Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

I just received an email from Kiehl's with a pretty good offer.  On 31st October 2014, you will receive 3 Deluxe Samples with any online order and there is no minimum spend. This is a great opportunity to try out some Kiehl's products at a reasonable price.  In order to take advantage of this offer you could buy the Lip Balm for £9.50, the Ultra Facial Cleanser (75ml), or the  Ultra Facial Toner  (75ml) both costing £8.50.  This offer is an online exclusive at www.kiehls.co.uk and only available for 24 hours on 31st October 2014, starting at 7am.  Enter the code TREAT at the checkout.  The samples available are Midnight Recovery Eye (3ml), Grapefruit Hand & Body Lotion 65ml & Ultimate Strength Hand Salve (30ml). There is also free standard delivery on all orders. Will you be taking advantage of this offer? Leighlee

I love writing my blog, but I also really enjoy reading other blogs, so I thought I would tell you about 5 blogs that I am loving right now.  These are the blogs that I follow by email, so that I get all the posts sent directly to my inbox: One of my favourite daily blogs is British Beauty Blogger .  If you are interested in all the new beauty products coming on the market then this is a great place to get regular updates. Beauty Balm  reviews lots of natural and organic products and subscribes to as many beauty boxes as I do. DeliciouslyElla  is a new favourite for me.  There are lots of easy to follow healthy recipes.  My favourite is the Raw Brownie recipe which is so easy and tastes amazing. It's hard to believe that it's healthy. I love reading about all the hauls on  Suzy Hearts Beauty .  I am so jealous of all the Sephora goodies that have appeared lately and it's given me a wishlist a mile long. Suzy also has a YouTube ch...

I recently purchased a box of travel sized Indeed Labs products that included 5ml samples of Snoxin, Nanoblur & Hydraluron.  I have to say they have been a welcome addition to my beauty routine.  I have combination skin and if I don't prep it properly, once I apply foundation I seem to have a few dry patches that are highlighted around my forehead and cheeks.  I have found using these Indeed Labs products has eliminated any dry patches and makes my foundation sit really well on my skin. After cleansing and toning I first use Hydraluron which is an Intense Hyaluronic Acid Moisture Boosting Serum.  This serum sinks into the skin almost immediately and aids in replenishing and retaining lost moisture. I follow that with Snoxin a Concentrated Multi-Peptide Packed Serum and again this sinks into the skin really well and does not leave it feeling overloaded. Then I use my normal moisturiser, followed by my YSL Le Teinte Touche Eclat Foundation . Fin...

I recently celebrated my birthday, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to run another giveaway.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I like to take advantage of great offers, so I have been collecting various items for a giveaway when I have spotted a great bargain.   The giveaway is open internationally .  Here's what's included in the prize: Eyelash Curler - The Vintage Cosmetic Company (This has been stashed away in my prize box and the box is now a little bit creased but the curler inside is brand new) Batiste Dry Shampoo Cherry - 50ml Nip + Fab Dry Leg Fix - 45ml Nail Rock Nail Velvet Nail Polish - Navy - 10ml (I will not be able to post this internationally, so if the winner is outside the UK they will receive an alternative product) Maybelline Babylips SPF20 Lipbalm - Smoothing Cherry Primark False Nails Charles Worthington Secrets Collection Volume & Bounce - 20ml sachet MeMeMe Fat Cat Volumising Mascara - Ultra B...

I recently went to a Balance Me Shopping Evening which was organised by Marie Claire Magazine. Tickets cost £10 each and included a goodie bag and 15% discount on anything purchased on the day. The event was held in Debenhams in the White Rose Centre in Leeds and started at 6pm. It was held on the shop floor in a small space near the Balance Me stand. We were offered a glass of Champagne or fruit juice to start off with and some biscuits and then we were introduced to Sian Jones who is co-owner and director of Balance Me. Sian explained how the brand was started and the background of the 3 directors and then explained what was planned for the evening.  Everyone had the opportunity to sit down with Sian and go through their skin concerns and she recommended which Balance Me products would be the most suitable to address our skin concerns.  There was no hard sell and Sian was really friendly & helpful throughout the chat.   I have a couple of area...

