Firework Displays South Wales 2015

Hey All

I don't know about you but I love Bonfire Night. I love just going to watch firework shows!! I always find it a struggle to find what's going on so thought I'd share some of the one's I know about in South Wales and some things we've done before!

One I've heard the most about but I'm still yet to make and won't be able to this year either is Sparks in the Park. This is held in Bute Park behind Cardiff Castle and is on 7th Nov this year. Tickets are available online for it. It's meant to be such an amazing show one year I'll make it.

Caerphilly Castle  is another great display which is being held on 31st Nov. Another one I won't be able to make. If you really love fireworks you could go to both of these. This is a free one!

Ponty Big Bang  is one I used to go to when I was in university! It's on the 1st Nov in Ynysangharad War Memorial Park Pontypridd. It's a ticketed event which can be bought beforehand from.

Newport is bringing back it's display to Rodney Parade for the first time in 10 years. This one is being held on 5th Nov. Tickets for this one can be bought from Rodney Parade Office.

Swansea Bonfire Night Party is being held in St Helens Ground on 5th Nov. This sounds like a great event and has music as well. 

So that's some of the official firework displays. The last few years I've been up to Caerphilly Mountain on Bonfire night to eat the AMAZING Caerphilly mountain snack bar burgers and watch all the smaller firework displays across the valleys!

Are you going to watch fireworks this year? Does anyone know if there are any in Cardiff Bay?

Love M

xxx

Lush Yoga Bomb Bath Bomb

Hey there!

I don't know about you, but Lush is just one of those places that you can't ignore when it comes to pampering yourself. I've mentioned many many times that I don't even really like baths, to be honest I don't really have time for them so I never bother.

But even I can't resist a Lush bath bomb!

It's a rare occurrence but I can honestly say that I can't remember the last time I had a bath without a Lush product. I always get one at Christmas, my birthday, summer....there are a few a year and I do enjoy them because they really are a treat.

This time it was the Yoga Bomb that I purchased, and it was well worth it.

What I love about this one is that it takes around 8 minutes to fully dissolve - considerably longer than any other bath bomb. 

It begins to fizz slowly releasing a yellowy sunshine colour, and the main scent is Sandalwood Oil. This scent is uplifting and soothing, and along with Olibunum Oil means for a super relaxing and comforting smell whilst you lie back and relax.

The best part though? When the OTHER colours start fizzing through!

Beautiful colours of purple, orange and turquoise start showing through and creates an amazing rainbow, look how pretty!!!!

Bath bombs always feel like a treat for me but ones like these particularly so, it lasted for ages, smelled amazing and the colours were gorgeous.

You can purchase these from Lush for £3.95 which in my eyes is an absolute bargain.

Have you tried the Yoga Bomb bath bomb? What did you think?

Which one is your favourite? I still have so many more to try....

L xxx

Halloween Inspo Day of the Dead

Hey All

L, C and I are off to a Halloween Party on Saturday (you can see some of our previous halloween looks here and here) we've not been out for Halloween the last two years so decided it was time. The theme of the party is Day of the Dead. There are so many amazing tutorials for it that I couldn't wait to play. I ordered the Snazaroo Face Paints Ultimate Party Pack from Amazon and you can still get it in time for halloween. This one had a great set of colours and glitter in it so I was sold!

I saw lots of great tutorials so decided to just get stuck in and see what happened! I started with a white base all over. I used a mixture of a sponge and a brush to get as opaque a base as possible. I then set it with a barry m dazzle dust to give it a slightly shimmery finish. I started on the eyes but from looking at the photos I definitely did them too bit so would thin them at the sides and not go above the brows. I'd also like to get big gems around the eyes for the petals. I lined the eyes with black paint and a thin brush then coloured them in. I think I'd probably do the eyes all black and just colour around the edge next time. For the lips I just did the lines as think this looked better.

I like the web on the forehead and hopefully would have more room for it by making the eyes smaller and add a little spider. I contoured the cheeks and face using a black shadow to add depth. I'd be tempted to do this with a colour for halloween and maybe add a flower to the chin and some more swirls. As a practice I'm happy with it though. 

For an outfit I've decided to do a full length dress and corset. I'm probably going to whiten and contour my chest and get some contacts too but happy with my practice!

Are you out for Halloween this year? Have you done day of the dead before?

