October Beauty Favourites ♥


Hey beaut's!

It's that time again.... Monthly favourites time! Wow hasn't this month gone quick, I know I say that every month but I cant quite believe how quick these months are whizzing past! I'm literally in my element at the moment because it's my favourite time of the year, every things super autumnal now and theres Christmas vibes everywhere, eeeakkk I love it! This months beauty favourites really do have autumn in mind, I'm loving berry shades so much at the moment and my makeup bag and nail polish stash are full of those yummy hues!
My first favourite this month was a no brainer really, it just had to be the Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita Palette. This palette may only come complete with four shades but oh my those four shades are gorgeous and work so well either used all together or used separately, the shades are all warm-toned neutrals that lean more towards red and copper tones and are stunning for this time of the year, not to mention the quality of these shadows is insane! Sticking with the eyes I've also been loving my Maybelline Color Tattoo is Metallic Pomegranate, it's a stunning cranberry shade with gold glitters suspended within it and is perfect for a quick wash of colour on the eyelid when your in a rush, or it creates the perfect long lasting base for eyeshadows to sit on top of. 

Base makeup wise I've been obsessed with using my Rimmel Fresher Skin Foundation with my Real Techniques Multi Sculpting Sponge, these two go hand in hand together to create a lightweight, natural look which is perfect for everyday and then I just use my Maybelline FIT Me Concealer on any blemishes and underneath my eyes. This Maybelline concealer is so so good by the way, it's super creamy and bendable with great coverage and doesn't move at all throughout the day, I love it!

For lipstick this month I have been wearing all sorts but one lippie that I've been wearing the most out of them all is MAC's Syrup! Syrup is a muted pink with sheer plummy tones running through it, great for someone who wants to wear a berry/plum lip but doesn't want to go too bold, it's a lustre finish too which I love at this time of the year because its creamy and moisturising so it's perfect for when my lips are that bit dryer.

For my nails I've been sticking to the same two polishes all month and that's Barry M's Raspberry and Copper Mine, this is such an autumnal duo that looks super pretty, I use Copper Mine as an accent nail colour on my thumb and ring finger and then Raspberry goes on the rest of my nails, I love it!  

Finally my last favourite this month is the Zoella Hungry Hands Hand Cream, I was so exited about this release and it certainly didn't disappoint, it's such a lovely hand cream that nourishes and soaks straight into the skin, not to mention it smells absolutely incredible! Check out my full review HERE beaut's!

 What have you been loving this month beaut's? I'd love to know!

nopin

Burt's Bees Beeswax Christmas Bauble Review

Hey beaut's!

You may have seen that a couple of weeks ago I shared some of Burt's Bees 2016 Christmas gifts that would be perfect for either stocking fillers or secret Santa prezzies, if you missed the post you can check it out HERE. Within that post was a super cute Burt's Bees Christmas Bauble, and because I loved it so much I thought it deserved it's very own post! 

Burt's Bees actually have two Christmas Baubles this year but the one I have is the Beeswax Gift Set Christmas Bauble (£6.99). Inside the bauble you will find a Beeswax Lip Balm with Vitamin E and Peppermint and a Mini Hand Salve, both of which are essentials during the autumn and winter months. The lip balm within the bauble is soooo nice, it's 100% natural and gives my lips a huge dose of moisture leaving them smooth and soft whilst also preventing any chapping or flakiness. Because the balm contains peppermint it does have a mint scent which tingles the lips when you first apply it, personally I love the tingling sensation, I feel like it plumps my lips slightly and creates a great base for lipstick. The mini hand salve within the bauble is so handy to have in my handbag at this time of the year, it  hydrates rough, dry hands with  botanical oils, herbs and beeswax leaving them soft and conditioned, it works great as a cuticle balm too.
Overall I absolutely love this little bauble, it's the perfect little Christmas tree decoration that becomes a gift and will certainly keep your hands and lips nourished this Christmas. 

The Burt's Bees Beeswax Gift Set Christmas Bauble is available HERE.

nopin

£3 B&M Halloween Candles Reviewed

Hey beaut's!

