Superdrug Haul

Hola Dalimoo's,

I had run out of nail varnish remover and cotton pads so whilst in Superdrug I had a mosey around and ended up buying a few other things too!

If you follow the bloggersphere you will know that there has been a lot of hype recently about the L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Solution which is supposed to be a dupe for the Bioderma but at a fraction of the cost.  So obviously I had to get myself in on the action! - Superdrug has it on offer at the moment, 2 for £5 so I got 2, don't judge it was at a bargain price!!

I love impulse and they have some new scents out and picked up the Violet and Red Fruits.

I suffer from very dry/frizzy hair and it doesn't help that I use heat and colour my hair frequently!  I have recently decided that I am going to try and embrace my natural hair colour, so I am going to grow/cut all the old colour out and in the meantime use as much treatment on my hair as I possibly can. I was originally looking for L'Oreal EverRiche Nourishing and Taming shampoo and conditioner, which they did not have in stock so picked up Argan Oil Hair treatment instead! (as a side note I bought the shampoo and condition in my Sainsbury's shop last night it was on offer 2 for £9, I am waiting on it being delivered as I type.)

My face is feeling really sensitive at the moment and thought I try their cucumber clay mask for sensitive skin.

The last impulse buy was I have a few nail art designs I want to try out and thought that may be using a pen instead of a brush would be easier so as Barry M had a 3 for 2 offer I bought three of their nail art pens in black, silver and white.  There will be a post to follow shortly of my NOTW.

Do you ever go in to Superdrug for one thing and come out with more?  Why can we not stick with our list?!

Anyway my lovelies that is all until next time....

Ciao for now  xx

WEEK 1: Skincare

Hola Dalimoo's,

This is my first post on #theSOProject and this week as the title suggests its about skincare.

A disclaimer before I start.  I am by no means an expert in skincare, its a generalised post really and me just really only telling you a few products I like to use.  I am still learning myself and everything I talk about in this post is of my opinion and by no means a professional one!

I find there are so many different products on the market for skincare that it can be overwhelming!  The products I have mentioned below in this post are only a few I have tried in my 30 (something) years of life and believe me I have tried many, so don't want to bore you with too much of a list so picked the ones I had bought on more than one occasion, meaning I liked them!

Cleansing:  Clean skin is the most important part of beauty and is a step to keeping your skin looking healthy (obviously eating habits and life style also play a part in how your skin looks).

I only use a face wash in the morning - I know there is a lot of talk about whether you should use a face wash or not, but I am someone that likes using one and will always use one! - the one I really like at the moment is Salcura (found it recently for about £8 on Amazon) which is Paraban/sulphate free it does not foam like most face washes and it doesn't leave my skin feeling too dry after I have used it.  It is aimed at dry skin so it definitely does what it is supposed to do, admittedly I have only tried this face wash since my face has become dry so cannot compare it to others designed for dry skin.

Below is a few I have used in the past when i had oily skin:

Skin Clear Deep Clean face wash (£1.99 - boots)
Simple pure face wash (£2.59 - superdrug)
Neutrogena Visibly 2 in 1 (£2.66 - superdrug)

In the evening I normally double cleansing.  The first cleanse takes the make up and the day's grim off your face and the second cleanse actually cleans your skin deeper than the surface.

I tend to stick with the creamy cleansers as you can normally use these on your eyes and I don't like to faff around with a separate eye make up remover when taking my make up off!

These are a few of the ones I have used and liked:

La Roche Posay Toleriane Dermo Cleanser (£11.00 - boots)
Garnier Clean and Fresh Cleansing Milk (£2.10 - boots)
Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (£14.75 (starter pack) - Liz Earle)
Good Thing Stay Clear Purifying Cleanser (£4.99 - superdrug)

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish is the most repurchased out of all the above.  I am on my 4 bottle!  It is a hot cloth cleanser and it really does take off all make up even stubborn waterproof mascara.  I know it is pretty expensive but it is definitely worth the money.

As part of my cleansing routine I have use a face brush at night.  I normally use this as the second cleanse as it penetrates deeper into the skin and it really does make your face feel clean and exfoliates at the same time.  You do have to be careful not to overuse a face brush as it can break capillaries, really dry your skin out and cause sensitivity, but when used correctly you do notice such a difference to your skin and I have to say I am addicted!

There are many brushes on the market but the most popular is the Clarisonic which is around £175 (QVC).  I have recently bought this brush and think it is amazing.  Rio does a cheaper version for around £48 (Amazon) which I think is just as good.  If both of those are out of your price range then Body shop do a great little hand held face brush for £4.00.  I normally use my normal face cleanser or face wash with my brush.

