Beauty, Bargains and Beyond

  I hope you and your family have a great Christmas Leigh 💜

I will be taking a break over Christmas.  See you in the New Year Leigh 💜  

*I received these products for free but the opinions are my own. I am always on the look out for more sustainable products so when I was asked to try out products from The Humble Co. I was more than happy to. I really like this company and have reviewed some of their products previously here . Humble Brush - Replaceable Head Toothbrush * The Humble brush * has a handle made from 100% biodegradable, sustainably-grown bamboo (the fastest growing plant on earth). Bamboo is also naturally antibacterial which means that there is no need to use fertilisers or pesticides during its cultivation. The Humble brush comes with 1 handle and 3 easily removable brush heads. Its a 100% recyclable product. The box is made from recycled materials, and the inside wrapper is made from compostable paper. The products are also certified vegan, cruelty-free and verified Bisphenol A (BPA) free. The bristles are not stiff or harsh and clean my teeth really well. I think these are a great replacement for p

With the cold, dark nights (at least there is light at the end of the tunnel as its the shortest day today), I thought I would give you a run down of my recommendations for some good old binge watching and reading. There is nothing better than curling up on the sofa which a hot chocolate (see yesterdays post here ) and a blanket and settling down for a binge session. Things to watch: Superstore - Netflix & Peacock on Sky - 6 seasons. This show is about the hilarious antics of the crazy people that work in a massive supermarket in America. Starring America Ferrera from Ugly Betty and a cast of very funny characters it shows the weird and wonderful and sometimes awful things that happen when you work in Retail. Virgin River - Netflix - 3 seasons - Mel is a nurse practitioner who moves to a remote town from Los Angeles following the death of her husband. This follows her adventures as a big city girl mixing with locals in  a small town and her budding romance with Jack, who is a vet

I just wanted to write a quick post about the  Hotel Chocolat The Velvetiser Hot Chocolate Machine . I hate coffee or tea, but I love hot chocolate, so I decided to treat myself to this hot chocolate maker a couple of months ago and I do not regret it one bit.  It is so easy to use and makes velvety smooth hot chocolate every time. It costs £99.95, but make sure you download the Hotel Chocolate App as there are some great offers available to reduce the price.  I bought the Hotel Chocolat hot chocolate sachets in a variety of flavours which costs £13 for 10 sachets (again check the app for offers before you buy).  They are all simply divine as they are made of grated chocolate (my particular favourite is the Hazelnut Praline flavour). I have also tried the powdered version from Hotel Chocolate, plus versions from Starbucks and Costa and the velvetiser makes great hot chocolate each and every time no matter what hot chocolate you use. The Velvetiser is so easy to use, you simply add milk

I'm not sure what happened as I was aiming to do regular updates on how my weight loss was going throughout the year, but I checked when I last posted an update and it was ages ago and I've only posted about 3 updates this year.  Anyway I thought I would update you on how its gone so far as my goal was to lose weight before my sisters wedding.  So how did I do?  I'm pleased to say that I managed to lose 2 stone before my sisters wedding which I was really pleased about.  I must admit though that over the summer I didn't stick to the diet as much as I should have, I think it was a combination of the lockdown ending and everything opening normally again so I just couldn't resist going out and I found so many great places to eat.  I need to get back on plan as I must also admit to putting on a bit of weight since the wedding so I gave myself another goal of losing 1 stone before Christmas and another stone before my next holiday abroad which if it happens will probably

I thought it would be interesting to go back into the archives to see which products that I have reviewed over the years I still use.  One of the first products that came to mind was Da'Dude YoungHair The Root Fix Temporary Root Cover.  I reviewed it in May 2019 and the review is below (I did initially receive it free to try out and review a couple of years before the review below, but since then I have purchased it a number of times as its my go to root cover up - please note that this is not a sponsored post).  Other than the price I haven't altered my review below as it says everything I want to say although I must admit I have a bit more grey then I did back then, but I have my hair dyed regularly at the hair salon rather than doing it myself and this is a great product to cover the regrowth between visits. Previously posted 1/5/2019 I thought I would post about one of my must use products that I always use when I have those pesky grey hairs showing at my roots when I need

