Christmas Wishlist

Finally, I'm getting round to doing this.

Here's what I would like for Christmas 2012.



Jo Malone Colognes - Pomegranate Noir and Blue Agava & Cacao are stunning

White Docs - Loving the patent ones

Ipad Mini - This is the perfect size for travel. I need one

The Brittas Empire DVD box set - A lot of you probably wont remember this but it is a hilarious sitcom based around a leisure centre in the 90's. I loved it and still do

Clarins Clay Mask - I'm getting into Clarins and would love to try this

Miss Dior Eau De Parfum - This is such a fun, sexy scent. Very me

Topshop Galactic Blazer - Love blazers. Love galaxy print. So this is good

Chanel no.5 Eau de Parfum - Sophisticated scent. Want

Louise Young Blush Brush - I need a new blush brush and Louise Young brushes are gorge

Friends Blu Ray Box Set - I already have the DVDs but it would just be nice to update to blu ray

Origins Ginger Body Souffle - Beautiful scent, luxurious cream

DIOR Colour & Glow Powder - DIOR face powder products are the best. That's all

I think I definitely want too much but here's hoping eh?

What I've Been Using Lately

Thought I'd give you a little catch up with what products I've been loving lately. I've really been enjoying these lately and wanted to share.

Neal's Yard Wild Rose Beauty Balm - A gorgeous subtle, calming scented balm which can be used as an overnight treatment to really rehydrate skin, a face mask when layered on thick or a cleansing balm. My skin feels amazing whichever way I use it.



Jo Malone Blue Agave and Cacao Cologne - My new obsession (as well as Pomegranate Noir). I received both for Christmas and they are just stunningly deep sophisticated scents. They are the only perfumes which stay true on me and last ages on the skin. Recommend.



Origins All Purpose High Elevation Cream - My favourite brand strikes again. I reviewed this a few weeks ago (scroll down to see). When my skin is thirsty this stuff just quenches it perfectly. It gives my skin a healthy glow and hydrates it to the max. I even feel confident enough to leave my house without a scrap of make up when I've used this. I love it and it's my friend :-)



Soap & Glory Heel Genius - This is one of the few foot creams that actually makes a difference to my poor old feet. I have two jobs, both of which I have to stand up all day for so my feet love me when I slather this on. I always put a pair of socks on after use and I think it must be the fruit acids in it that make the hard skin on my feet feel a lot softer. Very happy with this.



Organix Brazilian Keratin Therapy Shampoo - I think I'm late on the bandwagon but I only just discovered this sulfate free brand. Usually sulfate free shampoos don't lather up on me (and I love a good lather, it makes me feel like I've really cleaned my hair) but this produces a lather as good as any other shampoo. This makes me wonder what's actually in it to make it produce so much foam though but hey ho. The consistency is a bit jelly-ish making it harder to control in your hands but on the whole a brilliant shampoo that leaves your hair feeling clean, healthy and soft. The Moroccan Argan Oil and Coconut ones are also nice. I think there is a Macadamia Oil one coming out too which I'd be very keen to try.



GoodSkin Labs BB10 Instant Skin Perfector spf 35* - I must admit I'm not down with the BB cream 'phenomenon'. My experience of them can be summed up in one word. Orange. I had never found one that suited me.... until I was lucky enough to try this. It's the perfect shade for my fair skin and although it doesn't give too much coverage, it evens out my skin tone and makes me glow. Love it.



Jemma Kidd Light As Air Foundation - No doubt you've all heard how amazing this is. However, we can no longer get our make up loving mitts on this. So I'll say no more except that it is the perfect foundation :-/



NARS Blush in Exhibit A - Scarily red in the pan but gives a natural and lasting flush to the cheeks. I'm loving it. Except for one thing. I've had major cheek breakouts lately and I've realised it's since I used this. Has anyone else noticed any reactions from a NARS blush?



Illamasqua Gleam Highlighter in 'Aurora' - I love this because it does exactly what it says on the tin. It makes your cheekbones gleam. It has no shimmer and this suits me as I love a really smooth sheen on my cheeks and this gives me that. Another good highlight which also gives sheen and no shimmer is Benefit Sunbeam. This isn't pictured as I've run out but it's another illuminating product I love when I'm not using Gleam.



