Sunday 28 September 2014

My Top 3 - Homeware Favourites PLUS Some Scary Health Facts!

Hi everyone, this week's Top 3 are some of the homeware items that I've bought and been really lovely over the past month.


 To start with, this adorable floral mug that I picked up from Dunelm Mill.


It was only £2 and I just love it.  I find myself using it nearly all the time, even though I have several other lovely mugs in the kitchen cupboard but I love the patterned, it's so pretty!  Dunelm have many other lovely kitchen items in the same Candy Rose Collection, like jugs, bowls, trays, storage boxes etc, I could happily kit out my whole kitchen!


I was SO over excited when I first saw these gorgeous pink floral storage boxes in Tesco a few weeks ago.  They were originally £12 but had 50% off since they only had 2 left, I grabbed both.


I've been looking for some pretty floral boxes for so long for my bedroom and these are just the perfect size, they're also made of really good strong cardboard, so they're really sturdy too and thankfully I can fit a nice lot in them.  In fact I found such a lot to go in them, I was very happy to see Tesco had re-stocked the shelves and I was able to buy another one a few days ago, this time for only £3, so I now have 3 and I'm making full use of them!  I think they look so pretty by my white drawer set too, what do you think?


Lastly is this lovely glass teapot that I got from Argos a couple of weeks ago, for £9.97.


The reason I got this was basically because, I've been wanted to stop using regular teabags, as the Formaldehyde in the bags can cause a lot of health problems like Asthma attacks, headaches, skin irritations and even with long term use, cancer and Leukaemia.  You can click on the link here to find out more about it, it's actually quite a scary read, considering Formaldehyde has been used for centuries to embalm dead bodies and yet it's now used in many household items that we use every day, like furniture, cleaning products, food packaging, shampoo and soaps and in some cosmetics too!!  Scary!

Plastic teabags can also contain many harmful chemicals like the ones found in plastic drinking bottles and can be even more harmful when boiling water is used with them!  Other everyday paper teabags can also contain a nasty chemical called Epichlorohydrin, which again when mixed with boiling water can become a carcinogen, ie cause cancer!
So to help lessen my intake of these nasty hidden dangers, I've started using loose tea leaves, they're actually a lot cheaper to buy too.  I put a spoonful of the leaves (PG is my favourite tea!) in the teapot's filter, add boiling water, give it a little swirl and pour it in the cup, I like to add a splash of semi-skimmed milk for my perfect cuppa :-)
I just love this actual teapot, it's nice to be able to see the tea brewing and it's really easy to keep clean to.  I just need to get a nice cosy for it now!  I've seen a beautiful
Cooksmart one on Amazon for £4, so it will soon be mine lol

Did you know about any of these harmful chemicals, do you already take steps to try and avoid them?  Let me know in the comments :-)

Until Next Time Stay Happy

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Wednesday 24 September 2014

Tanya Burr Lip Gloss Review and Swatches

Hi everyone, I have another review for you today of the much talk about Tanya Burr Lip Glosses.  I've been a viewer of the lovely Tanya's YouTube channel for several years now and I just love her tutorials, she seems such a sweet person and I was thrilled when she announced she was launching her own makeup products.

So when on went on a recent trip to Chester recently (you can read about that here), I went in to Superdrug and finally picked one up, I got the shade Afternoon Tea.  I've been dying to try these out for ages but since my local store don't stock them, I've had real trouble getting hold of them, sadly a lot of them were unsealed so I didn't buy any more.  A few days later I was perusing through the net and found that Feel Unique had a sale on, so I thought ooh good opportunity to grab a couple more.  So for about half the price, I managed to get Smile, Dream, Sparkle and Heart Skipped a Beat, the one I've really been wanting Aurora was out of stock and still is!  I just love all the names, they're so cute, especially Smile, Dream, Sparkle of course :-)



So on to the review -

The packaging is so pretty, I love the little heart logo on the top of the lid.


