Pay Day Haul

Finally it is pay day, I have been working at John Lewis for the last four weeks - hence the lack of blogging and lots of early nights.  I am really enjoying the job so far but the last couple of weeks have been a struggle for money, so it was finally great to be paid be able to buy some much needed things. Well, some of them were needed and others I just wanted.

1. Superdrug Sugar & Spice Self-heating Mask - £1.00.

I usually buy the self-heating Montagne Jeunesse mask - you know the one that makes you look like you have been tragically burned - so I thought I would give the Superdrug one a try. It feels the same on the face, warm and as if all the icky stuff is being sucked out, but it smells a lot nicer. I would re-buy this.

2. Natural Collection Concealer in Green - £2.00

I seen this on the blogsphere a couple of weeks back and I have been looking for it ever since.  I use the Loreal Studio Primer in Green because green combats redness, and with me having rather bad acne the green really helps tone things down.  However the Loreal primer is expensive and I don't like using it every day and this is £2.00. I haven't tried it yet but I will be back to review it when I do.

3. Extra Chewing Gum - reduced to £0.10 in Superdrug.

Since I started work I have become very concious of my breath especially after lunch so these will do nicely in my handbag to help me freshen up before dealing with the public again.  When I was at Uni I never had this problem because I lived close to the Uni so I could just brush my teeth.

4. Wilko Hand Sanitiser in Fruity Berry - £0.90.

My beloved bath and body hand sanitiser is coming to an end: Anti-Ba(T)cterial and this is the nearest colour I could find to replace The Vampires Blood with.  It smells nice and fruity but nowhere as since as the plum scent of the bath and body one.

5. Primark Tights - £2.50-3.50.

An exciting purchase in the form of tights.  I cleared out my tights this morning and binned all the ones that have seen better days.  I never wear trousers and rarely wear leggings so tights are an every day essential for me, and with winter coming in it is time to stock up on the heavy duty tights.  John Lewis have tights that are fleecy on the inside - I really want a pair.

6. Wilkinson Sword Intuition Razor - Wilkinsons - £3.50.

The other week I picked up the blades for this razor thinking they would fit the one that I already have - they didn't.  For the last two weeks I have been using the blades without a handle, surprisingly not too bad.  I really like that you do not need shaving gel with this razor as the blades are surrounded by a thick moisturising soap, and they leave you smelling great.  I still have two blades from my mistake and one came with the handle, so I am all stocked up until after Christmas. The intuition blades were also cheaper than the other Wilkinson Sword blades.

7. Glade Candle in Relaxing Zen - Wilkinsons - £1.80.

I am a big candle lover and most of my candles have reached the point where they are hard to light and the last thing I want to do when I come in from work is faff around trying to light a candle.  The Glade candles smell great and last ages. The last Glade candle I had lasted me around a year, granted I didn't use it every day but I still used it fairly regularly.  This one has a nice musty smell and it is meant to be relaxing - so we shall see.

8. Umberto Giannini - 2 for £.7.50 Boots.

I will be reviewing both these products in a separate post once I  have gave them a good try. 1. Root Boost Volume Spray for Big Hair. 2. Morning After Dry Shampoo.  Winter and my hair are not friends, the humidity and wetness just make it go curly but not like a pretty curly, more like a Bettlejuice style, so this is my attempt at having nice hair this winter. My Batise XXL volume dry shampoo has ran out and I was going to re buy it but these were around the same price, here's hoping they work as well.

9. Socks  - Primark Kids Section - £1.50-2.50.

Being on my feet all day at work is leaving them feeling super sore and a lovely pair of socks to put on in bed can make all the difference. I am only a size 3 in shoe so I tend to sock shop at the kids section - the kids section actually had a better selection of cosy socks. The adult section didn't have anything that took my fancy.  The Feet Heater socks are similar to the welly socks I bought at Download Festival and are super comfy.

10. Green Skull Bag - Krush - £15.00.

I saw this whilst walking past Krush, a store I would not usually venture into but I was drawn to the bag akin to a magpie and shiny objects.  Green is the colour that most people associate me with and I do not actually own a green bag, because I have never found a reasonably priced one that I loved - until now.  I fought with myself for a while whether to buy it or not, but I knew if I didn't I would be annoyed later down the line. The bag is too perfect for me not to buy it. It is green, tacky and has skulls on it - all it needs is a lil bit of fur somewhere and it would have been completely perfect.  For £15.00 I felt it was a bit of a bargain really, considering the Ted Baker bag I have been eyeing is £60 and the purse £99.

I have lots of other things coming up in the form of reviews and can't wait to get some of them up, such as the Liz Earle make up review and the MAC Marilyn Monroe Lipstick.  So much to blog and so little time. As always I am open to guest reviews so if anyone is interested comment or e-mail me.

Victoria.
xx

July Faves

I usually do single beauty posts but I thought I'd do a bulk one for a bit of variety.  I added tabs to my blog last night so that it is easier to look through posts. There are some good beauty ones from last year if you fancy a read.

1. Sure for Women - Glimmer Fragrance Collection with Scents of Flowers and Lime.  It was the the yellow tin that drew me towards this and the fact that it was £1.50 in Asda - I find supermarkets a lot of the time have good deals on deodorant.  I never pay any more than £1.50 for a deodorant unless its a deal like two for £3.00.  Some people stick to their favourite tried and tested deodorant but I like to mix things up every so often and try one I haven't tried before. I used to hate Sure deodorant because they had such a boring scent but since they have brought out the fragrance collection I have become rather fond of them and they are good deodorants.  I have't had any problems with the deodorant not working and it was well tested at Download Festival.  The scent of this one - flowers and lime - is interesting.  It is subtle but refreshing.  It makes a nice change from overpowering floral scents.

