Naked DEAL!

Another amazing deal from Groupon..

£8 for £20 worth of Naked body care products! You can find the details here, but it's only available for the next 35 hours or until they sell out so get there fast! I'm fancying the new skin care range...!

x

Pretty Purchases!

For someone who professes to dislike pink I certainly have enough of it around in my room... And now I've added these rather lovely Dahlia fairy lights and a pretty polka dot storage box to the mix! 

I got hold of them both at a great price, the box was £2.99 from Home Bargains, and the lights were fromSainsbury's, for around £9 in their recent 25% off event. The fairy lights are wrapped round the end of my bed whilst the box is currently looking for a home somewhere in my room! 

Have you got your hands on any new home accessories recently? Let me know!

x

Naked bargains!

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ELF's lovely lippies!

L-R- Classy, Gypsy, Seductive

Last year ELF launched their essential (£1.50) line's lipsticks. Within the day there were shades sold out and after a little research (elf's swatches rarely reflect the true colours in my experience) I decided on Classy or Seductive. Typically these were both out of stock and so I ended up with Gypsy first. A deep pink this is reserved for more dramatic looks for me personally but a lovely colour all the same. Classy is a lighter lilac-y pink and Seductive more coral based. 

L-R- As above- Classy, Gypsy, Seductive

Packaging-wise these are sturdily made and survive the battle inside my bag with ease. A silver tube with a transparent band in the middle makes them easily identifiable in amongst a drawer and saves having to rely on the teeny font on the end.

Top to bottom- Classy, Gypsy, Seductive

All three are creamy, pigmented and non-drying, my only niggle being the relatively strong fruity scent that comes with the colour, the only giveaway to their bargain price. I can't decide if this is any better than the wax-crayon-esque cheap lipstick smell but the taste is certainly better. Lasting power is average, but better than the similarly priced MUA lipsticks.


Overall a total steal, perfect for experimentation and everyday wear! Available from ELF at £1.50 each.


Have you tried the ELF essential lipsticks?


x

Witch Hazel Wonders!

As previously mentioned in my favourites post I've been using distilled witch hazel on my face for the last month or so. Normally I apply some to a cotton pad (or re-usable cloth face pad) and swipe it across my face after cleansing and before moisturising morning and evening. I sometimes use it in the mornings alone, and shock horror, instead of cleansing a make up free face too.

The first thing that surprised me was the smell. Although I'd seen it mentioned before I didn't expect this... It doesn't smell like a witch hazel stick at all, and I can't describe it because I've never smelt anything like it! The only thing that comes to mind is burning, which isn't really what it smells like at all(!) Anyway, it's not horrible and you do get used to it, so for me it's a pretty minor point.

One slightly more major point is that the first time I used this I thought I was having an allergic reaction to it, my face went very red and felt hot. It was also the first time I'd used my favourite Simple moisturiser so I was very confused! It turns out that it was the two combined that was the problem, and I've since found the same problem with other things including my Good Things creamy cleanser. As long as I leave around 10 minutes between applying the witch hazel and the things I've identified as something that reacts with it, it's all fine. If I'm in a rush in the morning then I apply one or the other and save the witch hazel for bedtime (incidentally, I've had no problems with either of my Liz Earle moisturisers).

Onto the effects! I really didn't have much idea of what to expect. My skin is mid-crisis and being rebellious and at the moment I've just about always got a few unwanted spot friends on my face who refuse to leave, I didn't really expect the witch hazel to totally solve that and it hasn't but it has:

• evened out my skin tone quite a bit, lessened the general redness in my cheeks
• helped aforementioned unwanted friends leave a little faster
• done WONDERS for my pores, particularly the ones around my nose, they're practically invisible and are much less congested. Same goes for my nose and chin too! 
• Less blackheads on (or should that be in?!) my T-zone. 
• Helped regulate moisture levels in my skin, keeps oil at bay whilst going quite a way to moisturising other areas of dry skin. Even if I forget (oops!) to moisturise in the evenings my skin feels far softer in the mornings than it would do without the witch hazel. I also wake up to a much, much less oily face which is nice! I've even used it on my arms- dry skin- and it's definitely made a reasonable difference to the softness there too!
• made a very good toner, removing last traces of make up and making my skin feel refreshed and clean but soft.

This is now an essential item for me and I'll definitely be repurchasing, it's something like £2.19 in Boots and that will last me at least 2 months. The bottle does say that it's not suitable for sensitive skin so do bear that in mind :)

Have you tried witch hazel before? Tempted?

x

Super-duper multitasking moisturiser!

I know, I know, I'm a moisturising bore...!

I've been using Simple's Clear Skin Oil balancing moisturiser for a couple of weeks now and I love it. As my skin's decided it's moving over to the oily side this is ideal as it's perfect for keeping my face shine free all day. It makes a perfect primer, keeping my (mineral) make-up looking flawless, whilst ensuring my skin stays moisturised throughout the day, and whether it's a co-incidence or not (or the witch hazel I've been using..) my skin is definitely becoming clearer.

My skin's not hugely oily, it's undecided and rebelling as the weather changes and goes from being dry to oily over very short periods of time, but it's enough to make my T-zone and the area around my nose a little shiny if left to it's own devices throughout the day.

