My 2014 Goals

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year. I can't really believe 2014 is here. It doesn't feel like long ago that was stressing about essays and whatnot at university. Time flies, does it not?

I really don't like New Year's Eve. Almost everything about it bugs me - the pressure to have THE BEST TIME, the crowds, the crazy prices and, for some reason, it always makes me feel a little bit sad. There is one element I do like though and that's making a list of New Year's Resolutions! Listing is genuinely one of my favourite things to do and I love a nice, clean, fresh start. So here's a few things I'm going to aim for in 2014:

Have a beautiful house: Andy and I are currently in the process of making a fairly large purchase, our very first house - HURRAH! We've both been renting for such a long time and, as I'm sure you'll know, you don't get much freedom in the world of rentals. I'm quite tired of living in a house where you can't decorate anything and have to ask permission to put up a picture or a mirror. Our new house will be an entirely blank canvas and I'm determined to make it as pretty as possible.

Be a better cook:  I've been brought up around lots of food and lots of cooking so I like to think I've got the basics down. This year I want to learn to makes some new, more advanced things. Sauces being number one! (It's going to be a fun year in my house...!)

Worry less: There's no way of getting around it, I am a worry wart and always have been. I stress and worry over little things, big things - anything and everything. In 2014 I want to stop fretting and be a bit more positive (although I'm not quite sure how yet...).

Find a haircut I love: I'm such a fusspot with my hair and I can never decide how or what I want from it. I'm hoping this year I'll find one I love. (Suggestions welcome!)

Take more photos: This has been the plan for the past few years and everything starts off well and with good intentions. Then I remember I hate having my photo taken and chicken out! Andy and I only have a handful of photos together and I know that when we're older I'll want more to look back on so I'm going to have to suck it up and smile!

Weigh less: I think this is on most people's list every year isn't it?

So, there's my very typical little list of resolutions. I hope it wasn't too cliche for you to read. What are your goals for this year?

Rimmel Wake Me Up Foundation

I'm really, really quite late to the party with this one. I know there's tonnes of reviews of this foundation plastered all over the blogosphere already but I wanted to add an opinion from little old me anyway.

Rimmel isn't usually a brand I'd look to for foundation having been pretty unimpressed with everything I'd tried from them before. I admit to being a little bit of a brand snob and overlooking the lower priced ones when it comes to things I put on my skin. Anyway, someone recommended it to me on Twitter during a #bbloggers chat when I asked for foundations ideal for oily combination skin and I thought I'd give it a go.

First things first, I wasn't overly impressed with the shade options, there were very few but luckily the palest one, ivory, seems to be a good match for me. There's a pump too, always a bonus of course. In terms of texture, it's quite thick, but not overly so. I just apply mine with a regular foundation brush and it seems to blend really well. It does take a good 1 1/2 to 2 pumps to get good coverage however. Of course you can layer it for whatever level of coverage you want. It's staying power so far has been excellent. Normally with the stuffy office air my foundation with cakes and goes orange quite a lot in the week, not so with this one.

In the bottle it looks really shimmery, which I didn't realise until I got home. I thought this would look a little bit over the top once applied. Luckily though, you don't really see the shimmer on your face. The foundation gives a really nice bright coverage, rather than making you look like a bauble as I'd expected! It also has a really lovely scent (I'm a sucker for anything fragrant!) which makes applying it that little bit nicer!

So all in all, I've been really impressed with this and I'm definitely going to keep using it on a regular basis. Have you tried the Wake Me Up Foundation? What did you think? If anyone's tried the concealer let me know what it's like!

You can get a bottle for £8.99 at Superdrug here.

L'Oreal Glam Bronze

So I know bronzer is a bit of a summery product, but I like to wear mine all year round and so when I found this one I couldn't resist posting about it now. Besides, with all the grey skies and fog we're having at the moment, a little bit of something summery surely won't do any harm! Anyway, I picked up this bronzer completely on a whim whilst I was mooching about the skincare aisle at Sainsbury's and I wasn't really expecting too much from it. Turns out, it's amazing!

Packaging-wise, it does seem quite heavy and a little too much. There's a mirror and brush inside which need to be housed though. I have shade 101 (which I think is actually for blondes) and the colour pay off is great - enough to make you look a little more bronzed but not enough to make you look Tangoed. It's quite shimmery, which I really love. My favourite part of this product though is the strip of highlighter at the top! If you use the round brush that comes with the bronzer you get the perfect amount of bronzing and highlighting. And they blend together really nicely! Lovely.

