Iconemesis Diamond iPhone 4 case

Iconemesis Diamond iPhone 4 case by Sophie Henson - £19.99*

I've had the same cheap eBay phone case for absolutely ages so when the opportunity to receive a new one came up I didn't hesitate to put my name forward! I've seen Iconemesis phone cases on a variety of different blogs and I absolutely love the different designs.

I decided not to go for one of the popular Fifi Lapin covers as I've seen them around absolutely everywhere, instead I went for the Diamond by Sophie Henson design, which costs £19.99. It's a little expensive for a phone case in my personal opinion but I feel like the diamond design is quite different to a lot of other people's phone cases so there's a good chance you won't end up with the same one as a lot of people. I really like the cute, quirky scribbles on this design and the little skulls and various doodles. It reminds me of doodling randomly when you're on the phone or something and I think it's really interesting.

The case itself is plastic but I have already dropped it and given it a good whack on my wooden table and it's not split or cracked, which is always good! I like the white and blue and I generally just think it is an interesting phone case, I've had quite a few people see it and ask where it's from.

I would really recommend you check out Iconemesis if you're after a new phone case, I'm pretty in love with mine already!

This post contains PR samples

Maybelline Baby Lips Intense Care

Maybelline Baby Lips Intense Care - £2.99

I've been using the same medicated Chapstick lip balm for absolutely ages. Once you start using lip balm it's all downhill from there. My lips have got so used to lipbalms that if I don't use them they get really sore, which means I need to use a lip balm. It's all a big, vicious lipbalm circle but when I saw the Maybelline Baby Lips I kind of wanted to try them.

It's been great to have a change of a lip balm. I chose the Intense Care balm as I had a good feeling it wouldn't be coloured and it really has intensely cared for my lips. It's not scented either and it just leaves a nice sheen to the lips. It's not sticky or flavoured so I don't end up licking it all off and it lasts quite a while on the lips, leaving them nice and soft.

The packaging is a little childish and I don't really like the name either, Baby Lips sounds a bit weird to be honest but for £2.99 it really is a great little lip balm and I'd love to try a couple of the other versions.

Have you tried the Maybelline Baby Lips yet?

Wednesday Wishlist #91

New Look: Black Leather-Look Pocket T-Shirt - £13.99, Monochrome Floral Skater Dress - £17.99
Zara: Patent Ballerina Shoes - £19.99

I didn't mean to go down the monochrome route with this weeks wishlist, it just kind of happened. I'm loving New Look's new collection and I've already spied a couple of bits I want to pick up. New Look's prices vary quite a bit. I often find some of its items are a tad on the expensive side but then you have pieces like the above which are quite reasonably priced. I really like tops with leather accents, I think they're lovely and I'm in a bit of a skater dress whirl at the moment too. I'm starting to build up quite a collection.

After my disappointment with Zara's sale and missing out on a bag I wanted for absolutely ages I decided to have another look at its new collections. I spied these pretty ballerina flats and what a bargain at £19.99 too. I SO need these in my life. I'm hoping to go shopping in Bristol soon where there is a Zara store so I'm definitely going to pop in and see if I can find these.

What's on your wishlist this week?

Bumble & Bumble Thickening Hairspray

Bumble & Bumble Thickening Hairspray

Don't you just love it when a magazine has a decent freebie? Although, technically it's not a freebies as the magazine costs around £4 but it is a HUGE bargain.

Usually Bumble and Bumble products are pretty expensive, around £21 for 250ml of the thickening hairspray, so for £4 this is really great and it's a pretty decent size too. In the past I've not found Bumble and Bumble products to be particularly good for my hair but I thought I would give this a try anyway as you never know...

Well, I'm really glad I did because I LOVE it. Absolutely nothing I've used in the past has made my hair feel thick. I have annoying flyaway, thin hair and I can never really do anything with it, it can barely hold a grip in it but when I used this hairspray it felt really full and thicker than normal. It didn't feel straw like or sticky either, no matter how much product I put on.

I think I'm probably going to get through the spray pretty quickly as I've been using more and more each day. The only downside to it is that it smells weird, like a dentists room, which is not nice but I can definitely ignore that in favour of lovely, thick hair!

