Advertise with Impatience is a Virtue

As of the 1st July 2013 I will be offering advertising on my blog. With my blog approaching its first birthday, I feel that now is the right time to start offering advertising. I advertised my blog on other blogs when I first started and found that it was a really useful tool to help get my blog noticed and a great way to help discover new blogs and communities.

If you would like to advertise with Impatience is a Virtue then please contact me at impatienceisavirtueblog@hotmail.co.uk

I will only be offering one package to start with: 

 The Polka Dot Package £4 - which includes:
A 200x200 advert in my sidebar for one month
A mention & links in one blog post per week in that month
A #ff on twitter for every friday that month
A shoutout on the Impatience is a Virtue Facebook Page

 
Here is an example of a 200x200 size button

 There will be 5 slots available each month and they will run from the first of that month for the entire month. Adverts will be placed in the right hand sidebar in the order in which they were received. They will be offered on a first come first served basis.

Payment is to be provided by Paypal only.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Longleat Safari Park

Longleat Safari & Adventure Park in Wiltshire has been one of the UK’s best-loved attractions for over 60 years. It features an extensive Safari Park, is home to BBC Animal Park and CBBC Roar and also has over 15 fabulous attractions, including the new multi million pound Jungle Kingdom and Longleat House, one of the most stunning stately homes in Britain.

My parents managed to get tickets for 8 of us (my Mum, Dad, my two sisters, their partners and my husband and I) to visit the park by using their Tesco Clubcard points.

After everything that has happened lately, it was really nice to escape for the day and take a look at some amazing animals! Here are a few snaps from our day!

I enjoyed the whole day but my favourite part was the Butterfly House. I love butterflies, you walked into a hot greenhouse area and the butterflies were just flying around you. I even had some land on me! At one point I had three on me! You can also see two butterflies mating in one of the photos, amazing!

The other highlight of the day was that we managed to get on one of the last trips around the safari area and as you can see in the last two photos, the lions were sitting on a bank in the sun looking absolutely gorgeous!

I would definitely recommend a visit to Longleat if you're in the area. You can go through some of the enclosures in your car and we were really close to Rhinos, Lions and Tigers!

 Have you ever been to Longleat?

So long, farewell? The GFC Debate

 The blogging world is currently rife with romours as to whether Google Friend Connect will cease to exist after Monday July 1st.

I really hope it stays as I love seeing new faces popping up on my sidebar and taking a nosey at their blogs!

So, with the deadline fast approaching, I thought I would take the opportunity to share with you all the other ways you can stay connected with me and my blog!

Bloglovin - here

Facebook - here

Twitter - @hmkeyes

Instagram - hmkeyes20

I have already transfered my reading list over to Bloglovin as I would hate to lose any of the blogs I read if this happens.

Please feel free to leave me your Bloglovin links in the comments below, if you've just signed up!

See you on the other side!

Another little update from me...

Well hello there lovelies!

I just wanted to give you another update as to how I am doing. Things are starting to get back on track. We have moved, the car is all fixed and I am now back at work.

The internet was connected yesterday (wahoo!) and I can't wait to get back into blogging once I get my computer up and running again!

Thank you for all your lovely messages on my last update post. Although I haven't been able to reply to them personally I really appreciate it.

Please leave me some comments below with any posts that you would like to see!

Thank you all for being so patient!

Topshop Morning Dew Blush

I have always felt a little skeptical buying make-up from clothing shops (i.e Topshop, Accessorize) as I felt that the quality I wanted just wouldn't be there, but after trying Topshop's nail varnishes and being thoughroughly impressed I thought I would give something else from their range a go.

I originally wanted one of their Blush Sticks which I thought would be similar to Benefit's Fine One One (which is my absolute favourite blush) but when I checked out the shades they had I felt they were much too bright for my skin tone so I browsed the shelves and picked up this creme blush in Morning Dew.

Firstly, before I get to the product I just want to say how much I love the packaging. I love the simple black design of the box on the outside and inside its encased in a cute white pot. It makes it so easy to grab from my make up bag!

Inside is a handy little mirror, perfect for on the go.

Morning Dew is a subtle pink  lightweight cream blush which turns to powder. It melts into my skin which makes it easy to build up the amount of glow I want. The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't apply it directly to my face like I can with the Fine One One blush stick so I have to use my fingers or one of my real technique brushes. Hopefully Topshop will release some more shades in their blush sticks so I can buy one of those.

The colour payoff is really good and even though to me it looks a little daunting in the pot the shade is really lovely (I always worry about looking like a clown!)

Do you own any make-up from the Topshop range? What do you think to it?

Montagne Jeunesse Body Smoothies

You may have heard me mention (once or twice) that my favourite face mask brand is Montagne Jeunesse. Their masks are so thick and there is always enough in the sachets to cover my face without having to be sparing. They also don't irritate my skin like some other brands I've tried (I'm looking at you H&M). So when I found out that they had a new product coming out I was more than happy to give it a try.

The Super Fruit Body Smoothies are a first from Montagne Jeunesse and knowing how much I love the quality of the facemasks I couldn't wait to give these a try. They are described as "thick, luxurious whipped butters packed with natural 'Super Fruit' oils and extracts high in powerful free radical fighting antioxidants".

