Beauty Rehab

Morning!

It still feels like a somewhat endless task using up products doesn't it?

Especially if you are one the individuals like myself who seems to have bought nothing in months and still have a ridiculous collection....oops. 

Here's the latest installment of Beauty Rehab - I wonder if I ever will get to the bottom of my stash?

Aussie 3 Min Miracle - If you haven't noticed by now that I'm a complete addict for this stuff then you've been reading the wrong blog. Totally obsessed, my hair loves it. If I don't have 3 in my stash I panic.
Herbal Essences Dry Shampoo in Tapioca - I liked the scents in this range but the product itself feels more like hairspray than dry shampoo which is such a shame
Batiste - still the best, it's unbeatable in my opinion
Wilko Nail Polish Remover - cheap and cheerful, why pay more??



Lancome Foaming Purifying Cleanser - not sure I'd repurchase this but it was great value for money as you needed so little to wash with
Nip and Fab Glycolic Cleanser - really like this, would repurchase but need to be careful with my dehydrated skin. Great value when on offer and smells good!
Dr Organic Coconut Hand Cream - REALLY great hand cream, will repurchase when my next has run out. Sinks in fast, no greasy residue, great price
Good Things Manuka Honey Moisturiser - this was also a good purchase and I'd rebuy this one too, another with a good price and often in 3 for 2 deals in Boots. Manuka Honey is a fab moisturiser!
Aussie 3 Min Miracle - 2 in the same post, clearly I'm addicted!



Dove Beauty Finish Deodorant - not sure what the beauty finish was about but the smell was vile, no repurchasing here
EOS Organic Lip Balm - love love love, whyyyyyyyy are they so expensive in the UK!!
A bit gutted that the nail varnish in the picture have all dried out, Nails Inc Black Taxi and China Glaze Snow Flake were favourites of mine.



St Tropez Body Moisturiser - love this but wouldn't pay full price for it. The moisturiser sinks in really fast and doesn't leave a film on your skin, the best kind of product
Rimmel Wake Me Up - love the glow and always go back to this but the colour just isn't right on my unless it's summer so the colour range is a bit frustrating.
Radical Eye Cream - This was from the Space NK bundle that we both got last October, it wasn't bad I just felt that others were better
Sarah Chapman Skinesis Dynamic Defence - I liked this but the cost puts me off, it was lovely but I feel like others work better for my skin



Balance Me Radiance Face Oil - Quite liked this, would consider buying the full size
Smashbox Photo Finish Primer - wouldn't buy these full size, they feel like they have too much silicone in for me but there are other versions of the primer that are better for me
REN Cleansing Milk - Didn't like this, my skin came out in spots unfortunately!
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturiser - also not a fan of this. Some things just don't work!
Murad Oil Control Mattifier - loved this, perfect for summer and would 100% recommend for those with oily skin

Benefit Coralista - love love love this blush, already panic bought another at Christmas.....JUST in case!
Benefit They're Real Mascara - another love, I can't wait to get another one of these when I've used my stash up
Benefit Roller Lash Mascara - all of their mascaras are great, I'd happily purchase both or either of these!
Benefit That Gal Primer - I'd prefer Porefessional to this but as a travel size product it's been a good tester
Real Techniques Buffing Brush - sadly this one has started to literally fall apart. It's sad as you can't buy this one individually which is quite annoying really!

See anything in my empties that you've been using up recently?

Just have to keep ploughing through the excessive products and ONE DAY maybe I will get to the bottom!

L xxx

WIMH - What's In My (New) Handbag

Happy Sunday morning!

Hope you're feeling as fresh as I am this morning :)

Today's  post is something I've always loved reading but never ever done my own version of. I recently picked up this absolutely gorgeous bottle green bag from New Look for the grand total price of £24.95 - which as you can see from looking at it below is an absolute bargain. With my excitement I decided to do a WIMH post as I've never done one before and as my bag is super clean and free of 1000s of receipts it was the perfect opportunity.

I always love little details on bags and this one doesn't disappoint. Gold is my favourite metallic and its all over this bag!
Buckles, zips and nifty edges along the bottom corners so it doesn't get worn, this bag is just me.







It's actually quite a large bag and fortunately I haven't yet managed to fill it with crap though I'm sure the time will come. It does unnerve me somewhat that it doesn't close entirely and only has a magnetic fix to hold it shut, albeit a very strong one. I will just have to take a different bag when travelling in busy areas as this one will mostly move from my car to my work desk which let me tell you, is not far at all!



