The Summer Tag!

A picture we took from Alcudia last summer.

I love doing these tags and I thought which better tag to do than a summer tag, even though we have been getting nothing but rain lately I still love the summer! Here goes...

1. Favourite bronzer for summer?

I don't really wear a bronzer to be honest, but obviously if I was going to buy one it would be from Avon. Gotta promote the products!

2. You're relaxing in a hammock, on a tropical island. What are you sipping on? (Favourite summer drink)

My favourite drink in the summer is anything thats freezing cold and refreshing! What I really love as a summery drink is Fanta Fruit Twist!

3. Favourite summer lip product?

I think this would definitely have to be any lip balm! My lips get so dry, especially in the summer heat. The lip balm I am loving at the minute is The Body Shop's Born Lippy in Raspberry.

4. Pool or beach?

Both! The pool during the day when its nice and hot, then the beach on an evening for a nice long walk and to watch the sun set :)

5. Summer = crazy hair! What's your must-have styling product?

Dry shampoo and a bobble! I hate having my hair down when I'm hot. It gets on my wick! And I find that in the summer my hair gets greasy really easily, so it would definitely be dry shampoo and a bobble to put my hair up with.

6. Sun bathing or fake tan?

I rarely ever fake tan, I don't think that I really suit it. I like to sunbathe but I'm always conscious of burning so if I'm going to sunbathe I always make sure to wear a sunblock.

7. Favourite summer nail polish?

A nice bright coral colour! 

9. Favourite summer scent?

It would have to be suncream. I absolutely love the smell of suncream and it always reminds me of summer!

10. Favourite BBQ food?

A nice cold ice lolly to refresh me!

I tag everyone who reads this!

The Blogger Made Me Buy It

If you're anything like then you're an absolute sucker for reading about a product on a blog or watching someone talk about it on YouTube and then having to go out and buy it to try it for yourself. I am so guilty of doing this, so I thought it would be fun to do a post all about the products I have read about and then gone on to buy.

First we will start with Corrie over at dizzybrunette3.com. I have been following Corries YouTube and blog for probably over a year now. I first found her on the Avon Connects forum when she was writing their beauty blog for a short time. There are three products in this blog that I have gone on to buy because of Corrie. First being the Tea Tree Pore Minimiser. I really liked this for a while and actually bought it three or four times when they ran out, but then I started to find that most things with Tea Tree in that I was using at the time were really drying my skin out, so I stopped using it. However, I still keep it in my makeup bags for days when my pores are just out of control!

Next from Corrie's blog I went on to buy the Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer. I wasn't really that wowed by this concealer, but I hardly use concealer anyways so maybe that's why. I think its great for brightening up around your eye area, but not great for covering blemishes as I find it attracts the attention to them. 

Finally from Corrie's blog I went on to buy the Skin Wow Highlighter by Seventeen. My goodness, I love this product! I had been hmming and hahing about buying this product for a while after I had seen her using it, and eventually just bit the bullet and went for it. I'm really glad that I did. For someone like me with dry and dull skin, this is great to use as a primer under your foundation as it really does brighten the skin, and gives you a lovely dewy and healthy complexion. I just really like this product!

Next lets head over to Katie at katiesblondeambition.blogspot.co.uk. I actually know Katie, not personally, but through her boyfriend who I went to school with so it was really nice to see that she was writing a blog, and I really enjoy all of her posts. I saw a post by her a while ago where she had bought this Macadamia Oil Extract Hair Mask, and again I had been hmming and hahing over whether I should try it but for 99p I decided to just go for it. I haven't actually had a chance to use this yet, but I am sure it will be lovely!

Next is a blog that I have only just been following recently, and that is Victoria over at inthefrow.com. Again, I found her blog as she films YouTube tutorials and reviews for Avon. I absolutely adore Victoria's hair! Anyways, she did a post about a product that is similar to the Rescue Oil that I have bought, but I couldn't find it. But this product that I bought is pretty much the same product just a different name. I haven't used this product yet, either, but I really hope it helps with my uneven skin tone because I really dislike it and feel so self conscious without any foundation on because of this.

