July & August Empties

Hi everyone! Well can you believe it is the 1st September already, the year is flying by!

I forgot to do my empties at the end of July and only remembered when I went to put another empty bottle in the bag I keep my empties in so I thought I would do a combined post.  I still have £40 saved up from my empties to the end of June.

Ojon Damage Reverse Shampoo and Conditioner - You can read my initial review here. After using this shampoo and conditioner for a few months I do still really like it but I wouldn't pay full price of £41.50 now.  I have found some other products recently that I really like.

L'Oreal Elvive Full Restore 60 Second Saviour - This makes my hair lovely and soft and is very moisturising. This retails for £4.99 in Boots. I would repurchase.

Percy & Reed Moisturising Shampoo - This is nice but at £14.00 for 250ml I wouldn't repurchase as there are cheaper products that I prefer.

All full size items so £4 in the pot.

Essential Care Organic Rose Moisturiser - I got this in my May Joliebox, it is a lovely moisturiser doesn't break me out and I can actually feel it tightening my skin when I use it. 50ml retails at £19 here.  I wouldn't repurchase though as I am loving the next product!

Layla D Honey Moisturiser - You can read my review here.  I really struggle to find moisturisers that agree with my skin but this is fabulous. Would definitely repurchase.

Elemis Pro Collagen Body Cream - this retails at £9.99 here for 50ml, the full size is a whopping £49 for 200ml on the Elemis UK website! This smells lovely but I don't notice any firming or lifting effects when I use it. I have a couple of these body creams through beauty boxes/swaps as it smells lovely but I wouldn't repurchase it.

Apivita Express Beauty with Honey Face Mask - You can buy a two pack for £5.72 here. This left my skin lovely and soft and plumped up! Would repurchase.

4 Sample Sizes thats £2 in the pot.

FAB Cleanser - Think I have had this in every single empties post! Nice product and I'm on my last tube of it now.  Full size retails at £13 in Boots. I would repurchase.

Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser - Full size of 200ml retails for £34 on the Murad website.  I loved using this! It made my skin squeaky clean! But I didn't realise how much it cost :( I would definitely repurchase if I could find it cheaper! 

Clarins Water Purify One Step Cleanser with Mint Essential Water- Full size retails for £13.88 here.  I like this, it removed my make up including my eye make up without stinging or causing breakouts and it smells lovely! I would repurchase.

Lancome Bi-Facil Sensitive Eyes Instant Cleanser - Full size of 125ml retails for £17.85 here.   I find it does take a bit of rubbing to remove my mascara with this, I have a full size that I am using but I wouldn't repurchase this.  Happy if it comes in a GWP set though!

4 Sample sizes another £2 in the pot.

Rituals Foaming Shower Gel in Sunrise - Retails for £6.90 here.  This is my last Rituals shower gel and I will definitely be picking more up! They smell gorgeous and are very moisturising.

Molton Brown Vitalising Vitamin A, B + C Bath and Shower - 300ml retails for £15.60 here.  This smells nice but personally I wouldn't spend that amount on bath and shower gel so I wouldn't repurchase.

Gorgeous by Gok Body Wash - This reminds me of Christmas as Ialways pick up a set when it's on offer! It smells so good and doesn't dry out my skin.  I think you can only buy this at Christmas as I can't find it on Boots website.  Will be repurchasing.

Champneys Watermint Body Scrub - This retails for £6 here.  Wow this is fab! The smell is a real pick me up and the scrub is great, not drying and just the right amount and size of beads. Definitely repurchasing.

3 full size and a sample is £3.50 in the pot.

Total of £11.50 added this month making £51.50!!

Beauty Box Swaps Meet Up!

Yesterday I meet up with the most lovely group of ladies from the Beauty Box Swapping page on Facebook.


We met up in Chester, which is a beautiful walled city founded by the Romans in AD79 - the city is full of important historic sites but also boasts top class shopping which we took full advantage of! You can read more about Chester here, its definitely worth a visit.

We started off the day at Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, a huge outlet village about 10-15 minutes in the car from Chester train station.

I picked up this gorgeous coral coloured silk dress/shirt from Warehouse at Cheshire Oaks, bargain at £20 reduced from £70! Perfect for holiday with gold jewellery and sandals.

After a few hours of shopping we made our way back into Chester and had lunch at The Living Room in the town centre.

