Glossybox November Winter Warmers

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November 2019 Winter Warmers edit

A bit later than normal but here’s the low down on the Glossybox Winter Warmers box for November.

7 items in this box including two delicious fruity teas from OffBlak. I liked the Brighten Up one best which has a lovely berry flavour, a perfect winter warmer for this cold weather.

First is the Mudmasky Leave-Me-On Winter Mask which has an RRP of £43.50! Like lots of people I get really dry skin in the winter and often experience psoriasis flare ups at this time of year. So I was I intrigued by this leave on face mask and whether it was up to the task! It’s a really nice light formula and I felt it made my skin feel much softer.

Another winter essential for me is hand cream. This Rituals handbalm is so moisturising, you really only need a tiny bit as it’s so rich. As with all Rituals products it smells amazing and has sweet almond oil and Indian rose. This has a RRP of £9.90

Cetaphil is one of my favourite brands for gentle skin cleansing and moisturising. It’s also great value this mini is worth £1.10 but a full size bottle of the same product will only set you back £8.99. Cetaphil helps create a barrier to seal in moisture for your skin and is so gentle and non drying. If you suffer from dry skin definitely give this a try.

This beautiful glow mist from Kandi Cosmetics is designed to be a shimmery primer applied after cleansing and before foundation. I was a bit unsure of this, although it looks gorgeous in the bottle, I was wary of looking like I’d been rolled in glitter! However it’s incredibly light and works brilliantly under makeup to give a nice soft glow. I haven’t tried it as a setting spray which is the other way you can use it but I think this would also work well. This has an RRP of £20.

I love Hask products having used a lot of their hair masks which are great when you colour your hair alot like me! This hair oil is a repairing formula and has argan oil to restore your hair. I’ve been using this on my lengths and ends, it’s been great for giving my hair a nice sheen and avoiding that straw like look at the ends! This has an RRP of £2.49

And finally a little extra treat in this months box was these delicious fruit teas from OffBlak. My favourite is the Brighten Up tea which is forest fruit and ginger flavoured. They were a lovely extra treat and taste amazing. They are £0.84 each or £9.98 for a box.

The grand total for this months box is…….. £78.67!

I subscribe to Glossybox for £8.50 plus postage and packing which in total is £11.75 so definitely well worth the subscription fee once again.

I’m looking forward to the December box and there’s also a limited edition box coming for December which more details will be released about soon.

Glossybox is available by visiting http://www.glossybox.co.uk

Dog days

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So our cockapoo Chip is now 6 months and not so little anymore!

As he’s getting bigger he’s even cuter if that’s possible? We’ve been getting to grips with some basic puppy training at a local class. He’s mastered sit, lie down and giving a paw 🐾 as well as getting much better at not barging through doors straightaway. We’ve mastered the class and Chip got his very own rosette!

He was super proud of his rosette!

Hmmm what’s for tea!?

Chip knew someday he’d catch that toy

He’s started settling really well and we are loving having him as part of our family !

If you’ve got any training tips or advice for puppies do let me know.

Through the Looking Glass

This Thursday I’m throwing back to an afternoon to remember at The Looking Glass, Sunderland.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Looking Glass for an afternoon tea themed hen party. The cafe/bar is a fantastic venue with quirky accessories befitting it’s name. Each way you looked you seemed to see something different with rabbits, mad hatters and playing cards galore!

The delicious afternoon tea had the usual sandwich selections along with quiche, macaroons, sweet and savoury scones , cakes and tea served in china pots, with real cups and saucers.

Each treat was more delicious than the last with my favourite definitely being the scones. I know there’s debate about whether the cream or jam goes on a scone first (answers on a postcard please!)

There was so much included in the afternoon tea we ended up boxing some to take home. My 4 year old was really excited to find mini battenburg and cupcakes when I got home!

I would highly recommend a visit to the Looking Glass and I will definitely be back to try more of their delicious food.

The Looking Glass is in Sunniside, Sunderland city centre.

For more information visit their Facebook page by searching The Looking Glass, you won’t be disappointed!

Glossybox October Devil Edition

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So this month Glossybox really hit it out of the park for me with October’s Angel or Devil edit. There were two special design boxes available with an angelic or devilish theme…. I’m thinking you can see which one I got!