Okay, I thought I would leave this one till last because the reason I decided to buy the Real Techniques range was because of a wide variety of bloggers and vloggers. So many people were raving on about how good they are, and literally every blog or YouTube channel I went on had them. So I thought, you know what, I'm going to see what the hype is all about! So my wonderful husband treated me to a couple of brushes in the range, and wow! I will never go back to using my fingers to apply makeup again! I love all of these brushes, but especially the buffing brush. It definitely has to be my favourite. It just leaves my foundation looking so flawless, and its so multitasking aswell. I use it to buff my blusher down when its looking too bright, and also for making sure my concealer blends in with my foundation. They're just an all round really good brand, and I'd definitely recommend climbing aboard the hype surrounding these brushes!

So thats it, I tag everyone who reads this to do their own The Blogger Made Me Buy It post :) xx 

Theology Thursday..

Shopping On A Budget ¦ Under £10 Haul

I am on a serious budget at the minute, but when it comes to shopping I just can't help myself. So, I went into Home Bargains! Yay for Home Bargains, I love love love any shop like this! I find that most of their products are actually really good quality and people should definitely not just think they're going to be naff because of the price. 

So what did I buy?

First of all I picked up two of the Nivea Shower Creams. I chose Creme Coconut and Free Time. They both smell divine and wait for it.....were only £1 each! £1!!! Amazing. Next I picked up two products from the Macadamia Oil Extract Range. I chose a hair mask treatment and the hair oil that you leave in your hair after you've washed it and style as normal. I'm guessing they both pretty much do the same thing just in different products, so we will see how I get on with them. Both were only a whopping 99p each. Then I picked up the Rescue Oil, which was £1.99. I am going to use this mostly on my face as I have a really uneven skin tone and nasty blemishes at the minute that I am trying to get rid of. Which takes me on to my next product which is the T-Zone Rapid Action Spot Zapping Gel. This was 99p. I am really hoping that this works because like I said I've had a nasty outbreak recently and whenever I get spots not even makeup covers them so I'm just left looking awful until they leave on their sorry way! 

So that was all I bought from Home Bargains, and altogether it came to £6.96. I mean come on, who can argue with that? Even if these products aren't very good I won't complain!

Next I went to Superdrug and bought some Batiste Dry Shampoo. I bought the miniature of this for my holiday to Spain last year so now the smell reminds me of holiday! yay :) Guess how much I paid for this dry shampoo? 47p! Yes, you read correctly, no need to double take! In Superdrug they are half price at the minute making them £1.47 and I had £1 worth of points on my Beauty Card so in all this came to 47p! Amazing!!!

I'm really happy with these purchases and really hope they turn out to be a good buy!  And in total I spent less than a tenner! Who can grumble? Have you been buying any cheapy products lately? How are they?

Natural Everyday Makeup Look

On an average day I don't do anything extravagant with my makeup. I like to spend no more than 10 minutes of a morning applying my makeup, so I like to keep it nice and natural. Here are the products I used to achieve this look.. 

For the base:

The Body Shop's Vitamin E Illuminating Moisture Cream

Seventeen's Skin Wow! 3-Way Highlighter

Avon's Ideal Flawless Foundation in colour Shell

Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer in colour Ivory

Sheer Cover's conceal & brighten trio in colour Light/Medium

For the cheeks:

MUA blusher in colour CandyFloss

For the eyes:

Avon's eyeshadow primer in colour Light Beige

The Body Shop's Colour Crush eyeshadow in colour Oh, Honey

Rimmel's Scandal Eyes Thick and Thin Eyeliner in colour Black

Avon's Mega Effects Mascara in colour Blackest Black

For the brows:

Anastasia Brow Wiz in colour Brunette

MAC eyeshadow in colour Bateau

For the lips:

MAC CremeSheen in colour Sunny Seoul

I managed to link all the products I used except from my Mac eyeshadow, I think they must have discontinued it but I'm sure you'll be able to find a similar colour.

Homemade Strawberry Lip Scrub

Hello!