Its no surprise that I like a candle or 50 at this time of the year ha ha, however being in the UK I feel like we sometimes miss out on some of the amazing candle scents that you can get from places such as Bath and Body Works, however recently B&M's £2.99 candles have been taking over the blogasphere and have been named the ultimate Bath and Body Works candle dupes, so I decided to take myself off to B&M and check those bad boys out, unfortunately for me all of the autumnal dupes had sold out, however I did manage to pick up a couple of the Halloween Candles and a couple of the Christmas candles woohoo.

The B&M Halloween collection actually consists of four different scents but there was only two scents left for me to choose from so I decided to pick them both up to try. The candles come in large, heavy glass jars which you can definitely reuse once the candles have burnt down, I always keep mine for makeup brushes or cotton buds. The candle have two wicks which is so good because they burn evenly and don't leave any wasted wax around the sides of the jars.

The first candle out of the two that I lit straight away was Pumpkin Spiced Cheesecake, now I will admit in the shop I didn't really get much of a scent out of either of the candles so everything rested on getting them home to try and thank goodness they actually smell good once you burn them. Pumpkin Spiced Cheesecake has subtle hints of cinnamon and vanilla running through it with the odd dash of pumpkin here and there, I love my sweet, foodie scents so this ticked all the boxes for me and the scent throw did fill my entire house despite being quite delicate. Then we have Vanilla Pumpkin, this one is actually less of the pumpkin and more of the vanilla, so if you love vanilla frosting or vanilla cake kind of smells in candles then this one will be for you! 

Have you picked up any of the B&M Bath and Body Works candle dupes beaut's? Which would you recommend? I'd love to know.

Enter my Lacoste Perfume GIVEAWAY here beaut's!

nopin

Lush Pumpkin Bath Bomb Review

Hey beaut's!

Each year when Lush bring out their Halloween and Christmas collections I get stupidly excited and have to make a trip pretty pronto to stock up, this years collections certainly didn't disappoint and there was one new addiction to Lush's Halloween collection that just had to come home with me and that was the Pumpkin Bath Bomb.
The Pumpkin Bath Bomb is described as a slab of sweet pumpkin pie, dripping in spice and sauciness, now if it's cuteness never sold it to you then that description sure will, it sounds good enough to eat. When I popped my little Pumpkin Bath Bomb in the bath it was super fizzy and whizzed around the bath creating bright orange water and the smell.... wow it's so nice, it contains sweet, comforting vanilla absolute and spicy Cinnamon which gives it a rich, biscuity fragrance of home-baking and I also get a light orange scent from this bath bomb too. It's definitely the perfect bath bomb if you like your foodie scents and the added spiciness plus the orange give it that warming, cosy, Christmas vibe which I love, you could definitely confuse this as a Christmas bath bomb to be honest as it's smells really quite festive. When I got out the bath my skin was super soft, not as moisturising as some of the Lush bath bombs but it's definitely not drying either and there was no orange staining around my bath afterwards, woohoo!
Overall I'd highly recommend giving this cute little Pumpkin a whirl, especially if your into your foodie, festive scents like me. I'm kind of sad I didn't stock up and get a couple of these as this is my favourite Lush new release that I've tried so far!

You can buy the Lush Pumpkin Bath Bomb for £3.95 HERE.


nopin

Halloween Beauty Picks 2016

Hey beaut's!

Halloween is creeping ever closer and I just cant help but get super excited, I'm honestly like a big kid at this time of year and get into everything Halloween and autumnal, I've even been to our local pumpkin patch and picked up all of our pumpkins already too he he... Anywhooo today I thought I'd share with you all some of my Halloween inspired makeup and beauty picks, I done this last year and really liked it so thought I would follow suit and do it again this year. Halloween certainly isn't just for the kiddies, us 'adults hehe' can join in the fun to by either rocking a dark smokey eye with some spooky lashes, a vampy dark lip or even just going for something a bit more daring on your nails, theres certainly something out there in the world of spooky beauty that us girlie's can enjoy he he. 
Halloween Beauty Picks
Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Pen in Black Excess £8.99 / Barry M Gelly High Shine Nail Paint in Black Cherry £3.99 / Barry M Gelly High Shine Nail Paint in Black Pistachio £3.99 / Collection Velvet Kiss Moisturising Lip Cream £2.99 / Makeup Revolution Beyond Vamp Matte Lipstick Collection £6.00 / Makeup Revolution Eyeshadow Palette The Dead Are Alive £6.00 / House of Holland Nails Party Collection Jet Jems £13.00 / Black Basic Witches Short Sleeve T-Shirt £7.99 / Elegant Touch Trick or Treat Halloween Nails £7.95 / Eyelure The Raven False Lashes £5.95 / Scandaleyes Reloaded Smudge Proof Mascara £4.99 / Makeup Revolution Ghost Contour Stick £4.00 / Black Lace Bow Choker / The Library of Fragrance Pumpkin Pie

