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?