Christmas Treats for Me and You

Another day another gift list. Or at least that's how it seems when I log onto my blogger feed. Don't get me wrong, I like looking at them, but I just thought I'd do something different. So with that in mind I've picked out a few things that I think are perfect pre-Christmas treats to get yourself. 

L-R:

 Cath Kidston Mug, £6. 

Christmas Cushion, ,£3.99 Dunelm Mill. 

With Love At Christmas, £4.33 Amazon.

Ciate Advent Calendar, £38, Selfridges

Yankee Christmas Tree medium jar, £15.49, Yankeedirect.com

Lauren x

NOTD M&S Limited Collection in Lilac

Back in the summer I did a little haul post with some things I'd bought in the M&S sale. This was one of them but I've only just got round to using it. It's called Lilac and it's really quite an interesting colour as it's very highly pigmented with a gold shimmer. From some angles it looks like a flat light purple but as soon as a bit of light catches it it instantly picks up the iridescent gold tone. 

It's quite different than most the other polishes I have, I can't stop looking at it. I used two coats and it went on really nicely. Although the brush was quite short and stubby it was one of the easiest polishes to apply that I've ever used and it lived up to it's promise as being quick dry. I've used a few of these M&S polishes now and would definitely recommend them.

Lauren x 

Winter Tag

Winter Tag!

I saw this tag over on Rose-Marie's blog and thought I'd do it too :)

1. Favourite Winter Nail Polish?
I'm really loving my new Natural Collection Black Cherry that I posted about here. Such a bargain and the perfect winter colour.

2. Favourite Winter lip product?
Good old Palmer's cocoa butter lip balm, great for keeping the chaps away ;)

3. Most worn Winter clothing piece?
Aside from my quilted jacket which is super snug, it would have to be my oversized owl jumper (pic here).

4. Most worn Winter accessory?
A scarf which I bought from Primark a few years back. It goes with pretty much everything and has had  so much wear for the few quid I paid.

5. Favourite winter scent/candle?
I haven't even burned it yet, but I have a Yankee 'Christmas Tree' candle waiting to be used that smells so so good. I love the smell of Christmas trees and as we don't have a real one it will make things a bit more authentic!

6. Favourite Winter beverage?

You can't beat hot chocolate with marshmallows. I don't drink tea or coffee so I can get away with drinking a lot of this :)

7. All time favorite Christmas/Holiday movie?
This is tough. The first two Home Alone films always remind me of Christmas and I've watched them year in year out. For something in your face Christmassy I'd have to say Elf. 

8. Favourite Christmas/Holiday song?
Fairytale of New York. The lyrics are excellent and completely different to all the other Christmas songs. 

9. Favourite Holiday food/treat?
I know they're not traditional, but Cheeselets. You don't tend to see them the rest of the year so I have to get my fill while they're around. 

10. What is your favourite Christmas decoration this year? 
It will probably be the tree, Christmas isn't Christmas without a tree!

11. What's at the top of your Christmas list?
Nothing that exciting but that's because it's my birthday two weeks before and I'm hopefully getting a camera. 

12. What are your plans for the holidays this year?
I'm not sure what's happening on Christmas day yet but I've got a few things planned in the run up, including my first ever Christmas market and attempting to make a cake!

If you do the tag too let me know!

Lauren x 

Cosmetics Haul November 2012

I'm still trying not to spend or at least keep it to a minimum, but here are some things I picked up in town last week. 

I really needed some shampoo but knew I had an Avon one on the way, so I bought this double pack of shampoo and conditioner for £1.49 in Savers.
The Chit chat nail varnish was from Poundland, as far as I know it's their own range of make-up. They had this in quite a few different colours and I really liked this blue.
17 Miracle matte powder £5.49 - having a bit of a problem with the balance of my combination skin at the moment so hopefully this will control my shininess! Make-up is buy one get one half price at the moment in Boots so I also got 17 Photo Flawless Primer - this is my replacement for my Porefessional sample. I'm not expecting it to be as good but it's a fraction of the price at £5 and because of the offer I only paid £2.50.
Natural Collection Corrector Stick - I've seen this on other blogs and wanted to try it out because I'm intrigued. It was £2ish and with that I got a black cherry nail varnish which ended up costing around £1.
Last but not least, Burt's lip balm with pomegranate oil. I like to have a lot of lip balms on the go so I can have one in each bag/pocket/room pretty much.

Not bad for around £15. I just need to get my arse into gear and buy some blimmin Christmas presents now.

Lauren x 

Empties Novemberish 2012

Hello lovelies,

I really don't get through that many products and when I do it's normally things like shampoo and shower gel, but here are my empties from the past couple months. 

 Sure Deodorant ~ I love the smell of this (flowers and apricots), but I don't think I'll bother buying it again. It does the job, but I've had better.
Avon Smooth Minerals Foundation ~ This foundation leaves my skin a bit too dewy and is slightly too dark for me now that it's winter, despite the fact that it's meant to be Ivory!
Avon Ideal Shade Light Make Up ~ I bought this ages back because it was going really cheap, bit of a mistake really as I need more coverage than this can offer.
Avon Supershock Mascara ~ I've been a fan of this mascara for a long time, but I never stay loyal to one mascara, I'm always on the hunt for something better.
The Porefessional Sample ~ This was the Glamour freebie, I absolutely love it but can't afford the real size one so have had to replace it with a cheap 17 primer.
Palmer's Cocoa Butter Lip Balm ~ My go to for a plain(ish) lip balm, cheap and effective.

