As you can see I didn't buy that much, which for me is quite impressive but I did get some right bargains! Starting with the Topshop Platforms, oh my god I have had my eye on these for ages and I was gutted when I saw them go into the sale with only size 8 and 9 left, but I popped into Topshop at Merry Hill yesterday and they had about four pairs of size 6's.. you can imagine my excitement and they were reduced to £40 from £55 so if you've got your eye on these head down to your local Topshop!

Sticking with shoes onto the Primark Gladiator Sandals. I wanted to get some cheapy sandals and Primark seemed like the best bet for this and I was right, you wouldn't believe these were from Primark would you?! They stock these in three colours, black, tan and white which is the colour I picked up as the tan were practically all gone, but for £12 i'm really pleased with these.

Next is this beautiful Primark Purse which I spotted whilst I was browsing the bags and accessories which looked just like River Island purses so I snapped up one of those quickly as i've been needing a new purse for a while and for £5 I thought that was a bargain!

Finally I was browsing the Topshop Makeup as my local Topshop doesn't stock that much of the makeup range and I noticed that the Sunbeam Highlighter was priced at £6 and I know it's priced at £10 online so that inclined me to pick it up and I have been wanting it for a while, so I will be reviewing that for you all soonish.

Did you make any payday splurges yesterday?

I first purchased Nars 'Luster' Blush back in February taking full advantage of the ASOS 20% student discount offer they had on at the time and I honestly have not regretted my purchase! 

'Luster' is a really pretty orange peach powder blush with a slight bronze shimmer to it, which I would describe as more of a bronzer shade rather than a blusher which is exactly what I was going for as I tend to prefer bronzier shades as I blush naturally anyway so I try to steer clear of anything that will exaggerate my rosy cheeks. It adds a really nice bronzed glow to my cheeks with a slight hint of shimmer that looks really natural and helps to define my cheekbones really nicely. I use this everyday as part of my daily makeup routine normally using my Real Techniques Blush Brush (review here) to apply this to my cheeks which helps to give a really even finish. As you can see it hardly looks like I have used this blush so I know it's going to last me a really decent amount of time showing me it was totally worth splurging on.

Have you tried any of the Nars blushers?

I know you're probably sick of seeing these kind of posts, but I honestly do not want to lose any of you wonderful readers when Google Reader does eventually disappear so I wanted to let you all know where else you can keep up to date with my blog.

Just like everyone else I to am very confused as to what is happening when Google Reader ends this coming Monday, but there is a potential that I will lose all you lovely readers so here is where else you can find and keep up with my blog.

BLOGLOVIN' -

The most obvious place of course is Bloglovin', which is basically in my eyes replacing Google Reader. I personally prefer using Bloglovin' as it is easier to use and looks a lot more appealing to the eye. They've also made it so simple to import all of the blogs you follow on Google Reader to your Bloglovin' account which literally takes seconds! You can follow my Bloglovin' here.

TWITTER -

If you already follow me on Twitter you will know that I tweet whenever I have blogged and do a few more times throughout the day incase you missed my earlier tweets. I find it so easy to share with you all through the #bbloggers tag and especially as I am a twitter addict! You can follow my Twitter here.

INSTAGRAM -

I do sometimes post on my Instagram when i've blogged, not always but I think i'm gonna start to as i've noticed a lot of you have started following my Instagram. Like Twitter I also love love love Instagram, if you already follow me I post photos of mainly food, my pets, make-up and myself you've gotta love a cheeky selfie ha! You can follow my Instagram here.

FACEBOOK
I have also recently created a Facebook where I also post links to pretty much all of my blog post's, just as another way to reach you guys. You can 'like' the page here.

FOLLOW BY EMAIL -

I have also recently added the option to follow my blog by email which will update you whenever I have posted on my blog. You can follow by email in the sidebar just below my social media links.

The first Topshop lipstick in question is the shade 'Innocent' which is a really pretty pink shade which I was a little skeptical about when I first chose this shade as I don't normally tend to wear light pink shades as they wash me out but this similar to the MAC 'Please Me' lipstick (review here) suits my skin tone really well and is just pink enough to not wash me out. This shade has a velvet finish to it and is slightly more creamy which I prefer compared to 'Please Me' as it doesn't dry my lips out as much and it lasts really well throughout the day.

The second Topshop lipstick is the shade 'Beguiled' which is a deep plum red shade which was where my obsession for deep plum lipsticks started, I blame you Topshop! I really love this shade as it warms up my skin tone and adds some colour to my very minimal everyday makeup look. This shade has a satin matte finish to it which I do prefer to matte finishes but I do find this lipstick to be quite drying but not as drying as my matte finish lipsticks.

