Hello 2016! Where have I been?

Firstly, Happy New Year and best wishes to all!

I hope you’ve had a brilliant festive break and are now ready to take on 2016 in all its glory.

 I did a bit of a disappearing act but now as it’s the new year I thought it is a good time to come back.

Over the past few months I have been through a bit a whirlwind with some big changes. At the end of summer, I finally decided what I wanted to do career wise and applied to university to study a masters, this meant a lot of last minute preparation and involved moving to Nottingham, a city that’s completely new to me. I’m still working part time so there’s never a quiet moment.

New year, new starts and all that, 2016 will be the year that I get organized and hit blogging hard. I think I am long overdue writing some general life posts so that you guys can get to know me better. Over the Christmas break I’ve been thinking of ideas for potential posts and I’m really looking forward to sharing these with you over the next couple of months!

In the meantime, thanks for sticking by me, best of luck for 2016! 

Birchbox // August 2015

Always late with the Birchboxes these days, it’s nearly time to post the September one already! There’s no excuse for such a delay but I’ve been mega busy, with some exciting new changes in my life at the moment, all to be revealed soon hopefully. Now back to this wonderful Birchbox…

August’s Beauty Junkie theme delivered a colourful, emoji covered box, with my Birchbox featuring: Rituals Cherry Blossom and Organic White Rice Scrub, Lord and Berry Blush in Lotus, BioNike Defence Tolerance Cleansing Water, Kebelo Clarifying Shampoo, TheBalm Cosmetics Balm Desert Bronzer, L Erickson Grab & Go Ponytail Holder, with the Lifestyle item this month – lots and lots of funky emoji stickers!

Overall thoughts: Another mixed bag I would say. I absolutely love the rice scrub, it smells amazing, the texture is just right, not a bad thing to say about it! I like trying out new cleansing products so I hope the BioNike one doesn’t disappoint (not that I’ve heard much about this brand, with all the Micellar waters out on the market, there’s definitely some competition!). To my surprise, I have been absolutely loving the L. Erickson hair band. It’s not an item I would usually pay attention to, but as I was all out of hair bands this was the only one I could find to hand – and it’s actually amazing! It’s really soft but supportive and doesn’t feel like it’s pulling on my scalp at all, even when I have my hair in a tight pony … never thought I’d be getting so hyped up about a hair band haha!

 

 

 

Hair Care Haul

The summer months seem to have taken their toll on my weathered locks so it’s now in serious need of some tlc! Over the last weeks I spotted some bargains in Boots and Superdrug mainly, and just couldn’t help myself. Although I was mainly on the lookout for hair care products I stumbled across some styling products too (if you can class dry shampoo as a styling product, definitely a bare necessity for me!). My (mini) haul consisted of:

 

 

Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo

Aussie Miracle Shine Conditioner 

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Shine

 

 

Aussie Miracle Recharge spray 

TRESemme Breakage Defence Restructuring Treatment Masque

Aussie Dual Personality Coloured Hair Protection and Shine Serum

 

 

Pantene Pro V Expert Collection Advanced Keratin Repair Mask

 

COLAB dry shampoo in New York

L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

 

 

 

Samy Fat Hair 0 Calories Amplifying Mist

Samy Fat Hair 0 Calories Amplifying Crème

 

VO5 Casual Control Dry Texture Spray

Urban Fudge - Crisp pear and sweet vanilla dry shampoo

Lee Stafford Shine head spray shine

 

 

And finally .. the L’Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Summer Saviour Nourishing Mask.

I’m really looking forward to trying out the Extraordinary Oil as I’ve heard wonderful things and the Urban Fudge dry shampoo, as it’s not really seen this brand around but my housemate swears by it so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m a big fan of Aussie products too, so will enjoy getting reacquainted with the 3 minute miracle as I haven’t used it in years!

Have you tried any of these products? Would love to know what you thought!

 

 

Birchbox // July 2015

So so late with this one, but couldn't not share the contents of my lovely Birchbox!  July's 'Make a Splash' theme Birchbox (which actually came in a bag) was the summer holiday prep edition. With four varieties in the mix: orange for St Tropez, pink for Ibiza, Green for Hydra and yellow for Somerset, I received the lovely pink one!

