My weight loss journey so far (size 20 - size 14)

Let's talk about weight loss, shall we? I apologise for the quality of the comparison photos in this post, the majority of them were taken on my phone and I couldn't really find any full body images between then and now!

I was at my heaviest (15.7 stone) in 2014 and I felt so uncomfortable in my own skin, I wasn't confident at all in my appearance and it really affected my view on myself. I'm by no means saying that if you're plus size you're an unhappy person or should be, you should be body positive regardless of your size, but that's something I really struggled with. If a friend or family member mentioned my weight to me, 99% of the time I would get upset to the point of tears, which then meant I would comfort eat and I found it really hard to break the cycle of using food for comfort, I remember always thinking that I was the "fat friend" in my friendship group and that people saw me differently because of my weight.

(left: October 2014, Right: July 2015)

(Left: July 2014, Right: August 2015)

Around September 2014 I was a size 20 and at my heaviest due to an unhealthy lifestyle of no exercise and plenty of takeaways. By May 2015 I went down a size to an 18 and that was when I really decided that I needed a boot up the backside and to lose some weight. I shifted the majority of my weight from going to the gym regularly and cutting my portion sizes down, I wasn't on a diet by any means, I just wasn't eating as much takeaway or chocolate and substituting some foods for healthier options.

One thing that has stuck with me during this weight loss journey is how my body actually feels, I found that my sex life was unpleasant (I apologise if this is too much information) because I remember I used to lay down and the feel of the celulite/fat bulging at the sides of my legs would make me so self conscious of my body image that the thought of someone else seeing me naked repulsed me. It wasn't just the look of this, but the feel of my body... it's hard to describe but I felt as if my legs were tight and restricted due to the size of them, since losing weight I no longer have that feeling in my legs which makes me so, so happy.

(August 2015)

I'm now 13.1 stone and a size 14 and I feel so much more positive about my body image, I can't say that i'm completely happy with how my body looks, but when comparing how I look and feel right now compared to last year, I couldn't be happier. I find it so rewarding buying new clothes in a smaller size and I have cleared out my wardrobe of any size 20 clothing, hurrah! I have 2.1 more stone to lose until i'm at my goal weight, maybe I will do more weight loss posts in the future following my journey to keep my motivated. If anyone has any tips or words of wisdom to help, please feel free to share, i'd love to hear what you have to say!

Kiko clics eyeshadow palette (customisable palettes)

Kiko infinity eyeshadow - £5.90 (currently £2.70)

Kiko clics palettes - Varied/ 3 Clics £3.90 (currently £2.50)

I know I probably should have taken a picture of this palette before I used it but temptation got the better of me and I couldn't resist delving into it. The Kiko clics palettes are customisable palettes that fit the infinity eyeshadows, the palettes are available in one, three, four, nine and twenty four pan compartments and are sold separately to the eyeshadows. The eyeshadows are repositionable and once they're inserted into the palette they aren't permanently fixed there which I think is pretty dandy, especially if you had a large collection of the eyeshadows and wanted to take certain ones away travelling in a smaller palette.

I purchased the 3 pan palette and decided to choose a variety of warm toned eyeshadows, the shades I picked are 220 Metallic golden rose which is a light beige pink with a golden shimmer running through it, 211 Metallic copper which is a shimmery warm, red toned copper and 217 Satin ebony which is a medium matte brown shade. Metallic golden rose reminds me of a more amped up version of mac all that glitters eyeshadow which i'm running dangerously low on, so I thought I would check out Kiko as a cheaper alternative and it hasn't disappointed me. All of the eyeshadows are highly pigmented and buttery smooth to apply even the matte brown shade satin ebony, it's common in other brands of eyeshadow that a lot of matte shades are chalky and less pigmented but this shade is equal in quality in comparison to the other two shades I own.

The one gripe I have about these palettes is how bulky the packaging considering there's no mirror included, the lid has a satisfying clicking sound when it shuts (don't you just love it when packaging does that?) but the packaging would be so much more ideal if the lid was as slim as the base of the packaging.

