London has been experiencing some pretty great weather over the past few weekends, and we Londoners have made the best of it!
Showing posts with label bits and bobs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bits and bobs. Show all posts
Afro Hair and Beauty Live 2015
I went to Afro Hair and Beauty Live last Bank Holiday weekend; the last time I went was in 2012. I previously wrote about AHB Live in 2012 which you can check out here.
Summer Skin
London
has been experiencing a proper summer as of late, which means legs and arms
out, sunnies and sandals!
It
also means that a lot of us step up on our skincare regime; not just for our
face, but for our body too. I share some of the products I’m using to ensure my
skin is ready for summer:
Exfoliation
is an essential for smooth skin; I exfoliate all year round, but I pay extra
attention in the Summer. Avon body scrubs are my go to when I want my skin at
its best. Their scrubs are abrasive enough to do the job without damaging my
skin. I tend to use my body scrub twice a week.
I
also use gel oil by Vaseline on my skin. I typically use Hollywood Cocoa
Butter, but in the Summer this tends to be too heavy for my skin. Vaseline’s
gel oil keeps my skin supple and gives it a nice sheen, while being light – you
only need a little for it to go far.
When
it comes to my face, I have to say that I can be quite lazy! My face care
regime is typically very simple; I might switch it up if I get a free sample
with one of my monthly magazines!
However
for the last few months, I have paid more attention to what I put on my face. I’ve
been using The Body Shop’s Vitamin E range, in particular the face mist and
moisture lotion with SPF15. The face mist is really light and refreshing; apparently it's also ideal for setting make-up. I chose this moisture as it had SPF protection
which is crucial for summer. Sunscreen regardless of skin complexion or age or
location should be used by everyone. I’m not an OAP yet but I’m aware that as I get
older my skin will too….it’s good to protect it now!
Got
any essential products to achieve your optimum Summer Skin? Let me know!
Summer Pieces
The South East has had a spell of lovely weather for the
past two weeks……a far cry from the snow we had in March! I’m also loving that
the days are so much brighter.
I’ve finally started updating my summer wardrobe; I’ve
been on the search for holiday-wear and work friendly clothes. I managed to get
a few pieces (all from H&M):
These tops are essentially basic tees; however H&M
have prettied them up by adding crepe material. The tops are light and can be
worn casually or under a suit jacket or with a pencil skirt for those warmer
days. I’m actually tempted to get the top in more colours!
These are the second pair of shorts that I have bought in
the past month. I’m going on a long haul holiday later on in the year and I
intend to wear shorts, vest tops and playsuits during my holiday (when I’m not
wearing swimwear). These shorts are supposed to be loose; however I bought a size down for a snugger fit. Without sounding vain, these shorts look great on me!
On my last holiday I found myself wearing the same pair of
shorts for most of the time; when they were in the wash I wore a longer pair
which were not that comfortable…..
I also bought this sleeveless blouse for my holiday. I don't usually wear a lot of white, but I really liked that this blouse is light, oversized and airy. It
would be great for the humid evenings while on holiday.
Writing this post has made me wish I booked my holiday
earlier!
Just Bitten Kissable ™ - Revlon
Just
bought another beauty product to add to my slowly growing make-up collection!
My
most recent purchase is the Just Bitten Kissable™ Balm Stain by Revlon; the
colour is crush:
 |
| "Just Bitten Kissable" Balm Stain in Crush - Revlon |
When
I saw that it was a balm stain, I thought that it would quite a subtle shade. However
when I put it on my lips I actually found it to be quite vibrant.
 |
| Without flash |
 |
| With flash |
This
is a nice shade, however I found it was the only shade that was suited to my
skin colour and probably the most universal.
It
was easy to put on and actually felt quite nice on my lips – it didn’t feel
sticky or feel drying. It’s lightweight, but it does have staying power. I liked that the balm is like a chubby crayon (similar to/rip off of Clinique?!); not sure why but I found this to be quite attractive!
The
normal price is £7.99 however I bought at the promotional price of £5.99, so it
was a bit of a bargain. As I have mentioned before, I don't regularly use make-up however, I find that this product would be ideal for those rare occasions when I do throw on the slap!
My Giveaway is still ongoing - due to close at 6pm GMT/UK Time. You can enter here; all the best!
Coastagram
Sunday
is such a bittersweet day; it’s relaxing, but there is the reality that Monday
is less than 24 hours away *sigh*…….
My
giveaway is on-going; click here to find out what’s for grabs and how you can
enter!
