September favourites

It hardly feels like September has passed, what with this glorious HOT weather we're having at the moment, but here are my five favourites for last month:-

(1) Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment - The ends/lengths of my hair often can feel quite dry so I'm a bit of a hair oil fiend. Macadamia Oil is virtually the same as Moroccan Oil in terms of them both being an amazing treatment for the hair and helping to repair damage. The only difference I can find between the two is that Moroccan Oil smells slightly stronger than Macadamia Oil (both smell quite similar anyway), but it really is just a tiny difference. I received this 10ml sample bottle in my Boudoir Prive box and I simply love it!

(2) Myface Mymix Foundation - I've been using this quite a bit this month, review and swatches here.

(3) Tropic Skincare Body Smooth Refreshing Polish - Another lovely new favourite that Boudoir Prive have introduced me to. I'm going to have to save up to get a full size pot of this! Mentioned in my monthly empties.

(4) Zoya nail polish in Jem - Boudoir Prive have really impressed me, this is my third new favourite item from this month's box. I've been wearing this ever since I received it. NOTD here.

(5) Barry M nail polish in 292 Navy - Probably my go-to Barry M favourite for autumn colours, I never get bored of this. Used as the base for my galaxy nails here.

What are your monthly beauty favourites?

Read more

September empties

My monthly empties showcases all of the beauty products that I have managed to use up and finish that month. This is mainly to reflect on what products I liked or didn't like and whether I would purchase them again. I also find it helpful in that it reminds me of what I already have and what I don't need more of and vice versa. So this month, I've used:-





- The Body Shop Coconut Shower Cream - a super creamy soap-free body wash with organic virgin coconut oil. I've been using this particular product for years and find that a little goes a long way so it's taken me a while to use this bottle up! Repurchase? Yes. In fact, I already have one from the gift set that I won in a charity raffle.

- Superdrug Revitalising Foot and Leg Spray - This has been a summer staple for cooling down and refreshing tired feet. Bought it last summer and finally used it all up. Repurchase? Yes.

- The Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector - another product that has lasted me a while. Reviewed it here. Repurchase? Maybe. I want to try out some different hand creams at the moment.

- Clinique Liquid Facial Soap - so glad that I got this as a travel size version from Glamour magazine because it really didn't suit my skin. Despite it claiming to be 'non-drying', I found it incredibly drying for my oily/combination skin. Repurchase? No.

- Boots Botanics (81%) Organic Moisturising Eye Cream - bought this randomly to try out when it was in a 3 for 2 offer. It's OK, nothing amazing. Repurchase? Probably not.





- Lush Creme Anglaise Hand and Body Lotion - a sample tin I impulsively picked up in my last Lush haul. Another OK product for me, I like it, but not enough to justify spending £25 on a full size pot. Repurchase? No.

- Tropic Body Smooth Refreshing Polish - this is just amazing! Seriously, I was so happy to get this to try out in my Boudoir Prive box. It smells absolutely gorgeous, a strong citrusy scent that lingers afterwards. Although it was advertised by BP as a hand scrub, I used it as a body scrub and it left my skin wonderfully soft. Repurchase? Yes!

- Barry M Super Shiny Lip Gloss - another magazine freebie that I've been using pretty constantly throughout summer. Repurchase? No. It's a great lip gloss but I prefer Barry M's lip wands to this as they're longer lasting.

- Clinique High Impact Mascara - yep, another mag freebie! I do like this a lot but I think I like my bareMinerals one more. Repurchase? Maybe.





- Mai Couture Blot and Bronze sheets - an extra in my Boudoir Prive box, I'd had high hopes for this but was left disappointed. It didn't blot very well at all, and just left a patchy shimmer on my face. Repurchase? No.

- Dead Sea Spa Magik Salt Brushing - from my Glossy Box, I was also exicted to try this out but was left a little disappointed. It's a good scrub but I wasn't all that keen on the scent. Might just be me but I was expecting a yummy uplifting citrusy scent and instead got a whiff of something akin to watered down furniture polish. Repurchase? No.