L-R Emma, Nardine, Nora, Wendy, Nina and Caroline

Having been fed and watered we were ready to hit the shops!

First stop Debenhams - as I said when I walked in it's a BBS heaven!

This lippy was on my wish list, look how pretty and pink it is!

Next stop the Lancome counter.  

I got the Hypnose mascara, which came with 30ml of Bi-Facil and a mini L'absolu rouge lippy, plus Teint Idole Ultra foundation. This is one of the only foundations I have found that is pale enough for my skin, I didn't like the matte finish when I first tried it but I love it now. When I finish this bottle off I am going to try the Estee Launder Double wear as recommended by Emma and Caroline :)

There was a free gift with 2 purchases offer on - look at all the goodies I got!

Can never resist a Lush purchase!

I got my son the Dorothy bubble bar, I get him something different everytime I go.  The products are all natural and don't irritate his skin.  He used to love the bath bombs but now he prefers the bubble bars! As the name suggests they make lots of bubbles and they last for more than one use.  Should get three baths out of this bar.  How cute is the rainbow?!

I got a bath melt called Happy Blooming, again this will last for three baths.  The smell of cherries is gorgeous.  I've not seen or tried this bath melt before, looking forward to a nice relaxing bath to try it out.

Once we were shopped out and had said goodbyes to Caroline and Emma, we made our way over to Chester Cathedral to sit in the sunshine and enjoy the surprise that Nardine and Nina had bought with them....

BBS Cupcakes!!! Sparkly ones!

Made by Laura, she couldn't make the meet up so she sent us some cupcakes.

Yum, yum! 

 Laura sent us three boxes of the most delicious cupcakes, she is super talented and should really think about starting a cupcake business - the girl has talent.

A Beauty Box Swap day wouldn't be complete without a little swap! Thanks Emma for the MAC Lovelorn lippy, this is a perfect daytime pink.  I will be wearing this everyday for work.

I had such a great day, they are a bunch of amazing ladies and I am proud to call them my friends.  We chat all the time on the swapping page but this is the first time we have all met up (I have met Nardine before in February) and it was just like we have known each other all our lives! We laughed so much our sides hurt and we shopped so hard our feet hurt! We will definitely be having more meet ups and I'm sure they will become a regular event :)

Breakfast this morning! Thanks for the cupcake Laura and for the chocolate Nardine!

Saturday Shopping - Next Sale and Lancome Return Visit!

Its so gloriously sunny here today, that I'm waiting until 12 when my giveaway ends - announcing the winner then I'm off to the beach for a lovely walk and some fish and chips! Soak up some of last nights cocktails...BTW how nice is Jack Daniels, Amaretto, Cranberry and Red Bull - if you have never tried it, you are missing out its gorgeous!

We were out celebrating my sister Mels birthday, so she wanted me to go shopping with her in the day to pick a lovely new outfit suitable for birthday celebrations so we had a lovely girly day. I have three sisters, I'm the eldest then its Mel, Megan and Lucy.

Now I wasn't really meant to buy anything, as I have so much stuff I haven't worn/used.  But I couldn't resist a few little purchases ;)

First up, the Next sale. Well normally I hate the Next sale, but Mel wanted to have a little look round.  She didn't get anything but I got a couple of tops for £8 each.

The pink top is sheer at the front and has my favourite print on it - birds! Couldn't resist the cat print t-shirt how cute is it! Think I'll wear it today to go to the beach. I also picked up some stacking rings for £3 and a lovely sparkly bracelet for £2, I wore these last night and I don't know where I put them when I took them off to go to bed....

Next up New Look, at this point we met up with our other sister Megan. Mel got some lovely jeans, a navy waterfall blazer and a gorgeous blue sheer top with a fab bird print! Great minds and all that. Meg got some gorgeous trousers, a tribal print in black, white and brown. Outfits sorted, just need shoes.

New Look. Nothing.
River Island.  Nothing.
Dotty P's. Nothing.
Topshop. Nothing.

Give up at this point and decide to go with shoes that already in the cupboard at home.

Now, I'd been nattering to them about my blog, make-up etc and they were asking about my foundation which was actually the Lancome foundation that I got a sample of a couple of weeks ago. I really didn't like it when I first tried it but I now actually love it! So they wanted to get a sample too. 

