Weekend Wishlist

1. Animal Peplum Top     2. Dip-dye bralet    3. Triangle Box Chain Collar    4.Ostrich Effect Bag     

5. Chain Insert Jumper  6. & 7. MUA Constellations in Pisces and Scorpio (available from 26th September) 

8. Dress     9. Paisley Jacquard Trousers     10. Batiste Dry Shampoo Fruity and Cheeky Cherry

11. Alesha Boots   12. Wine Dip Hem Skirt

I've given in this week, and finally my Wishlist has well and truly entered the A/W zone, rather than stradling it along with summer, as it has been doing for the past few weeks. I still wasn't ready to let summer go, what with all the gorgeous clothes still in the shops, and the wardrobe-full I had yet to unleash. But now it has become apparent that I am fighting a lost cause, so who am I to stand in the way of all the lovely wintery warmers and rich, festive shades hitting stores?
Wine seems to be a strong trend again this A/W, and one that I'm more than happy to embrace. As well as digging out my burgundy jeans from last winter, I'll also be updating my wardrobe with this gorgeous dip-hem skirt. After I had created my wishlist, I noticed that Miss Selfridge are also doing the Ostrich effect bag in wine, and I think I prefer it to the brown one, so that's going to be another must-have.
The thing I am most excited about on my wishlist this week is 100% the new MUA Nail Constellations, out on 26th September. These are basically pots of teeny tiny beads which will adhere to nail polish, so they can be used to create a plethora of different nail art designs or just worn covering the nails, which I think looks pretty darn good. There are five to choose from - Libra, Gemini, Scorpio, Leo and Pisces, and they will be available for the bargainous price of £3 from Superdrug. If, like me, you just can't wait until then, then check out MUA's Facebook page here to have a nose and see the other colours available. Personally, I am in love with all of them, and am so glad that MUA have stuck to their reasonable prices for these innovative little gems.

This weekend I think I'm going to be having another relaxed one. I had the day off yesterday, so the hubby and I spent the afternoon lounging around a coffee shop drinking hazelnut lattes and reading - me, Fifty Shades and him Mockingjay (the third book in the Hunger Games trilogy). Actually, I started reading the Hunger Games books before he did, and when I told him about them he somehow managed to claim them for himself, so I'm still waiting on him to finish Mockingjay so that I can get my teeth into it! I suppose you could say that's why I've ended up reading Fifty Shades, as despite my original protests, I needed something to fill a gap, and it was there. Ok, I might as well be honest - yes, I was intrigued by all the hype surrounding it, but I had genuinely had no intention of reading it. And yet here we are. I'm not finding it too bad so far, but I have to say, I find the character of Anastasia Steele unbelievably annoying. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it and may want to, but the way she keeps biting her lip (by chapter ten, she must have done this at least twenty times) is really starting to grind my gears. How repetitive can you be!? Anyway, I will reserve further judgement until I have finished the book, as I am only just about to get to the juicy bit, but as yet I can't see myself picking up the other two books in the trilogy.

Tonight it's Skyping, blogging and cups of tea for me.
Do you have any exciting plans?
What's on your Wishlist this week?

xx

Herbalife Skin Activator Daily Replenishing Cream: Review

I always find it a little bit difficult to review face creams. We use them for their long term benefits, rather than immediate effects such as those you might experience when applying a new foundation or lipstick, and it's really impossible to know whether a cream is really doing what it claims to, even after a few weeks. However, I can definitely tell you what my first impressions of this cream are, and how my skin seems to be responding so far (I've been using it for about four weeks now), and on that note, here goes.

Where you can find Herbalife Skin Activator products:

Herbalife Skin Activator Daily Replenishing Cream is not available to buy in the shops, so if you want to get hold of it, or anything else from the Herbalife/Nourifusion range, then you will need to pop onto their website (here), where you can leave your details and have a distributor contact you. All products are supplied and sold by the distributors, meaning it is not necessarily the easiest brand to get hold of, but at the same time, the distributors seem to always be very quick to respond, and extremely helpful when they do.

What Herbalife says:

Onto the actual cream itself. 

According to Herbalife, the product:

'Helps to supply the nutrition the skin needs to maintain a younger, healthier appearance.

A luxurious, ultra-rich cream that helps to rejuvenate the skin. Supports collagen production and hydrates and nourishes the skin. Used regularly, it may visibly increase the luminosity and clarity, and also help to improve skin firmness. Recapture your youthful look'.

