What I got for Christmas :)

I have loved reading other peoples posts about what they have received for Christmas, so decided to do my own. I was a little apprehensive about posting as what I received compared to some is hardly anything, but I am so pleased and thankful for my gifts I decided to post anyway.

Christmas for me is all about my two little ones now, and me and my fiancé decided to only give small gifts to each other so we could spend more on our boys. The memory of my 3 year old coming into my bedroom on Christmas morning and shouting with glee 'Santas been' will stay with me forever. I had a fantastic day with my family, and I hope you all did too.

Here is what I got:

Yankee Candles from my Fiancé and children, watch from my parents and a Baylis and Harding gift set from my Aunt.

I love Yankee Candles and have always bought myself the small samplers as I couldn't justify the price of buying any of the jars, so it was lovely to receive one as a gift as I have always wanted to own one.

The watch was a lovely surprise from my mum. I had been given money off her so wasn't expecting a gift. We were out shopping and I saw this and told her I loved it but couldn't afford it. Unbeknown to me, she went back the next day and got it. So sweet.

I always love getting smellies for Christmas, I used to get loads but since having kids I don't really receive gifts for myself any more. Not that I mind, but it was lovely to receive this so I could give myself a little pampering session.

I also got money and chocolates from my grandparents, which was very much apprecitated. Watch out for a sales haul coming soon!

I hope you have had a lovely Christmas and have an amazing New Year! I am really looking forward to seeing all the New Years makeup / nails / outfit posts!

Gem x

Christmas Day FOTD

A quick post to show you my makeup for Christmas Day. I went for a traditional red lip, which is usually out of my comfort zone. I think it looks nice, but will probably be sticking to my pinks for the rest of the year haha.

{This photo was taken on my dads DSLR (Olympus E-520) which I am currently borrowing. It was taken in low light, I think this is where DSLRs are better than a compact, the flash. I really hope he lets me keep it a bit longer, I'm going to have a photo session tomorrow just in case}


Products used:

• Rimmel 25 Hour Foundation - 100 Ivory
• Vivo Baked Bronzer - Sunkiss
• Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder - Translucent
• Collection (2000) Lipstick - Valentine
• Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara
• Rimmel Gel Eyeliner - Black

Did you go for a bold lip or a more neutral?

Gem x

Calling all Bloggers! Want a £50 Amazon Voucher?

Daxon are offering fashion bloggers a £50 voucher for Amazon or Threadless in return for joining their blogger network.

All you have to do is add their badge to your blog and write a post letting other bloggers know of the opportunity. You can find all the details here.

This is such a great opportunity, especially after Christmas when I know a lot of us will be strapped for cash. The offer is running until 31st December so hurry!

Gem x

My Christmas NOTD: Santa Nail Art

I hope you all had a wonderful christmas. I know I did and I am now paying for consuming my body weight in chocolate with a bad stomach.

This is how I  painted my nails for Christmas day. The red is Nails inc. St. James, which is the perfect Santa Clause colour. I used tape to help with the lines and sectioning colour which made this mani pretty easy to do, with such great results. Even my left hand looked just as good as my right (left handed).

What did you have on your nails this christmas?

Gem x

My Favourite Make up Brushes: Face Brushes

Following on from my last post  which you can read here, here are my favorite make up brushes for my face.

As you can see, I love the Real Techniques Core Collection. Before I got it, I was mainly using my fingers to apply foundation. It totally converted me to using brushes for my foundation and now I will never go back to using my fingers again.

Flat Top Kabuki Brush from Poundland: I got this brush in Poundland and didn't have high hopes for it at all, but it turned out to be great. It is very dense and I use it to apply finishing powder. It does shed a little, and isn't really soft, but it does a great job and for a pound I can over look these little problems.

