My Week in Pictures #23

A lot has gone on recently, especially since my last one of these posts. I do love writing these posts but I am aware they are becoming less frequent. I am blaming uni work at the moment, alongside personal matters, which seem to be taking over all of my time. I've still be trying to have "me" time where I aim to forget about the work on my shoulders, although it doesn't always works it's been nice to have.

Something I've been opting to do quite a bit recently is read and I've been reading the Divergent Trilogy. I'm now on the final book and I've absolutely loved them to the point where it's hard to put them down. There are also films alongside the three books; two of which are out on DVD already and I believe the third is coming to cinemas in March time. If you enjoyed the Hunger Games then I would definitely recommend these to you, they honestly are absolutely brilliant books and I will probably do a more in depth review in the future.

A few of my friends, and everyone else that I've read talk about this, have been raving about Pretty Little Liars for years! I've been wanting to get into it for so long but I don't have Netflix (shock horror) and recently as I've mentioned, just haven't had enough time to sit and watch TV. I went shopping recently with my dad (another shock horror) and saw this in HMV on sale for £30 so I grabbed it up. I haven't watched any yet but I am really hoping I will love this box set and cannot wait to get involved, albeit slightly behind everyone else.

I also recently purchased a new camera, with the help of one of my friends (I practically copied her!). I got rid of my old camera simply because I'd lost the charger and it wasn't all that great quality. I spent quite a bit of money on this camera and I've had a little fiddle with it but I haven't had a full on go with it yet. I cannot wait to use better quality pictures on my blog and also spend time taking pictures on days out, walks etc. I picked the Sony A5000 camera and it's very pretty!

That's all the updates I have for you this time around, let me know how your January has treated you! It's definitely been a long month, I'm sure you'll agree. I'm looking forward to an evening with friends and a takeaway :-)

A Few Essentials & Treats

Why can I not seem to contain myself when shopping online on Boots? It's a serious killer and I need to cut down. Yes some of these things were essential due to my current products running out but there's definitely no need for all of it. I guess that explains the beauty blogger in me hey, please say I'm not the only one?

So lets start with the essentials because it will make me feel better. I was in need of a new dry shampoo so I went back to my original favourite which is this Batiste one with a hint of colour in it - which means no white residue! I've tested so many dry shampoos now and this one always comes out on top. Another essential was a heat protector for my hair and I picked up this one from Toni & Guy which I haven't tried before. It was on offer with 1/3 off the price so I snapped it up. This one can also be used on dry hair which I find really difficult to find in heat protectors and I needed one for dry hair so this was perfect. I was also in need of a waterproof mascara but when I saw this offering from NYX I was so intrigued. I have many mascaras in my stash so I thought this would be perfect for me and to use those mascaras up. This product is basically a waterproof top coat for normal mascaras. I'm really looking forward to testing this out to see if it works.

Onto the not so essential products... Firstly I saw this new beauty tool from Maybelline called Dream Blender. I absolutely love the Real Techniques sponge and this tool reminded me of that but on a stick basically. Maybelline products were then on offer, buy one get one half price, so of course I had to get something else. I opted for the Brow Satin as my current brow product is nearly on the way out so I was thinking ahead. This product has a fine tip for defining the shape and then some sort of sponge for filling on the other end, I think. I'm looking forward to giving this a go when my current brow product runs out. Finally I picked up the La Roche-Posay Nutritic lip balm, it was on offer so I couldn't resist and I have a thing for lip balms at the minute. My lips just aren't shifting from this dry stage so I'm basically trying out all lip balms which I've never tried to see if they work their magic.

And that's it for another naughty Boots haul from me. I would say hopefully you won't see another one of these for a while but I'm not sure I can make that promise. Keep your eyes peeled for reviews on these products that I've purchased :-)

Bourjois Nail Polish Remover Hands & Feet

Recently my old Bourjois nail polish remover had dried up so I headed to the Boots website and picked up a new one. I opted for the newer version of the pink pot and went for this one which also includes a nail polish remover for your toe nails. I loved my pink pot for my nails, it was so easy to use and you didn't have to use a load of cotton pads, getting messy in the action. So there was no question to repurchase, although I slightly upgraded to get the extra toe nail polish remover.

