Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

Ice Cube Leeds is back for 2016.  This pop up complex can be found in Millennium Square in Leeds City Centre and is open until Sunday 21st February 2016.  You can find the following attractions: * Outdoor real ice rink with accessible skating for all abilities * Nursery rink for children aged 8 and under * Capital FM Snowslide * North Pole Starflyer * Dolomites Café by Casa Mia I tried out the ice skating and had a thoroughly great time.  Sadly I don't glide along the ice like a professional, but I did stay on my feet which was a major achievement and I managed to lap my sister a few times as she struggled to find her balance.  It's a great form of exercise as well and I have swapped one of my weekend gym sessions for an ice skating session which makes my exercise routine a bit more interesting.   The very attractive ice skates Ice skating sessions last an hour and cost £8.50 for adults and £6.50 for children under 12 (this incl...

I just thought I would do a quick post to let you know about a great L'Occitane freebie that is on offer at the moment.  If you sign up using this link  (this is not a referral link) you  can get this great freebie. The set includes: Shea Butter Light Comforting Cream 8ml Shea Butter Hand Cream £10ml Limited Edition Tin You can collect this free instore or online with any other purchase. I thought this was a lovely little gift set.  I don't find that the ladies at the counter try and hard sell you any other products, although they do mention that you can get £10 off a £40 spend but they don't push this. Offer lasts until 14th February 2016 or until stocks last. Leighlee

I am not blessed with lush, full lips, so I tend not to wear really dark shades on my lips.  They also get quite dry, so I am yet to brave a matte lip.  That being said, I do love lipsticks and glosses so here are some of my favourite lip products. To keep my dry lips in tip top condition, I love using Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream overnight   as it guarantees that my lips look and feel moisturised every morning.   Right now it's £11.95 for 50ml at Fragrance Direct .   If my lips are feeling particularly, dry then I use Lush Popcorn Lip Scrub .  It's pretty much sugar and tastes really sweet (not sure if you are supposed to lick it off your lips, but it tastes so nice).  It's £5.50 for 25g. I don't use lip pencils every day, but when I do I reach for Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat  in Pillow Talk .  It's a neutral pinky colour that is a shade darker than my natural lip colour and it's creamy consistency makes it easy to apply and...

I was checking out my empties the other day and was really pleased with the amount of products I have used up in the last couple of months.  These are the last empties for 2015.  I have tried really hard not to buy unnecessary products and I'm on a spending ban in January (see my 2016 challenges here ).  I just have so many products to use up I really have no need for any more but it's so hard to resist especially when there are great offers on.   Anyway here's what have used up and what I think of them. Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir - This is the only Jo Malone fragrance that I own and it was a really nice, strong fragrance that lasted for hours on my skin. I would like to try other Jo Malone fragrances, so I won't repurchase this one for a while. Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau So Fresh - I love all Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrances and Eau So Fresh is the perfect spring/summer fragrance.  It's so subtle and light. I have loads of perfumes in my stash so I won't be...

I am all about the eyes right now when I apply my makeup, so I thought I would let you know about some eye products that I really like at the moment. These are my go to products for an easy to apply casual look. Eye Primer - Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (£16 for 10ml) Eye primer is a must for me as I have oily eyelids and I find that when I use Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion even cream shadows stay put and do not crease. Cream Shadow - Max Factor Excess Shimmer (£7.99 for 7g) This product is so easy to apply with my finger rather than messing around with a brush and I find that a sweep over the eyelids is sufficient for a easy, but great look through the day and night.  I have the shades Copper and Bronze. Eyebrow Pencil - Smashbox Brow Tech Gloss Stick (£16.50 for 0.2g) My eyebrows are not of the Cara Delevigne variety.  Mine are the opposite of full and thick, they are sparse and faint, so an eyebrow pencil is a must to fill them i...

I posted back in October about some Maple Holistics Products I had been sent to try out here .   I also got the opportunity to try out  Maple Holistics Vitamin C Anti Aging Serum which I have been using for awhile now. Maple Holistics Vitamin C Anti Aging Serum  is easy to use.  The product has a pipette that dispenses just the right amount of product for your face and neck. It sinks in really quickly and does not leave a greasy residue on the skin.  It also has a very light barely there fragrance.   I use this morning and night and apply a moisturiser on top. This is what Maple Holistics has to say about the product: Vitamin C Facial Serum is an anti-aging premium which takes the traditional concept of topically applying Vitamin C and provides a boost of therapeutic ingredients to maximize effectiveness and sustainability. The superior anti-aging benefits of the serum can help correct the fallacies of aging skin to result in a toned, youthful ...