Kiko currently has 52% off their eyeshadows so they have dropped from £5.90 each to just £2.80 which is a complete bargain in my opinion, I'm debating creating another palette because the eyeshadows are such high quality at a bargain price. Kiko also have 20% off until the 10th of March!

Surviving a breakup

I've been toying with the idea of writing this post for quite a while, but it's only recently i've really felt like myself and can honestly say... i'm happy again and I feel like I can talk about this openly. I was in a relationship for 5 years. I met who I assumed was the love of my life when I was 15 and we grew up through our teenage years together and become unbelievably close, we lived together for several years and had everything planned out. That relationship ended in October 2014 and one month later he was seeing someone else...

If I thought the actual breakup caused me enough heartbreak then I was wrong, that topped me over the edge. I couldn't comprehend how someone could move on from a 5 year relationship to another one so quickly? I understand now that certain people walk into your life and make an impact and that's what she did to him, the pull was there and they went along for the ride. Although that didn't make it hurt any less, there's only so much you can take before you essentially snap. One of the toughest parts of my breakup was when I started to wonder what was wrong with me and what our relationship was worth if it was so easy to move on from, was I a bad person? did I do something wrong? self doubt started flooding in...

 For me personally, one of the hardest parts was talking about it and accepting what happened. Although I found that talking to certain people helped the situation... others didn't, two of my closest friends are what got me through the breakup and I can't thank them enough for talking to me countless times when I just needed comforting, the difficult part for me was when colleagues I work with, or people I didn't really speak to started talking to me and sending me messages asking for details and that's when it all became too much. I found having to repeatedly tell the story of what happened to people and having to relive the experience was just making me more upset...

I feel that going through this experience has changed me as a person, I was always told that there's only so many times that you can get hurt before you put a barrier up and become emotionally numb to what's going on and it's completely true as that happened to me. I always thought that i'll never become that person who essentially switches their emotions off but I become so worn down and emotionally drained from the whole situation that I eventually thought fuck it all....

As he was my first 'real' boyfriend this is pretty much the first time I have ever been single, so this has been my first breakup experience, one minute I felt like a strong, independent woman who could do whatever the fuck she wants and then I was blubbering into my pillow watching gossip girl with a pot of ben and jerrys. I've done stupid things like getting horrendously drunk at our work christmas party that she was working and ended up crying and puking to screaming every curse word under the sun at him down the phone another day, not my finest moments. There has been a lot of tears, junk food consumed, a rollercoaster of emotions and feelings, one minute i'll be upset and then the next...

But I can honestly say... it gets better and as cheesy as it sounds, time does help heal. It's been nearly 5 months and I can finally say that I'm happy again. Having this time to myself without thinking about him and being able spend time with myself has taught me that it is possible to come out from a breakup stronger. I don't find myself over thinking and getting upset at 1am anymore, or waking up and wondering what he's up to. One day I woke up and it felt as if a huge weight had been lifted and I felt different in myself. We're still very close friends and that won't change, it's hard to cut someone who has been such a huge part of your life out of it especially when they understand you like no one else ever has before. 

The main points I really wanted to get across in this post is that only YOU can allow yourself to move forward. YOU can say to other people that it's not something that you want to talk about anymore, because it's finished. YOU can do what you want, when you want. Surrounding yourself with the company of positive, honest friends will make a huge difference, as it will help you feel less alone and will fill the void of the person who's no longer there.  Moving on takes time, but you will get there eventually. I have. 

My favourite fuss-free lip products

Clarins instant light natural lip perfector '02 apricot shimmer' - £18

Clarins instant light lip balm perfector '03 my pink' - £18

YSL Volupte tint-in-oil 'I rose you' - £23.50

Tanya Burr lipgloss 'Chic' - £6.99

Recently I've become a fan of almost glossy nudes, easy to wear and fuss free products. I'm not a fan of lip products that require a lot of work, I like being able to chuck something on and not have to worry about it getting on my teeth or smudging everywhere. Ladies, i'm sure you'll understand that It's also nice to be able to eat something and not have to do that awkward eating without the fork touching your lips malarky.