What Halloween inspired makeup are you loving at the moment beaut's?? I'd love to know!!






nopin

October Degustabox Review + £7 off Discount Code

Hi beaut's...

I have a subscription box review for you all today but it's a subscription box with a difference.... it contains yummy food and drink, so say hello to Degustabox*. Degustabox works very much like how beauty subscription boxes work, for £12.99 a month (postage included within the £12.99 price) you will receive 10 to 15 surprise food/drink products, many that are completely new to the market! So if your a bit of a foodie like myself  and you love subscription boxes your going to love this beaut's! I have to say that over the last few months the contents of each box really has been amazing, I literally cant wait to tuck in and this months Autumn themed box certainly has had me drooling because it's one of the best boxes I've had in a while.


This month we have 16 yummy food and drink items to sink our teeth into and I'm going to kick things off with some of the sweeter things because I just have the sweetest tooth in the world he he. Firstly theres a king size bar of Hershey's Cookies'n'Creme £1.00, I'm actually saving this bad boy because I know I'm going to love it so much, I mean crunchy cookie pieces covered in smooth creme, whats not to love. Then theres a jar of one of my favourites, Jim Jams 83% Less Sugar Milk Chocolate Spread £2.99. This chocolate spread is unbelievabley tasty, I often have some slathered on a piece of bread for a snack but it's also perfect for pancakes, waffles, crumpets and even porridge. Next up is Pitch Choco Bar £1.40, I had one of these almost instantly when my box arrived, their yummy individually wrapped brioche filled with a mini bar of of milk chocolate, yum! Now onto four of the Beloved Date Fruit Hearts 75p each. These are brand new out and are made from 100% date fruit with a hint of natural flavouring, the perfect natural energy booster for your break at work or school. Next I have a bag of Yushoi Snapea Rice Sticks £1.99, these are a baked snack made using green peas, I love sharing bags like this for movie nights as they are a great alternative to a big bag of Doritos's ha ha. Theres only one drink item in this months box and that goes to Robinsons Squash'd Orange £2.49, this is a super concentrated portable squash which helps make drinking water more exciting on the go, such a fab idea I think!

Now moving onto the more savoury items starting with IAM SOUPER £1.49, these are soups packed with chunky tasty ingredients, they couldn't have come at a better time really now it's so cold out! Then theres some Heinz Pasta Sauce £1.55 and Heinz Dry Pasta Shapes £1.19, these are the perfect combination when all you want is a quick meal, and whats best is that the pasta is made form 50% whole wheat and the sauce isn't to naughty either! I'm always cooking nando style chicken in my house with marinades or rubs so I'm pretty sure this Smokey BBQ Coat'n'Cook Sauce by Levi Roots £1.00 is going to go down a treat with some sweet potato fries and salad! Lastly this month is some Maggi Fusion Noodles £1.39 each, these are great to add in with a stir fry or to have as a lunchtime snack. 

Degustabox have kindly given me a discount code for all of my beautiful readers, all you have to do is pop BLDEG15 into the promotional code box and you'll receive a whopping £7.00 discount when registering making your first box just £5.99. And don't worry beaut's, theres no commitments with Degustabox meaning you can cancel your subscription free of charge before the 10th of any month, but I mean why would you cancel monthly surprise food treats ha ha!

What do you think of the Degustabox concept beaut's?? I'd love to know your thoughts.

Enter my Lacoste Perfume GIVEAWAY here beaut's!

nopin

Festive Lush Haul

Hey beaut's!