So what's in it? What are the essentials for my every day life?



It is surprisingly a tidy amount of things most of which are functional and useful, and so far not a receipt or empty packet of food in sight!

I try not to ever travel without an umbrella, I do obviously live in Wales where it does very frequently rain so it would be rather brave to go out without one. Case closed.

My Jane Shilton purse was given to me by my mum, I thought it was huge initially but actually its a perfect fit for everything and the leather is really good quality.

Never go anywhere without my headphones and my charger. You never know when you will get stuck somewhere and need either so they are a must to keep me occupied!

My glasses are also pretty obvious; though normally it is just the case that's in my bag as I wear my glasses 90% of the time and change to contacts for the gym and special occasions. I'd love designer ones in future!



Next up is the product section; essentials only!

EOS lip balms, Mac lipstick in Coral Bliss, OPI hand cream, Sure deodorant and Soap and Glory hand gel.
I'm extremely shocked that there is only one lipstick in here; last time I emptied a bag I found 12! But it's probably as I've had so many weddings etc recently that I've taken them all back out again.

I'm hoping to get some drawers for my desk at work soon as mine were stolen the week before I started (grrr) so I can leave all of these essentials in there when they arrive.

You can never go wrong with a packet of tissues, they have saved my life many a time. Nude eyeliner from Rimmel is a great way to wake up tired eyes of which I am always a sufferer of! Blink eye drops single use bottles are amazing and have really helped me be able to wear lenses for longer when necessary. My eyes seem to hate wearing lenses now which is a shame and in future I'd love to have eye surgery but again; savings will need to occur pretty rapidly for that to happen!

I also never go anywhere without a mini notebook and a pen, for when inspiration for posts or a list needs to be made. I rather like lists and sometimes they need to be written not typed.

Lastly food. Now it's the weekend so I've clearly not restocked my handbag after a week at work but normally there would be about 5 different bars, apples, bananas and god knows what else lurking around at the bottom. 9 bars are my current favourite but I am also quite keen on Sesame Snaps before the gym and Bounce balls and Naked bars. I'm one of those people who gets 'hangry' easily so snacks are a must for keeping my mood up!

I normally also carry around a box of peppermint tea bags which has just run out. I'm quite partial to tea as it is but with my IBS this tea can work wonders on stopping any cramps so I drink it quite regularly. 

The only downside I've seen to my new bag is a few threads like above; I've cut them off with scissors but I suppose it's just something that hight street bags come with sometimes as otherwise this one was immaculate in the shop.

What do you think of my new bag? Do you have similar contents in your bag?

Send me your WIMH posts for a nose!

L xxx

Beauty Rehab

Hi there!

I'm slowly and painfully working my way through my stash, it has been a long process and if you'd like to catch up on my series you can do so by following this link (lots of empties!)

I thought I was getting somewhere recently but an influx of shopping, weak moments, presents etc has meant that actually, I'm barely better off. I really do need to grow some balls and just get over the fact that i have no space and no money for any more!

Batiste Dry Shampoo - always the best, always repurchase. Especially now I need to preserve my hair colour as long as possible!

Aussie Shampoo - loved Aussie but having heard that they animal test I'm rethinking all of my products and its unlikely that i will be repurchasing.

Anatomicals Shower Gel - this has fun packaging and a citrusy awakening scent but i wouldn't repurchase as it came in a set.

Antipodes Juliet cleanser - liked this, think my skin needs more from a cleanser though so will have to try another of theirs!

S&G Clean Girls body wash - had this in my gym bag for ages, lasts forever!

Evian moisturiser - do they still even produce this?? Who knows! Wouldn't repurchase.

Dr Organic coconut oil night cream - Far too thick and heavy for my skin, wouldn't repurchase but loved the smell
Argan oil day cream - too greasy for my skin, wouldn't repurchase this either but love most things from Dr Organic

Origins Eye Doctor - already repurchased! Sadly have found out they also test on animals so am on the look out for a replacement.

Next Spa scrub - lovely texture and it really glitters, part of their seasonal range so cannot repurchase

Pores No More - not a fan, not quite sure what this was for really!

EOS Sphere - love these and always have a spare, didn't really like the yellow one though it was very hard and dried quickly

Collection concealer - always repurchase for the price

Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes mascara - loved this, will wait for the Christmas sets to possibly repurchase as they are very good for the money.

Murad Skin Perfecting Primer - wouldn't repurchase currently as i have a stash to get through, may do in future tho as it lasts a while.