     *I received these products for free but the opinions are my own. If you are looking for a last minute gift for a beauty lover, then look no further than the St. Moriz Pout & Glow Set*.   It only costs £8 from Superdrug  and contains the following items: St. Moriz Tanning Mousse in the shade Medium (200ml) St. Moriz Velvet Tanning Mitt St. Moriz Nude Shimmer Lip Gloss 2.4ml St. Moriz Liquid Highlighter 2.4ml This is a great little set for a bargain price and it's still available online at Superdrug .  Leigh 💜    

    *I received these products for free but the opinions are my own. If you are looking for stocking fillers for anyone that is into b eauty then one option is this great little sanitising set and even better its on offer at the moment.  I love this great little kit of Beauty Hygiene Essentials * from Beauty Hygiene Plus . The set contains 50ml spray bottles of Quick Dry Beauty Tools Sanitising Spray, Quick Dry Brush Cleaning Spray, Quick Dry Makeup Sanitising Mist and Deep Cleanse Sponge & Brush Wash. The kit also comes with a travel size set of makeup brushes which is a nice touch and comes in a zip bag which makes them easy to carry on your travels. I think many of us are guilty of forgetting (being too lazy!) to wash our makeup brushes and tools on a regular basis and I am horrified to admit it, but I have never sanitised my makeup after use, so this little set is perfect for me. Beauty Hygiene Plus is the consumer product arm of Beauty Science UK who are an established mark

*I received this product for free but the opinions are my own. I have tried a few St. Moriz tanning products recently and I really like this reasonably priced brand that makes self tanning really easy. I have now tried the St. Moriz Miracle Tanning Serum* and its a product that I really enjoyed using.  First of all I have never used a tanning serum before, so I was interested to see how it worked. This serum contains collagen boosting, skin firming hyaluronic acid for extra hydration and a smooth feel. It helps to reduce the effects of aging and reduce skin imperfections and I am all about that right now. This serum gives an instant glow and then gradually builds into a lovely bronzed glow. This product was easy to use and produced a streak free tan and left my skin feeling nourished and hydrated. It is recommended that you exfoliate 24 hours before application and then use a small amount on a tanning mitt to blend into the skin.  You can use this on your face and body which is great.

     *I received these products for free but the opinions are my own. Sadly I'm now at an age where I go to sleep and wake up with a long hair on my chin (how the heck does that happen).  I'm sure its taking the hair from my brows as there seem to be much lusher hairs on my chin these days.  Luckily I was sent Jolen Face Wax Strips* and the Facial Hair Remover Kit* to try out. Face Wax Strips for Upper Lip, Chin and Brows* -  My main area of concern is my chin so these were ideal to try out.  They are long lasting and effective even on short hair.  They are suitable for all skin types even sensitive skin and can leave the area hair free for up to 4 weeks.  They are easy to use just make sure your skin is clean and dry without traces of any products.  Warm the strips up between your hands until the wax softens then separate the strips slowly.  Apply the strip wherever you need to remove hair and hold the skin taunt with one hand, remove the strip with the other pulling against t

    *I received this product for free but the opinions are my own. Now that the nights are getting dark at around 4pm and with the first snow of the year I am staying in more and more rather than venturing out in the freezing cold so finding things to keep me busy is the name of the game.  I was kindly sent the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire Board Game* which includes digital lifelines to try out which is ideal at this time of year. The game comes with a game board, answer tokens, lifeline tokens, playing tokens and over 700 questions. Its suitable for 14 years + and you need 2 or more players.  To play, you choose a player to act as the host (the host still gets to play and the role of host changes after each question). The host takes a card from the £500 deck and reads out the question and multiple choice answer options. All players including the host then place their answer tokens face down in the final answer section of the board. Once an answer is in the final answer section it can