Project Pan #1

I'm sure that I write on behalf of many bloggers when I say that we're all a little bit guilty of hoarding too many products, many of the same variety, the same colour and those that, effectively, do the same job. I hold my hand up high and say that I am of no exception, in my five drawer Ikea tower there are definitely products I can say I've had for ages that I've not touched for months, or even products that I've bought but not even opened. *Naughty me*. I've decided, therefore, to embark on a Project Pan, a mini project that sees me focus on a number of products that I've had for ages, some that are half empty,  and some that have been long forgotten, and try to 'hit pan' on them, or use them up completely.

Make-Up
Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks are a favourite of mine and I adore this particular colour, the 000. It's akin to MAC's Creme Cup, but not as nice in my opinion. I find that this can appear quite grainy on the lips and it's more matte than I'd like. I don't think I've ever actually finished a lipstick in my life so it'd be good to finally do so!

The Dr Jart BB cream is a lovely alternative to foundation but I've found myself falling out of love with in lately. I have a fair few BB creams in my stash and think that this one, as it's already quite empty, will be one for me to finish up in the coming months. I often wear it under foundation to help smooth out my skin.

In the bottom right hand corner is Maybelline's colour tattoo in On & On Bronze. I adore this colour as it really suits my eyes and is so easy to apply before a morning shift. I would like to use this up to say that I've finally managed to finish an eyeshadow, another first for me!

Haircare
L'Oreal's mythic oil is something that I caved into buying when the hype surrounding its release got the better of me as a new blogger back in 2012. I still don't think that this does much for my hair, or if it does I'm not quite sure what it's supposed to be doing. Nonetheless, this is half empty and needs to be gone.

Skincare

I've chosen to finally get round to finishing my Jack Wills English Velvet body butter that I bought in the New Year of 2013 in their Christmas sale. I absolutely love the scent of this, and the texture is so thick and creamy it feels amazing on the skin. I need to use this up however because I've an abundance of body creams and butters lying around that get neglected so using this will be a way for me to make a dent in my stash!

The little pot on the bottom left is a Benefit eye cream sample. I've got another one in my stash too (they just keep giving them away!) and although I've tried my very best to get on with this I have absolutely no idea what it's actually doing for my skin. So the time has come to get rid of these two little miniatures and make room for something far more exciting in my stash!

Finally I would like to finish my Burt's Bees coconut foot cream. This is an attempt for me to take better care of my feet. During a 9 hour shift I will only get to sit down for 45 minutes and my poor feet are somewhat neglected, time to take proper care of them.

So those are the products I'm hoping to hit pan on...I've set myself the target of Christmas / New Year so look out for these appearing in my monthly empties soon!

Cllrs Accessories: Wishbone Necklace

I was super excited recently to see that I'd won a little giveaway on Twitter held by @shopcllrs. Cllrs Accessories is an online accessories shop run by the lovely Callie Rose, visit her blog here. The shop stocks everything from necklaces, bracelets and earrings to hair ties (I'm particularly loving the My Little Pony one!) and phone plugs. Go and have a look! I'd had a peek at her products before choosing my prize and I opted for a gorgeous gold wishbone necklace.

Thank-you for hosting the giveaway Callie Rose, I love my wishbone necklace :)
You can visit Cllrs Accessories by clicking here.

Do you love finding little online boutiques? If so where would you normally look?

My First Ever 'Back To MAC'!

It's been a long time coming (approximately 2.5 years!) but I've finally managed to collect enough empty products for a back to MAC lipstick treat!

Brush Cleanser 
As you can see from the fact that I've used up two bottles of this brush cleanser, I love it. It lathers well and gives my brushes that lovely deep clean I'm after on a Sunday afternoon. I'm forever repurchasing this, there's another one in my bathroom at the moment.

Prep + Prime Face Primer
I really loved this face primer, it was so lovely to use. Mac say this is 'an ultra-fluid lotion formulated with special-effect silicones. Calms and soothes the skin, blots away excess oil, and evens out skin redness. Improves the laydown and application of foundation or powder.' I agree entirely and couldn't have said it better myself. This is one of those products that I would repurchase had I not got three other primers in my stash already!

