What To Get For The Mum Who Already Has Everything- Part 1

I shall start by saying that of course she has everything, she has you! Corny stuff out the way, I wanted to share some other gift ideas that were a little different.

Favourite magazine or newspaper subscription

• Magazinesubscriptions.co.uk  Have lots of Mothers day offers on magazines in fashion and beauty, home, food and Garden, lifestyle and crafts. They also have another promotion running, for every two magazine subscriptions you purchase before Tuesday 10th March you receive a free box of Cadbury's Thank You flower chocolates. See here for website.

• Whsmiths online here or in store, offer subscriptions to 78 newspapers and over 2000 magazines. They sell titles that are published from around the world and also original back issue newspapers. They have user reviews on the service provided.
• magazinesdirect.com offer a money back guarantee, best price guarantee and Feefo service rating where users can post reviews on the subscription services. See here for website.

Gift Membership

Membership to The National Trust
This gives you unlimited access (free entry and parking) to over 300  historical houses, gardens, countryside and coastal spaces. Perfect for woodland walks and picnics. Individual annual membership is less than you think and starts from £30. For two people membership starts from £99. Membership includes free entry and parking, members' handbook regional newsletters, three editions a year of the National Trust magazine and temporary membership card emailed so you can start visiting right away. For more details see their website here.

Membership to English Heritage
Offers free unlimited entry to over 400 historic properties for the year. Visit captivating castles, historic houses, Roman ruins and enchanting abbeys. It also includes free or reduced-price entry to
exclusive members' events with access to experts and a glimpse behind the scenes. It also offers free entry for the recipient of the gift and up to six accompanying children per adult member. Additionally they will receive a complimentary handbook and exclusive members' magazine delivered to their door four times a year. Membership for single adults is £49 and joint membership is £86. Individual Senior membership (60+) is £72. For more details see here.

National Art Pass
Gives free entry to over 220 museums, galleries and historic places across the UK. Additionally it offers 50% off major exhibitions including those at the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate and the V&A. Members also receive Art Quarterly, the Art Fund’s members magazine.  The National art pass also helps the Art Fund buy masterpieces for everyone to enjoy in public collections. Annual single membership is £60, annual double £90. For more details see here.

Membership to Adnams Wine Club
 For Mums who love to host dinner parties or enjoy having friends round, you can treat her to a case (12 bottles) of wine every three months. Starting from £89 per quarter, you can choose to receive all reds, all whites, or a mixture of both. For more information see here.

The Cheese Society Memberships
The Cheese Society has been featured in BBC Good Food Magazine & Sunday Times Style Magazine. They offer 1 months subscription for £25  which includes a selection of five cheeses in a pack with weighing approximately 900g-1kg. The 3 months 'Hat Trick' Subscription costs £92, again five cheeses in each pack weighing approximately 900g-1.kg. Quarterly Month subscription (4 times a year) is £123, delivery charges are inclusive. For more information see here.

This post is not sponsored and I was not compensated in any way. 

Finish 5 for Cinco de Mayo Challenge 6 week Update

It's time for a March update on my Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo Challenge. I'm posting this a day early on the 4th as I usually post on Wednesdays rather than Thursdays and I'm trying to be more consistent.
The Finish 5 by Cinco De Mayo is a challenge started by Megan +megsmakeup8. The challenge involves choosing 5 products to finish by May 5th 2015. You can see the first post on this here. I started the challenge on January 21st 2015 (two weeks later than the offical start on January 5th.)

All 5 Items- 5 by Cinco De Mayo Start (January 21st 2015)

All 5 items-  6 Week Update March 4th 2015

Since I started it's fair to say that I don't seem to be doing well so far! What with trying products out for the blog I've hardly been reaching for my Finish 5 items- I'm not sure if I've been a little bit ambitious in some of the products I chose. Anyway here is a run down of where I am.

Sleek Foundation

I have been using this 2-3 times a week which is as often as I'll wear make up so I have been using this regularly and you can see a difference in the pan- I'm not sure it'll be all gone by May though! I will be doing a more in-depth review of this foundation soon.

