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

NOTD: Deborah Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers

Well hello there!

It has been a while since I've done a NOTD but i thought this was appropriate for the time of year. I spotted this a long time ago courtesy of the blogging world and fell in love; there were many copies such as Essie's Leading Lady (post here) which i tried and loved but there really isn't anything like the original is there?

Eventually when a website (beauty bay maybe?) had a post Christmas sale and I found a discount code I couldn't resist!

Ruby Red Slippers is a black gelly type polish with loads and loads of beautiful dark red glitter particles in various sizes. It is perfect for Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas, so get it now and all of your manicure problems are sorted for the next 2 months!

Another thing i like about DL polishes is that they are free from some chemical nasties and they don't test on animals. I would love to avoid all products that come from companies who test on animals but after looking into it extensively and having a few skin issues with reactions etc i just can't seem to work out how I can get by, which is disappointing and needs change. And is an entirely different topic for another day!

I LOVE the square shaped bottles, they are really classic and the lids are really sturdy too. They don't look like they'd break any time soon which is handy as I can be pretty clumsy sometimes.

Also, Ruby Red Slippers? Doesn't it just take you back to your childhood and wishing you had a pair of sparkly red shoes that would take you away to a magical land? I know it's not just me!

On the nails how did they fair? Well I will start by telling you that I absolutely love it but I'm glad I didn't pay the full price for it. However much I love it, it takes a good 4 coats to get it opaque which is pretty substantial and I end up painting my nails red or black to stop me from using it all up.

Next up is the dreaded chipping. I've always been a fan of glitter tips as they're pretty hard wearing and can save your nails for weeks if you're clever about it but this just seems to flake off like no one's business and drives me mad! 4 coats painstakingly painted and then they flake off.

See the photos below for how beautiful it is and also how it has chipped already between painting them and taking photos:

Granted it doesn't look a neat paint job, it is extremely hard to get a gelly polish like this to look neat at the cuticles without extreme patience! I love the layering of the polish as it really gives it a 3D look and it looks lush....but it just flakes and it makes me so angry.

It is possible that the base and top coat combo weren't good enough for the polish and so that is why it chips off so easily, or it could be many things. I'm thinking that my patience may only let me wear this once a year but that way the bottle will last ages!

What do you think of glitter polishes from Deborah Lippmann? Have you got a favourite?

Happy Birthday seems to be the classic but there are so many it is very hard to choose!

(as a quick edit there seems to be a few left on Beauty Bay for £9 if my review hasn't put you off!)

L xxx

Nars Blush in Torrid

Morning pals!

I've clearly become obsessed with a bit of Nars and I cannot stop wearing my new blushes; to the point that I actually end up wearing both of them on my face at once. What of it eh?

Today I've got a review on Torrid, a gamble I took when on the Space NK website and I guessed based on its orange colour that I would love it (and a quick search on Temptalia of course)

Again, I love monochrome and the packaging for this is pretty but the rubber gets SO dirty that it never stays pretty for long at all. It's a shame but as my make up stays in my wardrobe without anyone to see then it doesn't matter too much....

The blush is described as a coral blush with slight shimmer. The shimmer is so fine that sometimes it barely shows which is perfect for me for work; I don't mind a bit of it but to be known as the girl with disco ball cheeks probably isn't what I'd go for! Torrid can be gently swept on for a flattering glow or piled on for some seriously pigmented colour.

You can see some swatches of all Nars blushes on Temptalia here, you can instantly see why I chose the colour being a lover of Benefit's Coralista.





For work I tend to sweep it onto my cheeks for more of a glow effect, I've taken some photos of this below:

I love the effect it gives my skin, its a really subtle wash of colour that gives a lovely glow for day time, and I'm sure with a heavier hand you could really get some colour onto your cheeks as the product is so pigmented. I think the price is pretty standard for blushes nowadays and the fact that they are so pigmented means that you really don't need a lot at all so it will last. It also lasts whilst on the face too, i never need to touch it up throughout the day which is perfect for me.

I used to look at other people's blush collections and wonder why on earth they had so many from Nars but now seeing as I've bought near on 11 blushes in the last few weeks it is safe to say it's my new obsession!

