Now, you may already know how much I love Jonathan Ward candles, as I've posted about them a couple of times on here, so you'll also understand my excitement at the following pieces of news!
Firstly, Jonathan has introduced a new reed diffuser range that is available in NINE of his most popular fragrances which I am so SO excited about as it's not always convenient to light a candle, for instance, if you're not going to be home for long enough.
However, a reed diffuser can be safely left out to fragrance the room all the time, allowing you to enjoy beautiful JW scents such as Josephine's Rose, Mombasa, Kiss in Rio, Lost in El Salvador, Nightingale's Jasmine, Dance in Summer Rain, Velvet Moss Rose, Santissima Amalfi, Kartushya and Gypsy, any time you like.
First to launch will be Nightingale's Jasmine, priced at £32 for 250mls of alcohol free oil, which should last 2-3 months, and so is actually fantastic value for money, when you consider it would only cost about £2.60 per week.
Now on to the next bit of news, which is great for those of you who may have had difficulties in getting hold of JW candles because you couldn't smell them first hand, because now you'll be able to, since Jonathan Ward products are going to be stocked in leading House of Fraser stores from March 2012. They will also be available on the House of Fraser website too. The stores stocking JW products are:
Edinburgh
Manchester
Birmingham
Guildford
London City
Bluewater
Dundrum
Belfast
Westfield
London Oxford Street
Cardiff
Glasgow
Meadowhall
Reading
Leeds
High Wycombe
London Victoria
Lakeside
Bristol
Loch Lomond Shores
Cheltenham
Maidstone
I absolutely love that more people will be able to see, and get hold of these exquisite candles and hope that this newly formed relationship continues for a long time to come.
You can still buy from the Jonathan Ward website, if you know which fragrance you'd like to buy - and if you've never purchased before, and would like to then please email me with your name and email address as I can now refer you, so you get a bit of a discount, which might make that candle smell even sweeter. ;-)
Now I'm off to bed as its 3am and I need my beauty sleep. xx
I had a rather lovely email yesterday, offering me the chance to try out some Boux Avenue lingerie, which of course I have accepted and you shall be reading about that in due course. In the same email, I was also offered the chance to give one of you, my lovely readers the chance to win a £50 gift card to spend at Boux Avenue... and of course, I accepted that too.
So, if you want to be in with the chance of winning this fabulous prize, all you need to do is follow this blog via Google Friend Connect, Networked Blogs, or Hello Cotton (see right hand side bar) and leave a message in the comments section, telling me how you follow me and your name that you use on said following methods.
If you follow me on all 3, you get extra entries for each extra one - but you must follow me via at least one of those. Extra entries also apply if you follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook and tweet/share about the competition, and video using this message (leave your usernames in your comments):
You have the opportunity to get 5 entries into this competition, should you wish to enter via all methods.
This competition ends on Thursday March 29th 2012 at 23:59pm, so get sharing. :-)
For those of you who just can't wait, you should get yourself over to the Boux Avenue website, as they currently have a 3 for 2 offer running on selected pairs of knickers... which is what the 'wiggle it' video at the top is all about, it's a bit cheeky, don'tcha think? ;-)
Lisamarie from Beauty Crazed would like to escape the cold weather for a resort. But, since that's not happening, she's brought it to her fingers with the essie Resort Collection! Check it out and see if it brings you warm thoughts too!
At theNotice, Rae takes you through The BB Cream Breakdown, with bare-faced (!) and full-face swatch comparisons of Garnier and Marcelle's BB Cream offerings.
Tracy at Beauty Reflections shares her secret beauty habit and wants to know yours!
So, she's gone from pink to blue... but does it suit her? I think it does, to be honest - as out there as it is to have all blue hair (I had a couple of slices of blue, back in my early 20's), it works well for her. I also like the effect of the blue and purple in the picture, but that is by the by.
I wonder what colour she'll have next, any guesses? I reckon it coul be purple... no reason for this, it's purely a guess.
A little bit of sun yesterday got me thinking about the warmer months that we hopefully have ahead of us, so I thought it only right that I should show you this Bronzing Duo from Illamasqua that I've had ever since the Liverpool store launch last year.
The duo comprises of a lighter and darker bronzing shade, that are SO soft, buttery soft and so silky on the skin, I think this is partly because the shimmer is very fine, it's not at all gritty or glittery which is a bit more complementary to the skin, and stops you looking like you've been sprinkled with fairy dust (or doing art with a 5 year old)! I find my skin looks radiant when I use this set, I use it sparingly as it is VERY pigmented, so a light hand is recommended.