Studio Fix Powder in Light
I've literally had this for the longest time, it was my first ever MAC purchase and my first empty MAC packaging. I liked this pressed powder but found it hard to remove it from the pan...I think it's because this was on of my first higher end purchases that I started off my make-up stash with and I didn't have any of the tools of the trade (ahem, my Real Techniques powder brush) to make application smooth and lovely. I wouldn't repurchase this powder because I'm eager to try the MSF in light next.

Matchmaster Foundation
I was really sad that I did not like this foundation at all. J bought it for me for my 21st birthday and I could not get on with it, it clung to any dry skin patches I had on my face (mostly my nose, yuck) felt really heavy on my skin and wasn't really easy to apply as it left me looking streaky and unbalanced. It's the one and only MAC foundation I've tried thus far as I'm a tad bit wary that they'll all look like this one did on my skin and to that end I haven't found myself reaching for wanting to try any others :( The one plus point I have was that the colour was a great match for my skin!

Mineralize Charged Water Gel Moisturiser
This was one of those products that the MUA in MAC told me I absolutely needed in my life because I have dry skin. It's a moisturiser made up of a gel-cream like consistency that instantly hydrates and leaves the skin looking 'charged' with moisture. I liked this a lot, the texture of the product itself was an interesting one as I'd not tried more gel based moisturisers before. I especially liked the packaging on this tub because it had tiny flecks of glitter in it! I won't be repurchasing this however because I've found a moisturiser I love even more from Origins.

So...those were the products that I've used up, now comes the important question of what lipstick to choose? I don't have that many MAC lipsticks (Creme Cup, Sunny Seoul, Pink Pearl Pop, Viva Glam Nicki I, and Viva Glam Nicki II) so I'm definitely open to suggestions if anyone has any favourites?
I quite like the look of Snob, Sweetie, Kinda Sexy, Shy Girl and Creme In Your Coffee but I just don't know!

What's your favourite MAC lipstick? Help me!

High(er) End Haul, MAC, UD, NARS, Origins, Caudalie, By Terry & Laura Mercier

The other day I brought you my 'drugstore' beauty haul of recent purchases over the last month or so. This is part two, the high(er) end products that I recently treated myself to after a recent payday (I get paid every fortnight, hurrah!).

First up I placed and order with Origins and picked up the two skincare products that were on October's Wishlist, GinZing energy boosting moisturiser and the Clear Improvement charcoal mask. I've heard great things about both products and can't wait to sit down in the bath on my next pamper me night and lather on the mask. I have a feeling that I'll want to use the GinZing more in the mornings when my skin needs a little boost for the forthcoming day. On first glance I love the smell of the moisturiser, it's like a subtle Terry's Chocolate Orange!

I also love that Origins pop in some samples with your order. I chose a sachet of the GinZing eye cream and a Dr Weil correcting serum. While I was ordering there was also another offer on where if you spent over a certain amount of money Origins would pop in a 7ml sample of their famous Drink-Up Intensive mask. I already own the full sized version of this mask but this will be perfect to pop into my skincare stash for Amsterdam - it's going to be chilly on mainland Europe at the end of November, my skin will definitely be needing a drink!

Next up I made an order with MAC because I needed some more brush cleanser, and every time I do this I get sucked in by the 'spend £30 and get free delivery'. So I popped a 217 blending brush into my basket (I couldn't believe that I didn't actually own this brush - it's amazing) and another eyeshadow in pan form for my palette. The shadow is the shade Vex, which is described by MAC as a gorgeous duochrome 'beige with pink-green pearl' frost colour, which looks amazing on its own or paired with another shadow. I've read reviews that mention how this shade is so versatile it pairs up with almost any other MAC colour so I'll have to give that a test when I come to use my palette again. I only have two spaces left now and then my palette will be full!

This little beauty is the Urban Decay Shattered Face Palette which I wrote a lengthy post about very recently, professing my love for the eyeshadows and colours within. I won't go into much more detail than that so you should go a read that post!