In
the meantime, I wanted to show off a quirky new purchase:
These
are coasters featuring pics from my instagram account by Coastagram, a niche
online business. Basically, they put instagram pictures on wooden coasters.
 |
| Left - in my local area at dusk Right - view of St. Paul's Cathedral, at One New Change Shopping Centre |
 |
| Left - on holiday at Sosua Beach, Dominican Republic (Sept 2011) Right - Victoria Park, London |
I
found out about the business through Groupon (a discount site for anyone who
hasn’t heard of it) and got a voucher which allowed me to order 4 coasters for
£9 including delivery, compared to the standard price of £18 for 4 coasters plus
delivery charges.
I
have a fair amount of instagram pictures, so it was hard to pic just 4; however
multiple orders in sets of 4 can be made. You can also use the same picture for
all the coasters, or like me, choose different pictures.
There
was a slight mishap with my order, courtesy of Royal Mail (i.e. it never
arrived despite my order being dispatched nearly a month ago), but Coastagram
were very helpful and recreated my order.
I
think the coasters are of good quality; it’s quirky items like these that make
a house a home!
My 2012
The end of 2012 is but a few hours away........
In addition to my achieved goals in my previous post (click here), here are a "few" pics highlighting my 2012:
After my birthday dinner:
 |
After a Special NTC Session at Westfield White City:
After I caught the bouquet at the wedding of my two friends!
At Hackney Weekender - Definately a highlight!!
At the first NTC Live:
When the Olympic Torch passed through my home town:
The fireworks from the Olympics Opening Ceremony - no tickets, but the view from my home was great!
Becoming a qualified solicitor:
One of my Secret Santa gifts - absolutely LOVE this mug!!
 |
| Yep, I am a great woman! |
Looking back, 2012 has certainly been an eventful year......the highs, including the going to Hackney Weekender, the Olympics and Paralympics, Nike Training Club and some lows which included the death of loved ones.
I also started this blog. I want to thank you all again for checking out my blog, especially those who comment and have followed!!
And as for 2013:
 |
| Source |
Happy New Year
&
All the best for 2013!!!!!
xXx
Firmoo
As
you may have (or not?) noticed, I wear glasses. I’ve been wearing glasses since
I was 11 and I usually wear contacts for special occasions or holidays.
I’ve
had my current pair of glasses for nearly 3 years now and I had been
considering changing my frames. So it was a happy coincidence that Firmoo
contacted me and offered a free pair of glasses……
According
to their website, they are the “World’s most popular online eyeglass store”.
They don’t just cater for prescription glasses, they do non-prescription
glasses, sunglasses (prescription/non-prescription) and eye googles.
Here’s a few
pics of the glasses that I chose:
 |
| taken on my samsung, using the self portrait camera - hence the poor lighting |
 |
| My chosen glasses can be found here |
The
glasses were lightweight but durable. I found them to be professional looking
which is a plus in my line of work.
Firmoo
are a very confident company with a significant following on Facebook; in fact they are offering new customers a free
pair of glasses/sunglasses and you only have to pay for shipping which is $12.96 - $15.75 (approx.
£7.50-£9.70 for my fellow Brits). Their shipping is really fast; I was told that my glasses would come
within 10 working days and I actually got it within 1 week. The glasses don’t
necessarily have to be prescription…..geek chic is a style in its own right so
one could easily rock a pair of fake glasses, though I do prefer the real thing
if I say so myself!
If
you’re interested in getting free glasses from Firmoo, click here. Go on, you
know you love a freebie!
Scent Travels
I’m
sure most, if not all us like to carry with us some sort of fragrance or body
spray/mist when we’re out and about. I usually have a body spray or mist in my
bag to freshen up during the day. However I use perfume for my social nights
out, which usually fades after about 4 hours, especially if I’m out dancing.
So
in April 2012 (yep, a wee while ago!), I saw a little gadget know as a perfume atomiser. Basically you
fill it with your preferred/favourite fragrance and take it with you wherever. You
can re-spray when needed meaning you won’t have to worry about your perfume
fading.
I bought my atomiser
(the brand is called Flo) from Boots and it cost £9.99 (at the time). At first
glance it could be mistaken for a mini vibrator – imagine that dropping out of
your bag during rush hour!
 |
| Bought from Boots, £9.99 |
 |
| naughty me for my naughty thoughts hehe! |
However
this compact baby has been a Godsend! While small, it packs a punch; when I
spray it, it is just as powerful as an average sized perfume bottle. It’s very
easy to fill up as well.
 |
| Fragile, by Jean Paul Gaultier My Ultimate Fragrance |
 |
| The atomiser may be small but it is powerful - has the same spray strength as the average perfume bottle |
Since
I bought my atomiser, I have always used my favourite perfume, namely Fragile
by Jean Paul Gaultier; however the atomiser is re-fillable and you can it for
whatever fragrance takes your fancy - just make sure you wash it out first
before filling it with a new fragrance.
