SKINCARE: EllaPure Timeless Moisturiser ♥

 I love almost everything about the cold weather, except what it can do to my skin! The contrast between hot and cold can dry my skin out instantly. I'm known for having my car VERY hot, it's the only time I can have real control over the heat, so I make the most of it! After an hour of sitting in the warm everyday on my way to work, I'm then freezing as I walk into work. Work is usually pretty warm, so when I go outside my poor skin is shocked by how cold it is again. The arch of my nose, chin and forehead are normally the places I get the worst dry skin during the winter.

 

 

Over the years I've tried a number of highly moisturising creams to combat this seasonal dry skin, EllaPure Timeless Moisturiser* (£18) is the newest one I've tried. It's actually aimed at ageing skin but as I'm only 23 years old that isn't much of a worry for me at the moment. However the natural, moisturising quality of this cream makes it perfect for anyone who wants to keep their skin hydrated! EllaPure have a wide range of natural skincare and aromatherapy products, which are the highest quality and organic. I've also reviewed their lovely range of essential oils here. This moisturiser has worked wonders with my skin, it finally seems to be handling this hot/cold weather and isn't really drying out anymore! I also love that it has Myrhh in - how festive!

'A nourishing cream with Ginkgo Biloba to protect against free-radical damage and improve blood-flow, Sea Buckthorn Berry to smooth lines and enrich the skin and Myrrh to refine pores and restore elasticity.'

 

 

As you probably know I'm a massive supporter of smaller business, especially ones that are based in the UK. EllaPure products are made in the UK, a big selling point for me!

 

Have you tried any EllaPure products?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 

OOTD: Stars. Stars. Stars.

 Recently I've been living in dresses and a small number of my favourite dresses at that! As I don't have much time in the morning to 'plan' what I'm going to wear I always seem to go with the familiar outfits. Last weekend I thought I'd dig those black jeans out that have been neglected over the last couple of months! This star blouse Tom actually bought me for my birthday this year, it's so comfortable and just easy to wear. It is slightly longer at the back and has an oversized feel to it, ideal teamed with skinny black jeans.

 

The only issue I have with the shirt is that I HATE things near my neck - collars, jumpers, necklaces that are too tight etc. It just makes me feel so constricted and like I can't breath - drastic I know!

 

 

Star Blouse - TK Maxx - £15

Black Skinny Jeans - Primark - £9

Vest Top - Warehouse - £11

Black Boots - Primark - £11

Handbag - eBay - £17.99

Watch - NEXT - £45

Pearl Earrings - notonthehighstreet - £15

 

 

 

Do you like loose fitting blouses with skinny jeans?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 

 

GIFT INSPIRATION: Ted Baker Performance in a Bag

 Why oh why do I have so many men to buy for this Christmas?! If it's not my fiancée it's my brothers, Dad, uncles and cousins! They have left me thinking very hard about finding gifts for them all this Christmas, due to the fact that every year they have 'no ideas' about what they want! Women seem to be so much better at going shopping and actually saying what they want, although you do have to be careful around Christmas time. I find myself saying 'ohhh I like that - but I don't want it for Christmas!' - does anyone else do this? You know when you like something, but you'd prefer to get it for yourself rather than it be a Christmas present.

 

Ted Baker have a brilliant range of gifts for men this year, which Boots are stocking. They are reasonably priced with two main styles of gifts - one is more sporty and the other more sophisticated. The brilliant thing with the gifts available at Boots is that they are all part of a 3 for 2 offer and you get Advantage Card points! I think I've managed to save up around £30 of vouchers during the year that I'm planning on spending on the Boots gift ranges this Christmas!

 

 

The Ted Baker 'Performance in a Bag'* (£35) - is a backpack filled with hair & body wash, body spray and a soap on a rope. To be honest my expectations of the backpack weren't too high, in the past I've found this kind of gift sets pretty poor quality. However I was very pleasantly surprised when this sturdy, stylish and good sized Ted Baker bag turned up on my doorstep! As you can see it's a really good size and it can actually be worn (sounds silly but I have come across 'backpacks' that are so small you can't get them over your shoulder!).