In December I was in the shop Lush and came across their lipscrub range and although I was super tempted, the prices they were for a tiny little tub, I was just not willing to pay. So I went on my way and completely forgot about it, until recently. My lips have been dry the majority of my life, whatever time of the year I just always seem to get horrendously bad skin everywhere. Lips, hands, face, legs, everywhere! To be honest, my dry skin hasn't really bothered me until quite recently and I just seem to really hate it, especially on my lips because lipstick and lipgloss just looks awful on my chapped lips. So I have been using lip balms quite frequently which have really been helpful but I just felt like I needed a little bit more, which is when I started thinking of the lip scrubs again. So I looked on Lush, still too expensive. Ebay, even more expensive! Etsy, well let's just not go there. I thought to myself, how hard can it be to make? I knew they were just made out of sugar and some other stuff but I didn't actually realise just how very simple it was to make. It took me 5 minutes max! I am not joking. And cost me roughly £3 to make in total because most of the stuff you need to make it, I had lying around my house anyways.

So here's how I did it...

What you will need:

Sugar, castor or brown

Olive oil

Aloe Vera juice or fresh (optional)

Natural flavouring (I chose strawberry)

Food colouring (Optional)(I chose red to match the strawberry taste)

Vaseline (Optional)

Small mixing bowl

Small container to put your lip scrub in

Really all you need to make this product is sugar and olive oil, everything else is just an added extra. Before I start, I just want to say that this is completely just a trial and error recipe and its all about personal preference. This is how I made it, but you can totally just play around until you end up with the lip scrub you feel is best for you. 

First what I did was poured one teaspoon of aloe vera and one and a half teaspoons of olive oil into my mixing bowl. Then I added one teaspoon of the strawberry flavouring, I think next time though I would add less of this as it turned out to be quite overpowering. I then added a whole lot of castor sugar! I'm not sure how much in total I used, like I said its all trial and error. What you want is after you've mixed it together for your lip scrub to be quite solid, you should be able to hold your mixing bowl upside down and for no product to fall out. Next, I added the red food colouring until it was the colour I wanted it to be, then I added a small amount of Vaseline. I added the Vaseline just to add to the colour and also to add to the conditioning treatment of the lip scrub. Then mix until all the ingredients are completely incorporated. Once its of the consistency that you require, you can put your lip scrub into your container. If the mix becomes too much of a liquid consistency add more sugar, if it becomes too thick add more olive oil.

And voila! It really is that simple, and most of the ingredients, you will already have in your home! I hope you try this out, and let me know how you get on!

Ignore my horrible freckly face. This is my lip scrub on. Whats great about it is that after you've finished exfoliating, you can either wash your scrub off or eat it! Mine tasted so yummy and left my lips feeling so soft and hydrated :) 

Autism Awareness

This is my baby brother James. He's not naughty, he isn't an out of control child, he is Severely Autistic. This post is going to be all about awareness and trying to make you understand just what exactly Autism is and how it affects children and adults like my little brother. There have been plenty of times when my mam and my brother have been given dirty looks when out and about because of the way that James acts. Sometimes we think it would just be easier for him to wear a huge badge that reads 'I AM AUTISTIC' that way maybe not as many people would judge him or my mam. But then again I think, they probably still would. Autism has got to be one of, if not the most misunderstood disabilities. Because there is such a broad spectrum of Autism ranging from Mild to Extremely Severe it can seem that some kids who claim to be Autistic are just using it as an excuse to be naughty. This is not the case at all, and I want to try and make you understand just what its like for my brother on a daily basis. You think that you feel uncomfortable because of how my brother acts in public? Let me tell you how it is for him...