Rimmel Stay Matte pressed powder - gutted I dropped my handbag! Lucky it didn't spill everywhere though. I had a back up already...

I'm halfway through another bag of empties already and I'm hoping next time I write a Beauty Rehab post I will be really checking myself into rehab and will be downsizing as opposed to replacing, one in one out is not going to work for me!

How are you working your way through your stash? I find bath products a lot easier than make up, project 10 pan or something similar would just take me forever and it doesn't take up the bulk of my collection.

What have you been using recently?

L xxx

What I Couldn't Live Without

Hey!

I was thinking the other day about my rather large stash and how well I'm going through it. I've been doing good but could do better. Then it got me thinking about which products I really couldn't live without now that I've found them and as I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a list lover. So basically, without any more babble, here's my list of the products I couldn't live without at the moment!

1) Coconut Oil

I love cooking with coconut oil but it is fast becoming a staple in my beauty regime too. Not only is it a great moisturiser for your skin, but its also useful as a cuticle oil, hair mask, for hands and feet and as a lip balm. I tend to smother it all over before bed as a treat but this can take some time to get the oil to warm up. Still worth it tho!

Beauty Rehab

Morning!

Hope you have a load of good plans for the weekend, when this goes live I will unfortunately be at work....boo hiss! But at least it's only for the morning and then my plan is to go hiking with my dad and dog up a local mountain, weather depending.

I've written quite a number of Beauty Rehab posts the past few years and I still enjoy writing them; essentially they're empties posts in order to try and encourage me to use up more of my products in  my stash.

Here's my first clear out for 2014, starting the year with a clean slate and hopefully a big increase on using up products from last year.

Cutex Polish Remover: I picked this up for my peeling nails hoping it wouldn't make them worse with all my nail painting; it was pretty good and they haven't got worse.
Coconut Creme Shower Gel: This was good, i like the smell of coconut but this was very sweet....it was like coconut sugar. Lasted forever though!
Origins Perfect World Cleanser: Just wrote a post on this last week, easy to use, no reactions at all and cleanses make up off, not very good at eye make up removal.
Aussie 3 min miracle: Another variety of the deep conditioning treatment, I will always love it for the effects and the price

Label M Shampoo: Smells sweet but lathered up easy and cleansed my hair without drying it.
Soap and Glory Pulp Friction: Amazing foaming scrub; love it especially on 3 for 2
Batiste: The best dry shampoo for price and quality, so many sizes and smells!



Avon polish: Supposed to help peeling but I don't think it worked so i used it as a top coat
Origins Starting Over Eye cream: Very moisturising and absorbs easily, thumbs up
Botanics Cleansing Balm: Loved this and would consider buying again...haven't used it in a while though and last time I looked it was mouldy!
Origins Brighter By Nature: Ready loaded cotton pads with enzymes on to remove dead skin like an exfoliating scrub would. Not sure how well they worked but they felt really nice to use, unfortunately they dried so quickly I couldn't even use them all.



Lavera Hand Cream: Organic and smells amazing, non greasy too
Clarins HydraQuench Cream: Love this, very hydrating but not too heavy
Nivea Hand Cream: Another hand bag essential, mini tubes are always helpful
Clarins Lotus Oil: Loved this too, would buy again in future. Smells like spa products



EOS Sphere: These are awesome and i used this until it went concave and I had to scrape it out...lush. Have quite a few left in my stash to use still from America!
Bourjois Volumizer mascara: Really liked the double wand idea, was good to have the option of one thin coat and maximising the volume in one mascara
Rimmel Stay Matte powder: Another fave, why pay more for pressed powder when this one is amazing for under a fiver!

Hope you enjoyed my quick run down, have you done your own empties post to start the year off fresh?

I've recently started another spending ban as I'm sure most bloggers will have after the Christmas sales. I cannot spend another penny on products and I'm aiming for my birthday at the end of March...but we will see how that goes!

L xxx

Presents from America

A few weeks ago M left me for a WHOLE WEEK!

I wasn't quite sure what to do with myself without my best friend around but luckily it was also just before my MSc dissertation hand in date so I was kept busy.....

Luckily for me she brought me back a whole load of goodies!!

Look at these for a batch of presents!

We've both already said how much we absolutely LOVE Revlon, they've really upped their game recently and there is so much I want from them!

I eventually managed to narrow it down though...

I picked Revlon Colorstay as I love it, and also the Photoready Airbrush Mousse as it has been raved about.

I also spotted the 2 compacts online and had to have them!

M was also kind enough to pick me up my very first lip butter too!