Eeeeeaakk it's that time of year again when Lush get all their Christmas products back in and I literally go gaga for them all he he. This year Lush have brought back some old Christmas favourites but have also added a few new products which obviously I had to try, I will be going back into Lush nearer to Christmas try some more of their new things but for now I picked up six things to try! 
The first thing I picked up was a Candy Mountain Bubble Bar £2.95, this is one of my all time favourites from Lush and I end up buying loads of them over the Christmas period, in fact I'm already kicking myself for not picking more than one up this time around! It has a Snow Fairy inspired scent that literally fills the upstairs of my house and makes me think I'm in sweet shop, its so nice. If that wasn't nice enough it then turns your bath water baby pink, cute!!! I can usually get two baths out of the Candy mountain bubble bar, I break the top off for one bath then use the base for a second bath he he.
I then picked up another favourite of mine the Luxury Lush Pud Bath Bomb £4.25, I always get one of these every year when the Christmas bits are first launched because I love how it looks in the bath, plus it smells incredible. The Lush Pud actually shares its fragrance with the Twilight bath bomb (which I absolutely love), the comforting tonka absolute, ylang ylang, and relaxing lavender oils will help banish tension, calm you and help you unwind!
The first of the new additions to Lush that I bought was the Ruby Red Slippers Bubble Bar £3.95, how cute is this though, and it's covered in red glitters too, oh my I'm in love! This one contains carnation absolute, rose absolute and tangerine oil which makes it quite a floral scented bath but theres definitely a dash of spice within it too, I imagine this will make my bath water look so festive and glistening!
The Autumn Leaf Bath Bomb £3.75 is another new addition to Lush this year, this one is so seasonal and autumnal, I love it! Autumn Leaf has quite a woody scent to it and just reminds me of an autumnal walk in the forest with all the burnt orange leaves crunching underfoot, I love this new addition.
Then I had to pick up the Northern Lights Bath Bomb £3.95, I remember getting this a couple of years ago and loved it so much, but Lush never bought it back last year so I'm super happy they have revamped it and we can now get our paws back on it! As soon as you pop this in the bath it creates a multi coloured spectacle and it's jasmine and ylang ylang-scented making it the perfect bath bomb to use in the evenings when you want to relax. 
Lastly I couldn't resist picking up the Pumpkin Bath Bomb £3.95, this little guy is new to Lush's Halloween collection this year and I absolutely love the smell of it, it contains sweet, comforting vanilla absolute and spicy Cinnamon which gives it a rich, biscuity fragrance of home-baking and stacked desserts, this bath bomb is literally pumpkin pie heaven!

What Christmas bits will you be picking up from Lush this year beaut's? I'd love to know!


nopin

Easy Halloween Cupcakes with a Blood-Filled Centre

Hey beaut's!

I've been baking again, but this time around I've done some super easy Halloween themed cupcakes! I got the inspiration for these cupcakes from my Tanya Bakes book and because I found them so easy and fun to do I thought I'd share them all with you! Their basically super yummy chocolate cupcakes with chocolate chips within the batter and what makes them slightly spooky is that they have a blood filled centre which is actually jam, they taste absolutely divine and I was so pleased with how they turned out!
What You Will Need For The Cupcakes
50g butter, softened
180g caster sugar
1 egg
splash of vanilla extract
100g plain flour
60g cocoa powder
2 teaspoons of baking powder
160ml milk
100g milk chocolate chips
Jar of raspberry or strawberry jam

What You Will Need For The Icing
400g icing sugar
200g unsalted butter at room temperature 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Food colouring or coloured gels of your choice

How To - Cupcakes
1. Firstly pre-heat your oven to gas mark 4 /180 and line a muffin tin with your cupcake cases.
2. Then in a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract and then fold in your flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
4. Slowly add in your milk until you get a smooth batter then stir in your chocolate chips until their well distributed through the batter.
 5. Pop a tablespoon of the cupcake batter into each cupcake case and the top each one with any left over batter.
6. Bake in the oven for around 15 minutes or until the top of the cupcakes are springy to the touch, then transfer onto a wire rack to cool.
7. Once the cupcakes are completely cool you want to make a hole in the middle of them and squeeze in jam for a jammy 'blood' like centre, I done mine by using the end of a teaspoon to push into the cupcakes to make the holes (you could also use a straw if you had one) and then I filled a sandwich bag with jam, I cut the corner of the sandwich bag off which then made a makeshift piping bag and squeezed the jam into the cupcakes that way, it was a lot less messy and super precise doing it like that. 