Overall I really am impressed with these two Topshop lipsticks and I have my eye on plenty more shades which I may treat myself to sometime soon. For £8 per lipstick you really can't complain as there are plenty of shades available and a little secret for you all, Topshop Make-up is said to be made by the same company as MAC.. I bet you didn't know that!

Have you tried out any of the Topshop lipsticks?

As some of you probably saw, I recently received the Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray in my Selfridges Summer Beauty Box (review here) which was one of the main reasons why I ordered it as i've been wanting to try out this surf spray for such a long time. This surf spray contains a number of ingredients including sea kelp extract designed to achieve sexy sun dried and windswept styles which works best on curly/wavy hair but is designed for all hair types.

I've been using this surf spray on and off for the past couple of weeks, mainly when my hair is dry focusing on the mid to lower sections of my hair and scrunching in an upwards direction to add some texture and definition to my hairs natural waves. I find the application of this product to be really precise and each spritz of this covers a really good amount of my hair so I can see this 50ml sample lasting me a really good amount of time. I love what this product does for my hair, it gives my hair a really nice amount of texture and leaves it feeling like i've just come off the beach with a nice beach like scent to my hair.

Have you tried the Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray or Surf range?

Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - Boots (£8), Soap&Glory Sugar Crush Body Wash - Boots (£6.50), Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner - Boots (£4.99)

For a long time now the Sugar Crush Body Scrub by Soap&Glory has been apart of my shower routine. I use this mainly on my arms and legs to get my skin feeling and looking smooth especially if i'm planning on shaving my legs, it just really helps to remove any dry skin and it leaves my skin smelling amazing. 

Following on from the scrub, the Sugar Crush Body Wash also by Soap&Glory has been a part of my shower time routine for a while now. I use this literally every time I have a shower, applying a few pumps to my hands and lathering it up all over my body, it leaves my skin feeling so clean and smelling so refreshed with a nice hint of lime scent to my skin that lingers all day.

The third and final product that is an essential for me is the 3 Minute Miracle Deep Conditioner by Aussie. The one I use is the reconstructor formula for damaged hair and I use this two-three times a week as an alternative to a conditioning mask as I find my hair can get greasy very easily and quickly when using those. Applying this to the lower ends of my hair and leaving for 3 minutes leaves my hair feeling so smooth and nourished with a lovely scent that I really can't try to describe but it is really nice.

What are your shower/bath essentials? 

The Real Techniques Blush Brush is within the finish collection of brushes by Samantha Chapman and this is the second brush from the finish collection that I own. This blush brush is designed to give a flawless high definition finish to your cheek bones and can be used to apply not only blush and bronzer but to also contour and shade to help define your cheek bones.

 I purchased this brush a few months back now when a bunch of these brushes were reduced on Amazon, I think I picked this up for around £6 which is pretty good seeing as this brush is normally around £10. I use this brush everyday as part of my daily makeup routine to apply either my blush or bronzer depending on what I decided to use on the day. I find the soft rounded shape to this brush really helps when applying my blush/bronzer and really helps to get a nice even finish to my cheeks. I also use this sometimes for contouring if i'm in a bit of a rush and I can't be bothered to find my Real Techniques Contour Brush (review here) or I when I want the contour to be a little more defined. 

Overall I really like this brush as it has become a staple brush within my Real Techniques Brush collection (which I think I may do a little post about soon if you guys want to see that? Let me know) and for the price you can't really moan all that much.

xx

Please make sure you're following me on BlogLovin' as I don't want to lose any of you lovely readers when GFC finally goes!

'Apocaliptic' is a bright plum/pink shade which as i've already mentioned is my favourite shade out of the few that I own, especially as I tend to opt for a pinky plum colour on my lips as I find it warms up my pale skin tone really well especially in the colder months. This shade is actually a brighter colour than I would normally opt for but I find it's really pretty especially for summer and it adds a nice pop of colour to my very neutral daily makeup look. I find that the lip lacquers have a really nice finish which to me seems like a satin type of finish, but I do find these can dry out after a few hours which can easily be sorted by applying another coat to my lips. Overall these lip lacquers last really well throughout the day and I only need to reapply a couple of times as the day goes on. Available in a wide range of colours and for £5.99 you can't really complain.

Have you tried out the Rimmel Apocalips range?

xx

Please make sure you're following me on BlogLovin' as I don't want to lose any of you lovely readers when GFC finally goes!