Real Techniques Stippling Brush - This is what I use for applying the Gleam. The size and density make it perfect for applying product to my cheekbones, nose and cupid's bow.



Antipodes Organic Lip Balm - lime leaf & cocoa butter - I'm really fussy about lip balms and will only use them if they absolutely drench my lips with moisture, that lasts. For a stick lip balm this does just that and I will continue to use it. It's so handy and easy to use too. It also smells sweet and has no nasty taste. Love it.



So those are my current loves. Are you using any of the same?



Just before I go, I wish you all a Happy New Year, have a good one!!



*PR Sample

I'm Obsessed With Candles

Today we're talking scented candles. Maybe I don't read enough blogs but I don't really see too many posts about candle collections even though we seem to be constantly nattering about them on Twitter.



So onto the scented, waxy goodness.



Here are the candles I'm currently burning.

 

Back row: Yankee Candle Christmas Cookie, The White Company Winter, Archipelago Peony

Front Row: The White Company Cassis, NEOM Invigorate, Yankee Candle Clean Cotton

My absolute favourites right now are from the White Company. I've known about them for ages but have never really taken much notice until the other day when I saw the 'Winter' candle in Selfridges. This utterly gorgeous candle is basically Christmas in a bee-yoo-tiful jar. You smell it and I'm not joking all you can do with yourself is feel festive. It is uh-mazing. It has scents of cinnamon, clove and orange and I really recommend you go sniff it.

The White Company Winter. Stunning packaging.

Another thing I love about this candle is that it has three wicks so it should burn evenly. If you read my 'things I'm loving this week' post two posts ago, you'll have heard me grumbling about my Archipelago Peony candle which only has one wick in the centre. It looks awful after burning so unevenly due to the single wick. That post also describes the scent of it.

I can't wait to start burning Winter and will probably have it on while I put my Christmas decorations up.

So with the three wicks in the Winter candle it is very similar to my second favourite brand of candle, NEOM Organics.

The first one I tried from them was the Happiness candle which is absolutely lush and I plan to put it on my Christmas list as I need another. I love how with NEOM the wax looks so creamy and good quality. The other one I am currently trying is Invigorate. The scents in this are grapefruit, bergamot and lime. I've nearly finished this candle and to be honest I prefer the smell of when it's not burning. When it is alight it's just not the same and is also quite weak. It is still a quality candle though and the burning scent of it is down to personal taste. The NEOM candles are large with beautiful packaging, and use vegetable wax and essential oils which justifies the price tag of around £40. 

The price of the Winter candle from The White Company is £55 and is considerably larger than the NEOM. It is made of refined mineral wax. I'm not too sure about what this is and whether or not it's as good as vegetable wax. The other candle I'm enjoying from The White Company is Cassis. I purchased this in the smaller size for £20. This scent is reminiscent of berries and is quite fruity consisting of cassis, blackberries and cedar.

The last two candles are by Yankee Candle. I'm not a massive fan of Yankee anymore since trying NEOM and White Company. I have Clean Cotton and Christmas Cookie which are nice fragrances but once lit, I find them quite heady and sickly. Also the top of the jars seem to go black despite the fact I ensure the wicks are short before burning.

What are your favourite candles and candle brands? If you've done a post on them or know of any posts on them that you think I'd like to read, please link me to them below.

Current Holy Grails

Hey beauts, hope you're having a fantastic weekend. I'm chilling out and pampering with a hair and face mask (namely Lee Staffford Treatment for t
800
hat hair never grows past a certain length and Origins Drink Up Intensive mask) and thought I'd share with you some of the products I'm currently using that I really don't want to live without.



So here we have it.

Illamasqua Gleam - OMG best cream highlighter I've ever used. The texture is almost like a paste which feels so satisfying to work with. I love it. It really does what it says on the tin. You will be gleaming and your cheekbones will look immense.



Tom Ford Lipsticks - The beauty of these begins with the packaging. It's beautiful, weighty and just feels like pure luxury. There's an amazing colour range, they glide on, have staying power and I will be buying more. From left to right I have Scarlet Rouge, Nude Vanille, and Wild Ginger. All are perfect on my pale complexion.



DIOR Forever Foundation - I speak for all Dior face products in this paragraph, not just the foundation. From the face powders, through to the bronzers and foundations Dior gives you amazing coverage and also leaves you with an effortless, long lasting luminosity. This foundation is aptly named because I will use it Forever.



