New Skincare Tries

I've been trying out a few new skin care products, and I thought I would share how well I was getting on with them! I'm always thinking of ways to up my skincare routine as my skin type changes so often!

I've been loving the Ren Clarimatte Clarifying Toner here. This is for combination to oily skin. The toner is an acid toner, like the Pixi Glow tonic. It is supposed to be exfoliating, is supposed to unclog pores, and leave even toned skin. It has a very slight smell to it, which is a fresh clean smell. It feels very refreshing when used on a cotton pad and I have noticed my pores becoming slightly smaller since using this. 

Another toner product I've been trying are the Nip and Fab Glycolic Fix Daily Cleansing pads here. This is another acid toner product. I love using acid toners as I find they really help with decongesting my skin. These are exfoliating pads to help retexture and moisturise.  I also have the Dragon's blood Cleansing pads, which I also love! They are pretty similar but I find the Glycolic Fix ones are better at decongesting my pores. These pads do leave a slight film that I find takes a few minutes to sink in, so as I use them in the morning, I get dressed while leaving the film to absorb.

The next product is the Super Facialist Rose Intense Moisture Mask here. I decided it was a good idea to add a moisture mask into my skincare routine due to all the acids I use drying out my skin. This is such a lovely mask! I've never had a moisture mask before so I was really happy to discover a good one! It applies like a thick white cream, and feels like a thick moisturiser. It has a lovely rose smell to it, nothing overpowering though. I leave it on for about 10 minutes and wash it off with warm water. When I take this off my skin feel amazing! Really soft. This is a lovely product!

The last Product is the Nip and Fab Dragons Blood Fix Plumping Serum here. The serum is designed to plump and hydrate skin.It contains hyaluronic acid to hydrate and plump skin, and also Dragon's blood which is to also promote hydration. I apply this before bed after my cleanse and tone. A little goes a long way, and it soaks in pretty quickly. This is by far my favourite serum that I own. After application I don't even feel the need to go in with a moisturiser as it is already hydrated from the serum.

I seem to have discovered some lovely products and would recommend them all!

Amber xx

April Glossybox

After how good lasts month's Glossybox was this one had a lot to live up to. It came with 4 full size products and one travel size.  Again, the presentation of the box is lovely and is so exciting to open!

The product I was most looking forward to trying was The Body Shop Oils of Life Facial Oil. With a few drops it claims to give you a radiant and nourished complexion. However, I found I needed about 6 drops to cover my whole face and it sunk in so quickly it didn't really feel like it did anything! The scent is really overpowering as well. It did give me a little bit of moisture but didn't really give me a glow. So let down with this one :(

The next product is an Essence Compact Powder, which is for a natural finish. Now if you don't like shimmery bronzers then you won't like this one as it is VERY shimmery. This one is definitely not for contouring, but it does create a lovely all over glow when used with a big fluffy brush.

The Leighton Denny Miracle Mist was another product I received. I've had speed drying nail varnish sprays in the past that have been rubbish so I was looking forward to trying this one. I'm not sure if it was because I applied 3 coats of polish but this spray did not make the slightest bit of difference to how fast my nails dried. I sprayed them all twice. Another disappointing product. I'll carry on sticking to my Seche Vite top coat when I need polish to dry fast!

This one was a bit of a strange product for young adults- Styl London Transfer Tattoo's. To be fair I probably will test them out, but it's a little bit unsatisfying to get them in a beauty box as one of your 5 products. They are white henna style tattoo's. I'm might try and use them to find a location for my first tattoo as they are pretty small and so the size I would like.

The last product is The Studio 10 Brow Lift Perfecting Liner. I like the fact that this is double ended with one being the brow shader and the other being a brow highlight. The packaging feels sleek and pretty nice. The colour suits my brows, and with a light hand fills them in nicely. The formula of the brow shader is nice and creamy. The highlighter doesn't blend very well, so it's best to apply it very lightly. A product I would definitely re-purchase.

