Amie Morning Dew Matte-Finish Moisturiser

My love for Amie skincare products is ever growing. So far, this brand has done me no wrong. I love the packaging with its cute designs and pastel colours, the scent, good enough to make me want to eat it, and the fact that its kind to the environment!

I love the feeling of reviewing a product that I know is going to be good, it makes the experience so much more enjoyable!

Amie Morning Dew Moisturiser is a light daily moisturiser that's totally mineral oil and paraben free. It contains 90.8% natural ingredients including harmonising natural extracts such as rosehip, bilberry and lemon. I've substituted this moisturiser into my daily skincare routine since its arrival and have loved it so much that it has now become a permanent replacement for my Nivea sensitive skin moisturising day cream (which was half the size and almost the same price!)

The thing that impressed me the most about Morning Dew was how long it took to absorb into my skin (or I should say, how little time it took to absorb into my skin!) I've tried moisturisers in the past which have taken ages to soak in before I can put my makeup on, and trust me, this is not good for me in the morning when I make up bleary eyed, late and in desperate need to hurry up!

After all this hot weather we have been having in the UK I have also found that this is an amazing after-sun moisturiser (especially if you leave it in the fridge before you go out and pop it on when you get back! Soooo cool!)

Morning Dew costs £4.95 for 100ml and can be purchased from the Amie Skincare website here.

Have you tried anything from the Amie Skincare range?

Don't forget to enter my Amie Skincare giveaway for your chance to win a Perfect Beauty Gift Set which includes this Morning Dew Moisturiser! You can enter my giveaway here.

The Charcoal Challenge

Recently, I was invited to take part in Money Supermarket's Charcoal Challenge. Armed with a generous donation of £50, the challenge was to show how I would throw the ultimate summer BBQ.

Unfortunately, living in a block of flats I don't have a garden but I am very lucky in that I live a few minutes away from Bournemouth beach! Hubby and I headed down to our local shops to stock up on supplies for our BBQ. We managed to get quite a haul for £50 using the summer bargains and offer currently in the shops.

Hubby got very excited that we managed to pick up some chicken, peppers and mushrooms so I could make my "amazing" (yes, that is a direct quote!) chicken kebabs. I use a special secret ingredient to make sure the chicken goes really crispy on the BBQ.

We then messaged our friends and told them to meet us at the beach. One of my friends has a beach hut right on the sea front so we made that our base and set up our BBQ's. We also came with an armful of beach games, including frisbee and rounders for later!

Some of our friends also picked up some burgers from the local butchers and I got to taste venison and kangaroo for the first time! (They are both amazing by the way!)

We stayed at the beach until the sun went down and then wandered back into town to check out the pretty lights and attractions. I was desperate to get on the merry go round!

My friends and I had a lovely time! Thank-you Money Supermarket for letting me take part in this challenge!

Have you had any BBQ's during the lovely weather we have been having? Do you live in a flat like me and have to have your BBQ's elsewhere?

New sunglasses from Specky Four Eyes

I was recently contacted to ask if I would like to try some sunglasses by a company called Specky Four Eyes. We are having some awesome (rare) hot weather in the UK at the moment so it was the perfect opportunity to don some new sunnies and head to the nearest beach/park/football ground to give them a try!

Specky Four Eyes are an online company founded by Andre Senyk. The idea was conceived in 2004 whilst Andre was in his final year of University. In 2005, the business was set up in a small room in his parents house but grew so quickly that it expanded to local offices. The idea behind Specky Four Eyes is to provide customers with a jargon free pleasant online shopping experience. By creating an online outlet, he has been able to keep overheads down and pass these savings onto the customer.

Specky Four Eyes sell a wide range of glasses including prescription glasses, sunglasses and ready made reading glasses for men, women and children.

I chose the black floral print sunglasses as I wanted to try something a little different than just my normal black colour glasses. I always struggle to find sunglasses to suit me as I have such a small face! (Aviators just swamp me!) Its always difficult to tell what something is going to be like when you buy it online but I'm really happy with these. They fit my face just right! The frame and lenses are made from a sturdy plastic (which is a good thing for me as I'm likely to sit on them!).