 

 

 

This gift set is part of the more sporty range from Ted Baker 'Tour de Ted'. Also, included in the gift set are two different hair & body washes, two different body sprays and a soap on a rope. You could obviously split these up and give them to different people, in theory you have 4 different gifts in this one set...

 

Light Blue Hair & Body wash and Body Spray

Dark Blue Hair & Body wash and Body Spray

Soap on a Rope

Ted Baker Backpack

 

 

Not bad for only £35! I am planning on giving my little brother the backpack with one hair & body wash and body spray and my other brother the rest of the products. My little brother is at college so he uses a backpack everyday and I know he will love this stylish number!

 

 

Are you struggling with buying gifts for men this year?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 



EDIBLE GIFT: Chocolate Coated Honeycomb

 

Today I've got another edible gift recipe for you, a sweet treat. I don't know how I made it to 23 years old and had never made honeycomb! It's the easiest thing to make, with the fewest ingredients - ideal for Christmas presents on a budget! I bought a little vintage inspired jar from The Range for £1 to give this honeycomb in, makes it seem a lot more expensive.   

 

What you'll need:

 

100g caster sugar

4 tablespoons golden syrup

1 ½ teaspoons bicarbonate of soda

100g Milk Chocolate

What to do:

 

1) Put the sugar and syrup into a saucepan and stir together to mix.

 

 

 

2) Put the saucepan on a medium heat to allow the sugar to dissolve. At this point don't stir the sugar syrup mixture at all, as you risk it crystallising. You can swirl the pan to move it around.

 

 

3) Once the sugar mixture is a deep caramel colour then remove it from the heat.

 

 

4) Whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch the syrup foam up into a mass of gold molten sugar.

 

 

5) Pour this immediately into a baking tray that has been greased well.

 

 

 

6) Leave until set and then bash it with a rolling pin, or other heavy object.

 

7) Melt the chocolate in the microwave on short 10 seconds intervals. Dip in shards of the honeycomb, place on a piece of greaseproof  paper to set.

Have you ever had a go at making honeycomb?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 



HAIR: Naked Brunette Radiance Shampoo and Conditioner

 Shiny, glossy, head flicking hair - only for models in magazines? NOT ANY MORE! I have been in a shampoo and conditioner rut for a long time now, constantly using the same products then repurchasing again, again and again! I used to think that the shampoo and conditioner I used wouldn't really make any difference to my hair. It's only on my hair for a couple of minutes, right?! Naked Brunette Radiance has proven this theory completely wrong and made me wish I had tried more shampoo and conditioner's out over the years.

 

 

naked bodycare range includes shower gel, body wash, skincare, bubble bath, shampoo, conditioner and hair styling products - all of which are 97% natural! You'd be foolish to think this meant that their products quality was compromised, they smell amazing, the range is diverse and some of their products are award winning!

 

 

naked kindly sent me the naked Brunette Radiance Shampoo (£3.99) and Conditioner (£3.99) to try out. As I've said this is the first time in about 6 years I've used a different shampoo and conditioner, so I was slightly apprehensive. Mainly because my hair is very long at the moment and I didn't want to start having problems with it. However I ended up with the complete opposite of problems, my hair began to shine like it's never shone before! After the first wash with this shampoo and conditioner I could straight away notice a difference. My hair was so soft, shiny and did indeed make me want to do the head swish! 

 

 

This is my hair after using these products for about a week... 

 

 

As you can see my hair is getting very long, the last time I had a proper haircut it was at my shoulders! My hair grows at an uncontrollable pace sometimes but I think I do prefer having longer hair. 

 

 

This is what naked have to say about their naked Brunette Radiance shampoo...

 

'Naked Brunette Radiance Shampoo is a tiny bit like the coffee shop barista delivering your morning hit of glossy mocha or rich espresso, except this buzz in a bottle will deliver that all to your hair. We use elderberry and an extra shot of sage to help deep chocolatey, lustrous tones. As your hair deserves the kindest treatment of all we only use mild, plant based ingredients; so don’t be bitter and ground down by lukewarm tresses!'

