Nip + Fab glycolic fix daily cleansing pads

Recently I have been using these glycolic fix cleansing pads, from Nip + Fab. They offer a gentle exfoliation without scrubbing to reveal fresher skin. And fresher skin = younger looking skin right?

A pot contains 60 pads, and each pad is soaked in glycolic acid, which helps to re-texture and resurface.

Dove silk glow body wash

Body washes are not something I would usually blog about but I felt that I had to share my love for this Dove body wash. I have been using this the last few weeks and I love it. Soft and silky, this really does leave your skin feeling smooootttthhh. 

Lush's fresh face masks - 'love lettuce': review

He might be a big, beefy Marine officer but when it comes to the girly stuff, the Boy has it nailed!

He's often bought me shoes, accessories and helps me pick out an outfit quite happily (well maybe not happily) but he is also pretty good when it comes to knowing what beauty products I like!

I was surprised with a huge box of bath bombs from Lush and also this little treat for the face...

A face mask from Lush's Fresh Face mask range. 

Palmers cocoa butter formula gentle exfoliating scrub: review

I love the Palmer's cocoa body butter range, especially the one with the hint of tan in it! But I never knew that they did a facial scrub! I randomly stumbled across this when I was in Superdrug looking for everything but facial scrub! 

Nivea BB cream: review

I have never been a fan of foundations, I find them far too heavy and thick and I only end up with "cakey-face" where I haven't blended them properly. So when BB creams burst on to the market a few years ago (thank you Korean beauty world) I was hooked. And have been ever since.

my new fav beauty buy

Detox for your hair in four easy steps - guest blogger Samples Queen

Guest blogger, Eli from Samples Queen

I’m crap at styling my hair but great at finding hair products that will do half the job for me. Dry, frizzy and bristle hair is normally what I had to work with but not anymore since I discovered few hair care products that completely changed my hair game.

Laura Mercier under eye concealer: review

I first discovered Laura Mercier beauty products and how much I loved them in the run up to my wedding a couple of years ago. I was on the look out for a tinted moisturiser that would give me a gorgeous glow on the big day and I stumbled on their illuminating shimmer tinted moisturiser (see the blog review here). 

coverage in a pot! 

Another one of their products I have to have is their "secret concealer" for the under eye area, for me it is shade 03, but they do 12 shades, so there is a shade for everyone.

"No clog allowed" super self-heating deep pore detox mask

I have used a lot of face masks in my time and this has to be one of the best I have used! It is in the mid range of pricing (about £11.50) and well worth it. 

On a damp face, rub in the facemask and you can feel it heating up - it feels lovely and it might be psychological but this makes it feel like it's really working! 

Fall make up beauty update - guest blogger Samples Queen

Guest blogger, Eli from Samples Queen

Fashion and beauty trends are great source of inspiration but when it comes to real life, well most of them are quite impractical. 

Flipping through fashion magazines I could not help myself but notice the overwhelming and prominent feature of burgundy and deep red colors. 

Tips on how to incorporate the new shades of color vary from adding something small like a burgundy lip, or going for things that are a bit more extreme like head to toe fashion look. 

Willing to try something new and “appear” more fashion forward I started my quest for something burgundy. On my recent trip to the drugstore I picked up a few season appropriate lipsticks and eye shadows that I thought will help me transition into the new fashion season.

Eyelash extensions… are they worth it???

With two short European breaks coming up in the space of two weeks, I thought it was the perfect time to try eye lash extensions. False eye lashes are not new territory for me, I pretty much wear them every day. But never had proper extensions.

I like the idea of waking up on holiday having to make minimal fuss to my face before a days sightseeing or chilling in the sun, especially when I’m with the boy who’s quick getting ready time means I can feel his waiting presence with every minute longer I take faffing around with beauty contraptions he doesn’t understand are necessities.

Fake eyelashes from Ardell 101: review

Whilst my natural eye lashes are fairly long, they are few and far between, meaning that even when I curl and mascara them, they aren’t very full or fluttering. Therefore, I rely heavily on my fake eyelashes to ensure my eyes have a bit of character to them! Especially as I wear glasses which I can find "hide" the eyes. 

I don't go away for the night without my fake eyelashes so I have obviously bought a stash with me to South Africa. Just in case I lose one of two of them on my travels! 

these are my go to eye lashes

I have been wearing these fake eyelashes for some time now but they have recently have had quite a few compliments from passer bys so I thought it was best time I blogged about them.

Trilogy Rosehip oil: review

As you may have seen, I recently went away a few weeks ago for a few days of skiing in Andorra. In case you didn’t see, let me inform you that whilst on that trip I engaged in a few moves that I can only describe as “unintentionally acrobatic” – including, skiing backwards, back flipping over a fence and skiing on my chin. All moves that were quite impressive but bloody hurt!

Of all of them though, the skiing on the chin has to be the most painful, as my epic fall on top my face, and continuing to go down the mountain (it weren’t even a mountain at this point, it was a very flat blue run) resulted in ‘ice burn’ on my chin and nose.