The glasses arrived in a clear capsule case which was the perfect size. Inside there was a cleaning cloth which if you're someone like me who manages to get their glasses dirty within five minutes, comes in very handy!

These particular sunglasses retail at £15 a pair and come in a variety of different colours, including white, pink and multicoloured and in pretty patterns like giraffe and zebra too - perfect for this years festivals!

Have you tried any glasses or sunglasses from Specky Four Eyes before?

It's a boy!

 Congratulations to William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of our future King! The name is still yet to be revealed but he was born at 16.24pm and weighed 8lbs 6oz.

For some reason I seem to be really interested in the Royal Baby news! I've never really been interested in the Royal Family but have started to get Royal fever since the Wedding, Jubilee and now the Royal baby!

How do you feel about the news?

Amie Skincare Giveaway!

You may have noticed that over the last few months that I have been loving Amie skincare (you can read my reviews here and here).

Well, I have a special treat for you today! 

The lovely ladies at Amie have offered my readers a chance to win one of their Perfect Beauty Gift Sets (worth £19.95!) containing a full sized:

Morning Dew Matte-Finish Moisturiser

Bright Eyes Very Gentle Make Up Remover

New Leaf Skin Exfoliating Polish and

Morning Clear Purifying Facial Wash

 all in a beautiful pretty pink reusable cosmetic bag!

 All you have to do to enter for your chance to win is fill in the rafflecopter form below.

Sorry this giveaway is for UK followers only.

The giveaway will run for two weeks (until the 31st July) and the winner will have to provide their contact details which will be passed to Amie to claim their prize.

All entries will be checked.

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My top tips for blogging...

 Now that I have been blogging almost a year, I feel its time to pass on some of my wisdom (chuckles! lol) so I thought I would share some hints and tips I've learnt along my way so far.

Always be yourself
A bit of an obvious tip really but I have noticed that bloggers can sometimes fall into the trap of posting about the same product as everyone else. Don't just buy something to review because everyone else is, especially if you're not going to use it again or if you can't afford it. Personally I would rather see a review of a high street product because I know I will be able to buy it!

Only blog when you want to
Remember it's your blog so you blog when you feel inspired, don't feel pressured into writing posts, as this will affect your writing and your readers will know. If your readers are reading your blog because you like it, they'll still be there if you take a few weeks off.

Join blogger groups on twitter
On Wednesday and Sunday evening at 8pm (UK time) there is a beauty bloggers chat on twitter - you can join in by using the #bbloggers at the end of your tweet. On Wednesday it is a free for all chat but on Sunday it is a topic. You can vote for your favourite topic on the #bbloggers blog page here.There is also a lifestyle bloggers chat on Twitter every Sunday evening at 7pm which you can join using the #lbloggers. At the end of all the chats, there is an opportunity to share your blog link so people can check out and follow your blog.

Don't worry about your number of followers
When I first started blogging, for a few weeks I only had two followers! The lovely Victoria and Islaay. As they were both big bloggers they taught me not to worry about the number of followers I had as they both started out that way too. I must admit I did get hung up on follower numbers for a few months and considered giving up blogging because I felt like no-one wanted to hear my little ramblings, but after joining the twitter chats I talked to a lot of like minded people and I started to gain followers. I realised that the numbers aren't important as I was blogging because I wanted to.

Be honest in your reviews
If you receive a product from a PR company and you don't like it, don't be afraid to say so. Obviously there is a line between being rude and just giving an opinion but not every product suits everyone and in my opinion companies should welcome having an honest review of a product as it shows them the strengths and weaknesses. I have heard of bloggers posting reviews which the company has asked them to remove because of negative feedback which I think is crazy because a company shouldn't just be looking for positive feedback, it should be honest.