The clarins instant light natural lip perfector in apricot shimmer was the first product that got me on board with lip gloss, it's non sticky and makes my lips look absolutely perfect and line free. it glides on with the niftiest doe foot applicator which feels lovely and gives my lips a light wash of colour. It's also the best smelling lip product I have ever smelt, if you haven't smelt it before I highly suggest you go to your local clarins counter and give it a whiff... it smells like beautiful vanilla-y goodness, yummy.

Next up is the Clarins instant light lip balm perfector in my pink, just to let you know this smells exactly the same as the natural lip perfector, amazing! I purchased the shade my pink because the colour works with the PH levels on your lips to create your perfect pink lip shade which I thought sounded pretty damn amazing. This product is a tinted lip balm and it makes my lips feel extremely soft and plump, because it's a lip balm it's comfortable to wear and I don't even have to get out a mirror to apply this, it's one of those chuck on and go products that i'm a huge fan of.

I'll be honest, I have only had this product for a couple of days but i'm completely smitten with it. the YSL Volupte tint-in-oil in I rose you comes in the most gorgeous, sleek packaging which I feel really fancy getting out of my bag and applying. When I first saw the bright, neon pink colour on the applicator I was shocked, there was no chance in hell that was going to look good on me. Once applied, it's a sheer tint of colour that completely smoothes out your lips and makes them look healthy and plump. Because the product is an oil I have found it's the most comfortable lip product I have ever used and my lips feel very nourished whenever I apply this! If there's one lip product that you plan on splurging on this month then I would say it has to be this, I'm 100% in love with it and I already have my eye on a couple of more shades.

My go to nude lip is the Tanya Burr lipgloss in chic, the other three options in this post are more on the pink spectrum but this is my perfect nude shade. The formula is non-sticky which I think is hard to find in a lip gloss and feels comfortable to wear, usually with lip glosses I want to wipe them off the second I apply them to my lips but I don't feel that way about this product. Although the colour is opaque my favourite way to apply it is by smoothing the product on my lips with the applicator and then sheering it out slightly with my finger and i'm good to go. I'm a big fan of good smelling lip products and this one definitely smells amazing, It smells like strawberry milkshake cupcakes. 

Dear Santa, this christmas I would like...

As a beauty fanatic you can imagine that my beauty-to-buy list is certainly extortionate, so I thought I would narrow down a few gifts that aren't too expensive that I would absolutely love to wake up to under the christmas tree! There are other gifts that I would die for such as a naked 1 palette or Apple TV but these are the 'little' things that stood out to me this christmas!

Lorac pro palette // TheBalm Auto balm California face palette // Nars digital world lip pencil coffret // Vans authentic black mono // The body shop coconut ultimate luxuries // The body shop vanilla brule eau de toilette

What's your on your christmas list this year?

The library of fragrance 'sex on the beach' perfume.

The library of fragrance 'sex on the beach' perfume - £15

Whilst scrolling through twitter I saw someone tweet a picture of a library of fragrance perfume and was interested as it was simply named 'peach', a perfume with a single scent? to some that may sound boring but It got me interested. The library of fragrance's aim is to capture the scents that surround us everyday, and because their perfumes are focused around a single scent it means that they're easy to layer and to create your own scent by mixing the perfumes together! There are 101 different fragrances which are available in the UK from the library of fragrance website but 28 of their scents are sold in boots stores across the country, a lot of the scents sound delicious but they do have some odd ones such as pizza, dirt and play doh, I'm not sure why anyone would want to smell like any of those but they're interesting non the least! 

