I Can't Believe I Just Did That!!

Did I say moratorium on spending?

Yea. I lied. I would like to say I forgot, but it's the same kind of forgetting you get when you are actually on a diet but you eat a cookie. For breakfast.

I didn't go crazy. Promise. I just spotted something that I could not (did not want to) resist. My buyers remorse level is very low. Maybe a 1.

I was looking at the latest beauty boxes around, just to see, you know. I know if I said I would not be buying, I should not be looking so I would not be tempted. Anyway.

I spotted the Look Fantastic "The Birthday Edit" box. It said there were 7 products worth £72. I never actually believe the value bit, to be honest, but regardless, I was interested so I checked out some unboxings and reviews on YouTube and decided to spend the £15 on a once-off box.

There were no surprises in the box (because I looked it up), but I am quite pleased with everything in it. I think it was genuinely worth the money I spent. I am really looking forward to trying every single product, which is a real rarity for me, as I usually find that I would never use more than half the things I get in these boxes.

There was a good balance of makeup and skincare, with a pretty makeup brush added as an extra gift.

Here's the run down:

Eve Lom Cleanser & Muslin Cloth; Christophe Robin Cleansing Volumizing Paste; Hikari Tonya Eye Shadow Quad; Decléor Hydra Floral Anti-pollution Hydrating Gel-cream; Illamasqua Gel Sculpt in Silhouette; Look Fantastic Unicorn Eyeshadow Brush

First Impressions

The Eve Lom Cleanser smells of cloves. It is a popular balm cleanser, a so-called cult hero product, or whatever. That being said, the first ingredient is Paraffinum liquidum (mineral oil), I am not a fan of putting petrolium byproducts (mineral oils) on my face generally, but it is just a cleanser so it may not be so bad and may still be worth a try. The tub itself also has these ridiculous instructions to open and close your pores. *eye roll*. They are holes in your skin, they cannot open or close. they don't have little muscles that can do that. The hot water on the cloth may help loosen excess dirt trapped in pores, and I suppose that cold water at the end could invigorate the skin and increase circulation? or just feel nice. Point is, it's nonsense. I'm still going to try it though.

The Christophe Robin Cleansing Volumizing Paste is rose scented so it smells lovely. It claims to be of 85% natural origin but there are some interesting sounding chemicals in the formula. There are no parabens, colourants or any of the real nasties, though. It has a gritty texture, which is probably from the sugar (second ingredient). It is designed to give thickness and volume to fine hair, so I am not completely sure if I would get much use out of it, and shudder to think of what the outcome would be because, quite frankly, have you seen my hair?

I am not familiar with the Hikari Tonya Eye Shadow Quad or the Hikari brand. I have swatched it and I am loving this quad. The texture is velvety, the colours are strongly pigmented and they seem to be really blendable, so I am very optimistic. There is a matte highlight, two shimmers and a dark matte shade. The coppery shade looks quite orange in the picture but it looks gorgeous on my skin. I can't wait to tiptoe out of my comfort zone and try it out!!!

To be perfectly honest, the Illamasqua Gel Sculpt in Silhouette is the reason I bought the box in the fist place. The brand is exquisite and even as a mini, the quantity of product is a lot. It is a gorgeous creamy contour stick type of thing (What a way with words I have). It is not thick or sticky. It slides on the skin smoothly and the colour is very buildable so it seems quite versatile. My contouring/highlighting skills are limited so I am super excited to play around with this little gem.

Decléor is a beautiful, Essential Oil-based French brand which I cannot afford. So I am looking forward to using the Decléor Hydra Floral Anti-pollution Hydrating Gel-cream very, very sparingly. It has a nice, light texture and soaks in quite quickly. It is quite heavily scented though, so it may not be your thing. I will give it a whirl and decide how I feel about scented skincare, as at present, I don't really have a preference either way.

What can I say about the "unicorn brush" it's pretty, it's a bit gimmicky, it's soft. It's a brush. I will use it.

Final thoughts:

I would absolutely recommend the Look Fantastic "The Birthday Edit" box and the Look Fantastic website. I would definitely fit this into the winner category! Well done Look Fantastic!

Do you buy beauty boxes? Which ones do you like?

Let's talk in the comments

Bye.

I Am Afraid That My Addiction is Real

Mr C bought me a £25 gift card from one4allgiftcard.co.uk just because I have been feeling a bit meh.

I have this inexplicable joint pain in my hands (makes typing sooo fun), feet and other random joints, and pain just wears you down so my sense of burnout has been right on the edge for a while now.

