Pay day purchase...

For a while now I've kept meaning to buy new make-up brushes. However there is such a range and all at varying prices, I tend to just stick to the same ones I always do. But I was out on my lunch break today and was just draw to these beauties...

The bristles are incredibly soft but the main thing I like about these are that they both came with their own little pouches.

Usually I just keep the sleeves that the brushes come in anyway but these come with the cutest pouches. 

The only thing I would say is that they are a little pricey, now don't get me wrong they aren't the most expensive brushes but they certainly aren't the cheapest. I put this down to them being Eco-friendly and the pouches, so you're paying just that little bit extra to to get that little bit more. 

Super excited to use these tomorrow...

Sweet dreams are made of these...

Well, as the weekend draws to a close I cannot wait to jump into bed. 

I've not had a particularly busy weekend, just spent my time faffing around. Last week was so busy and crazy at work it's actually just been nice to not have any plans, plus it's given me time to tweak a few things on my blog.

One thing I have missed this weekend is my cleansing time, I've not been able to put my face mask on and relax in the bath, we're doing a bit of redecorating and gloss literally takes forever to dry. 

I'll just have to get up a bit earlier to make sure I'm ready to face this week head on, loads of things to do at work so you might not hear that much from me. 

Until next weekend, enjoy your beauty sleep...

The suns out, new nails as well

The sun is out, everyone has gone back to wearing beautiful bright colours, corals, whites, blues, greens, pinks! Everything is full of life again.

This afternoon I went to get my nails done and opted for this utterly delicious Barry M nail polish...

Now how gorgeous is that colour. I've seen this Silk collection in the shops for ages and saw this advertised but every Boots and Superdrug appeared to be sold out of this particular colour. 

I waited a good two weeks before I saw it but when I did, I bought it instantly.

But the thing I didn't realise is the colour is almost an exact match to my car... 

Just spreading the love, one colour at a time!

Wonderful Wonder Balm or just Balm?

I'm a subscriber to Elle magazine and the freebie with this months mag was a Percy & Reed hair product.

My hair type is actually pretty thin so I try to keep the products I use to a minimum however I do understand the importance of products such as these as a heat protector. 

Today I thought I'd give it a go, now on the back it claims to give you:

"Moisture, shine, smoothness, definition, softeness, light hold, high humidity protection and manageability"

Which is a lot for one balm to do one would think. It says to add a small amount to towel dried hair from root to tips or to add a tiny amount as a finishing product after styling. As soon as I squeezed it out of the bottle I knew I wouldn't be able to put it anywhere near my roots, it's a pretty thick balm. 

When I was blow drying my hair after, I could feel tell that there was product in my hair so it was a little thicker than I had hoped. 

After blow drying, my hair does have a beautiful scent and it does feel softer. So actually it does live up to some of it's claims. It's a very easy product to use and the packaging is just so cute, will it make it into my daily routine, I'm not sure yet! 

However, I think if I had beautiful thick hair I would be in love with this product, it's just a little too heavy for me. Even as I am writing this my hair is becoming a little weighted down.

Feeling blue?

So lately I've been feeling really blue, electric blue to be precise!

Often I wear a lot of black and I will admit there is the odd occasion where my outfit consists entirely of black, black dress, black tights, black boots, even black underwear (!) but what I've realised is the need break it up by simply adding a splash or colour or something sparkly. 

Last year, I was having a look in Accessorize and happen to stumble across this lovely bag in the sale. 

How could you not love this colour? 

Once I had bought it, I put it away and got it out every now and then, it was only until recently that I realised it goes with everything. Moving aside from the colour, the size of it it brilliant, not too big but big enough to take to work with your essentials in it. Not forgetting it was in the sale at a bargain price. 

It's incredibly diverse, you can remove the shoulder strap so it transforms into a clutch, which means you can literally take it from a day time to evening effortlessly. 

But the colour love doesn't stop there...

This is another fave of mine, my Ted Baker purse. 

I will forever be a lover of black clothing but having a simple statement bag or piece of jewellery can really add a positive twist on a rather melancholy outfit! 

My eye essentials

To give you an idea on my make up regime, I think it's rare you'll get to see my entire face so I think it's best to focus on areas of my face. Today I'm going to focus on my best feature...my eyes

My eye essentials consist of these 4 things above, nothing more, nothing less. 

•Eyelash Curler from superdrug 

•L'Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes mascara (Black Excess) 

•L'Oreal Paris Superliner liquid eyeliner 

•Rimmel pencil eyeliner 

The naked eye...

Now you will see that I have a fair complexion and my eyelashes are pretty non-existent and let's face it, my eyes are pretty bug eyed so I always have to wear make up to make them look just a little normal. 

But once I put make up on you will see, I actually have pretty long eyelashes if I don't put on mascara you'd never be able to tell. 

The dressed to impress eye...

Step by step

1. Use eyelash curlers to gently curl the eyelashes into shape. 

2. Use liquid eyeliner on the top lid, starting with a thinner line at the corner then gradually making it thicker towards the outer edge.

3. Use the eyelash curlers once more.

4. Add mascara, my technique for this is to blink it on, I think it gives a better all around coverage

5. Add pencil eyeliner to the lower lid and we're done!

Two things I never do...

1. I never use eyelash curlers on my eyelashes once they have mascara on them. I think it could be quite damaging to the eye lash because it could make them stick to the actual curler so when you release it, it'll pull or tug on the lashes. 

