Tuesday, April 23

30 Ways to Save £1

Pound Saving Tips

Hi everyone! I thought i would take part in the Money Supermarket competition '30 Ways to Save £1' as seen here which i found on the lovely Bonjour Belle's blog here. Not only did it look a lot of fun but Money Supermarket also give you £1 for every tip you make! How great is that? You must be over 18 to enter and in a prize draw one lucky blogger will be in with a chance to win £1000! Eek!

So, here are my tips guys! As a student i think i have learned a fair ol bit about saving (hides credit card bill), i hope you like what i came up with!

30 ways to save a pound!
  1. Sounds obvious, but shop in pound shops as opposed to supermarkets for essential household items such as bleach, dishcloths, etc (just the basics I understand you may not be able to shop in pound stores for everything you require).

  2. Save your plastic bags when you go shopping as some places charge 5p every time now! This can add up :)
  1. Reduce what you throw out by seeing what you can reuse, an old candle jar when emptied and cleaned makes a fantastic brush holder!

  2. Keep spare change to save breaking a note, as once a note is broken that's pretty much it!

  3. Stock up when you see good offers in stores, this will save you money in the future!

  4. Look online for vouchers, this can help you to save a few pennies if there is money off vouchers for products you normally buy!
  1. Don't always shop on the high street, charity shops are great when you're looking for a bargain and its all for a good cause.

  2. Don't food shop on an empty stomach, you're just going to fill your trolley up with crap because the energy levels in your body are making your brain go haywire

  3. As annoying as it is, use those pesky coppers, a little goes a long way :)

  4. Pay whatever bills you can by direct debit, as this saves you more off your annual costs!

  5. Don't throw away your old clothes, some places give you £5 at bag drops (there's one in my local supermarket) for every kg of clothes you give!

  6. Don't impulse buy, step away from the potential purchase and ask yourself in 24 hours if you still need it. I bet you don't.

  7. Remember, wanting something is different from needing it. Save your money unless you really can afford it.

  8. Don't shop online with a hangover! Sounds so silly but I have done this and trust me, you're not thinking straight therefore you care less about how much you’re spending. Step. Away. From. The. Keyboard.

  9. Don't throw out your old food, reheat your leftovers and this will save you money as you wont need to go out to get more food. Eat what you have in your fridge!

  10. Think ahead and make meal plans for the week, therefore when you are home from work and don’t know what to cook it will be written down!

  11. Make a list of what you do throw out and next time you shop you will remember to get less than you did last time as it went to waste.

  12. Don't eat out unless its a treat, eating out means you will happily spend £50 on food without blinking.

  13. If you can, substitute items you buy for cheaper ones. Yes we all love taste the difference and marks and spencers is special, but tomato puree is tomato puree!

  14. Remember that pound for the trolley, then you wont have to break a note to get change which you will then probably spend and not save!

  15. Instead of buying expensive concentrated juices, drink more tap water! You pay for it (its not free) and the world is mostly water, therefore it's not bad for you!

  16. Don't fall for gimmicks in the supermarkets, chocolate philadephia is not a food group!

  17. Instead of going to the cinema on a monday, go on orange wednesdays or student tuesdays if you can, cinema prices are seriously expensive these days.

  18. Sounds daft, but drive slower! The faster you go when you don’t need to the more fuel you burn.

  19. This is a bit icky, but don’t use reams of loo roll, it comes off the roll so quickly and before you know it its all gone, one sheet at a time! (Ew) this saves trees and money which are basically the same thing, would you use one fifty pound note or two if you had no loo roll? Exactly!

  20. When you run out of bath bubbles, you can still use your empty bottle without buying more for a good 2/3 baths as the residue still makes bubbles!

  21. Instead of going to Starbucks, get a cheap caffetiere and some basics coffee and you don’t need to go to Starbucks for a good month. There is not a lot of difference i'm sure of it.

  22. Switch your lightbulbs to energy saving, this will save you money on your electricity bills.

  23. Use vinegar as de-scaler rather than these expensive branded cleaning products (even cheaper than going to the pound shop as I mentioned)

  24. If like me you have about 7 interchangeable handbags, have a good ol' route around in them before going to the cashpoint, I guarantee some spare change!

