'd much rather use cheaper alternatives from 17 or Witch which both give better results.

Has anyone else tried these products? What do you think of them? Also what products have you bought which you wish you hadn't?

Review - L'Occitane handcreams part 2

So this is part two of my L'Occitane handcream adventure! I have four more handcreams to review for you:

Honey and Lemon, Lavender, Rose Velvet and Verbena Cooling Handcream Gel

Reviews:

Honey and Lemon

Couldn't get a price for this one

I really thought I wouldn't like this one. Honey and Lemon immediately makes me think of cough medicine but no no no! It has a lovely balance of honey and lemon, not too sweet. It did take a little time to absorb and my hands were a little tacky but were left moisturised.

Lavender

£13.50 (75ml) and £7.50 (30ml)

Most of us when we think of Lavender think of old ladies and a synthetic fragrance! But this handcream is different. It has a gorgeous lavender scent which is the next best thing to rubbing lavender leaves in your hands. Gorgeous.

Rose 4 Reine Velvet Hand Cream

£13.50 (75ml) and £7.50 (30ml)

This only had a slight scent of rose to it which I wasn't expecting, I thought the fragrance would be really strong. This absorbed quickly and my hands were left lovely and soft, not sure if they were velverty soft though.

Verbena Cooling Hand Cream Gel

£13.50 (75ml)

My full review on this can be found here but a quick sum up - perfect to use in the summer as it is a cooling gel so it absorbs quickly and had a gorgeous lemony scent. Probably the lightest consistency of all the hand creams.

Any repurchases?
After trying all of these there are several which I repurchase. These are the shea butter, lavender, verbena, fleur cherie and cherry blossom ones.


Also available:
Relaxing Hand Balm - £12.00 (50ml)
Organic Rameau d'Or (olive) Hand Cream - £13.50 (75ml)
Rose Jardin Delice Hand Cream Gel - £13.50 (75ml)
Rose des Neiges Hand Cream -  £7.50 (30ml)
Cherry Blossom Petal Soft - £13.50 (75ml)
Pivoine Flora - £7.50 (30ml)

Review - L'Occitane handcreams part 1

One of my all time favourite beauty products is L'Occitane handcream. I simply love it but there are so many different fragrances and formulations available it is slightly baffling as to which one would suite you the best. I have tried and tested as many as I could to give you a quick guide to them. I have divided this into two posts, the second will be posted tomorrow so what's up first:

Shea Butter, Cherry Blossom and Fleur Cherie

Reviews:

Shea Butter

£17.50 (150ml) and £7.50 (30ml)

This was the first L'Occitane hand cream I tried after hearing rave reviews about it. It is a very rich formulation as it contains 20% shea butter so you need very little, inbetween the size of a pea and a broad bean. It does sink in quickly but as it's that rich I prefer to use it at night as an intensive moisture boost for my hands.

Cherry Blossom

£13.00 (75ml) and £7.50 (30ml)

I don't normally go for floral fragrances but Cherry Blossom seems to have taken the beauty world by storm since it was first released in 2007 as a limited edition. Needless to say it is now a permanent fixture in the L'Occitane world and I haven to admit I get what the fuss is about. This isn't as rich as the Shea Butter formulation but this doesn't compromise on it's quality. As it's lighter I use this during the day and the scent lasts such a long time! And my hands feel moisturised for hours on end.

Fleur Cherie

£7.50 (30ml)

This is one of the most recent releases by L'Occitane and again with it being a floral scent I wasn't to sure if it would be for me. It is a neroli and orange blossom fragrance and I have to admit it is one of my favourites! As it's got orange in it, it's more of a fruity floral and I love fruity fragrances. Again it is a lighter formulation so I use it during the day and the fragrance lasts a long long time.


Coming up tomorrow.... Lavendar, Rose, Verbena and Honey and Lemon.

The week that was....

Yet another week has gone, seriously where is 2011 going?

So this week my car failed its MOT :-( but it's nothing serious and can be fixed quickly and cheaply, ahh the joys of having a boyfriend who's a mechanic!

