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.

Harry Rocks Jewellery

You may or may not know that the week before last it was my birthday! I am now a twenty four year old, which makes me feel very grown up indeed. Anyway, to the good bit - my presents! One of my favourites is this initial necklace from my lovely boyfriend, Andy. I'd been buying cheapo necklaces with my initial on  for a while, but with the amount of times I wear them they got orange pretty quickly. So this one, which is the real deal, (sterling silver and gold plated) was the perfect gift. It's simple, elegant and delicate. I love everything with my initial on (is that weird?) so I absolutely love this. You can dress it up or down and there's pretty much nothing in my wardrobe that it doesn't go with. In fact, I think I've worn it every day since my birthday!

It's from a lovely little online shop called Harry Rocks. (I'm really quite impressed that Andy found it!) The presentation was really pretty. It came in a cute grey box with a silvery ribbon and  little feather sticker - simple but effective! (I was too excited opening it to be thinking about blog photos though, so they aren't pictured!) Andy also tells me that the lady who designs and owns Harry Rocks, Laura, was really sweet and helpful, speeding up the engraving process (which normally takes up to four weeks) because it was my birthday!

Here's the link to my necklace: Harry Rocks. Mine is 15mm disc size in shiny gold with a 18 inch chain but there's so many variations you can change it up to suit you. Take a look at the rest of Laura's jewellery too. There's so, so many cute bits on there!

What do you think? Do you like initial jewellery? Have you got anything from Harry Rocks before?

Barbara Daly Favourites

Does anyone else love the Barbara Daly range at Tesco? I certainly do! Now I know it's nothing new, but I think there's a lot to be said for this range which often seems to go unnoticed. I've tried loads of bits over the years and nine times out of ten I've been really impressed. I've found they're great if you've not got many pennies to spend but still need something of reasonable quality. Below are two of my favourite products:

Perfect Lash Mascara

This is almost a little secret that I don't want to let anyone in on! Mascaras are my weakness, I buy tubes after tubes of the stuff and this is one of my favourites. I've had so many compliments when wearing this one, which really surprised me. The brush is quite big (which I love!) and curved which helps your lashes really lift, creating that sought after curl. On top of that, the formula is great for lengthening. It lasts all day and doesn't crumble or melt, so there's no under-eye shadowing. The only qualm I have with the mascara is the way it can sometimes gather at the end of the brush (more so than with anything else I've used) and make a little bit of a mess on your lashes. To get the best results from Perfect Lash I first curl my lashes, apply a few coats and then brush out any clumps with my Sephora eyelash comb. Try it for £7 here.

Oil-free Foundation:

The first time I tried this, I was about 15 and my skin was far, far oilier and it still managed to mattify. It comes in a fairly small bottle which has a tiny plastic applicator attached to the lid. This is one of the things I really like about it. Obviously you need to blend it with your sponge or brush, but the plastic applicator means really easy to apply and prevents any mess on your fingers. One layer will give you medium coverage but I find it really easy to layer (and blend) so you can go as full as you want. I can't and won't say it's the best foundation I've ever used, but it certainly does the basics. So if you're looking cut down on your spending this is low price foundation I'd thoroughly recommend. You can get a bottle here for £8.