You Beauty Box

Hey all!

We've both been buying lots of similar things recently so we're back in the swing of writing double posts, we hope you like them!
Today's double review is the You Beauty box. Each box is limited edition and you get a choice each month of two products. You also get some products added in for free, and all this comes for just £6.95 delivered to your door - amazing!

This month we both couldn't resist and signed up mostly because Sasha from Ramblings of a Beauty Bird basically told us to, she is such an enabler!

It was nothing to do with the fact you could get a full size Illamasqua lipstick in a beautiful matte blood red finish for less than half of the normal £18.50 price tag.



Not only that there was also a travel sized version of Dove's Advanced Hair Series Youthful Vitality Shampoo and Conditioner - perfect for L now she's travelling a lot with work.

And also a lovely snack of a Nakd bar. We're big fans of healthy snacks and these are gluten, wheat and dairy free containing only cold pressed fruits and nuts and are normally around 100 calories, they're also perfect to take around with you in your handbag when you need a boost on the go.

This box was dedicated to the Best of British and came with a card to detail each of the products inside. We both chose the same this month, the Illamasqua lipstick and also the Good Things Manuka Honey Face Mask which L has been lusting after for a while. 

We both think this is such good value for £6.95 even without the lipstick. The lipstick is a beautiful bold red that would suit most people and is totally worth the £18.50 price tag for the pigmentation and finish.



Here it is on. The shade that comes in the box is Sangers which is still available to buy. It's matte but glides on easily doesn't dry out the lips and literally lasts all day.

The other products in the box are really generous sample sizes which is great as you will get to use them more than once like you would get with a sachet. It definitely seemed too good to be true. It's a great alternative to more expensive boxes and you get to choose two products each month you want to receive and then get extra ones thrown in or you can cancel for that month.

Have you tried You Beauty box? Do you think £6.95 is a much better price for a beauty box?

Who doesn't like receiving presents in the post?!

L and M xxx

Maybelline Dream Satin Foundation

Hey All

This has been another hectic weekend for me. I was away in Bath for a friends hen do. It was a really good weekend but I was left disappointed by Bath Spa. I've wanted to go for such a long time but it was definitely very expensive for what you got. Scarily I've also now been taken off cake duty to be on official bridal and bridesmaid hair and make up. As someone who is totally self taught and only ever does my own face I'm nervous ha!

Anyway onto today's review. Just before I went to Iceland we went back to my parents for a weekend. Annoyingly I got home and realised that in trying to pack light for Iceland I'd only grabbed one foundation and it was a foundation that was currently about two shades too dark for me. This meant a rush into my local town (which is small ) to try and find a foundation. If I'd been in Cardiff I'd have just grabbed my old faithful Illamasqua skin base but as I was home this wasn't an option so grabbed two Maybelline ones and hoped they were ok.

If your around my age I'm sure you'll have tried dream matte mouse. When I was in school that was the bees knees of foundation. Add a thick layer of that bad boy and you had a 'perfect' skin! I was curious to see what the liquid was like. 

I picked up the dream satin liquid hoping it was different to it's mouse type sister. It comes in 8 shades with light porcelain being the lightest. I do feel like they could do with a shade lighter as it is border line for me. It comes in simple glass packaging with a pump. A pump always makes a foundation a winner for me.

The dream satin liquid felt nice and the hand and blended in easily to give a light coverage.Unless I'm on a night out now I prefer light coverage. I don't like my face to feel masked and if I have a spot I sort of think oh well I'm probably not covering that without a very heavy layer of make up, and to be honest I'm too lazy for that in the mornings (this comes from the girl who usually does her make up on the bus as that means I get 10 extra minutes in bed.

Bare skin

Just foundation

Finished and set with powder

The dream satin liquid claims to have an air whipped texture to give an airbrushed 100% pore less skin. I definitely don't agree with that. It doesn't emphasise my pores but it definitely doesn't make them disappear. It does give a nice medium natural coverage and the satin finish as promised. It was also a thicker than I expected but it does blend into the skin effortlessly I find it needs a few minutes to sit in the skin before you powder. It will cover the redness in my skin and spots if they aren't too bad.

Definitely not covering pores and does take a few minutes to settle or it looks shiny! 

I find it lasts enough to get me through a work day but would need topping up if I was out after work and wanted to look good.

For me it's a good everyday foundation but I do prefer bourjois to this if I was picking high street.

Have you tried either of these?

Do you have a preference?

Love M

xxx

Life

Hello!