Smile, Dream, Sparkle is a very sheer but very sparkly gloss.  It does feel quite a thick consistency but it's very pretty.  I think it would be ideal over the top of a matt lipstick and really make it shine.  This was my favourite one out of all three.


Heart Skipped a Beat is more of a deep pinky red, again very sheer with a lovely sparkle.  My only grievance is the sparkle in this one is really gritty and that along with the thick texture was a little off-putting!  But I think it would be worth working with it, trying it out a few times and getting used to it, as it's a really nice shade and I'd hate to throw it in the back of my draw and just say it was no good.  Perseverance!  With both this one and Smile, Dream, Sparkle they look a lot more pigmented in the tube and I really expected more colour when I put them on, so that was a shame but not something that would put me off them.


Finally Afternoon Tea, this was definitely my least favourite, the shade is very peachy pink almost nude.  On some people I think this shade would look great but on me it just wasn't a good look at all.  I found the consistency to be a little less thick but it didn't go on smoothly, it left clumpy patches and generally felt a little uncomfortable.  It also didn't seem to dry or stick to my lips, so I felt like it would have only lasted a very short time before needing re-applying.    I will try it out again and maybe use it over a lipliner to see if that makes it look or feel any better but so far it would have to be a thumbs down for this one.


All three of these smell absolutely amazing, just like candy, it's gorgeous, it reminds me of going to a fairground!  I haven't had chance to test out their wearability too much yet to see how long they last but I think as with any lip gloss, re-applying will be necessary at some point!  I've also just ordered Aurora from ebay and I'm longing to try that out, so I will let you know how it goes.I thought the little message on the back of the packaging was a nice touch too!

Have you tried any of these, what are you favourite shades? :-)
Until Next Time Stay Happy

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Sunday 21 September 2014

My Top 3 - Lipsticks


 Hi everyone, today's top 3 wasn't too much of a challenge this week.  Now I'm a huge lover of lipstick as I know most of you are too and I have quite a nice little collection (which I'm often adding to).  The only thing I will mention for these 3 is that it wasn't until I came to photograph the swatches, that I realized just how similar they are!  But in their defence, they all have their own unique qualities that make them my top 3 favourite lipsticks :-)


1. MUA have been one of my favourite brands since they first became available in Superdrug about 3 years ago (if I'm not mistaken).  I just love the amazing quality of their products and considering just how ridiculously cheap they are, they really are a staple brand for me.  The MUA lipsticks are only £1, which is crazy, going by the formula you'd never guess they were a drugstore brand.  I have rather a lot of these and each and every one is lovely.  But the very best has to be my Shade 2 which is my absolute 'go-to' shade especially for Autumn and this gorgeous Shade 6, which is the most beautiful pinky-peach with a beautiful shimmer.  I just find it suits my pale skin so well and it's perfect for a really pretty daytime look or a natural barely-there look.  The staying power is not the best but used over a matching lip pencil, I find it lasts a lot longer.  I also love to use my Lipcote lipstick sealer over the top too, all these added extras make all the difference.


2. The Rimmel Colorburst Lip Butters, I have 3 quite different shades of the lip butters and although the Lip Butters may not be to everyone's taste, I really like them.  I love the soft buttery texture and they are SO moisturizing, perfect for Autumn and Winter.  My favourite out the 3 that I have is Berry Smoothie, it's a very pretty soft berry colour, there's not much in the way of shine but it's not matt either and even though they don't last very long, because they feel so smooth and light they're really easy to re-apply even without a mirror.  I find if you blot and re-apply or dab them over your lips with a finger tip, that helps them last a little long too.  The only down-side is they're not very robust, drop one and it may well be broken and they really aren't too happy if they get too warm either!  Thankfully mine have all stayed intact so far but I would image a broken one would be easy to de-pot.