Serum:  Once you cleanse and your skin is slightly damp you use a serum.

Serum is really important, it is designed to penetrate deeper into the skin and does the job your moisturiser does not.

There are three main ingredients used in serums and that is (i) Hyaluronic acid, this helps reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, it also helps with retaining water in your skin keeping it looking hydrated; (ii) Vitamin C, this is used to brighten the skin and help with reducing the appearance of age spots and pigmentaiton; and (iii) Gylocolic Acid, this is used an exfoliant and I have used Alpha H Liquid Gold which is a Gylocolic Acid.  I tend to use it alone with no other moisturiser and at night only.

The good thing about a serum is you can use it with all skin type including oily/combination skin because even if you have oily skin your skin can still be dehydrated.

Here are a few Serum's I have used are:

Optimum Swiss Apple Skin Renewal Serum - (£9.99 - Superdrug)
Aveeno Positively Radiant Triple Boost Serum - (£11.99 - Boots)
Hydraluron - (£16.66 - Boots)
Green people Hydrating serum - (£11.95 - Greenpeople)
La-Roche Posay Effaclar Duo (£13.00 - Boots)

More recently, I have started using a Botanics Rose Face Oil instead of a serum at night.  I still put my moisturiser on top of the face oil as usual.

Moisturisers - face/eyes:

Eyes:  Again, your morning and evening is normally different as your skin needs different things in the morning than at night.

You should ALWAYS use an eyecream.  It does not matter what age you are, the sooner you get in to the habit of an eye cream the better.  Your eyes are so delicate and sensitive and are easily damaged, eye cream is the extra help it needs.  Normal face cream is not rich enough for your eyes so it is always best to use a separate eye cream.

Below is a mixture of eye creams I have used:

Green people rejuvenating eye cream (£9.50 - greenpeople)
Aveeno Positively radiant eye cream (£9.99 - boots)
No 7 Perfect and Protect eye cream (£15 - boots)
Ponds eye contour cream (£7.99- boots)
Superdrug Vitamin E SPF15 Radiance Eye Cream (£2.99 - Superdrug)

Face:  You should also use a moisturiser no matter what skin type you are.  Most people who suffer oily skin seem to think they do not need to moisturise, this is wrong!  Even oily skin need moisture.  The more you try to dry your skin out with harsh washing and lack of moisturiser the more sebum/oil your skin produces and if you are prone to acne/spots like myself (pre-roaccutane) then this will cause more breakouts as your pores will clog due to the excessive sebum being produced to make up for lack of moisture.

These are the face creams that I have repurchased time after time and have loved:

Nivea Visage Daily Essentials oil free moisturising cream. (£3.99 - boots)
Liz Earlie - skin repair light moisturiser (£19.95 - Liz Earle)
Boots skin clear oil free mattifying Lotion (£1.99 - boots)
Good Things Miracle Mattifier Lotion  (£5.33 - boots)
Oilatum Face Repair- (£7.65 - boots)

To be honest I have only been using night cream for the last couple of years and there is only one cream that I have used:

Nivea Daily Essentials Rich Regenerating Night Cream (£4.07 - Boots)

Tips for applying cream:

When putting on eye cream always start from the outside working in.  So you start at the outside lower eye working inwards towards your nose and move to the upper lid and work out....making sense?

When applying cream/serum on your face you should always use small cicular motions working in, up  and out on your cheeks.  on your forehead, you use circular motions from the the inner brow to the outer brow.  On your chin you use circular motions from middle of your chin out and the same with moisturising your nose.

I know this post was very text intensive but I do hope it has helped you.

Please remember I may have linked all products (none are affiliate links), I am not saying you need to go buy the products I have mentioned, they are just links for ease if you wanted to go and see the products for yourself.

I will see you same time next week.

Ciao for now xx

collective haul

Hola Dalimoo's,

So I am apparently on a spending ban and pursuing the aisles of the online Boots (I need a new eye cream...honest!) I bought some new skin care and decided to try Boots Botanics.

I bought (from top to bottom) Cleansing Balm (this comes with a face cloth, I haven't opened it yet so don't know whether I will be using the cloth it came with or my own. Ultra Calm Night Cream, Hydrating Day Cream, Hydrating Eye Cream and Ultra Calm Face Serum.  I think they are all reasonably priced and not something that will break the bank.  I am saving them until all my current skin care runs out which is pretty soon then I will be trying this lot!

After work this week I also popped into Superdrug, not for any reason but just to look!!!  I thought I was pretty restraint actually as I only purchased 4 things!