2. Batise Dry Shampoo - XXL Volume.  Any girl with greasy or thick hair needs dry shampoo in their lives. I don't suffer from greasy hair but I do suffer from thick/heavy hair which falls flat due to the weight of it.  This is the answer to all your problems girls.  I have been using the original Batise Dry Shampoo's as a means of getting some volume in my hair for years and the original one is effective in adding some but this new one made especially for volume is amazing and easy.  Before nights out I have spent a good 45minutes back-combing my hair and it is usually a tangled mess before leaving the house but this makes things simply.  Spray and brush and presto - magic volume.  The only problem I had had with this is that it does leave hair very thick afterwards so you need to wash your hair the next day but it is worth it.

3.  Gillette Satin Care Shave Gel in Radiant Apricot.  I bought the travel one for taking to Download Festival with me but I had loads left so I brought it home with me.  I usually buy Asda's shave gel for women and for £1.00 it is really good value but the Satin Care range by Gillette is the best shave gel.  It gives you a decent shave and it leaves legs silky smooth.  I find it does not matter which razor you use with this gel you still get the same effect.  It can be an expensive gel but places like Superdrug have them on offer regularly - at the moment the 200ml tin is £1.62.  I will be heading there tomorrow to stock up.

4. FCUK Whipped Body Cream.  A couple of months back I reviewed FCUK's Polished Body Butter actually thinking it was the same as this product.  Photographed is the travel size but a couple of years ago I had the big tub.  I thought polished and whipped were the same product but packaged differently.  I noted that polished was a thick cream well whipped is the opposite it is a lovely light cream. Hence the name whipped - like whipped cream.  I have been using it all week and I'll be sad to see the little tub finished.  Great body cream if you aren't a fan of heavy body butters and it is especially good in this humid weather - if you live in the UK like myself.

5.  Asda Skin Systems Cleansing Wipes. Another staple in every girls life and one that we like to get as cheap as possible.  I think these wipes are around £1.00 for 30 wipes - good value.  I used these wipes for taking off eye make-up and full make up if I am drunk.  They are good for taking off eye make-up but full make-up not so much.  My face never feels completely clean afterwards but after a rinse with a face wash all is good.

6. Yankee Candles Cherry Blossom Candle.  This obviously is not a beauty product but it is a product that can be used during beauty therapy whether that be in the bath or just in your bedroom.  For a while I did not think there was much scent off this candle but if you have been sitting in the same room all day you aren't likely to notice it.  It isn't a terribly strong scent like some of the other Yankee candles like A Midsummers Nights Dream which is very strong but it does leave a nice flowery scent.  I light candles a lot because I live with two smokers and hate the smell of smoke.  I currently have four cherry blossom candles which is funny because cherry blossom is not a candle scent I would pick myself but it is growing to be one of my favourites.  I would say it is a day time candle rather than a night time one.

What is everyone's favourite candle scent?  I'm a fan of cherry, vanilla and the Midsummers Nights Dream candle mentioned above which is black for any goth lovers out there.

Models Own - Magenta Divine - Pink Glitter Polish

After months of writing my dissertation I decided I would treat myself to some new nail polish.  I have been eyeing up the Models Own nail polishes ever since my friend Fiona reviewed their polishes on her blog. (I wrote this blog post in May but forgot to take photo's of the nails before taking the polish off). 


I'm a sucker for glitter nail polish.  It just makes me super happy to find a hot pink glitter polish for every so often I like to dive into gothic barbie mode.   

As you can see from it is a bottle it is a polish designed in Barbie's dreams but unlike the Ibiza Mix reviewed previously this polish is more similar to the Barry M polishes as it covers the whole base coat and makes the nail fully glittery. Who say's this is a bad thing though?


I teamed Magenta Divine with Wellington Street by Nails Inc.

Which resulted in this:  

P:S I have five fingers I am just crap at taking photo's. 

I would say this polish has a greater stay than the Ibiza Mix as I managed to keep the polish on for over week with only having to touch up the tips once.

My experience with Models Own polishes has been delightful so far and I would recommend giving their polishes a try despite them being a little bit more expensive than some other brands. 

5/5

Loreal Elvive Re-nutrition Replenshing Mask - Review

I picked this up the other day when I was in Superdrug buying the exciting item of cleansing wipes.  The previous night had been a bit stressful to say the least so when I seen the Loreal Replenishing Mask for £2.99 on the sale shelf I picked it up.

I have used the Loreal Elvive shampoo quite a few times over the years - a variety of different ones but the one with royal jelly is the one my favourites.  It just smells so good but not in a fruity way that most shampoos do.  This smells almost sophisticated.

The re-nutrition range is for sufferers of dry hair and for me it is perfect.  My hair is very much damaged through dying and straightening it - it is rather limp due to the thickness of it too.

To use the mask you just squeeze out excess water from washing it and then cover your hair or just the ends - I smothered it all over.  I advise if you have long hair tying your hair up whilst it is on your hair to stop it from coming off.

Afterwards hair is beautifully soft, almost as if you have had a hair cut, it really does revive the dry ends but does not weigh them down.  Hair is left super shiny too. 

I have known people to use the nutri-gloss mask (the pink bottle) too so I assume this is also a good mask.  Sometimes you will get a buy 2 get one free offer in Boots or Superdrug so you could pick one up for free more or less.

After checking the boots website the now I notice they have this exact deal on - 2/04/12.