Well, I must admit, I'm not a huge fan of the fact that it says it 'may' do a couple of things. I like my face creams to be scientifically proven, and only like to spend money on products that are actually going to do the job (evidently, I didn't read this description properly at the time!). But anyway, let's not be put off by this just yet. The cream also claims to help prevent the first signs of aging, minimise fine lines and wrinkles and generally improve the texture of the skin.

Texture, consistency and smell:

The cream is certainly luxurious and rich, as claimed. On opening the pot, the consistency of the product is almost blancmange like, although it does not seem to stay this way when you put some onto your fingers. You need only swipe your finger lightly across the top and you will have gathered enough product for your entire face - a little goes a really long way, and the cream feels really smooth and pleasant upon application. It also has a nice scent, which is not a million miles away from that of suntan lotion, although it is much more subtle.

Active ingredients and effects:

The active ingredients in the Skin Activator cream are glucosamine, almond oil, green tea and....sugar!? I'm really not sure how I feel about that, as it doesn't really sound like something I would expect to be putting on my skin, but the glucosamine is needed to build collagen, while the almond oil and green tea are obviously moisturising and calming.

Even after the first use, I noted how lovely and soft my skin was feeling. I must admit, I have never used a cream before that has made my skin feel so smooth and hydrated. I have continued to feel this way ever since, and really enjoy using this on a daily basis after my cleanser and toner. As I mentioned before, I can't comment on the long term effects, but so far, so good.

I will be continuing to use this cream as my daily moisturiser, so I will be sure to let you know if my opinion on any aspects of it change in the future.

xx

Memory Lane

This week's Memory Lane photo was taken in July 2010. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and my sister and I decided to go on a little roadtrip together to make the most of it, as we don't see each other very often thanks to living extremely far apart. We headed to a cute little historical town nearby, with cobbled streets, bohemian shops and little tearooms on every corner. We walked along the river and admired the calm, quiet day, before popping for a delicious lunch of goats cheese salads at a traditional pub. Mine was accompanied by pear cider, but my sister, being the driver, had to stick to coffee. We sat and ate in the sunshine, before passing by a vintage sweet shop on the way back to the car park, to stock up on childhood goodies such as rhubarb and custard sweets, raspberry fizzers and Millionaire's Shortbread. My sister also decided to get some of the sourest sweets in the world, which were frankly just horrific. I usually like sour sweets, but those were just a step too far!

On the way home, we passed through another little village by the sea, and stopped off for warm doughnuts on the pier.

This will always be a happy memory of mine, as it's not often that I get to see my sister, and even less often that we have some lovely sunshine when I do!

Hope you enjoyed reading. What's your happy memory to get you through to the weekend?

xx

September Agenda

Excuse these photos....they were taken on my phone

It's that time of the month again, when I share with you my hopes and plans for the month ahead in the hope that broadcasting them to the world will motivate me to actually achieve them. 

First of all, a quick recap on my goals for August and how I got on with them:

1. Plan lots of fun activities for my classes (I teach English as a foreign language).

Well, I did my best with this one and put together lots of tasks for my students, using fun stuff like songs and comedy programmes. They seemed to go down really well, but I am already in need of more, so I suppose this one is an on-going task, really.

2. Finish my Secret Project

I still can't reveal too much about what this is, and it's all taking a bit longer than anticipated to come together, but let's just say that things are moving along and I'm making steady progress.

3. Keep up the Daily Exercise.

Errrr, see task 1 for the coming  month.

4. Have a lovely day out with the hubby

Done and done! Last weekend, we celebrated the fact that we've been together for five years (not married, but together as a couple), and we had a lovely little trip away for a couple of days. We managed to squeeze in shopping, chilling in a lovely little coffee shop with iced coffees and books, going to the beach for a bit of a sunbathe and a general relax, a delicious meal and lots of other yummy treats along the way. Success!

So, without further ado, this month I am aiming to:

1. Save as much money as possible.

Self explanatory really, but this means cutting back on coffees, takeaways and other unnecessary treats.

2. Get back to healthy eating and exercising several times a week.

I was doing so well on this one, for a really long time, and then suddenly, about a week and a half ago, I fell spectacularly off the wagon. I need to rediscover my motivation, sharpish.