I also went shopping to get a few last things for work including some new glasses. This turned out to be a nightmare as I was told 2 pairs of glasses, normal ones and sunglasses would be £100. Ahh perfect, bang on budget. Then when I went to pay it had bumped up to £164 and then I had to pay £5 to get them done in the hour! Luckily my mum was with me and she payed as I couldn't afford that. Three separate assistants told us they would only cost £100 so we spent the rest of the day in a shocked daze! But I do like my new glasses and I do need them. My haul post can be found here if you want a look but my glasses aren't there as they're not that exciting!

Hmmm what else happened....I had wanted to finish my book by today but I have another 100+ pages left to read so I don't think I'm going to do this.

I also got my CRB check back so I should get a start date for my job now, excited yet very scared and nervous!

So that was my week, exciting like always! Haha! And like always a cute little piccy to leave you with!

Image from: weheartit

I was in it and won it!

The last few weeks I've been lucky enough to win a number of competitions and giveaways so here's a round up of what I've won.

Tigi Your Highness Catwalk

I won this from Escentual on one of their online competitions. The set includes a small paddle brush, root boosting mousse and thickening gel creme.

Mac

I won Sherries competition on her blog (if you don't follow her already then do so now her blog is fab!) where the prize was a MAC lipstick and eyeshadow of your choice. 

As I have never used MAC before (yes I can hear you all gasp in horror at that fact) I wasn't sure about which colours to choose.

I chose Retrospeck eyeshadow and gave Sherrie the choice of two lipsticks to choose from to give me a surprise and she chose Midi Mauve which I LOVE!

ASOS

Ms Red was offering a voucher code for £5 off a £20 spend at ASOS and I won! Yey! I have my eye on some jeans so am going to put this towards them. There are still 2 codes left to be won so check out her blog for a chance to win them.

And finally....

Ren

On their Facebook page they were offering samples of their new Micro Polish Cleanser to the first 500 people who emailed them and I was one of them! All I have to do is try the product, email them back with my feedback and I could win 1 of 10 full sized products! Review of this to come.

Have you been lucky lately and won something? Let me know in the comments below!

♥

Images from: weheartit

Haul - Next, Boots, ASOS & more!

This is the last big haul post I'm going to do for a while due to tarting my new job and having no pennys as I have shed loads of stuff to pay for when I get a decent wage. So I went shopping on wednesday to get the last few bits for my job so here is what I got:

Lakeland

Cupcake caddys - £3.99 (was £7.99)

 Next

Peter Pan collar top - £10

I thought this would be way more than £10 so snapped it up at this bargain price!

Boots

Sanctuary Brightening Eye Gel - £10.20 (£5.20 with my £5 skincare voucher) 

Sanctuary Purifying Face Wash - £8.99 (£3.99 with my £5 skincare voucher)

Models Own eyeshadow applicators - £3.00

Une mineral foundation - £9.99

Bourjois Smoky Eyes eyeshadow in Rose Vintage - £7.99

L'Oreal Color Riche lipstick in shade 235 - £8.19

Cosmetics are currently on 3 for 2 so the Bourjois eyeshadow was free!

Swatches:

Top: L'Oreal lipstick

Bottom: Une foundation

Bourjois eyeshadow without flash

Bourjois eyeshadow with flash

From Lanzarote

So technically this was a present but thought I'd show you anyway. My grandad bought this back for me but it's not exactly what I wanted but it still smells gorgeous! It's soap which has sand in it so it's exfoliating.

I love the detailing on the back with the embossed tree and brand name

ASOS

Jersey Wrap Top - £25

This was from their Curve range which starts at a size 20. I'm currently a 16-18 so thought this might be too big but it fits perfectly. I'm keeping this for my birthday night out which isn't for a month and a half but hey ho!

Waterstones

Paradise by Katie Price - £3.29

So there we have it my last big haul for a while. Hope you enjoyed seeing what I bought! Have you bought anything recently or have you a product you'd recommend? Let me know in the comments below!