Its that time of year again....early Christmas shopping!

I'm one of those annoying people that loves thinking about and planning for Christmas...as early as September! I know, I should be ashamed but I'm not! ;-)

I absolutely detest the queues in stores nearer the festive period. The majority of people shopping for Christmas seem to be on a military style mission, all stressed out and annoyed. At that time I just want to wander around the shops, grab a coffee, enjoy the Christmas music playing in town etc.

A few years ago I started trying to do as much Christmas shopping as possible online. No queues, no stress and instead I can get on with all the enjoyable Christmas parts of preparing for Christmas.
 

MyPure is the perfect place to pick up a variety of gifts. Normally I just get beauty products from them but last month I noticed that they sell candles. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a candle addict. Between candles and oil burners I have every room in the house covered. Can anyone say obsessed? ;-) 

MyPure sells a whole variety of Munio Candela, natural soya wax scented candles. I ordered the marigold flower gift pack and at £15.30 I think it was an absolute bargain! It comes in a beautifully simple cardboard box. In the box there's a candle and wax tarts of various sizes, I love that small detail, because I have oil burners with different sized bowls. You can put the wax tarts in drawers, luggage etc. if you wish but I much prefer to melt the tarts and make the house smell lovely. I intend to pick up some of the cinnamon and clove gift packs for stocking fillers and as thank you gifts for a few people.
 

I also ordered the Eco Tools six piece starter set. I'm a big fan of Eco Tools. They're quite a recent find for me and so I'm building up my collection of them. I tend to have sensitive skin and where other brushes irritate my skin, the Eco Tools brushes are incredibly soft. When I was putting my makeup on this morning using the brushes it dawned on me that this set, at £13.49 would be the perfect gift to pop into each of my friend's Christmas gift bags.
While browsing through the MyPure website I have came up with so many more ideas for friends and family ~ shaving products for my dad, baby products to make up a little gift pack for my friend's soon-to-be-born baby, facial kits for my gran and mum. Have a look for yourself!

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?
Did you see anything you liked on the MyPure site?
 

Be good to yourself with MyPure

Every so often I go through a week where I feel very unkempt. Its not that I'm doing anything different, its just that everything is the same. Does that make sense? This is normally when I take the opportunity to treat myself to a few pamper products and that solves it!

This time I decided that I needed a new perfume. It didn't need to be fancy, expensive, a well known brand name - it just needed to smell nice. It needed to be something different to what I normally wear. I decided to order Acorelle's White Orchid from MyPure. It actually calls itself an anti-stress spray. This made me laugh - I work with kids for a living, I'm mum to one very active little boy and so a bit of "anti-stress" is exactly what I need in my life sometimes! It didn't do anything for my stress levels unfortunately but it smells lovely. Quite a sweet fragrance but very fresh too. Unfortunately I didn't find that it had very long staying power. To solve this I layered up the fragrance by using the body lotion beforehand and that did the job. It was originally £19.99 but its selling for £9.99 at the moment so grab yourself a wee bargain. It would make a lovely stocking filler for those that like to start their Christmas shopping early.
 

When I think of pampering I always think of a face mask so that was my next purchase. I opted for the Trilogy Mineral Radiance Mask. At £19.99 I was thinking that it was a bit pricey but I'll be buying it again. A lot of clay face masks dry my skin out but this one surprisingly seemed to nourish it. I'm putting that down to the rosehip and evening primrose.
 

Remember, MyPure pride themselves on selling natural, organic products, so this isn't scented with nasties. I don't mind the scent at all (I quite liked it!) but my mum wasn't a fan when I tried it on her. Oh, and a big bonus for me was that I didn't have to scrub my skin to remove it. It came off really easily, I've been able to use it before starting work and I don't have to worry about people seeing me with a bright red face.

Have you tried either of these products?
What did you think of them?

Its all about the slime!

