Sunday, June 30, 2013

OOTD: Social Media Junkie

Jumper: Pretty Little Things // Jeans: Warehouse // Shoes: Converse // Sunglasses: Rayban

This is it people, your last chance to find a new home for your blog reading lists and my vote goes to Bloglovin which you can read more about here and if my jumper isn't too bossy you can

Like me here and here
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Thursday, June 27, 2013

Chanel Le Vernis 307 Orange Fizz


My first attempt at a nail paint for I don't know how many years was an old favourite Orange Fizz from Chanel. I can't deny it was quite a challenge to paint my own nails and the finish is certainly different than the skilled hands of a Nails Inc technician or an acrylic base but the colour certainly pleased me. As we all know, it's 'all about orange" for me these days and I hope it wasn't orange overkill to team with my Neon Orange lipstick and Honey Jasmine blush.

Digging this colour from my stash certainly appeased the fact I wasn't swayed into making a purchase from the new Mac range of nail paints and I certainly think this will be a colour that makes a few reappearances this Summer.

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Trevor Sorbie Self-Grip Rollers


Last Saturday was one of those days where despite having plans to go out that evening and ambitions for a major getting ready session I did not stop running around all day and ended up having to get ready whilst my friend sat on my sofa drinking martinis.

My hair had held up to my day of chores quite well but needed a little boost for the evenings activities so whilst my bath was running I decided to turn to my Trevor Sorbie rollers for that added volume. These rollers were brought on one of my whims months ago but it's only recently I've been attempting to use them and so far despite my dreadful 'rolling skills' they do give the volume I often search for.

Firstly I sprayed some of VO5's Plump Me Up Dry Shampoo* to my roots and then I (badly!) section my hair and added the rollers. At this stage I'm just getting used to putting the rollers in myself, grabbing whichever roller comes to hand (favouring the larger) but next lessons will be adding the the rollers in a more sensible fashion as taught at a recent Trevor Sorbie launch. Their advice, sit in front of Eastenders on a Sunday and practice, practice, practice!

I then go about my business, jump in the bath, apply my make up leaving my hair to the minute I leave the house. I find that minimum time I can leave the rollers in for any results is one hour but obviously the longer the better.

My heavy handedness and the self-grip of the rollers does lead to some tugging as I remove them and then I add a spritz to each section of VO5 Plump It Up Dry Backcomb Spray and backcomb a little and away I go.

My technique is by no means failsafe but it saves time during the course of getting ready and saves over washing my hair which can often lead to it looking greasy than if I left it in its original state. On this occasion my hair had the extra bounce I needed for a relaxed dinner with friends.

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Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Lush Toothy Tabs Review


During my instagram phase there was one brand that kept popping up in my feed, LUSH. I've never shopped in Lush as there's something about their stores I'm not sure of but never one to shy away from blogger pressure I decided to pop in and see what was on offer.

I found myself completely overwhelmed and didn't have a clue where to begin once I'd picked up the obvious choice of Popcorn Lipscrub, then I spotted Toothy Tabs. Currently in a battle with my tube of toothpaste that kept drying out so I could barely squeeze any on to my toothbrush I thought these could be the answer.

I love the ideas of these for travel but I'm not sure they're ideal for the everyday use of a smoker and I could never decide every time I popped one into my mouth whether the taste was ok or was going to make me gag, although I think that was a personal dislike of the flavour rather than a reflection of their taste. 

You pop one of these tabs into your mouth, crumble between your front teeth and then take your brush as it foams in your mouth. As I say for travel these would be the best idea, I don't know about you but I always seem to throw away a tube of toothpaste that has only been half used no matter whether it's travel size or not, these you could pop the exact number you need and how handy are these for the desk draw to freshen up before a night out. Next time I'm passing Lush I'll definitely be trying their other flavours.

Have you tried these Toothy Tabs before? 

