Spring Series: Tanning!

We're back with our last but one installment in our Spring Series.

We've already covered fitness, hands, feet, facal skincare and body care.

This weeks topic is tanning, and I will be referring back to Pinterest for the obligatory pictures of tanned and toned bodies.

 

So that's enough to get me laying off the pizza for a few hours...

As we all know tanning can help to make your skin appear more uniform, hide scars and make you look more toned and slimmer. As far as I'm concerned this is a pretty damn good thing so I try and do this every time I go out (which sadly is getting a more rare occasion!).

To do this I normally have been keeping up with my scrub and moisturise routine so my skin is in good condition.

Then I start with a few days tanning 'prep' by using Dove tanning moisturiser.

I find that I'm so pale I need a few layers of this to get my skin to a relatively normal colour.

After this when my skin is super moisturised and a few shades darker than it was before, my first choice for application would be Vita Liberata's Extra Rich Silken Chocolate lotion which I have previously posted about.

I just haven't found anything else like it that is so easy to apply, gives a great even colour and fades more evenly than anything else also. It's a lotion in a pump that seems to last such a long time before you need to buy another, I'm a huge fan!

Having said that, if you're looking for a mousse option I am a fan of St Tropez's mousse which is great for your weekend tan as well. It's easy to rub in and control how much you're applying for an even colour.

If you're looking for a spray option then I recommend Garnier's Ambre Solaire which is also a great budget buy and always on offer. It dries pretty quickly but I do recommend covering your flooring before hand, don't cover your blue carpet and make it a brown colour like I did.....

I like to make sure my tan is done before the day it needs to be done so I can apply some sort of shimmery stuff but this isn't always possible and i find they don't mix together too well!

So as for wash off tans, I absolutely love Rimmel's Sun Shimmer Instant Tan range. There's everything you want from a mousse to a lotion for some instant even colour. 

After this I do like to apply some shimmer to the middles of my limbs and collar bones.

Mixing High Beam with your facial moisturiser can be really good to apply to your collarbones and chest area.

I find a spray such as Soap and Glory's Easy Glistening super easy to use as you can just hold it a fair distance away for a sheen and closer for a heavier coating. It's made from almond oil so its more of a dry oil and gives a subtle sheen which I prefer to an all over glitter look!

What are your favourite tanning products?? Do you prefer mousse or lotions or sprays?

L xxx

I'm naturally very pale, if I'm not the palest shade in a foundation it's a surprise. Being naturally blonde I have very freckly skin too so during the summer I get a little tan if I sunbathe but my skin doesn't tan particularly well (50 degree sun in Ibiza and I still came back with white legs despite using factor 8 on them, it's like they repel the sun).

I love fake tan. I've mentioned before I'm naturally very pear shaped, hello huge bum, this does mean I have cellulite towards the top of my thighs which never looks great with a dress. I always tan for a night out as it does help improve the appearance, and I prefer the way I look with a tan.

I'm like L and start with a good exfoliation (favouring Next Spa scrub or a Soap and Glory one) followed by  lots of moisturiser and shaving 24 hours prior to tanning.

My tastes in tan has changed over the past 18 months. It started with me absolutely loving Fake Bake Mouse. It gave an even colour, was a reasonable price and was easy to apply.

After trying a sample set of St Tropez lotion I was totally converted to lotions. I find they are so much easier and I think they last longer so are therefore better for value. I loved St Tropez but as I'm so pale I was finding I needed to apply it for 2 or 3 days in a row to get a good colour pay off from it after washing off. The other thing with St Tropez was that it has the typical fake tan smell. Which results in my Other Half complaining I stink.

After much deliberation I decided to try Lauren's Way. Something about celebrity endorsed products always puts me off and makes me doubt how good they are. This product received so many rave reviews I wondered if it could be that good. Plus lets face it Lauren has sported more than one bad orange tan and no one wants that look. I ordered the darker than dark lotion.

Firstly if you are pale don't be worried about darker than dark. It gives a gorgeous natural glow, it's green tinged before being washed off which does help it not turn orange. Another bonus it doesn't smell typical fake tan straight away. I find when it's developed it does have a slight smell but nothing as bad.