Here's Torrid on my skin with a flash:

You can see the subtle shimmer but it's not glittery at all, I think maybe I even prefer this to the beloved Orgasm blush I also bought at the same time!

At £22.50 these blushes are actually cheaper than the Benefit Box o' Powders but still pack just as much of a punch. I feel like I've been missing out in the blush world!

I would certainly recommend for anyone to buy a blush from Nars now that I know the quality and pigmentation is top notch, I will be certain to add my collection as soon as I can. The Virtual Domination palette for Christmas time looks amazing; if only I could find a few £100 to spare!

What is your favourite Nars blush? Do you have a favourite finish? Are you discovering blush is just as good as eye products for changing your look like I have been??

L xxx

Nip and Fab: Viper Venom Eye Fix

Hi all!

As M mentioned in her post last week she will be taking a back seat (so to speak) over the next few months whilst she has tonnes of work on, so we have decided to move our joint Sunday posts to Mondays and you will have to make do with listening to L ramble on a bit more! Hopefully in a few weeks or so M will have a lot more time to write and review again.

Today's joint review is another Nip and Fab product from the Viper Venom range; the Eye Fix.

The Eye Fix is a rollerball product which dispenses a gel/serum like product around the eye area.

It contains Liftonin and Syn-ake to smooth the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and also Red Algae Extract to reduce the look of dark circles. It all sounds pretty good to us!

The black and lime green packaging is also really cool too, I love that each range from Nip and Fab is colour coded to fit the products, i.e. yellow for the Bee range and red/orange for the Dragon's Blood.

The first thing I liked about this product was how easy it was to use. I've never used rollerball products that much but I loved this one, it felt cooling and the product was dispensed evenly. There wasn't any need to get your fingers (and potential bacteria) involved at all but i do like the rub any last bits into the skin myself as I'm usually in a rush to put my eye cream on!

I have been using this for the last few weeks morning and night, just rolling it all over my eye area from brow bone to just above my cheek and it sinks in pretty quickly. The eye area is something I am very aware of in terms of ageing so I try my best to give it the hydration it needs. My skin has definitely felt more hydrated since using it and the crepey effect of skin when it is dehydrated has reduced. I love how easy it is to pile on and just leave to sink in and you could pretty much apply this without the need for touching your skin at all.

It gets the thumbs up from me!

You can buy the Viper Venom Eye Fix from Boots for £14.95 normally but its currently on offer for £9.97. you can also buy this in the Viper Venom Duo Set which is also currently on offer for £16.63 instead of £24.95 and contains the serum which we have previously posted about here (and fully recommend FYI!)

Have you tried anything from Nip and Fab? What's your favourite? Do you like using products containing ingredients such as bee sting and viper venom?

I'd fully recommend anything from their range so far!


L xxx

Hey All

As L said life is getting on top of me a bit lately and I needed a break but after spending so long on the blog with L I wasn't quite ready to give it all up. Without her support I'd have definitely given it all up a long time ago so I'm very grateful to have her help me out with something I love.

Skincare is something I always push myself to use so when Nip and Fab was on a massive offer in Debenhams a few months back I couldn't resist stocking up!

My eyes are probably my biggest concern. I look at my mum and see her's and I'm pretty sure that's how mine will end up. We have quite a lot of eyelid and her's have sagged a bit so I'm hoping a good skincare regime will help me prolong it for a littler while.

I've used a few roller ball products before. Like the garnier concealer thing. I'm not convinced that ever really worked. I love the feeling of the roller ball on the eyes as the metal means it feels cooling and soothing which after a had day I find relaxing and first thing in the morning helps to wake me up.

I've been using it in conjunction with the serum we posted last week and have used both as an addition to my skincare so I apply this before an eye cream. I love the soothing feeling of it and my under eye area has definitely felt smoother and more hydrated over the past few weeks.

As L has mentioned in previous posts we definitely have developed a massive love for all things Nip and Fab. I've not found anything I dislike yet.

What's your skincare routine?

Love M

xxx