Use clear, large photos
There is nothing better than being able to look at a lovely big, clear photo! When I first started I used to set my photos to medium size but when I looked at my blog I realised that they were quite difficult to see. I've now changed them to large or extra large! Also, don't worry about what type of camera you have, I don't own an SLR or a bridge camera, I just have a little compact and as long as you get the right setting, you can still take pretty amazing photos!

Don't spam people
A lot of people (including me) hate it when someone leaves a comment on one of your blog posts saying that they love your blog but they'll follow you if you follow them. I only follow blogs that I like, what's the point of following someone just to get a follower back as you're not truly appreciating their blog for what it is. I have nothing against people leaving me a comment about my post and then leaving their link with that comment (to be honest, I check out more blogs this way) but to comment just for a follow, no thank-you!

Try not to ramble on too much
I once got told by someone that my blog was lovely but I talked too much! (I'm probably rambling a bit too much in this post too!) I tried to think about how much text I would read on a post before I lost interest and based my post sizes on that. Now I try to keep my posts to a few paragraphs and make sure that I get straight to the point. I also try to include a lot of photos in my posts as I find them much more interesting (they say a picture is worth a thousand words!)

Hopefully you find these tips useful!

MUA Power Pout | Crazy in Love

You'll have to forgive my lateness of jumping on the bandwagon for this product as it's been out for a while now but I'm hoping you'll forgive me as I was without internet for a month and I need to tell you all about how much I love it!

I was a bit skeptical about trying this to start with after hearing from several people that it tasted a bit minty, but I decided that for £3 it was worth ignoring all the negative bits and to decide for myself.

I picked this up back when I went to London and have been using it ever since. So much so that I have actually purchased another one because I had used it too much to take photos of it!

I must admit, I haven't tried the Clinique Chubby Sticks or the Revlon dupes either so I was perfectly happy to try this with an open mind. For £3 I wasn't really expecting much but I was definitely pleasantly surprised! The colour payoff is really nice and it lasts for quite a long time. There is a slight tingly minty sensation when you first apply it, but to be honest, it doesn't really bother me that much.

I'm definitely going to pick up a few more shades next time I visit Superdrug!

Apologies for the last photo, it was taken on my camera phone and excuse the mess in the background - we are still unpacking!

Have you tried these yet? What shades do you own?

Method Cleaning Products

I'm sure you're aware that recently I have moved to a new flat, it's rented accommodation and you just never know who has been in the property before you. So when we moved in, we made sure that the place had a thorough decontamination (I may be exaggerating here - the last tenants actually left it in a good condition!).

Luckily the lovely people at Method, were sympathetic to my cause and offered to send me some of their cleaning products. I must admit, I had heard of this brand before, whilst looking around my local Homebase for Orchid Food (we received an Orchid as an anniversary present - it was our first wedding anniversary a few weeks ago) and they had caught my eye. I was instantly drawn to the pretty packaging and bright colours, something that I think is lacking in today's cleaning market.

I was completely spoilt and was sent a whole box of products to try, then was completely gobsmacked when they contacted me again to ask if I needed anything else and then received another whole box of products! Thank you Method!

Here is what I received:

Method Hand Wash in Pink Grapefruit & Waterfall

Method Bathroom Cleaner in Eucalyptus

Two lots of Method Multi Surface Cleaner in Pink Grapefruit
Method Toilet Cleaner in Spearmint
Method Daily Shower Cleaner in Ylang Ylang
Method Glass Cleaner in Mint

Method are a fashion-led company created by Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan. Their philosophy is that cleaning products shouldn't have to be kept hidden under the sink or contain any 'dirty' ingredients. Their idea first came about in 2000 and has been in continual development since. In 2012 they combined forces with Ecover to create the world's largest green cleaning company.

My favourite product is the hand soap as it has such a gorgeous smell and I love the design of the packaging, its so unique to anything else in the current cleaning market.

I only have one minor issue, and this is really down to personal taste, but I found it a bit strange that the glass cleaner had a mint smell, and when I used it on my bedroom mirror, my bedroom smelt a bit like a dentist!

Apart from that, I love the whole collection and I don't have to hide my cleaning products anymore! 

