Life: 2016 In Review

Speaking in general terms 2016 has been a pretty rubbish year hasn't it? 

Aside from the general rubbish that 2016 brought us all, for me there has been some pretty damn good moments in my year. I had a lovely girly weekend in London with my Mum and we went to see our first ever West End show - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was incredible. I did share a post about our weekend in London which you can find here. 

I met my lovely boyfriend early in 2016 and have been super duper happy ever since (look at me being soppy.. oops I'll grab the sick bucket now).

 I visited Paris for the first time and fell in love with the city and of course this lead me to create the cliche Natasha Paris in Paris blog post (I won't lie I'm still pretty proud of that post title.. I'm not even sorry haha). In September I went on holiday to Madeira (which is such a wonderful destination) and very much enjoyed a couple of days in Porto too.

Life: Harry Potter Studio Tour

This weekend I paid a visit to the Harry Potter Studio Tour in London. I'm not ashamed to admit that this was my third time doing the tour (#Potterhead) although a lot had changed since my last visit a couple of years ago.

For those who don't know the studio tour gives fans an opportunity to see the original props (including the Hogwarts Express!) and some of the original film sets (including the Gryffindor common room, Dumbledore's office and many more).There is also the chance to see a selection of original costumes and wigs used within the films (which is a part of the tour I was particularly interested in.) 

Different events are held throughout the year and my visit fell during the Hogwarts in the snow event, where some of the sets were dressed for the festive season. Now I don't want to ruin the magic (see what I did there?) by giving away too much about the tour, instead I'm going to share a few of my favourite photos from my trip.

Life: 2016 In Photos (#3)

Since my last life update post I've started my new job, which I'm really enjoying! Although I won't lie I do miss my ex work colleagues a little bit. 

I also attended the fabulous #BonPrixontherocks event at the Malmaison in Leeds, which was a great opportunity to meet lots of lovely bloggers and take part in a cocktail masterclass too. My full post on the event can be found here if you fancy reading more. 

I recently celebrated my 22nd Birthday (which I have blogged about here), discovered the joy that is mulled wine, enjoyed a winter walk in Whitby and done the obligitary Christmas market visit.

Review: Kat Von D Lock It Foundation Review

I've wanted to try the Kat Von D Lock It foundation for a long time and as it's now available to buy in the U.K (at Debenhams online and at selected stores) it was definitely time for me to give it a go. I purchased the Lock It foundation in the shade 'Light 48 Neutral'.

This is a highly pigmented, full coverage liquid foundation which helps to reduce shine and provides a matte finish. Here in the U.K. this foundation is available in a fairly wide range of shades (there are currently around 17 to choose from on Debenhams online) although there is a wider range of shades available on Sephora or from Kat Von D Beauty directly.

The packaging of this product is divine! I believe Kat actually designs the packaging herself, and personally I think that's really cool. The bottle comes with a pump built in, which is very handy as it delivers just the right amount of product. 

When it comes to applying this foundation a little product goes a long way. When it comes to application this product can be a little bit tricky to apply as it starts to dry pretty quickly. However, I've tried applying a small amount at a time and I've found this to work pretty well for me. I prefer to apply this foundation with a make up sponge (a Primark dupe of the Beauty Blender is my choice) rather than a foundation brush, no particular reason  other than because I've found this gives me a slightly better finish.

Life: I'm Feeling 22

If you follow me on social media then you might know that earlier this week I celebrated my 22nd Birthday. Even though I'm now 22 (and definitely into adulthood - arghh) I still get super excited about my birthday so in true Natasha tradition I took a few days off work for Birthday celebration purposes. 

I started my celebrations on Monday by heading out to a tea room with my Mum for hot chocolates and cake - yum! Then in the evening I went to Leeds with my boyfriend and I was treated to a meal at Pintura, a tapas restaurant/bar situated near to the Trinity shopping centre. The tapas and the service was fantastic and I'd definitely recommend heading to there if you're looking for yummy tapas in Leeds!