If you haven't heard of this contraption before then it's simple. You pop your finger, with nail varnish on, in the sponge hole and twist your finger until the nail varnish is removed. You then carry on until all your finger nails are nail varnish free, it honestly works within seconds. I love this product, especially the nail varnish section, due to it's simplicity. There is quite a strong scent within this product but I just tend to wash my hands thoroughly afterwards to get rid of that and it's fine.

Onto the toe remover which lives on the inside of the lid of this product. It's basically a small round sponge which you apply onto your toes and the nail varnish you wish to remove. After using this to remove red nail varnish from my toes, I can say that I really wasn't very impressed. Although yes it did do the job and remove my nail varnish, it basically stained the skin around my toes bright red which I really wasn't impressed with. I then had to put some normal nail varnish remover on a cotton pad and go around my skin removing the red stain. Although I can't fault the product it just made the process much more of a faff which was annoying.

Overall I love the nail varnish remover for your fingers and will continue to use this every time I need to remove my nail varnish. This product also tends to last for a really long time before drying out so you definitely get your moneys worth. I can't say if I'll be using the nail varnish remover for my toes again, maybe I'll try with a less bright colour and see what the results are. Let me know if you've tried this product and your thoughts :-)

Rimmel Super Curler Mascara

When this mascara first came out I was super excited to try it. A mascara that claims you will not have to curl your eye lashes every morning? It sounded right up my street. I do have to curl my eye lashes each morning as they are unfortunately straight even though they are pretty long. I soon grabbed this when I was placing an order on Boots and couldn't wait to give it a go.

As I've mentioned the claim is rather huge with this mascara, yes a lot of mascaras claim to curl your eye lashes but I'm not sure if there's one, other than this one, that claims to curl your lashes as much as your eye lash curler. For me that's a big claim as I use heated eye lash curlers due to my eye lashes being so straight I find these give me the best results. The packaging is very like all other Rimmel mascaras which is pretty standard and works, there's not much more I can say about that. The mascara brush is quite large and is curved at the end. It's not a plastic brush which I like as I do find that they cling to my eye lashes better than the plastic ones.

The formula of this mascara is actually really lovely, it leaves my lashes looking really natural and fluttery. However I do not agree with the claims this mascara makes; it does not curl my lashes and I wouldn't say it adds much volume. If anything I would say this mascara lengthens my lashes slightly more than the other two claims and this one isn't even mentioned. I do have to still use my eye lash curlers before applying this mascara to achieve the look I prefer. I know everyone's eye lashes are different and yes, this mascara will definitely work for others but unfortunately it didn't work for me. That's not to say I don't like the product, I do like the formula and I think it's perfect for those no make up make up days.

Overall I wouldn't repurchase this mascara as it doesn't live up to it's claims but I am enjoying using it on those days where I cannot be bothered to go all out with my make up. I am slightly disappointed as this could have been a game changer in the mascara world but unfortunately it just doesn't work for me personally. Let me know your thoughts if you've tried this product and whether you need to curl your lashes or not!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet in Red Pepper

I received this product in Bourjois' free gift set when you spent over £15 on their products in Boots recently. I didn't know what was in this box until I received it, as I ordered online and you couldn't see. When I did finally get inside to see I was really pleasantly surprised with the products inside. There were three full sized products and one mini, which I think is such an amazing freebie considering I was buying the two products that made £15 from Bourjois anyway.