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Barry M Confetti Nails - Sour Apple


This is a somewhat cheeky review of the Barry M Confetti Nails paint as you will see from the photo it was taken in store at my local branch of Superdrug. Whilst having my nails tended to at Nails Inc a few days earlier (see post here) I spent most of the time admiring their feather nails range with curiousity as to what they were. Waiting for a friend to ironically finish having a manicure a few days later I decided to have a nose next door at what Barry M had to offer and when I spotted this Confetti paint I couldn't resist popping some on my thumb nail. Teamed with Nails Inc Shoreditch it did make me smile and think of it as cupcake sprinkles if not a little too young for me.

Obviously I have no comparison with the Nails Inc feather range but in the bottle they look pretty similar! All I can tell you with any certainty is that this was a pain to remove - thank god I only applied to 2 nails - or maybe that was punishment for my cheekiness!

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Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Nails Inc Dry & Damaged Nails Kit


Having my acrylic tips removed and releasing my natural nails on the world meant I would need to create an arsenal of goods to aid them on their way to full recovery. I was recommended the Nails Inc 'Very Dry and Damaged Nails Treatment Pack' to use at home. The kit contained two Nails Inc Hero products, A&E Base Coat and Albert Bridge Top Coat although I think I need something stronger than their base coat for my weak nails. At the weekend I gave my nails a break from any colour and have been topping up the base coat to see if that gives them an extra helping hand.

My favourite product so far is the Vitamin E cuticle oil pen. It's a nice way to apply the product and something I'm enjoying using.

This kit was £25 for £45 worth of products but I think next time I'd look around for a mix of products that serve the purpose than relying on them all for one brand.

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Nails Inc Manicure


Following my appointment with Caroline Herons the next task on my list was to tackle my nails. For as long as I can remember I have been visiting one of 'those' salons, yes the ones with acrylic and drills. I knew the damage they would be causing to my natural nail but I loved how they looked.  That said lately I was finding the monthly infills a chore, I was unable to change my polish as frequently as I'd like because of the need for heavy duty buffing with any growth and I wondered could I achieve a similar look from my natural nails?

I knew that my nails would be severely damaged from the constant use of heavy duty drilling and I knew if I was going to have them removed I would need it done as sensitively as possible. I popped along to my local Nails Inc counter and had a chat with them about what advice they could give me to have the nails removed and a plan in place to try and restore the nails to a healthier state and an appointment was booked.

The nail technician was fantastic at removing the acrylic from nails and I can't deny this process alone was much more pleasant than my usual trip to the salon. There were no drills, no ripping at the nails just gentle buffing between soaks in acetone - there was even a cloth laid across my hands soaking in their bowls to stop the smell!

Once the acrylic was removed it was time for a manicure to restore the nails to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately there is now a ridge in my nails from the constant infills but I'm looking at this positively as a guide to see how the nails grow and will see exactly when they have grown and the new nail appears.

The above picture shows my nails in their natural state... well natural with the addition of a few coats of Shoreditch polish. I was actually pleasantly surprised with the results. It's extremely bizarre going from tips to natural nails, especially as they're so weak. Suddenly I'm wearing rubber gloves, pulling my debit card from my purse is much harder and I'm just generally having to be more careful with my nails. I remember in some long ago days I dabbled with a beauty course and the only thing I remember is the teacher telling us 'nails aren't tools' and I am guilty of having used my nails for all manner of jobs over the years.

As expected the nails didn't last in the photographed state for long. A cupcake extravaganza a couple of days later saw my polish chip and by the weekend many had broke and today as I type they're not in the best state. I did buy a kit from Nails Inc which I'll share with you in a second post but it doesn't appear of helped sustain the length of the nails but I know they were in a sorry state.

All that said I will not give in. It was great to change my polish at whim to my outfits and I actually prefer their shorter appearance than I did the tips especially as I have more control over them.

If you have any tips or product recommendations for weak nails do share - I need all the help I can get!