Real Techniques Contour Brush: I use this as my blush brush. Its the perfect size to be a little more precise with blush positioning, which I like. Its also great to use with a contour powder on the cheeks and temples.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush: I love this brush for applying cream blush and also to stipple foundation over areas on my face that needs a little more coverage.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush: Available in the Core Collection, this brush really does deserve all the hype it gets. It applies my foundation quickly and evenly. Its also great for blending blush when I have been a little too heavy handed.

What are your favourite make up brushes?

Gem x

**CLOSED New Years/ 400 Followers Thank you GIVEAWAY ***

I wanted to do a little giveaway as a thank you to you all. To every one who visits my blog, and especially those who  take the time and leave a lovely comment, thank you.

I started my blog 11 months ago now and I never imagined how much I would enjoy being part of the beauty blogging community. On the whole it is so supportive and lovely.

all products have been purchased by myself, the l'occitane and weleda were from beauty boxes, but never opened and need a loving home. 

So on to the prizes... You could win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My Favourite Make-up Brushes: Eye Brushes

I have quite a few eye shadow brushes in my collection, but these are the ones that I absolutely love and use almost every time I do my eye shadow. I have the starter eye set from Real Techniques, and while I do like them, I don't love them and feel I have better brushes in my collection. The blending and eyebrow brushes are too large, and the shadow brushes are not quite dense enough.

Here are the eyeshadow brushes that I love:

NYX Smudger Brush: A great little brush that does what it says on the tin - Smudges eye shadow onto the lids. I like to use this to apply shadow on my lower lids. It is a little on the scratchy side but it works so well I am willing to over look that. I got mine from the NYX website for £5.50

The next three brushes are from the Too Faced Teddy Bear Hair Professional 5 Piece set which I got from Boots for £38. Link. A little pricey, but well worth it All the brushes in the kit are brilliant, but these are my stand-out favourites. They are so so soft, work incredibly well and are 100% cruelty free.

TF Angled Brow Brush: Amazing for filling in my eyebrows and using with gel liner. 1000 times better than the RT one, I found it way too big and not precise enough for me.

TF Blending Fluff Brush: The perfect size for getting into my crease, blends shadow perfectly.

TF Angled Eye shadow Brush: A large brush, great for getting the base colour all over the lid.

So there are my favourite eye shadow brushes. What are yours?

Gem x

Amie Skin Shield Daily Moisturiser Review

Amie Skincare is a brand that was founded by Fiona Parker, who was inspired to create a skincare range for young people that didn't use any harsh or unneccesary chemicals. Amie products do not contain any parabens, mineral oils, petrochemicals, SLS, and is not tested on animals. It is also extremely affordable with products costing no more than £5.95.

I love the ethos of this brand, as I am concious of what I put on my skin and try to avoid products that contain the chemicals listed above. I also love the fact that they are so affordable.

I was kindly sent the Amie Skin Shield Daily Moisturiser to review, so read on to find out what I thought of it.

Firstly, I love the smell of this product. I cant put my finger on what it smells like exactly but it kind of reminds me of honey. The product is a lovely consistency, no to thick, and sinks into my skin with ease. It leaves a lovely dewy finish to my skin so I love to use this in winter when my skin is much dryer than usual. It may not be that great for people with oilier skin, though they do have a mattifying moisturiser in the range.

I have really sensitive skin and the product worked really well with it. It didn't break me out like a lot of moisturisers do, and it didn't leave my skin too oily. I found it worked well as a day cream, but I still used a more deeply moisturising lotion for my night cream.

Overall I am loving this moisturiser, and would recommend it to anyone with normal to dry skin, who are  on the look out for a new, harsh chemical free skincare that is also very affordable.

Have you tried any of the Amie Skincare range?

Gem x

Cute NOTD: Lady Bird Nails

A quick NOTD post today. I did this a few months ago now but found the pictures on my laptop and thought I would share. I think they are really cute!

Gem x

Carmex Classic Moisturising Lipbalm Review

I suffer with dry lips during the colder months along with many others. I have tried all sorts of lip balms, but Carmex is my all time favourite.

Firstly I love the flavour and the way it makes my lips tingle, its really soothing. The packaging is really handy and you can easily just pop it into your bag.

