Boots Boxing Day Shopping

Yes, I am aware that this is a week and 2 days late but I asked on twitter a couple of days ago and people still wanted to see what I bought in the Boxing Day sales. Sorry! I do have to admit I only went to Boots as I go to Boots every Boxing Day. My Boots opened at 7am this year so I was queued up outside at 6:30am! The shop itself is pretty small and there is only one aisle of gifts so I was lucky to get what I did.

The Ted Baker 'it had to be' mini hat box set was a bargain at only £5. The products included inside the mini hat box are a body spray, bath foam, body wash and body souffle. I have so far only tried the body spray and love it. The scent of these products is really sweet and a little bit floral which personally I love, but I don't think the scent is for everyone!

The box that the products come in is so beautiful and I think the classy floral print with the bold neon pink go perfect together. The products inside are wrapped up in a Ted Baker tissue paper so would have made a perfect gift. That is one thing I always find with Ted Baker, the packaging is always pristine and extra effort is always made to make the products feel even more luxurious.

The Gok Wan mini indulgence set wasn't something that I had my eye on at all this year, in fact none of the Gok Wan collection took my fancy this year. The set was an absolute steal at only £5 for 5 products and gorgeous packaging. The box has a flip up lid with a see through 'window' which I think makes the gift set look a lot more expensive than it was (even full price). 

The products included are bath essence, body wash, body lotion, shower scrub and hand balm. They all smell divine and the scent reminds me of that of luxury spa brands. All of the products have argon oil in which is supposed to be brilliant for the skin so I will let you know how I get on with these.

The bottles are so elegant with the gold lids and writing and very simple, classic bottle design. I will definitely be putting these bottles in my bathroom as they are so beautiful and will look lovely in my bathroom!

I know my local Boots still has a few sale items in stock so if you saw something before Christmas that you want its worth having a look in your local Boots store.

I'd love to know if your bought anything in the sales this year!

Megan xx

Christmas Goodies 2013

I know I am a bit late on the bandwagon here but I thought I'd show you some of my Christmas presents from this year. I love reading these posts so thought I'd do my own, I am in no way showing off and I am so grateful for everything I received.

This year I took part in a blogger secret Santa and received some lovely gifts from Amy (who I met at the Nottingham blogger meet up in April). I absolutely love all of the gifts that Amy bought for me and I can tell a lot of effort went into choosing the items. If you haven't noticed from my blog, I love to bake so the Cupcake recipe book was such a great present for me! Amy also got me a set to make my own scented hanging hearts, which I can wait to do as I love crafty projects, as well as a cupcake case set complete with cake toppers which is lovely and something which will definitely be used soon!

My main present from my parents was a new laptop as my old one was almost 7 years old and although it lasted me well it was definitely on it's last legs. I picked the laptop and got it about a month before Christmas as I needed it for school work and my old was a bit too slow to cope with. I got a couple of other little things from my parents too including;

I am definitely not short of nail files now. The sheep ones are a bit of a novelty item however I have never had a glass nail file before and after hearing they are much better for your nails than normal emery boards I am excited to use it. Pens are something I can never have too many of. These have become my new revision pens (is that really sad?) There is a bit of a story behind the duck pen. Basically I used to collect these pens when I lived in Scotland so when we were in Bakewell a few weeks ago and I saw this I had to have it.

After going off the body shop for a while I now love their products again so was thrilled when I saw the Snowman shea duo in my stocking, which contains a body butter and lip butter. I also love the body shop hand creams, so was so happy to have the wild rose manicure and moisture duo which contains a hand cream and emery board. 

Divergent wasn't a book I had heard of but when my friend suggested it as my Christmas gift I looked it up and it sounded great, its meant to be a bit like the Hunger Games so obviously is perfect for me. After seeing the film trailer I am so excited to start reading this as the storyline seems really gripping, I have a feeling once I start I won't be able to put it down. My parents got me the highway code book so that I can 'revise' from it when I learn to drive. 

I love these ear muffs which have built in headphones. Amazing right? Anyway they are so warm and snugly and although I probably won't be wearing them outside I love them. Who said you can't wear ear muffs indoors! The bunny night light is something I have wanted for ages after seeing countless people talk about it. Its adorable and its such a cute addition to my bedroom.

I actually got 2 of the Lynx sets, are people trying to tell me something? The scent is quite nice and shower gel and body spray always come in handy so I will definitely use these. I also got another shower puff from the body shop.

If you have done a Christmas present blog post please leave the link below, I am so nosey and love to see what other people got!

Megan xx

New Year Resolutions

I love reading about other people's goals and resolutions for the year so decided I would write a post about my own. I like to set goals that are achievable so thought I would split them into 2, personal and blogging resolutions.

Personal resolutions
1. Work hard at sixth form and stay motivated to work. I want to get all of my target grades for my AS exams and the only way I am going to do that is with a lot of dedication and hard work.

