The week that was....

Well another week has flown by, it's now only 27 days until christmas, have you done all your christmas shopping?

Once again this week has involved lots of working but on monday me, my mum and our friend went on a coach trip with the local WI to York. I didn't go for a shopping spree as I have no money and I'm on a spending ban but I did get a few bits (have a haul post coming up tomorrow hopefully).

And my word the snow! I looked at the weather forecast on friday night and it said snow but when I went to bed, which I admit was super early at 9.30, it didn't look like it would snow. Then I woke at 6.30 and blimey, where did it all come from? Chris got called out at 1am and said all the snow fell in 2 hours so it must have been coming down. Driving to work at quarter to 8 on saturday was not fun at all, the car was skidding with the back end flying out and the council, who have brand new snow ploughs as Chris's work has the contract for repairing them and maintaining them, hadn't ploughed and they hadn't gritted since thursday night. Driving home was much better but it had started to freeze so glad I got home when I did.

So after an eventful day I'm off work today and tomorrow so hopefully it'll have melted abit by tuesday, well actually tomorrow as I wanted to go to Tesco but don't fancy driving in this again.

How has your week been? Are you enjoying the snow or are you loathing it like me?

I'm going to skip nexts week post as I'm working 8 days in a row with no day off so I won't be doing anything except working so I'll do another in 2 weeks time!

Image borrowed from weheartit

Haul - York

I went on a trip to York on Monday with my mum and our friend and I bought a few bits so thought I'd share them with you.

Zest - a discount make up store

I've seen and heard about this Sally Hansen nail polish remover finger dip thing from a few different blogs and had never seen it in the pound shop were other bloggers had bought it from but found it here and snapped it up! It was £1.99 but it's a huge pot. I also got a pot of Wet n Wild Ultimate Minerals powder foundation. This is an American brand which was sold in the UK in larger Boots stores but they don't do it anymore. This is in medium which I thought might be too dark for my skin but it actually makes me look like I have a slight tan and it gives a nice finish. This was £2.99, and even though it does contain parabens (naughty naughty) I would purchase it again if I found it in a shop.

Pound World

Ok I admit we went to the pound shops in York, but mainly because I was after these sparkly pipe cleaners but we ended up spending a fortune! Haven't photographed everything as that's abit boring but as well as the pipe cleaners I found packs of 10 cards which are great quality and nice and thick. These were in tall, square and mini card sizes.

Poundland

Yes another pound shop! This plastic tableware was a great buy. A pack of 2 bowls and a pack of 3 plates for £1 a pack! They did other plates, bowls and serving platters and with santa and snowmen on. These always come in handy at christmas time.

Boots

So I had £30 on my Boots points so I thought why not spend it! York Boots isn't as big as you'd imagine and their christmas range is pretty poor when you think about other stores of the same size. But I did buy some Soap and Glory products which I'd wanted to buy: Clear Here moisturiser, Clarity Face Soap, Glad Hair shampoo and Glad Hair conditioner, and they were on 3 for 2. I also got a Burts Bees pomegranate lip balm as I love the Acai Berry one which I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Cath Kidston

I love Cath Kidston products but have never bought anything as it's a little pricey for me but I got a Blackberry a couple of months ago and hadn't got round to buying a case for it so when I saw this I had to have it! It was £12 and comes in 3 different designs but I got the red rose one. I had photographed mine but the light just wasn't playing ball so borrowed an image from the Cath Kidstone website.

Have you tried any of these products, what do you think? Or are you a secret pound shop fan like me?!?! Heehee!

Christmas gift ideas from QVC

The tv shopping channel QVC stocks some great beauty brands and often they're prices are much cheaper than the high street and on certain products the offer an 'Easy Pay' option where you pay for your purchase over 2, 3 or 4 months. And you get a 30 day money back guarantee so if you don't like a product just send it back for a refund (this is extended for christmas but can't remember when till).

I've looked on the website and chose some products which would make great prezzies this christmas.

