Spring Empties

Soap and Glory, Peaches and Clean Cleansing Milk - As you can see, I've had this for quite some time, as it's still in the old packaging. I bought 3 bottles of this in one go once, as there was a 3 for 2 offer going on in Boots and I'd heard a (wrong) rumour that this was going to be discontinued. Recently, I've been using it on and off as I've found that the skin around my cheeks has got a bit more sensitive and hasn't been agreeing well with my beloved Peaches and Clean.
Would I repurchase? No.

Miss Dior Eau Fraiche - I'm really sad to see this go. This has been my staple scent since August; I absolutely love it. I'm appalling at trying to describe scents, so I'm just going to suggest that if you want to know more about this, hop on over to your local Dior counter.
Would I repurchase? Yes!

Maybelline Eye Studio Master Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde - I think this is my 4th one of these pencils. It's the perfect colour for my brows, fills them in nicely, stays relatively well and I really like the spoolie at the end. Although there's still a little bit left, when it gets this short I find it difficult to control and at only £2.99, I'm not that bothered about throwing it away.
Would I repurchase? Yes and I already have.

Auchan Eponge Dissolvante Top Chrono - As you can tell, this is a French product. I bought it when I was in France over New Year for around €3? It's basically a nail polish remover product that's an amazing dupe for the all hyped Bourjouis one - I won't bother with a link for it, you all know what it is. I'm sad to see that this has started to dry up, but I definitely got my money's worth.
Would I repurchase? Yes, I will when I'm next in France.

L'Oréal Elvive Fibrology Shampoo - This is a new contender on the haircare front and I have to say, I'm impressed. I definitely felt a difference in the thickness of my hair after just a few uses, so either it's a really good shampoo or it's a great placebo product. For only £3.99, I don't really care which it is! It smells really nice too.
Would I repurchase? Yes, I already have.

Soap and Glory Sugar Crush Body Scrub - Well, this was a disappointment. I was bought this by a friend and I was so excited as normally I really love Soap and Glory products. As a scrub it worked really well but I absolutely hated the scent. I found it far too sick and sweetly. I'm glad to see the back of this scrub!
Would I repurchase? Definitely not.

Dirty Works Buttery Salt Scrub - I think this is definitely a good dupe for some of the Soap and Glory scrubs; the smell is completely different, not quite as nice, but the packaging is so similar and the scrub does a really good job at scrubbing and moisturising. I really liked this! It's such a shame I've only ever seen this in large Sainsbury's stores.
Would I repurchase? Maybe.

Gilette Satin Care Shave Gel - This is definitely one of my staple products. Considering the fact that it's a shaving gel, I can't really think of much to say about it! It's relatively moisturising, it prevents razor rash and it smells pretty darn good.
Would I repurchase? Yes and I already have.

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Recipe || Salted Caramel Butterfly Cakes

The weekend I was bored out of my mind, I'd watched every YouTube video I could, I'd read a whole book and I'd killed the battery on my iPod; there was only one thing for it, I had to bake. I'm a massive fan of baking, I've been helping my mum to bake cakes and to bake my own for as long as I can remember but recently I haven't been baking as much due to the fact I've had exams (so I haven't had time) and also I've been trying to eat as healthily as possible, cake not quite falling into that category. However, last weekend I just thought to myself "You know what? F**k it!" and I came up with these super simple but delicious butterfly cakes.

Ingredients for the sponge

• 90g softened butter
• 90g caster sugar
• 90g self raising flour
• 2tbsp milk
• 2 medium eggs

Ingredients for the buttercream

• 65g softened butter
• 120g icing sugar
• 1tbsp milk
• 50g salted caramel sauce
• 1tsp salt

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (or 160 fan forced). Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper or foil cases.
2. Beat all the ingredients for the sponge together until they're light, fluffy and fully combined.
3. Divide the mixture evenly between the cases and bake for about 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out of the middle completely clean.
4. Leave the cakes until they are completely cool - this could take around 3/4 of an hour, but you need to be patient, as they cannot be cut or decorated until they're completely cool.
5. Meanwhile, make the buttercream. Carefully beat together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the salted caramel sauce and beat until combined. Leave aside until you need to use it, but don't put it in the fridge.
6. When the cakes are cool, take a bread knife and board and carefully cut the tops off the cake, then cutting them in half to make the butterfly wings.
7. Spread the buttercream all over the tops of the cakes and place the 'wings' on top so that from a birds eye view, they look just like butterflies.