2. Drink more water. This is pretty self explanatory. I don't drink enough of anything but water has skin benefits, health benefits and stops dehydration so I really need to try harder.

3. Do more exercise. I want to tone up and lose a bit of weight this year. I'm not a very sporty person so won' be doing anything too dramatic.

Blogging resolutions
1. Blog at least 3 times a week. I haven't been posting regularly on my blog which is something that's going to change. 

2. Buy a blog domain. This is something I have wanted to do for a while as my blog name doesn't match the url of my blog.  

3. Comment more on other blogs. I am quite good at commenting on other blog posts. I probably comment on 40% of the ones I read but I could comment more.

What are your New Year Resolutions?

Megan x

*Photo from Fotor

Best Of 2013: Skincare

Happy New Year everyone! I hope 2014 is a great year for you all! These are my top skincare picks of 2013. This isn't my whole skincare routine, just products which I find really really work and ones which would be hard for me to replace with something else.  

FREEDERM FAST TRACK (£5.09)

As a teenager I have recently started to get quite bad acne and blemishes on my face. Luckily the majority of it is on my forehead so my fringe covers it. It is the best spot gel I have ever tried and unlike others it doesn't dry the skin out. It really does reduce redness and makes spots look 'less angry'.

WITCH BLEMISH STICK (£2.09)

This product has been a life saver this past year. I keep it in my bag and as soon as a spot or blemish starts to appear I dab a bit of this onto it and it keeps them at bay. I love that this is a totally natural product so it's safe to put on the skin as often as you like. I personally think everyone needs this in their life as it is suitable for all skin types and everyone gets the odd blemish and this stops them coming out at full force. 

L'OREAL MICELLAR SOLUTION (£3.33)

This is my favourite way to remove make up as it is so gentle on the skin and doesn't sting my eyes. It is so effective at removing eye make up and is perfect to use before a cleanser. Basically its water which removes make up, its completely scentless too. It claims to tone skin but I haven't noticed any benefits in this respect. I love the look of the packaging and really cannot fault this. 

DHC DEEP CLEANSING OIL (£4.50)*
Although I normally hate any type of oil in a product I love this. Its an oil cleanser which dissolves make up and cleanses the skin. Even though it's an oil I don't find this leaves any residue or has a negative impact on my combination skin. I find that once I've used it my skin look more awake and bright.

SOAP AND GLORY THE FAB PORE HOT CLOTH CLEANSER (£10)

Sorry I can't find a link to this but don't think it's been discontinued. This is in my opinion on par with the Liz Earle cleanse and polish if not a bit better as it is slightly thicker and more moisturising on the skin. I massage this onto my face for about 2 minutes then leave it for a minute (as it says on the back) and then use a washi cloth to take it off (I will talk about my love for Washi clothes in another post). The scent is lovely and fresh and this is something I really enjoy using every evening. Another great thing is it removes make up and doesn't really sting the eyes - winner!

AMIE MORNING DEW MATTE-FINISH MOISTURISER (£4.95)

This moisturiser is so light and non greasy and as it's designed for oily skin it has a mattifying ingredient so that skin doesn't look more shiny than it did before moisturising. People with oily skin don't always realise how important it is to moisturise even with their skin type but Amie have made a range of products designed to be beneficial to oily skin. Another plus point is that all of the ingredients are natural.

BALANCE ME RADIANCE FACE MASK (£18)*
I have quite dull skin so use this when I want my skin to look a bit more alive. I really love this mask. It goes onto the skin so smoothly and doesn't leave the redness that a lot of face masks cause. This is suitable for all skin types and contains a blend of essential oils so has great skin benefits.

SOAP AND GLORY THE FAB PORE FACIAL PEEL (£10)
This is the ultimate cleansing mask. It has microbeads in it to provide exfoliation when applied as well as having a secret pore shrinking ingredient. I use a grape sized amount once a week and my skin is in a fairly good condition and think this is one of the miracle products I've been using. I've done a full review of the fab pore facial peel here if you want to see my full thoughts about it. 

Let me know what your favourite skincare product of 2013 was!

Megan xx

Best Of 2013: Make Up

The New Year is almost upon us (less than 2 hours away) and as well as reflecting on the past year, I thought now would be a good time to show you my favourite products of the year. I am only going to do 2 posts, make up and skincare, as I don't have many body or hair favourites. I try a lot of products (not good for my bank balance I know) so the items included today are the best of the best in my opinion. 

This post is solely dedicated to make up items which is one of my favourite topics to blog about. There were a lot of contenders but I managed to whittle it down to my absolute favourites. If you would like me to review any of the products let me know.

WITCH ANTI-BLEMISH FACE PRIMER (£6.99)*
I use 2 face primers on a regular basis but if I had to pick a favourite I would have to choose this one purely for the skin benefit I feel it has. I'm not entirely sure if it is working in the long term benefits side of things but when I put it on my acne looks so much less red and foundation sits much better on my face and I also think it lasts longer. As you only need a tiny amount to cover your whole face the bottle lasts forever.

