Thisrty skin saviours

    Sadly the warmer weather has left us and the cooler weather has started to creep in. I absolutely love this time of year but the change in weather can often dry my skin out which means taking a little bit of extra care. I've loved Soap and Glory for a long time. They have amazing body scrubs and moisturisers. For the Summer months I love the sugar crush scent as it is really fruity and zingy but when it starts to cool down I reach for the Breakfast scrub and Smoothie star body milk. They smell so good you could eat them!!    

The Breakfast scrub has just enough grit to feel like your getting rid of all the dead skin but doesn't feel too harsh like a lot of scrubs do. It has oats, almond and honey extracts and smells like maple syrup. I massage it into my skin using some exfoliating gloves and then rinse it off. I use this about twice a week and my skin always feels incredible after.    

I always follow up with the Smoothie star body milk after I've scrubbed, this helps to hydrate all the new skin. I use this every day in between to. It smells really similar to the Breakfast scrub which helps to make it last on the skin. It has a lovely consistency which doesn't feel too watery or too heavy. It really leaves my skin feeling soft and hydrated all day too.   Always make sure you read the packaging on Soap and Glory products. They make little jokes in the directions which I love!

Solid shampoo and conditioner

 

I'd heard about the Shampoo and conditioner bars from lush lots of times before and it wasn't something I'd ever thought about trying. For whatever reason I decided to pick one up recently and so far have really been ejoying it. I have the Honey I washed my hair shampoo bar. I'd tried the honey I washed the kids soap before and it's probably my faveourite scent from Lush. It's like sweet, honey, oaty goodness, why wouldnt't I want that in my hair! The guy in the shop told me it would last 60 washes, which is amazing!   It feels like using a bar of soap on your hair, you simply lather it up in your hands and massage it into your hair. It feels sqeaky clean after which I didn't like at first but thats's where the conditioner comes in. I have the Jungle conditioner bar which is scumtiously fruity and fresh. You use this in exactly the same way except focusing it on the ends of the hair. These paired together make my hair feel amazing. I trust Lush as a brand too because they use good quality, natuarl, anaimal friendly products. I'm pleased that I can use there products in more ways now.   Let me know if you used either of these products before and what other lush products I should try.

So I went on TV...

So remember that list of new year's resolutions I had, well I am doing pretty well at ticking them off. The thing I thought that would be most difficult was my random idea to go on a quiz show. It actually turned out to be surprisingly easy! Back in January I had planned to apply to as many quiz shows as I could but didn't really expect to hear anything back. I'd only got round to applying for a few before getting a very exciting voice mail off Two Tribes asking me to call back as they were interested in my application. Eeeek!   I called back the next day trying to sound as interesting and charming as possible! I also had to do a little practise quiz on the phone. I was awful, I literally got every question wrong and thought that would definitely be the end of my quizzing days but a few days later I got an email asking to arrange a skype audition. They would usually do a bigger audition with lots of people at this point but I was a little bit late in applying so got to do it over skype instead, a massive advantage in my opinion. I was really nervous for the skype audition, I hate speaking to people on skype any way and I knew there was going to be a second quiz too. I wore a bright top and tried to be really confident and chatty, the guy I spoke to was lovely which definitely helped. We had a nice chat about general things and then had another quiz, this one was a little bit better, there was definitely a question about Alton Towers that I got very excited about! After that I had to wait to see if I was short listed and then would have to wait after that to find out if I had got on the show. I got an email to say I'd been short listed shortly after but had to wait for quite a while after that to hear anything more. I just assumed I hadn't got any further but a few days after I heard back with the good news! Wahoo!!   I was asked to bring 5 outfits with me, the colour guidelines were very particular too. We had to arrive with our hair done but no makeup as we would get that done there. It was filmed at Elstree studios which are just out side of London so I travelled down the night before and stayed over. I read my quiz book all the way down and tried to cram as much knowledge into my head as I possibly could, not sure it did much good though.   The actual day of recording was quite long. We had an early start and quite a lot of waiting around but it was all very exciting. The other people on my episode were really nice and interesting, most of them had been on other quiz shows as well so knew what kind of thing to expect. Our outfits were sent to wardrobe, they chose what we would be wearing from what we had brought. We then got taken down to makeup which was great fun, they used air-brushing which I hadn't ever had done before.   When it came to go down to the show I was feeling really nervous but everyone who worked on the show were so nice. Richard Osman introduced himself before we started and he was so nice and friendly, we were told that he gets just as nervous as us before each show so not to worry. To be honest I was pretty rubbish during the quiz, I did know a few answers but got A LOT wrong. I managed to last a few rounds though which was more than I expected. I won't give too much away as you an still watch the show on iplayer (I'm episode 48) but i think it's all really funny and it was such a great experience.   One thing I have noticed is how many people have told me how rubbish I look on the episode. Since it aired I have been told I look short, fat, have too much make up, not enough make up, don't suit my hair and don't suit my lipstick. All these things have been said really casually like it wasn't insulting. It definitely is. Like most people, I criticise the way I look any way and definitely don't love what I look like either but it's something else to be told it by lots of other people, not cool guys! I would never normally say anything negative on here but it's something that's been bothering me. It's also made me realise how hard it must be for people who are constantly in the spot light!   I absolutely loved the whole experience and would definitely do another show if I was given the chance. I think I would probably do some more swatting up next time!!  

