Good-Bye 2012, Hello 2013

So here we are! 2012 is very nearly at an end. I feel rather strange about it this year. I feel I have made some massive changes and have managed to stick to most of what I planned last year. 

2011 was a horribly bad start for me as my Father passed away on the 2nd of January. So the rest of that year was a blur and I had felt myself almost slip into a waking coma. Not really thinking much about what I was doing, just getting up, working then going to sleep, repeating the same pattern everyday.

So this year, 2012, I wanted to try and change a few things, to try and help myself get back on track. I moved out of my horrible flat and into a much much nicer one, got my little kitty, completed my NQT year as a teacher (which basically means I am officially a teacher), started my blog and just generally tried to concentrate more on me and my family and try to worry less. Of course with the help of my lovely boyfriend, Graham.

So as I watch this year come to an end I look back and realise that I have become such a stronger and happier person since 2011. What could I need to change to push myself forward for 2013? 

2013 is going to be my year of pushing out the remaining negative things. Mostly people. When I think about what usually drags me down and makes me feel low I realise it is certain other people and their negativity. No one needs that. 

Also, on the side of beauty, I am making a new years resolution to stop spending so much on beauty products. I am going to try and budget myself so that I can start saving up. because as much as I love my new flat, I would love to be able to move in to a house within a few years. So my target for 2014 is to have saved up £2000. I hope to look back at this post next year and see whether I have succeeded or whether I have just ended up with £2000s worth of cosmetics instead!

I would love to know what resolutions other people have made. Have you made yours yet? 

My 'last minute' make up look

Usually I like to have a decent amount of time to get ready, sometimes that's just not possible and it has to be rushed. This happened to me today! My boyfriend decided that he wanted us to go out for a meal with his friend who had been over for the day. I had 5 minutes to get ready! So this was the outcome. (You can tell I was in a hurry, I am still in my PJs in these photos, sorry!)

I quickly put some of my much loved Garnier BB cream over my skin as my 'foundation'. I then used 'Smog' and 'Toasted' from the Urban decay palette over my eyelids. As I usually don't wear darker eyeshadows so I highlighted my tear-ducts with my maybelline white eyeliner pencil to brighten them up a bit. I then used My Girl blusher by Dainty Doll on my cheeks. Then very very quickly used my Chanel De Sublime mascara to finish it off. The colour on my lips is the rose vaseline. Looking at these photos I can see how much of a state my eyelashes were and how terrible my eyebrows look, oh gosh!

I did absolutely nothing with my hair, it was a complete mess, as you can see. 

What do you use in a last minute rush? 

December empties:

So it's that time of the month where I look at what I have used up and think about whether I will be repurchasing any of my 'empties'.  This is going to be a rather long post, which I apologise in advance for, didn't realise how much I have finished this month!

First up! Benefit's 'They're Real!' mascara. I bought this a fair few months ago, it has lasted me a long time! I don't have very long or thick lashes, so I am always on the look out for a mascara that works really well. That was what caught my eye about this particular mascara and what it claims to do. It is supposed to lengthen, curl and add volume to your lashes, to the point they claim they look like fake lashes. I'll be honest, looking at photos of some others who have used this, it really does work but I think you've got to have decent enough lashes to pull it off. I certainly can't. All it did for me was make my lashes feel clumpy and took me forever to take off. Plus, not that it's a massive negative, but I really don't like the packaging. Not a fan of the silver. This can be purchased over at Boots for £18.50. 

Will you purchase this again?: No. I am not saying it's a terrible mascara, I just don't think it works for me. Too much money on something that I don't get a lot of results from. 

Now I couldn't possibly tell you how long I have owned this. Probably well over a year. Maybe a year and a half. I am not a massive fan of Avon products, but my mum purchased this for me. This is supposedly a body spray from their Naturals collection in the smell of 'Black Cherry'. But then if you read the back, the label says about spraying it within your house and making sure not to get it on fabrics. I was a tad confused when I first read it. When I first sprayed it I came to a very quick conclusion that it must have been miss-labeled because there was no way on earth anyone would want to spray themselves and smell like that! It was a very strong scent, that you only really find in rooms sprays. So that was how I used it. It's taken me a while to get through it as I am more of a fan of having automatic room sprays, so only really used this just before I knew anyone was visiting to freshen the room up. You can find Avon over at their website.

Will you purchase this again?: No. Like I said, I am a bigger fan of automatic sprays and this just wasn't long lasting enough for me to want to get another. Sorry Avon!