The Models Own 'Bubblegum' from their Neon Ice Collection is a perfect pick when it comes to adding a bright splash of neon pink, especially with neon being a huge trend at the moment it allows me to channel this without it being too in your face. As always the Topshop 'Easy Breezy' (review here) is always one I opt for a lot during the warmer months as it adds a subtle pop of colour to my nails that I really like as I don't tend to wear green nail varnishes all that often and it is somewhat different take on the pastel nail trend we always see throughout the summer months.
My favourite nail varnish ever as you all are fully aware is the Revlon 'Charming', which is a beautiful pastel lilac nail varnish that will always be one of my go to nail varnishes for the summer as we all know pastel nails become the craze in summer and I found this to be the perfect pastel shade for me. I was rocking it all last summer. Staying with the pastel nail varnishes, the Rimmel 'Sweet as Sugar' from their I Love Lasting Finish Range is another one of my favourite nail varnishes, this really pale pastel almost white shade with a tint of blue is really pretty and makes me feel really girly, i'm not sure why though.
Last but not least is my my newest nail varnish, the Sinful Colors 'Island Coral' (review here) which is a really pretty orangey coral shade, different to the normal coral shades we see everywhere. I'm really loving this shade at the moment as I seem to opting for it more over my other nail varnishes as it's an easy way to add a nice pop of colour to my outfits.

What nail varnishes are you opting for this summer?

St. Tropez Instant Glow Face Lotion 50ml - Boots (£6.86)  , Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion - Boots (£3.57)

I start off by preparing my skin as we all know you can't just whack on the fake tan and expect it to look flawless without a bit of attention to our skin before hand. This is where exfoliating comes into it as it is the most important thing to do when it comes to fake tanning. I use an exfoliating glove which I picked up from Primark last summer, which helps to remove any dry skin and leaves my skin feeling really soft and smooth looking. I next give my legs a good shave using a standard cheapo razor to make sure my legs are silky smooth and hair free. At this point i'm normally ready to apply my fake tan, as I use a moisturising fake tan I don't need to moisturise my skin, I use the Garnier Summerbody Moisturising Lotion and apply it like a normal moisturiser all over my body leaving it to soak in for around 15 minutes before getting dressed. As this is a gradual tanner I normally start to see results around 12 hours later, so I normally apply this at night time so when I wake up the next day it's developed giving me a nice even and non streak bronzed glow. As I tend not to apply this to my face I opt for the St. Tropez Instant Glow Face Lotion which I apply to my face making sure to rub it in quickly and evenly as this does tend to dry quite fast but it leaves my face with a nice summer glow which is quite easy to remove at the end of the day as it's a wash off fake tan.

I hope you're all well and are enjoying some of this nice weather we are having seeing as our summer will be over before we know it here in the UK!

Overall i'm really pleased with the results, although it is a little darker than I had originally hoped i'm really happy with it. It has completely covered up my ombre and I no longer have ginger roots showing through, yay! My hair isn't patchy at all which I find is always the worst part of hair colouring especially when you have no help like myself, but after dyeing my hair for over 3 years i've kind of got the hang of it.

If you're looking to dye your hair at home then I would highly suggest you take a look at Nice'nEasy, they have a massive variety of shades for all hair colours, 54 to be exact and not to mention they are super cheap especially for a hair dye that works as well as it does. As I recolour my roots every 3-4 weeks, I cannot comment on whether it lasts the 8 weeks it is said to but I have never been disappointed!

So what do you think of my new hair?

Hope you're all well and have enjoyed the weekend, i'm not looking forward to the hectic week at work next week but I will hopefully post a few times for you guys!

I don't use this product everyday, only on the days I feel my skin needs a little pick me up by spraying once or twice lightly over my face to give a nice mist to my skin mainly before applying my makeup but I do also mist this over my face during the day if I feel that my skin is feeling dry or tight.

 I find this really nice and light on the skin, especially as I didn't get any water droplets on my skin and I didn't have to wait ages for it to soak in. I did feel somewhat refreshed when spraying this onto my face, as it is a very light and cool mist which I do sometimes find myself applying a few times a day especially on warmer days. I did find that I had a small breakout when using this product, but I cannot say if this product caused this as it may not have.. you know what us girls skin can be like, clear one minute and horrible the next. The only thing that was a little off putting and took some getting used to was the scent of this spray, it's really hard to explain exactly what the scent is but it definitely takes some getting used to and if you don't like overpowering scents then you may not like this. 

Overall I really like the Caudalie Beauty Elixir and I am really glad I finally got my hands on it, another product to tick off the list!

Hope you're all well and are enjoying your weekend.

