Glow Getters

Now that the weather's getting colder my skin has been needing a bit of brightening up. With my skin being so pale and drab this time of year it needs a little oomph and that's where highlighters come into my life!

I have four go to highlighters at the moment, that I just can't get enough of. I'll start with my favourite which is Mac's 'Soft and Gentle' highlighter. Sometimes I'll totally forget I have this in my drawer but I always end up going back to it. It's a slightly bronze toned highlighter with shimmer. The formula feels very creamy even though its a powder. This product is very pigmented so a little goes a long way.

Benefit's Watts Up highlighter is a cream highlighter and its a sort of rosy gold colour. This is such a natural highlighter that blends really nicely. It's definitely build-able depending on how much glow you like. I have this in a mini size and when I run out I am definitely purchasing the full size product!





























The next one I've been loving is The Balm Mary-Lou Manizer. This is a pretty gold highlighter that I feel would suit every skin tone. I have been loving using this as an inner eye highlight and on my brow bone, it adds such a nice touch! It's one of the more natural looking highlighters I own, it adds a really nice glow without being overly shimmery or glittery. This is the first product I own from The Balm and after this hit I definitely want more!

The last of my go to highlighters is a new one to my collection. I won't discuss the Sleek Solstice palette too much as I wrote about it in my 3 new tries post. Summarising it though the four highlighters are beautiful. Getting all of them in the palette for £10 is an absolute bargain as well! My favourite from the quad is the pink-purple shade called 'Hemisphere' which I love applying to my cheek bones. The little brush in the palette is also really handy for highlighting your brow bone and the bridge of your nose which I was chuffed about!

L-R, Benefit 'Watts Up', Mac 'Soft and Gentle', The Balm 'Mary-Lou Manizer', Sleek Solstice in 'Hemisphere'.

3 New Tries

I love it when I buy new things to try and end up absolutely loving them! I thought I would share 3 of the products I have recently bought and am enjoying.

First is The Body Shop camomile cleansing oil. I have never tried a cleaning oil and due to my skin being on the oily side I've tried to steer clear of oily facial products! However, I really wanted to start double cleansing in my night time routine and lots of people have said an oil and a cream cleanser are the best combination. This cleanser has had some really good reviews so I thought I would try it out! The cleanser removes make up so well and upon removal didn't leave any oily residue, and left my face feeling super soft! It also has a really nice, subtle scent. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is rubbing it into your eyes to remove eye make up, trust me, I did and my eyes ended up stinging alll evening. However, it has definitely changed my opinion on oil based cleansers and I would definitely repurchase!

The next product is the Sleek highlighting palette in 'Solstice'. These highlighting palettes are a new release from Sleek and seeing as good highlighters are something I lack I thought I would try it out. The packaging of this product is stunning and is going to look so pretty in my makeup drawer! It also has a magnetic close which I love! There are 3 powder highlighters in the palette and 1 cream highlighter, they all are really pigmented and give a lovely glow. My favourite has to be 'Equinox' (the bottom right) it's so lovely for highlighting cheekbones and the cupids bow! I love how on the back of the box the palette comes it that it tells you where each one can be put for the best results, so helpful!  

My last product is the Rituals yogi flow, foaming shower gel. This is my first Rituals product and now I am desperate for more! I've never had a foaming shower gel before so using this was a new and exciting experience! With this product a little goes a long way, and one squirt gives you way too much product in my opinion, so be careful with that! The scent is really relaxing, slightly floral and lasts a long time when you get out of the shower. This is definitely one of the nicest shower gels I have used.

My Beauty Advent Calendars for 2015

This year I decided to buy some beauty advent calendars for myself. Last year I saw Zoe Sugg had some really lovely ones and by the time I got round to buying a few they had all sold out! This year I decided to get them early. 
I have been waiting patiently for the M&S beauty advent calendar to be released for ages after it started to be advertised. I finally picked it up last Monday on its release. 
The advent calendar is originally £200. However, M&S are currently doing a deal where if you spend £25 on beauty then you can get the calendar for £25. This gave me an excuse to treat myself and try out new brands! I decided to purchase some Christmas presents for my friends and got the calendar. 
The back of the calendar tells you all the products that are contained in the calendar. The products from Rituals, L'occitane, and Ren are the one's I'm most excited about!

I also picked up and advent calendar from the Tanya Burr Christmas range. I am a big fan of Tanya's collection, and this calendar was a bargain for £15! It's originally £25 but Superdrug have an offer on it at the moment for £15. It contains limited edition lipglosses, nail polishes, lashes and shimmer pots! Tanya's calendar has 12 door so I've decided to open a door every other day in the lead up to Christmas. 

I think that beauty advent calendars are such a good way of trying out new products and discovering new brands. They're also much more exciting than a chocolate advent calendar and make the build up to Christmas that bit more exciting!
Do you have any beauty advent calendars? :-)

Forest of Dean Weekend Getaway

Last weekend I went for a long weekend away with my boyfriend to the Forest of Dean. We stayed with Forest Holidays in a Silver Birch log cabin and it was such a lovely trip.
Our log cabin had a kitchen, lounge, master bedroom with ensuite, a twin room, bathroom and a hot tub on the decking. It was so open with huge windows in every room and so nice to wake up to the view of the meadow outside each day. The floor was heated which made it so warm and cosy! 

While we were there the weather was dreary so we spent a lot of time in the hot tub and in the cabin watching sky movies with our entertainment package. We did go on some lovely walks, one of them being to a place called Symonds Yat which had stunning views. We had the most amazing meal on Sunday in The White Horse Inn in Coleford, it was probably the best meal I've ever had!  

It was such a nice relaxing getaway for the weekend and the staff were so helpful and friendly! I couldn't fault our stay! I'm so sad that it's over i'm back to uni and Adam's gone back to London :(