Spring Favorites

Hi everyone, as you may have noticed I don't like to do 'Monthly Favorites', the fact is I just don't buy enough products each month to warrant doing them, so for me I think it's a better idea to do seasonal favorites!  You may recall my Winter Favorites post back in February; you can find that 'here' :-)

So to start off with I have to mention how much I've been enjoying the warmer weather!  Finally I can go outside without having to wrap up like the Michelin Man, no gloves, no scarf and I've even dug out my favorite springtime grey army jacket :-)

Of course this time of year also brings out wonderful things in nature that I've been lucky enough to see a lot the past few weeks;

Daffodils absolutely everywhere!

Beautiful blossom

Baby bunnies

And adorable little lambs

Including our very own dear little adopted hedgehog Wilf, who's now come out of hibernation and is looking forward to making the entire garden his home, once we've finished getting it all 'hedgehog friendly'.  Making sure there's no gaps in the fences for him to squeeze through and covering the pond with mesh to make sure he can't fall in, with his poor damaged back leg he wouldn't be able to swim or get back out again!

Next on to my other favorites for this season so far –

I have been using this concealer every single time I do my makeup and it's very quickly become one of my staple items.  I'm just so glad I gave it a second chance.  As I explained in my 'Whats in My Makeup Bag' post, I originally bought this last year sometime but I was unhappy with the shade, it was far too dark for me and there were no other shades available at the time, also the smell was just disgusting and put me right off!  But I thought no I'll give it one more try, especially as Boots are now offering more colours, it was a lot easier to pick one that suited me better and boy was I pleased I did! :-)

I first got this lipgloss in 'Smile' with a No7 free gift pack in Boots back in August and to be honest I wasn't that impressed but as usual I thought I'll give it another go.  I have been using it mainly with my Rimmel Color Rush lip balm in 'Not an Illusion', which is a gorgeous every day colour and with the No7 gloss over the top, well I just love it.  I do sometimes even use the gloss on it's own as it is reasonably pigmented and just gives a nice very subtle look.

The next item is this Garnier Simply Essentials 2 in 1 makeup remover.  Now I've been using this for quite a while and it never fails to amaze me and do a very thorough job.  You all know how I love my waterproof mascara's, I wear them every single time I go out and they really do stay put through anything BUT, they are a total nightmare to remove, especially if you don't want to have to scrub your eyelashes off and be left with very soar eyes!!  This is the problem I've always had and I've tried so many different makeup removers and wipes and lotions, nothing seems to do a good job and feel gentle on my skin.  This does!  You literally only have to wipe across your eyes and the makeup comes off, I gently rub my eyelashes for a few seconds and they're clean and makeup free, and it leaves my skin feeling soothed and clean.  We all know when it says 'no purfume' there still always is but thankfully it's not an awful strong scent either and within a few minutes the smell is gone.  I always use this along with the oval cotton wool pads you can get cheaply from anywhere and it just works a treat! I do need to pick up another bottle though as this one is definitely not going to last me much longer :-)

And of course spring also brings one other lovely thing, chocolate!

Who doesn't love an Easter egg lol  I got given these from my lovely man and my family, yum! :-)

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A Little Visit to - Chirk Castle, North Wales

Hi everyone, I hope you all had a fun chocolate filled Easter!  today I'm posting just a few pics from my last daytrip, where me and my boyfriend went to Chirk Castle in North Wales for the day!  Now when I say a few pics..... lol   Well I just couldn't help myself, these are literally just a few of the 76 photos that I took that day, yes I did say 76!

You can click on the photos to see them bigger if you like :-)

The whole visit was great fun from start to end, there was so much to see and the atmosphere inside the castle was so, well historic I guess, the castle was originally built in 1310 after all.  The main rooms were just beautiful, everything in sight was so elaborately decorated, with intricate paintings, gold details and amazing carvings from the candle sticks, to the furniture even to the walls and the ceilings alone were a work of art, as you can see in some of these photos.

Just look at these ceilings!!

The table in the center of this room was a perfectly carved and along with everything else was beautifully elegant. And you can just see the bottom of the huge chandelier, it really was stunning.

