Tuesday 29 April 2014

Prezzo Date Night




Chris and I had a little date night last week and headed to Prezzo in our local town for a spot of dinner. We went to the Harpenden branch which is situated just off the main high street road, so its super easy to get to! You do need to get lucky with the parking though. 

For starter we had the Antipasto, Antipasto is one of our favourite starters, we're a big fan of ham and cheese! It's a bit rubbish though as we're not olive fans and they always have a stack of olives! I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of the starter but it was really nice. A bit too much bread for me, but I suppose it was just something to bulk the starter out!

Now for the mains, Chris had Spaghetti and Meatballs which was really nice (I sampled some) the meatballs were packed with flavour! Boring old me had my standard pasta dish, Carbonara! Carbonara is literally my favourite thing and I cannot resist it when I go to an Italian restaurant. I opted for the version with chicken which was incredible,  it was really moist and scrummy! The cabonara itself was also good, there wasn't as much sauce as normal but it made quite light on the palette. Both pasta dishes huge portions and really generous with meat too. 

To share with the mains we had the bread board which was way too much bread than we needed but it was again really good. It had a selection of freshly baked breads to dip into our sauces!  We were well and truly in carb heaven after which left no room for dessert! 

We had a really nice meal and it was really good to spend some time together!
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Monday 28 April 2014

Mitchell and Peach Body Cream


I'm back with a review of another beauty box item, this time it's the Mitchell and Peach Body Cream. I had put this to one side as it was the perfect size for travelling to use on a trip. 

Recently I had a trip to Dallas which is a long haul flight and my skin really suffers. It gets really dry so I wanted to have something with me to help moisturise after the flight. The Mitchell and Peach Body Cream has a very strong floral woody scent which isnt something I tend to use. I prefer to have something a bit lighter and normally a fruity scent. So this was something new for me! The official description of the scent is:

"With English honey, organic cocoa, vitamin B5 and shea butter, this Mitchell and Peach body cream is perfect to leave you feeling as though you’ve taken a walk in the English countryside."

The Mitchell and Peach Body Cream is white in colour and really rich in formulation. It was really thick in texture and I really expected to have to re shower after using it. I was pleasantly surprised,  it sunk into the skin and disappeared really quickly. In a few minutes it was untraceable on the skin. I used this every morning after showering and it made a positive difference to my skin, my skin was much more hydrated. However, I personally think this product is more a fancy every day treat, more than one that is made for dry skin or cracked/problematic skin. Its far too fragranced for healing skin so make sure you use it for the right job! 

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Sunday 27 April 2014

Glossybox Sweet Treats | April 2014




This months Glossybox theme is ‘Sweet Treats’ it’s time to look inside!

This months Glossybox arrived last week but I’m just a little late getting my review live. The theme is Sweet Treats as I mentioned above, I’m not sure exactly how the theme fits the box, but I often miss the point with these! As usual the Glossybox had five items inside, the first being the Monu Spa Warming Ginger Massage and Body Oil. This is by far my favourite item and it smells incredible, I cannot wait to give this a go! When I first saw it I thought it was another skincare product from Monu Spa so I was super excited to try something new!

Next up is the Emite Slanted Lip Brush, apparently with a whopping RRP of £17?! That’s such a ridiculous amount of money for a lip brush in my opinion. It’s a nice brush, the packaging is sleek and simple and it’s nice and soft. Unfortunately I never wear lipstick, so this item is a bit lost on me as I just will not get the use out of it.

The Tresemme Instant Refresh Cleansing Dry Shampoo is next in the box which is a really handy item to receive. I like cans that are this size as they are perfect for travelling or for your handbag for on-the-go help!

Moving on I’m about to talk about two products that I was really disappointed about, as I’ve received them in a Glossybox this time last year! The first is the MeMeMe Cosmetics Beat The Blues in Pearl Pink. It’s a fabulous highlighter but it’s not something you need two of (I’ve barely made a dent in the first one). The second product is the Sunsense SPF 50+ which apparently has a slight tint to it, this will be perfect for the summer time and is a good size for travel. It’s just a shame that I had received both of these before!

I actually was so annoyed about having products that I emailed Glossybox to complain. They said that they researched the people that had been subscribed on the same subscription since the products appeared last time and made sure no duplicates were made but I slipped through the net. They actually sent me some new products to replace the ones I had before, which I’m waiting to arrive as we speak.
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Saturday 26 April 2014

Gilchrist and Soames Shower Gel


I received this little pot of shower gel in a Birchbox not too long ago. I put it aside as it’s the perfect size for travelling, I’ve now used it so I’m here to share my thoughts!

