Get Summer Ready With Arbonne

Products used: Arbonne Make Up Primer // Arbonne Got You Covered Mineral Powder Foundation - Nude // Arbonne Blush - Dusty Rose // Arbonne Eyeshadow - Smoke // Arbonne Glossed Over Lipgloss - Linden // Benefit They're Real Mascara // Rimmel Kohl Eye Pencil - Black 

I was recently given the opportunity to trial some products from the company, Arbonne. Whilst Arbonne was a brand I had heard of, I hadn't actually had the opportunity to try any of their products before. For some reason, I assumed they were solely a skincare brand and had no idea that they also have a wide range of cosmetics, hair, and bath and body products too.

The company was founded by Petter Mørck over 30 years ago and the idea was to develop botanically based products around the philosophy of pure and safe ingredients. All of their products are gluten free and vegan friendly and are free from animal products or by-products, benzene and synthetic dyes.

After a chat with my Independent Consultant, Charlotte, she was able to provide with me with several products to try that would best suit my skin tone and colouring and I spent most of the Bank Holiday Weekend playing with different looks.

The first thing I tried were the skincare items she provided me with. I used the Moisturizing Night Cream (£45) the night before which has an amazing mango smell. You only need to use a small amount to get a full coverage and it soaks well into the skin. The next morning I cleansed my face using the Hydrating Cleanser + Freshener (£21) with a muslin face cloth and moisturized using the Nurturing Day Lotion (£33) which as it contains fresh kiwi cells, smells fresh and has a cooling effect on the skin. 

The skincare items really made a fantastic base for my make up. The Make Up Primer (£27) came highly recommended and I was definitely not disappointed. I dispensed a pea sized amount from the pump and this was enough to cover my entire face, focusing specifically on the area that gives me the most trouble, which is just above my eyebrows. I usually suffer with dry skin here and my foundation usually looks a bit cakey in this area. 

The primer created a smooth surface which made a great base for the Got You Covered Mineral Powder Foundation (£30). I had never tried a powder based foundation before but I think I might be converted! As someone who doesn't wear a lot of make up day to day, I was able to build up the coverage gently using a buffing brush and achieve a shine free finish.

Blush wise, I was given two to test, Dusty Rose & Blossom (£21). Dusty Rose was my favourite and had a similar pigment to Nars Orgasm. All that was required was a gentle sweep across my cheekbones to just add a little pop of colour.

On my eyes I used the eye shadow, Smoke (£15). Like the name suggests it creates the perfect smokey eye look when teamed with other shades in the range, linen and vanilla. The shadows are highly pigmented and I didn't need to use an eyeshadow primer on my lids before application.

The final look was completed by adding some lip colour using the new Glossed Over Lip Glosses (£18). The two shades I tried were Linden and Mimosa which are both light pink shades. Normally I get frustrated with lip gloss as its just too sticky but these aren't sticky at all. 

Overall, I was really impressed with the quality of the products and was pleased I had the opportunity to try them. If you are in two minds about purchasing anything from Arbonne, I would definitely recommend the Make Up Primer. I know I will definitely be putting an order in soon for one of those! Make sure you contact Charlotte if you need any help or advice or a browse through one of their brochures.

Have you tried any products from Arbonne before?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

The Disney Series / 006 / Current Disney Wishlist

It's amazing how quickly I can compile a wishlist of Disney products. It's a good job that my "local" Disney Store is a 40 minute drive away otherwise my bank balance wouldn't be looking too healthy!

Disney have really been dishing out the new releases recently. I love it when it get's close to the school holidays as they usually coincide their releases with these times.

The first thing that caught my eye on the Disney Store website is this beautiful Finding Nemo Snow Globe. At £100 it's waaay out of my price range but I would love to add this to my collection. I currently only have The Little Mermaid snow globe, which I received as a birthday present from Bradley last year and I would love to add more.

I was gutted on the 5th May as I was hanging on online at 8am before I went to work to try and get my hands on the new Big Hero 6 and Little Mermaid collection tsum tsums but they realeased them at 830am and I was already on my way to work. By the time I got on my tea break they were completey sold out. If I could just get my hands on an Ariel or Baymax tsum I would be happy. I'm hoping I'll be able to pick them up in Florida.

I currently haven't heard of a UK release date for the Cinderella movie that came out this year but I know I will be purchasing it when it comes out. I desperately want to see it again.

Following on, on the movie theme, Big Hero 6 was released on Monday. It isn't payday for me until Friday so I'm popping to Tesco's on the way home from work to pick it up. I never got to see it in the cinema so I'm really looking forward to watching it.