How To - Buttercream
1. In a large bowl, beat the butter until smooth and slighter paler in colour and then start adding the icing sugar slowly to avoid the dreaded icing sugar cloud and again mix until smooth.
2. Once your buttercream is ready you then want to divine it evenly between three bowls (this is only if your going for three different coloured icings like me) then start added in your food colourings to the buttercream and mix well until you get your desired colour.
3. Pipe or spoon the buttercream on top of the cupcakes and top with any Halloween themed sprinkles or sweets and voila!


And there you have it, very easy yet extremely scrumptious and a tad spooky Halloween cupcakes. I found these so simple and fun to make and the texture is lovely, their so light yet moist and I love the gooey, jammy centre and topped with the Halloween coloured buttercream it just finishes them off perfectly!

Do let me know if you give these Halloween Cupcakes a whirl beaut's, I'd love to know!

Enter my Lacoste Perfume GIVEAWAY here beaut's!

nopin

Too Faced Christmas Collection 2016

Hey beaut's!

 Now I'm a huge Too Faced fan and when I saw their 'Christmas in New York' themed collection this year I go so excited! The collection contains everything from smaller stocking fillers too larger more 'main present' gifts and theres even three Christmas tree ornaments this year which are so cute and would work as amazing secret Santa gifts for any beauty addict! Prices range from £10.00 to £46.00, and I have to say price wise I'm so impressed, everythings really reasonable this year and I wouldn't say anything is overly priced at all! The most lavish gift is the Too Faced Grand Hotel Cafe which contains three eyeshadow palettes and a mini mascara and comes in at £46.00, yup that's right just £46.00, what a bargain! I have quite a few things from this collection on my Christmas list, I mean who could resist these beauties!
Too Faced Christmas Collection 2016

NEW Real Techniques Miracle Sculpting Sponge Review

Hey beaut's!

Not that long ago Real Techniques launched three brand new face sponges and being the Real Techniques lover that I am I couldn't wait to buy them and give them a whirl. So far I have two out of the three new sponges, I have already reviewed the Miracle Mini Eraser Sponges which you can read HERE, and today I thought I would share my thoughts on the Miracle Sculpting Sponge!

The hot pink Miracle Sculpting Sponge (£5.99) was designed to sculpt the face and make contouring and highlighting an absolute breeze. I must admit when I bought this sponge I didn't have contouring in mind, I loved the fact it has 6 surfaces and thought it would be ideal for foundation application, and after playing around with it a lot over the last couple of months I've come to realise this is one versatile sponge! As I said before the Miracle Sculpting Sponge has 6 surfaces, theres 2 flat edges to apply, 2 rounded sides to blend and 2 tapered ends for precise application. For foundation application I like to use the sponge damp, on its large flat edge and I use a stippling motion all across my face, just like the original Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge, this creates a flawless, dewy base in seconds. The smaller pointed tip is great for pinpoint concealing any blemishes and blending in concealer underneath the eyes, again this is achieved quickly and flawlessly. 
In terms of using this sponge to contour and highlight with (which is it's main point of use) I like it a lot now but I didn't when I first started using it, I think it's because I was so used to using my makeup brushes for contouring and highlighting that suddenly using a sponge felt weird, but actually after experimenting I've come to love this sponge for contouring and highlighting and would totally recommend it if your someone who struggles with the blending part of contouring. The way this sponge is cut makes it so easy to stripe on your contour and highlight and the rounded edges blend everything so well, I was always someone who struggled with blending my contour but not anymore he he.
I always use my sponge damp and it does expand well and is bouncy enough to feel soft against my skin but dense enough to get the job done, you can also use the sponge with dry powder products and creams too! 

Have you tried any of the new Real Techniques Sponges? Which is your favourite beaut's? I'd love to know!

nopin

Lacoste L.12.12 Pour Elle Fragrance Trio Review + GIVEAWAY

Hey beaut's!

