OK so I bought the shorts

And a bag..and some shoes!

I thought the shorts and the shoes were such bargains, I love Zara but sometimes their stuff is around £10-£20 overpriced in my opinion, so the sale prices were much more my style.

I also went to Aldo after work yesterday and picked up the tan bag, I thought it looked cute and rather designer inspired.  It also has about 4 pockets which you can fit your phone, ipod, blackberry and erm other phone into. I swear  I must be the only person with this much technology going on in their bag? 

Normal bags don't have anywhere near enough compartments.  If you do want to buy a gadget to organise your purse though I would recommend a purseket but I haven't got one any more after I got chewing gum stuck to mine! I really should buy another one it was so handy.

I shall try and do an OOTD tomorrow if I am brave enough to wear the shorts. It will be the first pair of shorts I have worn in years as I hate my legs so I am trying to be adult about this!

I was inspired by the gorgeous Zara at mouldyfruit  and her lovely outfits whilst in Dubai. You should go and have a look, she has a great blog.  I am still baffled by what the hell a shisha is though..I need an explanation!

Anyone else bought any goodies this week?

Collect a sense of humour on your way in!

Ever thought WHY you like blogging? It's because you feel liked and appreciated, like you have some respect.

In real life nobody gives a stuff, you have to listen to Callum next door talk about his hernia AND that woman at the bus stop always moans about her tomato plants lack of growth. Nobody takes a blind bit of notice when you speak (ever), about anything, not even your family!

On-line the story is totally different, you are queen of your castle and in a safe little bloggy cocoon. You post on facebook and people actually 'like' it! It's a revelation.


However sometimes the cocoon can drive you a leeetle bit insane.

So here are my top signs that blogging is driving you nuts

1
You never go anywhere without your camera. You photograph each meal before eating it even if that means it's a bit cold. You spend 20 minutes squeezing the cam into the tiniest clutch bag even if it means you can't take your keys, or a credit card, or in fact anything else and spend the rest of the night borrowing everything from your mates as they get more and more pissed off.

2
You take 400 pictures of yourself just to get 1 decent picture accurately displaying how the light hits the highlighter on your cheek and glistens in the perfect way. You also have a small voice in your head whilst you are taking these snaps reminiscent of Austin Powers.  It says 'that's it baby. work it, work it baby, make people twitpic this shizzle" and worst of all...you listen to that voice :P

3
In a crisis (like trying to find out when come dine with me starts, or whether you have meningitis) you turn to twitter. After asking a question of your followers, you refuse to look it up yourself, watch the bloody programme or go to the hospital until someone responds.

4

You feel suspicious of people without avatars and wonder if they are spies. You check through their profile to make sure they aren't related to you and that they aren't your boss under deep surveillance.

5 - You see the T-shirt below and mentally note down that you need one if it comes in a different colour.

6
You accidentally call your 'real life' friends your followers. Ooops!

7

You have a 'moment' when you realise a certain brand or product is not on twitter OR facebook.

@rustyrockets

8

You respond when celebrities tweet assuming one day, they will tweet back ...and acknowledge your existence...and ditch Katy Perry and run away with you...ok that's probably just me

9

You write a baffling rant about some load of tosh and then sit gleefully waiting to see how many people agree with you, even though in reality they don't really agree with you, they are 50% scared of you, 40% hoping you haven't noticed they do exactly what you just ranted about and 10% leaving their ironic comment with sarcastic undertones.

10
you scream at the ISP's customer service when your broadband goes down, the celebrity 'do you know who I am' replaced with 'I have to update my blog don't you understand'.

You then get even more angry when they ask you what a blog is, doesn't the call centre have one?Jeeebus.  

 :P

Sarah x


Pics used are from google images

Zuneta Commenter Winner

Girly whirlies

You did me proud!  Thanks for all of your lovely comments on my Zuneta Blog post

The winner of the Korres Quince Body Butter is........................................................