Philosophy

Item number: 222108

Price: Currently £19.98 (should be £24)

Description: 1x creme brulee 3 in 1 shampoo, body wash & bubble bath (480ml) & 1x cinnamon hot dots 3 in 1 shampoo, body wash & bubble bath

Item number: 229506

Price: £24

Description: 1x homebaked apple pie 3 in 1 shampoo, body wash & bubble bath (480ml) & 1x sugary cinnamon icing 3 in 1 shampoo, body wash & bubble bath

Item number: 229016

Price: £37

Description: 1x hot salt scrub (652g), 1x shower gel (480ml) & 1x body soufflé (213g) all in Gingerbread Man fragrance

Liz Earle

Item number: 222805

Price: £35

Description: 2x 150ml bottles of cleanse and polish in limited edition christmas canisters

Leighton Denny

Item number: 221331 (item currently on wait list)

Price: £36

Description: 4x 12ml suede effect nail polishes in: graphite high (smokey grey), bronze ambition (bronze), my magenta (purplish red) and honey pot (gold).

Elemis

Item number: 216772

Price: £49

Description: 1x 400ml cleanser, 1x 400ml toner & 1x 15ml pro collagen marine cream. Available for the following skin types: sensitive, dry and normal/combination.

L'Occitane

Item number: 223695

Price: £20.25

Description: 3x 10g perfumes: 1x cherry blossom, 1x rose & 1x fleur cherie.

Have any of these caught your eye? Do you buy beauty products from QVC?

Boots No7 Protect and Perfect offer of the week

This week (starting 26th November) at Boots their OOTW is a No7 Protect and Perfect Intense gift set. This is reduced to £45, which is less than the RRP.

This contains (sorry no photo as it isn't yet released):

• day cream
• night cream
• eye cream
• serum
• body moisturiser

All full sizes! This would make a great gift for mums, grandmas, aunties etc. will you be buying one for a christmas prezzie?

Extreme spa treatments

With the recent trend and interest in vajazzling (sticking gems on the bikini area), thanks to The Only Way Is Essex, I thought I would do a quick bit of research into other extreme spa treatments.

Fish pedicures.

Yes that's right you stick your feet into a bowl/tank of water which has specially bred Garra Rufa fish in which nibble off the dead skin!

This costs around £25 - £35 for a treatment and is available around the country.

Snow Paradise.

This makes me feel chilly just writing this! Snow Paradise is a treatment where you sit in a snow covered cave in your bikini with the aim of tightening pores, stimulating circulation and boosting your energy levels.

This is available at Lions Quay Waterside Resort in Shropshire for around £45 for an all-day pass.

Kriotherapy.

This is another chilly treatment where you dress in clogs, socks, fleecy shorts, fleecy bra tops and a fleecy headband before going into a room which is -135˚c (no that isn't a typo it really is that cold) where you are then blasted with liquid nitrogen for 3 minutes before being put on a power plate machine for 25 minutes.

This is currently only available at Champneys and starts at £50 a session.

Lava shell colonic massage.

This is like the 'normal' colonic irrigation except nothing goes inside the body. Tiger clam shells are used during this deep stomach massage to cleanse the colon and to help promote a healthy digestive system, radiant skin and a flatter stomach.

This costs around £80 and is available around the country.

Has anyone tried any of these? What do you think of these treatments? Do you fancy having your feet nibbles at by fish or having liquid nitrogen blasted at you? I might stick to the conventional pedicure and massage!

The week that was....

This week has been a long one but it's gone so quick!

I've been ill, very ill this week. If I was a man I would call it man flu! Monday I had to go home form work after 3 hours because I was deaf as my cold has congested my ears! Luckily I had tuesday off anyway so I had time to get better.

As I was off on tuesday I went to try on my bridesmaid dress and I'm pleased to say it was uber big! I don't know how much weight I've lost as I don't know how much I weigh, scales scare me so I don't own any and the tightness of the jeans is a good indicator of one too many cakes! But I'm determined to try to keep it off (the exercise bike is coming out this week again!)

When I have been at work it's been so fun! Everyone's been in a great mood so we've had a laugh and I also never thought that I'd spend part of my day sewing up my colleagues trousers after she ripped them open on a drawer. Best sewing I've ever done though and considering she was still wearing them I never pricked her with the needle!

I've had a nice long weekend off work as well which is a change. I finished work at 3.30pm on friday and had saturday, sunday and monday off! Tomorrow I'm going on a trip to York with the WI!! Me, my mum and our friend are going but I just can't decide what to wear, decisions, decisions. And I'm not going for a shopping spree, I just need to buy Chris's mum a christmas present but I'm mainly going for a day out (I sound very old saying that!)

So that's a round up of my week and I Hope you've all had a good one too!