An Evening with Bon Prix - #BonPrixontherocks

If you follow me on social media then you might have seen that last Saturday evening I headed to Bon Prix's #BonPrixonthrocks event, which was held at Malmaison Leeds (which was a very snazzy venue I must say!). 

With me not being a regular at blogging events I will admit that was feeling a little bit anxious about attending the event. I was worried that I wasn't going to know any of the other bloggers (or more so that they weren't going to know me). Luckily for me I arrived at the same time as Kellie (Big Fashionista), who very kindly introduced me to a number of lovely bloggers and I spent most of the evening with a small group of them which included Jess (Glitterbat), Kelly (Adventures in Tea and Cake) and Simone (Married To A Geek). 

Shortly after arriving at the event we were given the opportunity to have outfit photos taken with the event photographer Matt. For me this was completely out of my comfort zone (fashion blogger I am not) but seen as I was wearing a very pretty party dress I figured I'd go ahead and have the photos taken. 

Review: LUSH Monsters' Ball

I recently shared my LUSH Halloween/Autumn Haul (which you can find here if you wish) in which I featured the Lush Monsters' Ball bath bomb - a new limited edition product for Halloween 2016 (*psst* this product appears to still be available online).

The design of the bath bomb is as the name suggest a (very cute) little monster. When I popped this product into my bath it started to fizz slowly before turning the bath water a sea of pretty colours (it was definitely Instagram worthy).

Life: 2016 In Photos (#2)

I shared part one of my 2016 in pitcures series back in May so part two is long overdue (better late than never though, right?)

Since my last post I took my very first European city break with my boyfriend when we headed to Paris in early August. I'd never been to Paris (or France) before so I was so excited to explore - I wrote a blog post all about my trip which you can read here (if you'd like).

LUSH Halloween Haul

I'm sure that if you're into beauty then the news that the LUSH Halloween (and Christmas) products launched recently won't come as any surprise. Ever since returning from my holiday I've been itching to see the latest LUSH offerings and I finally got the chance to pop into the Meadowhall store last weekend where I picked up a few products from the Halloween range.

I managed to pick up most of the products featured on my recent LUSH wishlist post (with the exception of the Lord of Misrule Shower Cream which I will definitely try to stock up from before it disappears!) 

Natasha Paris Bakes: Bailey's Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Recipe

Over the weekend I made a very Autumnal Baileys Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake (with a little help from my boyfriend) to enter into the latest Tesco Twitter #BakeOn competition.  Although I've never shared a recipe post on my blog before I was really pleased with how the cheesecake turned out so I thought I'd share in case anybody fancies giving it a go.

Having never made a cheesecake before I started by searching for recipes online (who knew there could be so many variations of a cheesecake?!) In the end I settled on using this recipe as a base before adding a few of my own tweaks.

The ingredients I used to make this Bailey's Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake were:

For the base:

300g (1 packet) of ginger nut biscuits  

150g unsalted butter 

For the filling:

750g of cream cheese 

300ml double cream

100g icing sugar 

150ml Bailey's Pumpkin Spiced Cream Liqueur

For decoration:

A sprinkle of cinnamon (optional)

Travel: Natasha Paris in Madeira

After a couple of days in Porto we flew to Madeira for a week,where we had opted to stay in a villa situated in Arco Da Calheta which had the most stunning views (yes I'm still completely obsessed with the view from the villa's terrace *all the heart eyed emojis*)

We decided that we'd dedicate a couple of days of our holiday to lounging around the pool and reading, I managed to read a couple of different books during our holiday, my favourite of which was Giovanna Fletcher's Always With Love. As much as I enjoyed having some time to relax and read it was also nice to head out and explore.

After spending our first full day relaxing we headed out to do the Levada Das 25 Fontes walk, I'll be honest at times I found this walk to be a struggle but I'll admit that the views were definitely worth the aching legs (and me nearly falling from a ledge...oops.)