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Monday, June 24, 2013

My appointment with Caroline Hirons


Helena Rubinstein famously said 'there are no ugly women, only lazy ones' and whilst I won't be so hard on myself to say I'm ugly I'm definitely one of the lazy ones. As I've expressed before, I've lacked a skincare regime for most of life and part of the reason for bringing beauty posts to my blog is a way of encouraging myself to put a skincare regime in place, make an effort with a bright lipstick occasionally  and my mum is over the moon I'm now wearing mascara on a daily basis.

The biggest problem with reaching 34 without much knowledge of what skincare I should and shouldn't be using and slight spendaholic tendencies is that reading so many beauty blogger recommendations of the latest products I could quite happily go crazy. The only thing holding me back is wondering is this product even for me and secondly thinking, hang on I have a good 10 years on many of these bloggers, won't my needs be different?

My first step into a regime was visiting Kiehls. I was open and honest about my laziness and lack of regime and walked away with a bank balance breaking bag of goodies but whilst products such as the Midnight Recovery Concentrate were a pleasure to use I didn't actually notice any difference than when  I managed a swipe across my face with a flannel in the shower.

Then my blog reading led me to straight talking skincare guru Caroline Hirons and suddenly she was saying things that completed went against what I'd been told by Kiehls. Er yes you do need to cleanse in the morning, er yes toner is important (so important we have two!). Everything she said made sense, phrases like putting your make up on without a skincare routine is like Picasso spending thousands on paints and throwing them at a brick wall was logical to me.

Shortly after my discovery Caroline announced an opportunity to make appointments with her were to be announced and I decided if I was going to get the advice I wanted and needed then this was it. Not only did I have confidence she would tell me like it is there was also a slight chance I'd be too scared not to do what she advised!

It's no surprise I was one of the lucky few who took a stroll down to Fortnum & Mason a couple of weeks ago having actually been one of the first emails received as I was sitting hitting the refresh button on my computer waiting for the details to be announced.

I expected Caroline to take one look at my face and be horrified at what she saw but surprisingly considering the lack of care and attention I've given my face we deemed I was in pretty good shape.

The biggest issue I have is I'm a smoker (yes I know and we agreed we both know how bad it was so we moved on!) and that leads to a number of blackheads on my face. Ignorantly it had never occurred to me that this would be the cause. She recommended I get regular facials making sure they include extraction. This little gem alone allowing me the knowledge I need when making appointments at salons.

Rather than walking out with an extensive list of products Caroline recommended she asked what I already had and how I needed to use them, alternatives and other things I could look to. The main recommendation (after giving up smoking!) was a clay mask, something I'd not yet added to my arsenal. 'Clay is clay' so I could spend what I felt comfortable with and she provided two different priced products to investigate.

I asked about add on products such as the Pore Refiner I'd recently purchased from Clinque and another Caroline Hirons gem 'pores aren't doors' was the response. I hadn't noticed any particular difference from using this product and when she explained that you can't close pores these products just enlarge the areas around them to disguise I knew the pore refiner was being disposed of as soon as I got home.

We discussed supplements and then there was time for a bit of advice on the long haul flight I'll be taking in October and my time was up with the parting words, you look good now but you've about 5 years and then you'll look like a 40 year old smoker if you don't give up - now theres a scary warning!

My advice to anyone reading this, if you have any skin concerns and the opportunity to have an appointment with Caroline do so or at the very least check out her blog and You Tube talks, you will learn so much.

I'm lucky in that I have no major skin concerns but I firmly believe that my hour with Caroline has put my mind at rest that I don't need to be sucked into sales pitches from beauty counters on wonder creams and will save me a fortune in the long run.

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Get ready for some Bloglovin


It's no secret that Google Reader will be no more this time next week and varying levels of panic have ensued in the blogger communities. I had initial blood pressure rising for about 5 minutes when I saw the announcement and then gave myself a stern talking to, looked at the alternatives and promptly switched to Bloglovin to read my favourite blogs.

I made this switch as soon as I heard that Bloglovin would eventually be no more so decided not to take advantage of the import of my reading list (although from other bloggers it seems quick and simple to do) and use it as a decluttering exercise - although more seem to have been added than removed!

