Valentine's Day: Gift ideas for him

I never know what to buy Vince for Valentine's Day. This year we're not really doing anything special as I think Vince is actually working in the evening so I probably won't see him! We're going to one of our favourite restaurants on Saturday for a little early Valentine's Day. We'll certainly avoid Valentine's restaurant prices, which are RIDICULOUS!

I've put together a little collection of gift ideas for you all to buy the man in your life for Valentines. They're really just normal gifts you might buy him for Christmas/birthday, but it's nice to get each other little presents every now and then, yes even you Valentine's cynics.

You can't really go wrong with a smelly set. The best time to buy fragrance sets is in the January sales so you can be well prepared in time for Valentines. At Christmas Vince and I bought each other sets and were horrified to see them at more than half price in January so I'd definitely recommend snapping them up as soon as they go on sale. You could even buy yourself one!

You also can't go wrong with socks and a nice jumper! This style of jumper is one Vince is liking at the moment, although I'm not sure he would be keen on the heart print. I love the colour though.

What are you getting the man in your life for Valentine's Day?

Drugstore Haul

So, this past weekend, like every other weekend, I decided to pop into Boots. There's one only about five minutes away and I usually have a quick peek in there on a Saturday or Sunday and pick up things that I definitely don't need and definitely can't afford!

Recently I've been scouring blogs and have kept a little list on my phone of products I've spotted and wanted to try out, so when I popped into Boots on the Saturday just gone I managed to tick a few off my list! I really wanted to get my hands on the Maybelline Big Eyes Palette in Luminous Brown and spotted the little beauties on the shelves recently. I picked up the shade Luminous Brown, which is pretty much my usual sort of brown/copper colours. The palettes have a light catching primer in them so I'm really interested to try these out.

I also really wanted to pick up the Seventeen Super Lash Mascara, which was on a special introductory offer for £4.99 with a free Super Lash Liner. Bargain, but unfortunately I made the rookie error of picking up a brown/black shade instead of pure black. SO ANNOYING!! I'm going to try it out anyway as I can't take it back now that the wrapping has been taken off. I'm such an idiot!! I guess I can always go over the lashes with a black if I really need to. Maybe the Seventeen Lash Lacquer will finally come in handy.

The nib of the Superlash Liner is really interesting. It's pretty much just a felt tip for your eyes, so I'm very interested to see what look I can get from this. I couldn't say no to a freebie so I'm definitely going to try it out and if I don't like it then I'm sure I can find a good home for it.

Last, but not least, I picked up the Seventeen Eye Eye Crayon in Platinum, which I almost forgot about until I checked my list on my phone in the middle of the store. I then saw it staring out at me. I love the white packaging of this pencil and the typography. Lovely! Can't wait to try it out.

What's in your shopping basket this week?

Bathroom beauties

There's nothing I like more than sweet smelling products in the bathroom. Showering has got to be the most boring thing to do so some lovely scented products always improve the process. I recently went on a Lush spree and picked up the ever popular Snow Fairy, which unfortunately is only Limited Edition, so I better not use it all up too soon. The scent is absolutely amazing and I'm going to dedicate an entire post to all of its glory very soon!

I recently also picked up the Elemis Spa@Home Body Beautiful Duo and I'm absolute loving them. The bath elixir is a gorgeous product that really coats the skin and feels lovely when you're laying in the bath. The shower gel is really invigorating and awakening, so perfect for the early mornings!

I'm trying to have more baths and really take some time to relax a bit and the Noble Isle Bath & Shower Gel is another lovely product that I regularly use. I first discovered the brand in a Glossybox and was really disappointed when I ran out but luckily late last year I received another in a different beauty box and was so pleased. This smells amazing and is another product that coats the skin and leaves it feeling super soft.

You can't have a bath without bubbles so I'm quickly getting through the Sanctuary Luxury Bath Float as it creates great loads of bubbles. You can't beat it!

What are your current bathroom beauties?

Models Own Black Knight Glitter Eye Pencil

Models Own Black Knight Glitter Eye Pencil - £5




Oh well hello new favourite eye pencil. This actually came in the Models Own goody bag I bought at the Clothes Show Live back in December and it's not usually something I would have gone for. I'm usually one of those people that can't use pencils or liquid liner on my top lid but I found this pencil quite easy to work with. I normally find it difficult to drag the pencil across the skin and sometimes it can be a little painful and make the skin a bit sore so I had to blunt the pencil a little bit before use, but overall I really like it.

I'm still mastering the 'neatness' of it all and eventually I want to get the winged look down to a tee but until then I'm happy with what I have so far. I really like the fact that this pencil contains small specks of glitter, which do come out on application. The above finished look doesn't show too much glitter but I guess if you just go over the liner again and again you'll build up more glitter on the eye.

