L'Oreal Neon Pop Nail Collection

I know summer is almost over but I couldn't resist showing you these gorgeous nail colours from L'Oreal. If you're trying to put off the impending autumn/winter season and still embrace the sunshine then these are for you!

I was sent four polishes from the Neon Pop Collection (which has been out for some time now). I'm not sure whether these are permanent additions to the L'Oreal line or just a summer one but I really like them.

The shades are Flashing Lilac (the deep purple at the top), Banana Pop (the gorgeous yellow colour), Wasabi Hint (my favourite green colour) and Acid Watermelon (the vibrant pink).

The swatches above are with two coats and I wore Acid Watermelon on my nails for a few days before it started to chip (also bear in mind I didn't use a base coat before - naughty!)

They come in small bottles with gold lids which I think look very sophisticated. They look very pretty sitting on my dressing table!

You can currently buy these in Boots for £4.99 each, and when I went to Boots last week they had an offer of a pound off on the whole L'Oreal nail range which makes them the same price as a Barry M nail varnish!

What do you think to the colours? Do you like to wear brights?

New Amie Skincare Goodies

I thought that my search for the perfect make-up remover had ended when I first tried Bioderma, but what I didn't realise was how I was going to be able to maintain buying it on my shoestring budget (and how annoying it is having to pay postage charges on any order I make on it as I don't live near somewhere like London) so I have been on a search to find a more purse friendly alternative, cue Amie's Bright Eye's make up remover and New Bloom facial cleansing wipes.

You may have heard, in the past my love for this brand (just a little). The packaging is just as cute as other items from the range I have tried, its great for your skin and kind to the environment.

I must admit I have become very lazy with my skincare routine of late, due to working late shifts, working on my portfolio and making wedding invitations (a little side venture I have) so it's great to just get home from work and use one of the New Bloom wipes over my face and then use the Bright Eyes to remove the heavier make up from around my eyes. The thing I love the most about the eye make up remover is that it doesn't sting. After using the L'Oreal Micellar Water (another entry on my quest to replace Bioderma) I've found that it stings my eyes actually to the point that I no longer want to use it.

The great thing about this range is that it is completely affordable, Bright Eyes is £4.75 for a 125ml bottle (and a little goes a long way) and the New Bloom wipes are £3.49 for 25 wipes. The wipes are perfect if you're lazy like me, but also great if you're off on holiday or a festival this year.

You can view the full range of Amie products on the Amie website here where you can purchase them online or you can find them in your local Waitrose or John Lewis.

Have you tried Amie before?

Montagne Jeunesse New Facemask Collection

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while now, must know that one of my favourite brands is Montagne Jeunesse. My favourite thing to do on a Sunday night before the #bbloggers twitter chat is to relax in front of the TV watching The Big Bang Theory/2 Broke Girls/New Girl and pop on a face mask.

Creamy Coconut Mask

A hydrating mud mask containing coconut water and shea butter to boost tired skin

Nut Oil Masque

A deep cleansing mask containing Baobab Oil and Marula Oil sourced from the African Tree of Life to nourish and hydrate the skin

Manuka Honey Peel Off Mask

A honey and jasmine scented peel off mask created using Manuka honey (found on the Manuka bushes in New Zealand) which is a natural anti bacterial cleanser

Super Fruit Mud Mask

Contains goji berries (the best superfruit around) to cleanse and nourish pores and beat environmental stresses

All of the above masks are £1.00 each on the Montagne Jeunesse website and you can find them in your local Asda, Tescos, Boots or Wilkinson's (so there's no excuse not to give one a try!)

There is currently a 4 for 3 offer on women's face masks, and free delivery on orders over £15 so get stocking up!

Do you have a weekly face mask routine?

Blogger Meet | #southamptonmeetup

All photos taken by the lovely Paige as my camera has decided to die :(

On Saturday I attended a bloggy meet up in Southampton organised by the lovely Hannah who is fantastic at organising blogger meet ups (I have attended several of hers). I met up with Becca and Ashleigh in Southampton High Street and then we headed over to the meet up location which was The Orange Rooms.

 It was great to see old faces (as I hadn't really seen anyone since the last meet up in February) and meet some new ones - I've got lots more blogs to check out now! We started off introducing ourselves and our blogs and then Hannah had devised an ice breaker game where we chose a question or topic and then what our thoughts were on it. I got "Do you think bloggers should be paid for posts?" and "What is your dream holiday destination?" The getting paid for posts question certainly got people talking over in our corner!

We all then had a bit of lunch, I was absolutely starving after waking up at six to finish the cake pops I made for the girls goody bags! I had a Big Bad BBQ Burger which was awesome! BBQ sauce, bacon and giant onion rings in a burger - heaven!