I would definitely recommend picking up Elle magazine, which this is on the front of, even if you don't read the magazine it's SO worth spending £4 on just for the freebie attached.

A waiting for a week off week in photos

Chicken / Great mag freebie / New iPhone case / Dominos, oops! / Maybelline Baby Lips / Dinner! / Chinese for lunch / A healthier option / Filipino pork scratchings / Sleepy kitty

Follow me on Instagram - @cherryp13

Hurrah! My week off is finally here! The week has gone quite quickly, believe it or not, and as usual it's been full of junk food and takeaways oops. I have absolutely nothing planned for my week off. Well, I am planning to sort and clean and tidy the entire house throughout the week, exciting! I'm also hoping to get lots of blogging done as well! Fingers crossed! Sometimes you don't really need to have anything planned and just chilling out at home is the best thing to do - I have two Harry Potter films recorded and ready to watch at some point too.

Tomorrow is Vince's birthday. We don't really have anything planned as its the Bank Holiday so unfortunately he will be working all day, but hopefully when I've been paid and when he has an evening off or something then we might be able to do something to celebrate.

I'm also hoping during my week off that my sister has her baby. My niece was two weeks early so I'm hoping my new nephew will be early too and come while I'm off work. I've yet to buy him any pressies but I'm hoping to pop to Bristol on Friday and I'm sure I'll get a few bits!

Super Facialist by Una Brennan Vitamin C+ Brighten Moisturiser

Una Brennan Super Facialist Vitamin C+ Skin Defence Daily Moisturiser - £11.33*

After using my No7 moisturiser on a daily basis I've been after something new to use. I find that my skin gets used to products and they don't work as well after a while, if that makes sense. I recently had two mini samples of the Origins GinZing moisturiser, which I absolutely loved but couldn't justify spending almost £30 on, so I was really pleased to have received the Una Brennan moisturiser as I think it's a bit of a dupe for the GinZing, score!

The moisturiser itself is lovely and refreshing and leaves my skin feeling really soft. It also smells lovely and a bit like I'm rubbing an Orange Starburst all over my face. The pump on the bottle makes it so much easier to use and a lot less messy.

Although I don't have any wrinkles just yet, this moisturiser helps to improve them. There can't be any harm in starting early. Prevention is the best cure!

My skin does feel a lot better after using this. It feels softer and a lot fresher so I'm really glad to have received this as it's definitely going into my daily routine. My No7 moisturiser is quite plain and although it does it's job it does also get a bit boring and my skin still feels normal after application. It's good to feel a bit of a difference in the skin after using this one.

This post contains PR samples

Cargo TexasLash Mascara

Cargo Cosmetics TexasLash Mascara - £14*

I wasn't really looking for a new mascara but I was recently sent this one and decided to give it a try. I've heard of Cargo Cosmetics before but I don't think I have tried any of their products and everyone likes a new mascara don't they?!

I was intrigued by the 'TexasLash' in the name of this one but I can't seem to find anywhere online what it actually means. The brush one this one is pretty fat, which is usually something I don't like on a mascara but I found this one a lot better than most. It did create some clumping but it wasn't too bad. There wasn't any fallout unlike a mascara I tried last week and I think it did a good job with really lengthening my lashes, which is a pretty difficult thing to do to be honest.

Overall I quite like this mascara. It's a little expensive for £14 so I probably wouldn't purchase it myself but it's a good one to add to my collection. It's nice to have a few you can rotate, I would definitely recommend!

This post contains PR samples

Wednesday Wishlist #90

Internationale: Black Midsleeve Raglan Top - £7.99
New Look: Grey Contract Trim Cardigan - £19.99, Grey Leather Look Trim Tshirt - £8.99

I can't believe I'm on my 90th Wednesday Wishlist, it's absolutely crazy! This week has a bit of a grey theme, which really wasn't intentional, but I came across these three pieces while browsing the New Look website. I love the marl texture look of the tshirt and jacket, I can't get enough of it, so much so that I am quite close to purchasing these already.

Last weekend I came across this baseball style tshirt in about a million different colours. I did pick it up and put it back again as I'm not sure. It's very tomboy looking but it's also in keeping with the sports fashion trend and I do kind of like it. I think it'd look great with some skinny jeans so watch this space, it may be featuring in an outfit post sometime soon.

