February Favourites, Empties and Shopping My Stash!

Bonjour!

February faves and empties here ...

Mandara Spa Tropical Blooms Softening Body Cream - (from Sainsburys) - my favourite fragrance from this range - heady floral scented cream that moisturises well.  Takes a while to rub in so I only use it when I know I've a little more time - great on a night out because the fragrance lasts and lasts. (I already re-purchased a while ago as they are frequently on offer at Sainsburys).

Dove Indulgent (with Shea Butter) Nourishing Lotion - an everyday favourite - glides on, sinks in easily and leaves skin soft and smelling good man. I'll re-purchase when it's on offer again.

Olay Essentials Complete Care Day Lotion - recently empty. Meant to be suitable for normal/dry or combi skin. Bought this mainly for it's spf 30.  Not sure whether this is the day cream for me - it's thicker than any I've used before - seems to moisturise ok and make up stayed put with primer but felt somewhat greasy on my T-Zone - maybe better suited to a dryer skin.  I'm a bit on the fence so am trying a new day cream out.

Nivea Sunny Melon & Oil Shower Gel - now finished (the bottle is actually a golden colour so it stilll looks full but it's empty - shame!). Exactly as the name suggests - smells of warm melons in the summer sun (that sounds wrong!).  It has teeny tiny balls of oil which burst when showering and moisturise skin - like it and will re-purchase (again will wait until on offer).

Elemis Re-Hydrating Ginseng Toner - this was another from last year's Elemis TSV - lovely product - refreshing, hydrating and invigorating in the morning. This is the first toner I've used from Elemis and I'd like to re-purchase at some stage.

Percy & Reed Bodifying Cream and No Oil Oil (for fine hair) - yep they're here again! Another kit from QVC - it's a favourite alright - full review to follow.

Carmex Moisturising Lip Balm Original -  needs no intro. I hadn't used Carmex before (despite being a bit of a lip-balm addict) and bought the pot and the tube when Claire from Another New Day mentioned it as one of her absolute favourites for winter lips. I'm  glad I did because it's now one of my favourites, it's like wearing a protective shield. Love it.

 Laura Geller Baby Cakes Baked Blush Palette - love Laura Geller 'baked' products - available from QVC (also have her famous Balance 'n' Brighten.)  I've heard Laura's baked blushes are comparable to MAC's Mineralised  blushes? This is what I believe is called 'Shopping my Stash?' - bought the palette last year when it was on offer on QVC - where else? (don't think it's available in the UK at the moment - shame). I tend to save it for nights' out but dug it out to use recently and glad I did. The Baby Cakes blush palette contains three colours with a subtle shimmer (not full on glitter!) and one matte. Each gives a gorgeous wash of colour and lift to my tired old cheeks. You only need a little of the product but can build up for a stronger look - great pigment and stays put all day or night!

Ahh - a firm favourite (but soon to be empty!) this month - was on offer at Tesco half price.  Tastes wonderful with those bits of chocolate and gooey bits!

What have been your favourites this month - have you tried Creme Egg Ice Cream yet?


Jen x

Percy & Reed /Glamour Offer!

Bonjour!

I caved in! I've been trying so hard to ignore the magazine freebies that are floating around but no way could I walk past the current Glamour mag with it's Percy & Reed fabulous freebies...!

You get to choose from:-

Really Rather Radiant Colour & Shine Shampoo 100ml
Really Rather Radiant Colour & Shine Conditioner 100ml
Quite Frankly Flawless Finishing Polish 100ml
Smoothed, Sealed & Sensational Volumising No Oil Oil (for fine hair) 30ml

Glamour state that the whole lot is the equivalent of £41 worth of product so at £2.00 a pop for the mag I had to get all four - silly not to! The shampoo, conditioner and oil look like ideal travel sizes so could save them (or just buy a couple more!).

I've been loving the Really Rather Radiant Shampoo and Conditioner - full review here and am currently using their Bodifying Cream and No Oil Oil anyway - both of which are going down well so couldn't resist the chance to try the Finishing Polish for £2.00.

Did you pick up April's Glamour magazine - which Percy & Reed product/products did you go for?


Jen x

20 Random Facts Tag!

Evening All!

I've seen this tag post knocking around some of my favourite blogs for a while - most recently done by Sasha from Ramblings of a Beauty Bird, Jayne from Miss Jayne Becca and Sam from Honey Go-Lightly.   I really enjoy having a nosey through random facts so here's my contribution...!