Here's my review of  The Wet Brush Detangling Hairbrush.  I am constantly on the lookout for products that make it easier to manage my thick curly hair.  I recently posted about hairbands that worked on curly hair and now I have found a hairbrush that works as well. I usually use a tangle teezer which I reviewed along with some other brushes here . Lately, my hair seems to be particularly knotted after washing and I have started leaving the shampoo out of my usual routine and going straight to conditioner which has helped.  Brushing out my hair had been a nightmare and the amount of hair that I have been pulling out was slightly worrying. Added to that, I have literally had to cut some knots out of my hair as there was no way of detangling them. The Wet Brush cost £8.99 from Sally in Leeds (see my Sally haul here ) and since I started using it my hair is so much easier to manage.  This brush has very flexible bristles that work well at brushing throu...

There is a L'Occitane Voucher in  the November 2014 issue of Marie Claire Magazine (with Kate Winslet on the front cover).   The coupon entitles you to a free Hugs & Kisses set with any purchase.  There is no minimum spend and the cheapest item that I saw instore were soaps that cost £4.50.  The Hugs and Kisses set includes a full size hand cream and lip balm which is worth £16.   I purchased a Delightful Rose Hand Cream that cost £6 (usual price is £8) and I picked the Shea Butter Hugs & Kisses for free.  I also received a couple of sample sachets as well - the Amande Milk Concentrate and the Repairing Shampoo for dry and damaged hair. This is a great offer and it is also available online, but you would also have to pay for postage if you made the purchase online. The magazine costs £3.90 and it includes a free L'Occitane Hand Cream on the front cover as well as the voucher inside. The Hugs & Kisses set comes in Delightful...

I just thought I would post about the You Beauty Discovery Box October 2014. The theme this month is Handbag Heros – luxury beauty products with a distinct, powerful and effective quick-fix approach to looking good and feeling great. Everyone received the following: Gold Collagen Forte (50ml worth £3.60)  – a new anti-ageing liquid beauty supplement that contains hydrolysed collagen enriched with a unique blend of antioxidants (Q10, acai berry, pomegranate, lycopene, L-Carnosine and resveratrol) to protect against the oxidative stress.  Cowshed Perfecting Night Serum (2ml worth £3.20) – The ultimate all-in-one anti-ageing treatment. The innovative serum-in-oil hybrid is bursting with natural active ingredients and essential oils that work wonders on your skin while you sleep, so that you wake up with a firmer, brighter and smoother complexion. I chose the following 2 items to be included in my box: Crystal Clear Intense Anti-Ageing Serum...

I am always looking for things that make my curly hair easier to manage and one of the top items on my list are hair bands.  Most of the bands that I have been using (material or rubber) end up pulling out some of my hair everytime I try to take them out at the end of the day and over time they get pretty gross with lots of hair tangled around the band.  Recently I have picked up a couple of spiral type bands to see if they are any easier on my hair.  Here's my review of the bands: First up is the Mixed Chicks hair bands which I picked up in Selfridges in London for £3.99.  I am struggling to find these online at a well known store, but I did find them here  although I should point out that I have never purchased anything on this website, so you may need to investigate them a little more before buying . The Mixed Chicks packaging states no tangles, no tears and no fears and I would say that is correct.  The bobbles do not pull on my hair and whilst...

I recently took advantage of the SPACE.NK free goodie bag when you spend £150, so I thought that I would do a review of the contents (I will do a separate post on the actual products that I purchased to get the goodie bag). The goodie bag is pretty amazing and includes 28 high end products that I can't wait to try.  I have been wanting the items that I purchased for quite a while so the goodie bag made it easy to part with the cash. £150 is alot of money, but I am sure that most of us have mental wish lists that cost way more than £150, so it was a good excuse to buy some of the items from my wishlist.  I have to say that I shared the purchases with my sister, so that made it even easier as it was only a £75 spend and we will divide the goodie bag up so that we each have 14 extra products.  The other thing that made it an easy spend is that I put £20 away a month into an account specifically to spend on these types of offers or the Christmas Advent Calendars, so I ha...

Back in December 2013 (if you can remember that far back) I set myself some  challenges for 2014 .  I posted an update in July here .  Any challenges that I completed by July I will strike out below and just provide updates on the ones I've completed since.  Here's my original list below and I will add an update to each line. Watch 50 DVDs from my collection and then give them away.  I haven't made much progress with this one as I have so much to watch on Sky+ and I have recently joined Netflix.  I have only watched 11 DVDs so far. Sort out 100 items to get rid of (either sell, throw away or giveaway). This can be any type of item and is all part of the decluttering process.  Completed based on the amount of items I've donated to charity, sold on ebay/blog sale, although I didn't keep a specific record of exactly how many.  I need to have clearer challenges next year. Read 20 books from my collection (I know I am so behind the times, I re...