This next order was a bit of a whim for me because I stumbled up findation.com where you can put in what colour you are in a certain brand's foundation and the website lists what colour you'd be in other brands. I based my entire purchase of Nars Sheer Glow on this decision (with some extensive blog review research and Google image colour testing too!) because the website told me I'd be Mont Blanc, and that's what I've got! I'm yet to test this out, but I've heard great things about Sheer Glow and how it's many people's HG foundation so I have high hopes. Cross your fingers for me for the colour too...
I then also picked up Nars signature blush, Orgasm. After multiple swatchings in Space NK and many people raving about this must have colour I finally went ahead and purchased it. And it's beautiful. 'Nuff said.

My final part of my haul comes from Space NK. I saw on their site that they had a discount code for £10 off a £40 spend, which for Space is a pretty good deal. I took the opportunity to purchase something I've had my eye on for the longest time, Laura Mercier's Creme De Pistache body butter. I really wanted to get the bit £43 pot version of this but couldn't justify that kind of spend on a body cream! This smells divine and I can't wait to begin using it. I also picked up this Caudalie try me kit which features travel sized versions of some Caudalie products I really want to try. This is another Amsterdam treat for my face and body - I'm going to be so pampered! Talking of pampered, my eyebrows are going to be looking amazing if this By Terry brow liner is anything to go by. I was after something for my brows and upon seeing this marketed as a brow 'liner' I just had to buy it to try it out. I'll definitely be doing a post on By Terry's Eyebrow Liner in the near future so look out for that.

So that's the end of my high(er) haul. It's been a very long time since I went shopping like that and it'll be a long time before I do it again!

Have you seen anything you like? Or anything you'd like me to review?

Come and enter my Boots & Topshop giveaway :) 

By Terry Baume De Rose

By Terry's Baume De Rose is by far the most extravagant item in my makeup and skincare stash that I own, a beautiful £35 lip balm. I'm almost afraid to use it for fear of it running out and me being too broke to part with the money to replace it. Joseph's Aunt kindly gifted this to me for my birthday this year and it's sat pride of place on my makeup drawers, in its gorgeous frosted glass packaging looking expensive and exquisite.  I know that this lip balm is a firm favourite with many of my favourite bloggers and youtubers, and not least Joseph's Aunt who raved about it so much to me that I couldn't wait to try it out for myself.

Due to the fact that the product is in a pot I like to apply this with a lip brush (which is fancy in itself, I mean who applies lip balm with a lip brush?!) and it glides on like a dream. The formula leans more to a creamy gel than a standalone cream or a vaseline type of balm which again makes the Baume De Rose feel incredibly luxurious.

I don't find the rose scent all that overwhelming like I thought I was going to (I'm more of a sweet than floral kind of girl) and find that it adds to the overall pleasure of using this balm. It's incredibly nourishing on the lips, has great staying power and at the rate this pot is going it will be lasting me for a very long time indeed.

I'm a firm believer in thinking that you get what you pay for, and with By Terry's Baume De Rose this is no exception. If you're ever in Space NK, go and try this out, it's hyped for a reason and I absolutely love it!

What's your favourite lip balm?

Come and enter my Topshop and Boots giveaway! 

It's The Little Things That Make You Smile

I don't know if you've noticed from my constant moaning on Twitter over the past seven days, but this last week has been extremely hard for me on account of my wisdom teeth. My entire lower jaw decided to swell slightly, I've not had a full night's sleep (anything over 8 hrs) for a week and all in all I've lost 7lbs through lack of being able to open my mouth to enjoy food. I've also had to take 4 days off work thus far and still my dentist won't take my teeth out. Grim.

This aside, I wanted to share a few snaps with you of the little things that have been making me smile this week (albeit lopsidedly) whilst I've been home alone dosed up on very strong painkillers.