In the couple of months I've been using Bloglovin I have to say I have only one complaint in that I can't tag blogs to file and star to read later in the same way I would in Google Reader. I'll often look at blogs quickly whilst at work or out and about and want to read in detail later. You can mark posts as unread but I prefer to acknowledge they've been read and use the 'like' option although I do feel bad when I click 'unlike' having read in full.

There is no way of filing posts via Bloglovin unfortunately so it's a case of printing, making notes and/or filing in a bookmarks folder but I've managed to work round that without too much disappointment. 

I love that you can comment directly within Bloglovin's website, something that wasn't possible on Google Reader. I prefer commenting on blogs via my MacBook as I prefer a keyboard to type on than the iPad so it makes it a quick process. Something of note for Blogger bloggers; if you had a comment page which replaced the blogs page itself (ie does not appear at the bottom of the post or in a pop up window) then it will bring up an error in Bloglovin. I get around this by right clicking on the 'post a comment' link to open in a new tab or window but not everyone will or know to do this. I myself had to change the settings on my blog to allow easier commenting for my readers.

Another accidental discovery on the iPad and iPhone apps was that if you pull the page up as you reach the end of a post the next in sequence from your reading list will appear - this is certainly making on the go reading easier.

You claim your blog quite easily and Bloglovin have various widgets available for bloggers to add to posts so people can easily add your blog to their reading lists - you'll notice one now appears at the bottom of each of my posts but a simple word search seems to bring up most of the blogs I've been looking for lately.

There seems to be a change in the way the blogging community read blogs since my early days when readers were King now there are so many social media platform allowing us to Tweet or Facebook our links. I find myself reading many blogs via a tweeted link but Bloglovin is still essential to make sure you never miss a post and there are many ways to discover new blogs through looking at the popular posts pages, recommendations etc.

Of course the panic doesn't end there, there is much confusion around GFC (Google Friends Connect) and from what I can gather this is not due for retirement on 1st July with Google Reader but my hunches tell me that it won't be too far behind with Google+ being the platform they are pushing everyone towards, that said if anyone knows how the hell we're supposed to be using it please give me an idiots guide because I do not have a clue!

It would be great if you join me over at Bloglovin by clicking here or the button below - the other great thing about Bloglovin is that unless the subscriber requests to do so privately you will be emailed to notify you or your new 'follower' and in some cases find a new blog to read.

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Sunday, June 23, 2013

Perfectly Poached Eggs


Sundays are the perfect day for a good English breakfast but I needed to find a way to lighten the calories during my weight watcher regime and the first step was perfecting my egg poaching skills.

There was a few mishaps along the way including an exploded egg in the microwave but I have finally cracked it (sorry couldn't resist!!) so here's how I do it.

Take some oil on kitchen towel and run along the bottom of a large saucepan
Fill your saucepan with water and then bring to the boil
Turn heat down to med-low and then crack your eggs in the pan (I've never poached more than two at a time)

The next step is the biggest lesson I learned... leave the eggs alone!

After a cursory spoon round to bind the egg (although you may prefer to add some vinegar - I prefer not to) let them do their thing. Previously I'd always played around with the eggs which is where I was going wrong I've since discovered.

After a few minutes (depending on how you like your egg cooked) use a slotted spoon to remove the eggs and voila! Perfectly poached eggs with no fussing about and no creating whirlpools. I serve with quorn sausages (sausages are the devil points wise on weight watchers), potato waffles and a dollop of ketchup.

Do let me know if you manage to create your own perfectly poached eggs following my tips.

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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

All About Orange Collection from Mac


Last Thursday Mac released their All About Orange collection into stores and at 10am on the dot I was waiting patiently outside my local branch of House of Fraser to get my hands on a couple of pieces. For the first time ever in my Mac shopping years I found myself a lone shopper at the counter rather than grappling to swatch lipsticks and eyeshadows - the perfect opportunity to try something new.