This pencil retails at £5, which is pretty reasonable, and I'm glad this is a product I truly discovered because I usually wouldn't have even picked it up. Before I was a bit wary of wearing black on my upper lid but I think this look isn't too dramatic and can always be turned into a smokey eye look so I'm really looking forward to try that out. I would definitely recommend picking this up and I'm so glad I inadvertently did.

The Sunday Catch Up #3

Yet another takeaway! / Pizza! / Clarins goodies / Boots haul / Clarins eye palette / Blushes / Maybelling big eyes / Lipsticks

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Phew! What a week it's been. It's been a pretty busy/stressful one at work and I can't explain how glad I was by the time Friday came. I've been coming home pretty much every day and falling asleep on the sofa in front of the TV, much to Vince's annoyance. I'm hoping next week will be a little less stressful!

As usual my weekend has been pretty non eventful. I finally got myself a doctors appointment for my cough, which has been coming and going since November. Turns out I have/had a chest infection that's still lingering and affecting my asthma so now I'm on a course of steroids and antibiotics. Let's hope it clears it up once and for all! I would have gone to the doctors earlier but every time I made an appointment my cough went away. Extremely annoying, and it has got better towards the end of this week but I thought I would go anyway and just explain the situation.

Today I've taken a whole bunch of blog photos. I mean loads! I found that our conservatory is a pretty good place to take photographs, lighting wise, but the only thing is you can see the reflection from the roof in the products, which is a bit annoying. I did manage to photograph bits and pieces at different angles to try and eliminate the reflections but it'll take some practice.

Yesterday I went on a Boots shopping spree and spent way too much money as usual. I'm hoping to start a regular haul blog post. I can't believe I didn't think of doing so earlier as I pretty much go to Boots every weekend! Next weekend I'm off to Bristol to shop, shop, shop and spend my vouchers. Hooray! I've also booked for Vince and I to go to Cosmos restaurant in Bristol, which will be nice! I already can't wait!

Valentine's Day: Gift ideas for her

It may be a little early to be thinking about Valentine's Day but in my experience it doesn't hurt to get your other half thinking about it with plenty of time to spare! I thought I'd put together a little gift idea list that you can leave lying around as a subtle hint…

It was completely by accident that everything I chose ended up being from Topshop but I've chosen a selection of things that I think would make cheap and cheerful pressies. It's nice to receive a few little things that are going to last a little while as flowers die and chocolate get eaten.

During the past five years Vince and I have got each other a variety of different presents, cheap ones and expensive ones but now we tend to just go for something little and a card or in last year's case some lovely roses. I particularly like the clutch bag above and the pixel heart mug, they're the sort of items you can pick up and use time and time again and be reminded that your wonderful boyfriend bought you it for Valentine's (sorry, puke!).

What are you and your other half buying each other for Valentines?

Seventeen Gel Colour in Long Island

Seventeen Gel Colour in Long Island - £3.99


I guess this is Seventeen cosmetic's version of the Gelly Hi-Shine polishes. I've not seen them before so I'm not absolutely sure how new/old these are but I thought I'd give them a try. I opted for the shade 'Long Island', which is a light grey shade and is really pretty once applied.

The polish instructions say two coats should be enough but I found this to not be enough as it's one of those really thin polishes so I got the finished look above with three layers of polish, which means more chance of chipping. The polish also claims up to eight days wear and while they have covered themselves by saying 'up to', I found it disappointing that two nails peeled off on the same day I painted them. The other nails have lasted quite well with minimal chipping so the overall result is pretty 50/50.

I really, really love the colour of this polish, I only wish it wasn't so thin and streaky. For £3.99 though it's quite reasonable and I would like to try some of the other shades, if I can just get them to last a tad longer!

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara

L'Oreal Miss Manga Mascara in Black - £5.99






I kind of made an unspoken rule to myself to not buy mascaras from the likes L'Oreal, Maybelline, Rimmel etc because they are getting ridiculously expensive, almost to the £10 mark and even over but this one was more reasonable at £5.99 and for L'Oreal make-up I thought that was quite a bargain.

When I saw the new Miss Manga mascara I thought it was weird to be honest. The advert makes the girl's eyes look really, really clumpy, like they have little dots of mascara on. Not very manga at all if you ask me and I even commented on Twitter somewhere that 'clumps seen to be back'… they're not and this mascara isn't as clumpy as I thought it might be. I have to admit there is some clumping if you apply too much but overall I actually quite like this mascara, which is quite surprising. I guess you shouldn't judge a mascara by it's TV advert.