Lady Gaga Black Fluid - I tried this in a Glossybox a couple of months back and it just has something about it. I'm not one for celebrity scents or anything celebrity to be honest but this just does it for me. It's sweet but not overly so and I wear it every day. It makes me happy.



Origins High Potency Night - A - Mins - This is a renewal cream that smells like oranges. I LOVE the scent of it although it's not
8000
for everyone. I use it every other night before bed and it really does rejuvenate the skin. When I've applied it my skin feels warm and just comfortable and cosy if you know what I mean. I wake up with glowing, soft skin the next day too. Absolute winner.



Topshop Glitter polishes - I don't think I've ever heard a bad word about Topshop nail products and I'm not surprised. They are gorgeous. I've heard people say the £6 price tag is a bit steep but I disagree. For me what's steep is Chanel charging around £16 for a polish that lasts about an hour before chipping. Topshop's £6 for quality long lasting, beautiful looking polish is fine by me. And what's more the glitter particles and plentiful and easy to apply onto the nail. These look great over metallic polishes and darker coloured polishes. From left to right I have Ice Crush and Panther.



Skinetica Anti Blemish - I received this in last month's Glossybox. My skin is pretty good on the whole but I'm prone to a couple of blemishes from time to time. I've been dabbing this on as soon as they appear and I would definitely say they heal in half the time after using this. It doesn't dry the skin out around the blemishes either. It is described on the the bottle as 'kind to skin' which is great if you ask me.



So there's a quick round up of some of my beauty staples right now.



Which products can't you live without at the mo?

Remembering You

Recent Things I've Been Loving.....In Pictures

This is a bit of a random unplanned post but I've been taking a lot of photos recently and wanted to share some of the things I've been loving the last couple of weeks.

Topshop Nail Polish. This one is called Lead.

London. On the right is one of my fave places in London. It's called James Street and has some great pubs and restaurants. It's off Oxford Street near Selfridges

Skulls. Bought this lip balm from Primark just for the tin.

Lip balms. Am trying this. It's gorge, smells like sugary lemons and keeps my lips soft. 

My new necklace from Sugar & Vice. This company followed me on Twitter so I decided to check out their site. I instantly had to have this when I saw it as I love aztec designs.

Costa Coffee. The Christmas mugs this year are so cool.

Lush Baths. This one is Golden Wonder.

My new Fluoro Yellow Cambridge Satchel. I had my initials embossed onto it too. I'm loving wearing this. It's so beautiful.

NARS Blush in Exhibit A. Perfect colour for me for natural rosy cheeks.

Black Milk Clothing. This Darth Vader swimsuit is from the recent Star Wars collection. I also have the leggings with all the characters on. I'm a Star Wars nut, lol.

The Tube. I have a bit of a geeky fascination for the tube and I love my tube map notebook from Paperchase. 

So that was a quick round up. If you like these pics and want to see more, I'm on instagram at Lettherebeshopping (same as my blog name).

See you there

xx

Shoe Porn

I'll be honest, I'm not really on board with the camo trend. Most fashion does tickle my fancy but the camo shirts and jackets I'm seeing are doing nothing for me at all. I do like the camouflage print but I kind of don't want too much of it at once if you know what I mean. Put just a hint of it on an accessory and I can deal.



So today my camo curiosity combined with my unrelenting love of studs led to me swiping a pair of these from River Island. 

£75 River Island

Nothing could stop me buying these. I've been lemming a pair of high tops with the hidden heel, but nothing was really jumping out at me. These were worth the wait. They are like nothing else I own and I just needed them. I think the heel is around 3 inches and I will mostly style them with leggings.

I like the leather and buckle part too across the front and this was one of my criteria for the high tops.



These are perfect.



What do you think?

Things I've Been Loving This Week

It's been a great week all in all, culminating in a really fun weekend away in Birmingham for the Top Gear Live event at the N.E.C. This week as I'm on annual leave from work I've just been doing the things I love, relaxing and pampering. I had my hair cut with a new hairdresser at HOB salons (nothing drastic just a trim as I'm trying to grow my hair again now), managed to fit some gym sessions in, been shopping & had coffee with friends.



So I thought I'd share some photos I've taken through the week.



Product wise these items are staples for me at the mo.