I'm going through a blush obsession of late (in the past month I've gone from owning 1 to 6) and decided this was the perfect opportunity to add orange to my collection. Following a chat with one of their sales assistants (or should I call them make up artists?) we decided to try Honey Jasmine. As the darker of the shades it's probably the least likely I would've chosen myself but this is where listening to the professionals comes in. She sat me in the chair, swept some across my cheeks and my face instantly looked alive. Honey Jasmine was definitely coming home with me.

A lipstick purchase was not on the list but once I'd admired Neon Orange on the assistants and tried it myself it too had to be added to my collection. Yes it's bright, yes it's orange but as I've said before as a predominantly black dress wearing office worker a splash of colour on the lips makes all the difference.

Unfortunately both these items are sold out online and across many stores but did you managed to make any purchases from the collection?

Here I am, all about orange and off to a Trevor Sorbie launch later that evening - and I promise the matching necklace was a fluke, not intentional!



Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Guest Review by my brother on Dove Men+Care


When I received an email asking I knew anyone who would like to try out the Dove Men+Care products I thought my brother, Rob would be the perfect man for the job having abandoned his love of the Clinque men’s range now his hard earned cash is usually spent on Lelli Kelly shoes for my niece or another turtle to add to my nephews growing collection. I asked if he was willing to turn beauty blogger and he gave me the thumbs up and surprisingly without any prompting I received an email from him the other day including a photo of him proudly clutching his products and his thoughts on the Dove Men+Care range he received.

As a fireman Rob spends a lot of time outside so the Hydrate+ Moisturiser* with SPF 15 to protect from UV rays is a must have. He said it stood up to its light, non-greasy formula which is needed when working in difficult conditions. He was impressed out how a little goes a long way which would make it a very budget friendly purchase. Between his active job, part time personal training and a love of a morning running the Clean Comfort Anti-Perspirant Deodorant* stood the test and he tells me it smells nice too!

The only product that he wasn’t overwhelmed by was the Dove Men+Care Face Wash Sensitive* which he felt smelt too soapy, not that he said this was a problem but he’d prefer a nice scent – who knew, men like a nice smell as much as us ladies.

His two favourite products (described as ‘brilliant’) were the Shave Gel Revitalising* and Post Shave Balm* which he found reduced the soreness he experiences from shaving (he needs to be clean shaven at work) just as they claim too.

All in all it was a big thumbs up from my brother and he even said he would “definitely purchase the the shaving gel, aftershave gel, moisturiser & deodorant”.

With Father’s Day rapidly approaching I asked Rob if he’d have liked to receive these as a gift and the answer was yes saying it’s a great way to try something new you wouldn’t necessarily buy your self for the first time.

*PR Sample

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Monday, June 3, 2013

Products I Used | May 2013


Once again I have been storing up my beauty empties ready for this months post, patting myself on the back for finishing various items and finally using up a store of samples and sachets cluttering my cupboards. As you can see from the photo its been a bumper month filled with some good and some bad.

Coco Mademoiselle Eau de Toilette Spray 100ml
Coco Mademoiselle is my go to day fragrance and has been for some time, if in doubt a spritz of this will work for day or night, particularly when my other signature perfume from Vivienne Westwood is too strong and powerful a choice. I love scents I can actually smell on myself and will last throughout the day and it's the perfume I will always find commented on when I'm wearing it.

I had two sachets of the Montagne Jeunesse Chocolate Masque in my draw leftover from a girls pamper night and decided it was the healthier way to enjoy some chocolate. This mask lives up to it's name and really does smell like chocolate, unfortunately applying it felt like chocolate too. Thick and very hard to manage and it got everywhere - my bathroom was a messy scene when I was finished. There were no amazing results after using so I think I'll leave them as a gimmick.

Kiehls Powerful-Strength Line-Reducing Concentrate was a sample received in the post from the branch in which I made my bumper purchase a few months ago. A nice touch I thought. Whilst I have the Line-Reducing Concentrate for the face in my stash I don't necessarily feel I've seen much difference and this sample size of the eye cream wasn't big enough to see or know whether there would be any benefit from purchasing full size. The same for the Midnight Recovery Eye Concentrate which was a sample provide with my purchases. Whilst I used this for approx 6 weeks again the results were minimal.