He thought, quite rightly, that a little splurge on just me would make me feel better.

I thought long and hard about how to spend my little windfall; where and how I could get the most bang for my buck, as it were. There were a few choices but after an unreasonable amount of time spent internally debating the matter, I chose Feelunique.com.

It was my first time shopping through the site, which I found easy to navigate and actually quite fun to explore.

I bought three things.

A cleanser, another cleanser and, well, another cleanser. Do you see a theme here?

I know that my last purchase was REN and Emma Hardy, but I wanted to mix it up a bit and get to know some other brands.

The Weleda Almond Soothing Cleansing Lotion 75ml was £10.50. It was bought based on a recommendation by Ruth Crilly's Best Beauty for New Mums video; mainly because she said you can tissue it off if needs must.

It is a "natural product" designed for sensitive skin and is fragrance free but if I smell it, I smell alcohol, which is the 4th ingredient (I checked the inci list only after smelling it). 

It claims to protect skin from drying out but when I tried it out my skin felt quite tight. I will however give it a chance and see how we go. 

The Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cleanser 75ml was £8.50. The brand seems to be quite popular so I thought I would see if the cleanser would work for me. Clearly, more research was required because I do not use foaming cleansers and I did not notice that it is a foaming cleanser. It has a ton of ingredients I am not happy with including parabens, alcohols in various form and even straight up salt. All the lovely ingredients they mention at the front of the packaging are right at the bottom of a very long inci list. I will, however, in the interests of science give this cleanser a try. It may change my life, although signs do not point in that direction. That being said, the scent isn't bad and the gel texture feels nice on my finger tips. Clearly this will be a first cleanse situation only. 

The Balm Balm Frankincense Deep Cleansing Balm 30ml was £9.00. This is a brand and a product I had literally never hear of so I wanted to be adventurous and try something genuinely knew to me. I did not think it would be so tiny. It is the polar opposite of the Kiehl's. 100% certified organic with some lovely sounding ingredients. It does contain shea butter, but that doesn't worry me. It is also a cleanser so it won't stay on the skin and break you out if you are prone. The consistency is a balm which melts into an oily texture between my fingers and smells of beeswax which I think is really nice. I have high hopes for this one. There is a 60ml tub for £16.50, so it may work as an alternative for Emma Hardy; not a replacement, an alternative.

So, you though that was the end?

Three little things bought. No big deal.

So, um no. There's more.

First is a repurchase . Seche Perfect Nail Rebuild 14ml from Amazon at £5.98. I love it. It does wonderful things to my nails.

Then there's the Rimmel Clear Complexion Powder. I needed a powder. this one cost me £3.15. I've never used it. I thought I'd try it.

I went to Boots with my mum about a month ago and we got some Nip + Fab Glycolic Fix night pads and some post-glycolic fix moisturiser. Verrrry nice. I truly love the citrucy smell of the moisturiser. They also work really well. They are not insanely priced and they are lovely. so win!

And then, to top it all off, I got myself a Birchbox. I got the July one and it came a with a free August one. I was super impressed. I have bought a Glossybox before and was disappointed. This was a different ball game entirely. There were some really nice bits and pieces and I will definitely repurchase one the next time I have a desperate need to buy a beauty box.

That is all. and now that I put it all in one place, that is a lot. I think I will enjoy trying out my new goodies and pause on the buying for now, but as you can see, the addiction is profound.

What are your recent purchases. Loves? Fails? Let me know!

Paris Skincare Haul

I was recently in Paris visiting my family for a week with my almost-two-year-old daughter.

She had a great time and was thoroughly spoiled by her aunt, her grandmother and great-grandmother too.

Being my skincare obsessed self, I made a point of visiting the much loved Biologique Recherche. I was not disappointed. It was so exquisite. I was so excited it was a little bit ridiculous. 

Now, I know there is a branch in London; there is even a branch in Johannesburg, which pleased my mom no end, but I just had to make my first visit to the establishment at the original, French location, especially since I had the opportunity. 

Yes, I bought the P50 lotion (150ml). I got the W version, as recommended by the lovely consultant. That's a lie. It was bought for me by my aunt. Thank you Sylvia.

Even my mum bought a bottle, which she is enjoying using, I think.

It took me a few weeks to get around to cracking it open and giving it a go. I have used it once. The tingle is real. The vinegar smell in subtle (I liked it actually), but the results were quite startling. My wrinkles were virtually gone. 

My conversion was instant. I understand the love for this product; I really do. 