Overall I love this tan. It's even colour, gives a great colour pay off after one application, smells better than others and is cheaper than St Tropez.

My favourite tan at the moment is Glo Tan Tan in a Can. Since receiving this product it has now been released for public sale and the packaging looks a lot better. Much more sleek.

I'm so glad we were lucky enough to try this (original review here), I've been totally converted. My can has now done three full body applications and still has around half left. It gives the most natural result (once you've mastered application which I had by the second attempt). Due to being a spray it gives a light coating all over the skin so no streaks are left. I tend to use a clean mitt and slightly buff it in. I do still think it's harder to apply than other tans but for me I wouldn't use any others now.

I favour Glo Tan over others still because with this I can tan on a Friday night and wake up on Saturday with a good colour. Other tans require two coats on my pale skin. It also really doesn't smell. I find other tans that claim not to smell do after they've developed. Literally can't say enough positive things about this tan. It is slightly more expensive at £26. But it does last a long time.

In 18 months I've gone from mouse to liquid to spray. What's your favourite tan? Will you pay more for a better product?

Love M

xxx

Spring Series: Facial Skincare!

Hi all! We're back with another post in our Spring Series.

We've previously covered our favourite products and tips ranging from footcare to fitness and hands to body care, and you can catch up with all of them on this link.

This week is dedicated to facial skincare to help you with your way to brighter and more glowing skin!

I have recently been looking over my skincare products in shock at how much my collection has grown in the past year (eek!).

There are products for everything you can possibly imagine so initially it was hard to narrow things down.

The best place to start for me however is with a great cleanser. Removing the dirt of the day to reveal your skin is the best place to start especially when combined with an exfoliator.

I tend to use either Liz Earle' Cleanse and Polish or Origins Checks and Balances for every day, and then Murad's AHA/BHA Cleanser to exfoliate as well.

This exfoliating cleanser has so many benefits it was hard to write about when we published our post a few days ago but honestly it has had such a great effect on my skin.

The next step I'd suggest is a good radiance inducing face mask. My favourite is the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal mask.

It's well known on the bloggersphere for being the one that's pretty much like marmalade, but the orange smell combined with the amazing radiance effect it gives your skin makes it top of my list when my skin is feeling a tad dull.

I tend to use this once a week, normally Thursday or Friday to give me a glow ready for the weekend!

Lastly for keeping your skin tip top for every day I would recommend the Make A Difference range.

I personally use the Rejuvenating Treatment due to my skin type but there are different types of moisturisers for all skin types which is what i love about it. There's a heavier cream for drier skins and a gel for oilier skins, both of which are light on the skin and don't clog the pores but deliver a hydrating punch that actually does diminish blemishes and has helped my skin to recover from my random bout of acne.

It has definitely helped my skin to become more uniform so fingers crossed it does the same for everyone! And as it's so light it would be great for warmer weathers.

Ginzing is another popular favourite, the eye cream has particles in it that helps to reduce any signs of tiredness and dreaded under eye bags. It sinks in easily and of course with all Origins products is free from nasties, hurrah!

There's my facial product tips for Spring, what would yours be??

L xxx

I'm the same as L and love to use Liz Eearle as my hot cloth cleanser of choice, I have tried the No7 one but I wasn't really a fan of that one. For some reason though I don't like to use a hot cloth cleanser in the shower so in the Mornings I'm currently loving Soap and Glory Peaches and Cream. This smells amazing and feels luxiourous as well as leaving my skin clean but not itght. It does suggest on the packaging it's more of an evening cleanser but I've noticed no problems using it during the day.

I'm also loving the Murad cleanser as my scrub of choice at the moment. I love using scrubs, it's good to make my skin feel extra clean and the Murad one is great and isn't too harsh as some can be.

As for masks I'm currently loving Origins Clear Improvement. I've reviewed that here. In love it for bad skin days and it's great for my oily skin and really helps control it. I really want another mask that's more of a brightening one. So any suggestions are welcome? I am tempted by Ren.