 

Have you tried any of the naked range?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 

DAY OUT: Christmas Shopping in Lincoln

 

I don't know how I had managed to have never been to Lincolnshire up until meeting Tom. It's the largest county in England and yet we had never passed through it, gone on holiday there or even just a day out! Tom's family are from Lincolnshire, so during the past three and a half years I have spent many days discovering all the wonders Lincolnshire has to offer. Lincoln is such a beautiful city, with a well respected university too. Lincoln seems to be split into two parts, the steep with all of the old buildings, a castle and stunning cathedral and the main shopping section at the bottom of the steep. The steep is exactly what it says it is, a VERY steep section of cobbled street you have to walk up to get to the old buildings and cute tea rooms. You certainly need to be fit to do that often, I have only walked up there three times and it's hard work!

 

Lincoln knows how to 'do' Christmas - the street decorations, Lincoln Christmas Market and cute Christmassy shops - all make for a lovely day out Christmas shopping. Tom and I started some Christmas shopping last weekend in Lincoln, then met up with my little baby niece Daisy (who is 6 months now and eating solids - where does the time go?!) and Tom's family. We visited Craft for lunch, which is a new bar/restaurant/deli - I'd highly recommend it! I had a vegetable burrito and it was such a tasty alternative for a vegetarian.

 

Lincoln through my lens.... 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever visited Lincoln?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

CHRISTMAS: The Body Shop Festive Hand Cream Trio + DISCOUNT CODE!

The Body Shop has been a staple store on our high street for a very long time, I always remember going in to get those bath pearls that would melt in the bath releasing bubble bath! One thing The Body Shop always get bang on is their scented products, they are never scents that you can barely detect, they're full bodied, long lasting and often appetising scents! Their Chocomania range smells ridiculously good - think chocolate, sweet and cocoa butter - heaven! I've also heard amazing things about their Honeymania range but I'm yet to try it out.

 

 

The Body Shop always bring out a lovely range of products especially for the festive season, this year the main three ranges are Ginger Sparkle, Vanilla Bliss and Cranberry Joy. When it comes to scents of skincare, body care, candles, air fresheners - anything really - vanilla has to be one of my favourites! It's the one scent that is consistently lovely and had become quite a homely scent to me now. As for Christmas scents Cranberry is up their with my favourites, not helped by the fact that I'm slightly addicted to dried cranberries at the moment after making golden honey granola (see post here)! So I was excited to try The Body Shop's Festive Hand Cream Trio* (£12), which includes all of their Christmas scents this year.

 

 

I applied each of these of three days and I couldn't believe how long lasting the scent was! The hand cream was very moisturising, which is perfect for this cold weather. My hands always seem to suffer from being in the cold, then hot, then cold etc. Each of these hand creams are a perfect size for popping in your handbag or if your feeling generous they would make a lovely Christmas present. They come in a Christmassy gift box too, which always makes wrapping easier!

 

At the moment their is a voucher code for The Body Shop that will get you 40% off your shopping PLUS free delivery! The code is 14322. If you enter this at the checkout the amount will be deducted. The Festive Hand Cream Trio is £12, but with the discount and delivery code it will only cost £7.20! This offer finishes on Monday 25th November 2013, so don't miss out!

 

Which is your favourite Christmas scent?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

 



NAILS: Dotty Bows

This is a very girly nail art tutorial, bows and dots make for a great neutral toned nail art. As usual, the final look evolved, I sat down to paint my nails a neutral colour, then decided I wanted to jazz them up a bit but without adding any bright colours. That's when the bows were created but I still wasn't happy, so I added the dots! There was no pre-planning with this, just going with the flow :)

 

Does anyone else 'end up' doing their nail art like this?

 

To create this nail art I used L'Oreal Shade 205, Scherer Chameleon in C29 Dreams and Poundland Nail Art Pen in White.

 

Firstly, I painted my nails with the L'Oreal nail varnish. I applied about 3 coats, as it's a very pale colour and I wanted a good coverage.

 

 

 

 

Next, using the white nail varnish, I applied one dot and then draw two triangles either side of the dot. The points of the triangles need to put pointing towards the dot. I found it easier to do this than try and draw a bow, my hand isn't very steady!

 

 

Then I used the Chameleon nail varnish to add some dots and I put a dot in the middle of the bow too.

 

 

 

Are you a fan of more neutral nail art?

 

Feel free to leave me a comment :)