I've worked in childcare and early childhood education for years. Discovery/messy play has always been one of my favourite areas. Every activity you do with a child is an opportunity for learning but I find that a messy child is ultimately a very happy child.
One of my favourite things to make is slime. My son was introduced to it recently and he absolutely loved it. He sat for an hour and a half squishing it, pulling it, rolling it, dropping it and giggling at the plop it made.
Anyway, enough waffling from me. I just thought I'd pop the "recipe" up here for anyone that would like to give it a go with their little ones. :-)

There are no precise measurements in this. Its just always worked.

What you will need:
2 separate cups of water
Borax powder
White PVA glue
Food colouring
A bowl
Spoon

1. Put a spoonful of Borax into one of the cups of water and stir (no specific measurement, I just chuck a teaspoon of the stuff in).
2. Pour an inch of PVA glue into the bowl and add 3 tablespoons of plain water and stir.
3. Add a few drops of food colouring to your glue mix and stir until combined.
4. Add a teaspoonful of the Borax mixture to the glue mix and stir it until it starts to come together.
5. It will reach a point where it will look like its not going to work but keep going! At this point I like to get my hands in and mix.
Note: If you really do think "there's no way this is working" then go ahead and add another spoonful of the Borax solution.

That's it folks! Let me know if any of you try it.

What's your favourite messy activity to do with the kids?

Trilogy Refresh and Shine - Shampoo and Conditioner

I recently received Trilogy Refresh and Shine shampoo and conditioner from MyPure. They’re a store online that sell organic skincare and their range of products go from one end of the spectrum to the other. If you want organic, natural beauty products you’ll find them all here. 

The Trilogy Refresh And Shine shampoo claims to do a few things but the one thing I was most interested in is that it claims to rinse away product build up. Yes please! I use a lot of products: leave in conditioner, dry hair shampoo, hair spray, the list goes on! I try to be but I’m not very kind to my hair.

I’m sad to say that I didn’t particularly love this shampoo. It cleaned my hair but I had to wash it twice before it felt as clean as it normally would with other shampoo brands. It also didn’t lather that much. I know the lather isn’t important but once I rubbed the shampoo in I felt like I was just massaging wet hair. I guess the lather makes me feel like I’m actually working with something and I felt that missing. It sells for £12.50.

The Trilogy Refresh And Shine conditioner was a big hit though! A very well invested £12.50! It smells absolutely amazing, like sherbet almost. Really nice. My detangling comb just slid through my hair after using it which is a big plus in my book! It also gave my hair an amazing shine that I can normally only achieve after just getting my hair dyed. Strange, I know! The conditioner is also very light, it doesn’t weigh down my hair. It is so great that it makes me even more frustrated that the shampoo isn’t quite on the same level. It’s a shame really.

Have you tried any of the Trilogy hair products?
What did you think?

The Blogger's Snail Mail

The lovely Gemma over at Lipsticks And Lashes regularly organises a blogger's snail mail exchange. Its a lovely way to meet someone new and its nice to receive something in the post that isn't advertising spam or bills.

This is my second time taking part in the exchange and this time I got paired with the lovely Steph from Stephanie Jayne. She's a mum-to-be so getting to know her brought back a lot of memories of my pregnancy and the anticipation of the new arrival.

There are just a few "rules" for the exchange:
- You send a gift to the value of £5, no more.
- You write a letter telling your person everything that you've learned about them.
- You send some positive, uplifting words.

Simple! :-)

Steph had mentioned that she was starting to get a wee collection of clothes together for her little lady. I immediately decided that the best thing I could send her would be an outfit for her little one. It was lovely to go shopping for it because I'm so used to shopping for my little boy. I can't wait to see her wee lassie wearing the outfit when she finally joins us. :-)

Steph was very thoughtful when it came to putting my gift together. She popped in chocolate (which my and my wee lad broke into straight away as you can see in the photo), a bath bomb, a wee candle and some face masks.