 Milk_Shake is a salon professional brand which offers a wide range of quality products to enhance and help maintain the natural beauty of our hair, by using the benefits of milk and fruit for wellbeing and beauty to satisfy the needs and wants of both consumers and salon professionals. Milk_Shake is a brand that I wasn't familiar with before receiving their Conditioning Whipped Cream in my December GlossyBox last year, but appealed straight away from the quirky name and packaging to the range of products that they offer. 

 Anyway onto the product in question here. This conditioning whipped cream is formulated to condition the hair by keeping the moisture balance and by preserving the hair colour integrity whilst also leaving the hair soft, shiny and healthy. The milk proteins within this product help to improve the hair structure and conditioning special emollients give long lasting hydration to the hair. 

For me, I love this product! It lives up to everything it is said to and does wonders to my hair. I have been using this on and off since December, giving it a good shake and applying a small amount to the lower ends of my hair when I have just washed it and I then leave my hair to dry naturally. It leaves my hair not only smooth, shiny and feeling somewhat hydrated and nourished but it also leaves my hair smelling of what I would describe as a sweet hint of milkshake, which smells so nice! When I do use the product religiously for a few weeks, I can definitely see an improvement to the more damaged areas of my hair as they begin to feel and appear a lot more smooth. Now i'm not saying this fixes any damage to my hair because it doesn't, but it does help to condition and make the hair appear healthier.

Have you tried out any products from Milk_Shake?

Hope you are all well and I hope you all have a lovely weekend.

 Out of all the magazines offering freebies this month I picked up both Glamour (£1) and Marie Claire (£3.80) as these were the only freebies that appealed to me especially as the one of the products I have been dying to try out for ages!

Glamour Magazine

In this months Glamour they have teamed with the brand Modelco bringing readers the choice of four different products including an eyeliner, lip liner, two different shaded lipglosses and the Fibre Lashxtend Mascara which is the product I picked up. Now I haven't really heard a lot about Modelco but after doing some research, this mascara retails for £28 which as a freebie in a magazine in my eyes is amazing! I'm so excited to try it out!

 In this months Marie Claire they have teamed up with Ciate, offering readers a mini version of not one but two nail polishes, with one of them being a mini Ciate Caviar! I saw a lot of these floating around at christmas and I really wanted to try it out for myself but I couldn't justify the price tag especially with so many dupes out there and i'm so glad I waited!

As well as these two magazines, I know there are a few other magazines offering freebies also this month so make sure to check out your local magazine section to see what else you can snap up!

Hope you are all well and are having a good week!

So the shade I picked up was 'Island Coral' which as you can see is a really pretty orangey coral shade, perfect for summer and I have been trying to find a shade like this for so long but I have always been disappointed in other coral shades as they just appear really tacky to me, but not this one. I really like the light orange shade to this nail polish as it adds a nice pop of colour that isn't too 'in your face' but it's noticeable enough which is perfect for me as I love using my nails as a way of adding colour to and outfit.

The durability of this nail polish has actually really surprised me, as these nail polishes are priced at £1.99 you don't expect them to be that great but the durability is a lot better than some of my higher priced nail varnishes. I've had my nails this colour for about 3 days now and it has only just started to chip and as I rushed with painting my nails I didn't apply a base coat, which is amazing in my eyes. Although I will say that I find this polish quite thin like most orange shades of nail varnish, so i'd say you would need to apply a few good coats of this to get a good coverage.

Overall i'm really impressed with this Sinful Colors nail polish and I definitely want to try out some other shades as they have a massive range of different shades that I haven't come across before and for £1.99 you can't go wrong!

Have you tried out the Sinful Colors nail polishes yet?

xx

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 This months GlossyBox is themed 'Summer Looks', giving us the perfect excuse to hide away all the dark winter colours, and start flaunting the bright summer colours. This months box is all about helping us in this transition into summer with summers most wanted brands up for grabs in this months box designed to update our make-up bags with this summers staples.

After last months box being their birthday box I wasn't expecting much from this months box in all honesty but i'm fairly pleased with this months box. 

Here it what I received in my box this month:

Organic Surge Volume Boost Conditioner: A brand I have not come across before, but i'm quite intrigued to see what this brand has to offer being a natural organic beauty brand with a wide range of products. I have a feeling I could get on quite well with this conditioner especially as it's designed for 'fine or flyaway hair' which mine is, so i'm quite excited to try this and to see if an organic product will do anything different for my hair. 

Figs & Rouge Cherry Blossom Lip Balm: Another brand that I am not that familiar with, but again i'm really intrigued by this product especially as I suffer with really dry lips. I actually gave this a little try this morning and it's safe to say I am going to get on well with this product seeing as it acts as a nourishing lip balm but it also has a slight pink tint making it look like a lipgloss. Although i'm not a huge fan of lipglosses due to the stickyness I could probably work with this one as I known its doing my lips some good and with it also being a 100% natural product I know i'm not putting any harsh chemicals onto my lips which can sometimes make my lips worse off.