The colours in the October box were just fab!

The box had 5 amazing beauty treats all of them full size and a special extra treat of a hot chocolate from Whittard of Chelsea.

First up is the Que Bella Beauty Plumping gold peel off mask, which has a gorgeous glittery sheen to it in the packet (and on your face!). I love a good face mask and this also had hyaluronic acid to moisturise and brighten your skin, a must in the autumn weather! A full size product which is RRP of £2.49

I love a good red lip during the autumn and winter and in this box we got a Lord and Berry lip crayon in Devil Red. It’s a perfect bold red and being a crayon format you can line your lips and fill them in with one product! Finishes matte and doesn’t feel drying at all. This is a full size product with an RRP of £15.

An extra treat in this months box was this delicious Whittard of Chelsea Hot Chocolate which is Sticky Toffee Pudding flavour. This was so creamy and had a strong caramel/toffee flavour. A lovely little extra for those cold nights! I absolutely love the sugar skull packaging, really went brilliantly with the Halloween theme of the box. This was a sample size worth £2, Full size worth £9.

Another favourite of mine in this months box was this STYLondon palette which has 9 shades of eyeshadow in red and orange tones. There’s a lovely mix of shimmers and matte shades which make a fab statement eye- not one for the faint hearted! I love this palette the pigment is good and it’s a great size for popping in your makeup kit. The palette is worth £15 and is another full size item.

An MCO eyeliner crayon in black was the next item which is a black liner designed to give precise lines. I really liked this as I can sometimes struggle with liquid liner when I apply. This applies really well and smudges nicely as well if you want to wear it along the lash line for a smokey eye look. The RRP for this is £15.

The final product in the box this month was the Bubbletea Devils Dust foaming bath powder. This is a really good size as you don’t need loads in the bath to create the bubbles and it has a nice floral scent to it. This is full size and RRP is £4.99

Altogether the products are worth £54.48. They are all products I have enjoyed using, particular favourites being the lip crayon, eye palette and eye liner. I really enjoyed the theme this month too, Halloween is one of my favourite seasons and I am glad I got the Devil box as the colours are much more suited to me.

Another shot of the Devil Red Lord and Berry Lipcrayon

I subscribe to Glossybox for £8.50 plus postage and packing which in total is £11.75 so definitely well worth the subscription fee.

Glossybox is available by visiting http://www.glossybox.co.uk

Holiday essentials

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Bring on the good times!

As summer has come to a close and we start into the autumn, it felt like a great time to share some of my summer faves. I actually got away abroad this year for the first time in 3 years so it was great fun thinking of cute outfits and things to take away.

My versatile little bag from River Island

This cute little bag from River Island has served me well over the summer. The perfect size to fit the essentials and casual enough for day but dressy enough for evening. I love the hot pink colour which seemed to be a theme for me this summer!

Loved these earrings that I picked up on sale in Boots for £3!

I love a statement earring and a hoop, so this summer I made the best of both! A pop of neon colour made these the perfect go to for a relaxed look. Plus they were on sale in Boots, not somewhere I usually shop for earrings.

Hask Hair masks have been my saviour!

My hair always gets really dry and frizzy in the summer so it’s so important to me to keep it well conditioned. I love these Hask hair masks, I took 3 away on holiday to counteract the sun and chlorine and they kept my hair feeling soft and my hair colour shiny.

Loving the peachy coral tones this summer
I love peach and orange tones for summer, especially when you have a tan! NYX butter gloss is great for hot days when you need some moisture but also want a good coverage lip colour. Of course my summer essentials wouldn’t be complete without a good bronzer and TooFaced Sweetie Pie is still my number one. It’s a perfect mix of colour and shimmer without an excess of glitter like some bronzers do.

Staying peachy with TooFaced

Finally a good primer is one of my essentials to make sure my face stays in place! I am currently using Obsession Makeup’s mattifying primer which is a silicone based primer. I find these work well for my skin type and it gives a wonderfully matte finish for your foundation to work on.

Primer to keep my face in place

Do you have any great summer essentials to share?

Joining forces c’mon, Vogue!