NO.7 STAY PERFECT FOUNDATION (£14)
I discovered this foundation in April this year and have used nothing but this ever since. The coverage is medium but is buildable. It contains SPF so is great to use over the winter when people usually forget to use sun protection! I love the heavy glass bottle and sleek black lid as well as the fact it comes with a pump. In case anyone is wondering I have the lightest shade, Calico, however No.7 do the foundation match made service for free so you can find your perfect shade out of the 17 available. 

SOAP AND GLORY KICK ASS CONCEALER (£10)*
This is a bit of a cheat but I only really like 1 of the products out of the three in this little camouflage kit. I love the facial concealer which is step 2, its even beaten my love for the collection lasting perfection concealer which I haven't used for around 3 months as I think this is so much better for concealing blemishes and redness. Its such a creamy concealer which is so easy to blend. The yellow shade of the concealer helps to cancel out redness. I don't really use the white powder unless I'm out and need to reset the concealer as I find others work better as setting powders. I also find the under eye concealer is too thick and dry to blend properly under the eye so don't use that either.

SOAP AND GLORY GLOW ALL OUT (£11)*

This was the first powder highlighter I tried. I didn't have high expectations of this (after hating Benefit's Highbeam) but it is an amazing cheekbone highlight as well as an all over face powder to give a glow to the skin. The shimmer in it is so subtle so you don't get the disco ball effect with this. The powder is also really finely milled which makes it lovely on the skin. I think this would suit basically any skin tone so is an all round amazing product.

LIZ EARLE BLUSH IN CORAL 05 (£16.50)*
I use this blush from Liz Earle 90% of the time. I love how pigmented this blush is however make sure if you use it you use it sparingly. I have used this so much already and the Liz Earle indent on the top still hasn't disappeared. The powder is so fine, its not chalky at all and blends into the skin so beautifully. I will definitely be investing in a few more shades in the New Year as they are the best blushes I have ever tried. 

MAX FACTOR FALSE LASH EFFECT (£10.99)
This is without a doubt the best volumising mascara I have used and trust me I have a lot of mascara's. Two thirds of the brush have long bristles which are great at separating and volumising lashes. The outer third has tiny rubber bristles which mean that the inner eyelashes are coated in mascara too which helps to creates the false lash effect that the mascara claims to give. It also lasts really well throughout the day and doesn't often smudge or transfer to the eyelid. 

SOAP AND GLORY LID STUFF IN WHAT'S NUDE (£10)
I apologise for the amount of Soap and Glory products, they are really amazing. The What's Nude eyeshadow palette contains my favourite eyeshadows. I think it's rare to find a neutral eyeshadow palette that contains mostly matte shadows (3 of the 4 are matte). As much as I love shimmer, on a day to day basis I find matte eyeshadows much more wearable and easy to work with. The eyeshadows are really easy to blend and although there not the most pigmented eyeshadows, I really enjoy wearing them as they last well throughout the day. They also work out at £2.50 per eyeshadow which is a bargain!

MAYBELLINE BABY ME IN CHERRY ME (£2.99)
As I am not a big lipstick wearer I really love this tinted lip balm. The raspberry shade isn't too out there for me but is still a fairly natural shade. As well as giving colour to the lips it also moisturises them. Its a win win situation really!

COLLECTION CREAM PUFF IN ANGEL DELIGHT (£2.99)
Again this is a fairly neutral shade however I really love the matte effect of it. I think this is a really lovely product as although matte, it doesn't make the lips look extremely dry like some matte lip products do. This is in fact actually quite nourishing on the lips.

SIGMA F80 BRUSH ($21)
There is no question that this is the best face brush I own. If I could only have 1 face brush for the rest of my life I would choose this as it can be used for anything. I use it for buffing in foundation which it does seamlessly. I also use it to apply cream blush when I'm wearing it as I feel that this blends it in better than natural haired brushes and other synthetic brushes. 

NANSHY EYE CREASE BRUSH (only available as part of a set)*
This brush has become a staple in my make up routine. Even though I've only had it since the beginning of November (sorry if I'm cheating) but I really love how precise this brush is. I've done a full review of it (here) if you want to read more about it.

SIGMA E25 BRUSH ($12)
This brush does a similar job to the Nanshy crease brush but is much more fluffy so better for blending than applying product. 

JAPONESQUE MINERAL EYESHADOW BRUSH (£10.99)*
This is an amazing brush which I use to apply eyeshadow onto my eyelids. It packs colour on really well as the bristles are fairly short. I also love that the brush is travel sized and has anti bacterial bristles. 

Happy New Year to you all (when it comes). Let me know your favourite products of 2013 in the comments!

Megan xx