I picked up the 'sex on the beach' option and it's the most sickly sweet amazing perfume I have ever had the pleasure of smelling, It's described as an iced and inviting combination of Vodka, unsweetened Pineapple Juice, a touch of Raspberry liquor, a hint of Melon liquor and a splash of Cranberry, and as odd as it sounds you can actually slightly smell the alcohol in it but not in a bad way, think of a beautiful frozen cocktail, yum! I have found that the perfume lingers for a couple of hours but really sticks to clothing which I'm all for as it means it lingers for a lot longer.

I think that these 30ml bottles are perfect for popping into your handbag and using to spruce yourself during the day. I especially like how simple the bottles are and clearly display the name on the front, very minimalistic which suits the brand perfectly with their single noted perfumes! These perfumes are currently on a 2 for £25 offer in boots which I didn't take advantage of when I went but I'm thinking about picking up 'peach' and 'vanilla ice cream' on my next trip to boots as they smell divine!

What perfume from their range stands out the most to you?

My 5 bad beauty habits

Applying body moisturiser is a step that I never used to skip, every time I got out of the shower I slavered myself in the stuff and then got into my pyjamas, but this year? not so much. In the summer applying a body lotion feels disgustingly sticky and I wasn't a fan and now that we're moving into the colder months I'm too cold to stand around waiting for my moisturiser to sink in, I just want to get straight into my pyjamas!

Cleaning my brushes is the bain of my life, I get a back ache standing over the sink and it's so time consuming, don't get me wrong I do wash my brushes but just not as often as I probably should... sorry if that's a little bit gross. I actually wanted to photograph my real techniques blush brush but it was dirty... coincidence, right?

Using toner, er I sort of can't remember the last time I actually used toner which is bad considering it's a step that can make a lot of difference to your skin! The main reason I haven't been using it is because I run out of cotton pads and couldn't be bothered to go buy some more...

Exfoliating my lips is something that i'm making more of an effort to do recently as my lips have been getting quite flakey, sorry I know that's gross but it happens to everyone! I have two of the lush lip scrips and i'm not even halfway through the first and i've had them since... december? they expire at the end of the year and I need to make my way through them before then!

I'm certain I'm going to have dry wrinkly hands when i'm old, using hand cream is something I forget to do all the time even when my hands are really dry, I use it once then forget about it and go back to it weeks later!

Do you have any bad beauty habits?

What's in my bag? Fiorelli tan 'nikki' tote

Before I went back to college I decided I needed a new handbag as my old one was on it's last legs and it was time for a change. After searching the internet and stores for what seemed like forever I found the perfect bag for me, the Fiorelli tan nikki tote. The bag has three compartments and little pockets on the inside for your phone and all of that good stuff so if you're a little bit of an organisational freak like me then this bag's perfect. I'm not the kinda of person who likes to carry my whole life around with me but on days where I have college a few extra things get popped in like a notebook, external hard drive, student ID and all that good stuff.

I recently bought myself the tan purse from primark for just £5, even though it's cheap I think it was a sort of mulberry look about it and it's beautiful and once again has a lot of different compartments for cash, coins and cards! I know I probably shouldn't do this because of the magnetic waves of whatever it is from the cards, but a lot of the time I actually put my iPhone 6 inside my purse for extra protection and I'm scared it's going to get damaged and it fits perfectly in there. I also have my car and house key on my Cath Kidston key fob which I absolutely love as it makes finding your keys so much easier... and I also have a red pen, because you always need a pen.

Everything else in my bag is pretty much essential (yes, lipgloss is essential!) so I carry around some tissues and the body shop's strawberry anti bacterial hand gel, some chewing gum incase I eat something that's going to make my breath not-so-fresh and some anadin liquifast tablets as I get headaches a lot and I have found that these work the best for me as they get rid of the pain very quickly... and they're easy to swallow and i'm a complete baby when it comes to swallowing tablets! I always like to have a perfume or bodyspray handy in my bag and the perfume that's been in my bag for the past couple of months is the body shop's white musk smokey rose which is perfect because it's really small and the lid is secure and won't fall off, plus it smells beautifully deep and sensual... if that makes any sense?