Many months ago I purchased a try me set from Clarins which included the Daily Energizer Wake-Up Booster. I often used it for travelling but had thrown it into my stash when needing to mix up my toners and would choose this in the morning when any help waking me up is needed! I love the smell of this product and would gladly purchase the full size again as I found it lived up to its claims to brighten and refresh the skin.

Sadly the next three products were fails for me so I'd love to know if you've had better results from either. L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, L'Occitane Repairing Mask and Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Shine Deep Treatment both left my hair lank and greasy after using. As I've said before my hair can be fussy with various products but I would anticipate some positive results from one of them. I do have another sachet of the Aussie and L'Occitane treatments so I plan to give them a second chance which I will report back on next month.

What my hair does love is a colouring treatment. Being a dark brunette approaching her mid 30's one or two grey hairs show up much to my irratation so I reach for L'Oreal Casting Creme Gloss in 400 Dark Brown which covers those pesky greys and makes my hair look so healthy after I actually now enjoy hair dye time - and it's so easy to apply myself.

Bottles of Liz Earle's Skin Tonic and Soothing Eye Lotion were finished and as well documented I'm a fan. I'm about to try some other eye make up removers which I've received lately so I'm interested to see how they compare.

During my many trips to the USA I would frantically throw bottles of OPI products into my basket and take advantage of the cheaper prices, especially where Nail Envy is concerned. I have acrylic nails so my need for this product doesn't make its use a necessity for me although I do like to apply to my actual nails at the tips to give them some protection against the regular applications of my falsies.

Two tubes of hand cream from The Body Shop ended up on the Empties shelf this month. Both were from a Christmas gift set I received so unfortunately I can't link them up for you, and it's a shame that I won't be able to enjoy the scents of Vanilla Bliss and Cranberry Joy. I liked these hand creams, the right thickness to moisturise without leaving hands watery or unable to hold my coffee mug without risk of it slipping from my hand! I'm in the market for a new hand cream so I'd love some recommendations but I'm quite happy to investigate more hand cream from The Body Shop

Tend Skin Liquid was a sample thrown in with an order received from Feel Unique and I didn't have a clue what this was. A quick search on the site told me it was to treat ingrowing hairs from shaving etc. I have a particularly dry patch on the leg that I cross from where it rests against my knee so I thought it perfect to test on that. To be honest I just found it like rubbing alcohol on my legs and didn't see any noticeable difference unlike using Liz Earle's Botanical Aftersun Gel has done of late.

And finally a non beauty product is that it's time to say goodbye to my Beach Walk Yankee Candle. This candle was a gift and probably not a scent I would have chosen myself although I'm glad I was in the position to try this as I whilst originally it sat in my bathroom I upgraded it to the front room as I enjoyed the fresh scent so much.

So that's the lot for this month, I hope you enjoyed reading and of course share with me any of your thoughts on the products or let me know anything you recommend my trying - any excuse to go shopping!

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Sunday, June 2, 2013

Chanel Le Vernis Nail Colour: 657 Azure


On Friday I just 'happened' to be passing House of Fraser and noticed their Big Brands Event where there was 10% off all beauty and yes that's all beauty, Creme De La Mer, Laura Mercier, Dior, ALL BEAUTY.

If ever there was an excuse to make a few purchases of items on my wish list then this was it and I'll be posting on those purchases shortly. Another Chanel nail colour was not on my list and I had high hopes of managing to avoid the Summer releases from Chanel as yellow mascara just isn't for me, and then I saw the nail colour 657 Azure.

As you know I tend to stick faithfully to my reds and whilst in the past I have experimented with Chanel's fashion colours (see post on 2011's Mimosa here) I tend to avoid them now but a quick swatch of Azure and I was sold.