These cakes are so tasty and simple to make. I really like to eat them with a cup of green tea at around 4pm, as if I'm having a posh afternoon tea!

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Holy Grail Product || Burt's Bees Replenishing Lip Balm

Are you ready for a rave? Because I'm going to rave - it's all I can do when I even think about this product, let alone talk or write about it. I AM IN LOVE. I have really dry and chapped lips all year round (it's a damn good thing I'm single, because I don't even like touching my lips as they're often that sore!). I've tried countless lip balms, lip jellies, lip treatments; I guess you could say I'm a lip balm whore. Quite often, products work for a few weeks and then my lips just stop reacting to them and I'm sitting there with a greasy film over painful cracked lips.

 On Christmas Eve, I was at my wits end as I'd spent possibly hundreds over the years on different lip balms, never having found anything that worked; so I went to my local Lifestyle Pharmacy and had a lovely chat with one of the pharmacists. She explained to me that many of the ingredients in your standard lip balm (think Nivea, Carmex etc...) are almost addictive for the lips - you find yourself applying it all the time as your lips make you think that you need it, but the more you apply them, the more desensitised your lips become towards them. Basically, your lips get addicted to it and then it stops working. This isn't such a problem for most people, but for those of us with insanely chapped lips it's a real issue. She claimed that all my problems could be solved by going for a 100% natural lip balm - I understood that this would solve the lip addiction problem, but I was dubious as to whether the lip balm she was suggesting (Burt's Bees) would actually do the job to my satisfaction - when you've been through as many different lip balms as I have, you start to become sceptical. However, I decided to buy it for myself as Christmas gift and I can honestly say it was one of the best purchases I've ever made. This stuff works so well! I can't say that it's completely cured my chapped lips; they still get chapped, but this stuff works a dream at de-chapping (?) them, and 5 months on it's still working a dream. I'm almost at the end of the tube, and I use it several times a day, every day, so you really do get your money's worth.

 These balms come in around 8 different flavours or scents, but I went for the pomegranate oil as I love pomegranates, the pink colour of the lid attracted to me, and this one claims to be replenishing, which sounded to be exactly what I needed. I cannot recommend these enough and you can now get them in Boots (here) for only £3.69.

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Review || 17 Miracle Matte Skin Primer

I absolutely love 17 - they do affordable, good quality products and most of the time their packaging isn't too bad for a high street brand (I'm turning into quite the packaging snob). I get a really oily t-zone, and I've been searching for ages for a primer that doesn't feel as if it's clogging up my pores, but is still keeping me matte and minimising the appearance of pores. So, when I saw this primer from 17, I got very excited and instantly bought it, without reading any reviews at all - not something I usually do, as I like to be cautious with my money.

The primer itself has the look and consistency of a light moisturiser, which was pleasing as the more siliconey primers (such as Baby Skin by Maybelline) tend to leave my skin feeling greasy and clogged up. 17 claim that it will give you 22 hour shine control - quite a big statement to make, although I'm not sure of many people who would actually keep their make up on for 22 hours. I have to say, I was disappointed. I applied this exactly as advised and saw absolutely no difference in the shine control of my foundation or BB cream. This primer did absolutely nothing.

There's not much else to say, but I almost feel let down by 17 as I love so many of their products and I really hoped I would love this too. You can buy it here for £4.99 but I really wouldn't recommend it.

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Review || Estée Lauder Day Wear Sheer Tint Release

This is possibly one of the weirdest products I've tried. Your eyes do not deceive you; it is actually grey. Estée Lauder describe it as a tinted moisturiser - the tint is released as it makes contact with the skin, meaning that one size (or colour) really does fit all. The tint worked fine for me, it matched my colour really well. I have medium skin that tans really well (without a tan I'm NW20 in MAC foundations).

