Housewarming

Hello! After two weeks of no Internet and moving house I'm finally back up and running so thought I'd pop on and say a quick 'hi'. I'm not even sure anyone reads here after my three week break but I'm determined to get back in the game starting this coming weekend. I have always given myself a week off blogging here and there but this three week break has actually been much better as I've actually started to miss blogging and have been itching to get back into it.

Moving was a huge stressful mess but we're finally in and I'm planning to do a few blog posts of tips and advice for moving. Definitely something I'll have to remember next time around.

Now I have the Internet back I'm really hoping to get back into doing my Yoga. I've actually temporarily given up spin class in favour of an aerobics class - I felt like it was time to try something new. I got a bit bored of spin but I may go back to it one day!

So with that I will bid you a quick goodbye and will be back and blogging v.soon!

Flamingo Candles - The Melt Crowd July Box

Can you believe it's July already? A new month means a new Melt Crowd box from Flamingo Candles. If you missed my previous post about the first ever box from this company, you can read it here. I mentioned in it that I will probably get absolutely overrun with melts, which is exactly what has happened. The reason being, I've been breaking up the melts to burn and they have lasted absolutely ages! So I may be overrun with the things but it's definitely a good thing.

When I walked through the front door I could smell the July box before I could see it. Even in the cardboard, these melts were filling my lounge with gorgeous scent. The only I could really smell over all the others was the Mojito scent, which is absolutely a-mazing!.

There's eight melts in total including Raspberry & Salted Caramel, Cucumber & Melon, Mojito, Green Tomato Leaf (exclusive!), Lemon Curd, Oriental Lotus & Rose Otto, Pink Lemonade and Island Breeze (another exclusive) and once again, they're all totally up my street. For £10 this is an absolute bargain of a box and it's taking the blogging world by storm at the moment.

I can't recommend this subscription box enough really. The first two have been pretty amazing but I'm really looking forward to more seasonal/themed boxes, in particular autumn scents later in the year and even Christmassy ones too! The possibilities are endless and as I mentioned in my first post about the box, this is a great way to discover new scents and get a sample of them before investing in full-size versions.

Have you tried the Flamingo Candles Melt Crowd box yet? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

The pros and cons of renting a home

I remember finishing University, moving back home and thinking of nothing else other than renting a house with my boyfriend. I bugged him for months about it (as he likes to remind me of!) and we picked the first house we saw. Luckily, it turned out ok and we've been in the same place for three years, however, we were recently told our landlord was selling up and we have until the end of August to get out.

That's kind of what has inspired this post as the subject of mortgages versus renting has been popping up a lot recently. Unfortunately we just don't have the money for mortgaging but I thought I'd put a little post together to go through a few pros and cons of renting, in the hope it might help someone who's eager to get into their own place ASAP.

Pros

Independence
You feel like a real grown up when you finally move out of mum and dad's house!

Having a landlord or letting agency as your back up should anything with the house go wrong
The boilers broke! Who ya gonna call?

No long term commitment
If you need to get out fast, you can. You'll probably have to give a month or two notice but it's much quicker than having to wait for the house to sell.

Cons

No pets allowed
Unless you have a rather nice landlord or pay extra deposit (one landlord wanted to charge us £1,000 extra for ours!)

No children allowed
Some won't allow your cheeky little cherubs however much you think they're little angels.

No decorating
If you're renting then the landlord won't be keen for you to paint your place. You might have to stick with heavy accessorising instead.

Regular house visits and checks
Lettings agencies and landlords need to check your property by law to make sure things like smoke alarms are still in working order, this means regular checks every three months or so. A bit inconvenient sometimes. Some even like to check you're keeping the house looking good.

No return on investment
So you're paying all this money per month...but it's paying someone else's mortgage! This is a big factor in our own decision that we do want to finally get a mortgage so we can actually have somewhere that is ours and nobody elses. It physically hurts if you work out the amount of money you've paid in rent, I wouldn't suggest it!

Security
When you're renting, it's not really your home. Like what happened to us, the landlord can decide to sell up at any point or even stop renting and move in themselves. It's someone elses nest egg, which you're just keeping warm temporarily.

While my boyfriend and I are going to continue renting, because we have to, it's not what we want to do forever.

My top tip when you're renting is to save, save, save. Even if you're not saving for a mortgage, it's a good idea to have a little pile of savings incase the worst happens and you need to move out in relatively quick time. That way you won't, like me, have to break into your overdraft or scrabble money together/sell all your worldly posessions in order to get the funds.

What pros and cons have you found from renting? Let me know in the comments.

Freedom Makeup Pro Bare Lipstick Collection

I've mentioned several times on this blog that I'm not a lipstick person. I'm not even a lipgloss person. The furthest I go when it comes to lip products is an unscented, non-coloured balm, but that was until I discovered nude lipsticks.

I've featured a couple on the blog this year and I was recently sent some lipsticks from the Freedom Makeup Pro Bare collection* so thought I'd chat about them today.

Freedom is a relatively new brand, created off the back of Makeup Revolution, which is one of my favourites! The intention is to provide professional quality makeup for budget prices. Each lipstick from the Pro Bare collection is £1. Yes, just one little pound. I'm not joking.

I rather love the nude shades in this collection and they range from pretty peach to beige, perfect for someone like me who has rather pale skin and is a bit nervous of dark and bright red shades. On application the lipsticks are a little thin and not hugely pigmented but a few coats does seem to fix this. I opted for a pink shade in the pic above and as you can see, it's ideal for creating a 'barely there' make-up look.

Overall I really like the whole collection, there's a nice little range of neutral shades, which are right up my street. This is definitely the type of collection you should pick up if you want to ease yourself into wearing lipstick more often. A great starter kit.

Have you tried the Freedom Makeup Pro Bare collection? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

*I was sent these lovely lipsticks as PR samples.

Budget beauty treats: Dirty Works Cucumber Eye Pads and Buff Your Stuff Body Scrub

There seems to be a bit of a pre-bedtime routine theme running on the blog this week. Today I've decided to feature some more products that I've been loving at bath time on a Sunday evening.

I spotted the Dirty Works Cucumber Eye Pads* on a couple of blogs and I was so intrigued about them. I don't really suffer from puffy eyes or bags (at least I don't think my bags are too big!) but it's always good to give that area a little treat. The pads themselves are pre-moistened with soothing cucumber & aloe vera and come in sealed packets, perfect for popping on when you're in the bath. They're super soothing and cooling too, you can make them even more cooling by popping them into the fridge before use as well, perfect for the hot weather.

I've never tried anything like this before and it was a bit strange and tricky not to open my eyes. I definitely wouldn't recommend opening your eyes, even a bit as you'll definitely get the cucumbery juices in them, not that they stung too much though!

After using the pads I felt like the area round my eyes felt really soft and soothed. They're ideal if you've had little sleep the night before or are particularly stressed out and puffy. I'd definitely recommend as a little Sunday evening pick-me-up!

The Buff Your Stuff scrub* is also another cute, cheap and cheerful product I've been using for a couple of weeks now. I particularly like using the scrub on my legs before shaving to counteract shaving rash. The scrub itself contains sweet almond oil, which smells amazing and helps leave my legs feeling lovely and soft. The only thing I would say is that I'd prefer it is had more scrub beads in it. I feel like it needs more when I rub it in, I like to really feel the 'scrub' over my skin if that makes sense.

Overall I'm pretty impressed with these two products. They're the perfect purse friendly beauty treats and are easily available in your local Sainsburys!

Have you tried Dirty Works' products before? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

*This post contains PR samples.