Love M

xxx

Scott Cornwall Colour Restore Iced Platinum Review*

Hey All

Hope you've had a great weekend! Mine had been spent moving in with C. We've finally got our own little place. We've managed to get lots sorted and our downstairs is all arrange but the two spare rooms still need lots of work!

Just before we moved I tested out the Scott Cornwall Colour Restore in Iced Platinum. A few months back I put a box dye on my hair and it went really brassy. My hair has a tendency to do this but I still haven't learnt! I tried my usual favourites that have previously worked (Bleach London Toner and Bblonde!) great at lifting out the brassiness but nothing was helping so when I was offered the chance to try this I couldn't wait!

The Colour Restore contains no peroxide or ammonia which is great as bleached hair is usually pretty damaged and my box dyed hair was no exception (my mistake on my box dye I think was choosing one without ammonia, I think my hair needs proper bleach!). 

There are three different ways you can use Colour Restore as you can see about, It can be used like a purple shampoo to maintain brightness, create more of a highlight effect by using the comb through method or be used for whole head toning. I opted for the third method! The kit also comes with one set of gloves which is great as it does annoy me when toners don't have them!

The product is a deep purple which you would expect. It's a thick creamy consistency and really easy to apply because of this. I just squeezed it onto the gloves, rubbed it all through my hair, combed through it and then left it to do it's magic for 20 minutes. After washing it out hair is just styled as normal. My favourite thing about this is how soft my hair felt after washing it out. The bleach london one has me reaching for a conditioning mask but with this I just washed it out and styled it. My hair was so soft and shiny after!

And the result as that's what everyone wants to see. I think the lighting is a bit different in the photos which I know isn't the most helpful. The brassiness isn't fully gone but has massively improved and it has really blended the two distinct banding that I had in my hair before. My housemate as soon as she saw me also asked if I'd been to the hairdressers and had it done so I do think it looks better in person!

The Colour Restore also comes in browns, reds and various blonde shades! Which is great for topping up the hair in between dyes without damaging it. 

I'll definitely be repurchasing this over the other toners now as it's done a slightly better job and left my hair in better condition!

You can pick up colour restore and the great decolourer from boots!

Do you tone your hair?

Love M

xxx

Ebay Make Up Brushes

Hey All

After seeing a post on Make Up Savvy's blog I've been debating trying eBay brushes for a while. I'm always after new make up brushes as you can never have enough right! When I saw this set for around £6 delivered I decided to give them ago.

The set comes with 5 face and 5 eye brushes and with different colour options if you search. I thought black on black looked the best. It was also a UK seller so arrived really quickly with free postage.

left to right are the Round Kabuki, Flat Kabuki, Tapered Kabuki, Flat Angled Kabuki and Angled kabuki.

The first thing I noticed when they arrived was how soft they were! I really didn't expect them to feel so nice but they are pretty much as soft as real techniques brushes and as densely packed! There are 5 different shapes and all of them are great. I've mainly only used them for foundation at the moment but the shape of some of them will make them perfect for contouring and blush too. They work great with liquid and powder products I've tried and don't shed. They give the same flawless finish as my RT buffing and expert face brush!

They are all synthetic hair but do have different textures depending on what they are best used for and the shape of the brush.

For each of the face brushes there is a corresponding shaped eye brush. These are as soft as the face brushes but I've found my self using them for other things. The size and fluffiness of them has made them great for blending in concealer. Some work as crease brushes and I find them good for final blending but they don't seem to pick up eyeshadows great for application. I do still reach for them on a daily basis and would order more.

Due to the price the only quality lacking in them is the finish as you can see here on this brush there are stray hairs. This was present in a few brushes but hasn't affected how they work. In some brushes I've pulled them out and some I've left them.

Overall I'm really impressed in my first lot of eBay brushes and will definitely be ordering more.

Have you tried cheap brushes and been impressed? At 60p a brush you really can't complain at these!

Love M

xxx

Go Ape at Margam Park

Hey All

Hope you've had a great weekend and there isn't too much of those Monday blues! I've been busy doing lots of things lately and have a few great places I wanted to share. Go ape is something I've wanted to do for ages. I love doing fun things and anything that may give me an adrenaline rush I'm drawn to. One weekend me and C had a free weekend so decided we'd just go to Margam Park for a wonder. As we didn't have his car that weekend we used public transport from Cardiff. We got a train to Port Talbot then a bus from just across the road from the station which dropped us basically outside. Google maps is great for figuring out public transport routes!