Method products can be found in many retailers, including Waitrose, Tesco's Sainsbury's and John Lewis, so make sure you look out for the bright colours next time you shop!

Have you tried Method products before?
 
Don't forget to check out my advertiser this month, velvet and paisley :)

Southampton Mini Haul

Last weekend, my sister and her boyfriend invited me to go shopping with them so we got in the car and drove to Southampton (which in my opinion has much better shopping than Bournemouth).

I didn't really have an idea of anything particular I wanted apart from a purple nail polish to go with a top I was wearing for a party that evening (who could believe that out of all my nail polishes, I didn't have a purple one to match!)

My Sister was after some smart clothes for an internship she was starting to the first place we stopped at was the Topshop sale! As I wasn't looking for clothes I didn't really do much browsing until I spotted a cute looking black blazer, which I decided I had to have, I mean blazers go with everything, right?

It was reduced from £40 to £20 and as my sister has just finished Uni she still had a valid student card, giving me an extra £2 off, so I got it for £18 - bargain!

Next stop was Boots for my nail polish and after seeing Jaye's recent blog post on it, I picked up Rimmel's Salon Pro in Disco Fever. I also then popped over to Superdrug to grab another Power Pout from MUA. I'm loving these at the moment. I got the shade Crazy in Love (blog post to come on my love for this!)

We popped into a few other shops including River Island and Miss Selfridge where I couldn't stop myself from impulse buying! I picked up a cute little thumb ring for £2 in River Island, well, I say thumb ring, but actually I picked up the size small and its still too big for my fingers so I can wear it as an actual ring on my middle finger. Trust me, its a pain in the ass having small fingers, I had to wait weeks for my engagement and wedding rings because I'm smaller than the smallest adult size! In Miss Selfridge I picked up a gorgeous statement necklace. My sister was actually wearing that very same one that day and she didn't mind me getting the same (there was a time we would have had a massive argument over it!) It was £14 and I will be wearing it with lots of outfits over the next few weeks!

Lastly a boring purchase but I needed innersoles for some shoes I was wearing to the party that evening (which I didn't end up wearing but aaaaanyway...) I had heard that Primark were doing extra thick ones for £1 and I managed to get a pair, I just need to cut them to my size.

Have you been shopping lately? What are your recent buys?

Viridian Ultimate Beauty Organic Nail & Cuticle Oil

 

In my work, I am contstantly working with chemicals and even though I wear gloves most of the time, sometimes you can get them on your hands and nails, especially when opening bottles (as this is super hard to do with gloves on!).

Lately my nails have been suffering really badly, and ended up very brittle and chipped. They lacked strength and looked very unattractive. Even trying to cover them up with nail varnish was difficult because they were so damaged. So when I was offered the chance to try the Ultimate Beauty Organic Nail and Cuticle Oil from Viridian Nutrition I couldn't think of a better time to use it.

 The outer cardboard packaging instantly made me think of natural, good for you, health related products. The product inside looks like its from an old apothacary with the dark brown glass bottle and dropper which I think is quite cute.

When I opened up the bottle, there was an amazing aroma of essentual oils (and strangely reminded me of lemon sweets my nan used to give me when I was little!). Some of the oils used are Jojoba, Horsetail, Marigold, Lemon and Rosemary.

Application is really easy as you use the little dropper to apply to each of your nails and then just work on each one individual into the nail and surrounding area. You can use the oil on both your fingernails and toenails although I have only used it on my fingers so far.

I started to notice a difference after using it for only a few days. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of my nails before I started using it (you wouldn't have wanted to see them anyway!) but my nails are now looking well again! They are feeling stronger and haven't broken at the top since. I even wore nail varnish again for the first time yesterday and it applied really smoothly and I didn't have to try and cover up any bumpy bits!

The cost for a 12ml bottle is £12.95 and every Viridian product sold helps generate funds for a selection or environmental, children's and other charities. Viridian also have a recycling scheme where if you return your empty packaging back to store you can receive a 25p refund.

Have you tried this or a similar product before?