One to watch: Liverpool Lashes

My good friend Karen, aka Liverpool Lashes on YouTube is having a fabulous nail art giveaway to celebrate 10,000 subscribers to her channel - what a massive achievement!  *cue applause*

Karen is a qualified nail technician and has her finger well and truly on the beauty pulse, as her many clients will confirm.  I'm always so envious of her fab nail art designs and foil/shellac mani's.  She's lovely - and bloody hell she can talk! Yeah, I know. People in glass houses, shouldn't throw stones! That's probably why we get on so well. Two gabby Annie's together. 

The giveaway is International and open to her YouTube & Twitter followers, so pop along and subscribe/follow for a chance to win. You can also find her at liverpoollashes.blogspot.co.uk  

Do you have the XXX Factor?!

To any of you Brits reading this - woah mama! This heat wave is driving me mental and is making me rather grumpy.

To anyone from the rest of the world - I apologise that we Brits are NEVER happy with the weather. It's one of our flaws. I hope we can still be friends?!?

I digress. 

I'm lying her in front of my air con unit nekkid (yes, I have air con. Don't hate me, coz you ain't me! Haha) enjoying the ice cold air. Bliss! Apologies for unexpected XXX mental image - hey, at least I didn't include a picture. I spared you that much!! Yup. Thank god I can do what I like in the privacy of my own home. 

But if you haven't got air con, the ability or inclination to lie about as nekkid as the day you were born, might I suggest that you pick up a bottle of Original Source MEN (well, I've been using it too!) XXX strong black mint shower gel.  I've talked about this stuff before. I love it.

Before the nekkid air con time, I've enjoyed a rather tingletastic bath. I don't have a shower. I remembered I had this in my stash, after a rather hot and sweaty dinner date this evening, with The Boy - which followed a particularly hot and sweaty day in the office.  Even without the addition of air con, you can feel the cooling menthol tingle after use. If you're sensitive to fragrance or menthol then this one is not for you and WATCH OUT for those sensitive areas that you may not want tingling, if you get what I mean?! I don't want to be the cause of any issues for you...  But if you want to literally chill out before bed, or quite frankly any time of the day - I recommend this. Plus it's as cheap as chips. 

Right, better throw some jarmies on asap before The Boy gets the wrong idea!!!!!!!

Magazine freebies - July 2013 edition

It's that time again - the magazine freebies are out in force! 

First up, Glamour. Until recently I had a monthly subscription to Glamour and would have renewed it, but they never contacted me to ask me if I'd like the subscription to continue - ho hum!  Anyway, this month they've teamed up with Balance Me to offer items from their range. I got the 'super toning body wash' which at 100ml is the perfect travel size.  I haven't opened it yet, so I can't tell you what it smells like, but I think it's a pretty decent freebie and certainly something I'll use at home, or away.

Meanwhile Cosmo have joined forces with 'Nip + Fab' with a selection of body boosting freebies. I picked the 'Dry leg fix' for a touch of super intense moisturisation, which I might also throw in my travel bag.  I have to say, the inclusion of a bust cream is interesting. Not many beauty company's cater for this delicate area and for it to be included as a freebie in a magazine will give it lots of exposure - you know what I mean! ;-) I think I'd have picked this one, if I'd seen it in store. However, the women of Liverpool had beaten me to it!!  If anyone gets this sample, I'd be interested to hear what you think about it. 

Any other magazine freebies you want to tell me about? I'm all ears! 

Heads up: Boots Advantage Card offer - Thursday 11th July 2013

I love a bargain as much as the next person, so here's a quick heads up.

If you spend £30 or more in selected Boots stores (or £50 online at Boots.com) on Thursday 11th July, you'll receive £7.50 of advantage points. 

Now I don't know about you, but I find that pretty easy to do! New and exciting goodies seem to fall into my basket and before you know it, I'll be at the £30 mark. I need a refill on a few things and I have some birthday gift cards to spend, so if that means I can claim a bit of extra cash to spend on my Boxing Day Bargain purchases. Happy days. 