The Topshop nail polish on the left in Hidden Treasure looks beaut with the Ice Crush glitter polish on top. Hidden Treasure is a duochrome polish that reminds me of petrol when you see it on the ground in fuel station forecourts. Its like a greeny gold. Love it. 

I've been removing my nail polish with NPW Nail Polish Remover Pads. Since I picked these up from Selfridges in the beauty workshop I haven't bought any other type of nail polish remover. These are seriously good and even remove glitter relatively easily. They are around the £2 mark for one pot and if you can't get to Selfridges you can find them here. They are also highly moisturising on the nails.

The two lipsticks are from Tom Ford. I am in love with these. They are the best lipsticks I've used. The ones I have are Scarlet Rouge and Nude Vanille. Black Orchid is next on my list.

More beauty products I've been raving about are these.

I always find mud/clay masks are the best for really making a difference to my complexion and recently purchased the Origins Clear Improvment Charcoal mask which is a good one, but to be honest I've found the 99p mud mask sachets from Superdrug much better. My skin seriously looks glowy, revitalised and really clear after using these. I'm not kidding they are amazing.

I've also been really taking care of my hair over the last few months. I stopped using any form of heat on it for almost three months and have been deep conditioning it frequently. I like to put an intensive conditioning treatment or oil on it and leave it to sink in for half hour to forty five minutes. I've noticed a huge difference in the softness of my hair from doing this and am hoping it will help it to grow longer quicker too. The conditioning oil I'm using at the moment for the treatments is Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse which I received in a glossy box. I would definitely purchase this product once my sample runs out and am also keen to try other products by the brand.

This week I have turned into a bath convert. I'm definitely a shower girl and can honestly say that before this week I hadn't had a bath in years. But seeing all the pictures that you guys Instagram of your Lush baths has got me lemming some Lush bath bomb action. So to celebrate this I treated myself to a couple of Lush products.

I love the fact you can actually shake Golden Wonder like a present and am hooked on the smell of the Comforter. For me it's the ultimate bathtime scent. I can't wait to chuck Golden Wonder into my bath. Hehe.

Food wise I've been enjoying chowing down on this little lot. 

Gutted the Mars Caramel are just limited edition :(

                          

The Heston Blumental for Waitrose meals are seriously tasty and the quality of them is lovely. They are around £5 each I think and I really recommend them. The lasagne is yum too.

I'm really into burning candles at the moment and feel at this time of year they add a bit of cosiness. My favourite one right now is Peony by Archipelago which I purchased from Selfridges.

                         

I love this scent. It has a clean but musky, herbal fragrance. It is strong in a really nice way and kinda reminds me of men's aftershave, which is good for me as I don't really like floral scents. The only gripe I have about this candle is that it really needs two wicks. You can see how unevenly it has burnt and this is a real let down, especially since the price is £25. It's such a shame about the wick because due to this I will not be purchasing anymore of these candles. The other scents available are also amazing so this is disappointing :(

So like I said at the start I went to Top Gear Live this weekend. I'm a bit of a petrolhead and absolutely love the three guys from Top Gear. They are hilarious and Jeremy Clarkson is just outstanding.

                        

I found the tickets to be slightly overpriced at £75 each but we did have the Gold passes. You could also buy Silver which were around £50 I think. The main part of the show was the stunt show and Top Gear show in the Live Action Arena. This made the £75 worth it to be honest as it was utterly brilliant. It included incredible stunts with things like cars and fire. It also included a live episode of Top Gear and basically a lot of fast cars doing donuts all over the place. My idea of heaven.

Here's a few pics of what I saw. If you're not a petrolhead sorry for the next few photos :-)

 

Yes, I do like grey cars.

A Porsche on fire. This was amazing in real life.

And a little video of one of the stunts.

Goose bump central.

The following day after Top Gear, I went to the Bullring in Birmingham for some shopping. I didn't buy too much but was impressed by the twice life size sculpture of the bull. He is gorgeous.

The photographer apologises for chopping off your horn Mr.Bull. Sorry :-)

For accommodation in Birmingham I stayed at the NEC Crowne Plaza. I have stayed here before, but that was years ago. This time around it was even better. If you want a lovely, clean, classy hotel with great service this is the one to go to. I love it.

A Standard Room

I was also rather excited when I saw this on my pillow.