The lady on the Lancome counter is so lovely, I told her about her matching me up with the Teint Idole Ultra 24 and that my sisters were interested too, she matched them both up and sent them off clutching a little glass bottle containing a 7 day sample they were both made up! And myself horrified when Mel announces later, wow that will last me for aaagggees my rimmel one is about 3 years old!!! OMG!

Anyway I tell the Lancome lady that I love the Teint Idole Ultra 24 but do they have anything that isn't such a matt finish, yes she says the Teint Miracle which has a dewy finish.  She hands me a 7 day sample and also a sample of the new Genifique Youth Activating Serum worth £9!

Its very like the YSL Youth Liberating Serum that I received in my Harrods Glossybox and I loved it.  She put some of the Genifique on the back of my hand and I could visibly see the difference in my skin.  Its pricey but I may have to buy this.

And I may have converted Mel into a make up lover, she left with a hot pink lipstick, gel eyeliner, stick on nails and some pink nail varnish!


Wow its time to pick the winner of my giveaway......good luck everyone!

Ding, Ding Round 2 Harrods Glossybox!

Couldn't resist ordering an extra Glossybox this month with it being the Harrods edition, hubby phoned work to say it had been delivered (well trained!) but looking online I could see that lots of people who got theirs on the same day had the dreaded body lotion box (I'm convinced they send them out in batches)....

Yay! Only one body lotion, praise again to the beauty gods!

As you can see this box looks a lot fuller than the first box I received.

It says on the card - present this card at Molton Brown in Harrods and receive a complimentary hand & arm massage, along with a little bag of treats! Now I don't live anywhere near London, so if you would like me to send you this card in the post let me know. First come, first served!

My lovely assistant in work purchased this perfume last week, it smells gorgeous and the full size bottle is very pretty.  This is a 1.5ml sample.

More Molton Brown, different scent this time - I love the sample I got in my first box, so I'm pleased to get another bottle.

Anti-ageing moisturiser, I have a little obsession with the Sisley cream that I received in my YOU Latest in Beauty Box and while I love it I can not justify spending hundreds of pounds on a cream - so when one of the lovely ladies on Beauty Box Swaps put up a post asking who wanted to swap their SKII for the Sisley I was straight in there!

I was really pleased to find this in my box as I've heard good things about it and have wanted to try it for a while, its a 2ml sample.  Can't wait for the next night out with the girls so I can try it out!

This is a 4ml sample and while I'm pleased to try it out I do wish companies wouldn't put oil samples in a sachet, little tubes/tubs/vials would be much easier to use.  I'll probably decant this into a little pot so that I can get more than one use out of it.  I would have liked a bigger sample too, as I don't know how my skin will react using it once or twice.  A weeks worth would be much better!

And last, but not least the body lotion! I'm actually secretly pleased to get this again as I loved the one out of my first box and have already used it all! Ssshhhh though don't tell the beauty gods!

I actually like the first box I received more than this one.  I would have loved to get one of the perfume samples in the minature bottles and yet again Glossybox are facing criticism for the variety in the boxes!

I would have loved to try the Ojon too, but that leads onto another post.........!

Did you order more than one box?  What was your favourite item?

Lancome Foundation and Free Gift at Boots

Was having a little browse in Boots and noticed that they have a fab free (with the purchase of two or more products) gift at the Lancome counter until 11th March. Worth over £71!

It includes:
Cleanser and Toner (in a choice of cleansing routine)
Hydra Zen Neurocalm
Eye Cream
Mascara
Juicy tube


Plus you get a free full size Bi-Facil with any third purchase! (Can you tell I love a bargain?!)

So I decided to have a look at what I could buy to get the free gift, womans logic and all that ;) When a very lovely assistant asked if I needed any help - normally at this point I kind of shake my head and run away! - but I was feeling brave and asked her to match me up to a medium/full coverage foundation.  So she sat me down and suggested Teint Idole Ultra 24H in shade 005, she kindly gave me a big enough sample to last for 7 days and I went away happily clutching my little bottle of super pale foundation....


Now when I got home and tried it on I was so disappointed, its REALLY pale and matte I usually go for a more dewy finish so I thought it looked very mask like.  Plus I would say the coverage is more light/medium so I needed quite a bit of concealer.  Anyway I got so many compliments on my skin looking flawless that I think it may growing on me......


Has anyone tried this foundation?  What did you think? Do any of the Lancome foundations have a finish that is not so matte?