Top, flash. Bottom, No flash.
The swatches do make it look slightly orange, more so than it does in real life and whilst I wouldn't use this as an all over bronzer, it's perfectly lovely to highlight and contour (to some degree, bare in mind that it isn't matte)! I really like this, it's a perfectly lovely set that I think most people could make use of - even using them as blusher.
Top, flash. Bottom, No flash.
Illamasqua's tagline 'Make-up for your alter ego', and the fact that their make-up artistry (courtesy of the fabulous, and utterly lovely, Alex Box) and subsequent collection images are always quite out there, could make some people think that all their make-up is completely unwearable for people who weren't into such looks, but they'd be wrong.
They actually have a great deal of products, in various colours that can be used as subtly or as wildly as you desire. I love that most of their products are multi-use, generally very pigmented and also long lasting whilst also being very reasonably priced. If you haven't tried any of their products before, or have been wary about their colours/products, and live near to one of their stores, or concession stands then I really urge you to pop there and have a look for yourself.
Top, flash. Bottom, No flash (but it was near a light).
The Bronzing Duo is £20.50, and is available online from Illamasqua.com. I can't wait for summer to come so that I can get even more use out of it.
I lusted after this perfume for about 6 months last year, desperately trying to wait until Christmas to ask for it from Mr Beauty Scoop. Alas, I caved in about 2 months before and bought it myself... and, not only did I buy it, I bought the biggest bottle in the Eau De Parfum no less (well, if you're going to do something, you might as well do it properly, don't you think?!).
I'm glad I did, as it has quickly become my favourite, and most used fragrance which is quite an achievement, considering how much perfume I own... so choosing the biggest bottle in the EDP variety was probably one of my better splurges.
The bottle is beautiful, elegant and very deserving of a front row place on my dressing table. However, the bottle isn't why I bought it, so let's get on to the fragrance itself. Put simply, it is stunnng, sweet but fresh and with just a hint of musk to stop it being sickly, whilst also giving the fragrance a bit of warmth too. It's a scent that I believe is suitable for pretty much all ages, and one that I can see being as popular as ever in years to come.
On the skin it lasts for AGES, which I'm very impressed with - but not surprised as EDP's are known to last longer than EDT fragrances. I also knew it lasted well because I used to sneak a squirt whenever I went into Boots whilst I was in my lusting phase! ;-)
I've done a bit of a Google search to try to find out the notes of the fragrance to let you know, but there's some confusion over this as it appears they've been tweaked in recent times, so although I'm showing the notes below, they may not be 100% correct as the site didn't say which version they were from.
Top Notes: Green Tangerine, Strawberry Leaves. Heart Notes: Violette, Pink Jasmine, Carmelized Popcorn, Strawberry Sorbet. Base Notes: Fresh Patchouli and Crystalline Musk
The changes are that Miss Dior Chérie will be known simply as Miss Dior from now on (although some of the Miss Dior Chérie will still be on shelves until they sell) and will be the same, pink coloured perfume, whilst the original Miss Dior (yellow-ish coloured perfume) will become Miss Dior Original. It's a little confusing, and ultimately doesn't change a lot but I thought you guys should know, for the purpose of this review and future knowledge.
Whatever the notes or the name, it is beautiful and I recommend it 100%.
Yep, it is my birthday right now - I actually can't believe how quickly it's coming around these days - it's like somebody has put my life on fast forward since the age of 25. I'm 31 and feel like crying that my 20's are truly over lol.
So, I'll be having a day off, maybe... as I may do a birthday present post later... or I may do it tomorrow, depending on how much time I have.
This liquid lipstick is a gorgeous muted pink, with a slightly coral undertone - although I thought, judging by the sticker at the end of the box, that it would be more of a baby pink. I'm glad it's not though as I adore the colour and also that it can be built up to be a slightly stronger shade.
It's a perfect hybrid between a lipstick and a lip gloss as it has more staying power than your average lipgloss, whilst keeping the fantastic shine that you come to expect from a gloss. It's also not sticky like a gloss, in fact it has a beautiful, silky feel to it that I like very much. I also feel that it is fairly moisturising on my lips compared to a gloss.
I love that there is a small amount of sparkle running through the liquid lipstick, but I love even more that I can't feel any gritty texture on my lips because of it. I can't stand feeling like I have bits of crap on my lips when wearing lip products with a chunkier shimmer running through it.