It's been a while since I've done a life post and to be honest I've got so much to share it's been a bit of a whirlwind. My job that I haven't posted about much since I started it back in October has been progressing really well. There's a lot of training and it can be hard work, sometimes all I can do when I finish is get home and sleep! But I'm so much happier than I was in my old job and the people I work with are really nice.

As part of my job I will be travelling around visiting customer sites to provide things like training and assistance - cue lots of meals out that work have paid for. I have been loving trying out lots of new restaurants but I don't think my expanding waistline will be!




I've mainly been to Salisbury so far which wasn't somewhere I had been before - I stopped at Bills for food which was good as I'd never been there and their pink lemonade was beautiful! The bottle was cute to start with the but it tasted amazing and I love that they put fruit in with it too.

The food was also amazing and I had the chicken, winter coleslaw and sweet potato chips. I was so hungry but after this I was full and could have slept for hours - the best kind of feeling.

I've also been checking out the Wagamamas - salmon yaki soba is my new favourite thing! My mum does a similar meal with salmon, stir fried veg and noodles but this is also really good. It's my favourite kind of food!

I have also tried to have a walk most evenings to get some fresh air and attempt to combat the food I've been scoffing. Doing some wandering ensured that I cam across the beautiful Salisbury Cathedral. It's a shame it's always been dark when I've been there as I imagine it would look beautiful in daylight and I'd love to see inside too.

Totally changing topic me and M went to our friends for an overnight stay and I decided to make some snacks to take with us - being Harry Potter obsessed I made some biscuits using my mums owl shaped cutter, they were just like shortbread and a definite hit!


With this month's pay day I was determined not to spend my money on make up, I need to save some money and also work through my massive pile of products. I've been looking into buying a house (more on this soon!) and one thing I really want is a massive bookcase. I have tonnes of books, new and old leather type ones that I'd love to make a feature of.

The Barnes and Noble books are something that you just cannot ignore, not only do they have most childhood books available but also the classics too. I can't rave about them enough and the Alice in Wonderland book was my faovurite.....until I saw these online and had to buy them!

Gray's Anatomy is the absolute Bible for any medic interested individual. It even has plenty of anatomy drawings, some points are outdated so using this to teach yourself medicine would be a bad idea but nevertheless its very interesting and one that I just had to have on my shelf.

I also couldn't help but notice the beautiful Secret Garden book too, it had a few % off on Amazon and also there weren't many left so I panicked and snapped one up!





I love the covers as they are but the quote on the back is lush!

I'm finishing today's post with a picture of my dog after an extremely rainy walk - my parents went away for a holiday and left us in charge, the horrible weather and being ditched by my dad left him looking a little bit sad! Look at those eyes!

What have you all been up to recently?

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Fit Clothes Wishlist

Hey there! 

Today's post is MUCH later than planned courtesy of a mental week (house buying eek!) and my birthday so today's post is a wishlist of all of the new sportswear that I'm seeing all over the shops at the moment. it's too beautiful to ignore and I am sure I need some new bits to add to my collection and give me some more motivation to keep fit.

Florence and Fred (F&F) have an amazing range of sportswear that I had no idea about!

Here's a few favourites of their range:

 

The sports bra is really cute and only £12, the matching leggins arre only £15!

They also have some great basics and their neon coloured trainers look really cool too, especially for only £20!

Body Science is a new brand to me but I've seen lots of their leggings and bras on the internet recently; and it's not hard to see why!

 

These bras cost £36 each and are beautiful, I'm not brave enough to just wear these in the gym but they'd look fab under a black vest too! Hazel Wallace is modelling the camo bra and I've previously featured her in a Fitness Friday post here!

I also love their leggings which are mostly black and have patterns running through them, this is the Dahlia print leggings (view from the back shown) and they come in at £80.

You can find them here at Active in Style.

Lorna Jane is another brand I've heard of courtesy of Hazel Wallace and their Avana Excel tank top is definitely on my wishlist, Spring colours and a clever cut in at the waist to make you appear slimmer, lovely! This tank top is £40.

I love the patterns on these leggings and bra too, how can you not want to wear them?!

 

Leggings are £63 and the bra is £41.

I have definitely spent my birthday money 10 times over in my head after researching these! I love the new floral prints and brighter colours, everyone needs a bit more colour in their life right!

Which one is your favourite? Have you heard of these brands before? Did you know Florence and Fred did active wear?

I love that there are so many more options now for sports wear on the high street!

L xxx

Beauty Rehab

Hey everyone!

It's that time again when I've almost filled another bag full of empties and need to share them with you. Again I've been pretty good but my stash just isn't going down, facial skincare seems to take up so much of it and you just can't pile it on or use it up like you can others like body moisturiser!