Something L didn't mention was toner. For me toner is a product I can't live without. I've been using a one from Lush, Breath of Fresh Air for about 3 years now. I love it, it closes my pores after cleansing and prepares my skin for moisuriser. I find when I don't use it I get spotty.

Lastly my favourites for Skin care have to be Origins for Eye Cream. For day I favour the Ginzing eye cream, it sinks in easily and has a brightening effect which is great for mornings. For evenings I prefer to use something thicker and more targetted for wrinkles. For this I use Origins A Perfect World for Eyes. This is a much thicker cream/gel forumla and feels great on the eyes.

I love using the Clinique Repairware laser focus serum. I use this before moisturiser. I'm hoping using products like this will delay me getting wrinkles for as long as possible.

Lastly for mosituriser I absolutely adore Clinique Super Defense and Super Rescue Cream (reviewed here) there is no better than this pair for me. Unfortunately they are expensive so I do try to use others to save money. Do you have products you love but can't afford to always splash out on?

What are your skincare must haves?

Love M

xxx

Spring Series: Feet!

Happy Sunday!

We're back with another Spring Series post, this week with our favourite products and tips for foot care.

If you want to read any of our other posts in the Spring Series, you can click here :)

If any of you know me in real life, i will be the first person to tell you that I absolutely hate feet.

(Random fact - I also hate belly buttons too, I'm paranoid people are going to try and touch mine and feel sick when other people touch theirs! Weird eh?!)

So following from that I try to hide my feet in winter as much as possible. Socks are my number one friend and especially cosy warm slipper socks, I wear them all year around actually just to have my feet covered!

But the one thing I will not let happen is my feet to get manky. I refuse to be a person that hates feet so much they don't even wash them so don't worry folks, they do get washed every day...

Aside from that though, in the winter I am rather lazy.

Spring and Summer require a different tactic however and I for one have to get my pedicure kit out and face the inevitable.

Firstly I either use my Ped-egg to remove hard skin or a foot file. I know you're supposed to soak them first but quite frankly for me, filing is the limit of tedium especially on feet.

So I get that bit out of the way first and slather on some foot cream. I've used quite a few over the years and have come to the conclusion that I'm not a fan of cooling ones but I do like mint smelling ones.

Anything will do really but i am partial to 'Heel Genius' from Soap and Glory as I do generally love their entire range and i would love to try the Origins one as it smells gorgeous too!

After that I push down my cuticles with my fingernails (I know, i know) and buff and file my toe nails into some sort of acceptable shape.

Then my favourite part (if that is possible) and the whole entire point of me doing a pedicure to make my feet look presentable is applying nail varnish.

I do favour certain colours and that's mainly due to my pale complexion. I stick with reds, pinks and other similar brights and some metallics. I've had the nail wraps kind of things and they were great for me as I just had to sit back and let someone else touch my feet and the pedicure stayed for a good few weeks, much longer than when I do it!

Basically my suggestion to you, is to wash and take care of your feet all year round, and pay a professional to do it in the summer. Worth every penny in my opinion! Is anyone else foot phobic??

L xxx

With spring hopefully on it's way followed by my favourite time of the year flip flop season!! I love flip flops and sandals and live in them as soon as it's remotely warm enough. I'm the same as L and start with my Ped Egg. I also don't soak mine. I find it really tickles and it's a job I really hate. It is the best thing for them though. I always used to use pumice stones but the Ped Egg gets the job done quicker. I've tried cheap versions but have found they aren't as good as the original. Which I actually found in local cheap shop (hyper value) for only 99p. With sandals there is nothing worse than having nasty looking heels.

When I have a spare few hours I like to load my feet up with a body butter put some socks on and put my feet up. I don't tend to use a specific foot cream as I like the feel of a body butter. They leave my feet soft and smooth. I do use Heel Genius as L mentioned above but manly as it comes in the big S&G sets at Christmas. I wouldn't go out and buy it specifically.