The mascara has a 360 degree wand, which I find helps grab the lashes a lot more. It's nice and easy to hold and because the wand is thinner towards the tip you can really get into the corners. I think if you're going for a manga look then this is definitely worth buying but it's also great for people like myself who don't really want the full on manga look but maybe just a little bit of volume. It certainly makes a nice change to the Natural Collection mascara I've been using. It's much more dramatic!

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts?

The Sunday Catch Up #2

Yummy roast! / Kiko hair dye / First signs of spring / More flowers!

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Another week gone yet pay day is still so far away! For some reason I have no money left, eek! I guess the £50 on a new tyre didn't help but other than that I'm not really sure what I've spent it on. I didn't go on a massive clothes shopping spree but I did have to pay for the food shopping, so I guess that has something to do with it.

At least February means no council tax so that's a nice bit of extra money! I really need to pay off my Very account though so might look into starting to pay that back, haha. I've told Vince that during the weekend I get paid we're taking a shopping trip to Bristol as I have lots of vouchers to spend and I guess I will treat him to lunch as well. Aren't I a kind girlfriend? I suppose I'll owe him as he will probably drive.

This week will probably be forever known as sofa-gate. For ages now I've been moaning about our corner sofa because all the cushions always come out and they went all lumpy so looked really messy. So, to stop the moaning Vince went out and bought a new sofa… I came home from work one evening without a clue and there it was. To say I wasn't happy was an understatement so there was a bit of drama which followed. However, my mum told me to stop being a grump as Vince was just trying to do something nice for me and it is a really nice thing to do. I'm a bit more used to them now but I want to get lots of cushions to go on them, I'm just not really sure what goes with brown.

This week was also the week that Vince and I finished watching Breaking Bad. Now we're completely lost in the evenings and don't know what to watch, but it was so, SO good! I'm so glad we started watching it and I can't believe we were so behind everyone. I don't want to spoil it for anyone but if you haven't watched it yet, you really should.

Not much else to report back on! How was your week?

L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Wave Creating Spray

L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Wave Creating Spray - £3.79

Recently I reviewed the L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray and I instantly became a huge fan of it. When I purchased it, I also bought the Wave Creating Spray thinking it would be nice to have some loose waves in my hair every now and then.

I think it's a really interesting product and the instructions are a little different than usual, but unfortunately I think it's a product best suited to thicker hair. You half blow dry your hair, put it into a top knot, continue drying, let it all down and finish drying what should be lovely waves. Unfortunately I think my hair is far too thin for this product. After following the instructions and putting my hair into a bun/top knot, I go ahead with the drying and my hair is pretty wavey but unfortunately because it's not completely dry (you can't fully dry it if it's tied up) I have to continue blow drying, which causes the waves to fall out. Even if they did stay in, the fact that I have to brush my hair after drying, would certainly pull them out completely.

I find it better to plait the hair after half drying as you can pull it tighter, which creates better waves, and I find spraying more product on the hair when you finish drying it to be a good idea too. On it's own I don't quite think this product has the strength to keep the waves in tact so another volumising spray is definitely needed. I'm a little disappointed in the product to be honest as I imagined having great wavy locks, but unfortunately was only left with teeny thing waves, which fell out almost instantly.

Have you tried this? Did you manage to keep your waves?

Hydraluron Moisture Booster

Hyraluron Moisture Booster - £24.99

I know I'm a bit late to the party with this and that Hydraluron have released some brand new moisture booster face masks recently, but this is one of those products that literally every blogger tries at least once in their blogging lifetime.

I've previously been put off from buying this because it's £24.99 and that is quite a lot of money to spend, however it was recently reduced to £16 and I'd just been paid so I finally snapped it up. It's been raved about all over the blogging world and despite many people thinking it's a moisturiser, it's actually to be used underneath your moisturiser. It contains hyaluronic acid, which helps increase skin's moisture retention capability, meaning it'll improve the way your skin drinks in your regular moisturiser. I put this on my face after cleansing and leave it to do it's magic for about five to ten minutes, I then pop my moisturiser on top. With time the product claims to eliminate the amount of times you'll need to moisturise per day and I've definitely noticed an improvement in my skin after using this. My skin feels soft and 'plump' all day long and one huge advantage for me is that if I wear foundation my skin stays nice and moisturised underneath and dry, cracked patches don't appear. Hooray!

I wasn't exactly sure how much of the product you should use on your face per day but I went with the usual pea sized amount and it seems to be ok. I did read that if it feels sticky on application, then you've used too much. I love the easy tube packaging and it's lovely and silky on application too. I'd recommend leaving it a few minutes before applying your moisturiser on top but overall I'd really recommend anyone with particularly dehydrated skin picks up this little beauty.