Overall I was quite disappointed with this month's box. 3/5 of the products I probably won't use :(

Shopping Trip Haul

When I go to London I like to have a little spend-up. I love London for shopping, If one Topshop doesn't have your size, chances are the one off the next tube stop does! I thought I would show you guys what I bought on my latest trip there.

I've been wanting to try the bath products from & Other Stories for a while so I finally located one down Regent Street and had a look. Their selection of bath produts is amazing, They have such a good range of scents, there's something for everyone. I settled for the Mediterraneen scent in the end, which is a zesty orange smell with foral undertones. I've heard a lot about their scrubs so I picked one of those up, and a hand cream, student nurses can never have enough hand cream. 

Scrub- here
Hand Cream- here

I visited the Superdry store on Regent Street to get some more uniform. Firstly, the store is huge! Secondly, their summer collection this year is pretty fantastic! They have so many pretty dresses, skirts, and lots of lace! 

White dress- here

White Skirt-here
Floral dress- here
Off the shoulder top- here

I picked up a pretty white blouse from Forever 21, as you can never have enough white blouses, they go with everything!

I needed a dress for date night (we went to The Alchemist, which was pretty amazing btw) and found this pretty dress in Miss Selfridge. It's such a flattering shape and I love the floral design.

Blouse- here

Dress- here

Lastly, I picked up some make up bits. I went into Mac and picked up the Soar Lipliner, which I had to go into 3 Mac stores to get! I also bought a pigment in the shade Copper Sparkle which looks so pretty. I haven't used it yet but it looks like it would look amazing on top of the Amber Lights shadow!

Soar Lipliner- here

Copper Sparkle Pigment- here

I picked up another Real Techniques sponge as after a few months they loose their sponginess and need replacing. 
My favourite purchase has to be the YSL Rouge Volupte Shine lipstick in the shade Beige Blouse 47. It's SUCH a pretty colour! It's a new shade from the new collection, and is a nudey pink. LOVELY.

YSL Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick- here

Liebster Blogger Award

The Liebster blogger award is an award that small bloggers give to others and is a great way of finding similar blogs to yours! The rules are that the person you nominate has to have 1000 followers or less, you have to state 11 facts about yourself, answer the questions given to you by the blogger who nominated you, nominate your choice of bloggers and create 11 questions for them!


Until the other day I had never heard of the Liebster blogger award until ffyona littlebeautywonderland.blogspot.co.uk nominated me, which was so sweet of her! I thought this would be a little fun post for me to do!

11 Facts About Me

1. I'm the clumsiest person I know, leave it to me to break something, spill something down myself or trip over
2. I'm a second year student nurse, hoping to eventually work as an emergency nurse practitioner
3. Starting my Adult Nursing degree has been the most stressful thing i've ever done, i've never been so anxious as I have since I started!
4. My favourite smell in the world is fresh linen
5. Justin Bieber is one of my favourite people in the world (and I've seen him twice in concert)
6. In my spare time I binge on Netflix (currently Bates Motel & AHS), do some yoga, read and bake.
7. I've got a bit of an obsession with tidying, I feel more productive in a tidy environment
8. I have a dream almost every night, they're usually terrifying or extremely weird
9. I'm working on not being such a pessimist 
10. I own 68 lipsticks, and it's still not enough :-)
11. Bunnies are my favourite animal, when I move out I'm going to have some house bunnies hopping around my lounge :-)