This Rouge Edition Velvet lipstick was one of the full sized products within this gift set. Now if I'm honest, I wouldn't have personally chosen this colour for myself if I had the choice. But I am absolutely in love with this product, both colour and formula. I'm also not normally a huge fan of matte lipsticks because I find them quite drying and my lips seem to be constantly dry at the minute which just doesn't work well. Having said both of these things, I am such a huge fan of this product and cannot get enough of it. The packaging is lovely and the applicator is so easy to use, making application a dream. A few swipes of this product and you're ready to go, honestly it's that fast because the colour of this product is so opaque.

I definitely think this is the perfect night out colour as I find a red lip instantly perks up any relatively plain outfit. I wore this on New Years Eve with a simple black outfit and I loved it. It lasted pretty much all night, it could have done with a top up nearing the end of the night but it lasted really well. When it did start to fade, it did so evenly and left a nice looking red stain on the lips. This product didn't leave my lips feeling dry at all which was such a bonus for me, considering I normally have such dry lips. The only thing I would say about this product is that I would have preferred to also use a red lip liner simply due to it being such a bright coloured red lipstick. I have now purchased one so I cannot wait to next wear this lipstick.

Overall this is such a lovely product and I definitely will be checking out the other shades available for this formula. This has quickly become one of my favourite lipsticks and also I'm so pleased with the colour as I never would have chosen it myself. Let me know if you've tried this product and any other shades you would recommend :-)

Garnier Ultimate Blends 7-in-1 Dry Shampoo

I bet I can guess what you're thinking... another new dry shampoo?! Yes, I just can't seem to help myself when it comes to trying new ones out, thinking there must be one out there that lives up to my favourite Batiste. This Garnier one was recently on offer at Boots, hence why I couldn't resist buying it, and also I believe that it's a relatively new product.

I've been using this product ever since I received it, as I wasn't a fan of the Dove one I had been using, and I can say that this one is ok. Unfortunately I wouldn't go for much more than 'ok' simply because this one doesn't really refresh my hair. I feel after spraying this rather liberally onto my hair, it still has that greasy feel to it which is what I'm trying to get rid of. However I do love the scent of this one which is lemon and green tea, which is actually a really refreshing scent and perfect for a dry shampoo. I also love that this dry shampoo doesn't leave any white residue on the hair which is great and means less massaging in to get rid of it.

Overall I'm not fully impressed with this dry shampoo although this definitely is not one of the worst ones I've ever tried. As I said I love the scent which is refreshing, I just wish that this product would refresh my hair as well. I'm not saying it doesn't get rid of any of the grease, it does get ride of some definitely. Unfortunately I feel as though there is still some grease residue left in my hair which I am clearly not a fan of. Let me know your thoughts if you have tried this dry shampoo or one from the Garnier range!

H&M Knot a Problem Primer Spray

H&M beauty came into the blogging world with a bit of a bang. I heard, read and watched so much about their beauty range but never knew what products I wanted to get myself. I had only looked online which is obviously difficult with beauty products, unless you know exactly what you're after, because the colours are never what they look like in real life. So I did finally go into the store but I was slightly overwhelmed by it all. It's quite a large range considering it's pretty new so I didn't actually end up buying anything.

I then went back online to order a new coat which was then in the sale and thought I would have another browse at their range; but this time I focused more of their skin care range. I came across this hair product and if you've read my blog for a while now then you will know that I'm always after a detangling hair product. There really aren't that many on the high street and I find it difficult to find one that I haven't tried and that isn't from the kids range. Hence why I picked this one up priced at £6.99.

I've been using this ever since I received it on my door stop, pretty much every time I've washed my hair as that's when I find it at it's knottiest. I spray it quite liberally, more so in my knottiest areas that I've found, on wet hair. I then use my tangle teezer to brush through my hair and OMG the results are incredible. Although I was excited about using this product, I'll be honest and say that I wasn't expecting great things. But this product really is amazing, the results are so much better than I expected. My tangle teezer glides through my hair seamlessly and 99% of the time there are no snags or knots in my hair. I don't know what's in this product but whatever it is, it works super duper well.