She also got me 3 Eos Spheres which are amazing and we're both very big fans of these.

She picked 1 of each Summer Fruits, Lemon Drop and also Mint.

I've tried the Summer Fruits one before but never the others so I'm looking forward to those!

Also as a present she bought me some shampoo and conditioner bars:

I have never heard or seen these before and am intrigued!

Apparently they'll last around 50 washes which would be amazing, they're going straight into my gym bag so I can start using them!

They smell gorgeous too.

Here's a close up of the Photoready Bronzer:

I haven't seen anything like this in store or online in the UK yet so was very excited when M managed to pick it up for me!

It's a gorgeous quad of bronzers that does not contain any shimmer and has a range of 4 colours.

I have a feeling this will get used a lot for nights out!

I also asked her to pick up this Photoready Sculpting Blush Palette as we've both been getting into sculpting (see our Kim Kardashian tutorial here..)

I'm hoping this will be a much easier and compact way of sculpting without using loads of products.

This is also not available in the UK yet so I can't wait to use it!

Here's the Photoready Airbrush Mousse.

I'm expecting great things from this after hearing so much about it!

And lastly my very first Lip Butter in Candy Apple.

I'm so excited to try all of these out!

What do you think of my presents? Is there anything you'd like to see more about??

I was so excited when M gave me my goodie bag!

THANK YOUUUU! :)

L xxx

10 Things I would Repurchase: Part 2

I loved the tag M did the other day (here) so decided to my own as well.

I'd never really thought about it before so was an interesting tag!
Here's my ten:

1) As an every day foundation I use a combo of Revlon Colorstay/Rimmel Wake Me Up in the same colours as M. I love that Colorstay actually stays on my face all day but I love the glow that Wake Me Up gives me, so I combine the two for the ultimate look and LOVE it.

2) The infamous Naked palette definitely rates highly in my book though I would love to try Naked 2 to see the difference as I do sometimes miss lighter colours.
However the colour range, quality and staying power of these means I'd always buy it!

3) I'm sure most of you will agree that Real techniques brushes are pretty good value for money and the core collection is a favourite of mine, along with the stippling brush and blush brush.
I'd love the get the powder brush too as I seem to be missing it from my collection!

 

4) As far as fake tan goes, you can do no wrong with Vita Liberata.
I've written a post on this before but can't rave about it enough, my bottle is running low and has lasted me a massive amount of full body applications that no other tan has. I'm sure I've got AT LEAST 8 full body apps plus a few extra coats on my legs and I'm still counting, I've never got that with any other tan I've tried!

5) Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser, needs no more said about it really!
(I get annoyed as it seems to run out so fast though ha)

6) My beloved Jean Paul Gaultier Madame will never ever leave my side!
It's the perfect mix of strong fruity scent but isn't overly overpowering as I get headaches from strong scents.
I love it so much I'm on my 6th bottle and everyone knows it's my smell!

7) I absolutely love Origins so it was hard to narrow down products but their eye creams are the best and were the first things I bought so I chose these. Ginzing is my go to cream for the morning and Eye Doctor is the one I use at night, both have helped my sensitive eyes so much I can't rave enough!

8) I love defining my brows as most people do nowadays but as mine are almost black it was hard to find a product that was the right colour without looking like permanent marker!
I also have tiny gaps in my brows that look bigger because of the pale skin/dark hair combo, but this Mac eyebrow pencil/crayon is amaze! Gives a perfect shape and blends so easy.

9) My lips are always really dry of late so applying lip balm is a constant task! I do really like Vaseline which I know is a love hate product for some people but recently after my trip overseas I have been loving the Eos sphere balms which work a treat and are such a delight to use.
They smell gorgeous and contain no nasties, awesome!

10) Lastly is Soap and Glory's Righteous Butter. I love the scent, how thick and luxurious the butter is and how soft my skin feels afterwards.
My only bug bear is the fact it takes a little while to sink in, but mostly I don't care as it's just far too nice!
I struggle to get my skinny jeans on after applying this but it's so worth it haha.

What are your top 10 repurchases??
I found it really interesting to do this tag as I was surprised that other products didn't feature.

I have recently been using Alpha H's Liquid Gold and also the Antipodes Divine Face Oil which I have an inkling would probably make it onto this list if I completed it again in a few months.

I know you're supposed to tag people but as M has already tagged a lot of you I tag anyone else reading this post!

I loved reading other people's so link back to us if you've completed it as I'd love to see what you chose.

Happy Friday!!!!!

L xxx