Sunday Summary 16/09/2012

Hello lovelies, 

So as I said last Sunday, I'm going to do a weekly type summary with any bits and bobs I have to say about my week...

Again, it's been fairly average (when you're not a student and you don't work life can be very boring!) but I did start volunteering at a charity shop this week. You won't know this, but it's kind of a big deal for me as I used to be pretty much agoraphobic and still get very anxious when doing new things. The people there are very nice and it's quite interesting to see what will come out of the bags of donations!

Fast forward to the weekend and I popped into town and bought a quilted jacket, I've been lusting after one for ages so will be sharing that with you this week. I've also got another blogger challenge coming up, I've found I quite like doing them :) I'm going to try and post more often because I do love blogging, I just don't always feel like I have anything interesting to say, we'll see anyway.

So it's a short but sweet Sunday Summary this week and because I hate posts without pictures here's something pretty from Pinterest. I'd love to have something like this in my garden one day.

Lauren x

Bargain Skinny Jeans!

I wasn't going to dedicate a whole post to these, but what the hell. I am soo pleased with this purchase that I had to share it with you all. I've never owned a pair of skinny jeans, I'd sort of given up on jeans in general as  I can never seem to find the right fit. I decided recently however that I really should get some type of jeans as winter's approaching and they're so handy. Walking past Peacocks the other day a pair of shoes in the window caught my eye. For the past few years I've dismissed Peacocks but before that I used to buy things in there quite often. Anyhoo, I went in just to have a quick look around and spotted a variety of different jeans for just £10. With the parking about to run out I grabbed a pair of skinnies and headed for the changing rooms. Cue dodgy mirror shot:

Ignore the rubbish in the background and the dust on the mirror, my room's a tip.

I was really pleased with the fit and immediately bought them! I mean what can you get for £10 these days?! 

Lauren x

Some More Wins

Hello,

By now you'll probably know that I love entering competitions and I sometimes share what I've won. In the last couple of weeks I've not really entered many competitions (I need to get on top of this!), but I've been receiving things that I won last month or before. 

One of my biggest wins so far is this collection of Canderel. I mentioned it a couple of weeks ago, and just received it on Tuesday. They describe it as a year's supply, but I think this will probably last me much much longer. I've never really used sweetener before and I've promised some to my sister as she uses it all the time in her coffee. With over 2000 of the tablets alone I'm sure there'll be enough to go around!

The lovely people at Canderel also threw in some of their promotional goodies like pens, a tea towel and even a USB stick! If you're reading this Canderel, Thank You :)

I also won this Garnier face wash from their Facebook page. It was really nicely packed! They're quite often having competitions on there or giving away samples, it's worth checking out. 

Lastly, I won this black mint shower gel from Original Source. It was won via Twitter by re-tweeting them and at the time I didn't realise it was for men! I'm using it anyway and I don't think it really makes a difference. It's such a strong, fresh mint smell, good for waking you up in the morning.

So that's my last few wins. Have you won anything recently? Let me know!

Lauren x

Sunday Summary 09/09/2012

Hello lovely readers, 

So far I haven't really done any personal posts, as in all honesty my life isn't really very exciting, but I've decided to start doing a 'Sunday Summary' every week. It's where I'll post all the random bits and pieces that don't deserve a whole post of their own, but which I wanted to mention.

First up is a big thank you to every single one of you who read my blog regularly and have chosen to follow my ramblings. This week I have hit the fifty follower mark and I'm chuffed to bits that so many of you are listening :)

Secondly, I went on a very unsuccessful shopping trip on saturday, which is just as well as I have quite a few expenses coming up soon *yawn*. I did however pick up a few essentials. 

The brushes were another Ebay bargain which I'll do a post about in the week. I'm hoping to get a lot of use out of these. I picked up the nail varnish as I've been after a Union Jack blue for a while. This one's called 'Boom' and it goes really well with the owl top I blogged about here. 

Apart from this, I had a pretty uneventful week doing the usual stuff I do like walking Jasper and taking my nan food shopping. See, I told you my life was exciting! 