Apocaliptic

L-R:  Gold save the Queen, Pear drop and Disco Ball

Then the other night I came across a code that gives you 50% of E.L.F!  To be honest I think I just purchased because it was 50% off as the things I really want to try are all out of stock :o(!  I bought two lipsticks, 2 duo eyeshadows and two nail polishes.

L-R Misty Haze and Green Machine

Top to Bottom: Lip: Tea Rose and Coral
Eyes: Berry Mix and Olive

Anyway, that was all for this week! I am now off to sell my children to pay for my extravagances and may be I can keep to this ban for more than 2 weeks!

Speak to you all soon and ciao for now.

The #SOProject

Hola Dalimoo's,

As the title suggests I am one of the many bloggers taking part in the "Starting Out" Project, the brain child of the lovely @stephsvoice at stephsinsidevoice.  Basically the #SOProject is a series covering skincare right through to make up tools over a ten week period.  It is aimed at teens or people just "starting out" with make up and would like some advice or help along the way.

I really liked the idea of this because as a teen and a tween I did not have a clue about make up, cor the disasters I have had *oh god* anyway, looking back I really wished I had someone to guide me and having a daughter myself I would like to think that these posts would help her when she is old enough for make up!

The first post will be on Tuesday 27 August @ 6pm GMT time (UK) and every Tuesday thereafter for a further nine weeks.

To stay up to date with the ten weeks, why not follow me on here or on bloglovin or use the hashtag #SOProject on twitter?!

Anyway my lovelies I hope you enjoy the ride and see you soon.

Ciao for now xx

NOTD...

Hola Dalimoos,

I love experimenting with nail art, and I recently did this nail art after watching MissJenFabulous on YouTube, she does great nail art tutorials as well as beauty so would definitely say go over and have a butchers at her channel!

It was such an easy nail art to do.  If you do not have dotting tools just use a tooth-pic or even straighten a kirby grip (bobby pin) and use the top of that.  But if you do like doing art and would like to buy some for yourself then you can find them really cheaply on ebay.

I decided I would use the pastel theme for this nail design.  The varnishes I used were L-R: Barry M Mint Green, Barry M Blueberry Ice cream, Barry M Berry Ice cream, Barry M Strawberry Ice cream, Barry M Lemon Ice cream and OPI's Alpine Snow.

I painted all my fingers with OPI Alpine Snow.   

excuse the finishing I hadn't got my q-tip to the edges yet!

Then with the dotting tools I used two different sizes so the spots were various sizes and I used half of one colour on part of my nail and half of another and just blended the spots so there wasn't a harsh line. 

I hope I was able to explain myself properly and you are able to follow it.  But seriously it is so easy I think just looking at the pictures alone without my babble you would probably be able to do this yourself!!!

Anyway my lovelies, I hope you enjoyed the post and until next time....

ciao for now  xxx

Get ready with me....#1

Hola Dalimoo's,

Hope you are all well?

I thought I would do something out of my comfort zone and do a get ready with me post!  I am unsure whether these will be a regular post as I am not a "fashion" person really, I am someone that tends to be pretty boring in their clothing stakes and just wear what I like whether it is fashionable or not and I am by no means a make up artist and I just, again, go with what I like! but if you like it and you think they should be a regular thing then please comment below and let me know!

It was a casual day so I decided that shirt and jeans with boots was the calling of the day...

Jeans I can't remember where I bought them, Shirt and Chelsea Boots are both from Next

I didn't use that much make up as it was a casual day so it was a minimal make up day!

The make up of the day was my Bare Minerals foundation in Light, warm, eye brightener concealer and Mineral Veil.  Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium Barry M eyebrow gel, Baby Lips in Repair, Rimmel Lipstick in Nude Pink, Fashionista eyebrow kit, Look Blush in Pinch, Naked Palette and Max Factor eye brightening blue.

Before...

Please don't judge the tired eyes and sore lips...

 After...

Still don't judge the lazy/hooded eyes...

Excuse the eyebrows, I am trying to grow them out at the moment, apparently bushier (fuller) eyebrows make you look young and I am all for that!!!

 For my eyes I went quite natural, I used Virgin (on my inner corner to the middle of my eyelid), I then used Half Baked (2) on my outer corner to the middle and blended both colours together.  I used Smog (3) in my outer corner to deepen up the eyes and then used a mix of both Naked (4) and Buck (5) blend my crease, finally I used Dark horse (6) very slightly on my lash line on the top to thicken my lashes up.  I also used Half Baked and Smog mixed on a brush and put on below my lower lash line.  I didn't use a liner on my water line as I wanted to keep the look simple.