Last night I put O to bed and I ran myself a gorgeous bath, put one of the face masks on, lit the candle, grabbed a glass of wine and soaked for a good hour. Its the first time in ages that I set some time aside for me so it was very much appreciated. I of course have the evenings to relax when O goes to bed but I normally use that time to clean the house for the following day, complete some paperwork etc. It was lovely to just switch off and do absolutely nothing.

Thanks again Steph and thank you to Gemma for organising it all.

I look forward to the next swap.

A bit of appreciation for some of you lovely folk. :-)

The title says it all really! The people mentioned below have blogs that I enjoy reading but I think the people behind them are pretty great too. :-)

Bex at I Always Believed In Futures and Crystal at Crystal Says
When I first started my blog I hadn't a clue what I was doing! I had been reading blogs on and off for a few years and felt like I wanted a "go". I reached out to Bex and Crystal on Twitter and both were so friendly and generous with their time. I occasionally catch up with Crystal still and she's one of my favourite Twitter people. She just has this generous nature and wants to help however she can. Plus, she lives in NYC so I get jealous regularly! ;-)

Carol at Flitty Chick Fancies
I met Carol through a beauty swap a few months ago. They couldn't have paired me with a nicer lassie and her blog is always one of the first I catch up with when I get a spare 5 minutes. I'm really enjoying getting to know her and hope to catch a coffee with her one day if I ever find myself in/near Cork.

Michelle at Thou Shalt Not Covet
Michelle's blog is choc full of so many beauty products that I lust after, plus her Twitter feed regularly makes me laugh. Big thumbs up. :-)

Amanda at Amanda Niescior
I got to know Amanda a wee bit when she did my blog design (which I still love, months later). She's a young'un but has such a mature head on her shoulders. Super friendly, super happy and a funny wee lass. :-)

Leighanne at Bump And Beyond
I first "met" Leighanne when her wee baby Darcy was still cooking. :-) Now I love hearing how Darcy is doing and I especially love reading Leighanne's fashion posts. They give me plenty of ideas for my next shopping spree, too many ideas!

Shay at Two Tiny Terrors
Shay is just the sweetest. I love her Growing Your Own and Kids Crafts And Activities posts. I've worked in daycare for more years than I care to mention but its always good to check in with others for new ideas or ways to refresh old ideas.

Lindsay at Newcastle Family Life
I love reading her blog but I'm currently enjoying all the bumpy pics. I miss my bump! Also, on a personal level I feel like that she gets where I currently am to an extent as she was a single mum herself at one point. At some point I'd love to sit down and have a chat with her about it.

Keeley at Dragging Online
Keeley is an online only drag queen. She describes her blog as an outlet for her creativity. I love her fashion/celebrity posts and she has a certain wit that makes me chuckle as I read them. Definitely what you need at the end of a long day.

Tanya at Polka Dots And Cups Of Tea
Tanya has a beauty/parenting blog like myself so I get a good "fix" when I catch up on her posts. She'll often write a post about her children whatever the topic might be and it always strikes a chord with me, I "get" it. Don't tell her but I secretly read to see if Emma has written any more posts. ;-)

There are lots of you but these are the people that come to mind as I'm writing this post. Thanks for the blog posts, the inspiration, your time, your kind words, ta for all of it.

Empties No.4

Another empties post! I enjoy these when I'm having a bit of a mental block. :-)

Avon Tahitian Holiday Body Mist (£3.60 from the Avon site)
I know its Avon and you either love or hate their products. I love this body mist. I have an obsession with all things coconut scented and this smells just like summer to me. Love it! Sometimes I just spritz it around the house when its one of those dreary rainy days. :-)

Neutrogena Spot Stress Control Daily Cleansing Lotion (£2.66 in Superdrug)
I can sometimes have a few blemishes around my period. A friend suggested that I give this a go and its really worked. Sometimes I get no blemishes and if some do appear then they tend disappear just as quickly.

Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Brightening Micro Polish (£4.99 in Superdrug)
It brightens my skin up of a morning. It isn't too harsh or too abrasive - something that I used to actually look for in an exfoliator! I have since learned that its really bad. Shame on me!

Ginger And Co.'s Double Up Creamy Body Wash
These guys are the perfect dupe for Soap and Glory and they just have a more purse pleasing price tag! ;-) It leaves my skin nice and soft and it smells great too.

Have you tried any of these products?
What were your thoughts?

Inika Light Reflect Highlighting Creme

Highlighters and anything to do with contouring are things I have stayed away from in the past. It took me long enough to perfect a few basic looks that I was happy with without trying to contour or highlight.
Though recently I have been liking the dewy look and for me its not as daunting to try as some of the other looks out there.
I decided to try Inika's Light Reflect Highlighting Crème. It was ordered through the MyPure website and costs £17. I've said it before but MyPure are all about natural, organic skincare. I try to take care of my skin so any products I can use that don't contain any nasties is a positive thing for me.
Anyway, back to the product! Its a good shade for my skin now that I'm slightly sunkissed but I don't think it would work for me in winter when I'm much paler. A friend described the shade as "champagne" and I think that's quite apt. It blends in easily and gives me the dewy look that I've been after. I apply it to my cheekbones, brow bone and cupid's bow.
The only downside to it is that you barely have to touch the tube and some will splodge out so I've had to be careful with my heavy handed ways! :-)

Have any of you tried this product?
What is your go-to highlighting product?

Empties No.3

If you stopped by my blog recently you probably noticed that the blog posts have dried up somewhat. I don't know when it happened, or why, but I seemed to lose my blogging mojo for want of a better word.
I miss blogging though and thought a wee empties post would be an easy way to dip my toe back in the water. :-)

Nivea Extra Gentle Eye Make Up Remover
I've tried a lot of make up removers over the years and quite a few of them have made my eyes sting or become puffy. This is my go-to eye makeup remover. Its gentle, removers even the most stubborn mascara and doesn't leave my eye area looking red or puffy. At £3.35 in Superdrug it gets a massive thumbs up from me!

Lush's Dark Angels Fresh Facial Cleanser (£6.40 for 100g)
I have a love/hate relationship with this cleanser. My skin approves of it, I like that it cleanses and exfoliates at the same time but lord, its a messy one. Its stained a few of my face clothes and I normally have to give the sink a good rinse after I've used it. For this reason I have banned myself from using it anywhere other than when I'm in the shower. :-)

Blistex Med Plus For Lips (£2.30 in Boots)
Everyone has their favourite "take care" lip product. This is mine. Part of my bedtime routine is to use a lip scrub and then slather this on before jumping into bed. I wake up with soft lips and its great in the winter for repairing your lips if they've become a bit weather beaten in the cold air.

Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum (currently £19.99 in Superdrug)
I liked this product. I loved the smell. I loved how it sat on my skin. It definitely firmed up the eye area but I absolutely detested the bottle. It is pump action (which is fine in itself!) but you can't see into the bottle. A few times I thought it was empty only to try it days later and find there were a few applications left.

L'Oreal 3 in 1 Purifying Micellar Water
I used all of this so it obviously wasn't terrible but I don't know what it did for my skin either. My face never felt particularly clean after it so I ended up using it as a makeup remover for the most part and it did the job well. I know others that have loved this product though, so I think its just a me thing.

Have you tried any of these products?
What did you think?

Wee update.

Bet you thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, right? :-)

I had lots of different wee blog posts lined up. I usually write them in "notes" on my iPhone when I have a spare moment. 

Unfortunately I updated my iPhone on Sunday night and during the process it went into recovery mode. I hadn't updated to iCloud in weeks and weeks because I was low on storage so Sod's Law, I lost everything. All the blog posts I was working on, all the blog post photos I had taken. 