To groom my nails I use the cuticle trimmer featured on the blog this week (you can read here). I tend to use a buffing cube to smooth over my nails too as I find my toe nails can sometimes be quite rough and not smooth. Gross I know

I really like my toe nails to match my finger nail colour if they are showing. During winter I paint them if I go out and then I get lazy and leave the polish on but in the summer I like my toe nails to match my finger nails. I just think it looks better.

Ciate Jelly Bean

China Glaze Coconut Kiss

China Glaze Pool Party (this is L's but I adore it)

Max Factor Fantasy Fire and Rimmel 60 seconds  Sky High

I love bright colours on my nails! I think it looks nicer. Feet aren't the greatest to look at so something bright makes them better in my opinion. I need to find a better way to display my nail varnishes I think so that I actually use them more. I forget about some of the ones I have. What's your favourite nail colour shade for feet? Love M xxx

Spring Series: Hand and Nails!

Afternoon!

We're back again with another post for our Spring Series.

We've already covered Body Care and Fitness and you can read those here and here.

This week's post is dedicated to hands and nails, so if you're a bit of a manicure lover then this post is for you!

I used to be reeeeeeeeally bad at applying hand cream.

As I'm a contact lens wearer I'm always wary of using any kind of cream or soaps on my hands that may interfere when I put my lenses in, so have always avoided them like the plague.

(By this I don't mean that I never washed my hands, just avoided the thick scented ones that tend to stay on your skin!)

After realising that actually it takes 2 seconds to put my lenses in and I don't take them our for a few hours, I changed my tune and now working in a freezing cold lab I slather the stuff on!

I favour products that are organic and natural as I'm sure M does too so my favourite hand creams are from Crabtree and Evelyn, Dr Organic and L'Occitane.

All smell reeeeeeeeaally natural and sink straight into your skin.

As I'm new to the hand cream crew I cannot be dealing with waiting for it to sink in, unless it's when I'm getting into bed.

I also feel I should mention Soap and Glory's Hand Food as it is very popular and I also love the smell of that, but I don't feel like it is as good as it could be and obviously natural and organic wins out for me!

As for nails I am a firm believer in using a traditional 4 way block to file, shape, buff and shine my way to natural nails.

I have currently been using Model's Own and it's been great, love the bright neon colours too and the price is perfect at around £3.

As for nail colours for Spring....I'm a firm believer in nudes, pastels, metallics and pretty patterns.

You cannot go wrong if you pick any of the shades from the following pictures.

These are all of my favourite shades for Spring and I will making my way through each of them over the next few weeks!

As nail art is still so popular I can also see myself attempting M's Rose NOTD that she did a few days ago, or even a Spring version of my own layered polish pattern.

What are your favourite hand and nail tips? What's your favourite Spring colours?

L xxx

As with L I never used to apply hand cream as much as I should have. After realising how badly hands can age I thought it was time I took care of them. I also work in a laboratory so I have to wash my hands a lot and I find the soap very drying. As with L at first I loved Soap and Glory hand food but the more hand creams I've tried the less I like it and I think there are better out there for a better price. My favourite is an Avon Planet Spa one, in African Shea Butter. I adore the scent and it's a nice thick cream that moisturises without leaving hands feeling coated.



As I wear a lot of false nails now I don't tend to my natural nails as much as I should. To see what false nails I use and the tool I can't be without you can see it in my Rose NOTD linked above. I'll be doing a how I use the cuticle trimmer post this week.



I love using dotting tools and my striping tape to create different types of nail art. I'm not the type of girl who wears a plain colour much. I also favour the accent nail. For spring I think nude nails with a bright pink signature nail is a perfect look. Spring is also a great time to get out the pastel shades again.  Here are some of my favourite colours that I tend to gravitate towards for spring time!



Here is some spring inspired nails we did last year.



What's your favourite colour for spring?

Love M

xxx

Spring Series: Fitness!

This is the second in our new Spring Series of getting your body ready for some sunshine!

Last week's post was dedicated to Body Care and we discussed our favourite products we use to scrub and moisturise our skin into silkiness.