If that's not enough about me (which I'm sure it is!) you can follow me on Twitter @pink4flamingos. 

Lauren x

House Of Fraser Blogger Challenge

Hello ladies, 

Today I'm posting an outfit I put together using pieces from the House of Fraser website. They have a blogger challenge going on at the moment, so this is the entry I'm submitting (my first blogger challenge!). One lucky person will win £200 worth of HOF vouchers as the prize. For more details read their blog post telling you how to enter.

This is what I'd wear as a kind of smart casual, everyday outfit during the winter months. I picked out the jumper first as I seem to be drawn to cosy jumpers like this racoon one, he's so cute! Then I picked out the boots - I can't resist a good pair of riding boots and they look great with skinny jeans. The bag is really spacious looking for all the stuff I lug around, but at the same time it's quite structured and smart looking. Of course I had to add the umbrella, this is Britain after all! 

Lauren x

Newspaper Print Nails

I've been meaning to try this nail art idea for ages and finally got around to it at the weekend with my sister.

To start off we painted our nails with a couple coats of Nails Inc's Basil Street. We thought this would give it an antique look. Then one by one we dipped our nails in an eggcup of vodka, placing a small bit of newspaper over the nail. You have to make sure the newspaper is wet through and push down on it with another finger. It's the same as when you're a kid and you have the instant tattoos that wash on (minus the vodka of course!). Next you peel the paper off again and voila, all that's left to do is a top coat. 

Although it worked, the print came out quite faded and you could clearly tell it was our first attempt. I've since read that it may have been because we only dipped our nails in the vodka quite briefly, so if you try it make sure you give them a couple mins immersed. In hindsight I'd have also used a different base colour for more of a contrast. 

I'm definitely going to try these again and experiment with different fonts and maybe try to transfer part of the comic strips, or some other non-wordy part of the paper!

If you've tried/try these I'd love to see the results, let me know. 

Lauren  x

August Empties

Hello lovelies,

Have you all enjoyed the weekend? I know it's back to school/college for some of you this week, so hope you've made the most of it! I spent the last few days hanging around at my sister's house, watching films and tv, painting our nails, walking the dogs, and just doing the usual stuff really. Anyway, on to the empties...

I've not done an 'empties' post before, but as I seemed to use several things up at once, I thought now was the time! Hopefully it'll encourage me to use up some of the things that sit around doing nothing. 

1. Avon Advance Techniques Heat Protection Spray

When Avon changed the packaging of their hair range these were going super cheap for reps, so I bought four. I use it every time I blow dry/straighten/curl my hair. I can't exactly tell if it works, but my hair doesn't look damagaed and it gives me piece of mind!

2. Henara Shampoo

I picked this up cheap at a local discount store because it's meant to enhance your natural hair colour. I can't say I noticed any difference and I hate the fact that it doesn't lather up. It's also very liquidy, with no body to it. 

3. Avon anti-dandruff Volume Shampoo

I like this shampoo and would buy it again. I use it in conjunction with the Avon Volume spray and it does give my hair a bit of lift when I blow dry it after using this. 

4. 17 Va Va Voom Mascara

I did a post about this mascara earlier in the month. You can find it here. 

5. Garnier Deodorant Invisi mineral Calm

Looking at these deodorants in shops, there are so many different ones. I got this one because it has a really lovely, girly smell that lingers around. Having said this, I got a bit fed up with it by the end of the can. It is a good deodorant though and is really gentle on my skin.

6. Marks and Spencer's Cocoa Butter Lotion

I discovered a few months ago that M & S do a whole range of lotions, shower gels, bubble bath, etc, called Nature's extracts. The lotion's a light, non-greasy formula which actually feels quite thin but moisturises well. I opted for cocoa butter because I wanted something richly moisturising for my dry skin, but my mum has the lemon verbena and it smells gorgeous! 

So there you go, that's what's now in my bin. I'll be having to fish the mascara back out though as I read that the wands make excellent eyebrow brushes.

Lauren x