BEAUTY: TK Maxx High End Beauty Bargains

We all know how good TK Maxx is for a bargain, ok so sometimes you do feel a bit like your battling through a jumble sale but there are such good bargains to be had. I've never really looked at the TK Maxx website, mainly because I thought that their stock turn over was so high that they wouldn't really have much of a website. I was wrong. Their website is filled with a range of their products, including a fantastic range of discounted high end beauty products. A beauty bloggers haven.

My Top Picks...

Nails Inc Midas Touch Nail Varnish RRP £25 NOW £7.99

Elemis Skin Clear Overnight Serum 30ml RRP £19 NOW £9.99

Ecotools Bamboo Eye Brush Set RRP £12.99 NOW £7.99

This Works Super Moisturiser RRP £35 NOW £12.99

Lange Paris Home & Spa Microdermabrasion System RRP £110.74 NOW £24.99 

Smashbox High Definition Foundation in Light L4 Shade RRP £26 NOW £9.99

Rituals Awareness Regeneration Treatment 50ml RRP £25.50 NOW £9.99

Givenchy Mini Gloss Interdit NOW £29.99

Bliss The 'Bod' Squad Skin Care Set RRP £50 NOW £29.99

Dr. Lewinns Anti-Aging Mask RRP £18.95 NOW £9.99

Christain Breton Dark Undereyes Corrector Set RRP £41.32 NOW £12.99

Jo & Jo Blue and White Patterned Cosmetic Case NOW £9.99


Which are your favourite bargains from the TK Maxx website?


Feel free to leave me a comment :)


Helen x

HALLOWEEN: My Favourite Pinterest Halloween Food Ideas

I can't believe it's Halloween tomorrow, where has this year gone?! We don't have too much planned for Halloween but I do love trying to make dinner more gruesome than usual. It's a chance to play around with food and for very little effort can look very impressive. I've browsed Pinterest for my favourite ideas.

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What are your plans for Halloween this year?

Helen x

SKINCARE: Superdrug Mini Massage Mitt

I have seen these mini massage mitts around quite a lot recently (Soap and Glory do one for £4), so when I found one in Superdrug for only 25p I made the purchase. The idea is this mitt helps to massage your skincare products further into your skin, for that deep cleaned feeling. A good idea for that deep cleanse its good to do once a week but I don't think I'd be bothered to add this to my eye make-up remover, cleanser, toner, moisturiser and primer routine every day. For me, it's a step too far but I never have been one for being particularly disciplined when it comes to skincare routines.  

However, I do like using this mitt to stimulate circulation in my face. I actually found this worked really well for sorting out my skin if I had breakouts. I don't know the science of it but I presume having more blood flowing around my face (how gross does that sound?!) helped the breakouts.

I found that this mitt also works well for removing fake tan from a targeted area. During the summer I wear fake tan most days but after a while it can build up in areas and they need a bit of an extra scrub. This carefully removed the fake tan without being harsh on my skin, perfect for my neck area. Does anyone else HATE anything touching their neck? I literally can't handle it! If a top is too close to my neck I'll spend the whole day yanking it away from neck!

The bristles are really soft and flexible, they certainly aren't scratchy in the slightest.

Do you use a mini massage mitt? Can you think of any other uses for the mitt?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x 

BEAUTY: theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer

I know that the Mary-Lou Manizer highlighter from theBalm is already spoken about so much in the beauty blogging world but it really is  a top quality product. I was prompted to buy it after seeing Liza from Glambeautys using it in one of her YouTube videos. The only highlighter I had really used previously was the Benefit High Beam, which is a cream highlighter and therefore applied in a completely different way.

I ordered this from feelunique for £16, so it's definitely a pricey product but the quality is just outstanding. The pigment, oh the pigment of this product is just incredible. Never have I come across a product where a gentle press into the powder will leave the prettiest golden shine on your finger! You need the tiniest amount, trust me.

When I first got this product I used it like a 'normal' less pigmented highlighter - cue enough glittery shine to start my own disco. I use a No7 Mineral powder brush, dab it into the powder a couple of times (no swirling around the pan) and brush it along the tops of my cheek bones and down the bridge of my nose. I find that I get the perfect amount of highlight for me if I then apply a matte blusher over the top, using the same brush. It just makes the highlighter slightly more wearable for the day! I wouldn't bother at night. It's also perfect for highlighting your brow bones too. 