I
think that this is definitely an essential for any girl especially during the
festive party season – I forgot my atomiser at home on Friday and I actually got my sister to bring it to me to our home station before I went to karaoke! Seiously, I felt lost without it!
Maybe it could be an ideal Secret Santa gift/stocking
filler (^_^)
Speaking
of which I hope you’re Christmas preparations, spiritual and otherwise are
going well!
Finally Bought a Purse
So I finally bought a purse:
 |
| Zip Round Purse - Primark, £4 |
It was a bit of a struggle to find a a purse; it seems that the trend is big and bulky. this would be annoying for when I need to use a small bag or clutch, however on the plus side it would be easy to dig when I'm using a massive bag.
This purse is simple, cheap and cheerful. However coming from Primark, this means mass production and loads of people owning it......in fact as I was in the queue waiting to pay for the purse, I saw 2 others ladies using the same purse to pay for their items lol!
Sugar Scrubbed Lips
"Look how rough and dry your
lips are; and you’re going out like that” were the kind words of my mother
about 3 months ago…….this was despite me using Carmex on a regular basis. Just
as well I was going to Lush Cosmetics to pick up a present for a friend,
because I also purchased Lush’s Lip Scrub in Mint Julips (mint chocolate).
Lush Cosmetics specialise in
making fresh, handmade beauty products. With the exception of their liquid products,
all cosmetics are preservative free.
The Lip Scrub is made up of
the following ingredients:
Caster Sugar
Organic Jojoba Oil
Vanilla Extract
Tagetes Oil
Peppermint Oil
Limonene (which occurs
naturally in essential oils)
The Lip Scrub has been very
beneficial; I only need a small amount of the scrub to get rid of the roughness
on my lips. After use my lips feel smooth and soft; I feel that my lip balm is a
lot more effective after using the scrub.
The Lip Scrub smells so nice;
the mixture of the vanilla and peppermint is a delightful smell. It also tastes
nice as well! As it is made of caster sugar, after I have finished buffing my
lips, I can simply lick it off! However I recommend applying the sugar scrub
with a mirror because you may not be able to lick all of the sugar and could
end up looking like you got into a war with a sugar doughnut…….
The Lush Lip Scrub costs about
£4 - £5, which is not too bad considering it is handmade and I haven’t needed
to use it every day. In fact I am still using the same scrub I bought 3 months
ago and it is not even half way.
However, the ingredients are
simple to purchase and you can even make your own scrub. In fact Yolandaas, of
Pink and Leopard Prints has done a post on making your own scrub. You can check
it out here.
Have you used Lush Cosmetics’
Lip Scrub before? Do you DIY?
My First Giveaway Win
Hi guys,
Just a quick post while i'm on the go...
I recently won a giveaway hosted by Kiwi of Kiwi Fashion & Beauty, which you can check out here.
This was my first giveaway success and I was very excited to receive my gift box.
Here is a pic of what I got in my gift box:
I am tempted to host my own giveaway......maybe when I reach 100 followers, eh?
Just a quick post while i'm on the go...
I recently won a giveaway hosted by Kiwi of Kiwi Fashion & Beauty, which you can check out here.
This was my first giveaway success and I was very excited to receive my gift box.
Here is a pic of what I got in my gift box:
I am tempted to host my own giveaway......maybe when I reach 100 followers, eh?
Because it was a Bargain
Hi
readers,
So that
self-imposed restriction on shopping was well and truly forgotten this last
week…..
But in my
defence everything purchased was on sale:
 |
| Dress - H&M Original Price: £14.99 Sale Price: £7.49 |
 |
| Shorts - H&M Conscious Collection Original Price: £14.99 Sale Price: £7 |
 |
| Dri-Fit Top - Nike Orginal Price: £36 Sale Price: £25.20 |
 |
| T-Shirt - Nike Original Price: £25 (a bit cheeky if you ask me!) Sale Price: £12.50 |
 |
| Scarf/Pashmina - Forever 21 Original Price: £8.40 Sale Price: £6.49 (not much of a sale, but then I didn't even know it was reduced until I got to the counter) |
 |
| Pale Gold Leather Shoes - Office (Ebay Outlet store) Original Price: £60 Sale Price: £5 (yes, £5....BARGAIN!!!!) |
When I was
browsing eBay during my lunch hour at work and I saw that the Office shoes were
a fiver, down from £60 and my size was available, I didn’t question whether I actually
needed or wanted the shoes. They had to be bought! But now I have them, I’m
glad that I acted on impulse as they make a welcome addition to my sea of black
shoes, plus there’s a wedding coming up. So I have convinced myself that it was
money very well spent.
There
are currently quite a lot of sales in London and it’s easy to get caught in the tumbling
price tags…..I did ask myself “is it because it is a bargain? Do I need it? Do I want it”
I encourage you to ask the same questions x
