May '14 Empties

Another month and another round of empties! Although I've not blogged a great deal recently, I have been saving everything up still, much to the annoyance of the boy! This round of empties is very bath centred, I don't know why, I've just been using up a lot of products.

This month, I've used up:

- Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Cream - This is not love, more of a like but wouldn't rush out to buy again. It worked for a while but then left my hair feeling heavy and greasy - wouldn't recommend this really.

- Nip & Fab Body Wash - From a gift set ages ago, this was actually used up as a bubble bath as it didn't work great as a body wash, it made some fab bubbles and worked best this way.

- Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant - I loved this, this was a sample from a Glossybox and one that I adore - I used this twice a week to really clear out my skin, getting rid of dead skin cells - I reviewed this here and I still love it, but I might try the Indeed Labs version next.

- Nivera Stress Protect - Its a deodorant, nothing special but a good one. Doesn't irritate my skin and lasts well, certainly helped me get through the stresses of school.

- Trevor Sorbie Beautifully Straight Shampoo - This was in a gift set from a child in my class many moons a go and I thought I would give it a whirl. Not a bad little shampoo, does help some of the frizz my natural waves have but its not beautifully straight, I would use it again if I needed to.

-Miss Next Body Wash - Another bodywash from a gift set, I fear my class try to tell me something! This was in my gym bag. A nice little body wash, a nice scent, a nice little bottle - could I say nice any more times!

- Pomegranate Body Butter - I received this in a blog swap from Cyprus and fell in love with the scent. A lovely creamy body butter, even the boy stole it!

- Elemish FreshSkin Matte Clear moisturiser - another sample from a box, I started using this as a night time moisturiser, more to use it up, plus it doesn't have SPF in it so I wasn't wasting it - a nice product but not enough moisture for my skin.

So there we have it, another round of empties for another month - what bits have you used up this month? xx

Home - Want vs Need

We've had the keys to the house for 2 months now, its been a really busy past couple months what with sorting everything out, unpacking and starting to decorate, but more on that later!

So, you've made the decision to either rent or buy your own place - before you go off pinning your dream kitchen you need to think carefully about what you want vs what you need. 

The first thing you need to decide on are your essentials, what are the most important things you need, the obvious bits are a kitchen, a room to wash in as well as a room to sleep in and one to relax in. Talk to people around you, what is it that they find important. For me, it was important that there was a lot of natural light, I wanted to be in the kitchen and be able to look out onto something rather then be in a dark room. You also need to decide on what type of property you want, are you after an older building that you don't mind doing work on, do you want new build, house or flat? 

Once you've settled on that, you can start to look at other aspects that are important to you - do you want on or off street parking? Is a garden something you want or can you live without it? A spare bedroom, somewhere to store the many shoes you own? These things are things you would prefer but are not essentials to you, things that you can compromise on but can live without in the long run, its easier to do this when your renting, not so much buying but its something to take into consideration.

Finally, your lists of wants - things like fire places, bay windows, period features, styles of decoration - this is your Pinterest list of dreams, they are not essential but in an ideal world you could have them - as long as you know where they come on your list then that's OK.

Finally, the best bit - get looking, searching the papers, online and just drive around the area you would like to be in, you will find something you want.

I hope this has been helpful, next time I will be talking budgets so let me know any questions you might have!

What would you have on your dream house list? xx

Review - Super Facialist Vitamin C+ Dark Circles Eye Cream

Boots - £12.99

Skin care is not my forte, I've been trying to get into a routine for years and start off with good intentions before forgetting and getting lazy. But with summer coming up fast (hopefully!) I've been trying to get into a routine again, picking up some old favourites as well as adding in some new ones.

I've never really been one for eye creams, passing them off as something I don't really need, but now being almost to my 26th & a half birthday, I'm noticing my skin is not so smooth any more - those little wrinkles are starting to appear and as I tend to wear my thoughts and feelings on my face, I need to try and slow them down, coupled with some recently very late nights due to report writing, my dark circles are enough to scare away my class!

