Empties // July 2013

Another month over. What is this madness? There'll be Christmas trees in Tesco soon if we're not careful...! That said, I've managed to use up a good selection of products again this month and have made a big dent in my bathroom cabinet - hurrah!

Once again I've managed to finish my favourite cotton wool pads (forever repurchasing) and another packet of face wipes (I didn't like these Nivea ones so I won't be buying them again). I've also managed to work through not one, but two, cans of my favourite deodorant this month, the dove pomegranate scent (again I'll be forever repurchasing this).

I've also managed to get through two shower gels this month, a nameless miniature from M&S that I received for Christmas 2012, and an Anatomicals rose scented shower gel from a Glossybox a while back. I enjoyed using both of the products, they did exactly as they said they'd do on the tin and got me clean. I won't be repurchasing these though, the scents weren't quite to my taste.

Three face products made their way into the bin this month. First of all a mini Benefit porefessional primer, a product that I have a hard time getting on with. I really dislike the feel of the primer itself and that really puts me off using it, I was glad to see the back of this miniature to be honest. I was equally glad to see the back of this Elemis moisturiser as towards the end of the tube I felt like I was making myself use it. This really didn't help to reduce the dryness of my skin and it wasn't a joy to use at all. I'm glad I didn't pay for it as I got it free with a magazine a while ago. Lastly, I was on the hunt for a face scrub when I moved into our flat back in April and picked this St Ives scrub up. I thought it was going to be a good as the other St Ives scrubs I've used in the past, but in fact it hardly had any 'scrub' in it at all. It was far too creamy and I didn't feel like it was exfoliating me at all. *Sad face*. I definitely will not be repurchasing any of these three face products.

July also saw me finish a shampoo and conditioner. I absolutely loved these two Organix coconut milk products. Not only did they smell amazing but they cleansed and conditioned my hair beautifully. The only downside for me was that the packaging was quite stiff and towards the end of the bottles they became incredibly difficult to squeeze to let me get the shampoo out. Other than that I'd be tempted to repurchase.

My final empty saw me finish a perfume I've had since Christmas 2011, Juicy Couture's Viva La Juicy. This is quite a different scent from what I'd normally wear and I was hesitant to like it at first but found it to be a nice refreshing change from my usual sweet scents. I would repurchase this, but I probably won't as I have so many other perfumes to use up first!

So those were my July empties. What have you finished this month?

Wednesday Wishing

It's midweek, tomorrow is my payday for this past fortnight, and although I need to get round to paying off my debts and actually pay bills etc I can't help but scour the Internet in search of fun things to dream about owning...ever the material girl.

1) This Marc by Marc Jacobs watch is so cute. I'm loving neon at the moment, and I'm loving the fact that there aren't any numbers, just that the letters of Marc's name form the number, tres chic. This is also  splashproof, perfect for holidays.

2) I've been lusting after a McQueen skull scarf for ages and ages. I might have to pop this on my Christmas list this year.

3) Another beautiful watch, and one that's so highly revered by many a blogger. I've yet to see how a Michael Kors watch would look on my own wrist, but I'm sure that once I'd tried it on i wouldn't want it to come off!

4) How amazing does this iPad case look? I'm loving Marc by Marc Jacobs products at the moment and I love the dusty pink colour of this case and I love that it's a folio and not just a cover - perfect for travelling.

5) I bought a Maybelline Babylips from Florida when I went with J last September so I'm not too desperate to get my hands on these now that they're available in the UK. There are a few flavours I'd like to try though, and I'm sure I could make room in my stash for one or two more...!

6) I'm still on the hunt for a new primer, and saw that this was on offer in Boots. I swatched it on my hand and was suitably impressed, so roll on payday tomorrow!

7) This is an interesting little notebook I found on Amazon. It allows the user to chart and document their fitness progress over 12 weeks, with spaces to keep a food diary, exercise log and your body measurements. For an avid list maker like me this is perfect motivation to keep on the healthy straight and narrow :)

That's what I'm lusting after this week, seen anything you fancy?