Joy who actually has a blog and it is http://dearjoy8.blogspot.com/

So Joy I have the link to your Twitter account and have just added you so I shall tweet you for your info as soon as this post is live!

Well done and thank you so much everyone. Stay tuned for the end of the week when my Youtube giveaway and blog giveaway winners will also be announced.

Shopping with your slippers on

It could be possible that the love of shopping could be embedded into the female DNA. We love it! For many of us not a day goes by that we don't spot our next purchase or a pair of shoes to die for. The past decade has been tough on our spending- not because of the recession but because of the surging popularity of online shopping. You don't even have to leave the house to shop anymore- simply get your slippers on, make a brew and go browsing online- and no need to worry about getting caught in the rain!

Near enough every high street store has its own website which you can go and browse through their whole catalogue of products- whether it is a new handbag or new eye shadow. The beauty of shopping online is that you need not worry about whether the item will be out of stock- 9 times out of 10 your item will be in stock. If not, most online stores give the option of an email update when that product does come back into stock. Another perk of online shopping is the opening hours- there is none! You can shop online 24 hours a day which fits into many people's hectic lifestyles.

It may work out a little more expensive to shop online as you have to pay for delivery costs- but you should weigh this up with how much it would cost you to get to the desired shop you wish to buy from. Particularly with fashion and cosmetics, online shopping is a buoyant market, meaning that competition is fierce and the cyber shops are trying to beckon you into their site.

One way in which they do this is to offer voucher code to those who are buying from their website. This will be in the form of a short code or phrase, for example for free delivery you may be asked to type in 'free delivery' at the cyber checkout. The discount will then be deducted from your bill before you proceed to pay. You can also get massive discounts off your order or certain brands, so you should always check before you buy something online that there is a discount code for it. http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ hosts an abundance of voucher codes for a huge variety of shops that could potentially save you up to 50% off your online purchase.

If, like many, you enjoy the feeling of browsing through an actual shop and making a day of it with the girls you can also get many discounts on the high street. Like you would before you make an online purchase, check online to see if there are any printable vouchers that you can take with you when going on a shopping spree. You will be surprised at the savings you can make by just carrying around some vouchers for fashion and cosmetic retailers, as well as restaurant and drinks vouchers.

Sponsored post, pictures featured from Lipsy and Fashionunion

Elemis SpaPod and the Massage Chair of Wonder

Sounds like the title of a Harry Potter :P

The world's first Elemis double SpaPod was launched in Debenhams Oxford Street and I was invited to take a ride on the funky massage chair and enjoy a lovely facial. I didn't need asking twice, who in their right mind would?!


Now there are two treatment rooms available so you can book in alone or if with a friend and you can experience one of five 30 minute Power Booster Facials.




I was invited to test out the SpaPod and after my skin was analysed using their high tech camera and it was decided I should have the The Modern Skin Power Booster Facial.  I have scanned the results images in below so you can all have a good giggle, I did find it interesting about my sun damage though, imagine if you didn't use SPF, I use it every day so I am trying! It says wrinkles-0  yeah baby!

Click to enlarge

Inside the pod you sit on a large massage chair which measures your spine, your weight and warms up to heat your body and then they programme it to deliver a customised massage using different techniques to massage your entire back, neck, shoulders and legs. I did have to ask for the leg bit to be turned down a notch as that is strong but it really does massage every inch and after you become accustomed to the feeling of being massaged from underneath vs when you normally get a massage from above, it really relaxes your muscles.

Well hello massage chair

(yes that fabric is rather vile)

If you were wondering how you manage to relax inside Debenhams a notorious hive of noise - the treatment room has Smart Glass Technology. At the flick of a switch, the glass instantly frosts over locking out the hustle and bustle of the beauty hall and cocoons you in its relaxing retreat-like ambiance. In case that sounds a bit poncey I just took the pic below to illustrate my point!

Your view from the chair

To be totally honest you can still also hear the vague noise from outside and theres a small gap under the door so that's not really surprising!  But once your facial starts, with the sensory overload of the chair and the facial I forgot all about the noise outside and my eyes were tightly closed so don't be concerned it doesn't effect the facial once it gets going.