1. My Cath Kidston notebook is a gorgeous floral lined notebook that houses all of my blog ideas. I'm still very much into my stationary (despite not having classes to go to!) and I love writing in this.
2. My bunny slippers - a recent purchase from New Look these are so cosy and are absolutely adorable.
3. I popped out to Tesco for more juice a few days ago and came home to find that Joseph had rearranged my L-O-V-E letters. I don't know why but this tickled me.
4. Another recent purchase, this cupcakes and more recipe book from M&S was a bargain at £8. I've been loving flicking through it and drooling over the yummy pictures.

5. I've been loving wearing my graduation necklace from my Mum this week too. Working with food means that I never get to wear jewellery during the week/weekends so any time I get to put on my little Tiffany heart I jump at the chance to do so.
6. Pokemon X came out and my inner gamer girl was instantly drawn to Tesco to purchase it. I'm finding the gameplay a little odd so far because it's so different from the other Pokemon games but it's a delight to play.
7. I began a new book this week after receiving a Waterstones gift card from my Grandad. I popped into Waterstones with the idea of spending a good chunk of the money on the card and only came out with this!
8. I finally rescued one of my beautiful Disney post cards that had fallen off the wall and replaced it. Every time I've been to Disney World I always buy a postcard or two. The painted ones are just so beautiful and I love this one of Walt standing where the castle would be. It's just so sad that he never got to see Disney World finished as he died before it was completed.

It's the little things that make you smile <3

Come and enter my Boots & Topshop giveaway :) 

Faceon: A Magazine for MUAs and Beauty Fanatics

Now here's a little beaut I stumbled across in WHSmith not too long ago, Faceon magazine, a magazine for makeup artists. Don't get me wrong I'm no MUA whatsoever, I just love playing with makeup, pretending to know what I'm doing and offering all of the advice and tips that I've learned from reading Blogs and watching YouTube videos to my friends with similar interests.

I was really excited to see this on the shelf, not least due to the free Sigma mini blending brush but because there's a distinct lack of magazines in the UK dedicated to all things makeup and skincare...publishers take note. I get all of my advice, product launches and inspiration from fellow bloggers but it was nice to read a magazine dedicated entirely to makeup. This issue of Faceon, their twelfth, is the first to hit the UK and if this is anything to go by, I'm excited to see what comes next.

The magazine is very much a mixed bag of beauty, there are interviews with famous MUAs, products galore, fabulous hair pieces, and lots and lots of inspiration. I'm currently on a personal quest of getting better with my eyeshadows and Faceon gave me a lot of inspiration for colours and looks to recreate. I didn't want to photograph the whole magazine for you, just some pages I loved the most. This spread at the very top entitled 'Travels of a Daydreamer' is very much my thing, rabbits, picnics, floaty dresses and dreamy makeup...perfection! I'm also in love with the brights in the last photo above, definitely something I'd love to try out for my next night out on the town, and the photo in the middle details the Sigma wash mitt for cleaning your brushes, I'd definitely love to try that out.

So if you're a beauty fanatic like me but are not a professional MUA I'd still recommend checking this magazine out. I definitely can't wait for the next issue!

Faceon is priced at £5.95 and is available exclusively in WHSmith, and 88 other countries around the world.

What are your thoughts?

Come and enter my big 2nd blog birthday giveaway :) 

New In // Limited Edition Urban Decay 'Shattered Face Palette'

To be quite honest, I have absolutely no idea how I stumbled across this little beauty online. I don't know what I was searching for when all of a sudden there, on my screen sat the Urban Decay Shattered Face Palette. And I fell in love, instantly. If only men were this easy, eh? What made the situation even sweeter was the fact that I had £5 in Debenhams points on my Beauty Card and spent £25, rather than the RRP of £30, on this palette. I put in for my order on Thursday and it arrived today (Saturday), nice one Debenhams! Is it worth the money? Tried and tested this evening, I 100% vote yes.

What do you get for your money? Well, there are five superbly pigmented and gorgeous eyeshadow colours on the upper level of this palette, alongside a lip colour in pencil form, and a mini 24/7 black eyeliner. On the lower level you'll find two powder blushes and a face highlighter. All colours are limited edition and exclusive to this palette. There are also two mirrors, one on each tier, and the entire lot is encased in fabulous quirky Urban Decay packaging featuring a shattered effect on the lid and the signature purple UD logo. The palette itself is actually quite chunky, but given that there are two layers I don't mind this so much and it's a perfect size for slipping into a larger makeup bag for when you're off travelling.