Celebrity fragrances

Celebrity fragrances seem to be a recent trend and it seems that anyone who is anyone can have one but in reality the celeb fragrance trend started many years ago, in 1912 Grace Kelly even released one.

The first celebrity who made publicists dreams come true was the actress Elizabeth Taylor. She created several fragrances one of which being White Diamonds which was released in 1991.

Since Elizabeth Taylor almost every celebrity who has released a fragrance has done more than one.

Jennifer Lopez has created one of the most easily recognised and successful fragrance empires in recent times. In 2002 was the launch of Glow by J.Lo and this has been followed by numerous other fragrances, 15 in total, including one for men, which is an astonishing amount in 8 years. These include Live, Live Luxe, Deseo, Still, Miami Glow and the newest release which was Blue Glow.

Britney Spears also has one of the most successful and lucrative fragrance empires. In 2004 Curious was released and since then 8 other fragrances, that's averaging at over 1 a year (slightly less than Jennifer Lopez), have been launched. These include Fantasy, Circus Fantasy, Midnight Fantasy, Believe and most recently Radiance.

Even Katie Price who shot to fame as a glamour model launched her first fragrance, Stunning, in 2007. Since then 2 others have joined the family.

Other fragrances.

Sean John (Puff Daddy/P.Diddy) - 8 fragrances including Unforgiveable, launched 2006.

Jade Goody - Shh... launched 2005.

Kate Moss - Kate launched 2007. Followed by 7 others.

Recent celebs jumping on the bandwagon

Avril Lavigne - Black Star launched in 2009 followed by Forbidden Rose which was launched a year later in 2010.

Fergie from the Black Eyed Peas launched her debut fragrance, Outspoken, in conjunction with Avon in 2010.

Hollywood Actress Jennifer Aniston also launched her first fragrance, Lolavie, in 2010.

Peter Andre launched Unconditional in 2009 and has since launched Conditional and Mysterious Girl in 2010.

Most recently the Sugababes released a set of three fragrances, Tempt, Touch and Tease. Each fragrance has different notes so at least one should appeal to fragrance buyers (clever marketing here).

So the burning question is are you a fan of celebrity fragrances?

Personally I'm not overly fussed by them. I don't jump to try the latest arrival on the fragrance counter by some well known public figure but at the same time if I was looking for a new fragrance and I liked one which had a celeb name attached to it I wouldn't discount it which leads to....

Would you buy a celeb fragrance?

Like I said if I liked it I wouldn't immediately say no. I have to admit the only celeb fragrances I've bought are Live by Jennifer Lopez and a couple of the Harajuku Lovers collection by Gwen Stefani. I do have to admit though that I refuse point blank to buy something associated to Britney Spears, I don't know why but I just would.

So the million dollar question is who will be next?

If I'd try to write an answer I would be here all day!

Boots Fearne offer of the week

This weeks OOTW at Boots is the Fearnes Favourite hat box which is reduced from £40 to £19.

This contains:

• 5 eyeshadows
• 2 eye shimmers
• 2 eye crayons
• 1 mini eyeliner
• 1 mascara
• 4 lipglosses
• 1 lipstick
• And an animal print powder puff

Will you be buying one or do you know the person who this would be the perfect gift for?

Product Rave - L'Oreal colour appeal eyeshadow

There’s not many products that I try and repurchase because I love them but L’Oreal Colour Appeal Holographic eyeshadows are in the minority which I do repurchase again and again.

Clockwise from top: Turquoise Lame, Brown Lame, Real Silver, Pure Gold.

Swatches

The first one I bought was Real Silver and was devastated when last year when I was running out I found out that it was discontinued buttttttttttttt L'Oreal just repackaged them so it made an appearance again! Yey!

All the shades have a gorgeous sheen to them and they last all day. I also love them because even when you can't be bothered to do your make-up they can transform the simplest look into a smart, sophisticated one. They are a product which I would recommend over and over again.

Have you tried these? What did you think?

Review - Good Things skincare

Good Things is a brand which was launched earlier this year and is only available from Boots. It was created by Alice Hart-Davis and doesn't contain any of the nasty stuff which is bad for us including: parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, animal ingredients and mineral oils (post on these found here). But they do contain 'superfruit' extracts which are a more natural way to cleanser and moisturiser your skin.

I bought a number of the products that are available a couple of months ago and have been using them everyday since and now I'm going to finally review them.

