"emergency make-up kit"

It wasn't until Chris planned an impromtu date night a couple of weeks ago that I realised the value of my now adaptly named "emergency make-up kit". I've never been one to carry a make up bag around with me, you'll never catch me in the bathroom retouching my make-up in the middle of the day at university or whilst out shopping with a friend. So there are very few items of make up that I keep in my handbag. But there are a few items in my bag that I chuck in incase I need them. Here are my two favourites!

Benefit IT Stick Concealer: this concealer is amazing and I'm actually devastated to find out that its now discontined! It's cream based in a pencil form and the idea is that you drawn it on the skin in lines and then blend with your finger tips! It only comes in one shade which is really light, but luckily I'm very fair skinned! It's not the best concealer I've ever tried and it doesn't have the best staying power (although all concealers seem to run off my face) but its great for a quick touch up before heading out!

Revlon Lip Butter: I'm not a lipstick fan, I never have been, sometimes I do like to spend time on my lips, but whilst I'm in a rush in my work toilet I don't want to faff around with lip liners and lipsticks! This is fantastic as you just chuck it on like a balm and you've got colour without the fuss! 

What do you keep in your "emergency make-up kit"?

NOTD: Ciate Jellybean

Purity Skincare - Conditioning Cleansing Lotion

"An effective skin conditioning cleanser with a blend of clever ingredients which effectively break down and gently remove the day's grime and make-up. Special ingredients combine with the softening, moisture retaining and conditioning Sweet Almond Oil, Aloe Vera and Glycerine base: Oats condition and restore, Amino Acids help skin to absorb moisture, Avocado Oil conditions the skin, and Euphrasia and Rose Water tones the skin."

Real Techniques brushes offer at Boots!

 

Hey ladies, just a very quick post to make you aware of a deal Boots have at the moment. Where if you buy any brush/set from Real Techniques, you get another half price! Bargain. I was waiting till my brushes arrived to post about this, but they are taking ages and I don't want you to miss it!

Deal available here and in store!

Weekly Wants #27 - Next Home

Heart Button Clock £20, Heart Print Boxes £14 and Love Sign £16, Twig Heart £22, Flowers Jug £10, Large Wooden Dice £16, Heart Canvus' Set of Three £25, Wire Giraffe £14, Heart Bunch £6

Inbox Offers: MUA, Look Beauty, Whittard

Some more offers for you guys this morning! My inbox seems to full of offers to snap up! First from MUA, you can get an Immaculate Palette when you spend £8, available in Superdrug and on the MUA website.

Also with Look Beauty you can grab a whole range of offers including, half price on all face products and a free lip liner (which is brand new to the range with any order)! Also available at Superdrug and on the Look Beauty website!

Also at Whittard you can get FREE delivery on any order with the code; FREESD.

Inbox Offer: Murad Skincare for £12.50

Good afternoon everyone! I just wanted to write a quick post to share with you a great offer from Murad Skincare! The links are:

Get Glowing Starter Kit: http://www.murad.co.uk/get-glowing-starter-kit

Ban Blemishes Starter Kit: http://www.murad.co.uk/ban-blemishes-starter-kit

Pore Perfection Starter Kit: http://www.murad.co.uk/pore-perfection-starter-kit

Models Own: The MIRRORBALL Collection

Check these babies out! Did your world just get a bit better? I know mine did.

A new camera and a cool frog!

So you may have guessed by the title that I have invested in a new camera! I've been meaning to upgrade for a long time and finally Chris surprised me by nipping along to John Lewis last weekend and letting me invest in a new Canon ESO 650D. It's officially my favourite possession and its going to impact the things I can do professionally by a long way! I love it! Of course this also means my blog pictures are about to be bumped into the 21st Century and I'm hoping to provide you with amazing pictures of products from now on! For now I'll leave you with you with a cool picture of a frog I found in our garden! It was great to get an amazing picture for once! (Note the difference between the dodgy phone shot of the camera box and the clarity of the frog - YAY!)

 

Free Clinique mascara and free BENEFIT goodies in November issue!

My subscribers edition of In Style magazine arrived this morning and I was uber excited to find a Clinque mascara bundled in with it! I've spent years not receiving the cover mount freebies, so I love that In Style includes some! Also I had a quick flick through and noticed that next month you can get either Sun Bean, Cha Cha Tint or Bene Tint free inside! Will be great if I can hunt out a Sun Beam! Which one will you be looking to pick up? 

Weekly Wants #26

No7 Beautiful Skin Cleansing Water for Normal / Oily Skin 200ml £9, Real Techniques Core Collection £21.99, Lush Each Peach (And Two's a Pair) £5.50, benefit “Watts Up” soft focus highlighter for face £24.50

Honey I Washed The Kids

I just wanted to share the new addition to my shower routine! I'm absolutely in love with this soap, it smells devine! It's a bit boring to look at compared to some of the other Lush products, but I love it! It lathers up loads, at first I used it straight on my skin and the second time I used my Bath Lily and a little goes a long way! The smell does not really linger which is a shame, but it's a great find! It's one of the cheaper soaps priced at £3.40 per 100g!

Twinings Green Tea with Cranberry

This is a tea that I just can't make my mind up about, I'm on the fence. I'm actually on the fence with all the fruity green teas, I make them, I drink them, they are edible, but I'm not 100% that I actually like them. Weird I know. Like all my green teas, I always add sweetener to them, this makes me feel like I'm cheating a bit. Green Tea is supposed to be this healthy detox experience and here I am putting in the sweetener, but for now I can't drink the tea without it! In case you're wondering I use Sweetex, it's on my favourites and has a nice sweet taste. 