Step forward Super Facialist by Una Brenna Vitamin C+ Brighten Dark Circles Eye Cream - the product with the longest name in the world! Designed to brighten and correct dark circles whilst hydrating, Vitamin C+ does what it says on the tin. I'm not blown away by it, it’s not amazing but for the price it’s pretty good.

I apply a small dot morning and night, patting in with my ring finger so as to not cause any more wrinkles, this leaves my eye area hydrated and less lined. Frustratingly it doesn't last all day so often have to use a moisturising concealer on top, but I would do this anyway. As for dark circles, over time they are less noticeable, only when I'm up very late or drink too much tea but this has made some impact.

Make up sits well on top of it, nothing slides which is a plus as I often end up with panda eyes at some point in the day. The tube is a handy size, nice and hygienic so you don’t use too much or get it all messed up, plus it seems to last for ages, another benefit of a nicely priced product.

Overall, it Vitamin C+ is a good product, for £12.99 it would suit most people however it's just not quite what I want or need so the hunt shall continue! 

Let me know your recommendations for Eye Creams xx

Review - May Glossybox - Happy Birthday Superdrug!!

Having been a rubbish blogger in recent weeks, I thought it was about time that I got back on the proverbial blogging horse. I've felt really un-inspired by beauty recently, there hasn't been a lot that has made me want to blog, instead choosing to sort out the house and garden. However that all changed when I received this month’s Glossybox.

I know a lot of people have gone of Glossybox, but I think this one will make people think again. May's box is in collaboration with Superdrug, celebrating their 50th Birthday. The box is a great design, with a big 50 across the front; it feels like opening a present to yourself - which I guess it kinda is!

Inside you get the Glossy Magazine with the gorgeous Lucy Mecklenburgh on the front in Sixties makeup. I'm not a TOWIE fan, but she is gorgeous so well work a read. As well as the magazine, you get your products. This month I got 5 full size products! I had heard there were 3 but to get 5 was a mega bonus!

All of them are high-street favourites; some couldn’t have come at a better time now the weather is getting warmer.

In my box, I received:

- Scholl Velvet Smooth Night Mask for feet

- Collection Bronze Glow

- B. Sheer Conditioning Lipstick

- Schwarzkopf Crystal Shine Conditioner

- Max Factor Facefinity All Day Primer

- Garnier Oil Beauty Lotion (Sample)

- Ghost Eclipse Fragrance (Sample)

My box is worth £33.95, well worth the money this month, plus full of products which I would normally ignore for other brands, so it will be nice to try them out.

You can get your box here.

What do you think of this month’s box? Xx

A Quick Update...Again

Hi all, just thought I would give you a quick update of where I've been as it’s been a while since I actually managed to post anything on here.

So the last couple of weeks have been pretty hectic. As we've recently moved, the priority has been getting the house sorted as well as juggling school. We're nearly all unpacked now and have started on the decorating. We initially focused on the garden whilst the weather has been good, and have now moved onto the inside, starting on the hallway - decorating requires more time then you realise!

As well as this, at school we ended up being inspected by OFSTED the first week back. Thankfully that all went well, we were prepared for it but you never know with these things. Having seen the school go down to a Notice to Improve (not good) 3yrs ago and then come back up has been great, it has been a real challenge, but I shall talk more about that soon.

The last thing keeping me away from here has been SATs. Being a Y6 teacher is a massive stress, but also really rewarding. I know that every single child in my class was as prepared as they could be, I spent many extra hours working with them, both in the classroom and on our class blog. Now those are out the way, we have 8 weeks of school left to help them prepare for Secondary School, I'm really not looking forward to them leaving as I adore my class.

So that's where I've been. Normal service will slowly resume, however it may take some time as I need to re-learn to juggle work and this again!

What have you been up to? xx