I've been trying it for a few weeks now and have certainly seen an improvement. It just makes my skin feel super healthy and in good condition. It might be a lot of money for some people but once you've tried it I don't think you'll turn back. I believe Boots sometimes have testers/samples of this so it might be worthy trying it out first. I'm now really keen to try one of the new moisture booster face masks!

Have you tried the Hydraluron Moisture Booster? What did you think?

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation

Perricone MD No Foundation Foundation - £47*


I've had this foundation for quite a little while now. I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to review but I really wanted to make sure I tried it properly. It's such an expensive brand that I really wanted to make sure it was the product for me.

Before I tried this I read a couple of other reviews and I'm surprised that I don't really agree with the majority of them. A lot of them complained about a fishy scent to this foundation, but I really don't smell it. It does have a particular scent, but it's not unpleasant at all and I certainly can't smell it once it's applied.

If you didn't know, the foundation is created by Dr Perricone, who is a noted dermatologist. He believes that cellular inflammation is the underlying cause of wrinkles and his products target this inflammation and aims to improve this. This isn't really something I can report back on as I don't currently have any wrinkles, thank God, but my mum (sorry if you're reading this!!) has used this in the past and absolutely loves it. She actually texted me when she saw me upload images of the product to the Facebook page and said she'd happily take the product off my hands if I didn't like it. Well, bad luck mother, because I love it!

The foundation's main selling point is that it isn't a heavy, matte foundation, so it doesn't feel cakey on the skin and it lets the skin's natural beauty show through. This would be no good if you're really trying to cover up a lot of blemishes but if you only have a few teeny ones or you're having a relatively good skin day then this is perfect.

The foundation comes in a little bottle with a pump, which is really handy. I simply put a little blob onto the back of my hand, dip my brush in and away I go. As I mentioned, the coverage is quite thin but I found on some applications (not all, weirdly!) that this made my skin look a little bit shiny, however a dab of powder and that's all sorted out.

This is perfect for summer months as well if you don't want your face feeling too heavy with make-up in the heat. I particularly like the thin coverage because my skin sometimes reacts badly to foundation, but it seems to be ok with this and it doesn't irritate it at all. The foundation has great staying power as well and unlike a lot of others that I've tried, this doesn't dry out and start 'cracking'.

I would certainly recommend this but it's quite expensive so you really need to make sure it's the right foundation for you or if you can, get a little sample, before splashing out on the full size.

Have you tried the No Foundation Foundation? What did you think?

This post contains PR samples

The Sunday Catch Up #1

Sleepy kitty / Flowers! / Thanks Boots points! / Blog planning

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Well done everyone, you've officially survived the first full week of the New Year! Now to survive the remaining 51…

I've gone for a bit of a revamp of the usual week in photos, hope you like it! I didn't actually take that many pictures this week, weirdly enough, I guess I just didn't do anything very exciting! As I mentioned, it's been the first full week of January and my first full week back at work. It's gone pretty quickly and it feels like we're back into routine again now too.

I've been being super organised so far this year and I'm trying to plan blog posts well in advance and a few one of 'special' weeks dedicated to various subjects. I'm also trying to perfect my picture taking by playing around with the manual mode on my camera, it's not going too badly if I say so myself. Like any blogger, I want to grow my blog and try new things so we'll see how that goes!

Although it's only the beginning of January I somehow have very little money. Isn't that always the way though? I had a little shopping splurge when I first got paid but I really didn't go mad. It didn't help that we had to do a food shop and I had to pay out £50 for a new tyre too, rubbish! I'm now planning a big shopping trip at the beginning of February when I can go and spend my vouchers. I'm quite looking forward to it actually!

How has your week been?

This weeks posts:

Fancy a Yankee Candle alternative? Try the No.3 Fig Noir and Blackberry Fragranced Candle Tin.

I tried a new product to help keep my curls in shape - Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Styling Spray.

I also tried the L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray.

L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray

L'Oreal Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray - £3.79


Another day, another hair product! I seem to have gone a bit mad on the hair product front but I was really keen to get my hands on this one after seeing FleurDeForce using it in one of her videos. I'm not sure how new it is exactly. I imagine it's relatively new as my local Boots store didn't have it…

In the end I picked this up from a bigger Boots store in town and for £3.79 I don't think you can go wrong really. After washing and blow drying my hair I used this product and I'm really impressed with the outcome. As I have particularly fine, limp hair it's difficult to maintain volume but this spray really did a good job.