The shower gel from Gilchrist & Soames is from the London Collection and they say  “sophistication and style are encapsulated in a complete package of understated elegance”. The ingredients include red tea, soy, ginkgo biloba, grape seed and milk thistle, in a blend to “restore and revive”. I have to be honest and say I have no idea what any of the ingredients smell like individually but together it’s a lovely scent, it’s not hard hitting or strong, just a nice gentle scent. It’s a crisp and clean fragrance, so it’s nice to wake up to in the morning shower! The shower gel is really nice, it’s really moisturising and refreshing. The only downside for me is the packaging; I don’t know if the full sized bottle is similar, but it just has a huge hole in the top of the bottle so often you end up with too much in one go! Other than that I highly recommend it, it is a bit pricey though, the full size is £13!


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Friday 25 April 2014

Models Own Speckled Egg Collection



If you're still contemplating an Easter manicure I might have the perfect solution! The Models Own Speckled Egg collection

I remember Illamasqua released a collection very similar to this last Easter and I was utterly obsessed! The idea is so simple yet so successful and I absolutely love it! I happen to think these look good on the nails all year round, but the colours just sing Spring/Summer! I had to swatch them as soon as they arrived as I just didn’t know which one to try first. From left to right we have 'Duck', 'Goose', 'Magpie Green', 'Dove' and 'Swan'.

I’ve been wearing 'Magpie Green' (which is the mint green shade) a lot and I think it's a gorgeous shade! It takes two good coats to get it fully opaque and it dries really quickly! I have to admit that I used to hate Models Own formulations, but they have upped their game in late years and they are now spot on. They are easy to use, easy to work with and last really well! The only downside is that they make me want to eat a whole bag of mini eggs! 


You can buy the Models Own Speckled Egg collection on the Models Own website and Superdrug for £5 each.
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Thursday 24 April 2014

Love Me Beauty April 2014



The Love Me Beauty Box caught my eye this month and I couldn’t resist! It’s obviously caught my eye a couple of times before as I was already a member of the site, but the brands and products really appealed to me this month. Love Me Beauty is a bit different to traditional beauty boxes as you get to choose your contents. They offer you three different variations of the box and you pick whichever you like best! This month I went for Edition 3 of the box.

The box arrived really quickly and just came in a cardboard posting box rather than the traditional hard boxes I’ve become accustomed to! Which is perfectly fine as storing the boxes can be a bit of a pain! Inside my box there were 4 products plus a £25 Hello Fresh gift card! I think what really appealed to me was the stature of the brands inside of the box, rather than no-marks that I never heard of. The products inside were:

Models Own Full Size Nail Polish in Fuzzy Peach! I have the range of colours from Models Own so I couldn’t resist picking this cute Spring shade, it’s perfect for this time of year!

Betty Hula Secret Wonder Oil Roller Ball! Another full sized item which retails for £6.25. This is a brand new addition to the Betty Hula range. They say it’s a versatile skin oil.

The only item which I probably won’t get targeted use out of is the Redken Colour Extend Conditioner. The only reason I don’t think I’ll be able to try it to it’s full potential, is because I don’t currently have coloured hair, although I am planning to return to the dark side soon!

The last item is my main reason for buying the whole box! It’s the Neal and Wolf Daily Cleansing Shampoo, which is a full sized product, which normally retails for £11.50! I love my current cleansing shampoo, which I just use one a week, so I’m excited to try something new!

You can subscribe to Love Me Beauty from their website, the cost is £10 plus delivery! http://lovemebeauty.com/

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Wednesday 23 April 2014

A Week In Dallas


Two weeks ago I spent a week in Dallas for the Freescale Technology Forum. I don’t expect the Freescale Technology Forum to sound familiar to anyone here but it’s an important event for the company I work for. I headed over to America for the week to cover the event in video. It consisted of several interviews and lots of food! As always I wanted to share some of my pictures with you guys, I like to snap a lot of photographs when I travel to show Chris and family when I come home!


I had a beautiful hotel room, it really was very nice. It was inside a very extravagant convention center, it had fountains, a train track, swimming pools, the works! It was a very surreal place to stay, it felt like Disneyland haha! I had a bit of spare time on Tuesday afternoon and so I couldn’t resist a trip to Target, I got a shuttle bus over there and it was very strange seeing Target. I’m so used to watching Judy from itsjudyslife in there!


Texan food was really nice, I sampled a breakfast burrito, eggs benedict, a carrot cake cheesecake (all pictured) as well as an amazing creamy prawn pasta and an amazing chinese buffet lunch!































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