This week is dedicated to fitness, as we both have our own ways to keep fit and healthy, which all helps when you have to lessen your layers after indulging over Christmas!

My personal favourite ways to stay fit involve going to the gym, taking a range of classes, walking the dog and swimming.

A few years ago I wouldn't have been seen dead in a gym.

Just over a year ago though I signed up to a gym which has everything, a new personal trainer program every 6 weeks, a swimming pool, and a massive range of classes to keep even me entertained.

I am the kind of person who needs variety to keep me going in my quest to tone up.

I have classes that I dislike - pilates isn't physical enough for me and I love to hate spin though it is a great feeling when you've completed a class.

But there are so many that not even I can be bored!

My favourites are Body Pump (great for fat burning) and Body Combat (amazing for stress relief!).

The gym program is great, I would never have tried half the things that my trainer has given me to do and this I think is priceless.

I've tried swiss ball, TRX and more importantly kettle bells.

These are my absolute favourite as you really do see results after using them, they burn so many calories and require multiple muscle groups to work together maximising your workout time.

So basically what I'm saying is, if you were thinking about joining a gym 100% go for it!

It has quite literally changed my life and although it is very expensive I most definitely think it is worth it, for my health and general fitness, as well as how my body has changed.

However I don't think that you HAVE to join an expensive gym to get the most out of your workout.

Walking my dog or wandering around local areas such as beaches are a great way to burn calories and tone up, particularly if there's some sort of elevation involved like hill walking or hiking.

This is not my dog but I have such a similar picture I had to put it up!

The zumba classes at my gym aren't particularly energetic, so I have been to others that have a younger instructor and found these were BRILLIANT.

Zumba workouts are great fun, dancing around with your friends to the latest music is fun and burns a substantial amount of calories.

Swimming is also a great way to burn calories but I'll leave that to M to talk about as she's the bigger fan!

If you're lacking in motivation I find that Pinterest is one of the best places to look at.

They have so many pictures of inspirational women doing all sorts of exercises with beautiful bodies to aspire to and hints and tops for anything you can imagine.

If you're still lacking in motivation I find a new gym outfit or trainers always helps too!

If all else fails, I think about what makes me angry. It's a weird thing to do I know, but i think of what really gets on my nerves, things that have happened etc that I need to physically work off my stress or anger.

It works for me and I always feel like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders after doing it.

What are your work out tips??

If you'd like to check out my pinterest board the link is here.

(all pictures in this post are from there!)

L xxx

L was right I do love swimming. I used to run and did a lot of it during summer last year. You can read about how I got on with Couch to 10k here. This program made running so enjoyable for me and it really is great if you've not run before as it makes it so easy to build up running. 

I ran until October but by then an old knee and hip injury had resurfaced. When new year came around I decided to start again as I enjoyed going out and it's a great way to burn calories quickly. After one run my knee was hurting again so I had to find a new way to lose weight and tone up.

Since moving I was now near a great pool and after looking on line I saw a great deal for just £23 a month for unlimited swimming. Swimming is always something I enjoy and it's a great all over body tone. I tend to do 45 mins swimming and that burns around 500 calories. I favour breast stroke at the moment but need to vary my swimming to get better toning.

I'm someone who favours at home work outs to save money. One of the best work out DVDs for me is 30 Day shred. This is a great program and only takes 20 minutes a day. Until you've tried it you won't believe how much you sweat in just 20 minutes. It's also great for when you are busy. I've written about it a bit more  here.

I also recently bought an indoor skipping rope. Most people thought I was crazy but you can remove the rope and it has weighted ends. Skipping is also a great cardio exercise.

Lastly when I had the Wii I loved Wii Zumba. It's such great exercise and fun too. I'm thinking of getting it for my others halfs play station.

I like to find ways to do exercise at home and vary the types of exercise I do so I don't get bored. L is right motivation is key. I sometimes get up super early and go before work. It's nice to finish work and know I don't have to leave the house again. Also it means you can't make up excuses all day not to go. I'm great at these.

For me at the moment my motivation is Weddings. I have two this summer to go too so really want to be toned.

