Fresher's Week beauty essentials and giveaway

Something I put very little thought into when I first went to University was what beauty essentials I needed! I had all my pots and pans, my notebooks, my laptop etc etc but forgot about some of the very basics needed to keep myself looking half decent through Fresher's Week. I've cobbled together a little list of items you might find useful during your first few weeks at Uni.

Dry shampoo
The holy grail! I'm not even sure if dry shampoo was a thing back in my Uni days, all I know is there were four girls vying for the bathroom every morning and it all could have been much easier if I'd had a little can of the magic stuff to spray into my roots and give them a bit of a boost. Perfect if you have a 9am lecture and you wake up a little late or hungover!

Under eye concealer
Another one I couldn't have done without during University. Perfect for when you spend the night partying instead of studying or if you pull an all-nighter before a hand in date.

A nude and a bright lipstick
If there's one piece of make-up I'd recommend keeping on yourself at all times, it's a lipstick. It's a good idea to have one nude one for every day looks and going to lectures and a fun, bright shade for nights out and dressing up.

A good skincare routine
University can be pretty stressful. There's lots to take in, there's lots of partying and lots of drinking and lots of not eating so well. It's a good idea to have a good skin regime already in place or a decent spot cream handy for any stress-related breakouts.

Makeup Revolution has just launched its new range of skincare including an anti-bacterial face wash and serum, which I'm giving away to one lucky reader. The giveaway is UK only and you must follow all the rules to be in with a chance of winning. The closing date is September 14. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Some of the products featured are PR samples.

Georgio Armani lipstick giveaway

Just a quick one today to let you all know I'm giving away a Georgio Armani Rouge d'armani lipstick! This was given to me in a goody bag earlier in the year when I attended a blogger event, which you can read about here.

I've decided to give the lipstick away as it's not really my colour. It's never been used but there is a tiny bit of smudging on it, just from getting too hot in my conservatory, oops! Otherwise it's in great condition and comes in the shade 611. Just follow the rules below and it could be yours!

UK only
Ends Wednesday, July 17.

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Versace Eros Pour Femme Eau de Parfum Giveaway

When it comes to fragrances I think the new Versace Eros Pour Femme Eau de Parfum has got to be one of the most luxurious I've ever seen. Not only does it come packaged in a bolshy, gold bottle, but it evokes feelings of power as well as femininity. The scent itself has hints of spice blended with notes of jasmine, lemon and woods.

It's not my usual scent but this is going to take pride of place in my fragrance collection and is one of those fragrances I will turn to when I'm a bit bored of my usual floral/fruity perfumes and want something a bit stronger to make me feel ready for the day.

The wonderful people at House of Fraser have not only very kindly given me one of the fab new perfumes, but they've also given me one to giveaway as well! UK only. The competition will close on Monday, March 16.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*This post contains a PR sample 

The Body Shop Christmas Wishes giveaway

Hi everyone. I was recently asked if I'd like to take place in The Body Shop's Advent Christmas Wishes campaign and of course, I said yes! I was allowed to either review some products or host a giveaway so I thought I would host a giveaway as a bit of a treat for you guys.

I'll be giving away a Camomile Gentle Eye Makeup Revmoer, a Shimmer Cube Palette in Green and a Shimmer Cube Palette in Purple. All you have to do is follow the instructions in the form below. This is open to UK residents only and the giveaway will finish on December 23.

Don't forget to check out the The Body Shop's Advent Christmas Wishes campaign to see what's one offer from lots of other great bloggers!

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Makeup Revolution Palette giveaway

Something a bit different today as I thought I would host a little giveaway! Over the past few months Makeup Revolution have sent me many, many goodies and I thought I would share some of these with you by hosting this giveaway.

I've not been asked to host this by the brand, I just thought it might be something nice to do and a good way to clear my stash a little bit. I am giving away the I Heart Passion palette, the I Heart Sin palette, the Makeup Geek palette, the Eyes Like Angels palette and the You're Gorgeous palette. The giveaway is UK only and finishes on November 10, just follow the rules in the form below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Makeup Revolution Giveaway

I've not held a giveaway in a little while so today is your lucky day. I've recently received lots of lovely products and to no share some of them with you would be wrong so here we go…

Mother's Day craft challenge and H.Samuel giveaway

I was recently challenged to decorate two mini photo frames for Mother's Day. I was sent all the supplies and two cute cardboard photo frames. Now I have to admit I'm not the most crafty person. If I ever attempt anything crafty I usually get annoyed with it and it ends up being flung across the room but I guess I must have been in the right mood to do this as I sat down on Sunday afternoon and got my paints out.

