New Years Resolutions!

Something I wanted to share with you guys is the fact that I have actually managed to be really successful this year - with my new years resolution of getting healthy!

Normally every year opens the same way - survive on salads and get up at ridiculous hours to go to the gym - for the first few weeks, til I get miserable and hungry and give up. But this year I wanted my healthy goals to be long term and focus on improving my diet and exercise routines, not starve myself on lettuce - and it has slowly but surely been happening! I have been reading as much information as I can get my hands on nutrition and exercise and am making a lot better choices than I previously was over the past few months.

I was thinking of putting up a series of posts following my diet and exercise makeover throughout the next months - including tips, helpful sources, books, recipes, workouts etc. that I found helpful and motivating as someone who always found it difficult to maintain a healthy diet.

 

I would love to hear your feedback on this idea! Would you guys be interested in reading posts like that? Would also love to hear if you guys have any books/websites/recipes that you would recommend.

 

Thanks again to all you lovelies for sticking by me in my recent time of lax posting, I'm really looking forward to sharing the upcoming posts I'm working on with you guys!

November-March Empties, Part 2 :)

Back again with part 2 of my November-March Empties! :)

 

This time, I have all my haircare products, and there are definitely plenty of them! Out of all products, I find the ones I seem to go through the most quickly are my haircare, so I am constantly looking out for new interesting products to try :) Hence I have a stash in my cupboard, just waiting for my current ones to be finished up!

Organic Care 'Dry Nourish' Shampoo & Conditioner
My most recent shampoo and conditioner discovery, and I must say I AM IN LOVE! :) This shampoo and conditioner have the most gorgeous scent (coconut-vanilla-ey), are a complete bargain at less than 5 dollar each, and do the best job at hydrating and managing my hair! Shampoo has a lovely lather and cleans well, and the conditioner is super thick and hydrating. Added bonus that it is free of SLS, parabens & mineral oil, and comes in a natural plant derived bottle - always a plus :) I think once I finish all the products in my stash, this will definitely become my permanent shampoo and conditioner... which says a lot for me, being such a product-a-holic!

Yes to Carrots Nourishing Shampoo
Another shampoo I am quite fond of :) this shampoo is light, has a great lather and leaves my hair shiny and smooth, however the one downside for me is the scent. Is okay for one off use, but when I am using it all week I find the scent can get to be a bit offputting unfortunately! :( but if you don't mind the scent, is quite a nice shampoo! Great that it is 99.4% natural as well.

Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine Anti Frizz Serum
Love this serum! Along with my Herbal Essences None of Your Frizziness, this is my favourite :) lovely thick oil which does a fantastic job of smoothing and hydrating my hair. Love the scent too, the classic Garnier hair care smell. Will be repurchasing :)

Nice 'n' easy Colour Seal Conditioning Gloss Weekly Conditioning Treatment
Get these when I use Nice n Easy hair colour, and I love them! Wish they sold it in a bottle because I would be on it - smells good, good consistency, and SUPER hydrating. Try to make it last for as long as possible after dying my hair because I love them so much.

Dove Dry Therapy Conditioner with Treatment
Was an okay product - Liked the packaging, which was functional but looked really nice, the product was okay for a conditioner, definitely would not call it a treatment though (I have regular conditioners which do a better job!) and I definitely expect more product and a bigger packaging size for a daily conditioner (the smallest everyday conditioner bottle I have ever seen was at 250ml, and this is only 130ml!) especially since it was not cheap! Might repurchase if there was a massive discount on it, but otherwise will not be.

Lee Stafford Poker Straight Dry Shampoo
Very similar to the Batiste dry shampoo formula, but I prefer the Batiste scent to this one - is a bit too strong and granny-ish for my liking. Not cheap either, so will not be repurchasing. Great product if you like the scent and don't mind forking out the extra cash though. Cute pink packaging like the rest of the Lee Stafford Range.



Products I am getting rid of/giving away!

L'oreal Elvive Total Repair 5 Restoring Shampoo
This irritated my sensitive scalp unfortunately :( also left my hair feeling quite dry, and squeaky feeling.. not the best!

Schwarzkopf Extra Care Hair Repair Liquid Silk Gloss Leave in Treatment
When I saw this product on the shelf I thought it might be the answer to the dry, dull ends of my hair, but alas it was not. I'm fairly certain this is just sparkles in a bottle, with no benefits for your hair whatsoever.. and when I say it is sparkly, I mean it - trying to apply this to your hair results in shimmery hands, neck, back arms, and wherever else the goo happens to touch. Does not even look natural in your hair! Went out into the sun and my hair was literally glittering, not in an attractive, healthy way, more in a sparkly-hairspray-from-dressups-as-a-kid way. Not impressed. I think it may have actually made my hair more dried out than it was before haha :l

Garnier Fructis Instant Melt In Mask
Another useless hair mask - I have picked up many of these on my haircare journey and most have them have been rather ineffectual at hydrating my hair. I left this on for the recommended time, rinsed it out, and when my hair dried it was frizzy and dry.. not happy!

Sunsilk Plumped Up Volume Flexible Hairspray
I don't know if flexible is the word I would use for this- turned my hair into a crispy mess. Some other hairsprays I have tried do initially make my hair a bit crispy, but once brushed out provide flexible hold. This one turned my hair crispy, then when I tried to brush my hair out, had apparently glued my hair into a knotted, tangled mess. My brush actually got stuck in my hair. Had to wash my hair and PILE the conditioner on to be able to detangle my hair. Definitely not worth the money, would not recommend this to anybody! Cost me a good half an hour of time trying to get it out, and I'm pretty sure I lost some hair in the battle.