The coverage in this product really is sheer, it covered absolutely nothing for me. The description given by Estée Lauder would suggest that it should be used on its own, but personally I don't think it gives any coverage at all, so you might as well just buy a moisturiser with a higher SPF - this only has SPF15, which in the Summer months really isn't adequate, especially if you're off on holiday anywhere vaguely exotic.

Perhaps this would be nice under a BB cream or a foundation, but I really didn't like how this felt against my skin. It felt greasy and just generally horrible, so I definitely wouldn't recommend this for anyone but those with dry skin - I have oily combination skin, my t-zone gets ridiculously oily, whilst my cheeks are normal and can get dry in the winter. I found this felt greasy even on my cheeks, and I hadn't even applied that much and I wasn't wearing moisturiser underneath. This might be okay if you have dry skin, but I would recommend you getting a sample from your local Estée Lauder counter, as at £37 you really want to try before you buy.

You can buy this product here, but I wouldn't recommend doing so until you've tried a sample as I don't think this will suit too many skin types.

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Review || Eye Saviours

As a serious hay fever sufferer, my eyes take a beating every Summer. I say Summer, I actually mean March through to September. I don't really need to go through the gory details of how my eyes feel after being bombarded with pollen, but it's not nice. As the icing on the cake of sore eyes, my eyes and the surrounding skin are incredibly sensitive. I've tried countless eye creams only to have that tell tale stinging and watering telling me that my eyes really aren't happy about this product. So, when I came across these two products and I had no adverse reactions, I was over the moon.

Avène Soothing Eye Contour Cream

This fabulous product has the consistency of a usual eye cream, without it being super thick or greasy. Avène claim that "this light emulsion calms skin irritation, tightness and redness". I've got to say, I think they're right. I apply a small amount of this under my eyes and on the brow bone, using my ring finger (as it's the finger that applies the least amount of pressure on this delicate skin) every evening before using my usual moisturiser. By the time I wake up in the morning, my eyes feel as good as new. Also, it's paraben free which is great, as I'm trying to limit the amount of bad things like parabens that I apply to my skin. Although this only comes in a 10ml tube, a little goes a long way and this will last at least 6 months. You can buy it here for £9.50 - a real bargain for such a great product.

Simple Kind To Eyes Revitalising Eye Roll-On

I discovered this gem only a few weeks ago, thanks to a friend of mine; I'd had a long hard day of school and I was exhausted and my eyes just felt so tired but I had to stay in school until 10pm for a concert I was performing in with the choir. My friend threw me this from across the changing room and ever since then it's taken pride of place in my handbag. Already it's an essential. With a metal roller ball and an eye gel with cucumber extracts, this is one of the most refreshing things I've ever encountered. After applying on the under eyes, you instantly feel about 100 times more awake and refreshed. This is fast becoming a holy grail product for me. The only gripe I have about this product is that it's formulated with parabens, but I'm prepared to look past this because it's just such a good product and doesn't irritate my eyes at all. If you get really hung up about parabens, the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Eye Roll-On is really similar but formulated without parabens (you can buy it here for £14). This wonder product from Simple is only £5.49 (although it's often on offer in Superdrug) and you can buy it here - I seriously recommend you do so, if you suffer from tired eyes, hay fever or if you simply love to feel refreshed.

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NOTD || Nails Inc in Optic Flame

My nails are in such bad condition, and the way that Optic Flame has applied is in no way representative of the polish, merely of my skill (or lack of it) and the condition of my nails.

You all know by now how much I just love nail polish. So you can imagine how excited I was when I found out that you could get a free, full size Nails Inc polish with the purchase of Colgate Max White One Toothpaste. I'd actually run out of toothpaste when I found this out, so I felt it was definitely time for a change of toothpaste brand. There were two shades on offer in my Boots store, this one and a pale pink which slightly resembled Fiji by Essie. Since the sun made an appearance a few days ago, I had started to feel that I didn't really have any good Summer nail polish colours, so I went for Optic Flame. It's a bright, red-toned orange, but it's not neon (despite the photo, which again I apologise for, the sun has gone in and this is the best lighting I could get). There's not really much else to say about this nail polish, but I can tell that I'm going to be wearing it constantly through out these Summer months.

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