I get about 2-3 hours wear with it, without excessive eating/drinking which I think is quite good, considering the gloss finish, and the fact that it isn't a bright or dark shade that usually last a little longer, due to the nature of their more pigmented hues.
Available from various outlets such as Zuneta and Bath & Unwind for around £15.
If you receive regular monthly beauty boxes, and like me feel that it's a shame to throw away such a useful box, you'll have an ever growing stash of them to match my own. I use mine to store various bits and bobs in (as do most of you, I expect), but have found an even better way of doing this with my Feel Unique boxes.
Since they have a drawer-like action to open them, I felt that these would be put to even better use by stacking them up and securing with double sided tape to make mini sets of drawers. You can make them tall and thin or even tall and wide (by taping them side by side and on top of each other) depending on what sized work space you have to fit them on.
For me, doing this makes them more sturdy, less likely to be moved and forgotten about (or put somewhere safe and lost) and generally just a lot more useful in my day to day life.
You can even customise your drawers to fit in with your room décor by using things like gems, stuck on with glue (if you want to 'bling' them up), or even wallpaper samples that you can get for free from most DIY stores.
I'll quite possibly be doing this on the tops of the 'drawer' sets, just to hide the Feel Unique branding (although as far as brandings goes, it actually isn't hideous), or over the top and down the 2 sides - but I haven't 100% decided on this yet, hence my wallpaper piece is only slightly stuck on to show you the rough idea!
I've found that storing hair bits in these works very well for me, I was always looking for a hair grip or bobble etc when I didn't have a dedicated place for storing them, but now I can easily turn to my 'drawers' and find what I need., they're the perfect size for them!
You could store make-up, make-up brushes (brilliant to keep any household dust etc away from them), nail tools, jewellery, cotton wool products and god knows what else in them, so long as it fit in then the list of possibilities is endless.
This is such a low cost alternative to Muji-like storage (which can work out as being too expensive for some) as they really do the same job, just without the ability to see into the box without opening it - a small price to pay if you're on a budget.
Unfortunately since I wrote this post, Feel Unique boxes have been discontinued - however you may still have them lying around, unloved and I thought this would still be handy.
Apologies for my photographs, it was dark when I managed to get supplies together to show you as much of a step by step as possible, so there's a tinge of yellow from the lamp we have in the room, and when using full flash, the boxes looked odd and I'm only just learning about bouncing the flash, so this is my first public attempt haha.
Is this something you have considered/would consider doing with your boxes?
Ever since my love for lipstick came back in a big way just before I started this blog, I've favoured the brighter shades - pinks, reds, corals and more. I couldn't get enough of them, and I've loved every minute.
However, I have been completely avoiding nude shades as I've loved the bright, bold shades so much that nudes never really called to me when browsing for lipstick... that, and also because I've never found one that doesn't make me look dead.
These look quite nice?!
I don't know if is my inexperience in the nude department (oo-err), or if it's simply that I just don't suit them and am destined never to wear one whilst still looking like I'm in the land of the living.
So, I have decided that it is now my life's quest to find my perfect nude shade and this is where you come in, I'd love for you to suggest your favourite nude shades to me so that I can check them out.
I'm thinking that I might need something with a pink or peach undertone, rather than out and out beige as I'm pretty sure that pure beige would give me that dreaded look of death. I don't care which brand make the lippy, although it needs to have some staying power as I hate to have to reapply every 5 minutes whilst I should be having fun.
The pack contains a nail file, and a clear sheet of stickers too.
These were meant to make up my Valentine's day manicure, and I reaaaallly wanted to love them, but unfortunately they just don't work for me or my nails. I've had these kinds of things before, and honestly I've never had this much trouble with them.
For a start, they were too large for my nails, I really don't know who would have a thumb nail as large, or as wide as the biggest sticker in the pack, and whilst I know my nails are quite petite, I don't think they're so small that they wouldn't be catered for within a set of these stickers.
They say these can be used on fingers or toes, but in my opinion they should really make a separate pack for toes so that they can concentrate on getting better sizes for each, rather than trying to cram it all into one pack.
The stickers also didn't have enough stretch or flexibility in them to cater for my nails that have quite a curve to them, which meant that the sticker creased and folded at every opportunity, it hasn't even stuck down at all in some places because of this (and it's clearly visible too). This ultimately means that the nail sticker isn't properly stuck to my nail, isn't water tight and will probably fall off at the first trickle of water.
