Monday 30 September 2013

Primark Haul - 30th September - Autumn/Winter clothes


Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing well! So last Saturday I decided it was time to get a few warmer pieces in my wardrobe for the Autumn/Winter period as it is now fast approaching in to that cooler weather. As always I took a little trip in to Primark with the other half in toe to go pick up some pieces! Here is what I picked up!

Tartan Scarf - £4

As I'm sure all you fashion followers/bloggers are aware of, tartan has become massively in for this Autumn/Winter season. Since I'm not the biggest fan of tartan on myself I decided I would add a hint of tartan in to my wardrobe in the form of a scarf. This scarf is the softest thing ever and was only £4! Its also a pretty good length and width so I can make it nice and thick around my neck to keep me warm. I own far too many scarves but this one was so soft I couldn't say no!

Purple Jumper - £5

The next thing I decided I need to wear more of/own more of were jumpers. I rarely wear them but I decided now was the time to invest in some! The first one I picked up is in a lovely purple colour (though it looks burgundy in the photo!) and is really soft - I also thought this would be good for layering up with tank tops to stay even warmer.

Black Jumper - £5

I picked up the same jumper in black also just as a staple piece I can put with skirts or maybe throw over a dress after college/work to walk home in. 


Both the jumpers I picked up have a button detailing on the shoulders which adds a little something to them. It also comes with replacements for those of you like me that will inevitably lose a button!

Black and White Striped Wool Dress - £10

This I love because its so thick! I will be teaming up this dress with a pair of leggings and boots on a cold winter day/night. It is also perfect for those lazy lay about the house days! This dress comes to just above the knee and is wool. Very warm and cozy!

Super Cosy tights and leggings - £3.50 each

The Super Cosy range at Primark has been recommend to me by numerous people. Basically the range is tights and leggings that have an added extra fleece lining in them! I picked up a pair of tights for work to try them out and also a pair of leggings. I have tried these on and they are super warm! I can see the leggings being useful under jeans when it snows!

Black Jeggings - £7

The last thing I wanted to pick up was a pair of leggings. I don't know about you but during winter I am torn between the laziness of wearing leggings but the warmth of jeans; jeggings for me acts as a steady medium. I can look like I'm wearing jeans but feel like I'm wearing leggings! I have a pair of blue jeggings from Primark which have lasted 2 years so I have high hopes for these being durable!



So that is everything I picked up on my little venture in to Primark! I think adding these to my wardrobe for Autumn/Winter will make these next few months a tad warmer for me!

So have you guys been in to Primark lately? What have you bought so far for Autumn/Winter 2013? Let me know in the comments!

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Friday 27 September 2013

Pro Formula Hair Defence Intensive Masque with Keratin and Argan Oil - Tesco Deep conditioner review

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well and all settling in to this cold Autumn weather we are now having! So on to another review! As you guys know I have been trying new hair treatments lately, in particular deep conditioners that contain Argan oil as that seems to be working really well with my hair lately; I have seen so much growth and regrowth. After finishing my Primark Eclipz Argan Oil deep conditioner that I reviewed here I decided I wanted to try another deep conditioner. So I nipped down to Tesco and picked up this for around £2.00 - to check it out click here.

Pro Formula Hair Defence Intensive Masque with Keratin and Argan Oil

As you can see from the packaging this deep conditioner is labelled a hair defence intensive masque which contains Keratin and Argan Oil. As I said I am trying to try a lot of argan oil products and I haven't used Keratin on my hair in a while. For around £2 (depending on offers Tesco usually has) you get 200ml of product. The packaging is a plastic tub. The only problem I have with the packaging as because the masque is thin in texture it can slip and slide about when removing the lid. 


The mask itself is a white cream which is not solid in texture; it almost feels like water. The smell to me smells like the typical 'hair treatment conditioner' smell you tend to get when you go to the hairdressers. I'm not too fond of the smell but I can look past it.