Gernier BB Cream. I would be so so lost with out the bottle of wonderness. On a work morning, I don't have the time, nor energy to bother faffing around putting foundation on and everything else that I have to do with it (Put a primer on, add powder over the top etc). So when I came across this BB Cream I found my new holy grail. I wake up in the morning, splodge a bit of this onto my fingers, rub it onto my face and the top half of my neck and hey presto! I am ready. Sometimes I don't even bother with eyeshadow, mascara, blusher etc because it just perfects my skin to the point I feel confident enough not to bother with the rest of my make up. It's my skin, but better. I have this in shade 02 and they have it  currently on offer at Boots where you can get two Garnier products for £15 and considering this product is £9.99 usually, that's a pretty good deal. 

Will you purchase this again?: Yes yes yes! I can't imagine not having this, I don't know what I will do if they ever discontinue it!!!

Another Garnier product. This time a moisturiser. Soft Essentials 24 hour Day Cream which can be found here. This cost me £6.00 and is a £6.00 I will never spend again. To start off with, this cream is heavily scented. Very floral. I am not a fan of scented beauty products. Usually finds it irritates my skin as it is quite sensitive, which it did, my skin became very red and sore after using this. For the first brief time that I used it, all it did was make my face feel even dry after about half an hour of having used it. I wasn't going to use it on my face again, so ended up using the rest on my tattoo on my leg. Garnier you let me down on this one. 

Will you purchase this again?: Nope. A company should never produce overly scented face creams. 

Revlon ColourBurst Lip Butter in Cotton Candy. Everyone went mad for this when they first came out. Do I agree with the hype? Yes, and for just £5 you can grab some over at Boots as they currently have £2.99 off! This particular one is a lovely shade of pink, which tinted the lips but also added a hint of colour. I would add a swatch photo but I kind of used it all up! My only problem with them was they melted so easily. If my bag or pocket got slightly warm the stick would become very messy and soft easily. Guess that's why they're called 'butters'! The casing is cute and they are just great to have in your bag if you're not really up to wearing lipstick but want some moisture and colour. Definitely pick one up if you haven't already.

Will you purchase this again?:   Yes and I am tempted to try out some of the other colours too. 

Benefit's Hello Flawless! Powder cover up. I bought this round about March time, so it has lasted me a fair while. I usually use powders if I feel like my skin is too shiny after having applied foundation or sometimes just by it's self. I am not entirely sure whether I like Benefit's packaging. I am slightly swaying towards the 'don't like'. There is just something about it all that is too over the top. I much prefer companies like Nars or BareMinerals, where their packaging is simple and not over the top. But hey, that's just me being picky. As for the actual product, I am not a massive fan. To start off with it smelt weird, medical almost. and it was very very powdery. To the extent that I would get more around me and on the packaging than on my brush and then onto my face. It became annoying and a nuisance. Plus, as I nearly always find with make-up products, the brush and applicator you get are rubbish. I have since started using BareMinerals powder which I was bought for Christmas. It is much better packaged and the actual powder is more tightly compacted so that it doesn't become messy. You can check it out over here.

 Will you purchase this again?:  No, I am glad I gave it a try though. 

Now if you look at this perfume bottle and don't know what the lid looks like, you could be quite easily put off. But if you check out how it should look over here, you'll see how cute this bottle should look! I lost the lid to this ages ago, I think the cat had hidden it somewhere. This is one of Gwen Stefani's perfumes under the name 'Harajuku Lovers' and you can get loads of different ones now. The thing that attracted me to them at first was the cute lids. I am so bored of seeing the weird shaped bottles, seeing this was something different and something that you could actually keep after you finished the bottle. This particular smell was subtly sweet and lasted quite a long time. I am actually really sad that I have finished this, even though I still have a few more perfumes that are full. I am usually put off by celebrities perfumes, but nothing about these have Gwen Stefani plastered all over them and I think they are fantastic! I have owned a few others as well, so this isn't just a one hit wonder either ;)

 Will you purchase this again?: Yes I am planning to repurchase this sooner rather than later, probably online as I am not sure this particular one is still available in the shops. 

Finally, a Lush product I can actually take a photo of after it's been used! I am a big Lush fan, but mostly just their bath bombs. I bought this a little while ago whilst purchasing some of the bath bombs. They usually have these at the front of the counter. If I remember correctly it cost me £1 and all goes to charity. Hence it being called a charity pot. The cream you get inside is a chocolate smell and yellow. At first I wasn't sure on its smell but slowly fell in love with it and used it as a lotion for my knees. It has Coca Butter and Almond oil in it. This can be purchased in different tub sizes over at Lush.