The spray itself is really light and doesn't leave the hair feeling sticky or straw like. I'm always wary of products that you spray onto dry hair as in the past I've used them and they've left my freshly washed hair horribly sticky and I've had to rewash. Luckily this felt lovely in my hair after application and it really gave my locks a much needed lift.

My hair stayed volumised for the majority of the day so I'll definitely be using this spray on a regular basis. When I find a product that really works I definitely treasure it as it's so rare for me to find one. I also recently curled my hair and found this was a fab product to help keep the curls in tact and voluminous. Hooray!

Have you tried this? What are your thoughts?

Umberto Giannini Curl Friends Styling Spray

I recently purchased the Babyliss Curl Secret and needed some kind of product to help keep the curls in tact for longer than half an hour. My hair is really thin and when I curl it they usually fall out pretty quickly so I'm always on the look out for something that will really cement them in there.

So New Year's Eve was the night I decided to try the Babyliss Curl Secret for the first time and I suddenly remembered I'd bought the Curl Friends to help ease the curling process. So off I went, spray, spray, spray, curl, curl, curl and although it took longer than expected I came upon the above finished result.

The diddy size of the spray is perfect if, like me, you're only trialling a product and don't want to splash out on a fullsize if it's going to be rubbish. Luckily I'm quite impressed with this spray. It didn't make the hair sticky or straw like after application and it really held the curls well. I curled my hair at around 6pm and as it was New Year's Eve I was up quite late, until around 2am and there were definitely still curls in my hair!

Overall I'm really impressed with the spray. It doesn't have a nasty scent and I think it works really well. It's the perfect accompaniment for your curlers.

Have you tried this? How did you get on?

No.3 Fig Noir and Blackberry Fragranced Candle Tin

No.3 Fig Noir and Blackberry Fragranced Candle Tin - £5



As a Yankee candle devotee I'm often wary of trying out the competition. Yankee candles always smell SO good and its inevitable that any scented candle is going to be compared to the popular brand. I recently received this candle as a Christmas gift and I'm really glad I did.

The candle is actually from Boots of all places, somewhere I didn't think actually sold any type of candle, and is just £5. You can buy the glass version for £8 and either is pretty reasonable if you ask me. I'm sure the range comes in lots of other scents but I was bought the gorgeous Fig Noir and Blackberry scented one, which is absolutely delicious. It really fills the room with a deep, fruity scent.

I think I'm somewhat of a snob when it comes to candles. I thought it was either Yankee Candle or nothing but this Christmas I received two different branded candles, including the one featured here, and they've proved that other brands are equally as scrumptious smelling and a fraction of the price too! I'm really interested to check out the rest of the range and scents and would thoroughly recommend other candle snobs try out the No.3 brand.

A New Year week in photos

Fireworks / Curled hair / Charlie / Chocs! / Turkey curry / MUA Palettes / New hair products / Possible new look for 2014? / New notebook and diary

Follow me on Instagram - @cherryp13

So it's officially 2014! I've already been back at work for two days and have had as many takeaways in as many days. Oops.

It feels like forever ago that we were watching the fireworks at midnight but it really was only on Tuesday, or technically Wednesday. Like the past three years or so I spent the evening at Vince's parents house, tucking into some yummy, yummy food. We watched the fireworks and Vince's dad even let some off that he had too. I curled my hair especially for the occasion using my Babyliss Curl Secret.

I'd watched a few videos on Youtube of people styling their hair with it and they all made it look so easy but I found it pretty difficult and my hair kept getting stuck in the automatic barrel thing. It was a bit frightening! Anyway, I managed it eventually and my hair did stay in tact for quite a long time!

I didn't start the New Year off in the best way actually as when I parked the car on NY Eve I didn't realise I had torn a hole in the tyre due to hitting the curb so when Vince and I drove home at around 1.30am it was loosing air by the second. By the time we got home it was completely flat and I had to call my dad in the morning to help me fix it. Unfortunately I needed a new tyre so it was a pretty expensive NY to be honest! I should probably just learn to park properly so it doesn't happen again!

On Thursday I was back at work so I guess things have properly gone back to normal now. I now know what day it is and the Christmas tree and all of the decorations have come down. Now it's just regular old January. Boo!

Vince had the day off yesterday so we managed to get our food shopping done. What a thrilling life we lead, eh? We actually also popped to Matalan to check out the sale and I picked up a lovely new jacket! Hopefully I'll be able to feature it on the blog soon.

Today I've spent the morning doing the cleaning and have now settled down for some blogging. I think next weekend I may venture to Bristol to spend my vouchers. I have a £50 Primark voucher burning a hole in my pocket!

How had your week been?