3. And finally (best till last as always), Rimmel Moisture Renew in the shade To Nude or Not To Nude.  I have worn this countless times since I bought it about 8 months ago, it is the perfect 'my lips but better' type shade and the shimmer is absolutely beautiful.  It so creamy and soft, it doesn't feel heavy and it actually lasts quite a long while.  The only down side for me personally is the scent which is quite potent but it does seem to wear off after a while, either that or I just get used to it, who knows!  But anyway, over all I think I'd probably say this was my favourite one out of them all :-)

What is your favourite lipstick out of your collections, could you pick just one?
Until Next Time, Stay Happy

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Wednesday 17 September 2014

Failing Badly


Sometimes I suck at life!  I sometimes get days where I just want to go back to bed and start the day over again because just everything is going wrong and sometimes I just feel like a total failure!
So I wanted to talk to you today and tell you about a few things that I feel I've failed at the worst lately.

The first one has to be getting up early or generally getting up at any decent hour at all.
  This is never something I've been particularly good at but it really does upset me because there's always so much I want to get done in the day and I never have enough time to do it.  As well as that, I feel it's just such a waste of time, my days are going by and I'm not achieving anything!  I have tried literally everything to wake myself up, people calling me, having my curtains open for the sunlight to come in, having people shout at me!  I have 3 alarm clocks that I set but I sleep so heavily I just don't hear them (unlike everyone else apparently, whoops!) and if I do hear them, I tend to reach an arm out of bed hit the off button, without realising I'm even doing it I might add, and I go off in to an even deeper sleep!  I've tried washing my bedding more often to cut down on the dust mites, not drinking caffeine before bed, you name it I've tried it, but nothing seems to work and I always end up finally crawling out of bed horribly late and feeling groggy, upset and guilty :-(
If you like you can have a look at my Morning Routine post, but of course when I say 'morning' I do actually mean about midday!

Another thing that I'm terrible at is staying concentrated on something, especially any work-type project.  There are SO many distractions, YouTube, Twitter, the dreaded Facebook timeline, even my Poodles, or there's that other thing that I was supposed to do first, or I have an idea for a new blog post I must just write down!  I am such an easily distracted person.  Even when I finally get on with something, I can't settle, I'll want to go and get a drink or I'll have a sudden need for the bathroom lol.  I have a tone of things that I want to be working on, my list is endless and I have all the ambition and motivation to do all these great things, and in my head I'm raring to go but when it's time to stop getting distracted, I fail :-/

I never make the most of opportunities, I never have done.  I've always been too shy, too embarrassed or too busy with life to make the effort and participate.  I can remember back when I was studying Performing Arts at college, I had the opportunity to go to an extra class for group singing lessons but even then, I was too shy.  I put off thinking about it (because I do that a heck of a lot too) and kept putting off deciding if I was brave enough to go and by the time I felt up to it, it was too late the opportunity had gone!  Sadly I can recall so many times during my life that this same scenario has happened, opportunities come and go and I end up missing out because I'm too scared and shy to say yes!  Just last week, I was thrilled to be invited by Celebrations.com to the London Fashion Week Bloggers Love Event (which was on Monday evening).  This was a really huge deal for me, I've never been invited to anything like this before, LFW is a huge event anyway and for me to be invited, well it just made my day!  But sadly I wasn't able to go, it wasn't about a lack of confidence or anything like that (for once), it was for genuine reasons of not being able to afford the expensive train fares to London (which is nearly 3 hours from here) and because I didn't feel well enough to go.  But it did make me realise just how much I had missed out on over the years and even though I had understandable reasons for this particular opportunity, I didn't for anything else.

I guess the moral of this post is, you only get one life, you have to live it the very best way you can and make the most of every minute.
Until Next Time, Stay Happy

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Sunday 14 September 2014

My Top 3 - Flawless Skin Face Products


Everyone loves the look of fresh, healthy flawless skin but sadly sometimes we're not all blessed with this naturally.  I'm no stranger to 'face demons' (spots and blemishes), blotchy redness and dry patches but of course I always try and look by best.  To do this I always use my three favourite 'go to/holy grail' products and added with a bit of light blusher I'd say it does a pretty amazing job!  If you'd like to know my secret, read on. . .