Will you purchase this again?: Yep, and the money goes to charity as well as getting a lovely cream. Win win situation! 

What's that?! Another Lush product I have finished?! Shock, horror! This time it is Lush's 'Ocean Salt' face scrub. Although I originally bought this as a face scrub, I eventually used it to exfoliate my legs, in particular my knees. When using this on my face I felt like it wasn't doing what I needed it to do and although I love the smell, all I ended up with was a horrible taste of salt in my mouth. So I started to use it on my knees instead. I get really bad dry skin on my legs and even worse on both of my knees. It worked fantastically on them. So would I continue to use it as a face scrub? Probably not. I much prefer St Ives Apricot scrub which can be found here and I can also keep it much much longer. 

Will you purchase this again?: Maybe. I will probably purchase it again once in a while to give my legs a good scrub but because of the little tim you have to use it in because of the fresh ingredients I doubt I will buy it that often.

What products have you finished this month? 

Weird but lovely Secret Santa gift I received : Koziol Kasimir Cheese Grater

Hello! I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas & holiday. Not long till new year approaches. Excitement for a fresh start!

For my post-Christmas blog post I thought I would show you all my Secret Santa gift I received.  It isn't beauty related but it is so cute and different and reminds me so much of Becky at milkbubbletea . 

 I am a Design & Technology teacher. So I love anything quirky or anything that is designed to be a little bit different from your ordinary product. When I initially opened this up I was a little baffled. A cheese grater? Was someone trying to tell me I had cheesy feet? Then the more I looked at it the more I fell in love and realised how well designed this little thing was and how much I actually love it. 

 I did a little research and found him over at John Lewis. You can purchase him in either black or red and costs £9. He is made out of a see through plastic and his little feet are made so that he stretches over a bowl whilst you grate the cheese over his back. I haven't used him yet, as I haven't really had cheese for the past week or so, but he is fantastic to have sitting on your kitchen side and goes well with my purple and black themed kitchen. 

Even my cat loves him!

                     Do you have any quirky kitchen items like my new little              hedgehog? What did you receive or give

 for Secret Santa?

S.W

Face of the day!

Excuse the hair, I had not long come out of the shower, so it looks damp and limp!

This is me with very basic nude make-up for a long day of Christmas shopping.

I am wearing:

Garnier BB Cream in Light

Chanel 'Star Dust' Blush

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum

Dior Rose Diamond Highlighter

Sublime De Chanel Mascara

Top: Matalan

Didn't bother to do anything with my hair because it rained so much today!

Last minute gift idea: Dior Rose Diamond Highlighter review

Now if you're like me, you wouldn't have bought all of your presents in time before all the panic and mass crowds in your local towns appear. If that is the case, you're probably panicking wondering what to get. Or if you have something as an idea, you then can't find it in stock. Anywhere. Again, exactly like me. Then you're in need of an alternative. 

I already own this and have done for about two months now after having used the Sleek highlighter, but after getting a tad bored of it, I went in search of a new highlighter, something with a touch of colour. This was my favourite. Being the last minute person that I am, I was in a bit of a fluster and couldn't work out what to get my Mum as one last gift. Then I remembered this little beauty and new it was the perfect gift! 

I purchased this for £32 in Debenhams in the end, where as I originally bought my one from John Lewis for the same price. It is such an amazingly beautiful product. I think even if I didn't like the highlighter I would keep it just to stare at occasionally on my dressing table. Why do I think it is the perfect gift? 

Well why not?! My first reason is it is Dior. Any make-up wearer I am sure would not say not to owning this and having it as a part of their collection, whether that be a big or modest one. Not that I ever buy a product because of it's name. But sometimes it's just nice to own something that's a little bit special and expensive. Secondly? It's packaged so well. You get your bright blue cardboard packaging, then within that it comes with the felt 'slip' with the CD engraved on to it. Then you get the actual package. With again, the CD, but this time with an almost holographic effect with DIOR in silver with again another Dior etched into the actual highlighter with diamond creating lines. 