Products bought

L-R: Miracle Mattifier moisturiser, Dream Cream night cream, Stay Clear cleanser and Five Minute Facial face mask

And.... Good Clean Fun freshening polish and Bright Eyes eye cream

Reviews

Miracle Mattifying Moisturiser (RRP: £7.99)

Superfruits / super ingredients:

Blackcurrant - Anti-inflammatory and promotes clearer skin

Goji berry - Calms the skin and energises it

Licorice - Anti-inflammatory, brightens and clarifies

Mango seed oil - Moisturising

What I thought:

It's thicker than other face creams that I've used but a little goes a long way. It also sinks in and is absorbed quickly and it does leave the skin matte and not greasy. It smells gorgeous!

Dream Cream night cream (RRP: £8.99)

Superfruits / super ingredients:

Avocado oil: Rich in essential fatty acids, full of sterolins which leave the skin soft and is moisturising

Cranberry - Anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory

Fig - Rich moisturising properties

Rice bran oil - Rich in anti-oxidants and contains squalene which is supposed to support the collagen in the skin

Shea butter - Extremely moisturising and helps repair the skin

Wheat germ oil - Calms the skin and counteracts dryness

What I thought:

I like the fact that with this product you can use it as a normal night cream or apply it in a thick layer, leave for 5 minutes and then wipe off as an intensive moisturiser. It is very think but again this means that you need very little. It smells really nice and even though it is thick it sinks into the skin easy and doesn't leave you feeling sticky or like you have a film over your face.

Stay Clear Cleanser (RRP: £4.99)

Superfruits /super ingredients:

Blueberry - Antioxidant and contain anti-irritant properties

Licorice - Anti-inflammatory, brightens and clarifies

Mango extract - Contains water soluble vitamins which act as antioxidants to boost the skin

Willowbark - Natural ingredient which contains salicylic acid which has an anti-microbial effect

What I thought:

A little goes a long way with this product. It doesn't foam up much but it doesn't contain any artificial foaming ingredients so this is to be expected. I felt that it does leave my skin clean and removes any make up that I have on (excluding mascara).

Bright Eyes eye cream (RRP: £5.99)

Superfruits / super ingredients:

Caffeine - Improves circulation and reduced puffiness

Di-Peptide-2: Reduced puffiness by improving the drainage of under-eye bags

Eyeliss - Reduced puffiness

Lychee - Contain vitamin C and potassium

Palmitoyl tetrapeptide-7: Anti-inflammatory and soothes the skin

Raspberry - Soothes the skin and acts as an anti-oxidant

Shea butter - Extremely moisturising and helps repair the skin

What I thought:

This seemed to be extremely moisturising and hasn't irritated my eyes which some other eye creams can sometimes do. It has a light texture so is absorbed easily.

Good Clean Fun freshening polish (RRP: £4.99)

Superfruits / super ingredients:

Cactus stem - Soothing and hydrating and is full of anti-oxidants and moisturising polysaccharides which are sugars

Cranberry - Anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory

Strawberry - Purifying, rich in vitamin C and anti-oxidants

Strawberry seeds - Exfoliating

Willowbark - Natural ingredient which contains salicylic acid which has an anti-microbial effect

What I thought:

I have only used this a few times and it does have a gentle exfoliating effect. I like how the strawberry seeds do the exfoliating but I prefer something more rough.

Five minute Facial face mask (RRP: £5.99)

Superfruits / super ingredients:

Avocado oil: Rich in essential fatty acids, full of sterolins which leave the skin soft and is moisturising

Blueberry - Antioxidant and contain anti-irritant properties

Goji berry - Calms the skin and energises it

Green clay/illite: Draws out impurities, tightens pores and banishes blemishes

Kaolin: Absorbs sebum and impurities

Shea butter - Extremely moisturising and helps repair the skin

Willowbark - Natural ingredient which contains salicylic acid which has an anti-microbial effect

What I thought:

I've only used this 3 times and found that unlike other masks this didn't result in me having loads of spots the next day. It does feel like it's tightening pores and absorbing oil which is mainly what my skin suffers from. It dries quick but I found it hard to remove.

Overall.....

I was impressed with this range and it has really helped to clear up my skin and since I started using it I haven't had any outbreaks of eczema on my face which is quite an achievement! Out if the products I tried I would repurchase both of the moisturisers, the cleanser and the eye cream. I think that the only product missing from this range is a toner. If they brought one out this range would be complete for me.

Has anyone else tried anything from this range? What did you think?