Thank you again to my Beauty-God-Mother and guru, Caroline Hirons. (the last time I was in Paris, I tweeted her asking which one product I should buy while in the neighbourhood and she said P50. I didn't get a chance to go then, so I was committed to going this time around.)

I also took the time to pop into the now blog-world famous Citypharma. I say pop in, but what I really mean attempt to navigate the obscenely mad crowds trying to squeeze into this apparently wholesale price pharmacy. With a pram. Never again. It was packed and I just wanted a little look-see. I was instantly accosted by an optimistic sales person trying to sound like an authority on my very red skin and hard-selling me the most expensive something or other I've never heard of. 

I don't have redness issues. I have fat chick from the UK in a Paris heatwave issues. I was melting. Sweat was pouring. It wasn't pretty. We lasted a few minutes and then very slowly tried to flee. It took like what seemed and eternity to get out of there. (Nobody seemed to realise that letting the woman with the pram out of the shop quickly would make more space for everyone. I just got dirty looks from selfish tourists who refused to move an inch.) Basically, it was horrible. I'd rather pay a little bit more (the prices I managed to see were not actually less) at my local pharma than got through that trauma again, seriously. 

My aunt and I went walking and exploring through one of Paris areas. I have no sense of direction so I will never be able to find it again unaided, but we happened upon a Caudalie shop. Another thing of beauty. Little but inviting. We bought serums. I bought the Vine[Activ] Glow Activating anti-wrinkle serum. I love it. The packaging makes me happy. The texture is like a lotion, I suppose. It absorbs quickly and does not feel oily or sticky. The gentle scent is subtle. It feels amazing on the skin and really works well.. Just sublime!

I was also gifted an indulgent little treat by my mother. The Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse Multi-purpose dry oil (100ml). It feels really nice on the skin, but is quite heavily scented when you put it on. To be honest, I have yet to use it as I don't usually have make the time to indulge in body skincare (Although I do have some lovely body creams and things ... I should really start using them before they start smelling like play-dough - There is a blog post in that idea somewhere).

I went into quite a few pharmas "just to look" and I was woefully unprepared, so a few opportunities were missed, but there is always next time. 

Thank you to my lovely family for hosting us and for taking us around Paris. And for all the lovely (non-beauty) gifts we were given, including some very sweet clothes from baby Gap, a monkey puppet that Liora is obsessed with and an awesome watch by Swatch for my 40th from my Aunt Sylvia (I also got a bonus watch by getting a 25 Euro surprise box, which is so cool). 

My gran also very generously bought Liora a new Pram!! it is the most amazing pram in the history of prams and I cannot begin to thank her enough. I will gush blog about it separately. 

What are your Paris skincare favourites? Let me know in the comments.

Chat soon.

Bye.

Rimmel 60 Second Nail Polish Groupon Deal - feeding my nail addiction!

I love my nail polish and I really love the Rimmel 60 Second nail polish. It goes on beautifully and dries really quick.

So when I saw that Groupon was had a deal on to get 24 lovely shiny bottles of the good stuff for £25 I jumped for joy, in my mind.

The delivery arrived in good time and in good nick.

I was a bit confused when I opened the box to find that three of the nail polishes were not Rimmel 60 Seconds, but random (not to mention hideous) nail polishes.

I called Groupon who quickly rectified the situation by giving me my money back as a Groupon credit. And they let me keep the nail polishes! I cannot tell you how tempted I was to go right back onto the site and buy another 2 dozen bottles. Mr C would probably have given me a stern look so I decided to save the credit for another time.

So, What did I get, you ask?

Well, Let me show you...

And this... don't ask me...

Disco diva, rags to riches and bling thing

A word to the wise... while these are my very favourite nail polishes, the names are either completely obscure or eye-rollingly bad (white hot love, pulsating and Jungle fever are particularly bad and left me going "Seriously? You have got to be kidding!). Who comes up with weird-ass names, I'll never know, but wow, they need help.

The Colours
Blues: Pillow talk; mind the gap, Victoria; out of the blue; midnight skinny dip
Greys: White hot love; man overboard, precious metal; hot black to go
Greens: Mintilicious; jungle fever; round and round the garden
Yellows: Sunny days; round and round in circles; Alaska
Oranges: Instyle coral; orgasm; central love heart
Pinks: Princess pink; caramel cupcake; don't be shy; pulsating

That's the collection.

Some are duplicates but most are new to me, so it worked out really well.

I am currently wearing Precious Metals (which looks awesome!). I wore Pulsating last week and I love them so much. They generally last me a week without chipping, although sometimes I get the tips fading. That is probably a me thing, not a nail polish thing cos my application is not the best.