Revlon Lip Gloss

I've only used this twice so far. I used to be such a lip gloss girl but I think this blog has turned me into a lipstick lady, judging by the lipsticks I've acquired. I used to have like 8 and wear just one or two and now it's more like 20 something! It just feels more sophisticated somehow. Back to the lip gloss at hand, you know when some lip glosses look like they have some pigment to them only to be disappointed that it's really a clear gloss? Well this certainly has colour, it's a pretty peach colour perfect for spring and summer. I chose to use this up as I thought it would be fairly neutral and go with more looks. It does taste and smell of vanilla but it's not overpowering, thank goodness. Texture wise it does feel sticky on the lips, so if you have long hair I would tie it up on windy Spring days to avoid lip gloss sticking to flyaway hair. If you hate sticky lip glosses then this is not for you.

ELF Cream Blusher and Contour Duo

I've used this cream blusher three times so far but from the photos you can't really see a difference in the amount used. It is better than I thought it was, I remember thinking that it was tacky after being applied to the skin but actually it isn't sticky at all. It is a great colour that probably suits almost everyone, it gives a pretty pink colour to the cheeks. The only let down is that it doesn't last all day. Some make up artists recommend 'locking in' cream blushers by applying powder over the top in the same way that you powder over your foundation to set it. I've never bothered with this and as long as it's not really humid, building up a sweat exercising and as long as the blusher has a fair bit of pigment I never really find the need to. I also worry powder over cream risks looking a bit it over the top which is easily done with blusher. Having sensitive skin I found no issues using this cream blusher.

No.7 Eye shadow & Blush Compact

I had such confidence that I would be using this up like there's no tomorrow, but I admit I've only used this about three or four times. You can't tell from the photo at all, there's barely any difference! Seeing that I've hit pan on the gold made me think doing so on the pink would be easy, especially as I used to wear pink a lot. But since I haven't been sleeping well lately I've been avoiding pink in case it emphasised my morning red eyes.

No 7 cream eye shadow in Fudge

I've only worn this once so far. I haven't taken a before and after picture because of the colour of the tube means you won't see any difference. It's a small tube, but I'm not sure if it's deceptively small and could take longer to use up, I do hope to use it all up by May. The eye shadow itself makes brown eyes pop it's beautiful. No 7 have redesigned the packaging so that the cream eye shadow comes in a lip gloss style tube with a doe foot applicator, but I think the formula is exactly the same.

So that's the two month update round up. I hope to do better next month and make a conscious effort to use these products much more regularly.

Have any of you attempted any Make Up Challenges- such as project pan or 5 by Cinco, 5 by Fall etc? Let me know in the comments-I'd love to know how you did and what it was like.

I Heart Make Up Go To Hell! Palette & Amazing Sheer Lip Glosses Review & swatches

As the name suggests I Heart Make Up Go To Hell is a rock look inspired eye shadow Palette. Just like the other Go palettes this is handy for travelling because it's compact and light. There are 19 shades with a total of 8.5g of product. Twelve of these shadows have a shimmer finish, six are matte and there is one glitter shadow in the centre. The layout of the eye shadows is definitely unique! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to fit a brush into the smaller pans in the middle circle but I was able to fit an Urban Decay shadow brush, a Sigma concealer brush and a fluffy Boots No. 7 brush. When I swatched these I went anticlockwise from the topmost/further shadow.

The outer ring contains the darker colours, there are three matte colours, although the two matte blacks seem to be exactly the same. The other matte, a vibrant fuchsia/purple was very pigmented and was easy to swatch. The shadow second from the left is actually grey although it looks almost black in the swatch. The blue (fifth from right) is gorgeous and just pops in the pan but while it is true to colour it's not as smooth or easy to swatch/use. The green (third from right) was a lot darker than I expected from the pan but I liked it- perfect for a smoky eye.