If you want to inject a little bit of sunshine into your makeup routine I'd definitely recommend this. This was £9.99 at Sainsbury's but I can't seem to find a link to this exact one online for you guys! I'll have to just advise you to look out for it when you're filling your trolley!

A Few Days in Florence

Back in October Andy and I went on a little mini break to Florence to celebrate our five year anniversary. I can't believe we've been together for five years! I really don't feel old enough to have been with someone for that long. Anyway, Florence is such a lovely city. We spent all four days just wandering around and taking everything in. There's so much to see and it's all so beautiful. Plus, shopping there is excellent! Below are just a few of the photos we took along the way - I hope you like them! I love a mini break so if you have any suggestions for our next trip let me know.

Palmers Olive Butter Body Lotion

Hi everyone. Apologies for the fairly hefty gap in posts; everything's been very busy at the moment. Andy and I have been busy trying to find somewhere new to live, organising the move and with various other life bits and bobs that have resulted in blogging taking a back seat slightly. 

I wanted to share a new moisturiser with you all today. I don't know about you, but my moisturising habits are pretty bad. I love love love having super soft skin but I just can't keep it up and go through phases of moisturising every day and phases of just hoping my skin will work out some way to do it itself. (No such luck so far!) 

I recently found this Palmer's Olive Butter Body Lotion and fell back in love with moisturising. Palmers are famous for their ever-popular cocoa butter products so if, like me, you're not a fan of its sweet scent, you might have overlooked the olive range too. 

So, it's a glaring green colour, huge and not so pretty so if you're bathroom proud you might want to decant the lotion into something more delicate. However, the 400ml bottle lasts absolutely forever and has a pump applicator - yippee! The lotion itself is creamy without feeling too heavy on the skin and has a really fresh scent. It's been created with extra virgin olive oil (plus a little sprinkle of magical Vit E) which is easily absorbed and leaves my skin nice and soft.

Whilst we're on the subject of olive oil... did you know adding a few drops to your bath water will give your skin an immediate surge of moisture? It's a little tip I picked up whilst I was student. We also learned that a small amount of drops is essential, other wise you'll be in for a potentially painful slip! 

Anyway, what's you regular moisturiser? 

Happy Feet

Bonjour everyone. Are you all having a lovely weekend? Today I wanted to talk about something that's perhaps a little bit boring - slippers! Now I don't know about you, but I LOVE my slippers and now the cold weather is pretty much here I can wear them all the time. I already have two pairs of super cosy ones which I'm very attached to (think I'm a little old before my time!), but then I got this pair for my birthday.

Okay, so they're not ticking any boxes for style, but there is a big fat tick in the comfort box! And that's what's important right? They're made of something the manufacturers call 'popcorn/honeycomb' fabric which is super soft. There's also a 'secret sole' and 'pillowstep technology'. Again, I don't really know quite what that means. All I know is they're really squishy underfoot whilst also feeling really supportive. Being open toe, they're not going to be keeping you very warm on a winter evening. I just wear them after a shower, whilst I'm getting ready for work, and they make me feel like I'm in a spa! If you're looking for something comfy to potter about your home in in the mornings - these are so perfect. (I can't believe I've just written so much about a pair of slippers!) 

They're made by Isotoner, who are also the people behing Totes. Did anyone else have those really thick Disney Totes socks with the rubber grips on the bottom as the kid? Anyway you can get a pair of these slippers here. 

Batiste Dry Conditioning Mist

Batiste's dry shampoo has been a big part of my life since I was about 14. At that time you could only get the original but recently the dry shampoo demand seems to have grown massively and they've added scented, coloured and even glittery versions to the Batiste range. The latest addition is the dry conditioning mist.

I really didn't think I was going to like this one and just assumed it was going to make my hair super greasy again and cancel out the dry shampoo's effects. To my surprise, though, it's a new favourite! Usage is pretty self explanatory, you just spray the ends rather than your roots. I have irritating hair that gets greasy quite quickly but has dry ends too and the Argan Oil in this really smooths them out. I only use it with the shampoo and only on the lower lengths of my hair, but if you've got dry hair anyway I think it would be great to use all over. So, put simply, it's fast become a staple of mine and I'm definitely going to repurcha
se.

Have you tried the conditioning mist? What did you think? You can pick up a can for £3.99 at Boots.