I fell in love with these colours because they're so unlike all of the other neutrals I own. I often feel that I need to step out of my comfort zone and vamp it up a bit with some different shades and this palette will certainly be helping me to do this! From left to right the colours of the top tier are: Shakedown (a satin gunmetal), Remix (a gorgeous rich purple shimmer), Nameless (a lovely medium brown satin), Minor Sin (a perfect champagne satin) and Bleach (a matte yellow beige colour). I love how versatile these colours are for me, there are so many day and night combinations you could get out of this palette and the addition of a black eyeliner, the shade Zero, and a pink creamy lip colour in Lovechild you've definitely got everything you need to turn a 'shattered face' into a fresh one (see what I did there, eh?!).

Down below you'll find two blushes, Overexposed (a pretty dusty pink) and Temper (a beautiful soft baby pink), and a highlighter in Glint (a soft pink-champagne shimmer). Each pan is of a decent size, enough to get a big blush brush in to swirl around in the colour, I always get annoyed when pan sizes in palettes are ridiculously tiny. More plus points to UD here!

I absolutely love this palette and will definitely be taking it on my mini holiday to Amsterdam at the end of November. It'll really be all I'll need in my holiday stash, save for skincare, mascara and foundation! If you're looking for something good quality that contains everything you need to create day to nighttime looks then don't pass this limited edition palette up, I'm certainly glad I didn't!

What are your thoughts on UD's Shattered Face Palette? What's your favourite palette?

Enter my Boots & Topshop giveaway :) 

Limited Edition Vaseline - Paint The Town

I was excited for the launch of Vaseline's latest limited edition lip balm, Paint The Town. A lip balm with the promise of hydration and a hint of colour...? I'm in. I had no idea when it was launched however and was pleasantly surprised to see it nestled in amongst the offers by the till in my local Superdrug.

I'm not going to lie and say that having tried this out that I'm absolutely wild about this Vaseline edition. In fact I'm a little disappointed and the how sheer the red 'tint' of this actually is. I had imagined, from looking at the colour of the product in the tin, that there would be a little more colour pay off but believe me when I say that the swatch on my hand above took a lot of building. To be honest, it was also pointless me showing you a swatch of Paint The Town on my lips because I didn't see much colour difference between wearing this and not.

However I absolutely adore the packaging of this Vaseline. It's the standard sized tin from what I can tell, and I love how the lid encompasses dripping red paint that forms the silhouette of a city skyline, so chic. It makes you look twice I think, on first glance you either see dripping paint, or the skyline (I love little mind tricks like this!).

So all in all, a nice little limited edition Vaseline to add to the collection if you're like me and feel the need to own every Vaseline under the sun. I'm not so much a fan of its practicality but this little tin looks nice on my bedside table...!

Are you going to pick this up? What's your favourite lip balm?

Come and enter my Boots & Topshop giveaway! Click HERE :) 

Little 'Drugstore' Haul

Here are a few bits and bobs I've recently picked up in Boots, Superdrug and TKMaxx. I've had an overwhelming response of 'we like to see hauls' from lots of you commenting on my giveaway post so here's haul number one for you...! It's quite evident here that I'm a sucker for a new release, what with all but the Macadamia leave in conditioner being quite new on the beauty radar.