I was going for a bit of an ombre look with the square frame, from pink to red, and I think it works ok. Not brilliant, but I'm happy with it. I also went for an all over ombre using purples and blues with the heart shape frame but I thought I'd go for a cloud effect on this one and again, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I chopped off the original string hangers and replaced them with the pretty ribbon, which I think works really well. I kept the detail quite minimal with a little wooden flower in the corner of the square frame. Now, the intention with these was to fill them with pictures of my mum and I but weirdly we don't have any printed. I hate having my photograph taken and so does my mum so I don't actually have any of us together! I'm sure there's probably some stuffed in a box in my parent's attic but I wasn't about to go through them!

Instead I went for a photograph of Vince and I (aww!) in the heart frame and a photograph of me as a kid in the other! Perfect for Mother's Day and really cheap too!

If you fancy splashing a little bit more on your mum this Mother's Day then you can enter to win a £50 H.Samuel gift card below. UK only and the giveaway ends on Tuesday, April 1.

Clarins Spring Opalescence Collection and giveaway

Multi Blush Cream Blush in Peach and Grenadine - £18*

Gloss Prodige Intense Shine & Colour - £17*

Joli Rouge Brilliant Perfect Shine Sheer Lipstick in Coral Tulip and Pink Orchid - £18*

Opalescence Eye Quartet Mineral Palette - £31*
Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base - £26*
So, the new Clarins Opalescence Collection for Spring 2014 has been well worth the wait, don't you think? I was very kindly sent a few key pieces from the range and to say I'm thrilled with them is an understatement.

The collection is all about lightness and delicacy as well as celebrating the end of winter with some bold, fun colours. It's fresh and vibrant and there's quite possibly something to suit everyone. My favourite products have got to be the gorgeous Multi-Blush Cream Blushes of which I received in 03 Grenadine and 01 Peach. Each blush is ridiculously creamy and gorgeous and they're actually really natural looking as well, unlike some which can be a bit too obvious.

The Joli Rouge Perfect Shine Sheer Lipsticks in Coral Tulip and Pink Orchid are another two great colours from the collection. Again they're bright and bold but aren't as frighteningly bright once applied to the lips. They're lovely and glossy and sheer, as their namesake suggests and you can top up their brilliance with a slick of clear Gloss Prodige Intense Shine Lipgloss.

I'm really interested to try out the Instant Light Radiance Boosting Complexion Base as it's perfect for wearing when you don't fancy full on foundation and just want something light and fresh. Perfect for spring funnily enough!

The standout piece in the collection for me is the Ombre Eye Quartet Palette as it's just perfect. I can't describe it any other way that it's just one of those products that you want to continuously look at and don't actually want to use because you don't want to ruin it. I actually have a palette from a past collection so I'm chuffed to now have two equally gorgeous pieces in my make-up collection. Aren't I a lucky girl?

What are your thoughts on the new collection? Let me know in the comments. I will hopefully be featuring some more in depth reviews on the blog soon!

This post contains PR samples

Wednesday Wishlist #100 and a giveaway!

Dark Red Tartan Check Tea Dress - £22.99, Red Tartan Check T-Shirt - £19.99, Belle Heart Red Tartan Leather-Look Pocket Shorts - £19.99, Red Check Mini Tube Skirt - £19.99

I can't believe I've reached number 100 in my Wednesday Wishlist series, mainly because I can't believe I've been able to keep it up for so long. Granted there's been the odd week I've forgotten but at least it's not a series that has started and completely stopped right in the middle.

This week I'm featuring the very popular tartan trend. I may have featured a couple of tartan items in the past but I don't even care because I love it so much. I actually have the above sheer tartan top, which I'm hoping to feature in a future outfit post if I can ever master the art of outfit photographing, and I actually purchased a new dark green tartan skirt yesterday too.

To celebrate reaching my 100th Wednesday Wishlist I thought I'd hold a little giveaway! As I've featured all items from New Look in this week's wishlist I thought I would give one of my readers the chance to buy some tartan for themselves (or anything else they want!) and I'm giving away a £20 New Look gift voucher.

The voucher will be purchased by myself after the competition has ended and will be sent to the winner via post.

Open to UK only because of the above reason ^

Follow the rules of the rafflecopter!

Winner will be announced on November 30, 2013.

Gift card might not actually look like the image above, it's just an example!

MUA Giveaway

I recently checked out my 'product' box and found a few MUA bits that I hadn't yet used. Instead of using them once and them collecting dust in my make-up bag I thought I would run a little giveaway for my lovely readers!

It's pretty simple to enter, just follow the instructions on the form below. The giveaway is open to UK entrants only I'm afraid! I will draw the winner on February 6.

Famous Cosmetics Giveaway

I recently sent some Famous Cosmetics products and there were a few bits in the package that I knew I wouldn't really use, so I thought I'd better send them to a good home!

I've decided to give away the Shining Star Shimmer Brick in Rihanna Shimmer which I reviewed last week HERE. I'm also giving away the No Shine Face Powder and the First Date Blush.

Simply follow all the rules below to enter! UK only!

This post contains PR samples

Glamour Magazine x Benefit POREfessional Giveaway

I think I get a bit carried away when it comes to magazine freebies. I picked up the latest issue of Glamour with this freebie in it even though I already have the full size version!

So instead of having it clutter up the place and gather dust, I thought I'd give it away to one of my lovely readers!

It's only a teeny tiny product so there isn't really much in the way of giveaway rules, but unfortunately it is only open to UK residents!

Smashbox Giveaway!

Back in February I was sent some lovely products from the new Smashbox Girls on Film collection. (You can see them reviewed here)

Since then I haven't actually used the products and believe it or not, my sister wasn't interested in them either as they weren't really her shades. So instead, I've decided to give them away to my lovely blog followers!












So, in order to win the new Smashbox Girls on Film Blush in 'Blush Rush' and the Smashbox Lip Enhancing Gloss in 'Underexposed', just follow the rules below.

Rules
1. You must be a UK follower
2. You must be following my blog via Google Friend Connect
3. For 1 extra entry you can tweet about the giveaway making sure to tag @cherryp13 and include a link to this post.
4. You must leave a comment below with your email address, GFC username and a link to your tweet if you do one.

The giveaway will finish on Friday 13th April and I will announce the winner!

Christmas Giveaway with MUA

I've been meaning to write this post for about a week now but work experience has kept me extremely busy, but more about that another time. I wanted to do a little Christmas giveaway on the blog to help celebrate how far it's come in the past year, oh, and the fact that it's Christmas.

Ive decided to giveaway not one, not two, but THREE MUA palettes which I brought with my own money from the MUA Store. They actually have a great offer on at the moment until January 3rd; if you spend over £8 you receive a free Immaculate palette! As I am already the proud owner of the Immaculate palette (you can expect a review shortly) I decided to include it in the giveaway. You lucky things!








If you're lucky enough to win the giveaway, you will be receiving the 24 shade Immaculate Palette, the extremely popular Heaven and Earth Palette and the perfect for Christmas, Glitterball Palette.

MUA has really gone from strength to strength in 2011 so I thought these palettes would make the perfect prize!

How to enter
1. Be a follower of the blog on GFC
2. Comment with your email address and tell me what have been your favourite posts to read on CherryPie Blog!


Pretty simple right? The giveaway will end on January 2nd and the prize will be sent once the postal service has resumed to normal! That way your prize shouldn't get lost!

In the mean time, you may have noticed the MUA badge on the right sidebar. If you haven't already discovered, this badge leads to the company's brilliant blog where everyday leading up to Christmas, they are creating festive inspired looks and hoping that readers will recreate them. It's great fun and I'm trying to find the time to recreate some myself. Get on over there if you haven't already.

Good luck!

Win a Dirty Works 'Go Set Go' Mini Luxuries set

To celebrate reaching 25 'fans' on Facebook, I've decided to hold a little giveaway! You might remember me featuring a product from the Dirty Works range which I really loved, so I've decided to give away a product from that very range.

I am giving away a 'Get Set Go! Mini Luxuries set over on the Cherry Pie Facebook page. The set contains a 'All of a lather' Body Wash, 'Think of England' bath soak and a 'Bare Neccessities' Body Lotion in 100ml pots.

In order to be in with a chance of winning, all you have to do is like Cherry Pie on Facebook and comment on the correct post with your name, contact email address and your best blogging tip! The giveaway will end on August 8th 2011 and a winner will be picked from Random.org. One entry per person!

Remember, to enter you must comment on Facebook, not here! :)

Hello Weston-Super-Mare!

I'm back in the glorious sea-side town that is Weston-Super-Mare and this is going to be where I live from now on. On Wednesday Vince and I moved out of our Southampton student house and back home. We're both currently living at our parent's houses but we're hoping to both find jobs and eventually find out own place together.

It still feels like we're only back for the Summer and we will be going back in September and come that time, it'll feel even weirder not being able to go back. I think I probably would have gone slightly crazy by then but at the moment I'm liking not having to do washing, food shopping and generally any boring chores. Now comes the more boring part of finding a job to keep me on my feet. It won't be a job relating to my studies just yet as I need something to bring some money in and it's very difficult to find a job in my chosen career. I've actually already applied at a supermarket and Pizza Hut, which was quite depressing. There are a few bar/restaurant jobs I've got to apply for and then I'll eventually trudge around the town with a handful of CVs ready to hand out.

When I got back I finally managed to get my old bedroom back! My sister swiftly moved in there as soon as I left for University but now she's moved in with her boyfriend ready for the arrival of the baby, I've been able to get back in there. My mum and dad have actually set it up very nicely for me. I've snagged her double bed which I wasn't sure about at first because the room isn't that big but I actually really like how it's set out. The wardrobes are massive, which is great for storing all my junk! The only thing that is a bit annoying is that there's no desk, but Dad has said that he will be making an office in the box room for us! I can't wait.

Yesterday my mum, sister and I all took a little shopping trip to a cute vintage style shop that I had no idea existed! They shouldn't have taken me in there at all as I'll end up buying loads in the future. Yesterday I brought a really cute heart bunting and a frame for the wall but there's so much more that I want!

So for all of you that are nosy parkers like me, here's my new room!

Mini haul & Home time!

I really need to stop doing this. 'This' being, shopping in my lunch breaks. It's such a temptation seeing as the town centre is just across the park from the University I work at. It's not like it was even pay day today either!

I originally went into the town to post some items I sold on eBay, which of course lead me to just 'popping' in to Boots and Topshop for 'essentials' that I don't really need :P I ended up with a Collection 2000 Blusher, a Topshop Blusher Duo, necklace and a new T-shirt!

I have, however, given myself a stern talking to and I will now be putting away half of my wages each week. In the corner of wage slips, they always tell you how much you have earnt since starting your job at the company and the number in that box genuinely shocked me today because if I had saved it all up, I'd have more than enough for a deposit on a flat. So, from now on, the flat deposit saving starts HERE!

So please let me revel in my new goodies, as they may be some of the last nice things I buy! *cry* (Who am I kidding? I'm sure there will be plenty more haul posts for you, hah!)

Topshop Blush Duo

Collection 2000 Blush

This weekend Vince and I have decided to take a trip home again. We're planning on taking quite a bit of stuff with us in order to make moving day a bit lighter. I've had a good clear out of my wardrobe but it still seems pretty full. Isn't that always the way? I'm pretty much going to be spending the weekend sorting out my shoe-box of a room ready for when I move back at the end of June. I can't bare to part with most of the stuff, such as my childhood books and magazines that I've collected so I guess they'll be stored in the attic for the time being. To be honest, the more books I have the better as each one is a step closer to my dream 'wall of books.'

Sorry for boring the pants off you all with my equally boring weekend that lies ahead! On another note, I have been reading all of your Giveaway entries and a lot of you have been saying that you'd like to know me, the person behind the blog, a little bit better.

I am definitely going to be taking all of your comments on board and to start with I have created a Formspring account where you can ask me anything and try to get to know me better!