The middle ring has three matte shadows in a row. The peach was really hard to get any colour from the pan. It is a nice neutral colour that actually shows up on my skin when I could get it to. The colour that's third from the right looks like a violet but swatches very red and reminds me of Maybelline 24 hour Colour Tattoo in Pomegranate. I also like the colour next to it which is like an antique gold colour, unusual but also fairly neutral. The shadow in the centre is the only glitter and I'm pleased I managed to capture it on camera. It is the most pigmented of all and while there's definitely glitter it is not as strong as some of the Urban Decay/ Too faced glitter shadows, which also means there's no fallout using this shade.

The wear time of these shadows is average without a primer (7 hours, they fade later on in the day.) This palette comes without a brush or sponge applicator which I don't mind as they're never very good anyway- however if you're using this on the go then you need to bring a separate brush. Altogether the colours of these shadows make for a very versatile palette which can give a rocky smoky eye, a neutral eye and a bright eyed paler look. The shimmer shadows perform better than the mattes which is often the case in low end palettes (and even some high end!) The full price of the Go To Hell palette is £6.49 but it's currently on sale for £3.99 here which isn't bad for 19 shadows (or 18 excluding the difficult peach shadow) and you get a mixture of dark light, shimmer and matte and a glitter.

Make Up Revolution Amazing Sheer Lip glosses

Since these lip glosses are marketed as sheer I feel you can't expect too much from them.
Must Be Strong is almost like a clear gloss (even though there is a clear gloss called Free in the collection) while a thin layer of Not Naive gives a My Lips But Better look, a thicker application gives a natural looking pinkish cherry colour to the lips. Baby Try is a cool pink , I'd say between neon pink and Barbie pink. It's very bright and extremely pigmented. It's not a colour I would normally choose (these were part of a Black Friday bundle deal.)  Despite being labelled as sheer these feel quite thick on the lips and a little oily. The texture is a bit like Benefit Ultra Plush lip glosses only not as lightweight and a bit more sticky. They're not incredibly sticky, just a little. These Amazing Sheer Lip glosses smell a little of vanilla but taste fruity very much like Starburst sweets. The lasting power isn't great: they transfer onto cups and begin to wear off drinking and when eating a snack.  Overall I feel that these are not the best lip glosses I've tried (they transfer very easily) but neither are they the worse, they have enough pigment not to be a waste of time, they're not overly sticky and they taste fruity (how I like lip glosses to taste.) These Make Up Revolution Amazing Sheer Lip glosses are sold at  Superdrug here for £1 each!

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara Review

It's been a couple of years since Benefit launched a new mascara and the latest launch inevitably has plenty of hype. In an unprecedented move Benefit teamed up with Elle to include a sample version with this months Elle before the actual launch in March, a smart move Benefit hopes to get us hooked on their mascara (excuse the pun!)

Benefit Roller Lash is marketed as a 'super-curling and lifting mascara', and the name and packaging reflect this with the full sized tube designed with a wand brush cap shaped like a cute pink retro hair roller and hence the name Roller Lash mascara. The idea is that this mascara will give you such long lasting curled lashes that you can ditch the eye lash curlers (good news for lash curler haters or those just happy to eliminate a step in make up routine.)

So what makes this one different? Well it always seems to be all about the brush! The Roller Lash has a slightly curved plastic comb with uniquely designed 'Hook'n'roll' plastic bristles which lean diagonally upward to catch, lift and curl lashes Just to be clear the brush is a hard plastic/rubber comb.(see Benefit diagram on their box below)

Benefit's consumer panel survey tested this mascara on of 31 women. After 4 weeks of use

97% reported that it visibly lifts lashes, 87% said it gives long lasting curl 94% said their eyes looked more open. Firstly, Benefit 31 women? I'm sure that they could find many more women willing to test out a brand new Benefit mascara, hey I'm sure some would even go so far to give away their first born child for such an opportunity! I get that they would want to keep the results quiet for a while while they fix and improve the mascara before it gets launched but hey it wouldn't kill them to find an extra ten or twenty women to make the results more robust and representative for all us make up lovers out there.