And, that was the look for the day.  OK...You are probably wondering where is the final picture with me showing the clothes off and my completed look?  Well, I just couldn't put that on.  My awkwardness is just awkward!  So cringy I just couldn't do it to myself.  So if I am to do more of these types of posts I will need to perfect the "blogger's stance" when having pictures taken for the OOTD!!  

So on this occasion please just imagine what it looked like at the end :O)

That is all for now my lovelies, until the next time.

Ciao for now xxx

NOTW...

Hola Dalimoo's,

As time goes on you will come to realise that nails are my weakness!  I love painting my nails and sometimes I play around with nail art!

So here is another short post of the nails I have been wearing this week - enjoy x

The start of the week I decided to go pastel and used Barry M mint ice cream and Barry M blueberry ice cream.  I had two statement nails but switched it up on both nails.









I felt quite patriotic when I chose this combination. I used the Barry M's limited edition in vintage red and Navy Blue.  Both colours together just remind me  of the GB flag!!










I do love Barry M nail polishes and I probably have more Barry M nail polishes in my collection than any other.  I personally find that their formulations are never the same and its very hit and miss for Barry M!


The last polish of the week is one I have only just purchased from MUA.  Is it me or are these polish bottles very similar to a certain other nail polish brand???  This is Amaretto Crush and is a nude-pink colour.  It is a very pretty creamy colour, it needed 3 coats to become opaque enough for me, but I did like it so much that I have just taken it off and re-done it!







Hope you enjoyed the post.  Let me know if you would like to see my Barry M collection in a future post?

Anyway ciao for now my lovelies...

What's in my bag...

What's in your bag?

Hola Dalimoo's,

I love reading these types of posts and watching these types of videos that I thought why not share with you all what is in my bag at the moment!  

OK, call me strange but I have two types of bags, I have my "work" bag and my "home" bag.  This is because when I am going to work I like to carry a lot of things but when I am at home, I am  normally pushing a pram so it just isn't practical carry a bit bag!  My "home" bag is normally a waist bag and I carry the bare minimum, i.e. lip balm, purse, oyster card, phone, keys and earphones. Now for the purpose of this post I will be showing you what is in my "work" bag...

I tend to change my bags up quite regularly as I get bored very quickly!  The bag of the moment is a black tote bag I got from ebay for £12.  One side is suede and the other is faux leather.  It has a gold zip and gold hardware.

Organsing at its best...

If you're like me and you constantly lose things in your bag then the organiser I got from ebay is a great addition!  I love this thing, it keeps things nice and orderly, everything has a home!   I also carry two make up bags, one with my make up and one with extra "things" I need.

In the red organiser I have three (yes three) notebooks; my purse; glasses cleaner; my kindle; a tub of chewing gums (you can never have enough chewing gum); as its been slightly "warm" in the UK at the moment I am carrying Impulse; my charm bracelet (which I was wearing at work and took it off as it was aggravating me) and my work pass. I do normally put my house keys and oyster card in the organiser but I hadn't put them back in my bag from coming home.

The things in my red organiser

In my pink make up bag (which I got from poundland) I keep my hemp hand cream from the Body Shop; hand sanitiser as I travel on the tube to work everyday.  I seem to like a lipstick/lip balm or two and this is what I am carrying at the moment (it changes all the time): Revlon lip butter in Wild watermelon; No7 factor 30 with shimmer lip balm; Palmers Coco Butter lip balm; Carmex lip balm; Lysine cold sore balm; Revlon Just Bitten in Darling and Nivea lip butter in Raspberry Rose.  

I have two travelo atomisers which have my two favourite perfumes of the moment in them, both by Britney Spears - Midnight Fantasy and Island Fantasy; another perfume tester - Dior J'Adore.   A foldable brush/comb, paracetamol tablets; a pad holder that I got from Glitzy Glam about 3 years ago and Bach's Rescue Remedy spray as I am an anxiety sufferer!

I carry both my reading/driving glasses and my sunglasses (which have my prescription)

Reading/driving glasses

Fendi Sunglasses

 Lastly, is my make up bag, surprisingly this is pretty boring!  I am not really someone that touches up during the day but there are some days the odd touch up is necessary!!

So to keep on the lip theme there is Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait; Revlon Just Bitten in Lovesick and a MAC Lipstick in Hue; MAC Mineralise skin finish in Medium; Collecton 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in 3 (Medium), Rimmel blusher in Pink Rose; Rimmel Lip Pencil in Eastend Snob; mirror; earbuds and my travel brushes.

So I hope you enjoyed my little post and I tag you all....Please leave me links to read what is in your bags.

ciao for now my lovelies