*I love tuna mayo sarnies with Wotsits.
*I am exceedingly short tempered (bark worse than bite and all that jazz!)
*Music moves me immeasurably!
*I'm scared of wasps and spiders - in fact I don't do well with any insect!
*I'd rather be too hot than too cold.
*Nothing winds me up more than someone pulling out on you in the car and then DRIVING SLOWLY!
*I can eat for England.
*I dropped out of Art school and worked at Top Shop for a few years (not sure that was the right move now but the staff discount was amazing!).
*I was a New Romantic.
*Badly stacked dishwashers get on my goat!
*I got married in red and we partied the night away to groovy tunes including Faithless, Stevie Wonder and The Cult.  Here we are a little worse for wear! Oh dear - no idea what's going on there!

Hubby is convinced this was taken during Happy Mondays 'Step-On' cos he's doing his impression of Bez!

*I am the 'neshest' person this side of 'neshville'.
*Green is my favourite colour.
*I partied first (pretty well actually!) and then had kids (good job I did it that way round - no energy these days!).
*I'm looking to start singing again and do some local gigs before I get too old (anyone up for a jam session?)!
*I worry a lot.
*I prefer pasta to pizza.
*When Grease the movie came out I wanted to marry Danny Zuko!
*I love toilet/carry-on humour - big-ones/bangers etc crack me up - 'ooh Matron!'
*I went on Honeymoon to America and drove round Boston, Vermont, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Cape Cod and New York - our best friends came too and got married at the Green Mountain Inn in Vermont!
*If I don't have a load of washing in the machine I panic a little!
*I once met Boy George backstage when my bro was playing keyboards for him - he said I was shy!

Ok - so those are my random facts - hope you enjoyed reading them and don't think I'm too weird! I've gone over 20 facts and have plenty more actually (I'm very random!) but I won't bore you tonight - maybe another time eh?

Jen x

PS - Hopefully everyone knows what 'nesh' means?

Seventeen Va Va Voom Volume Mascara - Review

Bonjour!

Ok so when I bought this 17 Va Va Voom mascara (months and months ago) it looked liked this...

...so you can tell how long I've had the tube! With this in mind I thought I'd best open it up and have a bash with it before Christmas.  The external packaging has been re-vamped and now looks like this...

...however the formula and brush remains the same (I checked at Boots recently but didn't buy anything - can you believe it!).

So - as the name suggests this mascara is all about making the lashes pop - just what I'm after - always!  The brush is a big bristle one rather than plastic - it's one of the biggest I've used and I've used a fair few! I had to be careful not to get the mascara on my top lid when applying at the roots of the lashes but it's just practise I guess and I think I've cracked it. The formula is actually pretty thick (don't know whether you can see the blob on top of the brush) which can 'up' the clump factor but - again - with a bit of wiggling/practise I seem be able to avoid too many clumps and just use my eyelash comb if needs be.  It's a good solid black, stays put all day without flaking or smudging but is easily removed with my cleansing balm without excessive rubbing etc.

The usual naked barely there lashes...

Cutting straight to the chase with a couple of coats of  Va Va Voom and specs...

At first I wasn't sure I liked this mascara - the size of the brush and type of formula took a bit of getting used to - but I have to say it's grown on me and really thickens the look of my lashes.  So, another mascara success from Seventeen here.  My Va Va Voom is in Black - however looks like there is also a Blackest Black available  - which sounds very tempting!

Seventeen/17 Va Va Voom is priced a mere £6.29 from Boots here.

Have you tried out any Seventeen/17 mascaras - I'm slowly working my way the range - can you tell? - which is your favourite so far?
.

Jen x

The Human League - The Sound of the Crowd ...

Bonjour!

Friday 1st March - can you believe it? My youngest bro Little G has been home from France this week and appears to have brought some decent weather back with him (not sure how long it will last but anyway!) - it's been so nice to have sunshine and a sibling around!

Anyway - today's track is such an old (and I mean old!) favourite of mine ...

The Human League - The Sound of the Crowd...

Released in 1981 - Sheffield has produced some pretty good sounds over the years and this synthpop sound was all the rage with myself and my (school) friends.  I bought this as an AA single (youngsters you won't have a clue what I'm talking about!) with Empire State Human (I think) on the other side - it's still somewhere at my mum and dads!

Yes - we used to dance like Suzanne and Joanne (the backing singers). Yes I can still do the moves now - even sober!  The best bit is during the wailing in the chorus - arms still want/need to waft around in the air - automatic reflex!  And yes - I did try out one of those early eighties angled haircuts (although nowhere near as severe as old Phil Oakey's barnett!) but it just looked like a complete pig's ear on me - lesson learned!

Now I really feel like 'getting around town and adding my voice to the sound of the crowd'!

Jen x