Best of 2013

Hi all :)

I hope you all had a great Christmas. I was unfortunately working, struck down by the flu and had a million things to do so my blogging got left by the way side for the week so apologies for my lack of posts last week.

Today's post is a summary of my favourite product discoveries of 2013. I've trawled through all of my posts from the past year and picked out my favourite products for one reason or another. I tried to pick an even number to satisfy my OCD but I came out at 17 so I hope you enjoy!


1) China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

Love this pastel neon colour, it was one I'd seen many times on Pinterest so had to snap it up in the end. It was a good buy and I can see myself having to buy it again if its going to decrease at this rate!

2) Vichy Dermablend

Many bloggers have bought this and in the end I had to try it....and obviously fell in love just the same! Perfect for good and bad skin days this covers all types of blemishes, scars and uneven skin tone.

3) OPI Liquid Sand Bond Girls in Jinx

This was one of my first Liquid Sand polishes and the coral and gold glittery combination made it a perfect one for me. Look at it glimmer! I wore this all summer and upgraded to a full size after initially buying the miniature set.

4) MAC All That Glitters Eyeshadow

I picked up a palette from MAc so that I could depot all of my previously owned eye shadows into one easy to carry palette. All That Glitters is a beautiful shimmery nude, described as a beige with a gold pearl. It's nude enough to be worn every day without being too glittery yet shimmery enough for a night out also, a very versatile shadow.

5) Clarins HydraQuench

The Hydra Quench range was something I'd never tried before but having tried the cream and masque this year I can safely say I'm a fan. I'd like to repurchase this in future but I think the price will put me off. There are others that I have used that are just as good for less so I will probably stick to those whilst I'm saving!

6) Dr Organic Eye Serum

This was an unexpected love for me; I love Dr Organic products but had never tried an eye serum before. I have really sensitive and dry eyes so try to moisturise them as much as possible to help. This product has been a nice little saviour for me and I can see me buying it again and again; great product, great price and its organic.

7) Lacura AQUA Complete Serum

The Lacura Aqua Complete Skin Serum was an absolute bargain from Aldi. I was looking for a cheaper one to save my from spending cash I don't have, and this was less than £4 and contains hyaluronic acid, glacier water and aloe vera. Its an amazing bargain buy and I will be getting it as soon as I get to Aldi next!

8) Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream

This eye cream was in one of their Christmas sets this year called Love Me B.right and after treating myself to it, it was great to find that the eye cream really worked even on my sensitive eyes. It's so hydrating and the pot is actually pretty big for an eye cream so it's worth the pennies.

9) Benefit Erase Paste Concealer

Another Benefit love! As a general fan of Benefit it can be hard to pick out specific products but the Erase Paste concealer is perfect for undereyes, blemishes, scars and just about anything you can think of. I would not be without it!

10) MAC Desert Camouflage Full Face Kit

This was a buy from Cosmetics Company Outlet, the Desert Camouflage Full Face kit has 4 eyeshadows and a compartment underneath containing a creme blush which is more like a creme bronzer due to the colour. I wear these colours every day as my go to palette for work as its so easy to blend and isn't too over the top. If I ever go somewhere straight from work its just a case of reapplication and a heavier hand with the darker colours!

11) Real Techniques Brushes

Having finally cottoned onto the hype, I snapped up every set in the range over the year in different deals from different shops. My make up wouldn't be the perfectly applied masterpiece it is today without them. They're pretty, easy to use, fairly priced and can be washed back to whiteness....winner.

12) Label M Protein Spray*

We may have mentioned this a few times over the past few months...this Protein Spray from Label.M is unbelievably lightweight, conditions hair without leaving it greasy and lasts a very long time. My long hair wouldn't be without it!

13) MAC's Insanely It

One of my best all time buys from CCO; this Sheen Supreme lipstick is a beautiful pink that makes my teeth look whiter, my complexion brighter and it can be worn for any occasion. 

14) Laura Mercier Silk Creme Foundation

I was extremely excited to try out Silk Creme after hearing lots of hype about it. Initially i was disappointed, my skin was really bad at that point and nothing seemed to cover it enough. As my skin has slowly improved (thanks to the skincare products in this post I hope) this has been amazing. It covers without looking like its caked on, matches my skin very closely and definitely makes me look a whole lot better whilst giving me that 'is she wearing make up?' look. Love. The only downside is the price at £33. but I'm almost certain I'd pick it up again during a weak moment on pay day.