We grabbed sandwichs from a local deli (if you're local to Cardiff definitely go to deli rouge sometime! The sandwichs are amazing as is the full monty breakfast roll, they also serve tea pigs and fentimens drinks!)and had planned to just stroll around the park. Margam Park has beautiful grounds and an amazing house, which we didn't get chance to look around so we'll have to go back. It's also got a great play area for kids!

After a quick stroll we decided to wonder up to Go Ape and see how much it was and if there was space! After being told we could go back in 1 hours and we had the last slot of the day we decided to just go for it. It was £35 each for Adults so not the cheapest but the course does take around 1 hr 45, so it isn't a quick activity. Go ape is a high ropes activity course where you are clipped in and swing from things or climb.

As it was unplanned I ended up doing the course in a playsuit. The women did duoble check as she was giving me my harness. I did have to pull down the shorts a few times to save my dignity! You do need to be in suitable clothing and footwear to go round it.

After a safety briefing and being shown how to clip yourself in and out we were taken to the first section where an instructor checks your can do the different types of things safely before you get sent off. There are four other sections you can then go round. Each end up with a zip wire too!

There were different types of attachments to get used to depending on what you were doing. Before each section there was a difficulty rating, rules and displays showing you how to safely clip yourself in.

This was the first zip wire out of five. It was a low one so you could practice how to land properly!

Tarzan swings were really fun. If you didn't want to do the big one there was an alternative route and on sections with areas described as extreme difficulty there was an alternative.

At the centre you can buy things like gloves and safey cords for phones. I bought one so we could take photos and I'm glad we did! 

I opted for the going through on my back for this one! It killed the news otherwise, it was so weird as this one was really high above ground to just look down!

This one was described as extreme and it was so hard!! It reminds me of hang tough from gladiators (I always wanted to go on that!!). As the rings moved so much it was a little scary. I kept worrying if I fell out of the hoop I wouldn't have the arm strength to pull myself back up!

We had such a fun day doing this course!! Once you complete it you get a certificate and money off your next one. With Go Apes dotted around the country I'd definitely go and do another course.

Have you been to a Go Ape or high ropes course? Would you?

Love M

xxx

Beauty Rehab

Hey all!

I've got my first Beauty Rehab since moving out - it's been a weird kind of obsession keeping all my empties whilst I've moved and decorated but I've succeeded. What's annoyed me even more was the fact I no longer have my lovely white desk at my parents house, so nowhere to photograph them. hmmmph.

So instead I've taken some pretty awful photos on a dark rainy evening on top of a super old blanket chest in my living room - with boxes full of stuff to sort in the background. It's not ideal but it was time to sort through them all!

Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation - I loved this when i purchased it as my skin must have been a lot better. Nowadays I'm always tired so need a lot more!
Estee Lauder Double Wear - loved this, would definitely repurchase
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish - hated this, keeping the bottle for Back 2 Mac. The finish was awful!
Vichy Dermablend - also love this, it's a long term staple in my make up bag and I have another 2 as back ups!
Rimmel Stay Matte powder - love this too, why pay more when this powder is as good as Mac if not better

Dr Bronner's Citrus Orange Soap - love the smell of this so much, I'd repurchase from TK Maxx or similar as it's much cheaper
Aussie products - love love love Aussie and would repurchase always!

Batiste Dry Shampoo - love this stuff, saves me on a weekly basis when there just isn't enough time for washing hair! Always buy them in bulk in every scent, and especially the dark one
Aussie Dry Shampoo - to be honest this was pretty awful. it was like a well scented hairspray, but stickier, it wasn't a dry shampoo at all which was disappointing
L'Occitane Conditioner - considering this is quite expensive for a conditioner it was pretty average. I'm not fussy with hair products at all but it took me forever to use it up as it made my hair feel like straw
Nip and Fab Detox Blend Body Wash - this was also pretty average which was a shame as I love their skincare line

Nip and Fab Deep Cleansing Fix - talking of Nip and Fab, this is a great buy! Even better when it's on offer, its a cleanser mask etc etc wonder product!
Vaseline deodorant - I wouldn't normally bother sharing my deodorant but I always find these cans disappointing, supposedly compressed but realistically I don't think they are at all
Boots Nail Polish Remover - this was great, full of acetone so not ideal but worked a treat on glitter!
Dove Summer Glow Body Lotion - I'm embarrassed to think how old this bottle is, look at that old packaging! Still a favourite with me though, the best tanning moisturiser