The saddest part for me is that I lost all my wee baby videos. I can't explain how upset I've been about it. But I wake up to little O's gorgeous face and that's all that really matters. 

Lesson learned, back up and back! 

It now feels like I'm starting my blog all over again. *sigh*

That thing called love....

Today has been one of those days...

Wee man is cutting a back molar (I think) and goes from inconsolable to ticked off in the blink of an eye!

He's also at that stage where he's into everything, so on quite a few occasions today I've had to move him from something, tell him why I don't want him doing A, B or C ("please don't put your wee finger in the plug, you might hurt yourself") and then redirect his attention so it doesn't become his main focus. 

I put him down for his nap about half an hour ago and was rubbing his head as I do before he drifts off.

I just felt emotional out of nowhere and immediately thought "I hope he feels loved".

I don't know where it came from or why. I don't know why it hit me so strongly and with such force either.

This wee boy gets told a million times a day that I love him. I'm very affectionate and tactile with him. We spend as much time together as possible and I try to make every minute count, so when I'm having my saner moments (like now) I have no doubt that he feels loved. 

Though it does show you how one trying day (we all get them, right?) can attack your vulnerable side and make you doubt yourself. 

Have you ever had a moment like that? 

Silent Sunday No.15

Day 14 on the 28 day Bootea teatox

So I told everyone that I would update on day 14 of the Bootea teatox so here it is! :-)

Its been going well so far. I've been eating healthily and doing some light exercise. I don't "weigh in" until Saturday morning but when I weighed last Saturday I had lost 5lbs. I don't think I can maintain that sort of loss every week but even if it was a couple of lbs every week I would be happy.

I initially thought the tea would have this terrible laxative effect rendering me incapable of leaving the house but its been ok on that score too. Without too much information, you do "go" more but that's it.

The Daytime tea is nice but I find the Bedtime Cleanse quite pungent and not particularly pleasant. You only drink the bedtime cleanse every second night though so I just let it cool and chug it down. Not very classy but it gets the job done.

I'm looking forward to weighing on Saturday. Wish us luck! :-)

Natural beauty with MyPure

I've decided that its time to start using eye cream. It probably should have happened long ago but I'm late to everything! :-)
I decided to get the Laid Bare Pack Your Bags Tighten And Lighten eye cream (how cute is that name?) from MyPure. I also decided to get the EcoTools Bamboo 5 Piece Fresh and Flawless Complexion Set

You need so little of the eye cream that I envisage it lasting a long time. At only £7.99 that's got to be value for money, right?

 I keep reading about how delicate the eye area is and how thin the skin is there so I was glad to find that this particular eye cream feels very light when its applied.
I'm mum to a very gorgeous wee boy but he's also a wee boy that has a penchant for 5am wake up calls! Because of this I find that I have dark circles under my eyes more often than not. I've been using the product for a week now and the dark circles have definitely faded somewhat. I can't say that the "tightening" has taken place though, maybe after using it for a few more weeks?
Laid Bare tell you to apply the cream and pat it in gently, it takes quite a bit of patting to be honest. Not such a big deal though when you're getting the results you want.
Onto the makeup brushes now. I tend to be quite religious about cleaning my makeup brushes weekly. A few of my brushes leave my face feeling quite itchy, kabuki brushes in particular! I seen that the bamboo EcoTools brushes were listed as "beautifully soft" so this sounded ideal.
The 5 piece set contains a flat concealer brush, buffing concealer brush, precision foundation brush, complexion blending brush and a full powder brush.
 

When you open the cute box there is a description on the left about what each brush does which I think is great for those that are unsure.
 

I've been using the brushes every morning since I received them and they genuinely are so soft, it feels really nice using them to apply my make up and no itchiness! :-) The brushes are smaller than usual but because of this they fit perfectly into my makeup bag for touch ups when out and about.
And for you cruelty free shoppers out there (I'm thinking of you Dani!), the bristles are cruelty free. The set is £11.99 too which I think is a pretty great price! I know I've spent more on makeup brushes in the past that were of a poorer quality.