It really does what it says on the tin and moisturises my lips and keeps them from chapping. If you are struggling with dry lips this winter, I definitely recommend trying Carmex.

A short and sweet review of my favourite lip balm, what's yours?

Gem x

Chloe Eau De Parfum Review

When it comes to perfume, I know a lot of people have a signature scent. They may wear other perfumes for different occasions, but there is always that one scent they come back to. I have tried so many over the years, but haven't found my signature yet. Well... That may have changed. I am in love with Chloe Eau De Parfum. Here is my review...

Chloe Eau de Parfum is described by Escentual.com as follows; 

Chloe is a light and fresh yet seductively strong and self-possessed scent, capturing the creative, confident individuality of a free spirited woman with an utterly innate sense of chic and natural sexiness.The fragrance playfully twists notions of femininity, taking the classic beautiful rose and translating it with modernity into a vibrant, powdery floral Eau de Parfum. It is translucent, turning warm and seductive, totally addictive.Top Notes: Peony, Freesia, Litchi. Heart Notes: Rose, Lily-of-the-Valley, Caribbean Magnolia.

What I think;

From the first spritz I fell in love with this perfume. It smells so chic, elegant and strong, but not overpowering in the slightest. It is light and fresh, sexy, and very chic. It is a scent that can work day or night, a classic.

This is the longest lasting perfume I have ever tried, it lasts all day. Even my mum asked me what perfume I was wearing as it smelt so nice, she never normally notices these things ( I definitely didn't inherit my love of everything beauty from her). 

It truly is a gorgeous scent, and the bottle is just as gorgeous. I love the design and  the ribbon detail, It looks amazing on my dressing table. 

Chloe Eau De Parfum (50ml) is available from Escentual.Com here, for £44.20

TK Maxx Haul: Jemma Kidd Back Stage Makeup Set

I have only recently discovered the amazingness of TK Maxx. I have always known about it, but I have always dismissed it as a bit of a jumble sale. When I was 15, me and my friends used to spend our Saturdays shopping in the nearest city, and we would always call into TK Maxx and have a good laugh at how awful some of the clothes in there were.

But I have now realised it is a Mecca for beauty enthusiasts who love a bargain, aka me. I picked up an Orly set a few weeks back and earlier in the week got the Jemma Kit Backstage Kit.

Its like a grown up version of the make-up set I used to have as a kid. It comes with a primer, colour correcting concealers, a cream highlight, eye shadows, blush and a setting powder. Basically everything you could need, in a neat little set.

I got it for £7.99 and I am really glad I bought it. I love everything in there, especially the eye and lip primer and the pink colour corrector for under my eyes.

I would definitely reccomend this if your TK Maxx has it in stock.

Here is a stock photo of the kit, as I managed to drop mine on the floor and smash the setting powder, so wanted a pretty picture on the blog.

image source

And mine, a bit messy... Smashed and I was a bad blogger and swatched before the pics haha.

Have you had any TK Maxx bargains recently?

Gem x

John Greed Pandora £250 Blogger Challenge

Pandora Silver Bracelet £55. Charms clockwise: Pandora Silver and Amethyst Floral February Birthstone Charm £45 Pandora Blue Faceted Murano Glass Charm £30 Pandora Silver Open Heart Charm £20 Pandora Silver and Citrine Floral November Birthstone Charm £45 Pandora Periwinkle Stars Murano Glass Charm £30

Total: £225

I have always wanted to own a Pandora bracelet. There is a Pandora shop in my local mall and every time I go past it I stop to admire the gorgeous charms I could only dream of owning.

So when I was contacted by John Greed Jewellers to take part in a blogger challenge, where you have to design your dream Pandora bracelet, of course I gave it a go!

We had a limit of £250, and with so much choice on their website, coming up with a final design was so difficult.

I really wanted my bracelet to be extremely personal, to tell a story. I want it to be something I can show my grandchildren when I am older and explain what every charm means to me. I decided to design mine around the most special and important thing in my life; my children.