The question is, do you save up your Boots points? Or do you splurge as you go along? 

Goodbye Jo Malone Vanilla & Anise

Okay, seriously not impressed with Jo Malone right now. I've had confirmation from their staff that they are discontinuing my all time fave Vanilla & Anise fragrance. 

Once the stock runs out in stores - it's finito! That means bye-bye to the fragrance, the bath oil. the candle... the whole shebang. To say I'm devastated (dramatic much?!) is an understatement.

The poor girl at Jo Malone couldn't apologise enough, as she broke the news to me. I knew something was afoot, as I couldn't find the bath oil on the website.

She said this wasn't the only fragrance that was being discontinued and I'd like to be able to tell you what the others were, but I kind of stopped comprehending information when I heard her say "Oh sorry, Vanilla & Anise is being discontinued" 

These are indeed sad times *cue stockpiling* 

Buy it!

Aveda Botanical Kinetics travel kit (includes purifying creme cleanser, liquid exfoliant, skin firming/toning agent and hydrating lotion) - Like most beauty addicts, I find myself permanently stalking Caroline Hirons blog. What she doesn't know about skincare is probably not worth knowing!  Anyway, Mrs Hirons mentioned these Aveda goodies as being good quality skincare at a decent price point, so when I spotted them in Debenhams with 10% off, I thought I'd give them a try. I'm really enjoying the collection as a whole, particularly the toners and my skin is looking pretty darn good as a result of it.  I'll report back after a bit more usage, but so far so good.

Armani Code Luna EDT and Kate Walsh Boyfriend EDP - I'll let you into a little secret - if I haven't worn one, I've worn the other - all month long! Talk about being a creature of habit and I'm not usually like that at all - especially when it comes to perfume!  Even though I usually like to ration my usage of Boyfriend as you can only get it in America (it's a a given that I will be stocking up while I'm on holiday) I've been using it like a crazy woman.  As for Luna, Boots.com  writes it up as: a "vanilla eau de toilette", fresh and floral, leaving a mesmerising wake. To lead in, bright citrus-like and sparkling bergamot notes, green accents of bitter orange essence, and a pear chord, crisp as fresh fruit. At its core, the orange blossom absolute - the real olfactory signature of Code Luna - combines with a stunning "moonflower", filmy and light as air. With the botanical name EphiphyllumOxypetalum, it thrives in areas of light and shadow. Cultivated in India, legend has it that it only opens and flowers during the full moon. Rare and mysterious, its whiteness is a reflection of its purity; it grows and blooms to its fullest in the moonlight. Doesn't that sound right up my street? Well that explains why I've used it to death this month.

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector (combo to oily) -  as I've mentioned thanks to the new Aveda skincare, I've been having a pretty decent skin month.  So I've rediscovered the Miracle Skin Perfector as a daily base.  Is it a miracle? No! Does it perfect? Not entirely, but it does give a nice amount of (light) coverage and keeps the oil at bay.  I've also found it to be a nice mixing base. A few times over the month I have used it in conjunction with other foundations to great effect. What is not to like?  

Nivea in shower body moisturiser (dry skin) - when I heard about this I instantly wanted to give it a try.  While I love a gloriously thick body butter as much as the next person, there are times when I don't want to feel like a butter basted chicken!  I use my shower gel of choice and then slap this all over and rinse.  I've been using the dry skin version and I've certainly noticed a massive difference in the condition of the skin of my upper arms and elbows.  I think this is really great concept that can slot into your routine with minimal fuss. This product is genius. Hey, I'm busy/lazy (delete as appropriate) so it's winner for me.  Of course, there's also something very nostalgic about the scent of Nivea that reminds me of my childhood and that is never going to be a bad thing.

Epic Empties: Part 3!

Here's the final instalment of my empties post. It's been another bumper month and I'm getting such a weird satisfaction from using things up! It's the simple pleasures, isn't it?!