    Thanks for reading!


Friday, April 12

L'Occitane Instant Hydration Mask - Review

Hydration O'Clock

Hi everyone! This review is of a face mask i am currently loving at the moment. I picked this up from my local L'Occitane store and i have been using it for about a month now. The Instant Hydration Mask contains organic angelica water and essential oil which have hydrating and toning properties. For those of use who lack hydration in our skin, these ingredients are desirable!

I incorporated this into my face mask routine by firstly exfoliating with a scrub, then applying an inital mask of my choice (namely my Natural Collection Rosemary & Witch hazel mask from Boots - long term favourite!) leaving on for about ten minutes or so before rinsing, then applying the L'Occitane instant hydration mask and leaving on for the desired three minutes - so quick! This mask can obviously also be used alone and L'Occitane recommend using this 2-3 times a week. The consistency of the mask is that of a gel-like formula, it applies with a 'wet' feel and sits lightly on the skin with no setting effect.




The results are so good, my skin feels so soft afterwards and this continues the next morning and for the next few days ahead. The packaging states to apply a 'generous amount' and i feel no stinging at all with the application of this product, the scent is also a very natural floral scent which smells gorgeous. 

If you have never been to a L'Occitane store you should definitely check it out as the service is fantastic - i was offered a complimentary fruit/herbal tea, the products are also very natural and the overall ethos of L'Occitane as a brand is really fab. The Instant Hydration Mask is £20.00 for 75ml of product. 

What do you think of L'Occitane products?

Thursday, April 11

Viviscal Hair Filler Fibers

Do you suffer from thinning hair?

Hello everyone! Today's review is on a topic that is pretty close to my heart. For anyone who has suffered hair loss at any point in their lives, you will know how difficult it can be to deal with. I had alopecia during high school throughout and after my GCSE's. I had two big bald patches, one on my crown and one at the front of my head on the left hand-side, both were able to be covered with my hair but as a teenager i was extremely image self-conscious and to say it got me down was an understatement. 

I was kindly sent the Viviscal hair fillers to review. These hair fillers are available in a variety of hair shades and contain microscopic, electrostatically charged fibers which stick to the hair and create a volumising appearance, instantly making hair look thicker (so less thin) and fuller. You just simply tap the fillers onto your dry hair until your scalp is no longer visible, you then gently stroke the area to scatter the fibers evenly (don't forget to wash your hands afterwards!). Due to the electrostatic coating the fibers instantly bind to the hair shaft building the appearance of hair density.





As i do not suffer with Alopecia at the moment and haven't done so for the last 4/5 years now i was unable to test the Viviscal hair fillers on a thinning area, however my hair is thin overall. The next picture shows my hair pre-application


And now with the Viviscal hair fibers applied


As you can see they will blend very easily with my hair colour - obviously i chose the blonde ones and once rubbed in they did not leave any residue


The Viviscal hair fibers have been rubbed into the hair and are now dispersed evenly, this is with only a small amount and i can already see that my hair looks thicker in this area than it did previously. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who is suffering from thinning hair as when i was going through this there were very limited products available to help with the side-effects of thinning hair. I would have loved a product like this to help me through what i went through.


Viviscal Hair Filler Fibers
Size: 15 grams (approximately one month supply)
Price: $24.99
Colors include: Dark Brown/Black, Light Brown, Blonde, Grey and Auburn
Available at RiteAid.com; use promo code VIVISCAL to receive $5.00 off!
Per the updated FTC guidelines, I received the sample products with compliments from BeautyStat.com, but my review is my own objective opinion.

What do you think of this review?

Friday, April 5

Daniel Sandler Sculpt and Slim-Effect Contour Face Powder

Make Way for Daniel Sandler...