Why yes, yes I do need two lanolips lip products in my bag as they're my favourite, I have the 101 ointment and the lemonaid lip aid and I would be lost without them. The last two items I have in my bag are Tanya Burr's lipgloss in 'chic' as it's the perfect glossy everyday nude and a mirror to apply said lipgloss!

Am I missing anything 'essential' from my bag? let me know! 

Rimmel wonder'full mascara with argain oil

Rimmel Wonder'full mascara - £7.99

Whilst browsing the beauty section in Asda I come across the Rimmel wonder'full mascara which is infused with argan oil and it's supposed to make your eyelashes softer... and more healthy looking? I can personally say I have never looked at my eyelashes and thought "they don't look healthy today" it's generally not something that women tend to look out for and I haven't noticed that my eyelashes are any softer...

I didn't even look at the wand/bristles or read reviews before buying this which is extremely unlike me, so I was completely blind to this mascara when I bought it. I was sucked in by the 'wonder'FULL' as I wanted thick, full lashes and I found that I do quite like the brush as it's the shape I'm most drawn towards when buying a mascara but the formula didn't perform as well as I was hoping, mainly because I was expecting big, voluminous lashes and whilst this mascara does make my lashes look fuller it's on more of a natural scale which just wasn't what I was looking for. I got the black option and it's very black and doesn't flake off onto my cheeks like other mascara's I have tried which is a plus because that's definitely not a good look. at all. This is a good mascara in the sense that it doesn't transfer under my eyes or onto my eyelids but I just had higher hopes for it. I don't really think there's much to say about this mascara as it's pretty average compared to others that I have tried, like I said it isn't a bad mascara by any means it just wasn't what I was looking for. 

Do you have any mascara recommendations for BIG, full and long lashes? 

5 Weeks old puppy update!

If you follow me on twitter or instagram then you would have seen these two adorable little munchkins pop up quite frequently, as I haven't posted anything on my blog about them since they were newborn I think it's about time I updated you on them. They're now 5 weeks old (pushing 6) and are eating puppy food which is giving their mum Peppa a bit of a well deserved break because they're a complete handful.

My two little puppies have actually been name-less up until they were 5 weeks old so the little boy's name is Charlie and his sister's name is Lola! They're completely different looks wise and personality, Charlie's fur has lightened up majorly since he was born and he seems to be getting lighter day by day, but he's kept his dark face which makes me think he's going to look a lot like his mother but lighter. Charlie is adventurous, playful and quite honestly a little bit clingy to me, he constantly wants to be held for cuddles or play, he was the first to leave the 'nest' and wander around. He's definitely the more outgoing out of the two but that might just be his ego for being first born!

Lola, my timid little girl! Compared to her brother she's quite shy but she's equally as playful and loving. She gets scared a lot easier and isn't a very tough cookie. It took her a lot longer to venture out of the nest and run around with the other dogs but now she's out there's no stopping her. She's very greedy and loves her food, she keeps trying to steal the bigger dogs treats off them by acting cute then swooping in and stealing their goods. Lola's fur has also lightened up but she's kept her rich chocolate brown coat, but she's now got cream paws and underneath which looks absolutely gorgeous. One thing that we're completely thrown by is the colour of her eyes, they're a mix of brown and blue and are beautiful and slightly odd we're unsure if they're going to go brown or blue or stay as both!

They're both currently going through the whole house training process which is so so so long, but they'll get there eventually but they're being good and peeing on the puppy pads most of the time... naughty. I'm currently writing this on their mum's 5th birthday (5th october 2014) for their 5 week update so there's a whole lot of 5's going on today! I absolutely love these little guys and can't stop taking photos of them.

Lately I've been buying...

