Product use up: January to March

This used to be my monthly post to show what products I've used up in the past month but I decided to post it every month months instead and this is my first post of the year. So what have I used up?

Face cream - 5

Shower gel - 4

Shampoo - 4

Deodorant - 3

Conditioner - 2

Face wipes - 2

Body scrub - 2

Hairspray - 1

Dry shampoo - 1

Face wash - 1

Cleanser - 1

Hand cream - 1

Hair straightening spray - 1

Total: 28 empties!

Alot of these were mini's and sample sizes but these are what tend to get left for ages in my stash so I'm still quite please that I've used them up.

How well have you done recently?

Day Zero Project - Take a photo everyday for a month: week three

Week one

Week two

 15th March - Sorting out my stash of products

16th March - Fog 

17th March - Wearing my new shoes

18th March - Mothers Day card for my mum and her present

19th March - My 'Love' ring

20th March - Going on red but having loads of fuel left 

 21st March - Empties


22nd March - Trams and parked cars

My lipstick collection

I first wrote this post back in June last year and since then my lipstick collection has grown quite a lot so thought I'd do a new post.

 Avon lipsticks L-R:

Color Trend - £3.50

- Sequin

- Berry Pink

- Creme Caramel

Smooth Minerals - around £8, can't find on the website

- Smooth Nude

- Smooth Berry

Swatches in the same order as above 

Boots 17 lipsticks L-R:

Supreme Shine 'Bella' - £4.99

Mirror Shine lipsticks - £4.59

- Sugar Daddy

- Flirtini

- Hollywood

- Peace

- Belle 

 Swatches in the same order as above

Left - Right:

 No7 Sheer Temptation 'Attract' - £10.00

No7 2011 Limited Edition - No longer available

Benefit 'LaLaLand' - no longer available

Kate Moss for Rimmel 'shade 3' - £5.49

 Swatches in the same order as above

Left - Right:

L'Oreal Naturals 'shade 235 nude' - £

L'Oreal Studio Secrets lip glow - £8.49

Mac 'Midimauve' - £13.50

Collection 2000 lasting colour 'Queen of Hearts' - £2.99

Collection 2000 Cream Puff 'Cotton Candy' - £2.99

Collection 2000 Cream Puff 'Fairy Cake' -  £2.99

Swatches in the same order as above 

My current favourite lip products are Collection 2000 Cream Puffs and 17 Mirror Shine lipsticks. What lip products do you love?

My month spending ban!

I went on a spending ban in January and it went quite well but I have decided after spending loads of money the past two months that I would go on another.

As I got paid today I have decided that from today, 26th March, to the 25th April I am going on another. Also as I had to take two and half days off work unpaid I have less money than usual to play with I am gong to be strict this month:

- No buying snacks at work

- Allowed to buy lunch at work once

- No luxury spending e.g. clothes, make up etc.

- Only buy necessities when food shopping

I am going on two nights out this month but only one I am drinking so I shouldn't spend too much money. Hopefully!

I also emptied my piggy bank and found that I had saved a massive £34 in £2 coins! This is much better than the normal couple of quid saved in coppers.

I am also going to try to sell some of my cards on eBay again when it's free listing weekend and yes I am aware that I have just missed one!

I'll post an update on how I've done after the 25th April, wish me luck!

Oh and if you want to try to save some money yourself I posted my money saving tips here.

Another haul!

This is that last of any big hauls for a while now as I'm on a mission to try to save some pennies but I did get some bargains!

Boots

I had three £5 off No7 vouchers burning a hole in my purse and got these:

No7 Beautiful Skin T-Zone Rescue - Unsure of the price, can't find on the website

No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser - £9 (£4 with voucher)

No7 Beautiful Skin Eye Make-up Remover - £7.75 (£2.75 with voucher)

17 Blush and Glow in Peachy - £3.99 (free as 17 was on 3 for 2)

17 Supreme Shine lipstick in Bella - £4.99

17 Mirror Shine lipstick in Hollywood - £4.59

17 Hide and Chic concealer - £4.99 (free with voucher) 

 Swatches (L-R): Blush and Glow, Bella and Hollywood

Discount make up shop

I can't remember the name of this shop but it's on of those that sells discontinued stock at super cheap prices.