The week that was....

Like the picture suggests (which has been borrowed from weheartit) I'm currently felling under the weather. Full of cold.

The BF has been away on a course this week so I've had a few days of the best sleep in a long time and then he came home a day early on Thursday and I had the worst nights sleep ever. Not just because of the gale force wind outside which kept me awake but Chris snored all night long like a walrus. So after 4 hours sleep I woke with a stinker of a cold. I'm feeling a little better today even though I feel like I've got bin bags under my eyes so I'm taking it easy and relaxing before another week at work begins.

And I can't believe The Only Way is Essex has finished! More trashy TV needed please!

Review - Avon liquid freeze quick dry nail spray

I bought this a couple of months ago from Avon for £3 (regular price £6) and after having used a lot of 'quick dry' nail products I wasn't holding my breath that this one would be good but I thought that at £3 I'd give it a try.

You paint your nails and simply spray one pump onto each nail and within 30 seconds your polish is dry and I mean dry. As I paint my nails in bed before going to sleep, when I wake the next morning I normally have fabric print in my polish as it was still abit tacky but not after using this.

I've used this a few times so far and my polish has been perfect. I would certainly repurchase this and have recommended it to my mum and her friend who both want a bottle of it!

Has anyone else tried this? Or do you use another quick dry spray?

Haul - Avon

Last week my eagerly anticipated Avon order arrived. I was so excited and wasn't disappointed!

I ordered this Antler case which was £10 when you ordered £10 worth of make up and I LOVE it!

It's HUGE inside and will be perfect when I go on a hen weekend next year and it's got fab pink zebra print lining!

So to get this I ordered 4 bits of make up which came to £20.

An eyeshadow quad in neutral browns, an illuminating Magix brush on concealer, and 2 mineral lipsticks (smooth nude and smooth berry I think).

Swatches of the eyeshadows starting with the lightest to the darkest.

And swatches of the lipsticks nude and then berry.

The eyeshadows go on really well and last the day and the lipsticks give a nice sheer finish. I would repurchase all of these items. The concealer I haven't yet tried.

Have you tried any of these? What do you think?

Boots Mark Hill RAW Zebra Hairdryer offer of the week

Starting tomorrow at Boots the offer of the week is the Mark Hill RAW Zebra Hairdryer which is being reduced from £59.99 to £24.99!

This is such a funky looking dryer and it's part of the RAW range which includes matching straighteners and curling wands.

If I hadn't have got a new dryer last christmas I would be buying this one. Are you going to be buying this?

Haul - Christmas shopping

Last week I had a mega shopping trip and I've only just had time to post what I got.

Boots

Philips epilator, Philips shaver (for Chris), Batiste dry shampoo, E45 dry scalp shampoo, Boots tea tree and witch hazel nose pore strips and Good Things cleanser

Winnie the Pooh diary, Benefit Lemonaid and Papermania metallic markers (not from Boots!)

FCUK sports bag (for Chris for christmas)

Sterimar salt water nasal spray, Colgate 360 Actiflex toothbrush and Original Source extra strong black mint shower gel (this is mens but I think I'll use it in the morning to wake me up, it smells gorgeous)

No7 items: Kabuki brush, eyeshadow contour brush, eyeshadow blender brush, nail polish 'spun sugar', lipstick 'attract', tinter moisturiser 'fair' and lash and brow perfecter mascara. I bought all these with the £5 off vouchers that they regularly give out

Spun Sugar nail polish

Christmas cards, I don't think I need any but all my christmas things are in the loft so I bought some just in case! And a Winnie the Pooh calendar

Boots essentials hairspray (the best I've used), Sure deodorant, Jelly Bean factory jelly bean tins and a chocolate bar

Set of 3 cake tins, Lindt Lindor chocolates, 4 packs of sponges (I use these to wash my face with) and 2 MAM oral care bunnies. These are for my cousins little boy, Josh, and our friends little girl, Izzy, (when she's born!) for christmas. Never seen anything like these before so thought they'd be cute and unusual gift

Alot of the things I bought were part of Boot's christmas 3 for 2 offer so I saved loads of money.

New Look

When I went to New Look last week they had buy one get one free on jewellery so I bought a necklace and a set or earrings and they cost me £4.99 instead of £9.98. Bargain!

So thats a few more of my christmas presents sorted, just got something else to get for Chris, his mums, and his nieces and then I'm done. How is your shopping coming on?