So Does it work?
 I have very straight lashes so I'm an ideal candidate for this. I found that the slightly curved brush separated lashes effortlessly and with most curved brushes worth their salt it lifted the lashes as you swept the wand through them. I was however very impressed by how curled the lashes looked- it was much better than many other curling mascaras I've tried alone without curlers. This mascara can be built up but you do have to be a little careful the lashes don't end up spiky or spidery.

 If you compare my photos with Benefit on the left the 'So Straight lashes' picture looks like my photo with the mascara on! There are three reasons for this, firstly I have very straight lashes, secondly I don't think the camera was able to pick up how curly they were and thirdly I do  think that Benefit's pictures are a little unrealistic! The last photo using heated lash curlers looks more like the 'Dream Curl' pictured but in real life it looked like I was definitely wearing false lashes even though I wasn't. What I'm trying to say is that sometimes a lot of make up is needed to show up on camera that in real life would look a bit too much. Even so I've never seen my lashes like they are in the rollerlash & curler picture beofre, they did look amazing and would be great for a night out.

However for me the biggest test was whether the curl is long lasting as most seem to have only a temporary effect or the curl needs to be 'locked in' with lash curlers. I was pleasantly surprised that the curl did hold through the day and did not need to be locked down or boosted with an eyelash curler.

This mascara does a great job at lengthening lashes as well. Perhaps because of the small brush handle or plastic bristles when applying this mascara I had to be careful the mascara didn't smudge under my brow- but with the full sized longer handle this probably won't be the case. This is a wet formula which may also contribute to this, There were no smudges wearing this throughout the day. As a contact lens wearer, it's important to wear mascara that doesn't flake or irritate the eyes and I found Rollerlash didn't irritate or flake during the day. However this mascara isn't waterproof  and is only available in black. Overall I was really impressed with the results and found this mascara can give long lasting curled lashes that are almost as good as using curlers. During the daytime you can skip the lash curlers and just use this but for night time I would amp up the curl with the help of lash curlers.

Overall impression
I know that Benefit's previous mascaras are a bit like Marmite in that you either love them or hate them. I never got the hype with Bad Girl Lash mascara but loved They'll Real although lashes do feel  hard and crispy towards the end of the day. From reading other reviews of Rollerlash it seems even haters of They're Real love this mascara so it's definitely worth checking out. I'm super impressed by Rollerlash's long lasting curl. I think I would rate They're Real and Rollerlash as equally good, I think They're real has a little more volumne but Rollerlash has more curl. However the upshot is that I would definitely recommend this mascara. The full sized mascaras will be in the shops March 1st priced £18.50.

Have you tried this mascara? What did you think? Was it better than Benefit' They're Real Mascara in your opinion? Let me know in the comments below.

Lunar New Year 2015 Beauty Buys

A new moon on Thursday February 19th marks the beginning of Chinese New Year. Although celebrations will probably take place over this weekend. Each year is named after one of the animals in the Chinese Zodiac calender and this year it is the Year Of the Goat (also known as Ram/Sheep). Those people born in the years 1955 (between 24th Jan 1955-11th Feb 1956) 1967 (9th Feb 1967- 29th Jan 1968) 1979 (28th Jan 1979-15th Feb 1980)  1991 (15th Feb 1991-3rd Feb 1992) are born under the sign of the goat, and are in good company with Nicole Kidman, Claire Danes and Julia Roberts born in these years. Characteristics held by those born in the year of the goat are that they're polite, calm, artistic and creative, dreamy, romantic, charming and can be worriers and sometimes vain! To discover what 'animal' you are see here.