It's a metallic green and I'm referring to them as my mermaid nails. One friend made a comment that I look like I had frostbite but we'll ignore him as not being as fashion savvy us shall we? It's not the best finish but it's constantly changing as it catches different lights and for a bit of fun on a night out like yesterday I was very happy.

Have you made any purchases from the Chanel Summer range, I'd love to hear about them.

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Sunday Spend: Gold Scratch Ring from NEXT

similar here

Apparently the day of rest doesn't apply to my debit card leading to the purchase of this ring from Next today. I'd only popped into M&S for some dinner and somehow ended up just 'having a look' round Next and next thing you know this ring was being handed over to the sales assistant. Priced at an affordable £6 I'm enjoying glancing at my hands as I type this post although from the photo I don't think I'll be making hand model status any time soon!

Did you allow your debit card to rest today or were you unable to resist a purchase like me?

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May Favourites from Rimmell


I hold my hands up and admit to having been a bit of make up snob over the years but that has changed over the past few months reading so many fabulous reviews and endorsements of 'drugstore' products. There was no reason for my snobbery other than I wasn't often making new beauty purchases (far from the case now!) as I had my favourites that I repeat purchased and they would tend to be from the higher end of the scale. Of course this didn't mean I'd often browse the beauty counter in Superdrugs or supermarkets in particular as throwing a mascara or lipstick into the shopping trolley during my weekly food shop would mean being able to hide the cost but I never knew what what was worth the purchase, especially as testing products in drugstore counters isn't the more enjoyable or hygienic of processes.

Both these products have done the usual rounds in blog circles of late, hence my adding them to my stash, so I won't go into long winded reviews and just share what I love about them.

First up is the Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer which I LOVE! I am using this daily and finding it a must have product for a girl like me who struggles with a regular sleeping pattern that is often clear to see on my face! Take a sweep of this concealer under the eyes and I instantly look like I've had a full 8 hours. I've just picked up the Wake Me Up Foundation although yet to try it but my friend who I recommended both products too has given it the thumbs up and we're both preaching about the Wake Me Up products to anyone that will listen.


I've been having a love affair with bright lipsticks after spending too long wearing Molton Browns now discontinued Nearly Nude Lipstick (see original post here). There have been a couple of new reds rotating in my make up bag and adding colour to my predominantly black wardrobe with Rimmel London Moisture Renew Lipstick in Coral Queen making regular appearances when I want something a little more subtle with a pinky tone. Someone at work actually commented on how nice my lipstick looked when I was wearing this other day which is always a bonus! I suffer from dry lips and and this lives up to it's moisturising name and has a nice shine a bonus for someone like me who likes the look but not the texture of lipgloss.

I'd love to hear if you're using either of these products or what you think of Rimmel and/or drugstore products.

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Cabana Brasilian Barbecue Restaurant








Last night the BFF and I decided to have a random night out at Westfield. A favourite shopping haunt of ours we thought why not explore some of the food and drink options. We chose to eat a Cabana Brasilian Barbecue and it was a good choice!

First difficult choice of the evening was which Caipirinha cocktail to try, I went for Passionfruit and then dived into our starters of Pulled Pork Slider and Crunchy Rice Bolinhos. Strangely the waitress asked us if we wanted these to start - erm... isn't that why they're called starters! That aside they were just the right portion size to leave us wanting more and anxiously waiting for the arrival of our Spicy Malagueta Chicken, the Cabana's bestseller.

Our table was right next to the BBQ pit were we were able to watch the chef tackling the hugh skewers of chicken and peppers that are then brought over to your table and served onto the plate. Rice and fries were shared and we tucked in till our bellies were full. The chicken was moist despite the charred and had just the right amount of flavour to allow sampling the various sauces on offer.

The thought of dessert was too much so we opted for the Cafe Cabana and discovered that warm rum in coffee is definitely not our thing and we decided to abandon them for the Sky Bar at Aspers Casino. Finding two armchairs on the outside terrace the night flew by watching the bizarre characters that frequent the Casino and saw us running (as much as our heels would allow!) for the last train home.

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