The two birthstone charms represent my childrens birthdays - November and February  I have two boys, so the two blue charms represent them. The light blue with stars my youngest and the dark blue my eldest and the heart charm in the middle represents my love for them.

I love this bracelet, I think it looks amazing and is something I would truly cherish. Fingers crossed for me in the competition :)

Gem x

Pebble Grey LED Cosmetic Makeup Mirror Review

Recently on Twitter, Pebble Grey, a company who specialise in Illuminated mirrors and bathroom accessories, were looking for bloggers to review their new LEDCosmetic Makeup Mirror. I applied and was kindly sent one to review for my blog.

The mirror comes very nicely packaged, so would make a perfect gift or stocking filler. The mirror is extremely light weight and feels really sturdy and well made, perfect for popping into your handbag for on the go touch ups.

The LED lights are very bright and powerful, and I found it extremely helpful to use when plucking my eyebrows as I could see every last little hair.

The mirror is currently on offer at £14.99, It may seem a little pricey but the quality of this product is great. You can purchase the mirror direct from their website here.

They also have a fantastic range of illuminated bathroom cabinets, which you can view here.

Gem x

MUA Cream Blush in Bittersweet Review & Swatches

I have been waiting to get my hands on these MUA Cream Blushes for what ages. I have been popping into my local Superdrug every time I am in town to check if they have had them in, and the other day I was in luck. I chose the shade Bittersweet. It was so bright and pretty, it had to be mine.

The pigmentation is amazing, and they blend really well. To apply, I used my fingers and then blended with my Real Techniques buffing brush.

Bittersweet is a really pretty bright pink, which when used with a light hand, gives a nice natural glow to the cheeks. It could also be built up for a stronger colour. I loved the colour so much, I even used it on my lips, it gives them a nice matte light pink colour.

The lasting power is great. With a primer and foundation underneath, I got about 4 - 5 hours wear out of it before it faded a little. I guess with the matching powder blush on top it would last even longer.

MUA Cream Blush are available from the MUA website and Superdrug stores for £2, which is an absolute bargain. I am definitely going to pick up the other colours they have very soon.

Gem x

November Favourites

So the 1st of December is hear already! I am really looking forward to Christmas and New Year now, but I haven't even started the shopping yet, oops.

My skin has been suffering from the cold and the central heating this month, resulting in it becoming much drier than usual, so a few of the products mentioned have been great for moisturising and brightening up my skin.

Here are the products that I have been loving this November;

1. Morrisons Sensitive Toner - I bought this as it was 59p. I didnt have much hope, but it has really improved my skin. It is much brighter, and it really helps my moisturiser to sink into my skin.

2. Benefit That Gal full review here - I know I have included it before, but I just love it so much and have used it almost every day this month. Its amazing for brightening up dull dry skin, and also over foundation for my dark circles.

3. Barry M Nail Pain in Amethyst Glitter review and swatches here - Such a pretty, opaque glitter polish, perfect for Christmas.

4. Revlon Photo Ready Concealer - A creamy concealer, really works well when my skin is drier than usual. I use this on my spots and acne scars as I find it a little too heavy coverage for under my eyes.

5. Amie Skin Shield Daily Moisturiser SPF 15* - This moisturiser is brilliant to brighten up dull skin. My skin looks radiant after I have used it. It smells amazing and is such good value too.

What products have you been loving this month?

Gem x

Pencourage

Pencourage is a new social media site where users are encouraged to write journal entries containing their innermost thoughts. Things that you could or would never share on the likes of Facebook or Twitter. The beauty of this site is that everything you write is anonymous.

You can follow other peoples journals, share photos and videos, even music.

I think this is a great idea for a site. I find writing to be very cathartic, sometimes I want to write a post on my blog that is very personal, but I find it too daunting. This site is a great way to get your feelings out without ever having to reveal your identity.

Have you heard of Pencourage? What do you think?

Gem x