3. Get Skyping.

I live quite far away from my family and friends, and I really do miss them, but we don't seem to manage to speak on Skype nearly as much as we should, so I really want to change that.

What are your goals and plans for this month?

xx

Beauty SOS (September)

In last months's Beauty SOS (here), I asked for you lovely people to call upon your vast experience with beauty products and help me out with four beauty emergencies. Let's do a quick recap on what those were, the suggestions I received and whether or not I've had much luck with them, before moving onto this month's beauty nightmares!

I asked you to suggest the following:

1. A good clay face mask

Suggestions included Origins Clear Improvement, Queen Helene Mud Pack Mask and Ren Invisible Pores Detox Mask.

Well, I must admit that I've been trying to stash away some pennies this month, so unfortunately I haven't yet been able to try out all of these suggestions. I did have a look for the Queen Helene mask, but as yet I haven't been able to find it, so if anyone knows where I might be able to get it then please do let me know in the comments below. As for the Ren and Origins masks, I have been wanting to try both for a long while now, but as they don't come cheap Im am holding off on purchasing them until next month. This month, however, I have tried out a couple of other masks, those being the Laura Mercier Clay Mask and the Nourifusion Multivitamin Clarifying Mask, as I was able to get them both for a good price, so I will be popping up reviews of those two in the not too distant future. If you were one of the lovelies who suggested the other masks then please don't think that I have ignored your advice as I genuinely am itching to try them and will be doing so just as soon as my bank balance allows.

2. A moisturising facemask

I was given one suggestion for this, which was Clarins HydraQuench Cream Mask, and I actually did purchase this today, so I'm looking forward to trying that out.

3. Something to banish dry lips once and for all

Some of you suggested coconut oil, and one of you suggested Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Lip Protectant. I'm already a huge fan of coconut oil for various other uses, and I do take a spoonful every day for it's wonderful health benefits, so I was more than happy to slather this yummy-tasting stuff on my lips. I was also given a sample size of just the normal Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Cream this month (review here) so I've been giving that a go, and between the two of them I must say they have left my lips feeling softer, smoother and without any flakiness. Hurrah!

4. An amazing deep-conditioning hair mask

I was recommended Aussie Three-Minute Miracle, which I actually already use, and again, coconut oil.

Now, I had tried coconut oil on my hair once before, and I must admit that it really didn't seem to make much of a difference. But I thought I'd give it another go, since many of you swear by it and, as I mentioned before, I am very much a fan of it for other uses. Well, I'm sorry to say that for whatever reason, it just doesn't work for me. It left my hair feeling limp and slimy despite a couple of good, thorough washes, and after I did eventually manage to get my locks clean they were much the same as they had been before the treatment. My hair seems to be resistant to EVERYTHING I put on it, so I guess there is just no helping me! :(

Now for this month's beauty emergencies. The idea of this series, by the way, is that you can all gain a bit of inspiration from the lovely suggestions left by others in the comments box and perhaps find a solution to a beauty problem of your own, so do pop back and have a look to see what ideas other bloggers have got, and let me know if any of them work for you.

1. A Blemish-Fighting Product.

I keep getting blemishes on my chin of late, since my t-zone has become more oily, so I'm on the hunt for something that'll clear the little blighters up quick-smart.

2. A Good Volumising Product for Hair

I am after something that will give me big hair without any stickiness or crispiness, be it a shampoo, spray or something else.

I'm just going to stick with those two for this month, as I have already been chatting to some of you on Twitter about a couple of other things and received some great suggestions for those. I will be sure to include the details in next month's Beauty SOS, along with my verdict on the suggestions I receive for these two, and I will also strive to get my hands on those facemasks from last month and try them out!

If you have any ideas for this month's SOS issues then do please leave a comment below with the deets.

Hope everyone has a great week!

xx

Weekend Wishlist

1. Studded Bralet   2. Louise Gray Brush Set  3. Caudalie Vinexpert Radiance Day Fluid   4. Studded Bow Bag   5. Owl Jumper  6. Striped Tee   7. Studded Ankle Boots   9. Bee Print Scarf   8. Studded Clutch   10. Lace Print Trousers   11. Embroidered Faux Leather Peplum   12. Le Blanc de Chanel Sheer Illuminating Base

Hello my lovelies, hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. 