This beautiful long room was a lot bigger than it looks on here, the wallls are lined with portraits and you could just imagine this room being used for ballroom dances back in the ye'old days!

The staircase alone was magnificent, lined with a dark red carpet, gold accents all up the banister and again, another beautifully decorated ceiling above.

My boyfriend's not convinced but I'm pretty sure there's something a little 'other worldly' stood in or by the fireplace in this picture!  What do you think?

Imagine trying to walk in those!!

The old library was just crammed with these wonderful big old books, with worn spines and tatty pages, gorgeous!

 The Magistrates Court frieze (around the top of the walls) dates from the early 17th century and is the oldest surviving interior decoration in the original family's home.
This room was up high in one of the towers and had quite a spooky feel to it!

The other towers had several separate rooms for the guards and were a lot bigger that I'd imagined.

Then we went to the servants quarters, what a difference!  The walls, the floor, even the paintings were practically black with dirt and soot.  To think people had to live in these conditions!

And then there was... the dungeon!!!  Oh boy would I hate to be down there on my own!  It was honestly one of the scariest places.  You could feel this chilling icy cold air envelop you the further down we went and once we were down to the bottom, 9 meters below ground level, it was pitch black too apart from the little electric light they put in for the tourists!  There was a horrible dank smell too and I can easily say, a very horrible unearthly creepy feel about it.
There is a legend about the castle dungeon, apparently "The family arms included a red hand and this was the traditionally 'bloody hand' put there to remind them of past misdeeds.  According to the legend, it could not be removed until a prisoner survived 10 years in the castle dungeons!!  But the harshness of the dungeon took it's toll very rapidly and few prisoners survived for long.  One prisoner did seem about to rid the family of it's gruesome symbol, for he survived almost the full 10 years.  The dungeons must have defeated him in the end however, for the red hand remains on the arms to this day."
I really cannot even imagine spending 5 minutes down there, let alone surviving nearly 10 years, it's unbelievable that someone could go through that!!

In the courtyard the are several different entrances in to the main castle, there's also a very nice little cafe with tables and chairs outside where we ate our lunch.  And on one side of the courtyard there's an extremely deep well, I certainly would not like to drop anything down there!

The castle gardens are equally impressive, I can't wait to go back there in the summer when the flowers are all in full bloom.

There's a lovely big hut hidden away half way through the gardens, it's a wonderful place to just sit, listen to the birds and take in all the beautiful surroundings, it's so peaceful..

There's even a large family of peasants that live in the grounds.

Thank you for letting me post this picture handsome xx

What a gorgeous view!

All in all, it was a lovely visit, very interesting and definitely a place I'd happily visit again and again :-)

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What's in My Makeup Bag!

Hi everyone, well here we are after another busy week, it's finally the beginning of spring, daffodils are in full bloom everywhere and the sun has finally started to show it's-self!  Our little resident hedgehog Wilf, has been out of hibernation for about 2 and a half weeks now (you can read about him here) and I've been off visiting some very lovely places with my new man, taking tones of photos so I can share it all with you guys.  So look out for some more 'Little Visit' posts again soon :-)

I've also been keeping very busy working on my jewelley collection for my Etsy shop, which I'm hoping to get up and running in the next couple of months and coming up with lots of ideas for future blog posts!

So, that leads me very nicely on to today's topic which is, what's in my makeup bag!  Now I know the more usual ones are 'What's in my Bag' as in handbag but I thought I'd do it a little differently.  I also really enjoy watching videos like these and reading other blog posts about the general makeup that people use on a daily basis, so I thought I'd show you mine! :-)

I love trying out new things - new eyeshadows, lipsticks or brushes, so most of the time, I don't usually stick to a particular set of products.  However, lately I've found myself using these items more and more!

So to start with, my actual makeup bag - 

I got this (believe it or not) from WHSmiths!  I wanted something that I could not only fit my 'everyday' makeup in but also my brushes and if possible, be able to keep the two things separate as well.  I looked at loads and I mean loads of different makeup and cosmetic bags in various shops but nothing seemed right or big enough for the brushes, then I thought what about a large pencil case.  So I went to WHSmiths and low and behold, in the sale as well if you please, I found this little gem reduced to £6.99.  It has one large compartment which as you can see I use for my main makeup and 3 other sections that are ideal for my brushes and even eyeliners!