Beauty: Lush Halloween Wishlist

It's no secret that I'm a big fan of LUSH, so the recent launch of their seasonal Halloween and (dare I say it) Christmas products got me a little bit excited. I haven't had chance to pop into store yet to have a look at the physical products but I hope to do so very soon. In the meantime I thought I'd share my LUSH Halloween wishlist.

I've seen the Autumn Leaf bath bomb appearing on Instagram quite frequently lately and I think it looks oh so pretty. After looking at the ingredients online this seems like it would have a lovely fresh scent and I can't wait to have a sniff. 

The product which really caught my eye in this years Halloween collection was the Monsters' Ball bath bomb, I think it looks kinda cute (can I say that about a bath bomb?) and I can imagine it transforms the water into a lovely pool of colour once it's popped into the bath. 

Travel: A City Break In Porto

If you follow me on Social media you might know that I recently went on holiday with my lovely boyfriend (so recently in fact that I'm writing up this post the day after I returned home - I just couldn't help myself). Given that we visited both Porto and Madeira there will be two posts about my holiday, the first stop on our trip was a couple of days in the city of Porto.

Due to a slight flight delay we arrived in Porto around midday, where we headed straight to our Air B and B apartment to set down our suitcases after being offered an early check in by our lovely host. After checking in we headed out to spend an afternoon wandering around the city.

During our afternoon wander we stumbled across this lovely little street called Rua das Flores, where we also headed back for dinner later that evening.

August Favourites

It's that time of the month again,nope not 'that one',time for me to share some of my monthly favourites. 

My monthly favourites post are usually just beauty based, however I couldn't not feature Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Now for a Harry Potter fan I was quite late picking up this book as I wasn't sure if I would enjoy reading a script as much an actual book, however once I got stuck into the story it was easy to forget that I was reading a script (and actually the stage directions helped me to get a better understanding of what was going on). I don't want to talk about the book for too much longer (to avoid spoiling it for those who want to read it but haven't got around to it just yet) but OMG I loved it! I'm a little bit disappointed that I finished reading it so quickly though.

I recently rediscovered (re-discovered? lol I found it at the back of my drawer) the Superdrug Spa Hydrating 5 Minute Facial Sheet Masks and I quickly realised how much I'd missed using them. These masks are really inexpensive and help to give my skin some much needed hydration without the mess of an ordinary face mask (with it being a sheet mask and all).

Beauty: A Little Sephora Haul

During my trip to Paris in early August I popped into Sephora on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. There was so many products to choose from I found it a little bit overwhelming however I did treat myself to a couple of things.

Looking back on my purchases I've realised that I might've gone a little bit mask crazy. I picked up a Sephora Charcoal Nose Strip,Sephora Protecting and Repairing Lip Mask and Sephora Green Tea Sleeping Mask. So far I've used the nose strip, which I thought was pretty 'meh'. It was easy to both apply and remove but unfortunately I didn't think it worked quite as effectively as similar products I've tried in the past. 

Beauty: LUSH Oxford Street Haul #2

Last Friday I visited London for the day so a trip to LUSH Oxford Street was a must. I visited LUSH Oxford Street for the first time back in March so I was excited to see if there were any new Oxford Street exclusives in store (*psst* you can find my previous haul post here). There wasn't as many exclusive products that took my fancy this time around but I still made a few purchases which I wanted to share with you all.

One of the Oxford Street exclusives I did pick up was the Oil On Troubled Waters Bath Oil (which smells amazing). I've already used this product in my bath and my skin felt lovely and soft afterwards.

I also repurchased the Lord of Misrule Shower Cream (which is currently exclusive to the Oxford Street store). As I've mentioned on my blog before this is one of my favourite ever LUSH scents and this is a lovely, moisturising shower cream which has a lovely long lasting scent.

Beauty: July Favourites

This post is a little bit later than I planned, given that we're well into August now. However during July I discovered a few new products which I've really been enjoying using so I didn't want to miss the chance to share them with you.