A bit of a mixed bunch on my Wishlist this week, my favourite items being the gorgeous faux leather peplum and boots from Zara and the Studded Bralet, which you can find in Topshop.

I also really want to get my hands on this snuggly owl jumper as I've been getting so cold in the evenings lately and have even thought about putting the fire on once or twice!

Cosmetics-wise, I am desperate to get my hands on the Caudalie Vinexpert Radiance Day Fluid and Le Blanc Chanel Sheer Illuminating Base, admittedly after reading this post over on Ghost Parties. The lovely Kate posted a picture of herself with the most beautiful glowing skin, and as this is something I am constantly aspiring to, I am eager to try out the products she'd used to create the look.

What's on your Wishlist this week?

xx

August Empties

Caudalie Eau Demaquillant Cleansing Water

(I know that this is clearly full in this picture, but I had to use an old photo of it thanks to my hubby throwing away the empty bottle before I could snap it! All the other pics were taken today, though.)

Probably my favourite product of the month, this micellar solution is great for those lazy evenings when you just don't have the energy to cleanse at the sink. Just pop some onto some cotton pads and wipe over the skin to remove makeup. I usually then do this again to make sure that my skin is lovely and clean if I am not doing my usual thorough routine (which would involve a hot cloth cleanser - Liz Earle or Pai).

I love that this is gentle enough to use on the eyes, and that it removes every last scrap of mascara without stinging or irritating. For my full review on this product, head over here.

 Aussie Aussome Volume Shampoo

This is my all-time favourite shampoo, so it's nothing new, but I was fairly sure it was worth sharing with you given that I go back to it again and again. I LOVE Aussie shampoos - they smell amazing and always leave my hair feeling lovely and soft. I'm not sure that this one does make a huge difference volume-wise on it's own, so don't expect miracles, but it smells divine and does leave my hair feeling somewhat thicker. I tend to alternate it with Aussie's Mega and Miracle Moist shampoos, depending on what I feel my hair is most in need of at the time. Find my review of both Aussome Volume and Mega Shampoo here

Clinique All About Eyes 

I got this little pot of eye cream free in a little goodie bag I was given a while ago when I popped in and bought a few bits from my local Clinique counter. To be honest, I've only recently felt the need to use it, as (and I have mentioned this more than once on here of late) I have suddenly started waking up with really puffy eyes, with dark circles which last throughout the days. All About Eyes is designed to help with both of these issues, so I have been applying it every morning along with my moisturiser. It does seem to help the puffiness go down a bit, but unfortunately I can't say it does anything for the dark circles.

 Eucerin Dermo-Purifier Exfoliator

I picked this up abroad after forgetting to take some of my skincare products with me, and I've been quite enjoying using it a couple of times a week. However, I don't really find exfoliators necessary when I am using a hot cloth cleanser on a regular basis, as the muslin cloth does a pretty good job of sloughing away any dead skin cells to reveal soft, smooth skin.

 Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic

And another bottle of this lovely stuff bites the dust. I am a huge fan of Liz Earle skincare, and of all the products I have tried, I adore the fresh, gentle scent and refreshing feel of this on the skin the most.

Recently though, through the summer months, I have found myself favouring a nice facial spritz such as Pai Peppermint Spray Toner or Caudalie Beauty Elixir. I just find them really refreshing, and they seem to be really beneficial for my skin. However, I am in no doubt that I will repurchase this product as I just love it so much.

 The Body Shop Mango Body Butter

I was recently rummaging in my stash of body moisturisers and came across this deliciously fragrant mango Body Butter. I've actually had this for a good couple of years, but had forgotten all about it, so the summer months seemed like the perfect time to dig it out. I love the texture and the feel of Body Shop Body Butters on the skin, and for me, they moisturise better than anything else I've tried. Plus, who doesn't like smelling like tropical fruit?

Palmolive Naturals Shower Cream in Yoghurt and Fruit

This is another product that I picked up whilst abroad. I always enjoy using Palmolive Shower Creams, and I would say that they are my go-to brand for these sorts of products. They feel really luxurious and moisturising, and - as many of this month's empties do - smell fantastic.

I'm also a huge fan of their Aromatherapy shower gels, which are great for a pick-me-up first thing in the morning. I will definitely be stocking up on a few more of both of these soon.

So, that's it for this month's empties, hope you enjoyed having a little nose.

Which products have you finished off this month, and which was your favourite?

xx