My trip to Superdrug gave me the opportunity to acquire the new Real Techniques blending sponge. I'm yet to use it, but I already wish they came in different colours... I've heard great things about this and seeing as I did not give in to the 'beauty blender' hype I'm rather looking forward to putting on my foundation with this in the morning.
Talking of foundation, and what goes underneath it, I picked up the new Bourjois Happy Light primer. Having already got incredibly dry skin I definitely did not want to go for the matte version of this primer but I think that it's great that there's an option for you if you're more on the oily side. I'm yet to see a Bourjois release this year that I haven't loved so I have high hopes for this!
I also espied the new Collection products that have been endorsed by Little Mix, with each member of the band having a selection of products in their 'collection', so to speak, to create a look that's most akin to them. I wasn't too bowled over by any of the products apart from a black eyeliner with a hint of silver sparkle, right up my street and again I can't wait to use this in the morning.
Finally, here's another of those 'whim' purchases, where Superdrug like to put new releases right by the till so you end up spending more than you'd like to. I'm not the biggest fan of Vaseline for it's actual power to do anything to perk up my lips but I seem to like collecting their new editions, and Paint the Town was no exception. It looks pigmented in the tin, but let's wait for my review of that one, eh?

My one trip to Boots saw me indulge in a foundation and powder that I really did not need to buy but wanted to buy anyway. L'Oreal have a clever way of putting 'magique' on packaging and making me think that it's going to be some kind of wonder product. I've worn these two together once thus far and I'm not completely in love, I definitely prefer the BB powder to the foundation but I'll give these a little more time and pop up a review in the near future.

Finally, TKMaxx opened up a new store in Yeovil very recently and I popped over with a friend (hello Courtney!) to have a look at how good the skincare and beauty area is in comparison to other TKMaxx's I've been to. Yeovil wasn't too shabby, a good selection of products with lots of brands I recognise to I'll definitely be going back in in the future. I've heard lots about the Macademaia hair brand and decided to try it out by purchasing their leave in conditioner at over half price, I'm excited to use this!

So that was my little 'drugstore' haul for your delectation. I have a 'high-end' haul coming very soon, watch this space...

Are you after any of these products?

Come and enter my 2nd Birthday giveaway and win a pennies to spend in Boots & Topshop!

Wishlist // October

I was recently gifted a little sum of money by my Grandad in his will, which came as a total surprise to me. His one request was that it was to be spent on something frivolous, something not serious and of course fun. So far I've spent £20 of it in the amusements down on Weymouth beach where I won a plastic pony...and I've done a little bit of shopping for my upcoming trip to Amsterdam, haul(s) to follow. But now it's October and it's a new month of wishing, wishing and wanting...!

1 - Since I now rent my own home I'm becoming more of an adventurous baker, and often look to the Internet for inspiration for 'Bake Saturday' as I like to call it. I miss having lots of cookbooks around as my Mum used to have in our house so this Hummingbird Bakery cookbook would be an excellent addition to my kitchen worktop. I may even share some creations soon...yum!

2 - It's been a while since I purchased anything from MAC and top of my list is a MSF in Light Plus. I have the famous Soft and Gentle MSF that I love to use as a highlighter and want something in the way of a more natural powder for all over my face. I've not tried a natural MSF before and having just hit pan on my current face powder I may have to splash out on this one.

3 - As you may know I am a complete Disney fanatic and am building up quite a collection of their classic animated DVDs. The Little Mermaid has just recently been re-released on DVD and I am eager to add it to my collection.

4 - I saw Laura post a little review of the Origins Clear Improvement Mask in her top 6 picks from Origins and she made me fall in love with it. After much research on the Origins website I convinced myself to pick up the smaller £10 version in the very near future and see how I get on.

5 - Again, another #bblogger inspired purchase, this time Kate was talking on one of her latest videos about her love of Origins GinZing and I saw that they had a moisturiser and got a little bit excited. I'll definitely be picking this up in the near future too!

6 - Finally, as the weather turns chillier I'll be on the lookout for some cosy knits to snuggle up in. Topshop always have a lovely selection a cardigans and jumpers and I just adore the bunny on this one.  Très mignon!

What are you wishing for this month?

If you'd like to wish my blog a happy 2nd birthday come and enter my gift card giveaway. 1 x £10 for Boots and 1 x £10 for Topshop up for grabs HERE! 