The Modern Skin Power Booster Facial  costs £45 and is for stressed faces, if you are dehydrated, eat on the go or spend long hours in front of the computer and generally need brightening up then this is for you.

My skin was cleansed, toned, buffed and massaged and a mask applied, a lovely hot stone arm and chest massage was done while the mask was on my face at the same time as the chair massaging me, I almost fell asleep.

The one thing I suggest you do it to just succumb to the chair. At first I starting wondering if I looked completely barking whilst the chair was rolling me backwards and forwards like I was riding on seabiscuit but if you just go with it and let it move you rather than fighting against it then it really is relaxing and de-stressing.

I took ages to get ready after my facial as I didn't want to leave the cosy warm pod. I would definitely recommend this for the overworked and exhausted who don't have enough time or money to go and get one of the really long expensive massages and facials done at the day spa. It's perfect to pop in on your way home from work, perhaps on a Friday night as a kick start to a lovely weekend or a nice treat for a mum of a young child who is just flipping knackered!

I will most definitely be back as the SpaPod as it is so convenient and much more affordable than the regular spa. Hopefully I will get the lovely Claire as my therapist again as she did a great job.

Afterwards I felt relaxed and glowing, and considering I had no makeup on when I left I felt surprisingly confident about wandering through London sans slap.

How do you feel about massage chairs, relaxing or like riding a horse? 

24 hour competition ends tomorrow - get in there!

I am guest posting at Zuneta Guest Blog again today. I felt so chuffed that you girls left me so many comments last time it was so appreciated, and it really meant a lot to me.

Today's post is about Korres a brand which I adore

And read on if you want to win a brand new quince body butter by Korres (fullsize)



Just comment on the feature here and everyone that comments on the Zuneta post before 5pm tomorrow will be randomly added to the hat (random.org) and at 5pm GMT/BST whatever UK time is tomorrow I will pick the winner.


You don't have to have a blog or twitter or be a follower or anything like that.

Open to anyone from Europe (sorry its a bit heavy to send to the US)


Just leave a comment on the Zuneta post and check back here tomorrow night to see if you won xx

Since I Don't Have Acne

Edited to add - I have spoken to Jenni (you can see her comments in the comments box below)

She works with the brand and they have taken your comments on board and will be providing me with a picture that better shows Sarah's acne change.  I think they gave her a makeover and photoshoot as part of the trial so that's why they sent the picture above x

I was invited to try out the Works With Water acne treatment, but I don't have spots so it seemed a lil silly! 

I did think that the product sounded like something that might be of interest to you girls as a lot of you comment about your oily skin which I know nothing about.

                                             

So here is another Sarah's finding of the product .

Sarah Pinder, 22, was horrified to find that for her, acne wasn’t a ‘teenage’ issue, after suffering with angry spots and sores all over her body for more than 10 years.

Now, things have started to look up again for Sarah. Having started taking help: clear skin again, Sarah’s skin has yet again seen amazing results in just weeks meaning her confidence is back on track. Sarah is also training for a new career as a fitness instructor.

Sarah commented: “Now my skin is looking and feeling much better I feel more positive about the future.”

Jules Birch, the founder of Works with Water said: “It was great to see the benefits Sarah experienced after quite a short time taking our product. We receive a lot of email enquiries from people with similar stories from all over the world who have tried many topical and oral treatments for their acne, without success.”

help: clear skin is one of a range of nutraceutical products which help relieve some of the most common yet controllable health problems including hypertension and high cholesterol.

help: clear skin is available from Asda, Tesco, Waitrose and Holland & Barrett stores and online at http://www.workswithwater.co.uk/, priced at £14.79 and £49.99 for a week’s or month’s supply

I am not affiliated and have not been paid for this post

Body Shop Bloggers Event - Baked To Last

I was invited to the event The Body Shop were holding on Friday and I went to the afternoon session after work. I think there may have been 2 prior blogger events but this was the first I had been invited to. It was held at the beautiful Westbury Hotel.