- John Frieda Weather Works Style Sealant Creme - this had zero effect on my hair, other than leaving a slightly heavy residue on it and smelling a little like glue. Repurchase? No.

- Aesop Aromatique Body Balm - received in a swap package, I love this! Smells wonderfully citrusy (like grapefruit!) and hydrated my skin nicely after a shower. A brand I'll definitely be looking into. Repurchase? Yes.

- Nivea Young Mild Exfoliating Scrub - I'm not sure what's in this, but it broke me out straight away! Would not recommend for sensitive skin (or any skin for that matter). Repurchase? No!






- Lush Honey I Washed The Kids - one of my all time favourite soaps from Lush, smells amazing and is really gentle on the skin. I mainly use it as a hand soap. Repurchase? Yes.

- Lush Buffy Body Butter - these solid body butters are so good for using in the shower (away from the water to apply and then getting under again to rinse). A great exfoliator which leaves skin soft and supple afterwards. Repurchase? Yes.

Read more

September Book List

A recap of books I have read this month:-

Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk - Seriously weird and disturbing book! Took me a little while to get into the story but I soon found myself completely in love with it. Must make a note to purchase more of Palahniuk's novels. Eating Myself by Candida Crewe - OK eating disorder memoir but the writing is very hit and miss. Dancing in the Shadows of Love by Judy Croome - A clever interwoven tale of three inspiring women who overcome their troubled pasts to find peace and love. I wasn't sure whether I was going to like it at first but find myself enjoying it. This was yet another Goodreads win too!

Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder - As a philosophy geek, I naturally adored this. If you're after an introduction to philosophy then this would be a good start. It by Stephen King - Finally, finally got around to reading this! Enjoyed it a lot (clowns are scary!), so happy to read good King again, even if it did take me about two months to finish. One Day by David Nicholls - The romance bestseller du jour, I absolutely loved this. Completely wasn't expecting it to be this good but it's witty and well written. Recommended. I also seem to be one of the few women left on the planet who hasn't seen the film yet.


The Woman In Black by Susan Hill - Classic short ghost story to get a head start on Halloween reading with. Spooky and suspenseful, written in a similar way to Dracula. A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway - First Hemingway book I've read and I wasn't that keen on the writing style to be honest. I thought that there would be a lot more description about the war and it was difficult for me to get into the story properly. Playground: A Childhood Lost in the Playboy Mansion by Jennifer Saginor - Silly trashy read but 95% of it doesn't actually have anything to do with the Playboy mansion!

The Drowning Pool by Syd Moore - Another Goodreads win, this one is a great Halloween read, part ghost story, part historical fiction (about Essex witches) and part mystery. The first quarter of it is especially scary! Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - Fantastic story of two teenage boys who experience what happens when a dark and truly wicked carnival comes to their small town. A great mix of horror and fantasy with a quick to read prose that often implies the question of 'Is this all really happening or am I just dreaming?'. Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith - A fast-paced thriller set in the terrifying world of 50s Stalinist Russia. The State projects itself as having the 'perfect society' through its draconian regime, but a series of unexplained murders prompts serious debate on this so called utopia. Scary stuff.

For more books & short reviews, follow me on Goodreads. You can also find me sending out books for free via BookMooch.

Have you read any good books lately?

Read more

The Body Shop Carbon Eye Definer

I generally find that The Body Shop is very hit and miss with its make-up collection, their eyeliner pencils in particular are rather crappy in my opinion. I received their Carbon Eye Definer several months ago as a freebie with some online purchases. I wasn't all that excited to try it out so it got shoved to the back of a make-up drawer. Found it recently and thought that I'd finally test it.

The Carbon Eye Definer is a simple black eyeliner pencil at one end and has a built in smudger tip at the other end to create a sexy smokey eye.



It swatches a better black than their regular eye liners and the second swatch shows it smudged out with the end tip. I wasn't all that impressed by the fact that it smudged by itself into a big old mess within a few hours and started to faded quite quickly. Not something that I would recommend purchasing for the £9 price tag!

Read more