So that's the roundup of my empties (for now!) but I'm sure before I know it I will have built up another bagful! Let me know if you have tried any of the products I mentioned and what you thought, or if you have any recommendations!


Hope your all having a great week! :)
xx



November-March Empties! :)

Hi guys!

I do apologise for not posting in so long! I am in my final year of my degree this year which means I have my year long graduating project to contend with        

:( getting it all organized and the amount of workshops and assesments just in the past month has been insane, but finally it is all sorted out and my schedule is a little calmer, which means I can return to blogging (yay!!)

About a year ago I had a LOT of disposable income and hence bought a ridiculous amount of beauty+bath products, most of which I have just managed to finish up, so I thought I would do an empties post!

 

Skin

 

2 x Models Prefer 2-in-1 cleanser and toner

Have used up multiple bottles of this, I am OBSESSED! :) its amazing, makes my skin so lovely.

 

Would I repurchase? Yes!

 

Enya Moisturizing Body Wash in Milk and Honey

Love this body wash :) cheap as chips, soap free, super moisturizing, and this scent smells exactly like a caramel tart, sooo sweet and yummy!

 

Would I repurchase? Yes if I see it around. Found my last bottle at go-lo but I'm not sure if they still stock it :(

 

Models Prefer 3-in-1 deep clean makeup remover wipes

Looove these makeup wipes! Really wet with makeup remover, have a click front closure so they don't dry out, have a slightly exfoliating texture, and do a great job of removing my makeup :) don't break me out either. Love them!!

 

Would I repurchase? Yes!

 

Palmolive Body Butter Decadent Moisutre Body Wash in Heavenly Vanilla

This stuff smells divinnnnnneee! Super thick and creamy! However I didnt find it as hydrating as my Lux body wash even though it was formulated as moisturizing!

 

Would I repurchase? Probably not.

 

Palmers Cocoa Butter Formula Moisturizing Body Oil (Full size + Sample size)

Used this in the shower as a shaving oil :) worked well for that but I'm fairly sure it is what gave me little bumpy pimple like spots on my legs so that was a bit dissapointing. Smelt amazing!

 

Would I repurchase? Probably not as I think it broke me out.

 

Yes to Tomatoes Clear Skin Daily Balancing Moisturizer

I found that using this moisturizer actually irritated my skin and made it red almost instantly, which was odd considering it was a 98% natural product and didn't appear to have any skin irritating ingredients.. was quite expensive for the size and what it was so wasn't really happy!

 

Would I repurchase? No!

 

Lux Secret Bliss Fine Fragrance Body Wash

Absolutely love these body washes :) especially the fine fragrance range. They all have a great lather, beautiful scent which lingers on the skin and are super super moisturizing. There is a great range too :)

 

Will I repurchase? Definately.

 

Natio Natural Vitamin E Moisturizing Cream

Honestly WAS NOT a fan of this product. Had an okay formula, but the scent was that absolutely awful (I think so anyway!) fake natural geranium herby scent. Could not stand to put it on my face so I rubbed it on my sunburnt legs and on my feet to get rid of the stuff! Wasn't cheap either!

 

Would I repurchase? No way.

 

Natures Organics Clear Skin Face Scrub

Thought I would give this a go instead of my st ives apricot scrub but was not really all that impressed. The walnut shell particles were really sharp and a bit too abraisive for a facial scrub, plus it had a bit of a greasy texture, so I ended up using it as a body scrub which it worked just fine for :)

 

Would I repurchase? No, st ives apricot scrub is much better.

 

St Ives Clear Skin Apricot Scrub

Such a good reliable scrub. Love this for my face and body! Not too harsh and abraisive, but just enough guts to make your skin feel refreshed and new. Love!

 

Would I repurchase? Not until I have used up some of my other scrubs, but then definately :)

 

Formula 10.0.6 Seriously Shine Free Moisturizer

Was not completely finished this but had to throw it out as it had been open for 12 months. A pretty decent moisturiser, kept my skin from getting too oily, however it had quite a strange scent. Not my favourite face moisturiser.

 

Would I repurchase? No, there is better moisturisers out there.

 

Garnier BodyTonic Sugar Scrub

Love this scrub! Smells great, leaves a hydrating layer on my skin and isn't to harsh or fine.

Would I repurchase? Yes

 

Clean and Clear Essentials Oil Control Toner

Alright toner, it was a bit alchoholic for my liking though, a bit drying for my skin. Smelt nice though :)

 

Would I repurchase? No.

 

 

Products I am giving away!

Some products I simply do not like or they do not work for my skin type, but if they are almost full or might work for someone else, I share them around to my friends to see if they can have some luck with them!

 

Garnier original BB cream: Honestly just hated this. Awful. But I have seen many youtube gurus rave about this, so maybe someone with different skin type to me may have more luck!

 

Universal Brands White Lilly and Lotus, Coconut and Almond, and Orange scented bodywashes: Lovely smelling body washes, great lather, just were not hydrating enough for my pretty dry skin.

 

Sukin Sensitive Facial Moisturizer: A little too rich for my skin unforunately, made me a little oily and broke me out.

 

Organic Surge super-intensive daily moisturiser: Was quite a nice thick moisturizer but had the same awful natural scent that the natio cream did unforunately!

 

 

So that's all for my skin and bath product empties, my hair empties are soon to come! :) hope everyone has a great week!