So without further ado here's my recent empties:

Clarins Cleansing Cream  - quite a good sample to try though I'm not sure I'd purchase the full size,felt a bit greasy which is surprising as my skin is on the dry side now
Vichy Densifying Care - honestly, I'm not sure what this is but I used it as a moisturiser. It was quite nice but I've never seen anything like it in the shops!
Benefit Porefessional - another travel size used up, I'll need to stock up somehow for my future travels! It's a great primer for all round
Rimmel Brow This Way - the high street version of Benefit's Gimme Brow, admittedly not as good but for my minimal budget whilst I'm saving it has been great. I've bought another to keep me going!

Antipodes Reincarnation Exfoliator - I have really liked every product I've tried from Antipodes but this one did feel a bit on the safe side, as a scrub it had more of a powder texture so was a very light scrub. Wouldn't repurchase but does smell amazing!
Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask - I need this in my life again, I must repurchase it but I'm using it as an incentive to use up all my other hydration masks and oils!
Rimmel Stay Matte - still the best powder out there for me, works a charm and doesn't break the bank, winning.
Models Own 4 way Nail Block - Can never go wrong with one of these blocks, makes me have natural looking manicured nails, perfect for work.

Sachet central this month!
Bb Color Minded Shampoo and Conditioner - really liked these and have miniature versions to try soon!
Rodial Stem Cell Facial Oil - REALLY liked this, shame about the £60/30ml price tag which means that I will never be able to afford it :(
Kiehls Cucumber Toner - as someone who can take or leave toner I was surprised how refreshing this felt though I can't say I would purchase the full size
Philosophy Keep the Peace cream - can't say this was for me, felt too perfumed and my skin didn't have a positive reaction
Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream - Really liked this when I had a full pot of it, the minis are great for travelling
StriVectin Antioxidant Defence Lotion - this was a lovely sachet too and my skin drank it up, haven't tried much from Strivectin before so would like to try more

Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum - this was a nice serum and my skin seemed to drink it up but the tester was really stingy. Not sure I'd purchase this
Jurlique Rosewater Mist - not a toner fan but I can't say this did anything for me
REN Global Protection Day Cream - not a fan, my skin didn't like this as it felt greasy and brought me out in a few spots
Vichy Dermablend - love this foundation, looks so natural on my skin and I have already repurchased

White Company Shampoo and Conditioner - these were from a set of testers given to me, I still stand by my statement that shampoo and conditioner need not be expensive
Stile One Step Primer - really liked this but it's expensive for the effects that it has, I've used cheaper with the same effects so I wouldn't repurchase right now
Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defense - this was light and didn't weigh my hair down but didn't feel any positive effects either!
Nip and Fab No Needle Fix Serum - full post coming on this one soon but I personally prefer the Dragon's Blood serum from N&F

No7 Brush Cleaner - This was sometimes useful but tended to leave a film on the brushes so I gave up in the end, made them far too oily
St Tropez Body Moisturiser - lovely moisturiser pre tanning as it's so light, would buy this if it wasn't more expensive than other moisturisers that do a similar job
Aussie Color Mate Shampoo - Aussie is my favourite hair brand, their 3 min miracle is my favourite conditioner and this shampoo is also on my repurchase list
SachaJuan Hair Repair - this was a lovely conditioner but nothing on the 3 min miracle mentioned above, wouldn't repurchase

JPG MaDame perfume - I have 2 bottles in the sidelines, favourite scent EVER
S&G Slimwear - Not sure this does anything at all to help reduce cellulite but extra moisturisation can never be a bad thing
Nioxin Scalp Treatment Spray - I think has gone off courtesy of the weird smell, can't comment on the effects of this one
Nip and Fab Cleansing Oil - after finding out this has mineral oil in I've been avoiding using it on my skin so it's just going to go in the bin now

Nars Creamy Concealer - new fave concealer, hydrating and good coverage, already repurchased
Nip and Fab Viper Venom Eye Roll On - really liked this, would repurchase when I finish some others in my stash
Caudalie Polyphenol Protect Fluid - not sure if this was a serum or not but it was lovely and hydrating, as an extra step with SPF I'd consider buying this
Caudalie Polyphenol Anti Wrinkle Defense Serum - another lush serum, my skin drank it up and felt really hydrated, would consider purchasing this

I have definitely been a busy bee finishing these up. As a quick life update I've just bought a house this week (SO SCARED AND EXCITED!!!!) so now using up my stash has become a huge priority so that I don't have to lug it all with me when I move all my stuff out!