Good Things Argan Oil Facial Serum - this tube disappeared overnight, I need to buy this in massive tubs!
Origins Drink Up mask - this is great, I'd repurchase purely for the smell but the effects on my skin are pretty awesome
Lacura Aqua Complete Serum - a super buy for the £3.99 price tag from Aldi, definitely worth slapping on and I have a few variations of it in my drawer
Elemis Pro-Radiance Cleanser - this was a lovely product to try as I'd never used Elemis before, a great cleanser and I'd love a full size if I could afford it!
No7 Facial Wipes - always in my stash somewhere for saving me when the day has been so long

Effaclar Duo - already repurchased during my trip to Paris, an absolute essential!
Lacura Beautifying Serum - on my second bottle, enough said!
Tigi BedHead Some Like it Hot - not sure if this serum really works but it was a lovely serum that didn't coat the hair and leave it feeling plastic or dry
Gilchrist and Soames Shower Gel - wasn't a fan of this smell, wouldn't repurchase

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast mascara - pretty good mascara but I still find Rimmel the best for the price
Benefit Roller Lash - i love Benefit mascaras, they are definitely the best for me and I'm one of those people that likes both this and They're Real, unfortunately just cannot justify buying it at the moment - this makes me very sad and I'm saving up Boots points
Models Own Nail Polish - I loved this champagne gold colour and cannot believe it's dried up! Will need to buy another
Benefit Porefessional - love this and have kept my minis for travelling so I can get through airports without hassle!
Real Techniques Expert Face brush - sadly this one has died on me and the bristles have started to fall out as you can see. Not much point in keeping it now! Will repurchase another when I'm feeling spendy

So what do you think of my empties? Have you been using up lots or have you been hoarding like I used to?

I think with all of my empty foundation bottles I'm due a treat of a new one don't you think???

L xxx

Life Lately

Hey All

Long time no post from me,  life really has been a bit crazy lately. The dude got back from a trip, I've had two weeks off work and just lots going on. I've got lots I want to share on here but thought today I'd do a little life update on some things I'll probably go into more detail on soon.

Pretty soon after he got back we had a black tie dinner to attend to celebrate our kickboxing club. It was so nice to get all dolled up and I got to wear my bridesmaid dress from a few years ago too! I had so much fun we ended up staying out till about 1ish but by then my ankle was really sore as it was only a few weeks after I'd sprained it!

By the time he got back we'd planned stuff for all our weekends. The following one we headed up to London to see some of his friends from uni. We ended up travelling all over :London using the boats, cable car and tubes to have an explore and ended up at the Greenwich observatory. It was such a cool day and I was glad I finally got myself an oyster card as it made it all so much easier. After catching a super late bus back from London I had a spa day with my mum. I love going for treatments but was left a bit disappointed by the afternoon tea! Me and the dude also decided to let the parents meet each for the first time. Definitely scary but they all got on really well thankfully.

L and I also got to catch up properly. I swear I have no time at the moment. We went for a sushi date as it's been ages and who can resist Yo Sushi! during September blues. We also headed to techniquest which you can read about here. Having never been I was so excited and definitely want to go to an afterdark session again!

Then the start of two weeks off work happened and some exciting developments. Me and the Dude, (I guess I should update him to C now to go along with the theme of things here!) have decided to move in together. We've been looking at places for a while but decided to finally go for it after finding a cute little house. I'm so excited to make it our home for the next year while we save to buy somewhere or travel. I'm already planning what I can make and he's even said I can scratch off where I've been to his scratch map! That's commitment right there ha!

For our two weeks off as loads of stuff was going on we decided to stay in the UK and go glamping after some friends had stayed in a Geo dome in Scotland. We decided to stay nearer to home and went to Hay-On-Wye. We had the best time there and I'll share more on it as it was amazing!

We've also spent a few day's in York visiting Cs grandma. I'd never been and loved all the buildings and little shops. We stayed in a really cute hotel. We also headed down to West Wales for a few days with my family for a break. It's been a busy two weeks but great one's too!

With it being the Rugby World Cup we've had busy weekends to fit in watching it all. I've loved seeing it but was definitely rather grumpy when England got knocked out! I finally managed to watch my first match in the Stadium too. What a match getting to see the Haka!! It was such a great atmosphere and I really need to go more now.

So there is my busy few weeks! It's not going to get any easier either with now a house move in two weeks and busy weekends but it'll all be worth it!

Love M

xxx