Collection 2000 Perfecting Minerals foundation - £2.99

L'Oreal Glam Bronze bronzer - £4.99

Primark

Barbie Girl t-shirt - £6

Cardigan - reduced to £5 from £12

Skirt - reduced to £5 from £10

So that was my bargain haul! Can't believe I got hold of the Collection 2000 foundation, it's on of the best mineral foundations I've tried and I love the shades in the L'Oreal bronzer even though it is for blondes but as I have pale skin it'll give a subtle bronze shade on my face.

What bargain finds have you come across recently? Le me know!

Day Zero Project - Take a photo everyday for a month: week two

Week one

8th March - Gu banoffee cheesecake

 9th March - The temperature at 7am

10th March - Bed early 

11th March - Having a Costa before work

12th March - Primark goodies 

13th March - My attempt at photographing a sunset

14th March - The internet suddenly stopping working....again

Week three will be up next weekend!

Comparison: No7 Cleanse and Care make up remover and No7 Beautiful Skin make up remover

A few weeks ago No7 relaunched some of their skincare ranges as 'Beautiful Skin'. As it's a relaunch you would expect the product formulas to be the same but just different packaging. As I had a £5 off No7 voucher burning a hole in my purse I thought I would try their 'new' Beautiful Skin Eye Make Up Remover.

At first glance it looks the same, a slight different shade of blue and a different bottle but no other obvious change.

I have been a fan of the No7 Cleanse and Care eye make up remover for years, in fact I have about 6 of the old bottles in my stash of products but I'm not sure if they had slightly changed the formulation over the years because the most recent bottles I had didn't seem to remover mascara as well. I know No7 have sneakily changed the formulation to one of my other favourite products without telling customers.

On my first glance to the ingrediants on the new bottle I was somewhat shocked at how few there were. I was sure that the old bottle had lots more and when I got home and checked I was right. The old one contained a whole seven paraben ingredients whereas the new only contains one! In my eyes this is win-win! So yes the formulation must have changed but would this impact on the result? Well in all honesty I prefer the new formulation, it removed all traces of my mascara and was gentle on my eyes.

Another notable difference is the change from a pump bottle to the open top bottle. Personally I prefer the pump top and I know some people moan saying they can't get the dregs out but I used to screw off the top and use it that way, simple! An open bottle runs the risk of accidental and unnecessary spillage and at £7.75 a bottle this wouldn't go down well!

Overall I can get over the new bottle not having a pump top as the formulation improvement gets my vote! I'm glad that No7 have reduced the paraben content and I would buy this again with the £5 off voucher as it only costs a grand total of £2.75!

Have you tried this yet? How do you think it compares to old version?

Review - Balance Me super moisturising body wash

I got this a couple of months ago as a freebie with a magazine. I hadn't used anything from Balance Me before but was sure it was a brand that I would love. Balance Me is a brand that was created in the UK and every product is free from parabens, sulphates, petroleum, mineral oils, silicones, deas, pegs, propylene glycol, artificial fragrances and colours, so basically no nasties are included in their ingredients.

The super moisturising body wash contains yarrow, patchouli and vitamin rich shea butter which is said to leave you feeling clean, refreshed and moisturised. I used this in the shower before work and have to admit I was quite impressed with it. The fragrance wasn't as strong as I expected but I liked that it wasn't too overpowering. I also like that it contains shea butter as I have been neglecting the moisturiser since the beginning of winter so my skin has seen a slight improvement since using this product.

This comes in three different sizes starting at £8 (this 125ml size) up to £12.25 for a 250ml bottle and as it is more expensive than I would normally pay for a shower product I don't think I would pay full price for a bottle but if they were free with a magazine again I would buy a couple to add to my stash.

It is available from Balance Me online.

Day Zero Project - Take a photo everyday for a month: week one

As a part of my Day Zero Project everyday in March I am taking a photo to show what I've been up to and doing. Here is week one of photos.

1st March - Packing 

2nd March - Baking cupcakes 

3rd March - Shopping goodies 

 4th March - This is supposed to show you it snowing but it doesn't!

5th March - Eating mini eggs in bed 

6th March - Eating a banoffee sundae in bed 

7th March - Buying a size 16 item of clothing and it fitting for the first time in years!

Week two's photo's will be up next weekend!

A year of nail polish - February

Yes I'm late posting this but I've had a pretty hectic few weeks and as they say it's better late than never!

Maxfactor - Hot Pink

Maxfactor - Prussian Blue

This was two coats but I should have done a third as it's not opaque enough for my liking