2. I never put mascara on my bottom eyelashes, this is just personal preference, I like having all the drama up top. 

Just remember if eyes are the window to your soul then shouldn't they always be dressed accordingly?

Running, running and running

Last year I used to go out every weekend for a jog regardless of weather just to get up, go out and feel like I have accomplished something. But this year I haven't been able to get into it, I started a new job in December which means I'm usually shattered come the weekend.

Well, I actually went for a jog in January, it was just a little icy and well, you can imagine I looked like Bambi on ice wearing Nike trainers. Utter nightmare! 

So Saturday I woke up at 5:45 because the sun was so bright in my room and thought this is the perfect reason for a run. Thought getting up at that time was just a bit too early for my liking so I waited for an hour and then got up, tied my hair back, got dressed, laced my trainers up, plugged my head phones in and just went for it! 

I surprisingly I wasn't as bad as what I thought I would have been and went out for another run this morning even though my thighs are hurting a little. I had to make the most out of this weather and just go because I struggle to fit it in during the week. 

Seriously how could you not love running with this view... 

Much better than being in a gym and definitely sets your mood for the rest of the day!

A touch of rhubarb and rose...

I was having a look through my Birchbox and thought I'd try out one of the products so today's choice was...

Molton Brown's delicious Rhubarb & Rose hand cream.

Instantly I am loving the bright pink packaging it definitely has the feel of spring and when you couple that with the sun shining it's set to put you in a good mood.

I can be a little fussy with hand creams because often they are a little greasy or don't smell very nice and I've tried lots! 

However Molton Brown stands out yet again, the scent of this hand cream alone is a winner. Incredibly sweet but not overpowering, it literally smells good enough to eat! The scent also lingered for longer than most it was almost like I had just sprayed some perfume. 

Scent aside, the main reason I loved this hand cream is how light it is, my hands instantly felt softer but not slippery and greasy. It really stands out from many others I've tried in the past.

This hand cream gets a huge thumbs up

You Dirty Rotten Scoundrel...

I work in London so often see various posters of brand new theatre shows, each one more sparkly and shinier than the last.

In the past have developed working relationships with ticketing agencies and one of my new clients happen to be one as well. Often they have free tickets for press days or friends and family performances which they can push out to their clients. I have been to quite a few shows because of this reason. 

If there is one thing to note about me it's that I am THE biggest fan of musicals. I just love them, I literally smile from ear to ear the whole way through.

Mid way through yesterday I received an email from my client asking whether I wanted to join her and a colleague at the theatre to watch Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at the Savoy. Not only was this a fabulous time to build my relationship with my client but also to do something that I love.

Now the show itself was fabulous, the main cast was Robert Lindsay (more commonly know for My Family and also Olvier the musical) and comedian Rufus Hound. These two were amazing together a real double act who genuinely looked like they were having fun. There was also an unscripted moment where the pair burst out laughing which just had us all laughing along with them. 

I don't want to say too much, but it really was such good laugh, brilliantly written and choreographed I would say it is a must see!

Birchbox presents, a gift from me to me

I recently discovered Birchbox and thought it was such a cute idea that I had to subscribe and today I got my first box...

In simple terms basically you pay a subscritption and once a month you receive a little box in the post of lovely little beauty products.

For a while I've wanted to do something different with my make up or beauty regime but never really know what to do. Each month I'll now get little samples of perfume, make up, moisturiser, face creams and the list goes on. You can also specifiy what you'd like in your box based on you beauty profile that you create when you sign up. I could have left this blank and then I would receive a variety of different products but I thought it would be nicer to make it a little more tailored to me. 

I'm not going to say just yet what's inside because you'll have to read my blog in the coming weeks to find out. 

Watch this space...

Simple Sunday

The weekend always goes so bloody quick, so Sundays are best spent relaxing and pampering yourself.

I don't really have a skin regime because I used to have really bad skin. I tried every product known to man to try and clear it but it was only when I went on strong medication it cleared. The dermatologist actually suggested that all the different creams and scrubs can make it worse so since then I only ever wash my face with water and nothing else. 

Though lately I've looked at my skin and it does look really dull so I thought I should try some products that would be kind to my skin but actually work so tonight I decided to try the Simple range.

Both products say for dry skin use only once a week. 

The thing about Simple products is just that, they are simply Simple, no frills, no fuss just skin care. 

I used the Smoothing Facial Scrub first and then the Deep Cleansing face mask. 

Both products were great, definitely left my skin feeling a little more loved, smooth and soft. The face mask wasn't too thick and it didn't go hard and flakey. It actually felt like it was just sinking into my skin, though the bottle says to only leave it on for around 3mins. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who has sensitive skin. 

Let's keep Sundays Simple in the hope that the rest of the week will go just as smooth!x 

Leopard print love...

Being blonde and from Essex, I try to stay clear of stereotypes however I really am a sucker for a bit of Leopard print. 

I'm often pretty cautious not too wear too much of it, just hints here and there. It really does add to an outfit sometimes. I was shopping and having a mooch in the Zara sale when I stumbled across this cute little cropped jumper. 

It's so comfy and easy to wear, I wouldn't wear it with trousers but over the top of a plain jersey dress it works really well and it was a bargain! 

Fab purchase!x 

Newbie...

So I've decided to join the world of bloggers! This will be another fashion and beauty blog of things that I stumble across that I love so watch this space 

❤️