This tea came in a taster pack which I could only find in Sainsbury's and it cost about £2. In the pack you get 5 of each flavour which includes; cranberry, apple and pear, citrus, pineapple and grapefruit and orange and elderflower. 

When you brew the tea it turns quite a dark, murky brown colour, which isn't the most appetising colour, but I'm yet to find a green tea that still looks nice in the cup! It doesn't smell very good either, but I'm a bit of a prude with it comes to smells, I'm easily turned off by smell. As I say I can't make my mind up about this tea, I'd love to see what you guys think!

What's your favourite green tea?

Soap and Glory - Arch De Triumph

I struggled to decided which of the Soap and Glory cosmetic products to try first, I just didn't know what to try first! I didn't know much about the brand at all, but being the brow addict I am I thought this would be a great thing to try!

NOTD: Accessorize 3D Glitter

I love this polish, it only takes two coats to get it looking this fantastic! The brush is a good size and is easy to use, you can coat the whole nail in two strokes. It dries incredibly quick for a 3D polish, it's amazing, so it's not messy! And it's cheap, it retails for £4! Bargain! As much as I love 2D polish, 3D polishes are so lovely and they really catch the eye, I get so many compliments wearing these!

Weekly Wants #25

Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml £8.91, Caudalie Cleansing Water 200ml £12.15, L'Oreal Color Riche Nails £4.99 each, MeMeMe Beat the Blues £5.25, Laura Geller Baked Eye Pie Shadow Trio in Birthday Cake around £10 (ebay), Balmi Lip Balms £4.99, Taaj Himalaya Micellar Water (can't find this anywhere)!

Mill Cottage Soap - Handmade Soap from Wales

Joanna sent me these beautiful soaps as a freebie as part of her "try before you buy scheme", she sends you soaps to try absolutely free! I love this, as I think that something like soap and shower gel are very personal products, they are unique to us about what we like what we don't like! Here's a bit about Mill Cottage Soap, handmade soaps from Wales!

All time favourite: Topshop Nails

Just a quick post today to show you my Topshop nails collection, which just keeps growing!

teapigs: mao feng green tea

So I told you I’d keep you updated on the green teas I’m trying and what I think of them and today’s review is of teapigs Mao feng green tea. Teapigs, if you’ve never heard of them, are an ethical, eco, English tea maker, who I really love. I love their standard “builders tea” otherwise known as “Everyday Brew” so when I was advised to switch over to green tea I emailed Teapigs asking if they would be kind enough to send me some samples, which they did! 

“This tea is special, unlike any other green tea on the market. A green tea liked by people who don’t like green tea. This tea has a delicate natural taste of fresh summer air, peaches and apricots. The infusion will turn clear pale green (not the murky brown you often see with standard green teas). Good if you’re feeling in need of a makeover. Can’t afford rehab, liposuction or Botox? Why not settle for a nice cuppa? You may have heard about the many reputed benefits of drinking green tea, ranging from weight loss to anti-ageing - more fun than cosmetic surgery!”

I’ve found this tea a lot stronger than some of the other teas I’ve tried so far, so if you’re looking for a green tea with a bit more oomph, this is for you! I personally found it a bit too over powering, without sweetener it was completely undrinkable, but it was much nicer when I added some in! I might try my second sample of this and brew it for a lot less time and see if I enjoy it more! I’m not sure if I could taste much difference in the actual way it tastes, I didn’t get a sense of the apricots and peaches, so in that sense its quite suttle!

The tea in comparison to other teas is pretty expensive, for 15 tea bags you’ll pay £3.90 and for 50 you’ll pay £11.4. This tea is available to buy mainly online, (here) but local cafes tend to also stock it to buy, you can find a list of stockists here.

New range of Superdrug facemasks + FREE DELIVERY till Friday!

If you love facemasks and you like them cheap but still luxurious, you’ll love this news! Superdrug has released a full range of 24 facemasks for us to enjoy!

imPRESS Nails

I can't explain how exciting I was to try these nails, as soon as I sure how much success people have had with these, I had to have them! I've always struggled to grow long nails. I have a really bad nail biting habit and I have really long fingers with tiny nail beds, so growing them is a chore.

Meet the Brand: Purity Organic Skincare

It's time for another of my "Meet the Brand" posts! I do love these posts as I think it's quite nice to learn about a company's aims and goals for now and future! There's the geek inside me! I love a good British brand; there is something just nice about using a British product!  I was very excited when I heard about Purity Skincare, an organic skincare brand, produced and based in England!

NOTD: Accessorize Mermaid

Today's NOTD is Accessorize Mermaid, I get so many compliments when I wear this polish! It's absolutely stunning. So sparkly, pretty and unique! The pictures do not do it fustice! I'm really loving the Accessorize beauty range, I really want to get my hands on some more goodies!

Freebie: Glossybox Eco (April 2012)

I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about Glossybox, as I always do, when they released a special code that either entitled you to a free Eco Glossybox or a free Harrods Glossybox, I spent a while trying to decide which to choose, went to order the Harrods box and they were out of stock, so Eco it was! Anyway, this arrived a little while after my July Glossybox and I was actually quite impressed!