Being half Chinese I often celebrate Chinese New Year, as a child I celebrated with my family and now I'm older with friends (who aren't Chinese but are happy to celebrate with me.)  Living

in London I often go to China town Soho to see the streets decorated, get deafened by the firecrackers (yes the Chinese invented gunpowder) and watch the Lion dance procession. This is a dance where two people (from martial art schools/Chinese guilds) are inside a costume of lion (think of a long flexible pantomime horse) the lion has to pluck the greens/lettuce hung on a pole outside one of the shops. The greens are tied together with a red envelope containing money and sometimes oranges.The "lion" will dance and approach the "greens" and "red envelope" like a curious cat, "eat the green" then "spit" it out and keep the "red envelope" which is the reward for the lion troupe. The lion dance is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the shop. Afterwards I'd have a meal with friends and family. This year I will probably just stay in with my mum and get a Chinese takeaway. Red envelopes containing money are often given to unmarried members of the family as a good luck present.

Photo by Yuwei Shaw on Unsplash

Chinese New Year is also an opportunity for all you make up fans out there to pick up pretty limited edition products. Although this year it seems luxury brands haven't embraced the Goat/ Ram as much as previous years of the horse and dragon, perhaps the Goat/Ram/Sheep seems less exciting in comparison.

 Estee Lauder has launched a new blue, gold and white 'Year of the Goat' powder compact although it's priced at a rather expensive £125, however they have also brought back their Aries Zodiac compact which is a more affordable alternative at £38 (both exclusive to Harrods.) These compacts are stunning and if I had the money and space I could easily become a compact hoarder/obsessive!  Yves Saint Laurent have reissued their best selling couture eye shadow palette in No. 3 Afrique, a neutral palette of long wearing shadows. YSL have been savvy with their new design, with the red coloured enamel being considered lucky for Chinese New Year and romantic with hearts for Valentines day, potentially doubling sales. Swatches of this palette are available over at Jane Cunningham's British Beauty Blogger's post here. Clarisonic have brought out a beautifully decorated Mia 3 Sonic Skin Cleansing System, a rotating brush to be used behind a face cloth to deep clean the skin. The Mia 3 comes with an extra brush head and gel cleanser. Unfortunately Clarisonic Mia 3 doesn't seem to be available in the UK yet- If I'm wrong please let me know in the comments.You can buy this online in the US (though I'm not sure if they will ship to the UK-its always worth a try) and Asia at various retailers. Online retailer Zazzle have some really pretty nail wraps, mainly by brand 'Minx' which was a nice surprise as I didn't realise they sold cosmetics!

Nail art from L-R Chinese Lanterns Minx Nail Art Zazzle £18.95

Year of The Sheep Ram Minx Nail Art Zazzle £18.85
2015 Chinese New Year Goat and Tree Nails Stickers Zazzle £18.95

Chang'e Flying to the Moon Minx Nail Wraps Zazzle £18.95

Onto ingredients, goats milk is brilliant for sensitive skins due to the lactic acid maintaining a gentle pH balance preventing irritations. It's especially good for dry skin because the milk has a short strand protein structure that enables it to be easily absorbed into the skin. Goats milk is anti-inflammatory so removes redness and heals when applied to the skin. Yana Grammer, a marketing and product development consultant to the beauty industry says "It's refreshing to see modern brands now incorporating ancient beauty secrets into their products. Many brands are launching goat milk derived formulas that offer consumers countless anti ageing and skin softening benefits." Cult brand 

Kate Somerville Goat Milk cream also contains coconut and sweet almond to soothe and hydrate skin. Beauty Blogger Caroline Hirons who specialises in skincare recommends this for acne as wel,l see her post here. Chuckling Goats is a brand I'd never heard of before this post but it sounds amazing, experts in skin allergies such as as eczema, psoriasis, Rosacia and acne their Sensitive Skin Magic Lotion for Face, Body and Hands is for healing skin. It contains raw goats milk and probiotic kefir, hazelnut oil, rice bran oil and olive oil. It is free from any parabens, chemicals, dyes or perfumes and suitable for face and/or body. Since I have eczema I will be checking this out. The cute sheep shaped soap is unscented and made with goats milk from goats living in Aberdeenshire Scotland. All proceeds of the soap go to the Children's Adventure Farm Trust. The goats milk in the London Brush Company brush shampoo will cleanse and condition brushes (suitable for all brush hair types) while the tea tree is anti bacterial with a nice scent of lavender. 

