The Perfect Valentine's Gift for the Beauty Bloggers Partner

Can you believe that we are almost through January already? With February fast approaching its time to think about the most loved (and hated) day of the year...I am of course talking about Valentine's Day.

My husband and I normally just celebrate Valentine's Day with a card but today I wanted to share with you the perfect Valentine's gift for a beauty lovers partner.

Since becoming a blogger, primarily of beauty, I've been gradually learning and expanding my knowledge of brands and products I like. Unbeknown to me, my hubby has been using this information too, so when faced with what to give him as a gift for Valentine's Day the Clinique For Men, Essentials Kit* seemed like the perfect gift!

Clinique is one of my favourite high end skin care brands so when I found out that they have a men's collection of skincare I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to introduce him to it. My first thoughts upon looking at the range was that I was impressed that within a primarily female market, this product definitely has a masculine feel. The packaging both of the outer box and of the products themselves are basic but practical, something I have come to find appeals to men, whereas as I woman I like to find pretty things!

The kits contains a 50ml Face Scrub, a 50ml Oil Control Face Wash, a 40ml Oil Control Mattifying Moisturiser and a 15ml Anti-Age Eye Cream (because let's face it, no one is getting any younger!)

The size of the products are just enough to get a taster for a few weeks to find out if they are right for you. I did this with the Clinique 3 Step Intro Kit that I bought myself last year to decide whether to splash out on some full sized products.They're also great for travel, so if you have a partner that travels a lot for work, they will still able to maintain great skin on the go.

Once I've given this to him, I might try and get him to post a little review!

You can purchase the Clinique For Men Essential Kits online or in store at House of Fraser for £30.

Do you celebrate Valentine's Day?

What would be your partner's perfect gift?

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The Golden Rules of Make Up Brushes

I'm sure a lot of you already know these points that I am about to make but do you actually follow them through...? This year I plan to expand my brush collection and get a little more adventurous with my make up and part of that is making sure that I take care of my brushes too. These are my top tips for looking after a key piece of your make up kit.

Keep 'em clean :: The golden rule of make up brushes is to make sure that you clean them regularly. Dirty make up brushes are a minefield of dirt and bacteria and nobody wants to be putting that back on their faces everyday. I clean my brushes weekly, usually at the weekend if I'm at home and not planning on wearing make up that day. I use Johnson's baby shampoo to clean my brushes with warm water. Make sure you remember to clean right down into the middle of the brush as this is where dirt collects. I air dry my brushes overnight but sometimes pop them on the radiator if I need to use them quickly.

Buy good quality :: The first make up brushes I ever used were really cheap and I quickly found after I washed them that I should have had a little more consideration for what I was using. The bristles all started to fall out and it was at this point that I decided what would be the point of buying new cheap brushes if they were just going to fall apart again so I invested in my first set of Real Techniques and haven't looked back since. I also have a couple of Benefit brushes, my favourite being the foundation brush which gives a lovely flawless finish.

Use them for their intended purpose :: This might seem like a no brainer but most brushes have written on them what type of brush they are and what they should be used for. Each brush is specifically designed in shape and bristle length to be the best for the intended purpose. I once used an eyeshadow crease brush as a lip brush (a last minute emergency!) and ended up ruining it because I couldn't get the darn lippy out of it!

Store them properly :: There is no point buying and using your lovely make up brushes if you don't intend to store them properly. I have one of those Skurar plant pots that is perfect for storing brushes. Store them with the brush facing upwards so you preserve the shape and don't damage the bristles. Real Techniques collection brushes sometimes come with a holder included which is also handy for travel.

I hope you find this post useful!

What are your favourite make up brushes? 

Do you have any recommendations for me?

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Happy New Year & Resolutions for 2015

Hello everyone and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely relaxing break over Christmas and New Year. I'm back and ready to get started on some new exciting content for this year, starting with my resolutions for 2015.

I actually did quite well with my resolutions for 2014 which you can take a look back at here so that's given me the motivation to set some new goals for this year.

Save, save save (and limit my spending) - I can finally say that my holiday is this year now, and I am so excited! To make sure that I have enough money to spend when I go (Tiffany and MK I'm heading for you!) I'm going to be saving as much as I can over the coming months and limiting my spending on items that I want but I don't really need. I'm a sucker for buying make up and I'm addicted to Blu-Rays/DVD's so I really need to stop buying them!

Finish my portfolio for work - I completed part one of my portfolio for work last year and since getting part two in June I haven't even touched it! I need to get my bum in gear and get it finished as I only have until June to pass.

Lose weight/get fit/get healthy - I think most people have this one on their resolution list but with my holiday coming up this year I want to finally be able to wear a bikini (I've never worn one before - EVER). I need to tone up certain areas and lose at least one stone (which is also on my 30 before 30 list.)

Look after my blog - I seem to have neglected my little space of the internet over the last few months and I don't want to get into the habit of leaving it months before I post. I'm proud of what I have achieved over the last two years and want to keep growing and make it something I'm really proud of.

Did you make any New Years Resolutions for this coming year?

What plans do you have for 2015?

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