Hi, I'm James. I'm 9 years old, but I don't want to be 10. I'm going to stay 9 forever because any form of change confuses me. I like order and routine. Only my mam can pray before we eat dinner and if my sister Lucia tries to play with me my brain can't get around that because she is my supervisor and protector. Her role isn't to play with me, that's my big brother Sam's job. I hate it when anyone sings Happy Birthday, and if people shout it really hurts my ears. You see, every single one of my senses is heightened. I hate the smell of gravy and vinegar, it hurts my nose when I sniff it. When I go to Tesco's, its really scary for me because the lights are so bright, and every single tiny noise hurts my ears. There is such an overload of smells that my nose can't cope, and it hurts me so much. I am already dealing with all of this, so when you come over and try to talk to me, because yeah I know I'm so cute my big sister Ashleigh tells me all the time, I just don't have the brain space to interact with you because of everything else I am dealing with! I'm not a nasty little boy, and I'm not rude. I just prefer to stay in my own little space so that I can deal with whats going on as best as I can until I can get back home and play on my iPod and ignore the world, please understand. I feel the safest when I'm sitting next to my dad telling him about all the dinosaurs and about every detail of the game I'm playing. I love my cat Gracie and my dog Blossom, but I don't like it when I cuddle her and she tries to lick me! It can be annoying when I rewind the telly over and over again because I don't want to miss a second, but you see, unlike a lot of you people, my family understand and they care for me. They just want me to feel comfortable in whatever I do. So if that means that when I go out and I'm finding it hard to cope that I just have to sit in my big boy pram with my ear defenders on and a blanket to block the world from me, then okay that's what I will do. I'm not scary, and I'm not naughty. I am Autistic. Please don't stare at my mam or me, its not our fault. It was the way I was born, and I'm special. I'm funny and cheeky, and I love my sisters and brothers even if sometimes I don't know how to express it. Next time you see a little boy or girl like me at the shops being 'naughty' instead of giving the mother a dirty look, take a second to stop and think there might be more to the situation than first meets the eye. 

Thank you for reading my story.

Please watch this video to help you to understand what people with Autism go through every second of every day..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plPNhooUUuc

The Body Shop Body Sorbet

I have seen a couple of posts now about these body sorbets by The Body Shop by people who are fortunate enough to have tried them before they are released, and my goodness am I bloody excited for the release! Everyone knows how much I not only love The Body Shop, but more specifically their body butters. So you can imagine my excitement at the prospect of a new body moisturising product! 

They aren't releasing this product until the 16th July, but you can bet your bottom that I am going to be first in line to try these. They come in five flavours; Pink Grapefruit, Mango, Moringa, Strawberry and Satsuma. The ones I'm thinking I will love are Pink Grapefruit, Strawberry and Mango! I'm not sure how much these will be selling for as they aren't giving away too much on their website, but when it comes to The Body Shop I could spend a fortune! 

I do know that the selling point on these body sorbets is that they are light and fast absorbing, more so than your average moisturiser. They are supposed to absorb into your skin straight away making it easier to get dressed quicker after a shower, without feeling sticky. They're apparently going to leave your body instantly moisturised, and offering up to 24 hours of hydration! Also, they're supposed to be great to be used as an after sun and The Body Shop recommened putting them in the fridge to give that extra relief on your sunburnt skin. So great to take on holiday! (If I was going abroad this year, which I'm not. Boohoo!)

So, its safe to say that I am extremely excited to try these body sorbets and if they will live up to the hype! I will let you all know when I have mine :) 

My Avon Favourites!

As you all know by now I am an Avon rep in my spare time, and I don't do it because I have to, I do it because I love it! I love being an Avon rep. I find that Avon is a great company with really good values. Their products are gorgeous, and they strive to be unique in every way. 

So on to my favourite Avon products at the minute. 

I've used the Avon Mega Effects Mascara since before they released it, and I adore it. Its so amazing and unique and really works for me. It makes my lashes so long with only two coats where other mascaras I have to build up the volume and length with at least four coats because my eyelashes are barely there. In my opinion, if you haven't already tried this mascara I would definitely recommend it, it is amazing!

I always have extremely dry hands, not just in the winter, all year round. So I always have to have a hand cream with me at all times. Recently I have been using this Avon Cocoa Butter Hand Cream and I love it so much. It not only smells delicious, it does the job really well. 

Another of my favs over the past few months is this Avon Blusher Brush. I really like it because its angled and it deposits just the right amount of product onto my cheeks, and then it is really easy to use to blend it in aswell. I've used a lot of blusher brushes in my time, and I would definitely say that this has been my favourite one to use. 

Finally, is the Avon Bubble Baths. I chose to put the Strawberry Sorbet one in this picture, but its definitely not just limited to this scent. I have used at least half a dozen of their bubble baths and I can't actually say there has been a one that I haven't liked. They all smell gorgeous and they bubble up really well, with using only a little of the product. They're so cheap, and you get a huge bottle so definitely worth the price.