11 Questions from Ffyona

1. Why did you start a blog?I've loved reading other people's blog's for ages, and I was looking for a new hobby last year and just sort of decided to start one! I post mainly beauty-related products on Instagram so I thought I could start writing and reviewing them on a blog!
2. If you could only leave the house wearing one makeup product what would it be?
   Mascara! When I'm on placement at the hospital that's all I can be bothered to apply at 5.30 am!
3. What is your favourite make up brand?
   I have the most products from Kiko, Urban Decay and Mac, so probably one of those! It's really hard to choose between them because Kiko products are such good quality for their price range, Urban decay eyeshadow palettes are amazing, and I collect Mac lipsticks! 
4. How would you describe yourself in a few words?
   Shy, small, caring, hard-working
5. What do you want to do as a job?
   I'm doing an adult nursing degree so I hope to be a staff nurse next year! I'm hoping to get a job as a practice nurse and work up from there!
6. If you had to move to another country where would it be and why?
   This is a really difficult question! Probably North America! I would love to live somewhere hotter than the UK, I love American style restaurants, and being able to access a Sephora would be great!
7. What are your favourite TV shows and films?
   My favourite film would either have to be The Lion King or Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone! My favourite shows are PLL, Sherlock and Once Upon a Time.
8. What is your favourite clothing store?
   Either Forever 21 or Topshop! I always find forever 21 do the prettiest clothing!
9. How would you describe your go-to outfit/style?
   I'm a dress/skirt person. I love wearing a pretty dress with cute flats, or a pretty blouse with a skirt and boots!
10. What is your favourite product from Lush?
    The Dragon's Egg bath bomb! The smell is amazing and I love how the bath bomb dissolves from colours, to popping candy to glitter!
11. What are your 3 main goals for the future?
    To go inter-railing around Europe, to become a Nurse Practitioner, to own a Mini Cooper.

Bloggers I nominate:

• Olivia- deliciously-floral.co.uk
• Samantha- Samanthasbeautyloves.com
• Gemma - Gemsblogstorey.com

My 11 Questions for you:

1. What is your favourite make up product that you own?
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
3. What products are currently in your make-up bag?
4. What is your favourite thing about yourself?
5. How would you describe your go-to outfit?
6. What do you like to do in your spare time?
7. Tell me an interesting fact about yourself?
8. What is your favourite piece of clothing?
9. What has been your favourite holiday?
10. What is your favourite make up brand?
11. Why did you start a blog?
    
    
    This was a pretty fun post to do and I've found some new similar blogs that I now love thanks to this tag! You should also check out the blogs I've mentioned as they're amazing!

One of my Favourite Places

A place me and my mum visit every year is Bourton-on-the-Water. It's about a 40 minute drive from Swindon, but you get to drive through loads of villages and scenic country roads on the way. It's been my favourite place for years. There is a long river that flows through the middle of the village with lovely bridges going over it. I love all the little gift shops, tea rooms, the scenic village, and how nice everyone is there!

There are so many little gift shops lined down the river, selling cute home wares,handmade products, bath products, and loads more! It's a great place to buy gifts for friends.Here are some of the things I bought on my last trip!

There are loads of pretty tea rooms along the streets, lots of small restaurants, and other places to eat! There's also a big old fashioned sweet shop on the end that me and my mum always buy sweets from to bring home for the rest of the family! 

On a lovely sunny day its nice to sit by the river with an ice cream or some lunch and enjoy the scenery! There's also Birdland to visit, The motor museum (Where Brum is, for you that remember him!), a perfumery and a model village. 

Bourton-on-the-water is located near to Cheltenham and is in The Cotswolds. Here's the website for more information and directions! http://www.bourtoninfo.com/

3 New Drugstore Lip Tries

Lip products are my favourite kind of make up product. There are so many different colours, brands, types of formulas and ways to apply them! When it comes to lip products I either go for a berry red, a pinky nude or a brown toned nude. Trying new products from the drugstore I find easier than higher end products as they are more easily available to me, more affordable, and it means I don't have to do any research into the products I want. 

The Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Color's were recently launched and the colour selection is pretty good. I picked up the color Devotion. This is a medium pink colour with a brown tone to it. Originally I was undecided between this colour and Addiction, which is a deep pink with a purple tone. The pigmentation of this liquid lipstick is brilliant and the lasting power is pretty incredible too. When I first apply it it comes out like a cream and as the day progresses it dries to a matte consistency. I would compare these to he Nyx Soft Matte Lip Cream's apart from these are so much less drying and more moisturising!