I'll be starting working my way through more samples so the volume of products can be reduced as much as possible, big efforts are needed!

What have you been using up recently? Have you been getting through products at this rate?

L xxx

Lush Golden Egg Bath Melt

Hey All

Lush Golden Egg is a bath bomb melt in their current Easter range and one we were lucky enough to get to try after attending an event (you can read more on it here and see the amazing carrot soap!)

Golden Egg is an amazing gold glitter egg for Easter and retails for £3.75. It's a Lush Bath Bomb melt so doesn't fizz quite as much as a normal bath bomb and provides a little bit of bubbles and some moisturiser. It would make a great alternative to an Easter egg for someone that doesn't eat chocolate.

It's got an amazing sweet toffee scent to it but also has bergamot and sweet orange oil so it's not sickly sweet and has a refreshing hint to it. To make it a melt it contains cocoa butter (which goes great with the toffee scent) and olive oil to leave your skin feeling amazing after a bath. Great for these grey days when you don't want to be cold and apply a moisturiser post bath!

You can see how glittery the egg is, and it comes off onto your skin easily so definitely not one to touch until the last possible moment!
I just dropped it straight into a hot bath and watched the magic slowly unfold.





This one took some time to melt away and made the bath a lovely sunshine yellow with a few bubbles. It was really moisturising too and is my favourite thing about Lush bath products as they make my skin feel so much nicer! Even though it's really glittery it leaves the bath looking shimmery and pretty but you're not left looking like a glitter ball when you get out.

Have you tried any of the Easter Range?

Lush have so many lovely products to try at the moment!


Love L and M

xxx

Five Guys

Hey All 

With Five Guys shortly making its way to Cardiff (30th March) I thought I’d share my thoughts on it when I recently tried it in Bristol. I’d heard a bit of a mixed review on it. Some people raved about it some people thought it was overrated for a burger place. 

Before going I’d seen lots of pictures on instagram so knew slightly what to expect. To be honest at first I was overwhelmed when I saw the menu. Basically it’s just burgers fries and hot dogs but I had no idea about sizing.  

For fries little is for 1 person, regular is for 2 and large is for 3 roughly (the bloke serving my brother did suggest little was for one person, the who served me obviously thought I could eat the bigger portion!). I’m a fatty and finished basically a portion of regular to myself but it was big and unnecessary for me to eat so many. The burgers follow a similar theme, my brother ordered a little which turned out to be a single and the regular is a double burger. 

One thing I loved straight away about 5 guys is your burger is made to order, so when you order you chose from a massive list of toppings and add what you want, from lettuce to gherkins to bbq sauce. They had so many options to add to it. It’s great for fussy eaters and also nicer than most fast food where it’s been sat waiting for a while. 

Drinks in there are expensive but they are free refills. I believe they are around the £2.50 mark. I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many drink options. You’ve got coke, sprite, fanta, still fanta and powerade to name a few and then in most of these the zero options and then they also have flavour options like strawberry, vanilla and orange. There are so many choices. Me and my brother had 6 drinks between us just so we could try them all. 

There are also free peanuts (like GBK) in the shell to help yourself to while you wait for your food. Which won’t be long. It was really busy when we were in there and our food took only a few minutes. Word of warning….. this is fast food! Your food comes to you in a paper bag, your chips are sort of just thrown in and your burger is wrapped in foil. You’re not getting a perfectly layered burger with a skewer and chips in a metal bucket served on a slab of wood type burger but you are getting some amazing food.  

The chips (the reason I ate a regular portion to myself) are amazing! They are skin on fries and were so tasty. They were crisp enough without being over done and a great size of in between fat and skinny. I literally couldn’t stop eating them! 

And the star of the show the burger. Now this bad boy doesn’t look pretty and albeit a little bit squashed but OMG!! It’s a bloody tasty burger. I think the first bite resulted in a smile! I also like that it’s a burger you can bite it’s big but not to big and I did find I didn’t get messy which is always a bonus no fat dripping down my arm! 

My food wasn’t the cheapest a double cheeseburger is about £8 and I think a single is around £5. Little chips were around £2.50 regular £4 and large £5. I think in future I’d order large and share with who was with me.  

I'm definitely on the five guys bandwagon. Both me and my brother would go as far as to say it’s one of the best burgers we've eaten. It’s hard to categorise it as it’s fast food like Burger King and McDonalds but in the price bracket of GBK. It’s fast food but so much tastier than any of three I've mentioned. I'm so happy it’s coming to Cardiff but also slightly concerned for my waist line! 

I hope my friends are ready to be taken there a lot! 

Are you a five guys fan? 

Love M 

xxx