Since having my hair cut short I've been using the Batiste Stylist Texture Me Texturizing Spray on an (almost) daily basis to style my hair. I'm a big fan of the messy hair look and a quick spritz of this through my hair really helps to create a messy style which lasts. I've also been using the Schwarzkopf got2b Powder'ful Volumizing Styling Powder to add a little bit of extra lift at my roots. I'd glady reccomend either of these products if you like your hair to have a little bit of extra volume or texture.

Travel: Natasha Paris in Paris

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram then you might know that last weekend I headed to Paris for the weekend with my boyfriend. Having never been to Paris before I was extremely excited to explore a new city and Paris definitely didn't disappoint me.

We arrived late on Saturday evening so decided it was best to grab some food and head straight to where we were staying for the weekend - the cutest apartment we found via Air B&B (just look at the view I woke up to on Sunday morning *heart eyed emojis aplenty*).

On Sunday we headed off bright and early to explore (stopping to grab an obligatory croissant and coffee first of course). Our first stop of the day was The Louvre Museum - where we spent a couple of hours wondering around looking at all the different sculptures and paintings which were on display. If I'm honest art isn't usually my thing but I really enjoyed looking around the Louvre Museum.

Review: Skinny Tan Mousse

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the biggest self tanner but I like to bronze up a little during this time of year (#barelegsweather). I remeber seeing Skinny Tan on Dragons Den earlier this year and I really liked the sound of the product. Since being featured on Dragons Den Skinny Tan is now available in the UK exclusively at Superdrug. There was an offer on Superdrug online around a month ago and I decided that this was the perfect time to treat myself to a bottle of Skinny Tan Mousse.

Skinny Tan Mousse provides a natural looking deep tan, without making you look like an oompa loompa. This product is not tested on animals,is formulated without any harsh chemicals and instead contains ingredients - such as smoothing organic oils,guarana and organic aloe vera - which are good for skin. Skinny Tan doesn't have the same traditional 'biscuit like' smell which a lot of other tans seem to have and instead it has a lovely tropical coconutty smell

Beauty: June Favourites

Can you believe we're now over halfway through the year?! I know it's very cliche but I couldn't stop myself from typing that haha. I've been trying out a few new beauty products lately so I have some new favourites to share with you.

I purchased the Barry M Get Up and Glow Palette back in May and I've been using it on an (almost) daily basis to create a natural make-up look. You can find my full review of this product here if you wish.

After seeing so much hype about the L'Oreal Nude Magique Cushion Foundation it was only a matter of time before I had to give it a go for myself. I purchased this foundation online and after a little bit of research I settled on the shade 'Rose Beige' which luckily has turned out to be the perfect match for my skin tone. It's still early days but so far I've found this foundation works really well for me when I'm after a natural 'no make-up' make-up type look. 

Review: Barry M Get Up And Glow Palette

In the past I've not been the biggest fan of Barry M's make-up products,but the Get Up And Glow Palette has made me reconsider. I purchased this product back in May and it's now become a bit of a staple in my everyday make-up routine.

I know that we're never supposed to judge a book by it's cover (does the same rule apply to make-up products?) but the packaging of this palette is oh so pretty, with pale pink and rose gold tones. The packaging of the palette is sturdy, so I don't feel I have to worry about popping it into my bag when I'm on the go.

Get Up And Glow is what I would describe as a warm toned palette. The palette contains three blushers (a coral shade, a peach shade, and a dusky pink shade) along with a bronzer and a highlighter. 

Beauty: My Favourite Nail Shades For Summer 2016

There's so many different nail polish shades that I'm loving at the moment, so much so that I thought I'd dedicate a post to my current favourite nail shades for Summer 2016.

Review: Barry M Molten Metals Nail Paint 'Bronze Bae'

Barry M recently added a new line of nail paints to their extensive range, in the form of the Molten Metals collection. 

There are currently a choice of 4 shades available in the Molten Metals range - 'Gold Digger','Copper Mine','Silver Lining' and the shade which I have 'Bronze Bae'. You can view the full shade range and purchase for yourself here.

This has been my nail colour of choice recently, I love the shimmery metallic effect and I think this is one of those shades which would work well with any colour of clothing - from brights to neutrals. 