The moistuiser has an almost gel-like consistency and includes 3 "skin loving" ingredients: Natural zinc PCA to "gently absorb excess oil", Phytosphingosine to help reduce blemishes and corn starch to mattify "all day long"

It also contains vitamin E to moisturise and Pro-Vitamin B5 to "restore, soften and smooth".

A huge bargain I paid around £2 for this 75ml tube from Home Bargains, but is available from Boots for £3.99. A perfect day time moisturiser for those with oily/undecided skin, and perfect as a base for make up.

Are you a Simple fan? Tried this?

x

Bargain Moisturiser!

I can never have enough moisturiser. Ever. 

The other day I came across one on offer in Wilkinson's for just 97p! It's Vaseline's essential moisturiser daily body lotion for normal to dry skin. 

Normally costing over £2 it's a great bargain and the moisturiser itself is really impressive. My pet hate is moisturiser that "rolls off" into little yucky bits on your skin (I think I may have mentioned that once or twice before... ;) ). There's none of that here plus it sinks in reasonably fast so it's great for hands and for in the mornings to avoid trying to put clothes on over sticky moisturiser (and as the weather's getting colder and colder I'm not hanging around in strappy tops waiting for moisturiser to dry!). 

Despite sinking in so fast it does a really good job of leaving skin much more supple and soft after use. It's got a nice fragrance to it, but it's not particularly strong and it doesn't hang around too long plus it claims to use vitamins A, B and E to help leave skin vibrant and feeling healthy. 

I'm stocking up!

More Body Shop offers...

The Body Shop have yet more offers!

To celebrate the release of their Smoke and Fire make up range they have free delivery on all orders until the 26th of September. PLUS a half price make up brush when you buy any make up item.

I recently got hold of this little cutie after seeing it over at Secret Beauty Blog..

At just £3 it's a bargain, especially with free delivery. It's great for exfoliating and gentle enough to be used daily while still leaving your skin soft and smooooth.

Have you got any recent beauty bargains?

x

Discounts, Freebies and Bargains!

This is quite a long list this time... Most of these have been gathered from the MoneySavingExpert website :)

Dorothy Perkins have 25% off until the 19th of September, either print this voucher to use instore or enter DPVIPE at the checkout to use this offer online.

There's a £5 off voucher for The Body Shop in this week's Sunday Telegraph (£1.90) which is valid until the 26th of September.

New Look £5 off £25 spend.. Instore only. Voucher is printable here. Valid for one day only, this Sunday- the 19th. 

20% off Boohoo until the 23rd of September! Code to use is MSE20.

Glamour magazine this month has 8 discount vouchers which are valid for varying periods from the 4th til the 10th of October.. These include:

20% off at Warehouse to use instore on the 4th of October.

20% off at Dorothy Perkins on the 5th of October, valid on any spend instore or on orders over £50 online. 

20% off at Mango on the 6th of October, valid online and instore. 20% off at Oasis on the 7th, online and instore. 

20% off at the Organic Pharmacy, valid from the 4th til the 10th, online and instore... 

...and more! 

20% off at La Senza with Best magazine.. 89p. Valid instore only, on full priced items til the 21st.

Enjoy! x

The saviour of my face...

.. Aqueous cream!

You can get huge amounts of this stuff really cheap from places like Home Bargains, and Boots and Superdrug.

It works wonders on dry/flaky skin as it's often used with eczema (which is why I have it in the first place!) but it also works fabulously as an intense overnight moisturiser, and you wake up with soft smooth skin. Mine smells like PVA glue, which isn't great... but it doesn't sting my eyes, or roll off my face, or make me come out in spots, so I'm happy!

Sometimes I put it on and leave it for 10 minutes or so before patting it off with a damp cotton pad, or toner, or otherwise I just use a little, rub it in really well and wake up with a smoooooth soft face without a hint of dry skin in the morning. You can even wash your face with it if it's particularly dry, same goes for dry areas of your body.

It also makes an ideal intense moisturiser for feet, slather it on and wack some socks on overnight and wake up with pretty feet! 

It is magical stuff! Not glamourous, but it does it's job and it does it well!

Rachel xx

Body Shop Mega Body Butter Offer...

The body shop currently have 2 body butters or scrubs of your choice for £15! They usually retail for £12.50 each so that's a pretty huge saving :)

They also have free delivery from today till 11am on Monday, genius! 

xx

OOTD

Please excuse the whiteness of my general appearance, particularly my vampire legs ;) I was between fake tan "cycles" (you know the one I mean..where you've done the mega exfoliate to get rid of any build up and haven't got round to putting it on again.. Oh, that's just me that's lazy about that..)

I bought this dress just last week from New Look for the amazing price of...... £10. I couldn't believe it! Frustrating really, I was only looking as I was being good, but I couldn't exactly put it back at that price could I?! 

I just love everything about it.. The feel of it, the fit, the style, I think it's about as flattering as any item of clothing gets! I actually want to live in it. 

Do you have a particular live-in-it dress?! Was it £10 from New look? ;)

Rach xx