15) Antipodes Divine Oil

This has been a revolutionary product for me. I had never used an oil before this and it completely changed my perception of them and my skin has thanked me for it. At £18.50 for an organic product I'd recommend everyone try this! It hasn't overloaded my oily skin at all but has rehydrated my dry skin and helped scars fade dramatically.

16) Murad Cleanser

This cleanser is one I use 2/3 times a week to polish off the dull bits of skin. It's not abrasive at all yet leaves my skin with a glow. It's comparable in results to Origin's Modern Friction which is another favourite of mine and although the tube costs £34 it has lasted me such a long time that it's worth every penny.

17) Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Treatment

The smell, the texture, the results = LOVE

I picked up the Origins skincare set for Christmas just so I could own this lovely product again (and the others obviously!) 

Totally changed my skin and I wouldn't be without it now. Plus it smells like heaven in a pot.

So there we have it, my favourites of 2013. A hell of a lot of skincare, what a junkie I am!

However as at the beginning of the year I had acne and was stressed to the max I think it have played a massive part in getting my skin to what it is today. I still get spots (obviously!) especially those annoying under the skin bumps which just don't seem to go (RAGE) but it's still 10 times better than it was.

I hope 2014 brings me even more product joy (after a considerable 3 month ban though...its feeling necessary after my Christmas indulgences).

What were your favourite products of 2013?

We're you a skincare junkie? Lipstick lover? Nail addict? Or a Palette Queen?

I'd love to see what your favourites were, maybe they could be mine for next year!

L xxx

Murder Mystery!

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are enjoying the festive period. Unfortunately for me it's my last day off and I'm now back in Cardiff before work starts again tomorrow. It really has been a great Christmas though and I've enjoyed seeing lots of family and friends.

On Friday L and I were invited to a friends house near Brighton for a murder mystery party. Although it was a bit of a trek for both of us we hadn't seen him for a while and both decided we'd head down.

We both had a bit of a nightmare travel down. L had to work in the morning then got stuck in traffic and one of my trains had gotten cancelled so I arrived late. We were both a bit rushed getting ready in the end.

The theme of the night was Vegas. The decorations around the house were amazing and there was even a welcome to Vegas sign. Unfortunately neither of us got many photos but we wanted to share a few with you.

It was definitely one of those things were the more all out you go the better it is. Everyone had put effort into their costumes and some people looked great. As we didn't really know anyone other than the birthday boy it was a bit nervous at first but turned out to be great fun.

L was Security Sam and I was Hot Slot Sal! We both tried our best to get all the bits for our costumes and L even had a security arm badge and ear piece!

Neither of us guessed the murdered but it was so much fun. I'd definitely recommend having one of these types of parties as it was so fun. 


M xxx

Merry Christmas!

Hello lovelies!

Hope you had a wonderful day yesterday, I had a great time and my Christmas spirit arrived just in time.

Unfortunately for me I've managed to get everyone else's cold and cough just in time for Christmas Day, which has left me feeling pretty crappy and I've not had much sleep because of it. I've also been working all over Christmas so that hasn't helped me either!

Nevertheless when Christmas Day actually did arrive I was in a good mood and had a great time.

Here's some photos from my day:

We went to my aunty's for our Christmas lunch with the rest of my family, there was only 9 of us but it was great as we could all fit around one table and we had homemade crackers with individual Christmas tree decorations too.

After having a snooze on the sofa and having a catch up we came back to ours and I really enjoyed watching Home Alone 2 in the evening. After this it wasn't long before I went to bed to try and catch up on some sleep and dose up on the cough mixture.

Today's plan is our annual trip to the beach; we ALWAYS go on Boxing Day to take to dog down there, he absolutely loves it and it will keep him from demolishing any more of his new toys!

Hope you've had a great few days of Christmas cheer, I'm so excited to eat leftovers later on and have our annual bubble and squeak for tea as well!

I'm sure there will be more Christmas related posts coming up soon :)

L xxx

Christmas Eve

Hey All

One more sleep till the big day! I'm one of those people that loves Christmas. Family,  friends, good food and drink are a perfect combination for me.