The product itself? Well it performs amazingly. You apply this for three minutes like a normal conditioner, however I like to leave it for 10, then you rinse it out as usual. The results for me were amazing. My hair felt soft immedietley after and actually stayed soft till my next weekly deep conditioning which is new to me! Usually that softness for me goes within a few days! The keratin also seems to have made it easier for me to style my hair. Overall I think this hair masque has stood up really well and for those of you after a budget hair mask that does the job I would definitely recommend this! Soft, strong and healthy hair? Can't argue with it!

So what hair masks do you use? Are there any you would recommend? Have you tried this hair masque? Let me know in the comments!


Monday 23 September 2013

Top Tips for Freshers Week

Bella's Beauty Blog


1) Use social networking sites - back when I was a student I would often check Facebook and Twitter for various freshers week events. Often different subjects/degree specialties have different groups or societies that often plan freshers activities! Also don't forget to add/accept all the people you meet!

2) Budget! - As much fun as moving out and freshers week is and the idea of going to university it's important you keep an eye on exactly how much you will be spending through the week. You'll be needing the money for things you're probably not used to such as bills and various different things you'll be buying for uni! Not to mention Christmas being round the corner! Eliminate one stress and learn to keep an eye on your finances.

3) Don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone - some activities may push us shy lot out of our comfort zones but it is important to socialize and feel comfortable with the people you are studying with! 

4) Be safe! - For those nights out you do for freshers week be sure to be safe. Have taxi numbers in everyone's phones, pack plasters and such in your bag for those heel incidents, make sure you charge your phone and have credit and make sure at least one person knows your plan for the evening in case something happens! Always stay in groups on nights out! Look out for each other!

5) Don't worry about filling every day with an activity - if you're not feeling it, can't afford it or there aren't many activities that take your fancy don't force yourself to find or make plans! The idea behind freshers week is to have fun so have fun the way you want to!

6) Stock up on vitamins, healthy foods and things for colds/coughs - one thing I learnt VERY QUICKLY through each each is that freshers flu does exist and it is very easily caught! It's nothing too bad just a bad cold and cough but it's best to be prepared if you or your friends/housemates get it!

7) Take photos - these are the best years of your life so make a note of them! 

8) Attend Classes - As tempting as it is if you had a night out during the week to skip an early morning class, don't. These initial classes are important to get your footing in your course. 

9) Stick to safe drinking habits - freshers week can be intense drinking wise to say the least. My advise here is to stick to one drink. Don't mix! Also don't drink away your loan, this doesn't do you or your bank balance any favors and when you get your reading list for the year you will wish you'd have saved! Also keep an eye on your drink - if you leave a drink don't go back to it!

10) HAVE FUN! - overall have fun! University fly by and before you know it it's over! Enjoy this experience and the chance to meet knew and interesting people in environments that are new to you!

So so you have any freshers tips or words of wisdom? Let us know in the comments below!

Friday 20 September 2013

The Autumn Tag

Bella's Beauty Blog

Hello everyone! With the fast return of Autumn I have for you a new tag post! The Autumn tag post! I was tagged by Bess from Daisy Chain Princess; if you would like to check out here Autumn tag post go take a look here.

Now lets get on to the tag post!

1.  Favourite thing about it? Being snug in bed and the warm PJs! Its a lovely transition period from warm to cold!
2.  Favourite drink?  Hot chocolate! MMMM!
3.  Favourite scent/candle? I like things that smell warm (if that makes sense) or smells of warm sweet scents. Right now in the shower I am using Treacle Moon original Toffee Bon Bon which smells delicious!
4.  Best lipstick?  I don't really wear lipstick in Autumn; I tend to use lip balm obsessively so when it gets cold my lips aren't painfully chapped!
5.  Go to moisturiser? I like to change my moisturisers to be honest! I swap from Treacle Moon to Aveeno or even just E45... the list goes on!
6.  Go to colours for the eyes? Winter usually means its term time for me again, so I go with either a simple eyeliner look or neutrals for minimal touch ups during a busy day!
7.  Favourite music or band/singer to listen to? I have a mixed music taste. I am in to the 70's/80's and in particular power ballads. Right now I am on a Beach Boys kick!
8.  Favourite outfit to wear (i.e. boots & a scarf combo)?  Boots! Everyone that knows me knows that I use this cold weather as the best excuse to bring out all my combat boots! I'm a tomboy at heart!
9.  Autumn treat? On the same not I will probably treat myself to a new pair of combat boots/boots!
10.  Favourite place to be?  In my bed, with the boyfriend snuggled up watching a movie!