I also found that this caused the sticker to catch on my hair, even getting some stuck in it at one point - now these are meant to last for a few days and I can't imagine how much hassle it would be to have to do my hair on a daily basis with these catching on my hair in the process.
As you can see, it looks like I've literally just stuck any old stickers onto my nails - not a good look, and not something that I am used to with these as I've previously only had good experiences with them (I'm looking at you, Kooky Nails)!
Surprisingly it was my little finger that turned out the best (I say surprising because that was the first nail I did, and also because it's my smallest fingernail, and one that has a fair amount of curve to it too), although it wasn't without fault.
I'm wondering if I have a faulty set, or whether others have had similar problems with these as I surely can't be the only person in the world with dainty, curvy nails? I'm really disappointed as I was also sent a fabulous looking black and white polka dot set that I was really looking forward to wearing, not so much now though.
If you have fairly flat nails, I don't think that there'd be such an issue as they can be cut down to size if they're still too big - although it would be a bit of a faff! I did like that these nail stickers came with a separate sheet of clear stickers to wear over the patterned ones to protect the design and stop it from fading. Unfortunately I never got that far though.
Collection 2000 has been around for as long as I can remember, in fact they're celebrating their 25th birthday this year and in the process are dropping the 2000 from their brand name, to be known from now on as Collection... nothing more, nothing less.
I don't know about you, but I don't really understand why a brand would do this - after taking years to establish itself and its name, only to change it, but whatever, I guess we'll get used to it. I still think that Collection 2000 rolls off the tongue a bit better, Collection just feels a bit too abrupt to me.
We all want to save money where we can, don't we? Especially when the only direction that the cost of living is going, is up! I've been finding little ways of saving money where I can, and even making a small amout here and there, as I detailed in my cashback sites & discount codes post, I really do believe that every little helps - and as we know, this is the (famous) Tesco motto too.
I do most of my shopping at Tesco as it's the closest supermarket to me, and to be honest I quite like the fact that whilst I shop, I also earn points through my clubcard. Clubcard points can mount up quite nicely I find, especially when you find extra points offers on products that you're buying, and I am usually quite pleasantly surprised to see how much I have accumulated when my statement and vouchers come in.
Many of you may just spend your clubcard vouchers at face value in store, which is great for saving a bit of money on your everyday shopping, but there are ways to get even more out of your well earned points. Clubcard have a Rewards scheme that gives you even more back for your vouchers, up to 4 times more to be precise, depending on which retailer/offer you choose. This scheme has been going for a long time, and has changed slightly in that time, but is well worth taking a look as there's plenty of choice to be found.
They've got everything from driving lessons to jewellery, and even have a section on Health & Beauty where you can exchange your Clubcard coupons for vouchers to use at sites such as BeautyExpert.co.uk and Mankind.co.uk, or use at sk:n clinics (laser hair removal and more), LA Fitness (gym membership) and many others.
Another fantastic use for your vouchers is the restaurants section where you can exchange your vouchers for 4 times what they'e worth (for most of the restaurants in the scheme) and use them towards eating out. They have a large selection of restaurants covering many different cuisines and they prove very useful indeed if you're a fan of eating out (although you do have to pay for drinks, as the vouchers only cover the food part of your bill).
What I've bought using Clubcard Rewards:
I tend to save my clubcard points up (you can keep them for 2 years before they expire), to buy more expensive items with via the deals system so I've only really made 2 big purchases so far (other than a couple of smaller voucher redeems for restaurant tokens), although I am ready to trade more in again, once I decide what I want.
About 6 years ago, Mr Beauty Scoop and I used a large amount of Clubcard vouchers that I had been saving up to buy items from (the now defunct) MFI for our new house, we had £190 of Clubcard vouchers that turned into £760 in deals to spend at MFI which we used to buy a sofabed and a memory foam mattress - both items were in the sale so we got an even better bargain.
I also used Clubcard deals vouchers to buy my WEDDING RING!! Yep, I really did - I had £145 in Clubcard vouchers which translated into £580 to spend in Goldsmiths, so I chose a diamond wedding ring that is so beautiful, and I can't wait to wear it. This has saved us a huge chunk of wedding budget and I have no problems with how I came to own my ring, in fact I am quite proud of it. If you want to see the ring, please visit my previous post about it, here!
So, as you can see, there are plenty of ways to easily make more from your Clubcard points, will you be taking up any of the offers available? Have you ever used Clubcard deals before, and if so, what did you buy (I'm nosey)? x