I was really good this year and didn't go mad in the Christmas sales for a change. Here is a quick post on my purchases. Roger & Gallet Gingembre Rouge Fragrance Set.  I have been wanting this set for a while, so it was great that it was included in the M&S sale.  The set includes - Perfume 30ml & Body Lotion 50ml. Reduced from £17 to £8.50. Savanna Escape Sunset Bliss Fragranced Diffuser 100ml.  Reduced from £12.50 to £6.25.  Rush Salon Flex & Form Flexible Hold Hairspray 250ml.  Reduced from £6 to £3. I haven't tried this brand before, so I picked the hairspray up as I have never really found a hairspray that I want to stick with.  I'm always on the lookout for a really good one. Lush Christmas Bathtime Favourites Box Set £19.98.  I picked this set up as it has 10 bathbombs in it which are my favourite lush products and I love to try as many as I can. Lush 6 Golden Wonder Bath Bombs £11.88 and 2 Star Dust Bath Bom...

I have been using Superdrug Optimum PhytoDeluxe Indulgent Day Cream * & Comforting Night Cream * for a few weeks now.    This has been specifically formulated for women aged 40+. I love the fact that although these skincare products are marketed to the 40+ market, it doesn't use the typical 'Anti-Aging' message to sell it. I do like to take care of my skin and for as long as I can remember I have used skincare products.  I think my skin definitely has benefited from looking after it as I do like to think that I don't look my age (not that it would matter if I did). Since using  Superdrug Optimum PhytoDeluxe Indulgent Day Cream & Comforting Night Cream I have found that my skin is well moisturised.   I don't have any dry areas on my face either which can happen when I use  some other moisturisers. They are both easy to apply, just one pump is sufficient for one application on the face and neck. It absorbs into my skin really ...

I like to set myself some challenges at the start of every year and I am going to list my 2016 challenges in this post.  If you want to find out how I did on my challenges for 2015 you can find out here .  This is what I want to achieve in 2016: Spending ban from 4th January to 31st March 2016.  I have spent so much on makeup and toiletries in December 2015, in order to take advantage of all the great offers that are around at this time of year.  I am going to have a complete spending ban from the start of the year for 3 months. Nano Keratin Treatment - I have finally found a hairdresser that I like, so I will be definitely be booking this for early 2016. Pay off credit card - I want to get my credit card balance to 0 this year. Books - I want to finish 10 books that I already own this year. DVDs - I want to watch 25 DVDs that I already own and decide whether to keep them or give them away. Weight - I would like to lose 1 stone this year.  Once I achieve...

I set myself some challenges back in 2015 and I just wanted to post an update on how I did with my challenges. Top of the list is to lose weight - FAILED.   This was my biggest failure of the year and if I'm honest I didn't even try and I am probably slightly heavier than I was at the start of last year.  This is going to be my main challenge for 2016. I want to have 3 no spend months this year .  The no spends are on unnecessary items such as makeup, toiletries, clothes, shoes, accessories and jewellery.  It does not include food, drink, petrol or going out - COMPLETED. I want to use up 10 makeup items.  I find that makeup is the hardest thing to use up, so I will pick 10 items to fully use up. This is like the Project 10 Pan Challenge that appeared on You Tube a few years ago - COMPLETED Go for a proper bra fitting.  This may not seem like much of a challenge, but I have never had a bra fitting, so I think I really should this year and find out...

Happy New Year everyone. Admittedly this is a bit delayed as Christmas is over, but better late then never I hope.  I haven't been too well over the Christmas break so all my good intentions around the blog fell by the wayside, but I just wanted to show you what I received in my advent calendars in the last week before Christmas. Here's days 21 - 24 of my Advent Calendars (see what else was in the calendars  here ,   here  and here ). In the  Clarins Advent Calendar  I received (clockwise from top): Hand and Nail Treatment Cream - 8ml HydraQuench Cream - 5ml Beauty Flash Balm - 5ml Moisture Replenishing Lip Balm - 15ml In the Kerastase Advent Calendar I received: Cristalliste Bain Cristal Luminous Perfecting Shampoo - 30ml Elixir Ultime Solid Serum - 18ml Cristalliste Lait Cristal  Luminous Perfecting Conditioner - 20ml Elixir Ultime Rich Shampoo - 30ml Finally, this is what I received in the  M&S Advent Calendar ...