We were all greeted by the lovely folk of The Body Shop and headed upstairs to the room where the presentation was being held. At this point it was around 2pm and 6 hours since breakfast, I was absolutely fall down starving. So I was overcome with excitement at being faced with the afternoon tea style spread of mini sandwiches, cakes and macaroons, brownies and tartlets I think I might have cheered?. Obviously Leanne took the opportunity to pap me stuffing my face - thanks hun!

Probably shouldn't have used the Miu Miu as a tray!

The presentations commenced about the Body Shop's upcoming new launches starting with hair. The new range is going to cost less than the current range (!) at £4.00 for a shampoo or conditioner and it is formulated to cause as little damage to aquatic life in the eco system as it can, which I thought was really interesting to learn as after you rinse the shampoo down the plughole...do you really think much about it? I know I haven't before. I am also VERY excited to try the hair butters as you know how much I like body butter.

Blue nails and shampoo delightfully modelled by Lu, aka Makeuploveer

We then went through the new products for the Vitamin C range. I had only ever used the facial spritz before so I was interested in this. The standout products for me are the eye reviver duo £10.00 which has a rollerball at one end and a cream at the other to revive tired eyes and more importantly the Skin Radiance powder mix which is freshly mixed (by you) the day you open the product to ensure it is fresh, as vitamin c couldn't have been mixed in before as it would spoil by the time you purchased it. This means you get a more potent dose of the vitamin c to give your skin added brightness and radiance so I will review this once it's been tested. I have used the Philosphy vitamin c turbo booster powder which gave good results but it was really flipping expensive (£30) and this is only £12 from the body shop and includes the serum as well. Bargaino!

And finally some makeup tutorials from makeup artist Chase Aston and the lovely models, the one I managed to get a snap of reminded me of Lucy Liu! The new range is called Baked To Last and each product is slowly baked for 24 hours in Italy on teracottta discs to give intense colour, depth and coverage. These contain less talc and more pearls than regular powders which means they have an incredible sheen to them.

They contain marula oil and olive oil which are both community trade.

The eye colours RRP is £9.50

The blush RRP is £12.00

The bronzer RRP is £14.00

We even decorated some plain cupcakes. To the left is my one, I decided to go for a butterfly cake.

It was lovely to meet everyone even though I only got to say hello to some of you girles, next time definitely. So thanks to Barbie, Zoe, Natalie and all of the other girls who arranged the event xx

NOTD - My First Nail Art Ever!

I know it's not much but it's the first nail art I have done in my life.

I was inspired by the colours, they reminded me of Shrek!

I used 3 coats of Barry M Acid Yellow and then used a bobby pin/kirby grib to dot on Barry M Cyan Blue and sealed it in with CND super shiny topcoat.

Its obviously very simple, but I was so chuffed I managed to do it! I picked up the polishes yesterday in Topshop using the lovely Zoe's student discount :P

Do you find nail art a bit complicated?  I do!

The Body Shop and ECPAT

Yesterday I attended the afternoon session of  The Body Shop bloggers event. I had a wonderful day but along with the new ranges mentioned, copies amounts of food and products there was also an important message which I felt quite moved by so I will post about this first and about the products and launches later.

A lady from ECPAT explained about the charity's work and you can find out more if you click the link.  They have partnered with The Body Shop and £3.45 from your purchase of   TBS Soft Hands Kind Heart hand cream is donated to ECPAT and the donation will help fund ECPAT UK campaigns and prevention projects against child trafficking in the UK.

ECPAT also have a yellow leaflet in TBS shops is a petition to the UK government to offer greater care and protection to victims of trafficking and they are aiming for a million signatures on this petition so every last person who signs is making a difference. Please do take the time to go there and sign the form, I would be so grateful if my followers could do this, and if you are able to sign the petition online at any point I will put the link in the sidebar.