I wear Rebuild by Seche Vite as a base coat and Seche Vite as a top coat. I just want to say that Rebuild really works. I am a nail biter and wearing nail polish is the only thing that stops me. My bottle is nearly finished so I need to get more.

What's your favourite nail polish?
Tell me in the comments cos I am a little bit addicted.

New Skincare Buys

Skincare does not last forever, and when it does, you really don't want it to. 

I have not used my skincare much in the last ... I can't even tell you how long. Although some of it did run out, other bits just had to go because they started to smell like playdough, which kind of hinted at them having turned and being not altogether healthy/safe.

Interestingly enough, the toners I have seem to have lasted reasonably well, but oils, moisturisers and cleansers did not survive as successfully. 

On the cleanser side of things, I finished my Emma Hardie amazing face Moringa Cleansing Balm, even though it had become a bit runny by the end. Also, I got through my REN Evercalm cleansing milk, but that was down to the wire too. I have repurchased both as they are a lovely staple in my limited arsenal.

I also finished and have repurchased a bottle of Pixi Glow Tonic since it is a gentle yet effective acid toner which I can afford. I really love it so it was at the very top of my little shopping list.

My Embryolisse moisturiser did not last well at all. It was nearly full which is a pity, but the repurchase is a bit of a cheat since it was a gift from my mother. Thanks mom!  

Last on the list is a new buy which was purchased from Holland & Barrett. I was looking around online for a replacement for my omega 3 oil from Ren, which was thrown out after it had been neglected for way too long and had turned. I wanted to get back to basics with this purchase and not buy anything too fancy or high end. I read somewhere that Rosehip oil may do the trick so I decided to try a new brand (new to me) from Australia called Sukin. It does not smell lovely but it also does not feel like an oil slick has been applied to your face. I like the texture and the almost dry, soft effect you are left with afterwards. It is also vegan, carbon neutral and "certified organic" which could mean anything as there is no international standard. Regardless, I like it so far and at least they are trying to be environmentally friendly. 

I may or may not have had a reaction to this recently (My eyes were sore and swollen). I am not sure which product was the culprit so I just stopped putting things on my eyes to solve the problem.

Things that have not been repurchased include my Bodyshop Vitamin E cream and mask, which were the first to turn. (there was not stock) The oil and the serum I have are still good, amazingly so I am using those up before they go too. I did get Drops of Youth Bouncy Sleeping Mask, which was recommended as a suitable replacement by the sales lady. It isn't. I don't like it. I won't be buying that again.

I also became a little bit obsessed with Ebay, to the point that I bought a "new" camera for filming. I am loving that buy, I don't mind telling you. 

That's it from me for now.

Bye.

Getting Organised

I am the daughter of a hoarder. this means that I try very hard to fight hoarding. Occasionally, this has been to my detriment, but in general, I have not regretted throwing things away.

As an aside, it does make keeping things for an "empties video/post" extremely challenging.

Another consequence of my family history of hoarding is that I loathe clutter. I like a clear open space (and a home with tons of storage so everything can be put away and out of sight).

As such, I struggle with my makeup storage and have tried various methods to keep it neat. I started with a little chest of drawers, but then the baby got big enough that it was no longer practical. I have since given it to her for her toys. She loves to open the drawers and explore and play.

Then, when we moved house, I put everything in Glossybox boxes. That's all very well but you can't see anything or find anything, so not practical in the long run.

Since a dedicated storage unit or Muji storage containers were out of the question due to space and cost, I turned to Pinterest, then Amazon, and then finally Ebay, where I found some acrylic units that suited my needs.

My current setup

The storage units are perfect, especially since they cost me £8.99 each. The user I got it from is called gosourcing and their service was very good. It was my first ever Ebay purchase, and it pretty much converted me. I was always worried about being swindled with Ebay, but I was wrong and I gladly admit it. My items came quick and were quite good quality. I am super happy with them. I know that this will not be my experience every time, but it was a pleasant start.

So this is my current setup. It is still a bit cluttery in places, but I am satisfied. It is still a work in progress so we will see how we get on.

Walking with Wednesday

I don't know if you know this, but I have a cat.

She is almost six years old and her name is Wednesday. She has long black and white fur and is quite a beautiful kitty if you ask me.

She is very sweet and while she is decidedly independent, she also loves her grown up people and gives us many cuddles. She sleeps on top of me at night and spends much of days trying to flee from the baby.

