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 :)