OOTD// Time For Tea

 I might get odd comments or looks for saying this, but thank God the heatwave has disappeared. Don't get me wrong I do love a sunny day, but not when I have to spend 9 hours of it in a hot and busy restaurant serving fries and BigMacs to hungry customers. People have been asking me if I'm ok these past few weeks because I'm still pale, not a hint of a slight sun kissed gleam at all. I say, yes I'm fine, but the only heat I've been able to feel is that radiating from the Fry vats and the grills so there's no chance of a tan for this girl, only empty deodorant canisters. *Le Sigh.*

This aside I'm grateful for the cooler days, and most importantly I'm ecstatic to be dressing for A/W 13 like a boss. I don't care that August is round the corner, give me boots, 100 denier tights and cardigans any day. This little outfit was a steal at £8 for a my cute little Tea Dress from Primark, £3 leggings from Primark and a gold collar necklace for £2 in the New Look sale. I thought I'd pop a little brown woven belt around my waist to cinch me in a little bit, put Michael on my arm and slip on some brown boots and ta-da! A perfect little outfit to pretend it's Autumn and go out for dinner in.

Are you like me and can't wait for Autumn? Or are you a complete Sun Junkie?

Holiday, bottled.

I might, once again, be a bit late to this particular beauty party but I wanted to write about a scent I discovered today. I spritzed it on my skin and wandered around my local department store. It smelled divine and so I tweeted about it saying I couldn't wait to justify such a spend until payday (it's £45 for 100ml) and then came home. Half an hour later and I went back out of the door and hot footed it back to the beauty counter and purchased, picking up a job application form in the process. Thank (and curse) God for literally living round the corner from the shops.

And praise be to Estee Lauder to have come up with the most magical scent I think I have ever smelled, Bronze Goddess.

Bronze Goddess has everything I could possibly want in a summer scent. It smells sweet and girly, and although I'm terrible at describing smells, I keep catching the scents of coconut, vanilla and oriental flowers wafting up from my skin, which suits me down to a T. (Whether or not this perfume actually contains such notes I have no idea, but I honestly do not worry about the nitty gritty science of perfume. If it smells nice, I want me to smell of it too!)

The best bit about this perfume is that you are instantly hit with holiday memories the second you smell it. I'm currently sitting in my living room and feeling the rays of the Barbadian sun on my face as I bury my brother in the sand as a child, I'm then transported to the time as a teen when I sat by by the Dubai marina, and then to last year when I was lathering on sun cream by the lockers at Blizzard Beach water park at Disney World in Florida. Never has a perfume prompted such a retrospective trip down vacation lane for me, and since I'm not going on holiday this year, this Bronze Goddess is a very welcome addition to my scent wardrobe...

Have you smelled this magical scent? Do you indeed own it? What holiday does it remind you of?

Perfect Palettes

So I've recently re-discovered my eyeshadow palettes. I don't mean that I ever lost them in the first place, more like I put them in my makeup drawer marked 'palettes and miscellaneous' and neglected them. And now I feel bad, because I've neglected them in favour of a more simple makeup look for summer, the 'barely there' face, a bit of mascara and pink blush and that's it.

I decided to get out of this rut the other day by deciding to play with some eyeshadows and see what I could come up with. Eyeshadow is hard work on my face in the heat. You'd think that by applying a primer and pressing the pigments into my skin that they'd stay there all day, never melting, and never blending into one unrecognisable colour palette. But alas, that's not the case and I feel like the more heat the sun pours down on the UK, the more my eyelids sweat and I end up feeling all clogged up and gross.

This aside, I'm trying to get over this by embracing my eyeshadow palettes this summer. I have too many lovely shimmery gold colours that really look lovely in bright light and too many bronzes and burnt oranges that really bring out my blue eyes.

One thing that I've told myself to do is to say yes to more things this summer instead of shying away and continuing with the norm. I guess easing myself in with some gorgeous eyeshadow looks will be a fabulous way to start...best foot eye forwards then...!

What's the best palette that you own? I'm on the hunt for some more :)

OOTD // Maxi Florals & Chunky Necklaces

Here's a quick look at my favourite summer outfit of the moment. I don't do summer clothes well since I put on lots of weight, and finding anything that's comfortable and stylish is hard for me. I bit the bullet here though and bought this maxi dress from the Inspire range in New Look (£22.99) and fell in love with it. I was drawn to it mainly because the florals are nice and not too over the top, and I love the belt detailing, but also because it's a good length for me at 5'7/5'8. I find it hard to get maxi dresses sometimes because they can be just that tiny bit too short.

The necklace is also from New Look (£7.99) and I thought that it was so stylish with the chunky beads and layers, it looks fab with pretty much anything!

What's your favourite summer outfit?