If you read this blog, you may know that a few years ago, we adopted a pug. After a great deal of back and forth, debate and guilt, we made the difficult decision to rehome her. She just wasn't getting enough attention and we were constantly getting irritated with her. The cat also hated the dog. We did not realise how much the dog had affected her until Puglseigh was gone.

We contacted a Pug rehoming charity and she went to a loving, pug crazy home to live with another pug. I miss her but she is better off.

My advice; research your breed and do not adopt anything in the throws of grief, Just saying.

While we had the dog, the cat made herself very scarce. We didn't realise why. We thought it was because of the new home we lived in or the baby. She was always outside and gone. We could go days without seeing her. It did not help that we lived on a block with neighbours that were notorious for feeding other people's cats.

Now that the cat has her space and her people back to herself, she is around us all the time. She occasionally lets the baby play with her, she is always around and ready for leftovers when the baby eats, and she is quite happy to go outside and lie in the garden or sit on the couch without fear of being harassed.

The one thing she does which is by far the cutest thing I have seen a cat do is come along for walks.
Every day, I take the baby out for a walk in her pram. It is not a fast walk, nor is it a long walk; just long enough for her to fall asleep. so on an easy day, it's literally to the end of my street and back again. On a bad day, it's an aimless ramble around the streets until she either goes down or I give up.

Recently, Wednesday has taken it upon herself to accompany us. she sometimes leads, sometimes follows. She sometimes walks on the pavement with us or along the low walls in front of the houses we pass. Occasionally she will duck into an alleyway or someone's front garden to see what's going on, but most of the time she is next to us, like a sleek little bodyguard. And when we get home she waits patiently by the door while I fish out the keys and open it.

Once we tried a new road; clearly not new to her and not her territory either because she just lay on the pavement and would go no further. I continued on, thinking she would join us, but when it became apparent that she would not, I turned around and as I reached her, she seemed to think "okay, mommy got the message" and got up as we walked back the way we had come.

Mr Cand I are currently in the study/playroom. Our desks are on opposite walls. The cat is fast asleep on the rug between us, looking very peaceful indeed.

I am glad she is happier and quite amused that she thinks the nap walk is fun to do. I suppose it is fun with her along.

I know this is a bit of a random post, but life is full of randomness and weirdness, so I thought I would document one of the ones in my life.

Good night

My Infrequency is Ridiculous

Happy New Year!

I know. It's May, but better late than never, right?

Brexit is a thing and Trump is the US president.

I got my Permanent Residence but they got my name wrong.

It has been almost a whole year since my last post and I don't feel guilty about it.

I have been spending much of my time looking after my now 21-month-old baby girl who is growing and thriving and bringing me more joy than I ever expected.

We have moved to a new county and a new town, which I like so far. We are still getting to know the place and I have been walking quite a lot. The last house had a layout that was not very blogging friendly (my laptop was in my bedroom), now it is in the study/ playroom so Liora can play while I compute; so maybe there will be further blogging.

My daughter now sleeps in her own bed but still wakes up several times per night. She is still breastfed. She goes to a local children's centre for a stay-and-play session on Mondays and she has ballet on Fridays. I am hoping to find her a more interactive group to go to soon. (some of the kids at this children's centre are quite horrible). She walks and runs and talks and dances. She loves Youtube (she constantly takes my phone so she can watch it), movies, drawing and painting. She adores playing outside in the garden and picking flowers (apart). she enjoys socialising, meeting new people and going out and about. She is quite a little character and everybody loves her.

She knows colours and some shapes. She can count to 10 and navigate my mobile phone. She is a cutie and a sharp cookie who amazes me every day, even when she has tantrums, which started at about 18 months or so.

She has most of her teeth out but is currently going through some teething so she has been under the weather this past week; to the point that she has refused to eat anything solid for days. She turned a bit of a corner today and had a few bites, but I was told not to worry, so I won't.

Other things have changed too, including that my 26-year-old brother has come to live with us, which is interesting. Liora adores him, so that's a plus. He is s a bit of a lazy slob, which is less of a plus.

I am generally okay, but my health is not perfect right now. I have daily ear and headaches as well as vertigo, which is highly irritating. My back and kidneys have not been great either (pain), but other than that, I am just fine.

I have pretty much let myself go - I am currently at my heaviest and I have lost my skincare routine. I stopped for so long, many of my products had to be thrown away because they started getting that plasticine smell. Also, my nails are brittle and horrible and my skin is dry and wrinkly.

This post is all over the place as I wanted it to be a quick, general update.

If I manage to continue to blog, I will do more topic-specific / interesting updates.

That's it for now.

Bye.