I like to apply two coats of colour to my nails, however this shade also works well with just one coat applied - as you can see from my swatches there is very little difference between them. When I've worn this colour on my finger nails I've found it to last around 3-5 days before chipping (depending on what I've been doing), and of course much longer on toes. 

Life: 2016 In Photo's (#1)

Hi lovelies, I hope you're all well?

Some of you might have noticed that my blog posts have been less frequent over the last few months (if you haven't noticed then I guess I got away with it, lol). 

I struggle to find the time to blog sometimes, I work full-time during the week and at weekends sometimes I don't always want to be sat at my laptop writing and editing, I want to enjoy some time away from the Internet too. Saying that my blog isn't going to disappear any time soon, I'm just going to relax my posting and post as and when I can. 

As we're nearly halfway through 2016 (omg?!)I thought it would be the perfect time to share a little life update in the form of my 2016 photo diary so far.

Beauty: April Favourites

Hi lovelies, I hope you're all well? It's been a while since I shared a monthly beauty favourites post on my blog, so this post is a little bit overdue. 

Despite washing my hair regularly my roots can still become oily very quickly, whilst the ends of my hair can be left feeling a little bit dry (despite having had my haircut very recently). A couple of times a week I've been using L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Re-Balancing Shampoo which has been helping to restore some balance, leaving my hair feeling lightweight and cleaner for longer. I'd like to try and purchase the L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Clay Masque at some point to use alongside this product to see if I get an even better result.

When it comes to nail polish Barry M is my go-to brand for good quality at affordable prices. I recently purchased Barry M's Coconut Infusion Nail Paint in the shade 'Flamingo' - a lovely Spring/Summer shade which has an added blend of coconut water and coconut oil to help to hydrate and care for the nails whilst delivering a glossy, smooth finish.

Beauty: Empties #5

My last empties post was back in December (link here) and as they're one of my favourite type of posts to write I thought it was about time I shared another one. 

I purchased Collection Illuminating Concealer in the shade 'Natural' for the first time late last year and I was really impressed with it. It's a really good budget concealer which is the perfect shade match for my skin tone. I use this product to help conceal imperfections and to brighten areas which appear dull/dark (such as my under eye area) without feeling heavy on my skin. I will definitely be repurchasing this product.

I've genuinely lost count of how many times I've featured LUSH's Lord Of Misrule Shower Cream on my blog now. It's one of my all-time favourite scents, and it works very well as a shower product too. Unfortunately this was a limited edition product from the LUSH Halloween Collection but I did manage to stock up on my recent visit to LUSH Oxford Street.

Review: LUSH Dreamtime Bath Oil

During my recent trip to LUSH Oxford Street I purchased a LUSH Dreamtime Bath Oil. I'd not heard a lot about LUSH's Bath Oils but for just £2 I figured I'd give one a try.

LUSH'S Bath Oils are solid products which melt when they come into contact with water (or your skin if you hold them for too long, which I wouldn't reccomend). LUSH Dreamtime Bath Oil contains calming ingredients such as Chamomile Oil and Lavender Oil, along with skin softening ingredients such as Shea Butter and Extra Virgin Coconut Oil.

Review: Tanya Burr Cosmetics Hollywood Eyeshadow Palette

When it comes to eyeshadows I rarely stray away from my beloved Urban Decay Naked Palettes. However when I saw the shades in the Tanya Burr Cosmetics Hollywood Eyeshadow Palette I knew I had to pick one up to try. The palette is an affordable option and can be purchased for around £6 online, from places such as Feel Unique, and in store from Superdrug.  

The palette contains four warm-toned neutral shades, which are: 

Nude Delight - a pale,almost beige toned shade which has a fairly matte finish in comparison with the other shades. 

Gold Coin - a shimmery gold shade, with a slight yellow tone. I like to use this shade all over my eyelid for a simple, everyday look.

Enchantment - a gold toned metallic shade, with gold glitter. 

Bookworm - a deep brown shade (with a slight red tone to it), which has more of a satin finish than the other shades do.

