Nip and Fab Glycolic Fix Cleanser

Happy hump day!

Another week down and it's now less than a month until Christmas! Is this time to panic or time to get ridiculously excited and start singing carols and eating mince pies again - I just can't decide!

Nip and Fab have really caught my attention recently with some super products that have already become firm favourites in my collection and are also great value for money being in an affordable price range along with the amazing offers from Boots and Superdrug as well as points. You just can't go wrong!

The Glycolic range is something that I wish they had brought out a long time ago. Glycolic acid is great for helping with a massive range of skin ailments and if I had only known about it in my teenage years I think life would have been very different, if only for having lass breakouts and scarring.

The Glycolic Fix Cleanser is a liquid cleanser that you only need a tiny bit of to froth up and apply to your damp face before rinsing off. It's a foaming cleanser that not only contains 2% glycolic acid but also apple amino acids to cleanse and purify your skin.

The 150ml bottle costs just under £10 which is pretty good for a cleanser of this quality not to mention it's normally involved in an offer. The cleanser also contains olive oil to help hydrate your skin whilst the glycolic acid works its magic.

I've been uisng this recently to help with some skin issues I've been having. After an allergic reaction that went on for 2 months I was left with some marks on my skin where the reaction had turned into acne and left me with red lumps. After waiting for the reaction to subside I then set myself the task of working my way through my products to help make these marks fade and slowly reduce from sight. I still to cover these up for occasions but for every day things like work I now don't need to worry about people staring at them.

The great thing about this cleanser is that you need so little of it to foam up and cover your entire face. I usually use another cleanser previous to this to remove as much grime and products from my face from the day and then use this so that I can get the full effects.

It also smells really good, it has a really light fragrance which is important for me as strong scents make me feel sick! If I'm in the shower using this cleanser I also leave it on my skin for a while to give it some time to work a little extra magic and it has been working really well for me and I've also not had any further reactions which is definitely a massive bonus. (I even had an allergic reaction to my sock the other day, it's getting a little out of hand!)

I know I've probably been raving on about the serums and creams from Nip and Fab for months now but this is the first cleanser I have tried and I've been really impressed.

I'd recommend this to anyone having skincare issues and anyone who wants a bit more of a glow in their skin as I've found that mine has felt so clean and invigorated after the last few weeks of usage.
I don't use this every day just in case it is too strong for my skin but you can if you like, I tend to use it 4 days a week and that way I'm also being a bit thrifty!

Have you tried the Glycolic Fix Cleanser? Do you think glycolic acid is as amazing as I think it is?

What's your favourite type of cleanser?

L xxx

Getting Crafty

Hey All

Hope you've had a great weekend. I've spent it entering my first competition for kickboxing and was so pleased I won my category!

Back in July I saw an awesome picture of a map and decided it was something I wanted to create. I wouldn't say I was the artiest of people but I thought with Christmas around the corner I'd share some of the crafty bits I've been doing. I think these type of things make great gifts and people appreciate the effort. I recently made my brother one for his birthday!

The first thing I did was google and print out a tone of pictures of maps I liked! The next task was to draw a grid on it. As I'm not the best drawer is I do it by a grid I find it easier as you only have to focus on getting the detail in one square at a time and I find it easier to scale it up accurately.

After drawing the grid on the printout I drew a grid on the piece of paper. I'd suggest making sure you paper is standard frame size and fitting the scaling and grid to that size or it can make framing difficult.

After drawing the grid I started to draw the map. By only having on square to focus on at a time it made it much easier to recreate the map accurately. I drew it lightly in pencil then rubbed out all the grid lines to prepare to paint.

I opted for water colours for this project. I love the way you can fade the colours and think it works better for this style.

For mine I chose to do pastel colours with more intensity at the edges. When I did a version of it for my brother birthday I went with brighter colours. I love doing this and losing myself concentrating on it project. It's so easy to do and leaves amazing results. It can be totally personalised for the person! 

For mine I opted for a personalised quote but chose to leave my brothers plain.

Do you get crafty with gifts? Would you try this?

Love M

xxx

Christmas Gift Guide II

Two weeks ago I wrote a Christmas Gift Guide based solely on Boots, Debenhams and Space NK - product heaven if you ask me!

Not only is Christmas a time for pampering though, it's a time for personalised and fun gifts that mean something to the recipient. Here's my round up of some fun, indulgent and unique gifts.

Not on the High Street

I've been browsing the gift site for a while for a range of gifts for various occasions including weddings and new babies; it certainly doesn't disappoint in that!

This Cocktail Garden kit is a great way for a friend to get more involved with their cocktails whilst getting mildly green fingers. I for one would love to try it out and make a mojito with my own mint that I'd grown. For £13.50 its a lot of fun! Find it here.

I always love this gift too. not only does it show where you've been but it's also a check list for new places you can discover in future. I'd love one for my future property (in my dreams!) and it will only set you back £15.95. Find it here.

The Personalised Gift section is one of my favourites; there's nothing like a unique gift for making it into your friend or relative's top present for all time!

You can browse the art prints that can be personalised here, I couldn't choose a picture as there so many lovely ones to look at!

Amelia Rope

I've written about Amelia Rope before (post here). She makes a wonderful range of chocolate with a twist and creates amazing flavours with sea salt, honeycomb, nuts, rose and so much more. A bar will set you back around £5.60 but the bundles can be great value ranging from £16 to £28 for the chocolate lover in your life.