There are four different scents to choose from, Buriti, Acai, Goji Berry and Black Raspberry. I was sent two from the range, Buriti and Goji Berry. I was expecting to receive a small sample sachet of each but when they arrived I was sent two 200ml full sized pots! (Cue excited squeels from me!)

The packaging is typical of most body butters currently on the market and I really like the design as the pot is shallow enough to be able to reach all of the product (even when you get down to the last little bits you can still scoop them out) I hate it when awkward packaging means you have to start cutting open bottles to get the last few uses out of them. The designs on the front are bright and (for me, someone that uses this brand a lot) I would instantly know that this design was Montagne Jeunesse even if it didn't have the logo on the front!

 The first thing I did when I took them out of the envelope was remove the lids and gave them a big sniff! (That's normal, isn't it?!) The Goji Berry one smells like peach and smells good enough to eat! It's got a really light summery smell to it (this one is my favourite!) The Buriti one smells very zesty but really refreshing, like lemon and lime.

 The best time to apply is after a bath or shower and they absorb into the skin in seconds although I have used it before going to bed. They don't feel greasy or take ages to soak in  like other brands I've tried. I also found that a little goes a long way as the product is so thick its easier to get better coverage.

A full 200ml pot costs just £6.49 which is really good value for money considering the amount of product you get. You can purchase them from the Montagne Jeunesse website here.

If you spend over £15, you also get free delivery (UK only excludes Channel Islands) but delivery is only £1 for orders under £15.

Have you tried the new Fruit Smoothie Body Butters or any other products from Montagne Jeunesse?

Guest Post | Becca's Fashion and Life

Hello! You may be wondering who I am? Well, allow me to introduce myself, my name's Becca and I blog over at Becca's Fashion and Life.I write mainly beauty and fashion posts but I also write some more lifestyle type posts here and there!

Anyway, today here on Holly's lovely blog I'm going to be telling you about my favourite body lotions/butters at the moment - especially now we're entering the summer months. As I don't know about you but I certainly love light scented products when it's warmer - is it just me?!?

Soap and Glory - The Righteous Butter.

This is a thick white body cream with a truly delicious scent - think Hand Food or Clean On Me etc. This is the body butter I like to apply in the evening as it takes quite a while to sink in, but when I wake up in the morning its all soaked in, just leaving the gorgeous scent behind.

Victoria's Secret - Lost in Fantasy Body Lotion.

I have the body spray in this scent and I absolutely love it, and this certainly lives up to its high expectations. This is a thin lotion which soaks in really quickly which means it's great to use in a rush as there's no hanging around waiting for it to sink in. I would say the scent lingers for quite a while, but not for quite as long as the other body creams.

The Body Shop - Lemon Body Butter

I love all of the Body Shop's Body Butters, but this lemon one is definitely my current favourite followed by mango and then strawberry. This is really moisturising but sinks into the skin really quickly - which is always a massive bonus! I love how the scent of lemon lingers on the skin for hours after this has been applied.

I hope you've enjoyed this post, thank you to Holly for asking me to guest post and finally thank you for reading!

My pretty little lunchbag from the dotcomgiftshop

I was recently contacted again by one of my favourite online retailers, dotcomgiftshop to ask me if I would like to review a product from their new lunchbox range. 

Having a lunchbox hadn't really been something that had crossed my mind since I left school (and that was a looong time ago) but when I was at work the next day, I glanced around the tea room at lunch and realised that a lot of my work colleagues actually had lunchboxes.

I do make my lunch at home as the shop at work is very expensive but I usually just make my sandwich, wrap it up in foil and then literally chuck it into my bag - then cue me at lunchtime spending a least a few minutes trying to dig out a crushed sandwich from the bottom of the bag!

So I browsed through the pages of the dotcomgiftshops extensive range of lunchboxes and bags and selected this cute Pink Polkadot Lunchbag (which coincidently matches my blog!)

The bag is made from recycled plastic (which helps the planet! Yay!) and is foil lined and has a zip lock to keep everything fresh. It's also got carry handles at the top. When I received it through the post it was flat packed so my first thoughts were that it was quite small but when I put the food inside there was enough room for everything (The dimensions are length: 21 cm, width: 13 cm, height: 16 cm)

The pretty pink polka dot pattern makes it really easy for me to find in the mountains of food that is piled up in our work fridge! (Although I have found out that another work colleague of mine has exactly the same bag so I will have to be careful which one I select from the fridge. (If she has a better lunch than me I could just say I "accidently" took the wrong one! lol).

The whole range of lunchboxes/bags at the dotcomgiftshop are really great prices. My Pink Polkadot one is only £4.95. They are also suitable for all ages as there are so many designs to choose from. More include the Strawberry Lunchbag, the Fox Lunchbag and the Pirate Lunchbag.

Do you take a lunchbox or bag to work?

A little life update from me...

Hello lovely readers...I just wanted to give you a little update on why I haven't been around much lately. 

They say that bad luck usually comes in threes and I have found that to be true. My house was broken into, my car broke down whilst I was in the fast lane of a busy motorway and I had to have two of my beautiful pets put to sleep over the last few weeks.

I really miss blogging, writing posts and reading other blogs but I will be without internet for possibly another two weeks, so please bear with me as I do have lots of exciting posts planned. I also have some guest posts planned from some lovely bloggers so keep an eye out for those!