Most of the shades within the palette feel buttery soft to the touch and are pretty easy to work with, with the exception of 'Enchantment' which I've found to be a little bit grittier and a little bit harder to work with (probably due to the added glitter particles).The shades within the palette work really well together, but personally I've got the most use from 'Nude Delight' and 'Gold Coin'. 

Beauty: LUSH Oxford Street Haul

I've wanted to visit the LUSH Oxford Street flagship store for a while now so I was excited to finally get the chance to pop in and pick up some treats during my recent London trip.

Rather than purchasing the same bath products that I always do, such as the Twilight bath bomb, I instead decided that I'd purchase some of the LUSH Oxford Street exclusive products as well as a couple of other items that I've not tried before.

Most of the products I picked up were Bath Bombs. Cyanide Pill,Roller and Somewhere Over The Rainbow are all Oxford Street exclusives. I also picked up one of the new Easter Bath Bombs too, Spring Bunny. Each one of these products smells amazing and I can't wait to make my way through them all and I'm sure they'll feature in future blog/Instagram posts.

As well as picking up some of the Oxford Street exclusive Bath Bombs I also bought a Bubble Bar,Supertramp, which is so bright and colourful and smells incredible. Whilst I was in store I also purchased a Dreamtime bath melt, which is a product which I've wanted to try for a while now, and I also purchased another 100g bottle of Lord Of Misrule Shower Gel, a product which was available in all stores around Halloween but is exclusive to the Oxford Street store for the time being.

Have you visited LUSH Oxford Street? Or have you purchased anything from LUSH recently?  

Thank you for reading,

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Travel: A Weekend In London

Last weekend I headed to London with my Mum for a girly weekend. We've done the same thing now for the past couple of years but this time was by far my favourite as we managed to fit so many lovely things into a short space of time. I thought I'd do a little post to tell you a little bit more about our weekend.

We arrived in the city mid-afternoon on the Friday, and with the help of Google Maps we headed to explore China Town and Leicester Square. We then had a steady walk back to Trafalgar Square where we sat for a little while enjoying the afternoon sunshine. Whilst we were waiting for the coach to arrive to take us to our hotel, a number of police escorts rushed past us, closely followed by a number of cars with blacked out windows. Rumour has it that it may have been members of the Royal Family, however of course this isn't confirmed.

Saturday was a jam packed day. We had already purchased tickets for the London Eye for the Saturday morning so that was our first stop of the day. Unfortunately the Weather was a little bit misty so the views weren't the best, however I did manage to get a couple of good pictures and it was nice to see some of the famous London landmarks in this way.

February Favourites

Hi lovelies, I hope you're all well? As we're nearly at the end of the month I thought it would be the perfect time to show you some of the products I've been loving using throughout February.

My parents bought me a Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish set for Christmas and I finally started using it this month (I had some other products to use up first). Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish is a product which has a lot of hype surrounding it and so far I'm not disappointed, it removes my make-up effectively and leaves my skin feeling soft too. I just need to stop being lazy and use this product more often (*hides the make up wipes*).

Beauty: A Mini Feel Unique Haul

Recently I decided to make my first beauty splurge of 2016, by treating myself to a few new items from Feel Unique. I love having a nosey at what other people have been buying so I thought I'd do a little haul post to show you the things I treated myself to.

NYX Cosmetics was recently added to Feel Unique and after hearing good things about the brand I finally gave in to the hype and I decided to pick up a couple of items to try for myself. I chose a NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in the shade 'Copenhagen'. I've been looking for a new eyebrow palette for a little while and I really liked the look of the NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder Kit, which I picked up in the shade Dark Brown/Brown.

In the beauty world there's been a lot of hype surrounding the Limited Edition Urban Decay Gwen Stefani range, being a fan of both Urban Decay and Gwen Stefani I had to treat myself to something from the range. I decided to go with an Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Lipstick in the shade 'Spider Web', a stunning deep red shade which I can't wait to wear.

January Favourites

Hi lovelies, I hope you're all well?