Again, I really love Avon and not just because I work for them. They are, in my opinion, a really good brand and definitely cheap enough for someone like me who is always on a budget!

Do you have any Avon favs? What are they?

The Lazy Day Tag

So today is Bank Holiday Monday and my husband is at work until this evening so I've decided that I am doing NOTHING AT ALL today! I love lazy days so much, and haven't had one for ages so thought today was the best day to have one. Since I got out of bed I have been browsing blogs and came across this Lazy Day Tag on Louise's blog over at louisekaterobertson.blogspot.co.uk

So here we go!

1. Hair products?

If I'm having a lazy day and my hair happens to be in need of a wash I will take the time to give it a proper wash. The whole double shampoo, 5 minute conditioner and hair mask. Then I will dry my hair properly, and actually take the time to straighten it! On a usual day I won't straighten my hair because its naturally straight anyways. However today, my hair is in a bun on the top of my head!

2. Makeup products?

I don't wear makeup if I'm having a lazy day. There's nothing I love more than not wearing any makeup. I honestly wish I was naturally pretty with a flawless complexion so I didn't have to wear any, but unfortunately I'm not so on a lazy day I enjoy not wearing any at all, unless someone is coming over, in which case I'd quickly put some foundation and mascara on.

3. Outfits?

Currently I'm wearing an old T-shirt and my dressing gown, but I'm probably going to get ready soon but it will only be an upgrade to some leggings and a vest. I always get worried sitting in my pyjamas incase someone knocks on the door. There's nothing more embarrassing, I find, than answering the door in your pyjamas!

4. Tea or coffee?

Definitely tea! I drink between one and three cups of tea a day, with lots of biscuits of course! I'm surprised I'm not the size of a whale! You can't have tea without biscuits. I do drink coffee with my breakfast but for the rest of the day I go for tea.

5. Snacks?

Like I said in the previous questions, lots of biscuits dunked in my cup of tea! I'm not the type of person who binges all day when I'm not doing anything. Besides my biscuits, I don't often snack.

6. Pampering items?

I love a hot bath on the evening of a lazy day! Boiling hot with tons of Avon Bubble Bath! I love the Avon bubble baths, I have about five of them in my bathroom at the minute and often rotate them. They bubble up so nice, and you don't actually have to use a lot of it to get a lot of bubbles.

So there's my lazy day! I tag everyone who reads this to do it aswell :) 

Have a lovely Bank Holiday, everyone!

St. Mary's Lighthouse

Me and my husband decided to take full advantage of the lovely evenings we have been getting and we took a drive down to St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay. It was a gorgeous evening, so I thought I would share with you all some of the photos we took.. 

My MAC Lipstick Collection

 I recently had a clear out of all my makeup and I didn't even realise that I had these beauties! I must have bought them and completely forgotten about them. From left to right I have Sunny Seoul, Pink Friday and Hue. I love MAC so much, but find it to be very overpriced so I don't often buy from there and when I do its because of a treat. I'm not a huge lipstick person, I hardly wear anything on my lips but when I do it has to be some version of pink! My favourite out of these three lipsticks has to be Sunny Seoul (left). I love it!

Which out of these are your favourite? Let me see your MAC Lipstick Collection..

Top Foundation Choices - And Review

I've decided to put together my favourite foundations of the minute and do a review on them. From left to right I've got Rimmel Lasting Finish in Ivory, Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory, Mac Pro LongWear in NC15 and N18, and finally Avon Ideal Flawless in Shell.

Lets start with the Rimmel Lasting Finish. I have used this foundation for years. When I was younger I went with a much darker colour until I figured out that orange is NOT best! So now I use Ivory, thank goodness! I really like this foundation, I love how it feels. It has a thick, creamy texture that reassures me it will stay on all day, which it does. I would say this foundation is medium to full coverage and I find that its great on my dry skin as it feels very moisturising. It smells very perfumey which I like, I hate smelly foundations. The smell reminds me of the summer, I must wear this foundation the most in the summer! It sells for £7.99 at Boots, which for a foundation is very affordable. Overall, I really like this foundation and I think if I had to choose a foundation to use for the rest of my life, it would be this one. 