Foundation - I have been searching for a very long time for a really great, staple foundation.  The one I used to use was wonderful, the perfect colour match, smooth and blendable, I was even able to use it as a foundation and concealer!  It was the Maybelline Ever Fresh foundation.


I thought I was set for life, I'd never need to find another and I loved it, then of course what happened next, Maybelline discontinued it!! :-(  So after a VERY long search for about 2 years, I finally found the next best thing, the No 7 Stay Perfect in Warm Ivory.  I went to Boots and they used the little colour correct camera to help me pick the perfect colour match and it did, Warm Ivory is a really nice pale slightly pink-tone shade and matches my skin really well.  The formular is really easy to blend and it has a really nice coverage. But the best thing I love about it is the staying power, it really does last all day, it doesn't fade or go patchy!  Definitely one that I'll be re-purchasing.


Concealer - Everyone on the planet seamed to love this concealer and I honestly don't know why I took so long to try it out.  I'd never really managed to find a good one and after trying loads of other makes that I was always constantly disappointed with, I finally went and bought it.  But I didn't even get to try it out because the second I open it this disgusting strong chemical smell hit me and I just thought oh my god, there's no way I can put up with that smell on my face!  So I reluctantly took it back and tried to find another concealer.


I think I ended up mainly sticking with the Maybelline 24 hour Super Stay, which I do still like but was never 100% happy with.  I then bought the Soap & Glory Kick Ass concealer 3 step set (which I did a review of a while back) and even though I thought it was amazing coverage, it still didn't work on some areas of my face.  So I thought I'm just going to have to try the Collection concealer again.  Thankfully this time there was no smell, great, and now I most definitely realise why everyone loves it!  Amazing coverage, great for under my eyes and blemishes and extremely long lasting, I truly love it :-)


Powder - For a long time I used to used the Rimmel Stay Matt translucent powder and I know it's still a big favourite in the makeup world but it never really did anything for me, sometimes I felt like I was putting it on my face just for the sake of it.  Then I starting using the Mattify transulcent powder by Mattify Cosmetics, which are specially formulated for oily skin.  I did love this and still do but, then I bought the Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer, I love this powder SO much, you can see the difference it makes within seconds and it always leaves my skin 'looking' so flawless and smooth, even when it's not, it really is the icing on the cake when it comes to getting perfect looking skin!  I'm currently saving up for the full-size version I guess you could call it, as this one is just part of the concealer set.


Apparently the 'full-size' powder is the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot, Soap & Glory do have another powder as well but this is the same as the one in with the concealer and I need to get one, asap!

What products do you find make your skin look picture perfect? :-)
Until next time, stay happy
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Wednesday 10 September 2014

'Love' is the Word!

Hi everyone, it's been quite a long while since I did a craft post on here, and as I recently decorated this lovely item that you're about to see, I thought I'd take lots of pictures and share it with you all!  It was really easy to do and I'm really happy with it, I hope you like it too :-)


I bought this wooden 'Love' block from Dunelm Mill about a year ago and it's been sat in my cupboard gathering dust until a couple of weeks ago.  They do currently stock a similar one, but they always seem to be having different ones in store and I've seen my one several times since I bought it.


Firstly I painted it white with some basic acrylic paint (because the only one they had for sale was red), then I had to try and find a pretty paper to decorate it with.  I searched high and low and found nothing, then I suddenly remembered that I had some old wallpaper scraps in a cupboard and it was just what I was looking for.  I think the paper was originally from WIlkinsons but it was a long while ago.  Basically I just wanted something pink with a delicate pretty floral pattern and this was ideal.


I laid the word block on to the back of the paper and drew around it with a pencil.

As I wanted the patterned paper on both sides, I turned the block over and drew around it again.  Then I carefully cut them out.


After sticking the cut out paper pieces to the block, the next step was to decorate it a little more, I found some pretty matching 7mm pink satin ribbon and a pack of pale pink flat back crystals, they were just the ideal size and colour to match the paper.