Hello everyone and a very happy Friday to you all! Today's post is on a product i recently purchased and it is the Sculpt and Slim-Effect Contour Face Powder by Daniel Sandler.. a bit of a mouthful but i got there! I picked this up from Asos for £24.50 and with a cheeky bit of student discount i was away. Daniel Sandler himself seems like such a lovely guy and i really appreciate him 'getting down with the consumers' as i'll call it by being so friendly and approachable on Twitter, that's the way to do customer service and make sales big brand bumpkins!

Anywho let's get on with the show. The packaging is quite Tom Fordy in my opinion, it looks very classy and luxe which i like. I am also glad it's not see through i like bronzers and powders to be concealed as we all know how annoying it is when it's dropped and it breaks before your eyes! I also like that instructions are given for application on the back of the product, as sometimes i just really need to be told WHAT goes WHERE, yes i should know but can anyone actually say they are an expert at contouring? Well there you go then. 




So the packaging has got a tick, appearance has a tick as the product is beautifully presented. My OCD is trying to ignore the fact that the seperation line between highlighter and contour isn't straight but I CAN LIVE WITH IT. Now for the application, i am pleased to say this product gives very little fallout and the matte contour shade applies like a dream. This is the perfect bronzing shade for my skin as i don't look like i've got great big dirty brush strokes on my face which was my problem with previous contouring bronzers. The highlighter is beautiful and it has just the right amount of shimmer, which in my eyes is exactly how a highlighter should be. This combination of bronzer and highlighter works really really well and i am loving this product! 



And with a pop of blush over the top


What do you think, can i give Kim K a run for her money in the contouring stakes? At £24.50 this may seem a little steep but i think this is reasonable considering this is a cracking bronzer and highlighter duo.

Have a great weekend!


Tuesday, April 2

My HD Brows Experience

HD WOW

Hi everyone, my oh my it's been a little while since i last posted - my apologies i just needed a tiny little blog sabbatical, however i am back now and ready to deliver my HD brows experience to you all. 

I am sure many will have heard of the HD brows treatment currently gaining popularity at speed due to the impressive results achieved through the collaboration of existing brow techniques such as waxing, plucking and threading. Hailed as eyebrow artistry, when i booked my HD brow appointment i didn't really know what to expect. My aunty was the driving force behind it and my brows had been somewhat neglected so i thought i would call upon the beauty professionals, aka local salon.

The treatment was expected to take 40 minutes, i was thinking what could they possibly do to me that would take 40 minutes and in truth the treatment was less than this for me and took about 30 minutes as my lady didn't mess around as i am sure she was booked back to back for them. First of all my brows were tinted and i was asked how dark i wanted to go. I said dark but not wow dark. After the tint my brows were waxed at which point i was told to stop scrunching my face as she may accidentally remove half the brow.. i sure did stop scrunching at this point. Next up were some scissors to trim from the top and i assume to reduce the thickness of the brows a little and remove any longer brow hairs. Wasn't too keen on this bit to be honest as i am NVQ level 2 trained and was told never to remove hair from the top really, even though i do myself with tweezers but never scissors. Then there was some plucking, finally followed by threading of the brows and the brow arch area. 

Finally after my brows were groomed to perfection, this took a while as apparantly one brow wasn't playing ball, we got there. I was told HD brows are only ever achieved 10% of the time on the first treatment and she seemed to suggest this made me lucky! For £25 i definitely wanted to be one of the ten that's for sure! The treatment was finished by the application of brow makeup from an official HD brow palette, as i was told clients are expected to leave with a finished look. I was recommended to purchase said palette but when i explained i use Browzings by Benefit which does a pretty good job my therapist said this was fine, the palettes don't look cheap either they're about £20 online and i didn't ask how much they were from the salon. To be honest i am sure you could do the job with a brow pencil to be honest the point is the treatment should do the work for you and then you just fill in as you please!

Overall i was very pleased with my HD brow experience, the top up treatment is £20 so it's not too bad for fab looking brows, however a little part of me does want to say a tint and a good wax did most of what this does and the threading is just a little added treatment, but it depends what you prefer.

Here are some before and afters! 


Before - Hairy as hell 


After - Groomed with my HD WOWS Brows (Taken the day after post redness, with browzings applied)



So, what do you think of HD brows, do you have them or will you be getting them soon?