If you've followed my blog for a while it will be no surprise to you that I LOVE Lacoste's fragrances and I even reviewed their L.12.12 Pour Elle Sparkling Fragrance not that long ago HERE, but today I have a very exciting post for you all, not only will I being reviewing the Lacoste L.12.12 Pour Elle Trio* but I'll be giving a whole set away too, how amazing is that!

 Lacoste's three new scents are inspired by the freedom of movement and elegance of the classic tennis skirt, and reflect the three moods of a Lacoste woman – natural, elegant and sparklingly playful.
The first perfume within the set is Lacoste's Pour Elle Natural, this comes in a gorgeous mint green bottle and as the name would suggest is a very natural, clean scent that's uplifting and warm at the same time. Then we have my absolute favourite Lacoste Pour Elle Sparklingit's so sweet, girlie and playful and I think the pretty pink packaging really reflects that too. Macaron and Cotton Candy are at the heart of this fragrance so as you can imagine when wearing this you smell good enough to eat, however even though this is such a super sweet scent I never find it sickly and the fruity top notes and musky base notes really do help to balance this fragrance out! And lastly but in no means least is Lacoste's Pour Elle Elegant, this one is described as uplifting, authentic, and warm. I think this is quite an all rouder scent meaning I think most people could wear and enjoy it, it's quite clean and fresh whilst also being lightweight and not overpowering at all, a great day time scent for sure! All of the Lacoste L.12.12 Pour Elle fragrances are priced from £29.50 and are available HERE
As I mentioned before ONE of my lovely blog followers will be able to win everything you see in this post, yup that's right you could win the Lacoste Pour Elle Fragrance Trio that comes in a perspex case and a Lacoste bag , how exciting!!! The giveaway will be open for 2 weeks, all you have to do to enter is complete the mandatory steps within the Rafflecopter form below.

Please note this is a UK GIVEAWAY ONLY!!!!

Extra Information
-There will be one winner of this competition winning ONE Lacoste Pour Elle Fragrance Trio encased in a perspex box and a Lacoste bag.
- The winner will be emailed and announced on Twitter. The winner will have 48 hours to claim their prize. If I do not hear from the winner within this time frame a new winner will be picked. If the winner has not entered all of the mandatory entries they have claimed to, all of their entries will be discounted and a new winner will be picked.
- The prize will be posted out by myself, second class via Royal Mail. I will not be liable for any loss or damage. 

nopin

Morning Pops Cereal Subscription Box Review

 Hey beaut's!

Now you all know I'm partial to a subscription box or two especially when foods involved, so when I heard about Morning Pops - the UK's first cereal subscription box company I couldn't wait to give it a whirl and it certainly didn't disappoint!
 As I said before Morning Pops* is the UK's first cereal subscription box delivering a selection of the worlds greatest and yummiest breakfast cereals to your door every month for just £8.95 including P&P. Within the Morning Pops box you get 3 large servings of delicious cereals from the USA, Japan, Australia, France and beyond, 1 large serving of cereal created exclusively by the Morning Pops cereal experts in the Morning Pops Kitchen and a bonus item (from a collectable toy to a sweet treat from a foreign land!) and possibly a Lucky Troll...What's even better is the box fits perfectly through your letter box, so you don't have to be home for your delivery.
 This month we have a serving of Kellogg's Fruit Loops from the USA along with Hershey's Cookies n Creme, which I have to add is totally divine, theres also a serving of Nestle's Chocapic Duo from France and the limited edition cereal this month which was made in the Morning Pops kitchen is a mix of chocolate pillows and marshmallows, these have a Nutella taste too them and where super scrumptious. The bonus item this month was a little Reese's Peanut Butter Cup which the boyfriend demolished within a second he he.
Overall I think this is such an amazing concept and idea, cereals from around the world are often so hard to get hold of and this way you get to try a bowl full so easily, I also love that the cereals come in handy little individually wrapped and sealed pouches which means you can easily pop them in your bag for work if you have your breakfast in the office.

If you'd like to give Morning Pops a whirl for yourself I have a cheeky discount code for you that will get you a lovely 25% off your first box, just use BLOG25.

What do you think of a cereal subscription box beaut's? I'd love to know! 

nopin