After we had all stuffed our faces, Hannah had devised a little quiz for us so we split up into three teams and answered questions on blogging and general knowledge. When it came to the scores, we all tied! So there was a tie-breaker question, which unfortunately we didn't get right but we came second.

Finally there was an award for the best blogger (we all voted when we arrived) and that was won by Paige (make sure you check out her illustrations, they're amazing!) and she won some lights from Cable and Cotton.

When it was time to leave we all received a #southamptonmeetup goody bag. I was so lucky and received a Benefit foundation brush, Lush perfume, Pretty Polly tights, Eyelure eyelashes and a beautiful vintage necklace. Thank you to My Curves and Me for contributing to the goody bags.

I had a great day and can't wait for the next meet up!

Breakfast at Bennys..

Ok, so it's not quite Breakfast at Tiffany's but hey ho...

Last Friday, Hubby and I had a rare morning off together, so instead of moping around at home, I suggested going out for breakfast. We decided on Frankie and Benny's as we have been there in the past for evening meals but never for breakfast, plus I wanted pancakes and this was the closest place I knew that did them!

All their breakfasts are £5 each and you can choose from a full English, the Egg's Benedict, to Pancakes with bacon and egg. We both went for the latter as we hadn't had these before.

I never really associated Frankie and Benny's with breakfast and to be honest I didn't even know they were open at that time until I checked! (I though they opened at midday!).

I also chose a chocolate shake to start the day (start as you mean to go on!) but to be honest it wasn't that nice. For £3.95 each I was expecting a proper ice cream shake but this tasted more like that Crusha syrup stuff you mix with milk. Hubby had a coffee which was £1.50 with unlimited refills, so next time I think I will just go for that.

Other than that, I'd recommend there for breakfast if you've got one near you!

Have you done breakfast at Benny's before?

(Sorry for the photo quality, it was on my phone!)

Oh Baby Baby...

It seems that the 'must have' product of the beauty world at the moment is Maybelline's Baby Lips so naturally I had to go out and buy one! I tried several shops, over and over again (much to hubby's annoyance!) and finally managed to track one down at the Bournemouth Castlepoint branch of Boots. Thanks to Jaye for the tip off!

I went for the shade Peach Kiss as I wanted something quite neutral for my lips. In all honestly I'm not really a lip balm fan but I have been pleasantly surprised by how much I like this. The scent takes me back to my childhood, candy necklaces and sweet shops (such a long time ago now!) and the feel is smooth on my lips.

The compact size is handy for slipping into my pocket, handbag or make up bag for a little bit of lip rehydration throughout the day.

I picked this up at Boots for £2.99 and there is currently a 3 for 2 offer across the whole Maybelline range. It was pretty hard not to pick up other items too, but I restrained myself! *applaudes*

Have you picked up any Baby Lips yet? What do you think?

My first Essie purchases!

I've always wanted to try Essie, but didn't really want to spend out £7.99 on a nail varnish I wasn't sure I liked. I have ummed and ahhhed about placing a Fragrance Direct order for a while, but whenever I came to look, the shades I liked were always sold out. One Saturday morning I was up early (for some unknown reason!) and decided to take a peek, and to my surprise they had the shades I wanted in stock so I placed my order straight away!

I chose the shades Bikini So Teeny, a light lilac/blue colour and Off the Shoulder, a pretty pink shade. Fragrance Direct sell these for £1.99 so they're a bargain price to see if you like them. I guess these are ones that have been discontinued or are no longer part of the current Essie line. The packaging is slightly different to the once in the shops but I think they have only updated this recently.

As soon as I got the parcel home they were being swatched! How pretty do the colours look?

I know i'll be buying more of these, I've got my eye on Candy Apple and Watermelon next!

Sports Direct Swimwear Giveaway Winner!

Thank-you to everyone who entered my Sports Direct Ladies Swimwear Giveaway, the entries have all been checked and I'm pleased to announce that the winner is...

Ashleigh Fell

Congratulations Ashleigh! 

Please get in touch with me via email (impatienceisavirtueblog@hotmail.co.uk) with your swimwear selection, size and address and I will pass this information on to claim your prize!

 Keep your eyes open for more exciting giveaways soon!

Strawberry Pickin'

Today hubby and I ventured into the local countryside in search of a pick your own farm.

I've never done a pick your own before as I've always lived in towns but hubby coming from Norfolk is a seasoned picker!

We got up early and arrived at Sopley Farm just outside Christchurch, Dorset at 9am. We grabbed two punnets to fill and wandered around the farm deciding what to pick.

We decided on Strawberries and Raspberries as I am allergic to quite a lot of fruit but these seem to be OK.

The Strawberry season is almost over and a lot of other people obviously picked earlier in the season so the Strawberries were a little small but we found a few gems hidden away underneath.