I'm spending Christmas in Somerset so have got a week off work to spend catching up with friends and family!

Christmas eve is one of my favourite days of the all. It's always a busy one for me but I love it! It all starts at 5.30am for me. Me and dad head off to the supermarkets for lots of Christmas treats. It usually means going to all three big ones in my local town. Of course I add a few extras to the trolley. Cocktails tomorrow for the evening!  Yum.

After food shopping we head to Clarks village to have a huge fry up and then get my mum's Christmas present. It's always been mine and his tradition and I love. It's the one day of the year that I spend with my dad just me and him. I'm lucky he usually gets me a treat too. This year I got a cardigan from Crewe. They had an amazing sale. I could have spent a fortune.

Since I've been up for over 7 hours a nap is definitely needed! Then my evening will be spent wrapping presents and going to the pub to catch up with friends.

I can't wait to see everyone's faces tomorrow when they open presents and see the whole family. The late evening is usually just me, one of brother's and my parents and usually involves playing games on the Wii.

Do you have any traditions you always do? Are you a Christmas fan?

Love M

Xxx

Ted Baker Nails

Along with the sets featured yesterday we also received a nail set to try. L and I are both huge nail varnish addicts and love painting our nails so this as something we couldn't wait to try.

I love the cute packaging on these. Something about it reminds me of a carnival stall. That sounds weird now I've typed it. The gold and cream are a simple classic combination.

I love the names of the polishes and the fact that they have the names on the side of the packaging is helpful. I always like it when products actually have names as some things in sets don't have names on.

The Golden Girl set comes with a gorgeous champagne shimmer polish and a gold glitter polish. All the sets come with a glitter and shimmer polish. I love using a glitter polish for an accent nail.

The sets cost £8.50 so make a great gift for a friend or yourself. At £4.25 a polish they are good value as they are full size products. The packaging of the polish itself is simple in a square bottle.

L and I both really liked the Golden Girl colour. It's such an easy to wear gold shade and looks great on the nails. This is a perfect new years eve nail combination.





The gold glitter is really packed and layers up well on the nail. The colours look great together and give a really pretty combination. I'm really looking forward to using these colours. My mum has already been eyeing them up too for my brothers wedding.

L did find one nail chipped within a day but as she had worn it to work this isn't unusual for nail varnish as within our jobs are hands are washed a lot and polishes don't last well. I currently have it on but as it's on false nails I find polishes last better in general.

Will you be picking any of these up as last minute gifts?

Love M

xxx

Ted Baker at Christmas

Morning everyone!

We've got a post for you today about some really good last minute presents you can get for friends, family, colleagues and Secret Santa gifts that you may be struggling with for both males and females.

Ted Baker always have great gift sets all year around but particularly at Christmas. My aunty always used to get me the green and purple set for my birthdays and I adored the smell from the body spray, it was so fresh, not overpowering and lasted quite a long time considering it wasn't perfume.

We were lucky enough to be sent two of this years gift sets by Ted Baker* to try out.
My brother was a very willing recipient of the male Ted Baker set called the Body Maintenance Kit*.

In the Body Maintenance kit there is a Body Spray and a Hair & Body Wash. The packaging is bright and cheerful without being feminine or overly Christmassy, they'd be great for all year round.

My brother has been testing them out over the last week for me. He's a 22 year old part time student and full time worker, so was excited to be a recipient of my blog for once! He's a regular gym goer and does suffer with bad skin on his back. It hasn't flared up in a while so this was a good test.

He thought the packaging was great too, nice and bright and simple; men don't like fussy things do they!

As far as the smell goes he said it was 'really nice' and it lathered up really well.
He said it did dry his skin out but that was on his face, he obviously hasn't learnt to moisturise yet so I'll have to work on him to start that soon! Aside from that he said the hair and body wash was really good, he'd probably repurchase it especially at the price of £8 for the set.

He said the spray was the same fragrance (as you'd expect) and he's been applying it pretty generously from what I can smell, even my mum has commented that he smells nice!
(I'm painting a great picture of him aren't I?!)

I think the Body Maintenance Kit is a great gift for any male that you need to buy for. Regardless of age the kit would cater to any kind of male, the scent isn't overpowering and every male needs to wash and apply some kind of smelly product every day!