Body Shop are also making display walls of the hands of their customers who have signed the petition. At the event, we were provided with pens and glitter to go all Art Attack and create our own hand outline.  

I was doing my decorating with the lovely Lu,  Zoe and Leanne, I think the glitter may have got a bit too much for Zoe...haha! For my hand outline I went for a gold ring and bracelet with pink glitter nails.

Don't worry, she didn't really eat the glitter :P

Will you be signing the petition against sex trafficking?

Xen Tan Intense Mousse and Face Tanner Luxe Review

A couple of weeks ago I was kindly sent some Xen-Tan products. They sent me two different tanning products to try out as well as the applicator mitt to use with the mousse. This is perfect as I had wanted to try the mousse but was a little dubious after my last Xen-Tan incident.

I have been wanting to try the Xen-Tan mousse since Liparazzi suggested it to me on the comments of the above mentioned post but I will be honest I was a tiny bit scared of trying another product as in the past you will remember I was very streaky!  Thank goodness the products they sent are much more suited to me than the one I bought myself and had used previously.

This is the promotional picture on the website showing the 'medium' tan product colour.  I think this is a fairly accurate representation, I go perhaps another shade darker.

I get a lot of emails asking how I learnt to fake tan.  If you want to know - I used this website sunless  I have no affiliation to them in any way and they aren't affiliated with Xen Tan or anything.  I used this years ago when I first started tanning as they have so many how-to guides and reviews of tanners and it is a hive of information.  The website is really basic but it means it's easy to navigate.  If you love tanning then take a look.

Xen Tan Mousse Intense

Application- I applied this using the mitt and I always wear a latex glove under a mitt in case of any seepage because orange palms are not my style!  I start at my ankle of one leg and work my way up each leg and then each arm in turn, then I do my front and then lastly my back.  Yes it does take a bit of contortion to tan your own back but I have always managed to do it.  The first time I applied I did it a bit thickly and it was a little sticky but on subsequent applications I used less product and there was much less of a sticky feeling. 

Overall the one problem I have is the guide colour is a greeny brown which is very light compared to the guide colour of other tanners so it is a little difficult to tell where you have applied.  The first time I had a few streaks on my wrists and underarms so now I tend to use the mousse on my body in general, but use the face tanner to tan my face, hands, feet and underarms as its easier to blend and this works a treat.

Smell- To start with this smells like vanilla essence and a bit like cake.  It may be too sweet if you don't like vanilla.  After a few hours it does get the fake tan smell faintly.  There are very very few tanners I have ever tried that smell of absolutely nothing and this does have the scent.
 
 

That's me with the bracelet on

Colour- this is much more natural than the deep bronze luxe lotion.  It is an even golden colour and my skin is naturally paler than a Mac NW15 (hence why I never use Mac foundation).  This colour reminds me very much of the tan that Charlize Theron sports and is not obviously fake. I had comments asking if I  had been on holidays and that I looked brown, nobody asked where I got my fake tan so I can't have looked unnatural. As with every single fake tan I have used my boobs were much lighter than the rest of me. I have no idea why this happens but its so annoying! If you have answers please do tell me why this happens x

One very tanned leg!

Any streaking?- My danger zones are normally my hands and feet, my legs and my wrists.  With this tan the only place that I had a problem was the back of my legs and I think that was due to the guide colour and not realising I had missed a patch.  If you apply slightly more than you would need on your legs you make sure that all areas are covered so you avoid the streaks. I found that arms and the rest of me came out fine, no streaks at all.  I put the product on and went to bed around 20 minutes later and spent the whole night tossing and turning so I was pretty surprised that the tan turned out so well.
 
 

Xen Tan Face Tanner Luxe

Face-  For the face I was sent a separate product called the face tanner luxe.

This has the same consistency as the other lotions in the range.  I like that it feels nice and cooling on my face whilst also being moisturising.  It applies quickly and it's more of a gel consistency than a creamy liquid.

Although marketed for face it is brilliant for hands and feet as it stays on longer than the mousse for me. My feet were going strong after 7 days of wearing it.