Another Revlon product I've been trying is the Revlon Matte Balm in the shade Sultry. This is a very similar shade to the HD Matte Lip Color, but this one is slightly darker and a bit browner.The formula is quite creamy and doesn't feel very drying, and the pigmentation again is amazing. I find these crayon type lip products are much better for getting a precise lip shape. 

The last product I've been trying is the Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in the shade One-of-a-Kind. The Only One lipsticks were launched late last year and I never got round to trying any. This is a deep berry red and the staying power of this lipstick is incredible! So incredible that I really struggle to get this one off at the end of the day. The formula feels quite moisturising and looks like a satin finish on the lips. The only negative about this lippy is that I find the round tip quite hard to use to apply the colour neatly. 

 Top to bottom- Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lip Color in Devotion, Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in One-of-a-Kind, Revlon Matte Balm in Sultry.

Lush Haul

I bought a few lush bits before Easter and I got a few for Easter so I thought I would share them with you guys!

I got 5 of their bath bombs. As much as I love their bubble bars the pressure on my bath taps is so crap at the moment that no bubbles get created, so a bubble bath is off the cards :(.

I got 3 of their Easter range bath bombs. I love their Easter range, it's definitely the best range of the year. I love the sweet, fruity scents.

 I got a Humpty Dumpty bath bomb, this one is caramel scented and contains orange oil. I love the size of this bath bomb and much prefer the bigger ones! Inside is a small egg, which I love the concept of! This bath bomb can be broken in two and used for multiple baths. 

Next I got a Fluffy Egg, this smells exactly like snow fairy! It's the smaller pink egg. Snow fairy is up there in my top 2 lush products! I love the candy scent. The egg turns your bath bright pink and leaves your skin feeling really smooth, and the smell lasts on your skin after your bath.

The last bath bomb I got from the Easter range was the Which Came First? This is another one of the larger eggs and is shaped like a giant egg. It's designed to be broken in half as inside is a small chick bomb. This gives you three uses out of the bomb! It smells really similar to dragons egg, Very sweet and citrus like. 

The next egg I have is from the Valentines range, they're still selling them in my local Lush store. It's the Lover Lamp bomb. This one smells like orange and vanilla. It's white all over with 3 red hearts inside. These hearts act as bath melts and contain cocoa butter oil to make your skin feel really soft. 

The last one I've got is from the standard range. It's the Dragon's Egg bomb. This is my favourite item from Lush ever, It smells like lemon sherbet sweets and is one of the more interesting bath bombs that Lush do! The first thing that happens when you pop this in your water is that multi-coloured confetti pieces dissolve in your bath leaving drifts of different colours, Next is a layer of popping candy that starts to pop, and the last stage as you get to the centre of the bomb is a glitter layer. So satisfying!

I picked up one of their lip scrub's as I have recently run out of my bubblegum one and wanted to try a new flavour! I haven't tried the popcorn one before so I purchased that one. It smells like Butterkist toffee popcorn, and although it's nice, it isn't as nice as the bubblegum one! It also tastes really gross, now I know you aren't supposed to lick them off your lips anyway but the bubblegum one was so tasty- haha. This removes all the dead skin and after use this leaves my lips feeling nice and soft.These also last a really long time so are great value for money!

The last thing I have is a face mask called Brazened Honey. I love the lush face masks as they're always fresh and feel really nice and cooling on your face after they have come out of the fridge. This mask is mainly for exfoliating and nourishing. I've used this a few times and although I'm not sure it's overly exfoliating, it's definitely nourishing. Where I use a lot of oil stripping products on my face it does occasionally get a bit dry so I like to use a mask to replenish some of the moisture and this definitely did the trick! It's not the best smelling mask but it works really well at detoxifying and moisturising skin.