Dove Daily Care Shampoo ~ I like this and would buy it again, feels like it really moisturises your hair.
Avon Nail Enamel Remover ~ This works, but is around £4 which I think is too much for one that just works. It doesn't smell too great either, I've replaced it with a Boots one that's a bearable smell.
Sanex Pro Hydrate Bath ~ I have really dry skin so have to watch what I use in the bath, anything too overly soapy is a nightmare. This is great though, I'd buy it again.

I wish I had some more exciting empties to share, but unless I win the lottery it's not likely!

Lauren x 

NOTD Natural Collection's Black Cherry

The title of this post is pretty self explanatory. This is one of the things I picked up in Boots the other day as part of their buy one get one half price make-up offer. I was after the green tone correcting stick which was £1.99 and this was £1.89 but in the end it worked out as 90 something pence instead :) I was stuck between getting this one and the raspberry shade which was a bit lighter but still looked like a deep berry colour. This one is a very rich colour with a slightly golden toned shimmer. 

I'm impressed because I thought being so cheap the quality might be lacking but it actually went on really well and it has a lovely shiny finish. I'll definitely be looking at the other colours they do when I'm next in Boots.

Lauren x 

Cake Decorating: My First Go

Hello lovelies, 

Last week it was my sister's birthday and I'd said I'd make her a cake. I've never really got into the whole decorating side of cake-making but I've seen some absolutely fabulous cakes online with figurines of people, dogs, etc made from modelling paste. These are great but a bit too ambitious for my first go, so I got  a couple of books from the library with the hope of mastering a few basics.

Pictures from The Cake Decorating Bible by Juliet Sear

Pictures from Good Housekeeping's The Book Of Cake Decorating

Both were really good and full of inspiration, but for the first time I wanted to try something really simple. I bought a packet of ready to roll white icing and a couple of tubes of gel food colouring. First off I rolled out a block of white which I used to simply cover the cake. I then kneaded the food colouring into some of the remaining icing, rolled it out, and cut shapes from it. 

It was all a bit quick and slapdash, for most of last week I was streaming with cold so put off making the cake until late wednesday night when I was feeling a bit better and less likely to make it germ ridden! Thursdays I volunteer at the shop so as soon as I'd finished It was home for a quick bite to eat, decorate the cake, and out again to get to my sister's house for presents and cake. 

The finished result was a bit rough around the edges and you can see I'm an amateur but even so I was quite pleased because I know in the future I can do it again and each time will be a bit better. 

It didn't even make it onto the cake stand properly before going to my sister's as I was too scared it would break if I moved the baking parchment, it was a bit awkward and the icing was already showing signs of cracking. She was really pleased with it (I think!) and just appreciated that I'd made the effort. 

So there it is, my first venture into the world of cake decorating!

Lauren x 

Beauty Buys On A Budget (non make-up)

I've been a bit strapped for cash lately and am really trying not to spend because I haven't bought any Christmas pressies yet and that's a priority. It's my birthday next month too so I'm holding off buying things I want and hoping I'll receive them! So I've been super cautious when it comes to spending. 

Left to right, I bought:

Skin Therapy pore strips, £1 for 6, Wilkinsons. I've not used these before but really like the face wipes that are the same make.

Timotei grape and rose shower gel, 50p, Wilkinsons. I grabbed this because it was so cheap and smelt nice.

George nail varnish in 'Jackpot'. It was £1half price so I couldn't resist.

Johnson's baby shampoo, 69p, Lidl. Another thing that was on offer. I'd been after some brush cleaner for my real techniques set but heard that baby shampoo also does the job.

George nail varnish in 'Midnight Black', £1. Just another thing I was in need of as I don't have a black in my collection.

Boots conditioning nail polish remover, £1.30. I wanted one that didn't smell awful and this one's good. It has aprictot kernel oil in it and I can smell it on my hands afterwards.

So that's my boring little inexpensive beauty buys from last week. I'm being extremely good. 

Lauren x

October Wins 2012

Over the last month or so I've been lucky enough to win or else receive some of the prizes I've previously won. 

First up I had a small parcel package and opened it to find loads of those little foamy things and right in the middle was this set of nail varnishes! I've never won anything before that I hadn't known was coming so it was a great surprise and I love it. 

It's a shame I didn't have these earlier on in the year, but I don't see why you can't wear pastely colours in winter too. They're all so pretty :)

Next up is this sweet little tea pot keyring which I won from the Marks and Spencer free magazine that they do. Around the time of the Queen's Jubilee they had lots of things you could win by emailing them your details, so that's what I did.

Lastly, I won this Max Factor 2000 calorie mascara from their Facebook page. I'll review this once I've tried it out.

Lauren x