   

Back to school makeup

 

 

 

 

If any followers of my blog are currently enjoying there Summer holidays then I'm sorry to be the one to tell you but they're nearly over. As much as I used to love the Summer holidays I remember always getting excited for going back to school and that me and my sister would spend ages choosing new pencil cases and deciding how we would wear our hair. As we got a bit older makeup became part of this to, I definitely didn't wear a lot at school but I thought it would be nice to have a look at what I'd be wearing if I was going to school now.  

Face:

I used the Garnier BB cream instead of foundation as it's a lot lighter. When I was at school I definitely didn't need to wear a lot of foundation so something like this would have been perefct. I used the Bourjois maxi delight bronzer on all the high points of my face to add a bit of warmth and then used the Natural Collection blush in pink cloud on the apples of my cheeks.

 

Eyes:

I used the Natural Collection eye shadow due in Mocha/Latte on my eyes. These are so cheap but have a lovely velvet texture, these colours just give a bit of definition to the eyes. I then used the Bourjois 1 seconde mascara on my lashes. I used the Natural Collection clear mascara through my browns which is something I always used to do, these days I prefer to fill them in a bit more but this helps to keep them in shape.

 

Lips: I used the Body shop born lippy in raspberry on my lips.It helps to keep them nice and hydrated as well as giving a bit of a shine. All of the born lippys taste incredible as well.

 

This is definitley less makeup than I would wear now but back in my school days this would have been perfect. I may have added some eye liner too just to bring out my eyes a little bit more and I think carrying some powder with you to top up through the day would be a good idea too. Of course you really don't have to wear any at all if you don't want to but I know a little bit of makeup definitely helped with my confidence at school.

 

Hope you enjoyed today's post. Let me know if you try any of these products out.

Freckles

 

 

 

    Throughout the Summer I've seen lots of people come back from holidays in the sun looking tanned and freckly and quite frankly I'm jealous! I usually get a lot of freckles on holiday but haven't been away yet this year so I thought I'd have a go at some falsies. After I'd finished my usual makeup I used the Rimmel eyebrow pencil in hazel to dot some freckles over my nose, cheeks and forehead. They looked a little bit much to start with so I used my finger to pat them into my skin which made them look a lot more natural. I absolutely love how it looks and think I might start adding a few little freckles every day.

Summer favourites

 

 

Sadly I think that we may be getting near the end of summer so I thought it was time to round up a few products that I've been really enjoying using throughout the (sort of) warmer months. PS. the fact that the products are all bright and colourful makes me happy!

 

The weather tends to go a bit crazy in the summer months and that causes my skin to do the same so I've been using a few things to add a healthy summer glow. The Elemis pro-radiance illuminating flash balm is just a wonder product and I've been using it every day since I got it. It gives the nicest sheen to my skin and I feel like it evens out my complexion too. It makes a brilliant primer for under my make up but also looks nice just on it's own for more relaxed days.

I purchased the Body shop vitamin E over night serum in oil (why do products have such long names) after getting my mum one for her birthday and deciding I needed one for myself too. I know not everyone liked the feel of oil on there skin but I don't mind especially as it's an over night product. I find my skin often gets dehydrated and with that comes dehydration lines (eeek) I find that if I'm strict about using this every night they go away.

 

 

The Body Shop virgin mojito body splash, believe it or not, smells just like a virgin mojito and that, my friends, is a very good thing! It is delicious! In fact the whole range is! I used the shower gel up very quickly. Only risk is people thinking you've been on the cocktails first thing on a morning.

The Tropic instant glow tan is a relatively new discovery. I used to be a big fan of the Rimmel instant tan but haven't used it for a while. One of my friends works with Tropic and when she mentioned this new product I was really keen to give it a go. For a bit of extra glow when you haven't got a lot of spare time it's brilliant. There's absolutely no nasty fake tan, it actually smells really nice and isn't at all stickly or gloopy. A little goes a really long way, I can't imagine getting to the end of this bottle.

 

The Maybelline colour tattoo in on and on bronze has been raved about time and time again by just about every beauty blogger. I know I have definitely mentioned it on here on more than one occasion. It's brilliant for summer because it won't sweat off on the (rare) warmer days and gives a really pretty sheen to the eyes. I've been wearing this most days recently. The Bourjois healthy mix gel foundation has recently come back in to my life and I remembered how much I used to love it. I have this in dark beige which is way too dark for my natural skin tone but I've had a couple of spray tans recently and had to reach for a darker foundation from my collection and this was the perfect match. I love how easy it glides on to the skin and looks really fresh and dewy while still covering everything I want it to. It smells very fruity too which I know not everyone would like but I don't find it irritates my skin at all.   I hope you enjoyed today's post. Remember to keep checking back for more and follow me on facebook and instagram for more updates!