That was pretty much it, it was really easy and done within a couple of hours and happily sits on my bedroom shelf, looking beautiful :-)


Let me know if you like it and tell me if you've made/decorated anything like this before :-)

Stay Happy
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Sunday 7 September 2014

My Top 3 - Movies

Everyone loves a good movie and the trouble is, I love SO many different ones, everything from horror and rom-coms to action and sci-fi, I have So, So many favourites - so for me to pick just 3. . . well let's just say this has been the most extremely difficult 'top 3' so far!  In my opinion, a movie can only make it on to a favourites list if, 1 - you know every word, 2 you've watched it dozens of times and 3 if, the second it finishes, you just want to start watching it all over again immediately!  So for me these next 3 films are on this list for that exact reason.


Dirty Dancing, I LOVE this film SO much I have watched it at least 62 times!  No I'm not kidding!  And I know it word for word (remember "I carried a watermelon!" and "Nobody puts Baby in a corner").  It's a total classic, I love the story, the music and seriously how hot is Patrick Swayze in this film!?!  I first saw it back in about 1992 and I was just hooked straight away, I even saw it again a couple of weeks ago.  It's a film that just makes me happy and makes me feel good, I could easily watch it every day and not get bored of it, I did actually do that once for about a week, I know crazy!



Next is a film that I often find not that many people have heard of, The Labyrinth.

I first saw this when I was about 10 or 12 years old something like that, I quickly grew to love it and have done ever since.  I love the characters and the whole mystical feel of the film and the music is brilliant to.  It stars the amazing David Bowie looking very snazzy as the goblin king and wonderful creatures like Hoggle, Sir Didymus and dear little Worm!  Again I know it off by heart and could happily watch it again and again and again.



"Through dangers untold and hardships are numbered, I have fought my way here to the castle, beyond the Goblin city, to take back the child that you have stolen.  For my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great.  You have no power over me!"
I just love that quote :-)

And of course best till last, Twilight :-)  Romance and vampires, what more could you want!

I have to admit, I was a little late on the bandwagon to catch on to the Twilight craze, I never read the books until after I'd seen Eclipse and I didn't even see the first film until about a year after it came out.  But of course there was one huge plus side to that, I didn't have to wait too long for New Moon!  Once I had watch the first film, I just fell in love with it completely, it's such a beautiful romantic story and I absolutely love the way it's all so subtle, it's not like most movies with the characters snogging every two minutes and jumping in to bed straight away!  It's gentle and charming, a proper love story, as Bella says, 'old-school' romance!


I still think I love the first film the most out of all 5 but of course you can't watch that one without following it with all the rest ;-)  I really don't think I can even write how much I love this film, it just wins hands down over everything else.  It is truly enchanting and wonderful and romantic and I honestly think I will love it forever.

So, so beautiful!

So, so good looking lol :-)

What are your favourite movies, let me know in the comments and stay happy

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Friday 5 September 2014

Summer Favourites

Hi everyone, well it's got to 'that' time of the year again, the nights are drawing in, there's a definite chill in the air and there's more cold wet and rainy days than there are nice sunny ones.  Yes, sadly, it's the end of the summer!  So that can only mean one thing. . .
Time for my Summer Favourites :-)


Every single time I've been out over the last couple of months, I find I always go to this new MUA lipgloss.

I have two shades, Lips Are Sealed and Sweet Nothings, but I prefer the first one.  I'm not really in to bright lip colours, so thankfully even though this looks quite full on in the tube, it's actually quite subtle on the lips.  It feels nice and isn't sticky and best of all it's more of a long-lasting stain than just a gloss (keep the Rimmel Apocalips in mind).  And for only £2, they really are great quality, MUA comes up trumps again!  My local Superdrug only stock these two shades and a really dark one, but I'd love to invest in some more sometime.


On another bargain-type note, I've been constantly re-visiting Primark over the summer and found so many great things.  Among them were these basics strappy vests and T'shirts.  They're such a great price, they wear really well wash after wash and they're really comfortable too.  I think they'll also be useful in the colder month for layering under shirts or jumpers.

