Beauty Rehab

Hey everyone!

It's that time again when I've almost filled another bag full of empties and need to share them with you. Again I've been pretty good but my stash just isn't going down, facial skincare seems to take up so much of it and you just can't pile it on or use it up like you can others like body moisturiser!

So without further ado here's my recent empties:

Clarins Cleansing Cream  - quite a good sample to try though I'm not sure I'd purchase the full size,felt a bit greasy which is surprising as my skin is on the dry side now
Vichy Densifying Care - honestly, I'm not sure what this is but I used it as a moisturiser. It was quite nice but I've never seen anything like it in the shops!
Benefit Porefessional - another travel size used up, I'll need to stock up somehow for my future travels! It's a great primer for all round
Rimmel Brow This Way - the high street version of Benefit's Gimme Brow, admittedly not as good but for my minimal budget whilst I'm saving it has been great. I've bought another to keep me going!

Antipodes Reincarnation Exfoliator - I have really liked every product I've tried from Antipodes but this one did feel a bit on the safe side, as a scrub it had more of a powder texture so was a very light scrub. Wouldn't repurchase but does smell amazing!
Antipodes Aura Manuka Honey Mask - I need this in my life again, I must repurchase it but I'm using it as an incentive to use up all my other hydration masks and oils!
Rimmel Stay Matte - still the best powder out there for me, works a charm and doesn't break the bank, winning.
Models Own 4 way Nail Block - Can never go wrong with one of these blocks, makes me have natural looking manicured nails, perfect for work.

Sachet central this month!
Bb Color Minded Shampoo and Conditioner - really liked these and have miniature versions to try soon!
Rodial Stem Cell Facial Oil - REALLY liked this, shame about the £60/30ml price tag which means that I will never be able to afford it :(
Kiehls Cucumber Toner - as someone who can take or leave toner I was surprised how refreshing this felt though I can't say I would purchase the full size
Philosophy Keep the Peace cream - can't say this was for me, felt too perfumed and my skin didn't have a positive reaction
Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream - Really liked this when I had a full pot of it, the minis are great for travelling
StriVectin Antioxidant Defence Lotion - this was a lovely sachet too and my skin drank it up, haven't tried much from Strivectin before so would like to try more

Caudalie Vinoperfect Serum - this was a nice serum and my skin seemed to drink it up but the tester was really stingy. Not sure I'd purchase this
Jurlique Rosewater Mist - not a toner fan but I can't say this did anything for me
REN Global Protection Day Cream - not a fan, my skin didn't like this as it felt greasy and brought me out in a few spots
Vichy Dermablend - love this foundation, looks so natural on my skin and I have already repurchased

White Company Shampoo and Conditioner - these were from a set of testers given to me, I still stand by my statement that shampoo and conditioner need not be expensive
Stile One Step Primer - really liked this but it's expensive for the effects that it has, I've used cheaper with the same effects so I wouldn't repurchase right now
Philip Kingsley Daily Damage Defense - this was light and didn't weigh my hair down but didn't feel any positive effects either!
Nip and Fab No Needle Fix Serum - full post coming on this one soon but I personally prefer the Dragon's Blood serum from N&F

No7 Brush Cleaner - This was sometimes useful but tended to leave a film on the brushes so I gave up in the end, made them far too oily
St Tropez Body Moisturiser - lovely moisturiser pre tanning as it's so light, would buy this if it wasn't more expensive than other moisturisers that do a similar job
Aussie Color Mate Shampoo - Aussie is my favourite hair brand, their 3 min miracle is my favourite conditioner and this shampoo is also on my repurchase list
SachaJuan Hair Repair - this was a lovely conditioner but nothing on the 3 min miracle mentioned above, wouldn't repurchase