I tag any of you that fancy doing this post! I really enjoyed it and it really got me in to the Autumn mood! So what are your favourite things about Autumn? Let me know in the comments! Also let me know if you do this tag post so I can check them out!

Monday 16 September 2013

The Co-operative nail polish remover - A steal at £1!

The Co-operative Nail Polish Remover

Hello guys! Hope you are all doing very well! Today I thought I would post on a product which I found by accident really. As you guys know if you follow my blog I really love painting my nails. Recently I have been going through a lot of nail polish remover and nail polish to me is one of those products you don't want to be spending a bomb on; it's practically a staple product. So I've been on the search for relativity cheap nail polish removers that actually work! This is a steal at £1! In some CO-OP's I've also seen it for 95p! It does the job and does it quickly! Yes it has that typical nail polish remover smell but it does the job and for cheap! So if you are after a no nonsense, cheap and simple nail polish remover I'd check out the CO-OP!


Friday 13 September 2013

Treacle Moon Orginal Toffee Bon Bon bath and shower gel review



Recently I've been getting in to using different scents for different times of the year. During summer I used the Sugar Crush shower gel, which I reviewed here, during the summer months. Now that Autumn is creeping up on us I have decided to introduce a new scent! On a recent trip to Tesco I went back to the Treacle Moon brand. I bought a body butter from there which I also reviewed and loved the scent. I also remembered smelling all of the shower gels there and falling in love with each and every one of them. This shower gel smells so yummy, exactly like toffee. I don't know what it is about this scent, maybe it's the candy at Halloween that reminds me of Autumn but it's definitely a warm welcome to my shower routine! 

The shower gels from the Treacle moon brand lather up really nicely; both with or without a loofa. You can also put a bit in your bath for a bit of a foamed bath with an added lovely scent. 

When I bought mine they were on offer for two for £4 which happens every now and again in Tesco but usually they are £2.99. Really these are a steal! You also get 500ml for this price which is massive! I can't speak highly enough of the brand Treacle Moon they really have impressed me! One thing I love is that there is such a variety with their scents and they don't smell fake! They smell exactly like what they're supposed to! Another benefit is that Treacle Moon do not test on animals! 


So have you tried out Treacle Moon or any of their products? What is your favorite shower gel currently? Let me know in the comments!


Monday 9 September 2013

Lifestyle post: Day out at Chester Zoo

Hello guys! Hope you are all well! So this last Saturday my boyfriend decided we should have a little impromptu day out to Chester Zoo! Today is our 9 month anniversary (cheesy I know) so we thought that we would spend the whole weekend together since we both have work/college/volunteering we have during the week! So we decided we would commute up relativity early, we were both knackered! We spent the commute up doing word searches... yes we are 50. We got there around 10am so it was less that two hours travel and to be honest we didn't really notice how long it took! 


This is us (forgive my messy hair and make-up!) sat in a lovely garden in the center of the park midway through the day. We were quite blessed that it wasn't too warm or cold but the sun stayed out all day! We stayed till around 3pm so we had a good 5 hour walk round the park! 



I definitely recommend Chester Zoo particularly for those that have kids. Both myself and my boyfriend Gareth agreed that its a nice thing to do nice its not the norm and you can easily just walk around all day watching the animals which we did!