Next is the Rimmel Wake Me Up. I like this foundation for days when I'm feeling like I want a lighter coverage foundation. I find that this foundation starts to come off towards the end of the day but we can't expect all foundations to stay on forever! This foundation sells for £8.99 at Boots. I do like this foundation but its probably not a one I would continue to buy forever. For now though, it does the job.

On to my Mac collection. I have the same foundation in two colours as at first I bought the darker colour in the winter which I find to be too dark to wear in the spring and summer months. However, when I went to buy the next lightest colour I found it to be too light so what I do is I mix the two foundations together to get the colour that I want for my skin. When I went to the Mac counter I asked for a foundation that would stay on all day when I am at work and was recommended this, however I don't find that this foundation does that. And if like me, you're not very good at sticking to a strict skincare regime, this foundation probably isn't for you because I find that unless you have a freshly cleansed, toned and exfoliated face this foundation will not sit nicely on your skin. I do like this foundation but because it is £25 I don't often buy it!

Finally is a new one that I have been trying, the Avon Ideal Flawless. I bought this foundation in the colour shell and at first when I put it on I thought that it was too dark but once I had finished my whole makeup and took a look in the natural light, I feel that it is just right for my skin. I like how this foundation feels on my skin, light and fluffy. It doesn't stay on all day like I had hoped, however and it doesn't have a lovely smell either! I will keep using this foundation for a while longer before I decide if I love it or not. 

That's all for my Top Foundation Choices, which foundations are your fav and can you recommend me a great foundation for dry skin that will stay on all day?

Theology Thursday..

Superdrug and Boots Haul

Hi everyone!

For the past week or so I have rekindled my love for all things makeup and its all thanks to YouTube favs Pixiwoo. I am a trained beauty and spa therapist and while at college one of my favourite topics was the makeup segment of the course. But since then I seem to have slowly lost all my love for experimenting with makeup. But all that changed this past week and when I sorted through all my makeup I realised that a lot of it was quite outdated and a major haul was in order. So without further ado, here goes! 

 I went to Superdrug and found these cream eye shadow pencils. They are three different makes, the top one is from Gosh (£3.99) and is in colour Silver Rose. The middle pencil is from Work The Colour (£3.19 although I got this for £2.19 because of damage to the product) and is in colour Vintage Blush and the bottom is from Barry M (£4.59) and is in colour Gold Creme. 

I love these colours as you can make them very subtle by blending them in for a nice daytime look or you can build them up into a lovely smoky eye making it an evening look. They are also long-lasting and waterproof which makes them a bonus, I love anything that will stay put all day! 

Next from Superdrug I bought two things from Maybelline because it was buy one get one half price, so why wouldn't I buy two things really! First I bought something that I've been after for a while, the Colour Tattoo gel-cream eyeshadow in Pink Gold. It. Is. Gorgeous. I love the colour! This was £4.99. Next I bought Brow Drama eyebrow mascara in Medium Brown. I have never used an eyebrow mascara before, I usually just use an eyeshadow or my Anastasia eyebrow pencil but I thought I would give this a go. This was £4.99 but because I bought the eyeshadow aswell it was half price.

I also bought a couple of things from the MUA brand. I couldn't believe how cheap this brand were! I haven't used this product but if they're any good I will definitely do a review on them because the price is amazing. I bought four lipliners at £1 each. With them being only £1 I just bought them all! Why not?! The colours I bought were Pink Me Up, Red Drama, Brooding Plum and Softly Lined. I also bought a nice blusher in colour Candyfloss. This was only £1 aswell! I couldn't believe it! The last thing I bought from MUA was this lovely eyeshadow palette for only £4 and you 10 gorgeous colours. I really can't wait to try these products. 

Lastly from Superdrug I bought a Rimmel Clear Complexion Clarifying powder in Translucent just to swipe over my makeup and set it into place. This was £3.99.

Then I went across to Boots because I have seen Corrie from dizzybrunette3 use this in a few of her videos and I love the dewy look she achieves with her makeup. Its the Seventeen Skin Wow Primer (£5.99). I can't wait to try this product and if its any good I will definitely do a review on it. 

So that's my haul, I realise I went a bit crazy but sometimes its good to treat yourself! So, what have you been buying recently? Have you tried any of the products I have bought?