If you haven't tried this highlighter yet then you really should, it's incredible! In fact when we went away for my hen do my friend was so impressed with it she now has one too.

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :) 

Helen x

WEDDING: Totally Tipi

As you might have noticed in the 'We're married' blog post (see here) we decided to have a tepee as the 'venue' for our wedding. Like a marquee you have to have somewhere to put a tepee, which can be one of the biggest hurdles, especially if you don't have a very big budget. There are farmers that will allow you to rent a field, but then you need to factor in the cost of toilets, generator, catering tent etc. It soon adds up! Tepee companies will also have a list of venues that have worked with in the past who will allow you to put a tepee on their grounds. If you decide to have a tepee you do need a certain level of patience and dedication, but it's really worth it!

Luckily, Tom has played golf at a village golf club in Lincolnshire all of his life, so we were able to organise the tipi to be placed on the practice ground there. When choosing a location you need to ensure that the ground it as flat as possible, which of course anywhere in Lincolnshire is! So, we found a location now to find a tepee company we wanted to have for our wedding. There was an event in Sheffield last summer, a pop up restaurant in a tepee - perfect for actually seeing what a tepee looked like in real life, as well as talking to a tepee company. When we arrived the tepee's were even better than we had ever imagined, they really are magical. The tepee company there was Totally Tipi, we spoke to a couple of their very friendly staff while we were there and just knew that they were the perfect company for us (and for anyone who wants a tepee!). Fast forward a year and a lot of very helpful and friendly emails backwards and forwards, we arrived on the day the tepee's were being set up for our wedding. I'd highly recommend watching the tepee's being put up if you can because it just adds more magic to the whole situation. I can't recommend Totally Tipi enough, the service was constantly impeccable, Laura and Jay (founders) were so friendly and accommodating - nothing was too much hassle. They are such a perfect example of exemplary bespoke customer service. If you're even thinking of having a tepee, for a wedding or any other event, then you must check out their website!

The magic continued on our wedding day, as all of our guests were completely overwhelmed by the tepee's. I'll let you into a little secret, if you have a tepee you can get away with having rustic/minimal decoration inside, as the tepee does all of the 'wowing'. Our wedding was very DIY, we did most of it ourselves and I think that was only possible because the tepees are just so beautiful all by themselves. We had two tepee's attached to each other, in the middle of one we had a dance floor and in the other we had a fire pit (cue roasting marshmallows around the fire at 11pm). Totally Tipi have a lot of extras you can add in to your tepee and compared to other tepee companies they are very reasonably priced too.

Thank you to Totally Tipi for helping to make our wedding day so magical!

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

BEAUTY: Daniel Sandler Watercolour Fluid Blush in Flush

I'm not quite sure how and when I came across the Daniel Sandler Watercolour Fluid Blusher but boy am I'm glad I did! I have been a fan of liquid blushers for a long time, as I always found that solely using a powder blusher would never last the whole day. I used to use the 2true Cheek and Lip Tint on my cheeks, before applying powder etc. I thought that it was the perfect cheek tint and I wouldn't find anything better.

 I was wrong. 

The Daniel Sandler Watercolour Fluid Blushers are incredible at creating a natural flushed look that really does last all day and a bit longer! I bought this with my wedding in mind but having never tried it before, it was a bit of a risk. I did the typical blogger research, reading blog post reviews, watching YouTube videos etc and decided it was worth the £14.50 splurge. 

I was then faced with the tough decision of which shade to choose, there were so many on the feelunique website. So once again I headed to the internet to look for swatches, I knew I wanted a fairly red/pink shade, as I like having rosy cheeks. After a lot of deliberation I settled on 'Flush', a pinky red shade. I'm so pleased with my colour choice, as I think some of the paler shades wouldn't have given me that rosy cheeks look I personally like. 

What I really loved about this product is it's texture and build ability. I pop some of the liquid onto the back of my hand and using my fourth finger I dab it in and apply in circular motions on to the apples of my cheek. It goes from a liquid to soft and powdery. Some days I'll then want to build up the colour a bit more, for instant on my wedding day I wore a couple of 'dabs' on each cheeks as I wanted it to show up on the photographs. 

Its just such an easy product to work with and he results really do last all day long, even stressful/busy days like a wedding day!

Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :) 

Helen x