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Vogue is one of my favourite magazines and each year I look forward to the September issue. Widely considered to be the most influential and important issue of the year, so much so there was a documentary made about it, search The September issue on Netflix to check it out, this year in a bold move, a guest editor was chosen. But not just any guest editor. It’s Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex, also known prior to her marriage as Meghan Markle.

Long considered a fashion icon, she is friends with designer Mischa Noo Noo and stylist Jessica Mulroney and once the writer of her very own blog, The Tig, it was interesting to see what she’d bring to an iconic publication in its most important issue of the year. And also the first time ever an issue of British Vogue has been co-edited.

With the cover title of Forces for Change and no one cover star already this felt like a different feel for Vogue. Each woman featured on the cover has her own piece inside and everyone from Jane Fonda to Salma Hayek to Laverne Cox and Sinead Burke this wasn’t your usual edition. Sixteen squares are on the cover featuring 15 change makers from film, modelling, climate change, disability advocacy, prime minster of New Zealand and the list goes on! The final square is mirrored to reflect the reader and to encourage you to think of the change you can make.

A patron of the charity Smart works which supports women by providing support and clothing for interviews, the Duchess has created a capsule clothing line, called the Smart Set with Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Jigsaw to provide the charity with a like for like item to the charity for each item purchased. I really love this idea of giving a like for like item. I know already the tote bag from John Lewis has sold out and is a really lovely looking piece.

I really enjoyed the articles with the Duchess, giving insight into how the guest editorship came about and some of the behind the scenes info she had to learn. Interviews with Michelle Obama and Dr Jane Goodall also featured, it felt like a very different direction for Vogue which I enjoyed.

I think she’s had a LOT of negative press lately but I for one am pleased to see a member of the Royal family making a real difference and reaching out to people in a way that hasn’t been done before. Some are saying she is trying to hold on to her “Hollywood” status but I see it as someone who knows she has been elevated to a place of privilege and who hasn’t forgotten where she has come from, and the struggles she faced to make it.

I look forward to seeing what she does next and hope the Smart Set collection continues to be successful.

To find out more about Smartworks visit smartworks.org.uk

To read the latest updates from Vogue visit vogue.co.uk

September Glossybox

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This months Glossybox has a Delicious Beauty theme, with 7 items instead of 5.

First up there’s a Banana setting powder from Mayy Beauty, which says it’s a mineral based powder and also contains hyularonic acid. This was ideal for me as I love using the baking technique to set my concealer and as it happens had just ran out of my usual powder! The RRP for this is £15

Next a Charcoal whitening toothpaste from Colgate. Normally I wouldn’t be too pleased getting an item like this however I have been looking for whitening toothpaste for a while and haven’t found one I like. Will see how this one does. RRP for this is £4

Also included is a Palmers Coconut Oil Deep Conditioning Protein Pack Hair Mask. I was over the moon to get this as I recently bought one of these to take on my holiday. It smells amazing and my hair feels super soft and conditioned afterward. RRP for this is £2.49

A perfume is one of the featured items this month from Mitchell and Peach. The scent is Flora No.1 Fine Edition Eau de Parfum. This is a blend of sweet fennel, larkspur, rose, ylang ylang, peony and lavender. This is a nice light floral which I think will be nice to wear. My only gripe is that there is no spray function on the bottle so it’s free flowing when you want to put it on. RRP for this is £29.75 for the Deluxe Mini which is the size included.

The Delhicious Body scrub contains Black Assam Tea with caffeine and antioxidants that help with dry skin and flush away toxins caffeine and antioxidants that help dry skin and give you a glow. I’m really excited to try this and see what it is like. There’s a lot in the pack and it says you can get 2-3 uses out of it. The RRP for this is £7.95.

The final product was Carex hand sanitizer in the scent Strawberry Laces. Now I know this item caused some controversy among the Glossybox community but I actually really liked this! I use handgel quite a lot as I’m currently on some medication that reduces my immune system. This smells lovely and is great to pop in your bag.

Lastly as an extra treat this month a Godiva chocolate bar was included. This was so good! I got the caramel lion and as expected from Godiva it was delicious.

So all in all this months box was worth £63.68.

I subscribe to Glossybox for £8.50 plus postage and packing which in total is £11.75 so definitely well worth the subscription fee.

Glossybox is available by visiting http://www.glossybox.co.uk