What's your favourite exercise? Any tips for us?

Love M

xxx

Spring Series: Body Care

As it's March (this year is speeding by already!) we decided to start up a new series of posts for Sunday's.

With Summer coming up, in case it's in April again, we've decided to start a series of posts on how we get skin ready after the drying effects of Winter and Spring/Summer trends for clothes and make up.
We'll be doing them every Sunday in the hope that by the time we've finished them some good weather will be here!
Our first one is on body care, hope you enjoy :)

Body Scrubs

Through winter my skin goes horrible, especially my legs, they get so dry and no amount of moisturiser seems to help. Plus honestly I get lazy with moisturiser. I hate getting out of the shower and having to be cold while I rub in moisturiser! Now hopefully warmer weather is nearing it's time to prep my legs as I'm hoping soon I can wear skirts.

For body scrubs I love the Next Spa Sugar Body Scrub. Unfortunately I can't find this one online so I'm not sure if it was just a Christmas product. The texture of this scrub is one of the best I've used. It's very thick and almost jelly like. It smooths onto the skin and gently exfoliates with a good size particle. It leaves skin feeling moisturised leaving it with an oily feeling after. I love that it has a glitter sparkle through it. The only downside is the smell. As this is from the spa range it's a very fresh almost woody scent which does make you feel like you are entering a spa which is nice but for me I prefer more sweet or fruity scents. I will be looking out for this in shops and hopefully I'll be able to find it again. We were lucky enough to get this at a Next Blogger Event.

Body Butters

I'm a huge body butter fan. I love the thickness of them and the instant moisturising feeling they leave. I usually use Body Shop body butters, I love the variety of scents these leave and you can quite often get them on offer. They smooth onto the body easily and leave a nice scent on the skin.

I love how big the pots are and a little does go a long way. I tend to prefer body butters to lotions as I like that they are thicker.

Body Lotions

I did get the Soap and Glory Smoothie Star Body Lotion for Christmas. I love the scent of this. It's sweet and creamy smelling and I love that it comes in a pump bottle as it means when I'm wearing fake nails I don't get loads of product under my nails. This sinks in easily and leaves my skin well moisturised. It has converted me from body butters and as it's lighter it will be better for during the day on hot days.

I also like Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Pump Lotion. I love Palmer's products as they smell amazing. This is again a pump lotion so it means I don't get product under my fingers.

M xxx





Body Scrubs

I am what you would call a 'Soap and Glory girl' through and through. When it comes to scrubs the first thing I think of is their Sugar Crush scrub.
I absolutely adore this grainy substance which smells very strongly of sugar and lime, basically it's like a mojito and I just love it.

 

I also love their Pulp Friction scrub which foams and has more of a fruity smell and feels more moisturising because of the foam.
I pick and choose which one I fancy using depending on my skin condition at the time, and of course the smell I'm after! I find they do a really good job at sloughing off all of the dead skin cells so the new ones can push through and make moisturiser easier to sink in.

Body Butter

I'd never really used a body butter before I received a Soap and Glory one a few years ago, so they were a new thing for me. I have now become obsessed with how luxurious they feel on my skin especially after winter where my skin has taken a bashing from the cold and heating in the house.

I love how thick it is and it obviously smells amazing.
I do also like the Body Shop butters, they are on a similar standard and have a great variety of flavours. Satsuma is my next one to try!

Body Lotion
Again, having received the Soap and Glory bag I also like the Body Milk that M likes. The pump makes things so easy!
I also like the Vaseline and Dove moisturisers as most of the time they are so easily absorbed into your skin that you rarely need to wait long for it to sink in, so these are my favourites for week days and after the gym when I haven't got much time but don't want to skip it.

A product I would love to try is a body oil. I've tried baby oil and it was too thick for my skin and took forever to absorb. I've heard drier oils are better and the Palmer's cocoa butter is one of the ones I've heard rave reviews about and definitely need to try. Do any of you have any recommendations??

So there's our first Spring Series post, what do you think? Do you use scrubs often?

L xxx