What's on your wishlist this week?

L'Oreal Colour Riche in Bling Bling Bang

LOreal Colour Riche in Bling Bling Bang - £4.99

Very recently a whole bunch of bloggers went along to a L'Oreal nail event and were posting lots of pictures of some of its new offerings from the Glitterati A/W collection so I have to say I was surprised to see the very polishes they had photographed sitting on the shelves of my local Boots already.

I picked up 'Bling Bling Bang' as the others in the collection were similar to polishes I had already tried before. Bling Bling Bang is a blue, glitter topcoat with bigger and smaller glitter flecks. The consistency is almost gel like and if your base layer isn't properly dry the topcoat will sink it's way into the base and do that annoying thing where it mixes into one.

It does have a nice sparkle to it though and even though it's a blue topcoat, it looks great on a blue base. It would even look good on a white or black base too.

I have been buying more L'Oreal polishes than usual. I find they are quite tough and stick around longer than most. The £4.99 price tag is a bit steep for a nail polish in my opinion but it seems that it's beginning to be the average for one these days.
I always browse the L'Oreal stand when I visit Boots, which I never used to do, so these polishes have really made a good impression on me and I'm excited to see what else the brand comes up with in the future. Bling Bling Bang is overall a great colour, a little tricky to apply but it has a great finish so I would definitely recommend!

A looking forward week in photos

More new nail polishes / Kukee order / Goodies! / Chicken pasta / Chicken curry / Naught McDonalds

Follow me on Instagram - @cherryp13

I can't believe it's Sunday already. This weekend has really flown by. Yesterday was a bit of a right off as most of the day was spent sleeping and dozing as I went out on Friday night with the girls from work and it was a pretty late one. So, I didn't get much done in terms of housework, blogging etc, but I'm making up for it all today.

The week itself has actually gone pretty quick as well I think. I think it always does when you have something to look forward to. I knew I had Friday night to look forward to and Vince and I also had Wednesday night to look forward to as we met up with our college friends for a carver, which was huge and really filling!

Now I have one week left at work until a week off, so there's yet another thing to look forward to. I'm not sure what I'm going to do on my week off, hopefully get lots of tidying and sorting done of the house and lots of blog posts written. I still haven't shown you what I got with my ASOS vouchers so I need to prepare some outfit posts!

How was your week?

July Favourites

Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturiser
Estee Lauder Sensuous Nude
Clarins HydraQuench Mask
Barry M Hi-Shine Polish in Mango
Collection 'Work the Colour' Eyeshadow Pencils

Two weeks into August and I've only just managed to put together my July favourites, oops. I think I'll label July as the month of new products as the ones pictured above are all lovely and shiny and new. They've actually all become firm favourites and have (apart from the nail polish) worked their way into my regular routines.

I think the Vaseline Spray & Go has got to be my best discovered product. It's just SO convenient. I think I mentioned this in my review post of it but I just hate applying body butter/moisturiser and standing around waiting for it to dry so this is really great as you literally spray on and it dries instantly. I would really recommend it. It smells great too, I really want to try the other scents. I can't wait to get my hands on them.

What's been your favourite product/s this month?

Botanics Ionic Clay Mask

Boots: Ionic Clay Mask - £4.66

I've been after yet another clay mask for a while. I'm not sure why as I don't really need one but oh well! I usually use the Elemis clay mask, which I really like, but I wanted to change things up a bit. I spotted this one in Boots and for under £5 thought it was a bit of a bargain.

The mask claims to remove impurities and deeply cleanse the skin. My skin did feel nice and soft afterwards but I'm not sure in regards to it removing impurities. It definitely helped my skin and I think continuing to use it week after week will cause greater effects to be seen.

On application it's exactly as you would expect. A green/grey mud that dries and you simply wash away but the application was ridiculous. I was expecting a thick clay...as you would...but when I squeezed the tube out flowed about a gallon of muddy water all over the bathroom. I'm not sure what happened, maybe it had melted slightly on the window-sil or something but it was quite annoying. After all the liquid had come it it did turn back into a thick clay, which was easy to apply.