My 'Ibiza' bag contained: the Balance Me Congested Skin Serum, Unani Aloe Vera Gel, POP Beauty Eyeshadow trio in Peach Parfait, the Benefit Dream Screen, Jelly Pong Pong Glow Getter Luminiser Gel, and the Lifestyle item this month was a Pura Vida Headband in Aqua.

Overall thoughts: I really like the super handy clear bag, especially love it because it's pink (and coincidentally I've not long returned from a lovely holiday to Ibiza myself. Overall I think it was a good mix of products, particularly the luminiser gel (I'm really loving highlighter at the moment)and the Balance Me serum, which are my favourites from this box.

The Best Eyeshadow Primer in the World!

Firstly I must apologise for my disappearance! It's been an extremely busy summer for me, with holiday planning, going on said holiday, helping out with arrangements for a friend's hen do and of course, general life admin. Boy do I have some serious catching up to do! 

I've been meaning to write about this for a while as I've actually been using a sample sized version for over a year and oh my goodness has my life been transformed! Ladies, let me introduce, the spectacular, Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion! 

This primer has changed my life and saved me so much time! It claims to give your eyeshadow 24 hour staying power and YES! It does exactly what it says on the tin. I have the Original, which is my favourite, as it's the most versatile in my opinion, as you can wear it as a base under any colour combination and also use it as a base for glitter (anywhere on your face like if you're going to a festival etc). The primer potion is also available in the shades Eden, Minor sin, as well as an anti-aging one, pore perfecting or the brightening & tightening version. I have tried Eden in store and it is the most gorgeous shimmery, champagne colour which I would love to wear on it's own, however as a primer I didn't think it would be suitable to wear under blue, green or berry shades.

I don't know what Urban Decay have put in this formula but it is absolutely amazing! I apply the primer at 8am, followed by a a couple of eyeshadows from my Naked 1 palette and it remains absolutely flawless all day, without the need to top up if I decide to go for dinner straight after work. It is absolutely ideal for festivals as your eye make up will stay on whatever the weather. It is also super handy for anyone who is extremely busy and doesn't have time to top up make up during the day. 

The original primer dries clear so make sure you apply it evenly before it's too late. My only grievance with this product was that it comes in a squeezy tube and I always seem to squeeze out too much which gets a little annoying, However, I shall suffer no more! As Urban Decay have revamped their packaging to incorporate a handy doe-foot applicator like they have in the sample sized primers. I'm just gutted that I only bought mine a few months ago so have loads left and won't be repurchasing this for a while. If you haven't seen the new version yet, here it is:

So if you haven't yet tried it you must go and seek it out! I really don't know where I'd be without it, or how I've managed to go for so long before finally giving in to the Urban Decay craze!

Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer

After seeing it receive so much praise in the blogging world I knew I just had to try out the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer ... and boy have I been missing out! It's brilliant! For a bargain price of £4.19 I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly when it lived up to the hype.

Not quite sure about it's "16 hour coverage" but it definitely lasts throughout your average 8 hour working day which suits me just fine. With 4 shades to choose from (a relatively limited selection) I chose number 1 - fair, which was actually a pretty good match for me so added bonus points there. 

The Lasting Perfection Concealer provides great coverage and blends seamless and I'll definitely repurchase this when it runs out. Great colour, great coverage, great lasting power and a very affordable price - generally not a bad word to say about it. It has a handy doe foot application which is easy to use and then I generally just blend with my finger. I still cannot believe good it is and it's less than a fiver! If you haven't yet tried it out - GO GO GO!

Birchbox // May 2015

This month's Birchbox incorported a creative 'Free Your Mind' theme where you got the opportunity to decorate your own box as May's design came as blank white canvas full of lovely patterns.

My May Birchbox contained: the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Tinted Moisturiser, WAH London Nail Polish in Red, Parlor by Jeff Chastain Moisturising Sea-salt Spray, Jelly Pong Pong Caribbean Sun Bronzer Duo in Matinique, Absolution Youth Activator Mask, Number 4 Lumiere d'Hiver Reconstructing Masque and as a bonus, a set of colouring pencils was included - to decorate my box :)

Overall thoughts - reasonably pleased! (last month's box was difficult to live up to so I had pretty high expectations haha :P). I'm most looking forward to trying out the Caudalie tinted moisturiser and the sea-salt spray - which will be a perfect size to take away on holiday this summer.