JPG MaDame perfume - I have 2 bottles in the sidelines, favourite scent EVER
S&G Slimwear - Not sure this does anything at all to help reduce cellulite but extra moisturisation can never be a bad thing
Nioxin Scalp Treatment Spray - I think has gone off courtesy of the weird smell, can't comment on the effects of this one
Nip and Fab Cleansing Oil - after finding out this has mineral oil in I've been avoiding using it on my skin so it's just going to go in the bin now

Nars Creamy Concealer - new fave concealer, hydrating and good coverage, already repurchased
Nip and Fab Viper Venom Eye Roll On - really liked this, would repurchase when I finish some others in my stash
Caudalie Polyphenol Protect Fluid - not sure if this was a serum or not but it was lovely and hydrating, as an extra step with SPF I'd consider buying this
Caudalie Polyphenol Anti Wrinkle Defense Serum - another lush serum, my skin drank it up and felt really hydrated, would consider purchasing this

I have definitely been a busy bee finishing these up. As a quick life update I've just bought a house this week (SO SCARED AND EXCITED!!!!) so now using up my stash has become a huge priority so that I don't have to lug it all with me when I move all my stuff out!

I'll be starting working my way through more samples so the volume of products can be reduced as much as possible, big efforts are needed!

What have you been using up recently? Have you been getting through products at this rate?

L xxx

Lush Golden Egg Bath Melt

Hey All

Lush Golden Egg is a bath bomb melt in their current Easter range and one we were lucky enough to get to try after attending an event (you can read more on it here and see the amazing carrot soap!)

Golden Egg is an amazing gold glitter egg for Easter and retails for £3.75. It's a Lush Bath Bomb melt so doesn't fizz quite as much as a normal bath bomb and provides a little bit of bubbles and some moisturiser. It would make a great alternative to an Easter egg for someone that doesn't eat chocolate.

It's got an amazing sweet toffee scent to it but also has bergamot and sweet orange oil so it's not sickly sweet and has a refreshing hint to it. To make it a melt it contains cocoa butter (which goes great with the toffee scent) and olive oil to leave your skin feeling amazing after a bath. Great for these grey days when you don't want to be cold and apply a moisturiser post bath!

You can see how glittery the egg is, and it comes off onto your skin easily so definitely not one to touch until the last possible moment!
I just dropped it straight into a hot bath and watched the magic slowly unfold.





This one took some time to melt away and made the bath a lovely sunshine yellow with a few bubbles. It was really moisturising too and is my favourite thing about Lush bath products as they make my skin feel so much nicer! Even though it's really glittery it leaves the bath looking shimmery and pretty but you're not left looking like a glitter ball when you get out.

Have you tried any of the Easter Range?

Lush have so many lovely products to try at the moment!


Love L and M

xxx

Five Guys

Hey All 

With Five Guys shortly making its way to Cardiff (30th March) I thought I’d share my thoughts on it when I recently tried it in Bristol. I’d heard a bit of a mixed review on it. Some people raved about it some people thought it was overrated for a burger place. 

Before going I’d seen lots of pictures on instagram so knew slightly what to expect. To be honest at first I was overwhelmed when I saw the menu. Basically it’s just burgers fries and hot dogs but I had no idea about sizing.  

For fries little is for 1 person, regular is for 2 and large is for 3 roughly (the bloke serving my brother did suggest little was for one person, the who served me obviously thought I could eat the bigger portion!). I’m a fatty and finished basically a portion of regular to myself but it was big and unnecessary for me to eat so many. The burgers follow a similar theme, my brother ordered a little which turned out to be a single and the regular is a double burger. 

One thing I loved straight away about 5 guys is your burger is made to order, so when you order you chose from a massive list of toppings and add what you want, from lettuce to gherkins to bbq sauce. They had so many options to add to it. It’s great for fussy eaters and also nicer than most fast food where it’s been sat waiting for a while. 