It's been a few months since I last did a monthly favourites post, mainly because I'd been sticking to using the same products. However, I did mix my beauty routine up a little bit in January as I tried some new beauty products and also made some welcome rediscoveries.

I've noticed that as the weather has got colder my skin has become much drier than usual. To try and combat the effects of the Winter weather I've been attempting to get myself a proper exfoliating and moisturising routine going. As well as using a daily moisturiser I've also been using Origins Drink Up Intensive Overnight Face Mask a couple of times a week to give my skin some much needed hydration.

I'm not really a regular user of false tan (especially not in the Winter time) however I've really been enjoying using Cocoa Brown Gentle Bronze, a gradual tanner which I have been using to both hydrate my skin and to give me a little bit more of a subtle sun kissed glow.

Fashion: Cherry Diva Custom Hand Stamped Bangle Review & Giveaway

I've always been a fan of personalised items and even though I'm an adult I can't deny that I do still tend to get a little bit giddy when I spot something an item which has my name on. Last year I stumbled across an online costume jewellery store called Cherry Diva and  I was instantly drawn to their custom personalised cuff bangles. So much so that I decided to buy myself one personalised with my blog name. 

All the personalised cuff bangles are handmade, hand stamped and are made from a hypo-allergenic material which means that the bangle shouldn't tarnish or discolour the skin. Each bangle measure 15cm in length and can be stamped with up to 30 characters (including spaces) - which can be a mixture of letters,numbers and symbols. A full list of the characters you can choose to have stamped on your custom bracelet can be found here.

As the bangles are hand stamped no two will ever be exactly the same and this does mean that some of the lettering can appear not to be perfect, however personally I feel that this gives the bangles character and makes them truly one of a kind. I think a custom bangle is a lovely costume jewellery piece to have and I still enjoy wearing it regularly,despite having had mine for a while now.

The lovely people over at Cherry Diva Store have very kindly teamed up with me to give you, my lovely readers, the chance to win your very own customised hand stamped bangle. All the terms and conditions and the entry form can be found below:

Review: MAC Studio Fix Fluid 'NW20'

Despite MAC being one of my favourite make-up brands for lipsticks I have never tried one of their foundations. Although I love the YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat Foundation, sometimes I prefer my skin to have a matte finish,so I decided to give MAC Studio Fix Fluid a go. 

I always feel nervous about getting colour matched at a make up counter since I had a bad experience where the assistant took off ALL of my make-up,eyeliner included, rather than applying to a small area of my skin (just to clarify this wasn't at a MAC counter). Instead I decided to purchase this foundation online. Having never tried a MAC foundation before I had no idea which shade would be best suited so I used Findation.com - a handy little website which can advise you which shade of foundation would be best suited based on the brands and shades you currently use.

I believe that in the UK MAC Studio Fix Fluid is currently available in around 40 shades, which I think is much better than other brands I've seen/tried. I ended up choosing to go for the shade 'NW20' (which was recommended by Findation), which seems to be a good match for my skin tone.

Beauty: My Current Beauty Wishlist

It's been quite a while since I shared a wishlist post on my blog, so I thought it was time for me to change that and show you a few of the beauty items which are currently on my wishlist.

The item that is at the very top of my beauty wishlist is the L'Oreal Paris Volume Million Lashes Waterproof Mascara, a mascara which claims to give the lashes volume without overloading them or making them look clumpy. Despite having been on the beauty stands for quite a while now I've never tried this product, as my current mascara is beginning to run out I may look at buying this as my new everyday mascara.

Review: LUSH Big Shampoo

LUSH Big Shampoo has been a product that I've wanted to try for a very long time but to be honest the price has always put me off. Could I really justify paying so much for a shampoo? Well back in October I decided to have a little splurge and I treated myself to it.

This product is a sea salt based shampoo which is designed to help give hair volume and lift. Aside from sea salt the shampoo also contains ingredients such as seaweed and extra virgin coconut oil to help to soften the hair and lemon and lime to add shine.