I don't know if this has anything to do with the fact that today is National Sleep Day but I thought it was a really cute little touch. I've never tried anything by This Works but I am curious about it. This little set retails at £10 and so far I have tried the 'breathe in' roll on. It does have a very calming scent of chamomile and lavender but I wouldn't say it makes me go to sleep any sooner. It does smell really pleasant though and I enjoy using it. I will try the pillow spray.

What a fab week. How was yours?

A Couple of Product Raves - REN and Origins

I feel the need to tell you about some great products I've discovered recently and have been loving using.



First up, REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal Mask.

Glycolic/glycolatic seems to be the word on us bloggers' highly glossed lips at the moment. And I would imagine most of us own the Alpha-H Liquid Gold Glycolic Acid. 

This 'peel' mask (as in it kinda emulates a facial peel I guess) works in the same way as the Alpha H to brighten up our complexion, by getting rid of all the dead skin cells, combatting spots and blemishes and reducing the appearance of fine lines.

I'm all for products that will brighten my skin and also reduce fine lines. Being in my 30's has turned me into a bit of an anti-aging obsessive. I'll try anything, lol.

So I've used this a few times and I'm really quite happy with it. It has a thick gel consistency and has what I think is supposed to be a fruity apricot-y maybe papaya kind of scent. It's neither unpleasant nor particularly pleasant in my opinion. It also comes with a muslin cloth that you are supposed to use to rinse it off with. I don't use it though, as I prefer to use the Liz Earle Deep Cleansing Mask Sponges to remove face masks.

The directions say to apply the glycolactic mask to clean skin on the face and neck and leave for 10 minutes. I always leave masks on for longer than this (like 20 minutes) as I just feel it gives them more time to work, but it's not necessary.

After I've rinsed off the mask my skin feels soooooo smooth, it's incredible. And after I've applied my Hydraluron serum and Antipodes moisturiser my skin just seems to glow underneath them. 

Apparently it's normal to get a tingling sensation from this mask. And although I get this with the Alpha H, I don't experience it at all with the REN. But then Alpha H is pure acid and this mask isn't.

I can't say I've noticed an improvement with my blemishes from using this but then I do tend to chop and change my face masks so I guess more constant use would be more accurate for a review of the spots and blemishes aspect of it.

However, as far as immediate results go, I cannot fault this product and will repurchase for sure. The fact that there are no parabens, mineral oils and other nasties in this product is also a bonus.

This retails at £30 for 50 ml. 

Ok, onto Origins, a brand I cannot get enough of.

I have been enjoying the All-Purpose High-Elevation Cream for dry skin relief.

The fact I use a cream for 'dry skin relief' makes it seem like my skin is massively dry. This is not the case but I have definitely noticed more dryness in the last couple of years so I must admit I do enjoy slapping on quite rich creams. I like my skin to look glowy and radiant, and I feel this is more likely to happen if I use thicker creams to keep it quenched with moisture.

This is a bit of a multi purpose cream which I really like. It can be used anywhere from your tummy to your face to your hands. Sunflower oil and Shea butter are some of the nourishing ingredients. The smell of this cream is nothing to shout about, I think the oils in it are what comprise most of the scent. I can't really describe it but it's not sweet at all, just basic but not too unpleasant. Although it might not be everyone's cup of tea so I would recommend having a sniff before buying to be honest.

In texture, the cream is quite thick, not runny at all but it sinks in effortlessly, leaving no residue. Although on the face, unless you have seriously, seriously dry skin you may notice a slight dewy film but I don't mind that in this cream as I only use it at night so it doesn't matter if my skin looks a bit shiny. I actually quite like using creams at night that leave a bit of residue. It makes me feel like they are doing something. I know that's probably wrong but I enjoy it. 

Sorry if I'm being dumb but one thing that confused me on the packaging is that it says 'this hydrator is specifically created for the mile-high moisture needs of our customers in Denver, Colorado'. I haven't noticed anything like this written on a cream before and I found it a bit strange, almost like the cream isn't for me as I don't live in Denver, lol?!

What does this mean Origins? 

I've also been taking this out with me in my handbag to use as a hand cream. It's such a great multi tasker and a product I will buy time and time again.

This retails for £23 for 75 ml.

Have you tried either of these products? What are your opinions on them?