(Two of the shades from the highlighter) 

Then obviously (and thirdly) the actual highlighter. Because of the gradient of pinks used, you can actually get different effects from the highlighter depending on where to swipe your brush. you can go for a lighter pink/white or go for the darker pink/purple shades. Or, if you're feeling creative, use a cotton bud or an eye shadow applicator and use a shade over an eye shadow or just on it's own. The possibilities are endless! (well...sort of)

Have you ever bought this as a gift or do you own this highlighter? 

S.W

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Radiant Touch Highlighting Pen review

Sorry about the lack of posts this week. It has been rather mental for the last few days, with spending ridiculous amounts of time trying to decide what to wear for my work's Christmas party and then attending it and then recovering! As well as working obviously. But now I have a lovely two weeks off from work and I am looking forward to paying my little blog some much needed attention and hopefully after Christmas day, reviewing some presents! 

So on to my review! I have had this for quite a while now back in March I think I bought it. But like so many of my purchases this was an impulse buy. Or a pressure buy I think would be the right term. I originally went to the YSL counter to get myself a lipstick that I could wear for work. So I found my lipstick and then the YSL lady said "Hey, have you tried this?". About 10 minutes later I found myself spending an extra £25 on something I really didn't need. But what is it exactly and do I agree with all the hype? 

This very beautifully contained product is supposed to highlight certain parts of your face and help to create that healthy glow that everyone wants. If used under the eyes it's supposed to banish any shadows and make your eyes look more wide awake. Or it can be used around your lips to create 'fuller looking lips'. It can pretty much be used anywhere you feel needs a bit of a highlight. 

When I first started to use it, I used it under my eyes to try and brighten them up. I don't suffer too badly from dark circles, unless I have had barely any sleep or I have stresses at the time. At first I did think it worked, but I feel like it lasts for a few hours and then starts to wear off. I can't say I am a massive fan of the brush either. 

To look at, it is a very aesthetically pleasing pen. The gold doesn't make it look cheap as I feel it does to some other products. You also do get a lot of use out of it. Like I said I have had this since March and still have a good lot of use left. But then again that may be because I have found a much better and MUCH cheaper substitute! (More to follow on that in a bit)

As you can see against my skin tone it does give off a great highlighting effect. (This is shade 1) but I just can't say that is covers well and just feels a little too thin. 

Is it worth the money? No. I really honestly don't think I would ever buy this again, certainly not for £25 anyway. So what am I using instead? Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum. It is £10.99 for 30ml and you really only need the tiniest amount, at lot more less than you needed for good coverage from the YSL pen. The Healthy Mix Serum is advertised as a foundation but I wouldn't use it as one, but I love it as a highlighter and the anti-fatigue effect works fantastically under the eyes, which is where I mostly use it. 

I really don't understand the hype with the YSL pen. It feels like too much money for something that doesn't give me a lot of results. I will do a full review on the Healthy Mix Serum soon to give you my full opinion on that. 

Have you used the YSL pen? Or are you like me and have a better alternative? I'd love to hear your opinions too!

S.W

Rimmel's 'Kate' Moss lipsticks in shades 03, 04 and 101

I reviewed the Kate lipstick '101' by Rimmel a little while ago and have since purchased another two so I thought I would show them all together in one post as I don't think I will be purchasing the other colours in the series. 

I don't usually buy lipsticks that are dark, so these three were perfect. A light creamish brown (03), a darker purple-y brown (08) and the pink that we have looked at before (101). 

What I love about these lipsticks it how cheap they are (£5.50!) and yet they don't feel cheap at all. They last for a good few hours, even after a nice cup of tea it is still there on my lips. They have a great variety in colours too, but not the types of colours I would personally go for.

I get very sore dry lips, so it is rare for me to wear or even purchase a matte lipstick, so these little gems are fantastic because they feel moisturising on my lips and don't dry them out unlike my 'Please me' Mac lipstick that I love so much but my lips hate! The pigmentation is great, not too glossy and they smell AH-MAY-ZING! Not that smells really matter on a lipstick but I hate plastic smelling lipsticks. Ergh. Also, currently these are in the 3 for 2 at Boots. So that's £11 for 3 lipsticks. Not bad if I do say so myself. Grab some here!

With Christmas just over a week away, these would be perfect little stocking fillers or great if you are buying for a female for Secret Santa. 

Do you own any of these lipsticks? 