Overall there's not much more I can say about this product other than how much I love it and how well it works for me and my hair. I know hair types are different and I have very thick hair hence why finding a detangling product to work can be difficult. But this particular one is by far my favourite that I've ever tried and I can definitely say that I will be re-purchasing when this current bottle runs out. If you've tried anything from the H&M beauty range, which you love, please let me know as I'd definitely love to try something else! :-)

Bourjois Haul

I recently headed to Boots online as I was in need of one of their nail polish removers and a primer. Luckily for me they had an offer on which was when you spent £15 you got a free gift. The free gift consisted of three full sized products and a mini. The mini was the mascara, then you got a lipstick, nail varnish and eye shadow. You're probably thinking "well you've only photographed two of those products you mentioned", well I was kind enough to give those away as I already own a red nail varnish and pretty much the same colour eye shadows. Yes I am also trying to limit my beauty stash!

So one of the main reasons was to repurchase Bourjois' nail varnish remover, I originally had the one in the pink pot but I saw this newer one. This one has the same as the original with the pot to remover nail varnish on your fingers but also on your toes. I know I love the original so I'm looking forward to seeing how well the toe part of this product works. The second reason I made this order was for a new primer and I saw this one which intrigued me. It's their flower perfection translucent smoothing primer and it comes in a screw lid pot. I'm looking forward to try this as it looks so different from your normal primer.

Next onto the two product I kept from the free gift, firstly was their volume glamour max mascara which is a mini version. I used to love Bourjois mascaras but I haven't actually tried one for a really long time. Finally was a full sized rouge edition velvet lipstick in Red Pepper which I was really excited about. I've heard a lot of things about these liquid lipsticks from Bourjois and have always wanted to get my hands on one. I wouldn't have actually picked this colour for myself but I honestly absolutely love it!

That's it for my small Bourjois haul! I'd love to hear if you've tried any of these products I purchased and you thoughts :-) I'm thinking I may need to remove and repaint my toes now so I can give that nail varnish a whirl!

Schwarzkopf got2be Mind Blowing Styling Spray

Hello 2016 and my first post of the year! I know a lot of people have probably said this but 2015 went so quickly, I cannot believe it's over already! But here's to 2016 a whole new year of blogging and hopefully fulfilling some of the pointers I highlighted in my previous 2016 blog post. For those of you wondering or who read my previous post, I ordered a new camera and it's being delivered tomorrow! I really hope I love it and I cannot wait to try it out, I will probably write a post all about it soon.

Onto the first review of the year.. I picked this product up from Boots as they had a 3 for 2 offer on all hair care items. I hadn't seen this product before and had also recently been using the Redken version, which I reviewed here. That's basically what attracted me to this product as the Redken one is much more expensive and although I enjoyed it, I went through it rather quickly so it would be expensive to keep repurchasing. When I saw this offering from Schwarzkopf I couldn't resist picking it up, I believe the price of this one was around £3-4. The one main difference between the two is that the Redken one says to apply to towel dried hair whereas this Schwarzkopf one you can apply to wet hair. I much prefer that as it kind of defeats the object not being able to apply on wet hair as you are wanting to dry it quickly!

The aim of the product is to cut the time spent blow drying your hair, which in my case is a very long time. I really do not enjoy blow drying my hair because within minutes my arms ache and to fully dry it, it can take no less than 15 minutes usually. I've been using this product after every hair wash, spraying it quite liberally all over my hair. I then give my hair a quick brush and start blow drying. I have noticed that this product really does help cut the time I spend drying my hair. It doesn't leave my hair feeling crispy where I've sprayed it and it leaves my hair feeling soft. This product also has heat protection within it so there's no need to apply a heat protector on top.

Overall I would definitely repurchase this product over the Redken offering, simply because of the price and the fact that they practically do the same thing! If you're like me and spend so much time drying your hair then I would recommend looking into this affordable product :-)