Have any of you used either of these products?
How did you find they worked for you?

Pixy Cosmetics

I have always been a big fan of Pixy Cosmetics. They're a business based in Mallow, County Cork but they have stockists scattered all over the place. Their products are SLS and parabens free, no animal testing (big yay from me!) and their products are made from natural ingredients.
They sound great, don't they? :-) I was excited when I was recently offered the opportunity to review some of their products.
Pixy sent me out their limelight bath bomb, strawberry kiss face scrub and their lime body scrub cubes.

Limelight bath bomb
I have used this particular bath bomb before so I was so happy to receive it. I love the hint of grapefruit that you get from this. There also seems to be moisturising ingredients in there too because each time I've used it my skin has felt fabulous afterwards. The bath bombs are priced at £3.45

Strawberry Kiss face scrub

This scrub is full of  lovely ingredients such as macadamia nut oil and evening primrose to soften your skin. When I first used this product the strawberry seeds were so delicate that I thought there was no way they could possibly be exfoliating. They seemed to just glide over the skin, yet when I rinsed it off my face was as soft as when I've used "harsher" scrubs. Big thumbs up! This item is priced at £9.95.

Lime body scrub cubes
Pixy call these the best fake tan remover ever. I'm not one to use fake tan so I can't comment on that but at £4.95 they're one of the best body scrubs I've used. One side of the cube exfoliates and one side moisturises. You jump in the shower and exfoliate as normal. You then use the moisturising side, rinse off and pat dry. Its such a quick process but with such good results. The zingy lime scent lingers on your skin too which is always nice.

Have you tried anything from Pixy?
What are your favourites?

Silent Sunday No.14

Bootea - 28 day teatox

So today I started my 28 day teatox with Bootea and I thought I'd make a bit of a review out if it. 

I had started to plateau in my weight loss and it was beginning to get me down. I'm hoping that this will give me the much needed kickstart and set me back on track. 

I'll obviously be doing the teatox alongside healthy eating and exercise. No point otherwise really. 

I weighed myself this morning (those digits are for my eyes only!) :-) I'll post again in 14 days to let you know how I'm doing. 

Wish me luck!

Have any of you used Bootea?

How did you get on?

Silent Sunday No.13

St Ives Apricot Blemish Control Scrub

I was recently reviewing a scrub that contained little apricot kernels. It reminded me of the St. Ives scrub that I used to use in my early twenties. I couldn't remember anything negative about it so I picked up a tube of the Blemish Control Scrub when I was in Superdrug.


I've been using it this week and its as great as I remembered. Why do we stop using products that we never had a problem with?


This particular scrub is perfect for oily, blemish prone skin. It smells very refreshing. It exfoliates my skin beautifully, leaving it lovely and soft. After using this for five days my skin is already looking less dull. I've also been able to use this while wearing fake tan and it doesn't take my tan off completely.


At £3.99 for 150ml I won't be so quick to forget about it this time!


Have any of you used this scrub?
Do you rate it as highly as I do?

Why is it not ok to be single and happy?

This is a rant more than anything else, sorry folks! :-)


I have been single for quite a while now. Circumstances and my situation have partially dictated it but it has also been my choice.


I split from my ex when I was very early on in my pregnancy. It was a dark time for me. I had just got out of an abusive, controlling relationship and I was trying to keep it together for the unborn life inside me.


A few months ago I toyed with the idea of dating again but I chickened out. It probably has a bit to do with confidence but I also believe that I chickened out because its not the right time.


I'm not a woman that needs to be attached to a relationship. A relationship has never validated my worth and nor should it.


Recently people around me seem to be more forthcoming with their wee remarks about getting back on the horse, meeting somebody new, getting on with my life and many more.