Yankee Candle Florentine Wax Tart Burner

Like most bloggers I read I am obsessed with candles, and, in particular, Yankee Candles and tea lights.  When I moved to Somerset I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a stockist of my beloved Yankee Candles because Yeovil's quite the small town, however, much to my delight, there in a concession in Beales, sat a massive wall of Yankee Candles for my delectation! In the past I've only ever really used the Yankee Samplers because I can be quite picky with what I like and how often I want to change the scent of a room. The samplers were therefore best for me because they were quite small but still had the power to emit amazing aromas in my bedroom. Back in April I wanted to splash out on a big jar candle and combined my love of chocolate and bunny rabbits and bought Chocolate Bunnies. Now, 6 months later, my beloved bunnies have run out and I needed something else to keep my living room and kitchen smelling delicious.

I decided to go for a wax tart burner, a design that's new for the festive 2013 period and four wax tarts to start me off. I chose the Florentine Frosted Glass Wax Burner and bought it for the RRP of £12.99. I was drawn to the pretty elegance of this particular design, how it fits in with my current decor and how it added a touch more class with the frosted glass and swirl patterns in comparison to the plain colours of the other burners I could see on the shelves.

I love the simplicity of wax burners. You light and unscented tea light and slide it into the bottom of the burner, place a wax tart in the top section and it will slowly burn and melt, releasing which ever scent you've chosen as it does so. I've currently got the aromas of Christmas cookies filling my living room (I know, so premature!) and it's divine! The tarts themselves are not that expensive, about £1-£2 where ever you choose to get them from which makes them great if you're someone like me who doesn't like to stick to the same thing all of the time. I'm excited to start burning Snowflake Cookie, Summer Scoop and Vanilla Lime in the near future, but that may be a long way off yet considering how well Christmas Cookie is lasting!

Fragranced candles are a much nicer alternative to deodorising sprays or those smelly chemical things you plug in to the wall in my opinion. Candles make me feel so relaxed and add a little something extra to a room...perfect for the forthcoming winter nights.

Are you a candle fan? If so what are your favourite kinds of scents to burn?

If you'd like to wish my blog a happy 2nd birthday come and enter my gift card giveaway. 1 x £10 for Boots and 1 x £10 for Topshop up for grabs HERE! 

Empties // September

Another month of empties post! I really like doing these posts because it's always a big surprise to me when I look in the bag that I keep my empties in and see all of the used products. When I moved out of my Mum's house and into my flat with J I realised that I really needed to reign in my stash and pass on things to other people that I just couldn't use up or thought would be more loved in a different home. Once I'd had such a clear out I've concentrated on using my overly excessive stash of shower gels and this month managed to get through three! So, clockwise from left:

Soap & Glory Scrub 'Em And Leave 'Em
I received this body scrub in the big Soap & Glory kit I got for half price last Christmas and only really got round to using it up in September. To be honest I wasn't particularly impressed as I was comparing it to my favourite body scub of all time, Soap & Glory's Sugarcrush scrub. In comparison the scrub wasn't that good, my skin didn't feel as soft and it lacked the lovely smell that I'm so used to from Sugarcrush. I won't be repurchasing this one.

FAB Beauty Face Cleanser
This was a sample I received in a beauty box (I forget which) back at the beginning of the year and I originally forgot about it because it was kept in my post swim shower kit for when I go to the pool. When I moved house I was sorting my gym gear out and found this and decided to use it up and give it a proper trial run. I think I've come to decide that I'm not so much a fan of cream cleansers and definitely prefer gel ones, and on that basis alone I will not be repurchasing this.

Bumble & Bumble Sunday Shampoo
My mum bought this for me at Christmas last year and 9 months later I've just finished the bottle, how's that for value for money?! I adore the cleanliness of my hair after I've used this shampoo, it literally sounds squeaky clean and feels so lightweight and luxurious. I will definitely be repurchasing this next time I find a Boots with a Bumble & Bumble stand.

Benefit b.Right Total Moisture moisturiser mini
Oh my how much do I adore this moisturiser?! It's so lovely for my dry skin, very heavy duty but doesn't feel overly cakey and smells divine. I've gone through so many pots of these miniatures that I think it's about time I splashed out on the full sized jar...now there's a thought for duty free in November...