Even though the size was small the quality was amazing. You just cant beat fresh produce! Hubby says the ones in the supermarkets are big but usually quite watery but these were so juicy!

It was a fun morning and we'll definitely be heading back throughout the seasons to pick for other things too.

Have you ever picked your own before?

Summer Swimwear from Sports Direct

I was recently contacted by the lovely people at Sports Direct to review some of their ladies swimwear items.

For as long as I can remember I have suffered with body confidence issues. I usually wear trousers or jeans all year round even in the summer and the thought of wearing a bikini fills me with dread. However, since I've started blogging I've met lots of lovely people and read lots of different blogs from people who are all shapes and sizes and realised that it doesn't matter what size you are as long as you are happy with who you are.

With this in mind I chose two different items, the first was my comfort choice, a beautiful black halterneck swimsuit from Golddigga. I love how this covers all my "wobbly bits" but still looks stylish. Its also a very practical piece, which I can wear when I swim at my local pool. It's got a removable halter neck, perfect for avoiding those strange tan lines when on holiday and has a cross over design on the chest which adds to creating a slimmer silhouette. 

My second choice was a Miss Fiori striped bikini top and bottoms. I mixed and matched the top and the bottoms, pink for the top and navy for the bottom and they actually go quite well together. The top has tie straps to the neck and back and the bottoms have tie sides, which make it really easy to adjust to the correct size. 

Apologies that there are no photos of me wearing these lovely items, I may have acquired some body confidence - but not that much! (and as for the photos, it turns out that swimwear is pretty difficult to photograph, when not on a model!)

You can check out the full range of ladies swimwear from Sports Direct here. They are currently having a huge summer sale with some bikini bottoms starting at just 50p!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win your own swimwear item from Sports Direct. The competition ends this Sunday so get entering!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

MUA Matte Perfect Primer vs The POREfessional

Well the time has come when my POREfessional has run out and i'm too poor to replace it, so I went on a hunt to find a cheaper alternative primer. I've heard many people say that MUA's Matte Perfect Primer is a great dupe for the POREfessional so I've given it a go and decided to do a comparison.

Price

 MUA has to be a winner on this front at £4 compared to Benefit's £24.50. This is what led me to this decision in the first place, as it's quite a steep difference.

Size

 The Matte Perfect Primer is slightly smaller at 15ml compared to the POREfessional at 22ml. A plus side to MUA is that as it's slightly smaller it leaves more room in my make-up bag for other things! Longevity wise though, the Benefit is obviously going to last longer because there is more of it.

Feel

Both brands feel silky to touch when you rub them between your fingers. MUA is slightly thicker than the Benefit which means you have to even it out a lot more.

Smell

The POREfessional has a smell that reminds me of holidays, slightly like suncream and the MUA reminds me of play-doh! (I must have a weird sense of smell!) It is a subtle fragrance but ideally I don't really want to smell of play-doh all day!

Lasting Power

My make up lasted all day and my pores did look minimised with both brands, the only thing I noticed with the MUA, being a glasses wearer was that I had a slight build up of make up on the bridge of my nose (where the clips rub on my face) by about lunchtime. It's nothing a little blotting tissue wouldn't solve, but not particularly attractive!

 Overall, I was quite disappointed with the Matte Perfect Primer, don't get me wrong it does have some plus sides, definitely the price for one, and I like the size, but I just didn't feel like the quality was there. I can see why the Matte Perfect is considered a POREfessional dupe on the surface but when it comes down to quality you just can't beat the Benefit. It's like buying Ben and Jerry's and then having to go back to store brand ice cream (alright, but not as nice!)

 I guess it's true what they say, that you get what you pay for. I think I will be saving my pennies next time and splurging on the real deal! Sorry MUA.

Sport Direct Swimwear Giveaway!

You lovely lot have definitely been spoilt recently lol! 

As a treat for my blog's first birthday, the lovely people at Sports Direct have offered to give one of my readers the chance to win a bikini of their choice from their swimwear range.

Whether you're off on a sunny holiday, working out at the local pool or lazing by the beach (like me!)

All you have to do is fill in the Rafflecopter form below to be in with a chance of winning!

Sorry this is for my UK followers only.

The winner will be selected at random once the entries have been checked and they will have to provide their contact details and prize selection which will be passed onto Sports Direct to claim their prize.

The giveaway is live now and will end on the 18th August 2013.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sports Direct are also currently running a competition on their Facebook page. Just submit your most embarrassing story and the one with the most likes wins £20 worth of Men's, Ladies or Children's swimwear! Submit yours or vote for your favourite here. The competition is open until Sunday 11th August at 10pm but you can vote until Monday!

Good Luck!