These bars really are special and I cannot recommend them enough, me and my family have shared bars and had a right giggle over the flavours and surprised ourselves with how much we loved the combinations. She uses fruits, nuts, seeds, plants and everything edible to create amazing new flavours and I believe many people would love such a treat.

You can find her site here - don't blame me if you end up buying them all!

Barnes and Noble Books

Most people love a good read, and there's nothing like a classic. I absolutely love old books and like a lot of people my aim when I buy my own place is to get a seriously big book case and fill it.

Barnes and Noble's Leatherbound Classics are the most perfect collectible books I've ever seen. Any book lover would appreciate them on their own but as the start of a collection it's a lovely present.

Image from Barnes and Noble

Each cover is different and with 113 different classics to collect you are sure to find one to suit. I can't stop staring that them and how beautiful they are!

Find the full list here

Liberty Scarves

I don't know about you but I loved watching the Liberty of London tv program, it's a lovely shop to go in but seeing all of the staff and how quirky and creative they are is fascinating to me. As a scientist most of my day is so far from the artistic creations that I used to be part of when doing art at school and working in retail so I love watching when other people do it!

When thinking of Liberty it's obvious that you will think of their scarves so when browsing and making my own wishlist of silk scarves I couldn't resist but share these lovely ones for a real Christmas treat.

CashCa Black Cashmere Scarf £105

You cannot go wrong with a simple black cashmere scarf and this one is all about luxury! 

Vivienne Westwood Blue Dyed Flag Viscose Scarf £120

I love a bit of VW for her love of the Union Jack and typical British colours, a scarf like this would look gorgeous with any outfit but I'd love it to throw on at work and brighten up my black and grey work outfits! 

Navy Liberty London Star Paisley Silk Scarf £110

The Liberty scarves are second to none when it comes to the timeless wild scarf. There are people who flock from all over the world to get them and their prints are infamous. I particularly like this one as it looks so much like peacock feathers and the colours are gorgeous. I don't think anyone would be angry for receiving a timeless classic like this. 

Frame Again*

We were contacted by Frame Again after writing the previous Gift Guide and it was lovely of them to allow us to create our own to see how the process works. Frame Again have featured on Dragon's Den but after turning down Peter Jones have built up their company on funds from the public. Their business specialises in printing and framing photos of your choice with multiple colour choices.

The best part of these frames? Not only are they able to be fixed to a wall but they are also magnetic, meaning you can fix them together back to back or side by side for a really cool effect. I've seen many images where others have tiled them on walls for a wall of photos which looks really cool, as well as sticking them together on a desk in series.

I chose to send them a picture of me and M at Glastonbury to test out the service and it was so much fun choosing the colour combinations. The delivery service was also super speedy and I received it just over a day after ordering.



The frame feels really sturdy and good quality and I look forward to getting more in future. I'd love to have a wall of them in multiple colours; they'd look great in a study, kitchen or hallway as a feature wall.

You can personalise your own Frames here for £9.99 at the moment instead of £19.99.

What do you think of these gifts? Would you love to receive them on Christmas Day? 

Let me know!

L xxx

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Happy Saturday lovelies!

Hope you've got some exciting things planned. Currently I will be having a quiet day and then settling in to watch the Wales v New Zealand rugby match at 5.30pm as it's a big one for me family seeing as some of them now live over in NZ! That and it's always a tense game regardless!

M has frequently told me how flipping amazing the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer is, but my bank balance just wouldn't stretch to it knowing I had a few Collection ones in the make up bag that needed using first. Needless to say when they were on their last dregs I caved and snapped this up without a second thought. Welcome to my make up bag NARS!

I chose the colour Vanilla as M uses the same. Most people seem to think i have much darker skin than I do on account of my near black hair colour but I really am quite pale (my mum gets annoyed when I wear dark lipsticks as it 'makes me look ill' - thanks mum, your genes remember!)

This colour was absolutely perfect for me and i haven't looked back. The rubber packaging looks really good though alas gets ridiculously dirty 5 seconds after opening.

I've been using this mostly under my eyes as it's wonderful at covering those pesky bags that never seem to go away. I think my skin is so pale that it will always be an issue for me!

The concealer is thick and creamy and blends in really easily so I've definitely been won over by the consistency and pigmentation.

The wand is also really easy to use and holds a decent amount of product without caking it on.

I have also used it to cover up spots on the odd occasion but I tend to use other products for that and save this one for the big job of concealing my undereye area. I use the wand to apply it to my face and then blend it in using an expert face brush from Real Techniques.

Here's a few snaps:

These two were without flash and show how the colour blends right in and covers up my bags really well. I've got foundation on as well as this is how I wear my make up every day so just need to set with powder to keep it set for the day.

The photo below shows with flash and you can see where my bags are but they are still pretty well camouflaged in my opinion!

I think I could have added an additional layer if I had wanted too and maybe it would be blanked out completely but for every day use this is perfect for me.

I've had no issues whatsoever and can only rave about the results from using this; it's a 10/10 from me and a 100% recommendation. Totally worthy of the hype and other rave reviews that I've seen!

Have you tried this concealer from Nars? What's your favourite Nars product? Do you have of their Christmas gift sets on your wishlist?

L xxx