Korres Guava Shower Gel
I think I received this in a Birchbox at the beginning of the year when I subscribed to it. To be honest this shower gel is nothing special, just your typical body wash in my opinion. It's not my kind of scent and I don't think I'll be repurchasing this one.

St Ives Apricot Scub Mini
One of my all time favourite face scrubs, St Ives Apricot Scrub will always be present in my bathroom whether it be a full size or a minature version. I bought this one to take with me to Lancashire for my Grandad's funeral and it served me very well indeed. A definite repurchase...I've already gone and bought it again!

Wonderstruck by Taylor Swift
I bought this little perfume on a whim in September 2012 to take with me to Florida, fast forward 12 months and I've just used it up. It's such a lovely scent for a celebrity fragrance and I would purchase it again had I not got a mountain of other perfumes to go through!

Benefit b.Right Facial Toner
Another little mini from the Benefit skincare try me kit I keep repurchasing. I've still not really got any idea what one ought to use a toner for so it seems to be a bit of a pointless product in my opinion. Perhaps you could shed some light and let me know in the comments below...? I don't fancy purchasing the full size until I'm more clued up about it's usage...

Superdrug Strawberry & Raspberry Shower Gel mini
Again this was a mini product I purchased for taking in my beauty kit to Lancashire and I wish I hadn't.  This smelled so artificial, came out like a thick gel and stained the bath I was using in the hotel I stayed at. Oops! Definitely not repurchasing this one.

Superdrug Oval Cotton Pads
Unlike my beloved cotton pads from Boots these pads were just not quite 'right' for me. They did not have dual textured sides like my favourite Boots pads do and are, in my case, a classic example of sticking to what you know. I won't be buying these again!

So those were my empties for the month...what have you used up?

If you'd like to wish my blog a happy 2nd birthday come and enter my gift card giveaway. 1 x £10 for Boots and 1 x £10 for Topshop up for grabs HERE! 

Happy 2nd Blog Birthday Confetti Letters! (+ £20 Boots & Topshop Giveaway)

Found here.

While I was on my blog hiatus for the last few weeks of September by little old blog hit the grand age of 2!

In September 2011 I was living by myself (for the entire summer) in my house for my second year of university in Durham as I had to continue to work in order to pay the rent. This meant that I couldn't go home to Devon to see my family and ended up feeling very lonely and out of touch with everything that wasn't McDonald's (my workplace). I decided that month to begin writing Confetti Letters as a space to plot all my thoughts, my love affair with my bank card and my quest for perfection. Confetti Letters was originally a space for me to chart my journey into my twenties, and here I am 2 years later and reflecting on the people I've met through this blog (both in real life and online), the events I've been to because of it with brands I adore (Benefit and The Body Shop I'm talking to you!) and the amount of knowledge I've gained from seeing other people's blog creativity.

I have never intended to make any money from my blog, it's purely a scrapbook for me to put into pretty pictures and words what I enjoy in my life and wish to share. To this end, while you may see the odd sponsored post (I've only ever done one, and turned down two others thus far), or the odd gifted product, you will never see advertising here or sponsored links or anything else of that nature. I'm not against advertising etc on blogs, I just don't think it'd fit in with what my blog means to me as originally it was my way, back in September 2011, of feeling alive and connected to the world.

I would like however, in this post to do a little giveaway for those of you reading, new or old, to thank-you for taking an interest in my ramblings and for sharing your love of beauty, fashion, and most importantly life with me. When the offline world becomes too much, it's always an honour to click on to my Blogger dashboard and read about the goings on of others and get lost in your lives for a while.

You can win: 1 x £10 gift card to be used in Boots and 1 x £10 gift card to be used in Topshop ( my two current addictions). And a surprise, because we all love surprises, non? I have3 rules:

• The only way to enter will be to complete the Rafflecopter form below. No other form of entry will be accepted. 
• Open to UK only I'm afraid. 
• The winner will be chosen at random by Rafflecopter and I will the then communicate the decision to the winner. The winning decision is final. 
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck <3