Organic Surge fresh ocean shower gel

Over the course of the last few months I've become quite a fan of Organic Surge products, I've yet to try something from them that I don't like.

If you're not aware of the brand, they're certified organic, free from parabens, synthetic fragrances, colourants and SLS.  Their aim is to product affordable organic skincare that doesn't compromise on it's other ingredients, without setting you back a pretty penny.

Back in July I reviewed their super fresh body wash, which was so lovely - it smelled of lemons (one of my favourite shower scents).  This one is of equal quality - it lathers up beautifully and leaves your skin smelling fresh with accents of rosemary, lemon & lime.  It also doesn't dry out my skin, like many shower gels can.  That aside, it's also very affordable at £4.75* and lasts well.

There's two other scents which I've added to my wish list from their shower range which sound amazing, both sugared almond (this would be perfect for Christmas!) and sweet blossom.

Yep it's early to mention it, but these would make great stocking fillers as they're inexpensive, great quality and lovely to use.

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*This post contains a PR sample

September 2014 favourites

Last month my favourites were quite late, so I'm getting them in early this time :)  Since I've been on maternity leave (well, technically annual leave as my maternity leave starts today) I haven't worn much makeup as I've just been sat at home every day.  However, on the times I have ventured out or just felt like putting on makeup - these have been some of my most reached for pieces.

Liz Earle hot cloth cleanser

This is probably my 4th time of buying this, but this time instead of opting for the pump bottle which is smaller, I went for the bigger squeeze bottle.  I'm not sure if anyone else has found this, but I've found the formula in the squeezy bottle to be a bit wetter, meaning I need to use a bit more than before - but that aside, it's fab for removing makeup and leaves my skin feeling lovely, soft and well cleansed.

Kiehl's midnight recovery oil*

I haven't been using this long enough to form a proper review of it - however the times I have been using it I'm absolutely loving it.  I use 3 drops at night, warm it in my hands, and then rub it into my face.  By the morning my skin feels like velvet.  It hasn't broken me out or anything negative, it's only made my skin feel lovely.

Benefit Browzings* & Gimmie Brow*

As you might know from previous updates, for my brows I've always been a fan of the HD Brow kit, and up until a couple weeks ago, I'd never tried Browzings.  I bought a Gimmie Brow in dark months ago and loved it - it's MUCH better than the Maybelline equivalent (which I'd tried first).  When I went to a Benefit blogger event, the lovely Lisa gave me a full brow treatment and these products, which are both in light - not a shade I would have picked out for myself.  However, the look is so much more natural and gives me fuller looking brows than my old HD Brow kit - I'm really impressed with these.

Makeup Revolution Super wow matte lip pencil*

While not all of these shades were ones I'd regularly wear, this one in particular I adore - the shade is Maria.  Each of the shades in the collection are 'Blondie' themed :)  These are perfectly matte and stay put for a long time.  My biggest tip is to apply it with a lip brush first so you can get a nice defined line.

Mavala nail polish in Iridescence*

This lovely purple shade has been living on my toes for the past couple of weeks.  Today I'm taking off my gel nail polish (apparently, if I need a c-section, they'll take it off anyway) and replacing it with this to match my toes, all ready for hospital.  I'm going to take nail polish remover with me just in case, but at least this will be easier to remove than gel!  The first coat of this goes on quite thin, but the 2nd coat fixed it and gives a lovely opaque colour.  Top it off with a clear top coat and it'll last for days too.

Makeup Forever HD Foundation

I picked this up earlier in the year and forgot I had it - but oh boy am I glad I rediscovered it!  I've just realised I haven't reviewed this yet either!  It gives a lovely near-flawless finish, it stays matte and stays in place for a long time.  It's medium-buildable coverage and evens out the skin-tone beautifully. This is one of the best foundations I've used, it's got a sterling reputation for a reason.

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Bedroom inspiration

On the poll I have on my blog I asked what kind of posts you'd like to see more of, and interior design was the top one, so you ask and shall receive.

We've recently re-done our bedroom, but it was on a very tight budget and it's a very small room. This post is more of a 'if I had no real budget restrictions and a bigger room' this is the kind of setup I'd go for.

First I picked a new bed, there's nothing wrong with ours, but it's 10 years old and was a real budget buy, so when I picked out my wish list furniture from Bedstar, I opted for this double metal bedstead which would set me back £715 - ignore the yellow, in my room it'd be purple, but if money wasn't a real option, I'd want something more opulent and grand, a bed that makes a statement like this one.

Over the years as I've got older, my tastes have changed from being into light coloured wood like IKEA's birch products, to darker wood - in fact, most of the wood in my house is now darker, at least downstairs.  If I had a bigger room it'd lend itself to darker furniture, but as it stands our room is too small to not only accommodate large furniture, but dark wood too.

All pieces of furniture I picked were from the Julian Bowen Minuet collection, all with a wenge finish - clearly I'm loving wenge as the bathroom we're in the middle of doing is a white suite with wenge too.  The bedside cabinet we picked was the 3 Drawer Bedside which is a very reasonable £122 and with really snazzy contemporary handles.

While the hubby is a fan of wardrobes, I'm a bigger fan of a good chest of drawers.  Most of my clothes don't need to be hung up, whereas the hubby has lots of shirts for work that need to be hung. For me, I picked the minuet 6 drawer dresser (£297).  I opted for this one over the taller 5 drawer as this would give me more space for my ever growing makeup collection on the top, and a nice mirror.

Finally, the wardrobe is from the same collection but the wider 3 door version (£525).  I love the colour of these, it makes them look so much older than they are.  Team it up with purple walls, a white fluffy rug and a nice big plant in the corner, oh and of course a massive bay window - and you're good to go :)

If you were imaginary shopping what would you pick?

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*Collaborative post - opinions are my own :)

Love Me Beauty - September edition

Love Me Beauty has changed.  Other than a glamorous new box adorned with rose gold lettering, there's also a new way to order what's in the box.  Gone are the days of a mystery box turning up on your doorstep once a month.  Now, you simply log in to www.lovemebeauty.com - set up your account and then you'll have 6 credits to spend.  Each of the times has a credit value, typically 1 or 2 credits - you pick the things you'd like to try, spending your credits (you can save a couple to roll over for the next month if you really want).

Then when the box is sent out, it comes in a little dust bag within the box and inside are the products you have chosen. 

I really like this idea, it's different from everyone else, and it means you won't be ordering products you're not interested in trying.  These are the products I chose for September.

Percy & Reed dry conditioner - 2 credits - sample size is worth £7 (full size £12)

I picked this because it's so different, I've never heard of a dry conditioner before.  It's something I'm putting in my hospital bag to try out.  What I'm curious to find out, is how well it'll work with dry shampoo, which is also going in the bag - we'll see - I'm excited to try it :)

Oriflame BB cream in light - 2 credits - sample size worth £5 (full size £10.95)

This has SPF 30 (very decent) in the mix.  I've tried a couple of Oriflame products before, my favourite being the triple core lipstick which I had in a blogger meetup goody bag last year.  Their aim is to create glowing skin by soothing, nourishing and healing the skin, as well as camouflaging any redness.  I'm excited to give this a try too!

Malin + Goetz grapefruit face cleanser - 1 credit - sample size worth £2.50

This is a simple foaming gel cleanser that uses natural grapefruit extract which helps to prevent breakouts and blemishes.  I'm a bit of a sucker for fruit scents, especially zesty ones like this, so I'm looking forward to giving this a whirl, maybe I'll put this in my hospital bag too!

NYX nail polish - 1 credit

Like the numpty I am, I don't have the nail polish to hand.  We're having our bathroom done at the moment, and considering my weak pregnant bladder I need to be near a working loo (TMI I know) - so I'm at my in laws house at the moment writing this post up, so I'm afraid to say, I can't tell you what shade it is - but look how pretty it is!!!!!!!  Perfect for Autumn, Halloween and the festive season :)

I really like the new way Love Me Beauty are putting together their boxes, putting you in control of what you receive and for £13.95 - which is more than previous boxes - only time will tell if that extra charge is worth it.

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*This post contains PR samples

Bling Brow Benefit blogger & press event

 

Back a few days ago I was invited to a blogger & PR event by the lovely people at Benefit.  They were doing a road show with the lovely @lisa_benefit (head makeup artist, trend and brow expert for Benefit UK) and Jared Bailey (global brow expert).

I've met Lisa at a Benefit event before, she's super lovely and such an experienced makeup artist, so I was really honoured for her to give me the full Benefit brow treatment.  Don't forget, this woman has done Cara Delevingne's makeup - needless to say, I felt special ;)

So to begin with Jared showed us how to find your perfect arch and define your brows perfectly, this I did already know, thanks to previous Benefit tuition but it's good to have it refreshed.  Between Lisa, Jarad and some experienced Benebabes we had the full Benefit treatment on our brows including a tint.  

The purpose of the event was also to showcase a new product they have coming out called BlingBrow.  They've teamed up with Swarovski crystal elements to make a kit (pictured above) ready for the festive season to add self-adhesive crystals to your brows.

There's 3 suggested ways to wear them, 3 in a row just past the arch (Touch O'Bling) this will cost £4 a brow or £8 for both.  Then there's having the crystals above the brows (Over the top Bling) - £8. Then having the crystals actually over your brows (Big time bling) £16.  They're self-adhesive and reusable.  You can leave them on for up to 3 days too.

They're also selling a kit (pictured) which is officially out on the 1st November 2014 and will cost £19.50 which has the crystal and rose gold coloured gems inside.  However, if you have Benefit apply them for you, you can pick from up to 8 different colours.

This (for me) is perfect for Christmas party's and New Years partys - but I'm sure that across the UK (and World) for glam nights out girls will be donning these on their brows for extra sparkle and bling!

Will you be Blinging out your brows?

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*This post contains PR samples

Superdrug beauty store Cardiff

A little while ago I was contacted by the PR people for Superdrug and asked if I'd like to pop into their new flagship beauty store and try out some of the treatments they have to offer using a pre-paid gift card.  Always up for a challenge I graciously accepted and went on my way.

When I first got there I asked a member of staff what treatments were available.  All together (not exhaustive) there were: HD Brows (I'd literally had my brows done that day by Benefit), Hair - either having it dyed with a dye I'd bought in store, or having a cut and blow dry, Gel nails, eye brow threading and more.

I opted for gel nails - I'm hoping they'll last long enough to see me through labour :)  Here's my experience:

She started off by taking off my nail polish (you can see in the 2nd pic down, there were still traces of the previous red colour on my thumb and around my fingers) and then filing them. Now, I'm no nail expert, but I'm sure the nail file she was using was one you'd tend to use with acrylic nails as it was very rough.  When I went there, I'd managed to get my nails to a length that I was really happy with, but a lot of length was taken off and I wasn't asked if this is what I wanted - I was just asked 'square or round' - to which I replied square.  The corners weren't filed either, meaning I now have some very sharp edges to my nails.

My nails after filing, a fair bit shorter, and my index finger and middle finger nails are slightly wonky 

 Buffing :)

After buffing :)

First coat on, hand is in the lamp :) 

This is the colour I opted for, 'Diamonds are for me' - she applied 2 coats of this, and a coat of clear

The finished look!  It's a gorgeous colour, a bluey purple glitter, very pretty.

I'm happy with the finished look, the ends were a little rough and I filed them back a little when I got home as they were catching on my clothes.  Coverage is good and applied neatly and without flooding the cuticle (something I really don't like).  While it wasn't a perfect manicure, I would have preferred to keep my nails the length they were, I'd only just given them a mani myself, but despite the short length I am happy with the finished look (apart from the sharp corners).  This treatment costs £15 in store.

With what was left on the gift voucher I made 2 purchases, one was to replace my much loved GOSH forever shadow stick - only because I'm an idiot I bought shade 1 instead of 2, D'Oh!  I also bought my first GOSH lipstick in the shade Night Kiss - I have a feeling this might be a good dupe for the MAC Rebel colour - I'll do a comparison post to see if this is actually the case :)

Overall I love the range of treatments you can get in the Superdrug beauty store like buying a Revlon nail polish, and having it applied for free in store by professionals.  Would I go back and have gel nails again? Yes, but if I don't want my nails filed, I'll be saying so this time - the actual gel mani was great.

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*The treatments and makeup were given to me for the purpose of reviewing Superdrug's beauty store, all opinions are my own

Project B September box

Its that time of the month once again to review the Project B box, this time for September.  I believe this will be my last Project B review as it's designed to go through your pregnancy stages with you, and I've reached the final hurdles of mine, so this is the box for month 9 of your pregnancy (35-39 weeks).

Each box is given a theme, and this theme is 'nest'.  Something pregnant women often feel is the urge to nest, and this isn't necessarily in the last trimester of your pregnancy although that's typically when you're getting the last bits and bobs ready for your little ones arrival (I can confirm this!).  While this might not be the most exciting of the boxes I've had, it certainly is the most practical.

Eco2Life Cleaning spray and Refill

I have to admit, I've never seen anything like this before.  An empty spray bottle which you add the bottle of 'small wonder' cleaning product to - and fill the bottle with water.  I really like the idea of only having to buy the little refills for it, it saves on the amount of plastic used, which is a great thing.

The pampered chef microfibre towel

While I haven't used it yet, I can vouch for how soft it is.  They say it's super absorbent and ideal for cleaning up after the baby and drying bottles.

NO-GERMS Instant hand sanitiser

This is 100% alcohol free.  It kills 99.9& of germs for 2-4 hrs each use and it dries in under 12 seconds.  It's also infused with lavender, chamomile and aloe vera to help keep your hands hydrated.

Spontex Washups

These are pretty self explanatory really :)  We've actually been buying these for years, but the scratch free version that you can use on saucepans etc.  These are great multi-surface cleaners and are great at scrubbing up stubborn areas.

Yes! Nurse's hand formula

This is one for people who's hands are constantly being washed - I used to work in a hospital (for about a year, in theatres) and I can confirm that nurses hands get VERY dry - a mix of being washed all the time and in latex gloves the rest of the time.  This actively hydrates, is fast absorbing and is non-greasy.

Weleda Calendula lotion

An award winning product made with natural organically grown plants.  It's free from synthetic preservatives, fragrances, colourants and any raw material derived from mineral oils.

Unfortunately there weren't any prices included in the box so I can't really work out what the total value of the box is, but the full box was £14.  If you're interested in signing up for a Project B box, you can do that on their website here.

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*This post contains PR samples

Makeup Revolution amazing care lipstick in love nude

As much as I'm a BIG collector of lipstick, I don't own many nudes, in fact, my favourite nude (MAC Creme Cup has disappeared after only 2 uses, it must have fallen out of my bag), and I wear lipstick even less often (I'm normally all about the eyes - probably because they're a better feature than my lips).

One of the reasons I tend not to wear lipstick that often (apart from not having great shaped lips) is because they're nearly always dry, despite wearing plenty of lip balm - so lipsticks tend not to look great on me, as much as I might enjoy the look of them.

That's what I like about this lipstick, the conditioning balm with argan oil surrounding the colour. Makeup Revolution make these in a range of different shades, but what I like about this one is it really is a your-lips-but-better shade, almost like a softly tinted lip balm.  Obviously, depending on the colour of your lips, this will look different on people - me, I have pale lips with very pale skin (as you can see) and this colour is a near-match for my natural lip tone.

The conditioning balm is really effective and not too greasy (like the way vaseline can be), but more hydrating.  That's not bad for £3* :)

Yet again, another great Makeup Revolution product... on the back of how many great products of theirs I've tried, I have just purchased their 32 colour eye shadow palette in 'Flawless' - lots of neutral and berry tones in there, looks perfect for Autumn, I can't wait for it to arrive!

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*This post contains a PR sample

Autumn Mrs Pharmacy Wishlist

Seeing as it's Autumn and I'm skint thanks to spending all my spare money on buying baby stuff, I thought this would be a good time to create a wishlist of some Autumnal makeup goodness.

1.  Clarins Rouge Eclat lipstick - £18.50

Any of their more berry-toned lipsticks would have made it onto the list, colours that are perfect for Autumn.  I'm a fan of Clarins makeup (as you probably know) but have never tried any of their lipsticks, but I can only imagine they're amazing, if the rest of their makeup is anything to go on.

2.  Mavala nail polish in shade Glasgow - £3.80

I've tried a couple of Mavala nail polishes in the past and I was really impressed with the quality - both the pigmentation and staying power.  This shade is perfect for Autumn and to accompany the other pieces I picked out.

3.  Clarins eye quartet in Violet - £31.00

After sampling Clarins eye shadows I can vouch for their quality.  Purple is also my favourite colour and love to wear it on my eyes.  The deep dark shade on the bottom left is stunning, imagine that paired with strong eyeliner and big lashes, lovely :)

4.  Lancome ombre hypnose eye shadow in violet divin - £18.50

Notice a theme here? Yeah, another deep purple eye shadow - this I'd smoke out with a dark colour on the outer v and under the eye for a really dramatic look.  The only Lancome makeup I've tried is the Hypnose Star mascara, which I loved!  I'm not sure if I loved the mascara or the packaging more, but both were great :)

So there you have my Mrs Pharmacy wishlist, what would be on yours?

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*This post contains a sponsored link, all opinions are my own

Beauty Confidential event - House of Fraser

In case you didn't know, House of Fraser are having a 'Beauty Confidential' event where from the 8th - 23rd September, they have £10 off loads of different beauty goodies like the 2 in the picture above when you buy one of your favourites at it's normal price, a pretty nice deal if you ask me, especially if you're in the market for some of the products on offer, which I might add, seem to all be cult products.

You could get £10 off any of the Urban Decay Naked palettes (and their electric palette), YSL fusion ink foundation, sought after skincare from Origins and Kiehl's, Guerlain Météorites and even the cult 'Creme de la mer' - this offer is both online and in stores.

The lovely people at House of Fraser sent me these (pictured) lovely skincare treats to test over the coming month or so, expect a blog post reviewing them in due course!  So far I've only used the Kiehl's midnight recovery concentrate as I was super keen to get started on that - I've only used it for 3 nights, but my first impressions are good - my skin feels so velvety the next day.  But more on that later :)

If you want to take advantage of their beauty confidential here's a link to their event, who doesn't love £10 off their favourite products!?

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August 2014 favourites

I know we're half way through September so this is a little late, but I figured it's better late than never. August has seen me start to wear foundation a little more than in the previous few months, but still not crazy amounts, and I've been wearing some slightly different products, these are the ones that have really stood out to me (tip of the cap to Bourjois for having 3 in my top 6).

Bourjois radiance reveal healthy mix foundation

A beauty that I reviewed earlier this month, my current favourite foundation (don't worry, I'm so fickle this changes all the time).  This is my NARS sheer glow dupe, it gives a beautiful finish that's both quite matte and glowing at the same time.  It lasts well and sits beautifully on the skin.

Bourjois 1 seconde mascara

I love how this defines the lashes and makes them look amazing.  I love that it doesn't crumble and flake out onto my cheeks, it stays put, even this version the non-waterproof one.  It has a thick rubbery wand that grips the lashes really well.

Bourjois liner pinceau (liquid eye liner)

This was a recommendation from Sandra from The Black Pearl Blog - it's the one she's always raved about.  In fairness, I've grown to really love it too.  It sets pretty matte, and jet black.  The brush is flat so you can turn it on its side to get more precision.  It dries quickly and stays put until you're ready to take it off with no transference to the lid, that's my kinda liner :)

Clarins ombre matte eyeshadow in Sparkle Grey*

I was very lucky and received 3 of these from Clarins from their Autumn collection and this one has to be my favourite, I adore the colour, the finish and everything about it.  I've worn it a LOT over the last month and just by itself, with liquid eyeliner and mascara.  I'm not one of these people that think it's lame to wear just one colour, in fact I think wearing just one colour is often more elegant :)

Sephora blusher in healthy rose

I just can't get enough of this blusher.  It's pretty much been a staple favourite of mine since I bought it in Jan/Feb this year.  If you have pale skin it looks absolutely gorgeous, like a fresh flush of colour on your cheeks, perfect for any of the seasons.

Maybelline quad in Smokey Cinnamon

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of wearing green eyeshadow, especially dark greens.  Ages ago I saw Emily Noel (Beauty Broadcast) create a gorgeous look using this quad, and I've been pretty much recreating it ever since (give or take the lime colour in there).  It's a gorgeous look for Autumn and I'm just in love with the deep green with the subtle cinnamon on the outer edge.  Et voila!

So they were my August favourites, what were you loving in August?

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Life update

Hello lovelies, it's been a while since I've written one of these, and if you don't follow me on social media or my other blog, you might not know about all the crazy things going on in my life right now and over the past few months.  So here's some pictures to show you what's been going on :)

Hubby

Over the past few months, the hubby has been amazing getting everything ready for the baby (more on that in the next post), but yesterday he ran his 2nd Cardiff 10k.  Because of all the baby prep he wasn't able to train as much, but he only missed his last time by a few mins, I'm so proud of him :) This is a pic of him just after completing it :)  Next up for him the Mens Health challenge at the end of the month - he'll have his work cut out for that, it's 13k and an assault course!

Nato

Here in Cardiff we've also just had the NATO summit, and what total cray cray that was!  Steel fences everywhere, roads blocked off or put to 1 lane, 10k policeman walking around, including ones with machine guns!  And we had HMS Duncan (our newest destroyer) docked down the bay with a frigate and a mine sweeper - we were well protected!

Also, when Obama was on his way to Cardiff Castle for dinner, he (and other delegates) flew over our house :)  That was pretty cool.

 Barricades at the ends of the shopping streets

 Police with machine guns

Lots of police

HMS Destroyer (with loaded torpedos!) 

Baby

This is what's been mostly going on in my life, preparing for Squidge's arrival.  As of today, I'm 35 weeks pregnant, and they're planning on inducing me at 38 weeks, so only 3 weeks to go!  It's been a mad rush to get the nursery finished (close to done now) and everything in the house ready. Tomorrow is my last day before I start my annual leave & maternity (weds) and I can't wait! Working has become very tiring, just doing simple tasks like blogging really takes it out of me, so much rest is needed.  If you're interested in following my journey, head over to www.mummy-pixie.com which is where I write weekly updates and blog all about the baby :)

Our moses basket - it was pretty much the only one I could find with green on it

I have gestational diabetes, so my diet is very limited, albeit healthy.  This is a typical breakfast for me, fruit with greek yoghurt and a teaspoon of truvia.

After the walls were painted, this is the floor going in.

The nursery filling with furniture - this is before I managed to sort everything out.

Another shot of the same room in the same state :P

At work we went out for a meal before I left, I had tofu ramen from Wagamamas, yummy!!!

The drawers in the nursery filling up with cute baby clothes :)

My bump at about 34 weeks :)  

So that's pretty much been my life over the last few months - get the bedroom done, then the nursery and now we have tonnes of stuff to sort out that had been kept in both rooms.  I hope you don't mind this kind of post, I do them from time to time and I always enjoy writing them :)

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