Do people really think my life is at a standstill just because I'm not with a man? If I was with a man for the sake of it those same people would probably be saying that I was clingy, dependant, scared to be alone etc.. It seems that I can't win!


The final straw came at a mother and baby group a few weeks ago. I've known these mums since our babies were newborns. I know them all pretty well and some of them will be lifelong friends. One particular mum who I have a love/hate relationship with made a comment which just showed me how narrowed minded and ignorant some people can be. Her husband had been working away for a few days and she was giving out about it. She then said "I tell you, this going it alone is shit, boring even". I pointed out that my life is neither boring or shit.


I'm the happiest that I have ever been. I am enjoying life and living every moment. I'm finally self employed which is what I have wanted for years. I'm focused on being a great mummy but I also get to continue to do what I love for a living. I have bought a home and been working on that too. What part of all that seems like I'm treading water?


I can't believe that in 2014 people still seem to think that I'll only really have it all once I have a man.


Rant over.


Has anyone else experienced a similar attitude?

Reverse Hair Washing

Recently I have been hearing a lot about reverse hair washing. Really? Conditioner before shampoo? It just sounds wrong but I decided that I had to give it a go.

Apparently reverse hair washing gives hair more volume. The reason being that we can never quite rinse out all our conditioner and that residue causes our hair to be weighed down and look limp.

I have a full head of hair that requires conditioner in order to be able to brush it out after washing. For that reason alone I can't use those 2 in 1 shampoo/conditioners or just shampoo on it's own. I just end up fighting with my hair and I'm pretty sure I do plenty of damage. Because of this I was apprehensive about washing my hair in reverse.

I used Tresemme Platinum Strength shampoo and conditioner. I bought it in Superdrug for £4.99 each for 500ml.

I did everything exactly as I normally would, I just did it in reverse! I wet my hair, applied conditioner, wrapped it in a towel and left it for 5 minutes. I then rinsed it out well and applied shampoo.

The first thing I noticed was that my hair lathered up a lot quicker than it normally would, therefore I probably didn't need to use as much shampoo as I did. I then towel dried my hair and began to brush it out using my big GHD paddle brush. As expected, it was a pretty unpleasant experience. Maybe not as bad as when I've used a 2 in 1 shampoo in the past but still bad enough to ensure I would have no desire to reverse wash my hair everytime.

Some positives - my hair dried A LOT quicker. I loved that! It also had more volume. Not that volume has ever been a problem for me, but if it is a problem for you, then it's worth giving this process a wee go.

And,with all that said, I won't be converting any time soon but I think I will start to reverse wash maybe once a week.

Have you tried reverse washing?

What did you think?

Silent Sunday No.12

Pulpe De Vie skincare

A few months ago Funky Skincare sent me one of their new bath teabags to review. 

This week I received a wee package in the mail and was pleasantly surprised to see that Funky Skincare had sent me a few Pulpe De Vie samples to review. I love the products these folks sell as all of them boast that they are chemical free, no SLS and no parabens. Good stuff! :-)


Lucious Glow Body Milk ~ £17.90 for 150ml tube
I have never been a fan of shimmering body milks because I've found in the past that they look too obvious on my pasty pale skin. I was genuinely impressed with this body milk though. It has a very complimentary shimmer that the light catches now and again.
It is made from grapefruit and blackcurrant waters so I expected the fragrance to be stronger than it was. With that said, it did smell lovely, very delicate.


Sweet Frappe Face 2 in 1 Scrub and Mask ~ £19.50 for 75ml tube
I loved this, loved, loved, loved it.

 It contains little apricot kernels which make for a fantastic exfoliator. You basically massage this onto dry skin, leave it for 5 minutes and then massage again as you rinse it off. My skin was so soft afterwards. It didn't feel tight like it normally would after a face mask. It also wasn't difficult to rinse off. The scrub turns into a type of milk as you rinse it away. Lovely!