Another ingredient Lanolin is a substance found in freshly shorn sheep wool and is naturally moisturising. Lanolips uses ultra pure medical grade lanolin to give lips moisture and a glossy look without stickiness. Lanolips lip ointment with colour contains SFP15 as well as giving colour to lips. It is animal cruelty free, dermatologically tested, vegetarian and baby friendly and fragrance free. It has won many awards including Marie Claire and Red Best of Beauty award 2010 and the Bazaar Beauty Hot 100 2013.

Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour in Rose and Rubarb Waitrose £8.16

London Brush Company Lavender and Goats Milk Brush Shampoo Liberty £16
Sheep Soap The Gamrie Goat £6
Kate Somerville Goats Milk Cream Kate Somerville online $65
Sensitive Skin Magic Lotion for Face, Body and Hands Chuckling Goat £6.95

Pretty Little Liars Hanna Inspired Outfits

These are outfits I can imagine Hanna of PLL wearing (season 1-4 since Hanna's style in season 5 has become more '90s grunge.)

The first look is a going out evening look that's sexy and fashionable while the second is more of a day look that could still be worn in the evening since it's smart and stylish. Hanna is played by Ashley Benson who plays 18 year old Hanna Marin although she is actually 26 in real life!

Dress Girl on Film Black Lace Insert Dress (front and back) Dorothy Perkins Now £27

Gold Filigree Tassel Earrings New Look Now £2
Gold tone Wrap Arm Cuff River Island £8
Shoes Red Herring Black Laser Cut High Shoe Boots Debenhams Now £31.50
Bag Alexander McQueen Al duca daosta Now £675

Dress French Connection Manhattan Bodycon Dress with Ring Detail in Colour Block ASOS £70
Earrings Dew Rope Style Hoops House Of Fraser £20
ASOS Double Bar Cuff Bracelet ASOS Now £8
Shoes KG Haze High Heeled Strappy Sandals House of Fraser £120
Bag Love Moschino Black Quilt Medium Shoulder Bag House of Fraser £145

3 Valentine's Day Dress Outfits

This is my first outfit post and I really enjoyed putting these looks together- although now I have discovered a bit of a fetish for Jenny Packham shoes! As for my favourite outfit-I'm torn between the Lace and the Red outfits. The best value buys are the Swarovski earrings down from £60 to £28, Jenny Packham Black lace heels down from £85 to £42, the Mooncolour Diamond encrusted bag at £15.90 and Dorothy Perkins's red dress both look much more expensive that they really are! Hope you like the outfits-which do you like best?

SOPHISICATED AND LACE

Dress Ax Paris Stone Lace Overlay Panel Midi Dress New Look £35

Shoes No.1 Jenny Packham Designer Black Lace High Court Shoes Debenhams Now £42.50

Bag Kelly Brook Black Metal Tab Lace Clutch New Look £19.99

Earrings Hanging Garden Metallic Chandelier Earrings Accessorize £12

SWEET AND INNOCENT

Dress Little Mistress Striped Fit and Flare Dress Dorothy Perkinss Now £44.20

Bag Stone Glitter Baroque Cut Out Chelsea Bag New Look £12.99

Earrings Jasmine Floral Short Drop Earrings Accessorize £12

Shoes No. 1 Jenny Packham Designer Ivory Louella Jewel Bow Sandals Debenhams £85

SEXY AND RED

Dress Red Embellished Cut Out Pencil Dress Dorothy Perkins Now £34

Earrings Krystal Swarovski Crystal Navette Drop Earrings ASOS now £28

Bag Mooncolour Luxury Crystal Shell Wallet Diamond Encrusted Evening Bag Amazon £15.90

Shoes Nine West Red Asvelia2 High Heels Court Shoes Debenhams Now £42