For £8 this gift is a bargain and I would suggest if you're still stuck for a stocking filler this would be the perfect option. Secret Santa's can be so hard sometimes and for £8 this makes things so easy and takes the stress out of it.

For the female in your life; friend, colleague, family member, partner etc there is the It Had To Be You* set.

First off I cannot help but make a big deal about how stunningly beautiful the packaging is; HOW AMAZING IS IT. I've actually taken a close up macro shot of the box as my new phone background, it's just that pretty. (Am I weird? Do other people do this with things?!)

The box underneath is also a beautiful bright pink which I think perfectly clashes and compliments the soft pink and pretty pattern of the lid of the box.
Inside are 4 50ml products; a body spray, bath foam, body wash and body souffle.

I used all of these the other day when I got back from the gym (apart from the bath foam). The scent is absolutely gorgeous and really girly but also not overpowering which is a big thing for me. I hate strong smells and this is a really sweet but not sickly scent that I could use daily.

The body wash foamed really easily and the body souffle moisturised the skin on the really dry skin on my shins very well. They felt quite silky smooth afterwards!

The body spray was really fresh as well, it would be great for a really wide age range.

This is a great set for £10 and I'd definitely buy this for many of my friends or a colleague for a Secret Santa.

L xxx

I always end up drawn into the Ted Baker sets. I absolutely love the packaging. The colours and the print are absolutely gorgeous. I love boxes like this and they are great to be able to be re used as storage. Definitely to pretty to put away.

The packaging of the products follows a similar theme with a rose gold/ bronze colour as well. It's pretty and feminine without looking cheap or like it's only suitable for a certain age range.

I really love the body spray. I used to think they were pointless until last year. I love to keep a body spray or small perfume in my handbag in case I pop out after work or if my perfume has just faded away.

These miniatures are perfect for me. As I live away from my parents I love to keep sets like this at their house so I don't have to bring things with me when I visit. I'm especially loving the body soufflé. It leaves my skin feeling super soft.

The Ted Baker range is also on 3 for 2 in boots making it even more purse friendly for gifts. I will definitely be picking some up after Christmas for gifts throughout the year.

Have you tried any of the Ted Baker sets? Are any on your lists? I've been eyeing up The Great and The Gorgeous and The Me and My Shadow sets.

Love M

xxx

Revlon PhotoReady Concealer

Hello!

Hope you're all looking forward to the big day now...I am so excited I cannot wait. Christmas is my favourite time of year. It doesn't feel quite as exciting as it used to be as this year I'll be working full time still, with only Christmas Eve and Boxing Day off. But I'll still be making full use of my time off by eating a whole tonne of food and watching cheesy Christmas tv specials!

Over the party season I've been turning to cream concealers to cover my under eye bags and blemishes.

The PhotoReady concealer from Revlon has been my go to products.

I've picked it up in my usual colour - Light. I'm assuming there must be an even lighter colour as this is 002, but luckily for me Revlon have a wide enough colour range that 002 is actually a good colour on me!
This is great news as over the winter I can get paler so I'd like to pick up 001 for those days and also for the times my undereye bags are quite unstoppable.

The packaging for the concealer is nice and simple, black twist up style container and a clear lid. I like clear lids but they never stay clean or clear, mine is dirty and cannot be cleaned inside and scratched to bits from being in my make up bag. Ah well, when will companies learn its not just about looking good in store!

I quite like twisting these type of products up and using them as a stick, its quick, easy and almost fool proof. I apply this super quick in the morning, a quick triangle under each eye and dots where my blemishes currently are and then i buff it in with my Real Techniques Expert Face brush.

As you can see on my hand above the colour match is pretty spot on and it blends in without a trace.

You can see my fave below on one morning application, triangles on the under eyes and dots on my spots!

And below shows it blended in (so much better!)

I'm so pleased i picked this up in a 3 for 2, I otherwise might not have done and wouldn't have known how lovely and easy it was to apply and the great effects it has.

This retails for £6.49 and I'd definitely recommend getting them in a 3 for 2 deal, Revlon have some great products. not only the cult Lip Butters but I'd 100% recommend the PhotoReady primer, nail polishes and Colorstay foundation.

What's your favourite Revlon product? Do you love this concealer? What's your favourite?

L xxx