November Favourites

So its that time again, when the month ends and everyone is bombarded with monthly favourites. I know this is a massive cliché but where the hell has November gone? I am so excited for this month to end mind, as I really love Christmas and the whole run up to it, and now December is knocking on our door it has become socially acceptable to go out in my Christmas jumpers, eat myself into a chocolate coma and listen to Christmas songs on repeat.  Also I get to open my first door of my advent calendar tomorrow! eeek.

There are several things I have been loving this month, first being Batiste dry shampoo in Cherry as I hate washing my hair, and I am really lazy. This dry shampoo smells great and takes a lot less effort than shampooing, conditioning, blow drying and styling my hair does.

The next two things are skincare, the Origins Drink-up Intensive is a great mask for this time of year as it really helps to hydrate dry, sore and chapped skin that can be caused by the harsh winter weather. The next is Clearasil Anti-Blemish Treatment Cream, I tend to get a lot of hormonal spots and this cream helps to reduce the redness and tackle the size of the pimple fairly well, and is affordable and easily accessible.

I have also rediscovered MAC Charcoal Brown eye shadow, which I am currently loving applying under my eyes and also with a MAC liner brush on my lash line. This shadow really helps define my eyes, and gives a great smoky look.

Another two products I have rediscovered this month are both of the Lush products, the Popcorn lip scrub which tastes like a dream and makes my lips feel so soft, and also It Starts With a Kiss Lip Tint which gives me the perfect effortless red lip colour, which isn't to over powering and is easy to maintain throughout the day.

Finally my miscellaneous non beauty monthly favourites are my red slippers as they make me feel so Christmasy and happy. They were only about £2 from Primark and keep my feet so toasty and warm. I am also currently obsessed with Blogilates, I am halfway through her Beginners Month Calender and I am actually enjoying working out every day. She is so motivational and has such a healthy approach to fitness and nutrition. As far as TV shows go, this month I have literally spent all my free time watching Orange Is The New Black, and I am now up to date and have watched ever episode. It became a weird addiction of mine this month and I loved every second of every episode, I would highly recommend the show, unless you are younger than 16... then I would suggest maybe giving it a miss haha.

November has been a good month for me, and I hope December will be even better. What have you been loving this month? I would love to discover new products, tv shows and health/fitness products, videos est.


xox

Soap and Glory The Ultimelt Deep Purifying Hot Cloth Cleanser

Hot Cloth Cleansers are all the rage right now and this cleanser is used by one of my good friends who raves about it, so I thought I would give it ago and let you guys know my two cent. Over the last few years I have tried a fair few Hot Cloth Cleanser style cleansers, so I am not knew to this style of cleanser. This is actually my favourite way to remove all the dirt from the day off me face, so I was excited to use a new cleanser I hadn't tried before, to see how It compares with the others I have tried and tested.

This cleanser is packed full of essential oils such as orange, which is anti inflammatory thus great for pimples or any irritated skin issues , lavender which is very calming, as well as rose which helps reduce redness. This cleanser also contains sweet almond oil and coca seed butter oils to help lift all the dirt, make up and grim out of the pores. It is Paraben free as well, which is another great thing to add to the list for this product.

This is more of a cream cleanser than an oil, so it doesn't leave any residue on the skin like a oil/balm cleanser might, which means this may be less problematic for you if you have acne. It has a earthy/menthol scent which reminds me of the Liz Earl Hot Cloth Cleanser, as well as a similar white cream texture and consistency. The cleanser comes in a tube rather than a pump bottle or a jar like balm/oil cleansers usually do, meaning the product is easier to get out and to control the amount dispense, as well as keeping the cleanser clean an hygienic.

The cleanser is £10 and comes with a muslin cloth, it can easily be bought from Boots so is accessible to most people, and is a great cleanser for the price. I would recommend that this cleanser is pretty much great for anyone who has skin haha its not oily or drying so both of those skin types can benefit from the use of this product, and the ingredients don't seem like they would irritate those with fairly sensitive skin.  Its a win win product that is worth giving a try and stands up to my high expectations that new Hot Cloth Cleansers have to meet.


xox

Rimmel London Wonder'Full Mascara

Whenever I need a new mascara Rimmel is the brand I go to, they always have a wide rang of quirky mascaras, suitable for all your eyelash needs. This Wonder'Full mascara is no exception, It has the standard plastic bristle brush, which I know is a love hate for some people.  I'm personally a fan of the plastic spiky brushes, they just seem to really separate my lashes. But its not the brush that makes this mascara stand out, its the fact the mascaras formula contains Argan Oil. Now I don't know if I am just behind with the times, but I have never used a mascara that contains any form of oils to help condition the lashes, so when I spotted that this one does I had to give it a whorl.