I don't keep much in the last section apart from these hair bands and hair clips, but it's there if I need a little extra space!

And now on to the makeup! -

I usually use one of two foundations:

the No.7 Stay Perfect Foundation, which I do really like, it stays on great but is a tiny bit too dark for me.  The other is the Max Factor Smooth Effects Foundation. in Cream Ivory (which I don't think is available now, I've had it quite a while), again it's a great one and a better colour for me but it's quite sheer and doesn't do much in the way of covering up redness or even lasting that long, so I always have to make sure I use a primer underneath to really stretch out it's wear-ability!

As you all know I love my Soap & Glory Kick Ass Concealer and it's been amazing in the past (you can read my review of it here) but admittedly I tend to mostly use it now just for the powder section, as I've found a new love, the ever popular Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, 

I tried this once before when I was desperately looking for a good concealer but I couldn't get just the right colour to suit me and I was totally put off by the terribly strong & nasty smell.  But with the option of a free item to be had, with the 3 for 2 offer in Boots a month ago, I thought why not give it another try! And to my surprise it's been really great, sadly the colour this time is a bit too pale but I just mix it with my foundation and it covers and lasts really well :-)

I couldn't be without my lovely soft pink MUA Shade 1 blusher, it gives such a delicate glow to the skin and at just £1, you can't really ask for more can you!

Now I do like my eyeliners (which I'll talk about in a minute) and I do use them, especially when I have a little more time to get them right but my absolute full-proof way has to be with black eyeshadow and an angled brush, you can not fault it!

For my whole eye look, I usually go for a mixture of the Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Paint in Rich Russet, blended out on the crease, then a slightly thicker layer of it along the eyelid.  It dries pretty quick, so while it's still a little tacky, I use my angled brush with black eyeshadow just along the lashline., that way I find it last all day.
As an alternative, I use my amazing MUA Eyeshadow Primer (which apparently is an older one now), then a random selection of shades (what ever I feel like at the time) from the gorgeous Urban Decay Naked Palette.

In the next selection of my makeup bag, I like to keep my these -

 My favorite Rimmel eyeliners, MUA eyebrow pencil (which really needs sharpening), the amazing Simple corrector pen (life saver) and the best mascara ever, the Seventeen Doll'd Up Mascara.

As you all might know by now, I'm a big Real Techniques fan, so in the next section I keep my most used brushes, cannot manage trying to do my makeup without these babies!  My only annoyance is the blush brush, wonderful as it is, it's just too big to fit in the makeup bag! :-/

Finally, I just cannot fit my lipstick/gloss etc in this bag as well as everything else and since I generally do the majority of my makeup when I'm getting ready at home, I like to have just the bare essentials with me in my handbag.  So, I use this cute little pink bag that came in a set from TJHughes, many years ago.

And in it I keep these lovelies -

These Rimmel Colour Rush Balm Stains are just the best thing since lipsticks were invented, I just love them and since I can never decide between these two lovely shades (Not an Illusion and Keep Moaving), I like to keep them both with me and of course, even the best and longest lasting lipsticks still need re-applying now and again!  I also keep with me my favorite gloss in shade 6 by 2-True, my No.7 lip-liner pencil and the brilliant Lipcote.  Of course a girl always needs a handy little mirror in her bag and I just love this little novelty one that my friend gave me for the birthday a couple of months ago :-)  And finally, a real essential, tissues! Lol

Since I took the photos for this post, I've also added in two other items to my makeup bag and have been using them a lot!

I find the Maybelline Colour Tattoo (mine is in On and On Bronze), is a perfect everyday colour and a brilliantly match with the Rimmel Scadaleyes Shadow Paint, so I use the Color Tattoo as a base underneath.  I'm also really loving this Real Techniques brush that came with my new Core Collection set, I use it to mix and apply my concealer mostly under my eyes and it gives the most wonderful flawless look :-)

So there we have it, that is my makeup bag and all it's contents.  I hope you like it and please leave me any comments below, have you used any of these products, do you like them, can you think of any interesting posts that you'd like to see me do etc!

Oh and Happy Easter :-)

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