Colour: The guide is the same green brown colour.  This is a bit darker than the mousse and you should not over apply or  your face will not blend with your neck properly.  The mitt doesn't work well with this so I applied it with a latex gloved hand then smoothed it out with my bare hands before quickly soaping up and rinsing my palms so I didn't get them tanned I did the same application technique to my feet and hands and it worked perfectly. 

Before and After

Yes I did get my necklace from Lorraine along with everyone else in the universe :P

If you have neon orange palms you might as well stick a note on your forehead about your tan being fake, it is the telltale giveaway so remember to wear gloves or wash your palms thoroughly.

I will be repurchasing this, out of the two products my preference would be the facial tanner.  These two products have made me realise why so many other bloggers love Xen-Tan and I do wonder if I bought a dud product or an old or off one before but just to be safe I have to say there is still no way I would ever use that Luxe tan that I mentioned before, I will never change my mind about that!

Xen Tan Intense Mousse RRP £21.95
New Xen Tan Facial Tanner Luxe RRP £18.95

Xen-Tan can be purchased from House of Fraser, Debenhams, Harrods, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges and Fenwick and obviously their website.  I had a google and a website called beautybay seems very reasonably priced.

Am I the only one who is obsessed with tan? Anyone else just want to get as dark (not orange) as possible?

Use it up and wear it out!

I might have a slight shopping addiction, but even I have managed to run out of products this month! There are only a few that I will be repurchasing so I will share those with you.

1) Elemis Exotic Frangipani Monoi moisture melt 
 Possibly the most amazing smelling body melt ever, somewhere between an oil, a wax and a moisturiser I think this is possibly the best thing that Elemis sell. It leaves you with silky moisturised skin for hours and hours, it can be used as a massage oil, it can be used in your hair as a treatment and people will ask what your perfume is all day long (oh me..that's just my hair, swish swish). The ingenious bottle design means that if you drop the bottle when the lid is off it doesn't spill even when it is in liquid form and because you have to warm it to get melt the product so it will come out of the bottle it feels lovely and comforting. This smells rather sexy to me, might just be my nose but I love it! £29 from timetospa

2) Mavala Mavaderma
A miracle nail oil that keeps your cuticles so soft and moisturised and helps your nails stay strong.  I realised how good this was when my bottle ran out last week and since then my nails have looked rubbish!  I will be repurchasing ASAP.  While it doesn't smell as good as CND solar oil it works better for me and that's the main thing, it has also lasted since Christmas time so it's certainly good value.  I also love that it's in a nail varnish bottle so you can easily paint it on to your cuticles and you don't have to dig your nails into any pots of product. 10ml is £9.75 from feelunique

3) L'Oreal Nutrisummer
The best gradual tanner that I have found for my skin, the others don't do anything or make me stripy orange.  The worst on my legs was definitely Johnson and Johnson, I looked like I had painted stripes on my legs on purpose!  This is a great product for me when I am using a regular fake tan, after 3 days or so I coat my whole body in this and then every other day until I do the whole body fake tan again.  It keeps my fake tan looking fresh and moisturised and tops up the colour gently (I use medium).  It has a non-offensive smell and I like the tube as it's really easy to use.  The cream absorbs quickly too.  Definitely a gem.  I don't use this on it's own though so I can't say how it would perform in that context as I don't want a light tan! I want to get the Tone Up one next time though they even have a face on in the USA

4) Imperial Leather Foamburst 
This is a shower and shave foam, what an ingenious idea! I always shave my legs in the shower so this saves time and you only need to use one product.  Plus it smells of cocoa butter and vanilla, which is 100 times better than the usual boring shave gel scents available.  I love everything about this shave/shower gel.  I do still sometimes overshoot the mark with the trigger and spray the gel at things but it's probably just me being clumsy!  Overall my favourite repurchase I love this! RRP around £2.50 there are more scents which you can see here imperial leather