S.W

Bad Buy: The Sparkler- The Body Shop Shimmer

Everyone makes an impulse buy. Sometimes they regret it. Sometimes they don't. This impulse buy is definitely a regretful one. I am not a massive Body Shop fan. I do feel as if some of their product's are massively overpriced for what you get. Some not. I hadn't bothered to check out their make up until recently. When I did, I found this. 'The Sparkler' which claims to be a "shimmery powder to highlight the face, body and hair." (Quoted from the Body Shop) Now if you check their website with the product (linked here) you can see this exact same bottle but full the the brim. Now I kid you not, the amount that you see in my photo above is how much I got in mine. Minus one or two uses. Tad bit of false advertising maybe? Or just a poor batch? Who knows. 

Now by now you should know I am a sucker for anything that glitters or shimmers. So as soon as I saw this, I snapped it up. Priced at £14, or £20 with a set of eyeshadows. I chose the eyeshadow set and then gave that to my mum but kept the 'Sparkler'. 

Now capturing shimmer or sparkly things on camera is difficult enough, but when the 'shimmer' is pretty much non existent it is even more difficult to photograph. The photo above just looks like my fist. But trust me, I did use this one my hand. Instead of squeezing the little yellow 'bubble' and being lightly sprayed with glitter, it instead mostly dropped to the floor and left a small amount on my face. Imagine blowing a raspberry and the spit the flies from your mouth. Kind of like that. So I then have to spend the next 10 minutes cleaning the carpet and my dressing table. 

It looks nice on my dressing table but to use, I doubt I ever will again. Massively disappointing buy. Doesn't lightly spray the body, comes out in clumps. You get 3/4s of the bottle instead of a full one which is pictured on the website. And then even when you have got past that, you can barely see anything. 

Worst £14 (or £20 if you count the eyeshadow set) that I have ever spent. 

Thanks Body Shop. 

My foundation

Rimmel Wake Me Up. This is the first foundation that I have bought and then repurchased because I like it so much. I use 'True Ivory'.  A lot of people don't like it because of the shimmer but that's part of the reason I like it. I am not a fan of real matte foundations, just because my face is so dry so I like to have my skin appear to 'glow'. This foundation does that very well and at the moment it is the only foundation that I have found that doesn't make my skin dry out even more. 

As a base I am currently using Revlon's Photoready Primer. To be honest, I can't say I am a huge fan of it, apart from the fact that it does help blur out some of my pores, especially around my nose area (which is where I use it) but it is very drying. I am on the lookout for a new primer! 

The pump is fantastic. I hate squirty bottles of foundation, they become so messy and they are a nuisance. The bottle is glass, so feels nice to hold in the hand, not sure on the Orange, but I guess that's because I am not a fan of the colour in general. 

The consistency is the foundation is quite nice. I don't have to use loads to spread over my skin, about the size of two peas. It gives light to medium coverage, which is perfect for me. So, here come the dreadful photos!

My skin without any make-up 

My skin with primer and foundation. 

My face all done up.

Ideas for Christmas: Chanel Powder Blush 'StarDust'

Chanel. How I love you. Yes, their products are ridiculously expensive for what they are but there is just something about their products and the quality. (That's what I try to tell myself as I am handing over my money anyway!)

This particular product caught my eye a few weeks back as I was wandering around the Make Up counters in Westfield (Stratford). What was it about it that caught my eye? Glitter of course. How silly that you thought it could be anything but!? It was hard to capture the glittery wonderfulness of this blush in photos but trust me, it really does live up the name of 'Star Dust'. 

The packaging is lovely as always, it's Chanel, would you expect anything else? Though I must make it clear, I never just buy a product for it's brand name. If this had of been Tesco's own brand I still would have snapped it up! The actual blush is very soft and smells amazing ( that's not weird right? The fact that I smell my products? ) Their isn't much colour, applying it on to the face just gives a very pale pink shimmer effect. So when wearing this I usually apply my usual blush and then lightly brush this over the top for the shimmer effect. 

This did cost £31, which to be honest, as much as I love it, wasn't really worth it, but as I am so glitter mad I couldn't just walk by. I also then found out, as I asked the lovely lady behind the counter if they had any in stock, (this was the last one! Phew!) that it is a Christmas special. So I am glad I picked it up. 

Does anyone actually ever use the brushes they supply with these? 

As you can see, very pale pink with shimmer. Not the blush for you if you prefer darker blushes. 

 I chose this as one of my Christmas products on my Blog as it is a Christmas Edition blush as would be perfect for a bit more of an expensive stocking filler. I know I would have a smile on my face if I recieved this on Christmas day! (Or maybe not now, given that I now already own it... )

 Do you own of Chanel's other blushes? 

Can be purchased here