I would just like to make a formal apology to my bank account... I'm sorry, I don't mean to abuse you by constantly racking down your funds but I have no will power and like pretty things. I did a fair bit of overtime before going back to college and decided to treat myself because why the hell not? I will add I have also bought a new bag and purse but they will be featured in another post later this week (what's in my bag anyone?) but as you can see that's not all I got. 

first up, you may see a shiny new iPhone 6 in there... yep, I finally said goodbye to my iPhone 4S and decided to take out my first contract and get myself a 16GB gold iPhone 6 and it's bloody beautiful I'm so glad I got it as it's such an upgrade from my 4S! Moving away from my little outburst of love for my new iPhone and onto the beauty bits I also saw the models own hypergel gift set on the superdrug website which contains 10 10ml shades which is essentially the whole hypergel collection that are a tiny bit smaller at just £15 and i've done a blog post all about it that includes swatches (link). If you spend over £10 on the superdrug website you get free delivery so I thought I would take advantage of this so I also decided I would try out two makeup revolution blushers that I have had my eye on for a while, so I got the cream blush in 'frambroise shake' £1.50 and the vivid baked blush in 'all I think about is you' £2.50 ... they're so cheap! for that price they're not going to break the bank and I have heard a lot of good things about makeup revolutions as a brand and I would just like to say that I have tried out the cream blush and pretty much everything else in this haul and it's lovely and long lasting!

I think I was the only beauty blogger who hadn't tried one of Tanya burr's lip glosses £6.99 because I have never been a big fan of them, i've only ever had bad experiences where they're too sticky and get stuck in my hair so I needed to change that and the shade 'chic' stood out to me the most from Tanyas collection so in my basket it went! There has also been a lot of hype surrounding the Maybelline velvet matte lip pencils £4.99 and I was after a matte, everyday pink that's not too noticeable and I struck gold with the shade 'minimalist'. Finally and probably my favourite makeup item I have picked up in a long while is the Stila smudge stick stay all day eyeliner in 'lionfish' £13 oh sweet baby jesus, I was not expecting much from this when I swatched it... I was browsing the Stila stand in marks and spencers and I was on the hunt for a brown eyeliner, so I swatched it and thought 'oh that's pretty' as it's a rich dark brown with golden flecks in it but it's when I tried rubbing it off that the magic happened, it didn't budge at all, not even when I wet my finger - that's when I knew it had to be mine! expect a review of this soon because i'm completely smitten with it. 

Have you bought anything recently - if so, what?

£15 Models own hypergel collection from superdrug!

Models own hyper gel collection - £15

If you hadn't already guessed from the post title superdrug are selling the full set of 10 models own hypergel nail polishes in a gift set for £15, the bottles are slightly smaller at 10ml instead of the standard 14ml but when the polishes retail for £5 each it's a great deal, If you bought every polish in the set for full price it retails for £50... excuse me? what a bargain, especially for a good quality nail polish! I like that the shades in this set are smaller as it's a great way to try out the shades before buying the full size, I already own the shade lilac sheen and it's a beautiful, glossy nail polish that's perfect for spring / summer. I know typically the shades in this set are more suited for the warmer months, but who really listens to that whole 'pastels for spring and darks for autumn' malarky anyway? I wear what nail polish I want when I want. I'm thinking about buying a couple of more of these as they'll make great christmas or birthday presents as they come in quite a cute box

The swatches above are shown with two coats of each nail polish and you can see that they're completely opaque and glossy which give the perfect 'I look like I have gel nails but really don't' look. The shades choices aren't really anything wow as they're typical shades that you can find from other brands but when it comes down to the formula, the models own hyper gel polishes win.

What do you think of this gift set?

The perfect pink polish - Maybelline forever strong 'nude rose'

I have heard a lot of good reviews surrounding the Maybelline forever strong gel nail colours for quite a while, the most recent addition to my nail polish collection is in the shade 'nude rose' and it's a perfect light rosy pink. I personally don't think that these polishes last as long on my nails as other people have claimed they do as on myself they last around 4 days chip free whereas I've heard a lot of ladies saying that they can go a week without chipping, I personally haven't had results like that but the colour is phenomenal and I can't get over how pretty it is. I wanted to get a couple of new colours as I was becoming bored of using the same colours and as soon as I saw this I popped it into my basket and it was love at first application. I love that the brush is really wide on this polish as it meant that you can get an even coat in one swipe and it's quick and easy. This colours going to be gracing my nails on days where I don't want to wear a nude, but don't want to go too bright - it's the perfect middle ground between the two. There have been a lot of 'gel effect' polishes popping up on the highstreet recently but I think that Maybelline are on point with this polish as it really does give that plumped up, glossy gel like finish. 