Philosophy Coconut Frosting 3 in 1 shower gel - I do really love these shower gels. Whatever scent that's currently in season, I'm a fan. This was a massive bottle and the summery coconut scent was divine. I think I'll always have some of these in my collection. Definite repurchase! 

L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel - this came from a TSV and I didn't think I was going to like this. Citrus just isn't my thang, but I really did enjoy this. The scent was very invigorating and especially good in the mornings. 

The Body Shop Moringa shower gel - I'm not a floral girl by any stretch of the imagination, but I really did enjoy the Moringa scent. I think I got this huge size in the January sales for about a fiver. Bargain. I think I'd consider a repurchase in future.

Philosophy Purity Made Simple cleanser - woah mama! This giant cleanser (all 946.2mls of it!) has been with me for YEARS. Without a word of a lie. Years!! I've obviously used other cleansers in the meanwhile, but I always knew I could rely on Purity. This gets your skin clean without feeling too harsh. I'll probably revisit this in the future, but for now I'm playing the field ;-)

Vichy Nomaderm Tri Active cleanser - I reviewed this a while back. I love that you can use it as a cleanser and mask. I personally don't think it's scrubby enough for a scrub, but for some people it might be just fine. I've already bought another one. Thumbs up from me.

Clarisonic nourishing care cleanser - came free with my Clarisonic. Nice enough. Wouldn't repurchase though, nothing special in my opinion. 

DHC cleansing oil - I love a cleansing oil. However, I'm not sure if I'm madly in love with this one. It's pretty run of the mill and doesn't really compare to the Origins Clean Energy. Will not repurchase.

Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream - love!  Have a few other pots ready to roll.

Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple PocketBac - you know I love these, although this scent kind of reminds me of Tixylix cough medicine! I already have others to use.. Of course! 

B.Pure Micellar water - nice enough. Nothing earth shattering. Won't repurchase.

Bath & Body Works Pink Chiffon shower gel - love this scent as its so super sweet. Will repurchase when I'm back at B&BW!

Alpha H Gentle Daily Exfoliator- I'm sorry to say that I really disliked this. It's a powder that you make into a paste and apply to your face. I really don't think it does anything and I hated the scent! It smells like dust (if you know what I mean?!) Not a fan. Won't repurchase. 

Batiste Tropical dry shampoo - use these all the time. Like this scent. Will always repurchase.

The Body Shop Moringa Beautifying Oil - told you I love this scent. I also love body  oils so this is a win/win. I've already repurchased.

The Sanctuary Pore Refining Toner - I like this toner and I like that its in a spray bottle. Might repurchase again. 

No7 Total Renewal scrub - I used to hold this scrub up against all others. But since attempting to use this one up, I noticed it was making my face sting a bit. Weird, because its never done that before. I've no moved onto the Botanics version which is cheaper and isn't stinging my face! Won't repurchase for the time being. 

L'Occitane ultra rich hand and body wash - LOVE! Smells like newborn babies (which I like, but you may not!) I have another one on the go as I type.

Ojon Restorative Shampoo and Conditioner - really like this combo. Its quite expensive but I'll probably buy it again when it's on offer. 

Elemis Skin Nourishing shower cream - again, this smells like newborn babies! Lovely comforting scent. Got this from a TSV and might consider an individual repurchase.

Philosophy I'm dreaming of white pear 3 in 1 shower gel - same as the Coconut Frosting, mmmm I love pears. 

Phew! That's it for now. My beauty bin is currently empty. But I'm already deciding what to focus on and use up in July. I really do need to try and include some make up in there, don't I?! 

QVC Beauty TSV's July 2013

Thursday 4th July - Look Good, Feel Good

Saturday 6th July - L'Occitane: Beauty en Provence

Sunday 7th July - SUPER SUNDAY over 30 TSV's including Elemis, ybf, Philosophy, Rituals, Utan, Leighton Denny and Omorovicza

Tuesday 9th July - Beauty tools and accessories

Sunday 14th July - bareMinerals

Tuesday 16th July - In the Salon with SBC

Saturday 20th July - Liz Earle - Naturally Active Skincare

Happy Shopping!!!!