I also had a mad splurge in Primark one afternoon, after desperately trying to find some good summer shoes.  I went to Matalan, New Look and several different shoe shops, trying on loads of shoes but to no avail!


Then finally I thought ooh Primark often have good shoes, so off I went and I honestly must have spent about 2 hours in there, trying on LOADS of different ones, it was great fun lol.  I think in the end, I was in there so long and had to rush to the tills as they were about to close!


I ended up falling in love with 3 lovely pairs of these ballet-style shoes. . .


. . . The red and the white ones were £6 each. . .


. . . and the brown ones were £8, they're all really comfortable and will work great with lots of different outfits :-)


The next thing I've been loving is this canvas bag I got from BHS, it was £15 but it's now gone down to £7.50! :-/  But I'm glad I got it when I did anyway because it's been a really great little bag all through the summer and despite being small, I can actually get loads in it too!


I also picked up this really pretty pink lace T'shirt in Matalan, I think it was only about £4 in a sale and it fits really nicely.  I just love it, I've worn it SO much over the summer and I love pairing it with a leather jacket and jeans.


For the last of the clothing favourites, I've also been loving wearing maxi skirts this summer, I've never been a fan of wearing short skirts and It gets boring wearing jeans all the time, so it's nice to wear something a little different, pretty and flowy like a maxi skirt!  I love these two the best, the blue one was from Matalan, I think I bought that last year and the black/white one I got from Tesco in the sale a few months ago.  I also have another beautiful peach floral one but sadly I didn't get chance to wear that one this year.

Aside from makeup and clothing, I've been enjoying lots of other things lately, especially reading other fashion/beauty/lifestyle blogs.


One in particular is PorcelainBeautyx by Heather McKnight, I just love the way she writes, she's very honest, upfront and seems to really write from the heart, she also puts a lot of personality into her posts too which I admire and I find her blog a real inspiration, I go and read it every day.


I subscribe to way too many YouTubers and watch videos often when I know I should be doing something else!  But I couldn't help getting hooked on watching Gabriella's videos, she has 2 channels, VelvetGhost and PlanetGabb and I've just really enjoyed them recently.  She's just moved to Brighton over the past week and been vlogging every day, so of course that's kept me entertained and it's been really nice seeing her new home and all the bits she's been buying to put in it!


I couldn't write a favourites list without mentioning, Walking Dead!!  I'm currently half-way through season 3 and I am completely crazy about it, it's Sooooo good!  I've always loved anything a bit creepy, paranormal, ghosts, vampires etc but I'd never really had any interest in zombies, until now!  It's very gory and quite violent but at the same time, it's a great storyline and really makes you think and wonder how you would cope in that situation, would you be able to survive and fight if you had to!?


I love finding new music through YouTube, one of my favourites being Jeni Suk, which I mentioned in my Top 3 Music Tracks, but my latest favourite is by Troye Sivan and it's called Happy Little Pill.  His EP is now available on itunes I believe and Amazon, I really like the track Touch as well.  But I just love Happy Little Pill, I've been playing it on repeat nearly every day since I first heard it about 3 weeks ago!

And finally, as some of you may know by now, my favourite band in the whole world, my favourite music in general, is by Linkin Park, I am well and truly and completely obsessed with their music and have been for a VERY long time, because I am a total rock chick at heart.  I bought their latest album, The Hunting Party when it came out in June and apart from Troye's Happy Little Pill, I pretty much haven't been listening to anything else since (apart from older LP tracks of course)!  I love loads of the songs on there but my favourites have to be Guilty All the Same, Until It's Gone and the absolutely incredible A Line in the Sand, Wow!!  Go click on the links to hear them and let me know what you think in the comments, you never know you might discover a style of music you never thought you'd like!  :-)

So there you go, sorry it was such a long list but hey I've just been loving a nice lot of stuff lately :-)  Let me know what items you've been loving over the summer months too and until next time, stay happy

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