Stitch is fast becoming one of my favourite characters, I have more plush merchandise of him than any other Disney character. When I heard they were releasing a alien stitch plush, I knew I had to add him to my wishlist. Hopefully my nearest Disney store will have him when I visit next.

Finally, how adorable is this Stitch USB stick? I saw it on Amazon and really want to get it! The best part is that is it only £5.81 for a 16GB stick!

What Disney products are you currently lusting over?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

Things To Do When You Have Little Or No Money...

I sometimes get really frustrated when I'm at home and feel like I have nothing to do. When you don't earn much or you're saving for something, being at home can sometimes feel a little bit boring. I've come up with a few ways that you can beat the boredom and not have to spend very much...

001 - Spring Clean

Not everyone's favourite I know, but there is something really refreshing about clearing out your wardrobe or under the bed, finding old memories or things you could even sell that you don't use anymore to make a few extra pennies.

002 - Go for a walk

I'm lucky enough to live close to the beach so when the weather is nice we can head down to the beach for a walk and look at the beautiful scenery, even if you don't live close to the beach you could find a local park to have a wander round.

003 -Search for new blogs or interesting articles to read

If going out isn't your thing, then you could always browse the internet for new blogs or interesting articles to read. I often find that I never really allocate any time in my day to sit down and look for new blogs.

004 - Draw

Who doesn't have a pen and paper in their house? I've recently rediscovered my love for sketching, I'm not particularly great at it, but I love finding "how to draw" tutorials on You Tube to draw and I find that sketching really relaxes me.

005 - Browse charity shops

Last weekend, Bradley and I went to a local town to have a nosey in some charity shops. I picked up a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle for £1.50 and it's kept me occupied for almost a week! We also found some brand new and sealed Star Wars top trumps (for holiday plane entertainment) but ended up having a go, before we knew it, an hour had passed!

006 - Attend a local free event

Last week was the Christchurch food festival, I love this event and try and attend every year. There are so many stalls selling food and most have free samples to try so you can fill yourself up and try new things. I tried some partridge and it was delicious! Browse your local newspaper to find out about free events near you. There tend to me more in the summer months because it better weather.

What do you do to pass the time?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

The Disney Series / 005 / Our Dining Reservations

photos from Walt Disney World

When we booked our holiday we were lucky enough to book at a time when the Quick Service Dining Plan was included, so we have most of our meals paid for already. However, some meals aren't included in this package including character dining. We already had an idea of some extra meals that we wanted to include in our trip, mostly for the character meet and greets that you get to experience. We sat down together and made a list of the restaurants that we both wanted to try and narrowed it down to five extra experiences that we were going to pay extra for during our trip.

Cinderella's Royal Table

This was the reservation that I was most excited to get as I have heard from several sources that it is one of the hardest ones to get hold of. As soon as I was able to, I was online and trying to make this reservation. You can choose from either breakfast or dinner and we opted for breakfast as we could go straight into Magic Kingdom afterwards. The breakfast itself is held inside the castle and is beautifully decorated. The major plus of this reservation is that a whole host of princesses visit your table, including, Snow White, Cinderella and Rapunzel. The only downside to this reservation is that you have to pay for it, in full, in advance. I was aware that you had to pay the full amount instead of a a $10 holding charge but I wasn't prepared for the funds to be taken straight away (and a currency conversion fee from $ to £ to be added also!) Just something to bear in mind if you want to book here. Needless to say I am VERY excited about this one and rumour has it that you also get a little wishing star and wand when you visit (I swear I am five years old!).

Be Our Guest

We are heading to Be Our Guest for lunch (I'm cheating slightly here as this one is included in our dining plan, but I had to mention it) on our first day in the Magic Kingdom. I've already picked out what I'm going to eat, the Croque Monsieur (or if you're a See Ya Reel Soon fan - then I'm having the Crock Monster). There are different sections of the castle that you can sit in, and I'm hoping to sit in the ball room. I'm also hoping to find some grey stuff to try, I've heard it's delicious!

Chef Mickey's

Chef Mickey's is situated in Disney's Contemporary resort, which is closest to the Magic Kingdom. The monorail actually passed right through the resort, which is something I am looking forward to seeing in itself! At Chef Mickey's breakfast you get to meet Mickey and friends. Bradley loves Pluto so is most looking forward to meeting him and I want to meet Donald in his little chefs uniform, so cute! I also want to try some Mickey waffles, because what else would you eat at Chef Mickey's?

The Garden Grill

This is the one restaurant that we have planned to visit for dinner purely based on the video that See Ya Reel Soon did on it. It's based in Epcot and revolves around whilst you eat (extremely slowly) so you can get different views whilst you eat. I'm most looking forward to meeting Chip and Dale and Mickey in his little farmers outfit. I love that you can meet characters in uniforms that you wouldn't normally get to see.

