Book Review: Rona Jaffe, The Best of Everything

As part of my 101 things list (you can find mine and L's lists on the right hand side) I've been wanting to read more and add more variety to my reading. I used to just read James Patterson and not a lot else. On a recent post EssJay from Mission Me Blog suggested doing some book reviews. It's something I've considered but wasn't sure if people would want to read.

When you're stuck in one genre of book I think it's hard to branch out to new types. I hate buying a book I struggle to get into. Lately I've been making myself finish all books I start which can make them more of a chore than reading for enjoyment.

In the summer I won a Benefit competition and this was part of the prize. I was intrigued and wasn't sure I'd enjoy this as it was written in the 1950s. I put it on my shelf for a while and when I moved fished it out to read. Apologies for the tattered appearance, I'm a page folder and spine bender when it comes to books!

I need to try and explain this without giving too much away. I'm usually really bad at keeping secrets. Firstly I love this book to read, the pages are thin and the font is the perfect size for me. Anything with tiny tiny font puts me off straight away. The book had me hooked easily though where the follows different peoples stories it is a little jumpy and does require attention at first to understand how all the characters link up.

Once I got into it I couldn't put it down. Think a classy sex and the city! I couldn't wait to finish it when I started and find out where the stories led. The book is about a group of girls who live and work in New York. It's set in the early 1950s and was really interesting to read how things were then.

I really enjoyed reading it and would definitely recommend it. It was a great easy read that once you get past the first few chapters you can easily pick it up and continue where you left off. I've enjoyed reading it tucked up in a blanket with a cup of tea but it would equally be a great holiday read.

I really want to read more by Rona Jaffe now. She has a great writing style that was easy to follow.

Hope you've enjoyed my first book review.

Love M

xxx

Review: Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

Morning all!

We have a joint review for you today as we've both purchased Liz Earle's Instant Boost Skin Tonic.

We are both big fans of the Cleanse and Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser and couldn't resist picking up the skin tonic when it was on offer with the cleanser.

The Skin Tonic is a non drying toner that refreshes, soothes and brightens your skin all in one swipe.
It is alcohol free and extremely gentle on the skin. This surprised me as it is floral scented which often means that I won't like it and it will cause my skin to break out but it didn't.

You can buy this skin tonic in the 200ml bottle like we both have or in a spritz bottle so that you can spray it onto your face throughout the day as and when you need it.

The tonic contains multiple components to soothe the skin including aloe vera, chamomile, calendula and cucumber. It also contains essential oils such as geranium, lavender and sweet orange to restore and revive your spirits.

The instructions state to use the skin tonic morning and evening after cleansing and before moisturising as is with most toners.

As someone who isn't the biggest fan of toner it was a surprise to me that i enjoyed using it. As i have oily skin i was worried that it may react but it didn't, although I now save it for my evening routine as I prefer to use another in the morning.

I can't say that it has dramatically improved my skin but it smells gorgeous and is an extra step in ensuring my make up and any traces of cleanser are removed which is always welcome.

This costs £13.25 for the 200ml bottle but you can get the spritzer version for £13.50.

Have you tried the Skin Tonic? What is your favourite Liz Earle product?

I can't help but comment on the design of the bottle....the twisting up of the lid to get the product out looks far too much like a nipple! Whatever happened to having a flip top lid and pouring out the amount of product necessary?!

L xxx

I'm the opposite of L and absolutely love a toner. I'm totally addicted to Lush A Breath of Fresh air and have now got my brother hooked on it too. As I love cleanse and polish I was excited to try a more high end toner.

I love toner and the always use it. It makes my skin feel better and for me I find I break out of I don't use a toner. After loving cleanse and polish so much I did expect really good things from this toner. For me though I found it was just ok. I don't find it does anything better than my Lush one does. I do prefer the scent of this one and it does make my skin feel slightly better.

I think I'd prefer to have picked up the spritz bottle as the lazy person in me can't always be bothered to get cotton wool when I'm in bed. It does have a refreshing scent and doesn't leave skin feeling tight which is always a good thing.

I probably wouldn't pick it up again but that's purely because I'm addicted to my Lush one and have been for 3 years now,

Love M

xxxx

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

Origins: Perfect World Cleanser

Hello all!

Another skincare review for you today, I've been powering through my latest purchases and this beauty has been used for so long that I've actually almost finished it now, oops!

Origins have many ranges but Perfect World is one of their most popular.
We've previously used their moisturiser which were big fans of, particularly as its a great one for winter with its hydrating properties and also contains SPF 25 which as we all know is vital for anti-aging and skin protection.

Origins say:

This Origins perfect foaming face wash is formulated with nature's antioxidant White Tea. In a pre-emptive sweep, dirt-grabbing minerals combined with the gentle, skin-compatible cleansing action reach deep to help detoxify and free skin of harmful impurities. 

A Perfect World Antioxidant cleanser leaves the skin perfectly clean, smoothed and refreshed. 

Having used it for the past couple of months I can say that this smells beautiful, just like the moisturiser which I really enjoyed using. It is a calming smell and in the morning although I do like citrus and minty smells to wake me up this has been a lovely change.

This doesn't seem to foam quite as much as Checks and Balances, which I cannot help but compare it to as it was the first cleanser I used from Origins and therefore my first love.

This doesn't seem to be a problem however as my face did feel just as cleansed as with the other, but I did find myself using more of it to get the lather that I was used to.

I loved the way my skin didn't have any adverse reactions to this product whatsoever which is probably down the the palm, coconut and oat amino acid as they're 'skin compatible'.

I can't say that this has been anti-aging on me because I'm 25 and am yet to see measurable effects of a cleanser on my skin but I think the whole range combined will definitely help face the world and defy wrinkles for a while longer as it's very hydrating and fights the dreaded free radicals.

Packaging wise the only problem is remember to keep it upright so product will come out!

I've really enjoyed using this cleanser and think in future it would be great for when my skin gets more dehydrated, but currently I need Checks and Balances to combat my temperamental face with its dry and oily patches, which I picked up last week!

Which is your favourite cleanser? Do you have a favourite Origins product?

L xxx