I actually love this mascara, the formula is not waterproof, yet I find that it hardly flakes, if at all.  The brush helps to really define each lash, and make them look long and thick. The wand is also flexible so its easy to apply to every lash and doesn't make them look clumpy, which is always a pet hate of mine. Even if I apply several coats the lashes still look long and clump free. The wand is fairly big, but as its not rigid its easy to miniver so even if you have smaller eyes I'm sure you would get along with this fine.

This mascara retails at £7.99, which is pretty good for a mascara, and I think its worth every penny.

xox

Origins Mask Marvels Gift Set

Origins is a brand that for some reasons always draws me in, so when I spotted this gift set was on sale from £50 to £23, I couldn't just walk by. This set comes with three different Origin masks, first of which is the popular Drink Up intensive mask, then there is the Clear Improvement clay mask and also Out Of Trouble 10 Minute Mask. They are all 75ml and come in a nice presentation box which would make them great as a Christmas gift.

Out Of Trouble 10 Minute Mask

This mask is designed to fight any problems your skin  may throw at you, it has salicylic acid which is great for killing bacteria, removing dead skin cells and helping your skin look brighter and clearer. It also contains Zinc Oxide and Sulphur which helps with oil control as well as camphor which aids in calming down any skin redness or irritation.  This mask states its designed with more oily or blemish prone skin in mind, but It can be used by anyone who is experiencing any skin troubles.

Clear Improvement

A brilliant Charcoal and clay based mask that helps tackle any clogged pore issues that may be caused by things such as pollution, making this mask great for any city chicks...or city guys, it doesn't discriminate by gender.  It has the classic dark face mask colour and acts as a form of dirt magnet that sucks out all the grim from deep within your pores. Its the perfect mask for those who need a really deep clean and is suggested to be used roughly once a week for the best results.

Drink Up Intensive mask

This is a slightly different mask compared with the first two, this is a over night mask that you apply before bed and leave on over night. This might seem like a strange thing to do, as usually a mask will be rinsed off after about 10 minutes. This mask works well as during sleep the skin repairs itself, and products that are applied at night have a longer time to sink in and get to work. Now I don't claim to be a skin expert by any means, but this mask is great for those whose skin is dry, dehydrated or just looking dull. It contains Avocado oil as well as Apricot oil, that deeply hydrate and quench dry skin. As well as Japanese Seaweed to help prevent the skin from future dehydration. This product smells like apricot and goes on clear. 

This gift set is ideal as a present or just for someone who wants to test out these masks without committing to the full size products and the full size price range. 

Garnier Ultimate Blends Sleek Restorer

I have to admit, I have always been lazy with my hair and I tend to really neglect it. I try and do as little as I can on a day to day basis. I hardly ever wash it, I never use heat protector on it and I certainly don't bother to brush my hair. So over all my hair was in a really bad way before I had my most recent hair cut, and due to this I thought I would actually try and maintain it this time, so I popped in to good ol' Boots and picked up these Garnier Ulitmate Blends Sleek Restorer products.

The Sleek Restorer Shampoo

First of all I would like to mention this line of Garnier Ultimate Blends smells like coconut, which I love. They also contain Cocoa Butter which really helps to hydrate the hair and leave it looking soft, smooth and glossy. I have really dry and frizzy hair so I'm always on the hunt for products that can help tame the beast that is my locks ha. I like this shampoo because its light weight, which is good if you have wavy/curly hair because it wont weight it down. It also lathers really nicely, which I know means its just full of Sodium Lather Sulphate, but I like it when shampoos lather well because I feel like its really cleaning my hair, that might be a hair sin but old habits die hard.

The Sleek Restorer Conditioner

This again smells really coconutty, which is great. I know its not exactly a winter fragrance but its still a really nice scent.  This conditioner makes my hair feel soft and sleek, but more importantly for me, my hair looks healthy.

The Sleek Restorer The Sleek Perfecter Oil 

This Oil can be used in various way, before styling as a heat protector, after styling to help tame frizz and then before washing as a oil treatment, after washing as a leave in oil treatment and also whenever your hair needs a little pick me up. It helps smooth out my hair, making it easier to brush (when I actually do that), makes it looks more glossy and full of life and shine.

I am really loving this line of hair products right now, It feels like a real treat for my hair. For once my hair actually looks like I have made some kind of effort with it, but secretly I haven't really put any effort in at all, shhh don't tell anyone.