For a cheap and cheerful mask this is great and it will last absolutely ages. I'm going to continue using it and switching it between my Elemis clay mask and my other non-clay ones. I used to be a real anti-facemask person but now I love them!

What's your favourite face mask?

Wednesday Wishlist #89

New Look: Purple Ditsy Floral Print Cap Sleeve Skater Dress - £14.99, Black and Purple Rose Button Up Mini Skirt - £12.99, Navy Jersey Belted Skater Skirt - £12.99

Is anyone else looking forward to Autumn? I've just been browsing New Look's Autumn offerings and have already chosen a few things I want. I love the colours of Autumn fashion, the lovely dark reds and oranges reminiscent of the leaves.

I love the florals that New Look are producing as well as the skater skirts and t-shirt dresses. All so pretty! I've added all of these to my bookmarks bar so fingers crossed they will be mine in the not so distant future.

What's on your wishlist this week?

Together in electric dreams

Collection Hot Looks in Electric Dreams - £1.99

This is such a pretty, pretty colour. Perfect for summer. I picked it up recently when Collection had a 3 for 2 offer on. I purchased two eyeshadow pencils (as if I need any more) and decided on a new nail varnish as my freebie (again, as if I need any more.)

The polish really is so cute and I love the name too. It's almost a week since I bought it and it's done quite well staying-wise. It survived the all important washing up test, which is always a bonus.

It was lovely to apply and I think it only took two coats for a lovely, shiny finish. It's just so bright and vibrant and for £1.99 you can't really go wrong. I'd definitely choose this over some of the more expensive polishes.

Another winning week in photos

Cakes / Chicken for dinner / More chicken for dinner / Cult Beauty order / Sweeties!

Follow me on Instagram - @cherryp13

I won another competition this week. Hooray! The week before I won a £50 ASOS voucher and now I've only gone and won a £30 Cult Beauty voucher. They say good luck comes in threes so I'm waiting for whatever is next...

As you can see I quickly spent my voucher on some Alpha-H goodies, which I'm so far on the fence about! I ordered the Liquid Gold but when I used it it was very harsh on my skin. I'm going to give it another go of course and I'll definitely post a review letting you know how I got on. I am loving the cleanser though so that's a plus!

We've been eating insane amounts of chicken this week for some reason. Vince has been on a bit of a health kick, although I'm not sure how healthy the above dinners are. He may be on a health kick but I am certainly not and have enjoyed a Chinese takeaway and a McDonalds this week. I've also got a Subway waiting for me...

My reading list

I hate myself at the moment. I'm going through a bit of a phase of not reading, which is really unlike me. Usually I'm always reading but recently I just haven't. I started 'The Perks of being a Wallflower' but I've not really enjoyed it and have left it half read for so long.

At the beginning of the year I popped into Waterstones and bought all of the above books (apart from Revenge Wears Prada) but since then they've just sat on my bookshelf gathering dust. Revenge Wears Prada has sat on my bookshelf for about two weeks too so I need to make more of an effort to get through this reading list and would love to hear all of your recommendations!

MUA Lash Boom

MUA Lash Boom - £3*

I'm a bit disappointed. I really love MUA and was excited when I saw their new Lash Boom mascara had been released.

I was really happy to receive it in the post but upon application I've found I'm not so keen. The purple tube is pretty cool and I was interested to see how it would lengthen and volumise the lashes but when I took the wand out it looked really scary. The brush is thin with a round end, which apparently helps you to reach all of the lashes. In all honesty the round end picked up lots of excess mascara and was too big for my lashes, meaning I ended up with mascara in my fringe and, as you can see above, lots of fallout.

Personally I don't think this really lengthens my lashes either. I have weird eyelashes that tend to point downwards a little or straight out so I'm always really keen to try mascaras that pull they upwards and give me a normal looking lash and unfortunately this didn't.

I would have liked a mascara tube with one of those devices that removes excess mascara when you pull it out. I had to wipe the brush several times to get rid of excess and even then it still clumped a lot.

Despite this review I am a real fan of MUA. I think they're brilliantly cheap and cheerful, but unfortunately not every product works for everyone. This is just one of those products I've not really got on with but I'm sure someone else will see it as the holy grail of mascaras. I'm sure I can find this one a good home.

Have you tried the MUA Lash Boom?

This post contains PR samples