Not worth the hype? Sanctuary thermal detox mask

Sanctuary 5 minute thermal detox mask - £10.50

Don't you just hate it when products don't live up to the hype that surrounds them? it doesn't necessarily mean that they're bad products but they just don't fulfil your expectations for them which is exactly what has happened to me with this product... it just isn't all that great. I feel bad for writing bad reviews and there's controversy within the blogging world as to whether you should or shouldn't write bad reviews... I personally think it's okay as your review may help out other people when it comes down to deciding on a product.

I will start off by saying that the sanctuary 5 minute thermal detox mask retails at £10.50 for boots so it's not the cheapest mask on the high street and it's a thermal mask which means that when you start to rub it into your skin it heats up which opens your your pores and gives your skin a deeper clean, it's supposed to rebalance your skins oil levels as well as purify the skin leaving it clearer and silky feeling... I personally felt nothing like this, for me it kinda just did nothing. I expected this mask so heat up and then cool down into a clay-like finish, granted it isn't a clay mask but I still expected it to dry and set but instead it has a wet consistency and finish on the skin and doesn't dry at all which doesn't feel purifying in the slightest, and it doesn't feel as thought it's drawing out any impurities. With other masks such as the una brennan tea flower mask and the origins active charcoal mask once they're washed off I instantly see results and my skin looks clearer and healthier but with this I saw no results at all, I have persevered time after time but I just haven't seen any change in my skin when I use this and I generally don't like how it feels on the skin. I normally like to relax in the bath with a facemask on and watch pretty little liars for a while but do not try that with this mask... it will just drip off your face and melts. I personally feel that there are better masks for a fraction of the price It may just be me and my preferences as I know that others such as fleur de force love it.

Overall I wouldn't recommend this mask because I do feel that there are better options on the highstreet that give brilliant results, I will try and use up the tube to get my moneys worth but I have my doubts that I will see any further results

Have your tried this mask - what are your thoughts on it?

Rediscovering old favourites

Recently I've wanted to change up my makeup a little bit because I've been a little bit bored of using the same products everyday, but after paying off car insurance and other bits and bobs i'm pretty much broke. I decided that it was time to 'shop my stash' and use products which I had forgotten about and rekindle my love for them.

First up I have been reaching for the Nars orgasm blush and laguna bronzer duo, Orgasm is a beautiful mid pink with golden shimmer running through it and it does a pretty nifty job at making me look fresh faced. Laguna is the perfect contour shade which doesn't look to orange or muddy so I have been using this to contour slightly day-to-day, as the pans are so small it's difficult to get a big brush in there to do an overall bronze of the face. I like that this duo has smaller versions of orgasm and laguna because then you can try them out to see if they're worth buying later on, once i've finished this up I think I will be repurchasing the full sized of each product as they're beautiful. I've dug the Bourjois chocolate bronzer back out of my stash and have been using it everyday, this post seems to be very bronze heavy... apologies! I think this is the perfect colour to bronze up my face and I love how it looks and smells and it's from the high street so it isn't over priced, I'm so happy I have rediscovered this little gem. Finally I have been loving the maybelline colour tattoo in on and on bronze as a base under my eyeshadows, I completely forgot about this cream eyeshadow offering from maybelline and it has become a staple in my makeup routine again. I have had this colour tattoo for over a year and it hasn't dried out at all which is amazing considering my benefit one has dried out and I've had it for less than a year!

Have you rekindled your love for any of your old products recently?