Gosh Growth Mascara: Now I have never used or really heard much about growth mascaras but this one by Gosh is said to help lengthen your lashes after 2 weeks of use as it contains a growth activator within the formula, sounds interesting. Again i'm quite intrigued by this product and seeing as i'm in need of a new mascara this one has come at the right time. I will for sure do a review on this product to let you all know how I get on with it and if it actually works.

Monu Hand and Nail Cream: I seem to have an endless supply of hand creams thanks to GlossyBox and as I don't really suffer from dry skin on my hands I find that I never use them up. Having said that, this hand cream is said to contain essential oils which help to nourish and condition the nails whilst also giving you soft and smooth hands. The one thing I will say is that I will probably use this more than my other hand creams as it smells so nice leaving a nice lemon scent to my hands which I really like.

MeMeMe Long Lasting Nail Gloss: My nail varnish collection just seems to grow and grow seeing as I receive quite a lot from my GlossyBox's, but I always love a new nail varnish. The shade I received in this months GlossyBox was 57 Elegant which is a shimmery gold shade and each shade by MeMeMe is said to have its own story, I'm not too sure how but apparently it does. This nail gloss is described to be long lasting and easy to apply with the use of the wide brush allowing you to cover every part of your nail. As i'm not a huge fan of gold nail varnishes I probably won't get much use out of this which is a shame seeing as I was quite excited to see if this nail polish does what it says.

Overall i'm quite impressed with this months box, even though i'm not really excited by any of the products i'm really intrigued by some of them especially the mascara as it's something I have never used before.

Did you order this months GlossyBox?

xx

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Following my monthly favourites every month I always do a little round up of my month with a selection of my instagram snaps and after not posting the past few days due to working so much this week I wasn't going to do this post, but I felt that I should so here it is!

This past month has been crazy busy for me and it has literally flown by kind of like the year is. Similar to last month I decided to do a smaller round up with more highlights of my month.

Selfie, in Cardiff for my friends 19th // My cat Annie catching some rays // Finally joined the hype (need to review!) // Finally tried these, oh my god amazing! // Selfridges Beauty Box (review here) // A$AP Rocky // Morning tea and blogging // Finished second year! // Tash and myself, girls night out!.

So that is my month in photos! I will also be posting another post either later or tomorrow as I think I kind of owe it to you guys for being so busy recently!

Hope you all had a great May!

xx

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So this month I haven't really been able to try out that many new products apart from those in my May GlossyBox and Selfridges Beauty Box which has allowed me to rekindle my love for a few products this month, ones that got pushed to the back of my cupboards or were forgotten due to similar products which is why it takes me ages to use up products. 

Real Techniques Blush Brush: I've had this brush for just over a month now, as Amazon 

 reduced a bunch of these brushes at the time when I ordered this and as I had wanted to get my hands on this brush for ages I thought why not?! and I am so glad I did! I use this brush everyday to apply my blush/bronzer instead of using the Contour Brush (review here) which I had been using previous to this and it works so well to apply my blush so easily and gives a really nice finish. I will review this soon, promise.

Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara: I reviewed this mascara a few days ago, which actually I got in my GlossyBox this month which is rather odd for me as I never really review things from my beauty boxes but I honestly have really loved using this product, it works so well to add a nice amount of volume and length to my lashes that feels so light almost as if i'm not wearing mascara. Full review here.

Erborian BB Creme: I got this in my Selfridges Beauty Box and I was surprised to actually like this as i'm not normally a BB cream kind of girl but I really like the coverage of this one. It gives a really light coverage that is perfect for the weather at the moment but it gives enough coverage to cover up any blemishes or un even skin tone. Even though this shade is a little dark for me, it works so well when i've fake tanned and gives a really nice glow.

Anatomicals Body Scrub: This product is one that I think I featured in a previous favourites post, but I have rekindled my love for this, so much so that I have finished up all of this bottle! This body scrub is such a nice scrub and seeing as I have used up all of my Soap& Glory Body Crush Scrub this one has come in so handy. I love the smell of this and it leaves my skin feeling so so smooth, especially after shaving my legs.

Essie 'Recessionista': Another product that I have rekindled my love for this month. After featuring this in my favourite nail varnish post here, it made me remember how much I love the deep red shade of nail varnish and i've had my nails this colour on and off around work for the past couple of weeks.

So that is my May favourites! What products have you been loving this month?

I will try to make a couple of posts this week, but I am working crazy long days at work for the rest of the week so I can't promise anything.

xx

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