Drinks in there are expensive but they are free refills. I believe they are around the £2.50 mark. I can honestly say I’ve never seen so many drink options. You’ve got coke, sprite, fanta, still fanta and powerade to name a few and then in most of these the zero options and then they also have flavour options like strawberry, vanilla and orange. There are so many choices. Me and my brother had 6 drinks between us just so we could try them all. 

There are also free peanuts (like GBK) in the shell to help yourself to while you wait for your food. Which won’t be long. It was really busy when we were in there and our food took only a few minutes. Word of warning….. this is fast food! Your food comes to you in a paper bag, your chips are sort of just thrown in and your burger is wrapped in foil. You’re not getting a perfectly layered burger with a skewer and chips in a metal bucket served on a slab of wood type burger but you are getting some amazing food.  

The chips (the reason I ate a regular portion to myself) are amazing! They are skin on fries and were so tasty. They were crisp enough without being over done and a great size of in between fat and skinny. I literally couldn’t stop eating them! 

And the star of the show the burger. Now this bad boy doesn’t look pretty and albeit a little bit squashed but OMG!! It’s a bloody tasty burger. I think the first bite resulted in a smile! I also like that it’s a burger you can bite it’s big but not to big and I did find I didn’t get messy which is always a bonus no fat dripping down my arm! 

My food wasn’t the cheapest a double cheeseburger is about £8 and I think a single is around £5. Little chips were around £2.50 regular £4 and large £5. I think in future I’d order large and share with who was with me.  

I'm definitely on the five guys bandwagon. Both me and my brother would go as far as to say it’s one of the best burgers we've eaten. It’s hard to categorise it as it’s fast food like Burger King and McDonalds but in the price bracket of GBK. It’s fast food but so much tastier than any of three I've mentioned. I'm so happy it’s coming to Cardiff but also slightly concerned for my waist line! 

I hope my friends are ready to be taken there a lot! 

Are you a five guys fan? 

Love M 

xxx 

St David's Spring Event

Hey All

On Thursday night L and I headed to Wahaca to see some of the Spring lines coming into the St Davids Shopping Centre. I've not been to Wahaca before so was really excited to see it as I'd heard lots of good things from many people including L who's been a few times.

Wahaca is spread over three floors with amazing lighting coming down from the ceiling in the middle. It feels like it has a great vibe and would especially be amazing on the weekend! We headed up to the third floor and one of the first things I saw was amazing floating chairs and gorgeous yellow print dresses.

Glass of prosecco, swinging chair and gorgeous clothes make me happy!

It was great to chat through some Spring trends - denim, 70s, yellow and tropical prints, and see some clothes from stores in the centre. The amazing Ted Baker jeans were only £85 which we both thought was quite reasonable and less than we thought. We've both decided we'd rather pay for quality and classic pieces that can be switched up and these are a great example of that.

The ditsy floral print and amazing yellow make this dress perfect for spring time and weddings!

Tropical print shirts are a great way to brighten up work wear and still look smart. It can be hard to find colour in work clothes and seeing the great yellow shirts made us both glad spring is coming, to quote one of the lovely ladies "no one can be mean to you if you're wearing yellow as it's a happy colour!". I love that!

We're not quite convinced on flares being back but love all the floppy hats. If only we had the confidence to rock them casually!

It was also great to chat to the guys from Vivienne Westwood and hear the stories behind the designs and about where some of the products come from. We loved chatting to them so much we pretty much ran into the store after the event for a browse having never gone in before as we'd both assumed it would be too expensive. Basics were actually very reasonable and I'm eyeing up jeans and jewellery once this month is gone with it's five day weekend.

As we left we were lucky enough to be given the spring goodie bags. If you are in St Davids shopping and spend £70 or more you'll get a goodie bag with spring bits in and discounts. 



If you spend over £200 in one day you get the above a months free car parking for April worth up to £600! Some more details can be found here. We don't want to spoil the surprise of the goodie bag!

What trends are you going to be buying this spring? Thanks for having us St David's, we'll be shopping !

Love L and M

xxx