'Ohana

Bradley loves Stitch so I was so happy when we managed to secure 'Ohana for breakfast. It's the last character breakfast before we leave for home and includes meeting Lilo and Stitch in the Polynesian Resort. It's full of Hawaiian theming and I really hope we get to wear a lei. 

We have also got a few other reservations booked, we are planning to eat at Via Napoli as I've heard their pizzas are amazing and I can't wait to eat at Pizza Planet. I hope that it's just like being in Toy Story!

Have you eaten at Disney before?

Is there anywhere you would recommend?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

The Disney Series | 004 | Helpful Resources For Planning Your Walt Disney World Holiday

image source

One thing you have to know about me is that I am a planner girl, I love list making, organising and stationery. If there's something to be planned I'm up for the task. Our wedding day was planned down to the last detail and our honeymoon will be no exception! I've used quite a lot of planning tools for our trip so far and today I thought I would share these with you.

Firstly, I would definitely recommend ordering the Free Disney Planning Tools from the WDW website, they do take a few weeks to arrive so I would order these even before you're serious about booking your trip because by the time you've made that decision, they'll be on your doormat. I think we waited almost a month before ours arrived. We ordered the 2015 brochure, which contains information about tickets, hotels and resorts and information about Florida and the surrounding area. We also ordered The Little Book of Magic, which contains park maps and detailed descriptions about all six Disney parks.

Also, whilst we are on the subject of books, I would like to take the opportunity to recommend the 2015 Brit Guide to Orlando. Although a little pricey (imo) at £14.99 (it's cheaper on Amazon at £10.49 - at the time of writing this post), this guide has so far been invaluable, providing information on ESTA's (visa waiver) maps, the parks and information about what to do if you're planning on visiting areas outside of Orlando. One of my work colleagues gave me her 2008 guide and after flicking through I knew I was going to have to purchase the more updated version.

Website wise, you obviously can't go wrong with the official Walt Disney World website, it's a treasure trove of information on hotels, parks, characters, restaurants...I could go on. If you've already booked your holiday, make sure you sign up to My Disney Experience, where you can plan and organise your trip into each day, decide what park(s) you're going to visit, book restaurants, fastpasses and see which parades and events are on each day. I've had so much fun organising what we will be doing each day!

Most of the other websites I have found are mostly blogging based. If you watch YouTube, you have to take a look at See Ya Reel Soon. Vloggers Joe & Ashley visit they parks fairly regularly and vlog their whole trip, every Wednesday (about 2pm GMT) a new video goes live on their channel full of their adventures in the parks. Another favourite of mine is Ellie Steadman. Her channel is full of helpful hints and tips and she has also just returned from DLP and is putting up her videos every few days.

Another vlogger who I have found has really helped me with my trip is Charlotte from Lilmisschickas. We booked the Port Orleans Riverside Resort based on a YT video she posted and her Disney vlogs have kept us excited over the last six months since booking our trip. She also recommended taking a look at the unofficial Port Orleans website and this has been so helpful in finding out more about our hotel before we arrive.

I also have a few other bloggers which I must mention as I frequently check their blogs for Disney content. Ellis Tuesday currently has a Florida series which is really helpful especially for finding out about Florida in general and not just the parks. Danielle at Underland To Wonderland, loves Disney and has some beautiful posts on Disneyland Paris. I have also recently discovered Cocktails In Teacups and Journeys are my Diary who have both just returned from WDW. It's always helpful reading about other people's experiences and most people have lots of hints and tips which will be useful for our trip.

I hope you have found this post useful, Obviously when I return from my trip I will be able to give you a better idea of things I have encountered during my experience.

Have you been to WDW before? Do you have any helpful tips?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram

Bank Holidays Are For...

1 :: Lunch dates at 7Bone

2 :: Maple pancakes for breakfast (seriously, ASDA do the BEST maple pancakes!)

3 :: Spending all morning/afternoon/day in bed, just because you've got that extra day

4 :: Being able to go out on a Sunday night, because it's not a "school night"

5 :: Not feeling guilty about spending an entire day in your PJ's

6 :: Not doing any chores for a day, like washing because your work clothes don't need to be ready til Tuesday

7 :: Watching an entire TV series from start to finish

8 :: Not getting that "Sunday feeling" until Monday evening

9 :: Long beach walks looking at pretty beach huts (the ones above are from Boscombe beach)

10 :: Loving the fact that you only have four working days until the next weekend!

What do you love about Bank Holiday weekends?

Twitter/Facebook/Instagram