Empties

I have gone through a fair few products recently and there seems to be a running theme, skincare. I have somehow used up so many skincare products in the last months and I'm not even sure why. Having said that, I feel like my skin is defiantly improving, so I must be doing something right.

I'm going to just give a brief summary of the products, otherwise this blog post would be very long. So firstly the top row, which is cleansers, I love the Good Things Manuka Honey Cleanser, I have a full review of this item here. It is gentle and really effective. The Yet to Carrots cleanser on the other hand really burnt my eyes, so I didn't love that one so much. While finally the Neutrogina 2 in 1 cleansers is a product I have re bought several times, its a perfect cleansers/mask for when my skin is playing up, usually when its that time of the month, I think you know what I mean ladies. When my skin is spotty and out of control, I reach for this cleanser every time.

The next lot of products starts with the Eysilix Eye Cream, Its an okay product, nothing ground breaking. While Oatifix by Lush is a product I adore, Its always the face mask I purchase when I have 5 black pots that I am returning back to the store. It smells like breakfast and it makes my skin feel like a babies bum. I'm not sure if that's a winning combination or if its a very strange mix haha. Then the final product in that row is the Yes to Cucumber night cream. I have a full review of the product here, but in summary it was a nice and simple night cream that didn't feel to heavy and left my skin feeling soft.

Lastly are these three products I have used up the most recently, I love moisturisers and I always have one on the go, the Garnier intensive 7 days lotion is one of my favourite daily moisturisers, it leaves my skin feeling soft and really hydrated the whole day. The next empty is the Boots Botanics cleansing balm, this is a very simple, affordable, no fuss cleansing balm. It comes with a muslin cloth as well which is great and really helps to get all the dirt of my face at the end of the day. Lastly is PhytoKeratine repairing serum, I bought this from Sephora in New york and loved it. I have a full blog post of this product here, I am so sad this product is now empty.

So basically this is my beauty life over the last month, the shoperholic in me loves using up products because I get to buy new ones, yay ;P

Flamingo Candles

If I'm being honest, Flamingo Candles are a totally new brand to me, which is weird as they are made in South Wales....where I live haha. I heard about these candles through a Twitter post, and they intrigued me enough to looked into them and I fell insistently in love. The funky packaging really drew me in, I love the jars, the design, and the fact they come with a screw on lid. Unlike Yankee candles which have the stopper style lid that I always forget about, and I then end up dropping my candle on my hand due to it falling off, ouch.

Flamingo Candles are some of the quirkiest looking candles I have owned, they look so nice in pretty much every room in my house, and they come in a large range of fragrances. These candles are even more unique as they are made with Soybeans and cotton wicks, and they are non toxic and clean burning candles. Which makes them a lot safer for us to breath in, and are kinder to the environment, which is always a plus.

 As soon as I found these candles online I placed an order for two jar candles. The first of which was Macaroon and Almond High Tea, the cream coloured candle in the photo. Then I stumbled across Cheesecake Crunch, the purple candle, and I could not say no. Anyone that knows me will know I love, no I adore cheesecake, so a candle that says it smells like cheesecake couldn't be passed up.  I know sweet smells are defiantly not for everyone, and this brand defiantly doesn't just stop at sweet smelling candles. They have a wide rang and variety of all different fragrances, from White tea and Mint, Oriental Rose and Lotus, to Mulled wine, which would be great for the Christmas season.

The website states these candles can burn for up to 50 hours, and only cost £12. They also do Scent Melts, for those of you who prefer to scent your home that way, and they have an option of buying gift cards, which would be great as a Christmas gift.   

I really suggest that you check these candles out, I love burning candles during the winter and these are definably in my top picks.

Nip + Fab Freeze, Blur and Smooth Your Wrinkles.

I can't lie to you guys, the only reason I bought this product is because I saw Kylie Jenner post a photo of the Wrinkle Fix on her Instagram. So I thought If it was good enough for her, its good enough for me. I am a secret Kardashian clan fan, I cant help it, so when I spotted this set on Sale in Boots I had to buy it. 

The Viper Venom line is a new rang of Nip + Fab products, aimed at reducing fine lines and wrinkles. This set contains the Eye Fix and the Wrinkle Fix face serum. The Eye fix contains Liftonin to help smooth out wrinkles and Red Algae to target dark circles. While the Wrinkle Fix serum has 'Wrinkle Blur Technology' to mask the appearance of fine lines. 

This set is currently on offer for £16.63 in Boots, from £24.95. So its a great time to buy these two products if you have been eyeing them up for a while.