5) Cowshed Lippy Cow lip balm
I wouldn't say this was a balm, its very liquid-y and I use it every night when I go to bed replacing my Korres lip butter not during the day while I am out and about.  This is much better for the Summer as it is really nourishing whilst being thin and non sticky.  It also sinks in very quickly so you can apply it 10 minutes or so before your lipstick to make sure that it has a good base and that your lips are moisturising and prepared for the lipstick and have a good texture, rather than your lips being dry as you get a clumpy look when you then apply lip products. If you often wake up in the morning with dry lips then this would be great for you.
Best price I could see was £6.40 at lookfantastic

6) Kiss Everlast French Nails
I had no idea how easy these were to use! I thought that like press on nails they would be a waste of time but you just stick them on and they last for a whole week! They are much thinner than acrylics so they look more natural and you can go for the natural short look, it doesn't necessesarily have to be the wagtastic blinding white tipped ones as pictured above. I have also found they do a remover in large pot which you stick one (or two if you have tiny fingers) and it melts off the nails, much easier than using nail varnish remover like I tried to do the first time! I have used up all the nails I have so I am on the search for some more petite ones as they are really hard to find in the Boots near work, they have loads but none are petite. From Boots around £8.49

7) Burt's Bees Lipbalm This is one of my fave blogging discoveries as I would never have tried Burt's Bess otherwise.   I was sent the original lipbalm by the PR company however I used it up so quickly that I purchased the one above at the weekend as it's exactly the same as the original peppermint scented one but tastes and smells like honey.  Now I know I'm not Winnie the Pooh but I do love honey.  The texture of this is very waxy so it would be good for men too.  I always use this before a long run so my lips don't get dry with the gym air conditioning and any time at work that I don't have a chance to go to the ladies to reapply my lipstick I use this as you can slap it on without a mirror.  I love everything on the Burts Bees Website

What products do you always repurchase?

It's a Lazy Week For Makeup and Nails

This week's tips for luscious lips

I have been a so tired this week so I have been cutting back on the cosmetics and sticking to a sheer foundation, cream blusher, mascara and a slick of  sheer lippie to brighten up my face and give me a few extra minutes of sleep time in the morning.

This has been has been a shock to my make-up routine as I generally wear a full face of slap with nude lippie for work but I have been enjoying it especially now the weather is heating up, too much makeup in hot weather just looks terrible. I have been using Korres wild rose foundation which gives a light dewy look and it contains SPF20 which is handy.

I then add a slick of colour with a bit of the Nars Multiple tint directly onto my cheeks and blend it out with my Ecotools kabuki.  It is made of synthetic hair so it blends the cream product well and costs £12.99 from Boots or Superdrug.

As for lips - for gloss I have been using a freebie with Red Magazine by Jemma Kidd. If you hate sticky lipglosses then definitely pick one of these up, I got the juicy raspberry shade.  Your hair doesn't get stuck to the gloss and it doesn't really feel like you have anything on your lips at all. I don't know about paying the retail price of these glosses but I certainly think they are worth the cost of a magazine and they had me more interested than the Benefit freebies (I find pencils rather dull).

When I prefer a shiny lipstick to a gloss then I have been using the Boots 17 mirror shine on lipstick in Beehive, I have used it so much this week and it is lovely.  The 10 colours in the range are very sheer but with just the right amount of colour payoff to look gorgeous on the lips and the formulation is creamy and leaves behind a high shine like a gloss, but without the stickiness.  I have only bought Beehive so far as it was clearly my kind of shade but I want to get some more as I love the formulation.  It feels so nice on your lips and they look plumped up and kissable.   Just ignore the packaging as blue lipstick casing is just a bit weird.

For nails I have worn Eyeko's Posh polish for a few days, only taking it off today as I had to remove my Kiss nails to give my nails a breather.  I love that with false nails your nail varnish never seems to chip, does anyone else find this?

Have you been wearing less makeup recently?

Ecotools Kabuki and Eyeko posh polish sent for review, all other items purchased by me.