For those of you that have not had the pleasure of face skiing let me enlighten you. Ice burn takes a lovely layer of skin off you but you don’t actually bleed which left me with a scabbing chin for the next five or so days.

Whilst it provided entertainment for the girls, I was actually a wee bit worried that this was going to be a red scar for some time. However, my lovely aunty Caz saved the day with this...

rosehip oil saved the day

Estee Lauder advanced night repair serum: review

At Christmas the Boy treated me to a beauty product that has been on my wish list for sometime now – Estee Lauder’s advanced night repair serum.

finally have my mitts on this! 

Why has this been on my wish list for so long?

Well firstly cos it is bloody expensive at about £50 a bottle, so out of my usual beauty product price range,  but also because it claims to reduce the appearance of the key signs of visible aging, revealing smoother, firmer and fresher skin.

V05’s “give me texture dry texturising spray": review

I have never been one for liking flat hair. For me, the bigger, the messier, the better. Since the explosion of “root boosts” on the hair market, I have tried my fair share (I am currently using Schwarzkopf’s “got 2 be powder’ful volumizing styling powder).

Whilst volume at the roots is great, I have also been looking for a bit of va va voom in the lengths too!

Recently I have started using V05’s “give me texture dry texturising spray” with sea salt for that effortless ‘undone’ look.

give me texture! 

Silk 'anti aging' pillow cases

It's a new year so the perfect time to dedicate a bit of time to yourself! My focus for January is building a better me, and one of the ways to do this is to start looking after my well being more - inside and out. 

So over January, my blog entries will focus more on feeling fit and fine! 

Today's blog - my quest for youthful skin... 

Ages and ages ago, I read an article about silk “anti aging” pillow cases. Speaking with my pharmacist colleagues that I wanted one, they laughed at me and my attempts to prevent the aging process. But I stuck it on the wish list for Christmas and the lovely Boy got me one!

the creases go once on the pillow -
I wasn't sure if you could iron these

So why the hype about them and their ‘anti aging’?

Sleek trio of blushers: review

I am currently in Sharm el Shiek in Egypt and as always I have taken too much luggage. But not with my make up and toiletries. 

I always struggle in my attempt to not overload the make up bag when I go on holiday, so I have now started looking for handy make up sets and palettes. 

This blusher set from 'sleek' has done the trick for me in sorting out what blushers to take, offering three very pink but very different shades. 

a trio of pinks to add a flush of colour to your cheeks

The Body Shop vitamin C skin reviver: review

At this time of year it is vital you get your vitamin C but how about some for your face too!

Couple of weeks ago my lovely friend Natalie introduced me to “Vitamin C Skin Reviver” from the BodyShop.

A serum oozing with vitamin c and Brazil nut oil,  this helps perk up dull skin. And I got to say, I genuinely think that this has worked for my usually sad winter skin.   

Lush cream cleanser: review - au naturel and handmade

I seem to be a bit obsessive on facial products at the moment, doing my best to try what’s out there to get my face sparkly clean. Lately I have been sampling a natural cleanser from Lush – Ultrabland facial cleanser.

ultrabland facial cleanser...
said to be the Lush founder's fav product! 

It’s marketed as a beeswax and rose cream cleanser, homemade with fresh ingredients, with ingredients such as almond oil, honey and rose water. Sounds tasty and perhaps the ingredients for a dessert (I am thinking Turkish delight perhaps?!) but being au naturel, I was a bit sceptical about it working.

What’s more, the lady in the shop said that as my face is used to the usual chemical stuff, it may take a while for my skin to get used to it. Hmmm.

Turns out however, that this stuff actually is pretty good and does a thorough and proper job of cleansing my skin. It is quite thick and a touch oily in texture so is probably best for dry skin.

Lush's lip scrub - buff away chapped lips: review

This weather is not kind to my lips. My lips are not friends with the bitter wind, the freezing cold, the office heating system or the drizzly air. I find that my lips are permanently chapped and dry, and that I grow a disgusting compulsion to pick the dry skin off my lips. (Don’t gimme that – we all do it secretly!)

tasty, handmade and preservative free! 

I had even given up the lipstick for a while as soon as I put it on, it just highlighted the dryness and the cracks. Not pretty.

But my friend Sophie introduced me to my knight in shining armour last week and this little pot of brilliantness has now reformed my lips to soft and kissing worthy once more!

"Lush" spa, tailor made massage

My birthday may have been two months ago but I still haven’t cashed in the beauty treatments that the Boy bought me as a present. So this weekend I had the first of three treatments, my “tailor made massage” at the Lush Spa on Kings Road in London. 

I have always been bit of a fan of the Lush products but didn’t even realise that they had a few spas! They also have places in Kingston, Poole, Leeds, Edinburgh and Liverpool. They also have some in Japan, France and Korea in case you fancy popping there!

I am bit of a beauty treatment junkie and do like to indulge in one every couple of  months, so I like to think I know my stuff about what makes a good treatment.

lush spa treatment room

I can honestly say that this massage treatment was one of the best I have ever had, not just in terms of the massage itself but he experience as a whole – it was truly unique, relaxing and self-indulgent! This is the crème de la crème of pamperings!