Cozy Cuddle Moisturising and Anti-Oxidant Face Cream ~ £20 for 30ml pump action bottle
My first concern when trying a new face cream is whether its greasy/oily. I tend to have a shiny T-zone so I don't need an oily/greasy moisturisers encouraging it! :-) I only had the opportunity to apply this once so I can't be 100% sure its not oily/greasy, especially as I didn't get the chance to wear it under my makeup.
I know scents are irrelevant to some people but I'm very much led on what things smell like whether its skincare, candles or perfume to give a few examples. This stuff smells beautifully peachy.


Love Me Tonight Night Cream ~ £21 for 30ml pump action bottle
A fragrant, spicy anti ageing night cream. I loved the almost musky scent this cream offered. It feels quite rich on the skin which I like in a night cream. I like to know that I'm giving my skin plenty of goodness to soak up while I'm getting my beauty sleep. :-)


Have you tried any of the Pulpe De Vie products?
Any favourites?

Silent Sunday No.11

Style on a budget

I recently asked the Twitterverse what they thought of online stores like Just For 5 pounds. Those that got back to me were really positive. 

I'm a mum and a childminder. I love nice clothes as much as the next person but what I don't like is when I get the likes of "washable" paint on my clothes (it's never really washable!) and can't wear that piece of clothing again...not in public anyway! 

Online stores like Just For 5 Pounds solves that problem for me. They have some lovely pieces on their website and if they did happen to get ruined at work...it's ok! It was only a fiver! 

Just For 5 Pounds kindly offered to send me something in the post to review. I had no idea what I was receiving but I was pleasantly surprised! 

They sent me a lovely black soft feel blazer. 

In the photo it needs a quick iron but I wanted to get the photos taken before my wee man woke from his nap. 

It's one of those blazers that you could dress up or dress down. I wore it to lunch a few days ago with a nice white top and jeans. I got a few compliments from friends too which was nice. They're so used to seeing me in boring work clothes. :-) It has padded shoulders (but not Pat Butcher style!) just enough to give me a shape. It also has a cute wee nautical style button that was impossible to take a decent photo of but I tried!

See...cute! :-) 

I'll definitely be having a browse on Just For 5 Pounds in future. They're perfect for those that are shopping on a budget. 

Silent Sunday No.10

Keep moisturised with MyPure.

I recently had the opportunity to review two lovely products from MyPure. I love these guys because they are all about natural, organic beauty.

I decided to review the Lovea SPF 50 Daily Face Cream (new formula). Its currently priced at £17.99 for 50ml. This wee pot is jam packed full of anti-aging ingredients and given that I'm in my early 30's now I'm all for fighting the signs with any artillery I can get my hands on!
I often find sunscreens quite drying but I've been using this for a week now and it leaves my skin feeling surprisingly soft.
The only con is that while it states that it can be worn under makeup I've tried and it certainly can't be worn under my particular make up. I suffer from shiny patches as it is and these appear within minutes while wearing Lovea and foundation together. With that said, I would rather wear Lovea face cream on a hot day and protect my skin, as opposed to wearing make up and damaging my skin.

The second product I picked to review was the A'kin Pureman aftershave balm. Its priced at £9.60 for 75ml. I have been using the A'kin serum recently and I was curious to see if the men's range stood up as strongly as the women's. The fragrance of this aftershave balm is a mixture of orange, Ginseng and spice. It smells great, even my dad commented on how nice it smelled. I gave it to him to try out for me and he said his skin felt less "angry" after shaving once he applied this. He also said that it wasn't greasy which is a big deal breaker for him. He mentioned that if the fragrance is an issue for anyone then to let them know that it fades pretty quickly. He is liking it so much that he has asked me if I could pick him up another bottle once this one runs out so I think that's a big thumbs up!


Have you tried any of these products?
What were your thoughts?
                       



~ While I was sent these items for review purposes all of the opinions are honest and my own.