It took us around 3 hours to walk through everything as there is a lot to see. Myself and Gareth both thought that if we had a kid like a lot of the other couples did their you could easily stay there all day as there are many things for kids to do such as face painting and play areas. So if you're a couple with kids looking for a plan or even a young couple it is a good all rounder!


There are a bunch of different animals as well as fishes and bugs and even a bat house which I loved. There are even talks that happen at various areas in the park which we caught a few of walking round! 


There are plenty of place to stop and eat with plenty of shops however me and the other half had brought some butties and snack stuff to stop and eat at this lovely garden area in the center which was nice! 

The great thing is there are so many places to stop and relax that you can walk around all day! We stuck to just keep going left right from the beginning and we managed to see everything in the zoo! There is also a monorail system that we decided against and just walked through buts its a great idea to see an above view of the zoo.



Above you can see a picture of one of our favorite animals, bush dogs! They basically spend all day following each other in a circle! They are so cute and we were in stitches singing The Great Escape song and the rocky theme tune whilst they ran around!


So that was pretty much it for Saturday! For Sunday we spent a nice day in chilled! Pretty much watching boring day time TV and playing Cluedo whilst Gareth tried to teach me other board games like checkers and such! I can't stress how much we act like 50 year olds! It was nice to have some down time before term starts again!

So I hope you guys liked this lifestyle post! Have you been to Chester Zoo? What do you like to do with your other half? Let me know in the comments!



Worth the Hype? Maybelline Baby Lips in Pink Punk and Mint Fresh review!

Maybelline Baby Lips

So yes... I caved! You are all probably getting sick of these now! I think these have to be one of the most hyped products at the moment and what are they, they're lip balms! Yes I know I am probably a tad late on the trend but when I was in boots one day I saw a few left and thought I would pick them up to give them a try since I always use lip balm and always have some in my bag it seemed like an okay investment... Okay I was trying to justify trying them! Here is the Maybelline website if you would like to read up more on the Baby Lips range. Baby Lips currently will cost you around £2.99 which for a lip balm is pretty expensive in my opinion but for the color pigmentation on some you could argue its worth that little bit extra. So far there are six to choose from.

Baby Lips in Pink Punch

So for both my own use and review purposes I thought I would pick up one of the Baby Lips that had pigmentation and another one which was clear/didn't have any pigmentation. The first one I picked up was Baby Lips in Pink Punch. This one is described as a 'moisturizing lip balm with a hint of color' and also claims to have 8 hour moisture for your lips.


The packaging of the Baby Lips is pretty sturdy. I have chucked it in my bag for weeks and the label hasn't been scratched off nor has the plastic broke. At first look the lip balm looks like it would be a horrible hard texture like those kids lipsticks you can get! But actually they are really soft and are really easily blended into the lips and cover them easily. Some lip balms drag on your lips; I found this didn't.

The smell of this one is pretty sweet, so if you are in to sweet scents and like a hint of color on your lips I would choose this one.

As you can tell from the swatch the color pay off is subtle which I like but the pigmentation for a lip balm is actually pretty good! I feel like this would be good for a night out/holiday where you don't want to reapply lipstick all the time but you still want color added to your lips. 

So does this one live up to the hype? Well I loved the smell of this and it did moisturize my lips instantly but I haven't noticed any major affects on my lips. But I do like this as a product and would recommend it if you just want a basic lip balm or are interested in some sheer color on your lips. Now on to the next one I picked up!

Baby Lips in Mint Fresh

I decided for the next one I picked up I would choose one that didn't have any pigmentation or was plain so I could use it as my morning and evening lip balm. Mint Fresh ended up being my absolute favorite. This one has SPF 20 in it and is labelled as a 'lip protection balm' and also claims to have 8 hour moisture for the lips.


I use this as my morning and evening lip balm as I said; I do this so I know I am moisturizing my lips at least twice a day. The smell is amazing it smells like chewies and menthol which to me is pleasant! It basically smells like mints! It smells and feels so refreshing on the lips. This one also did make my lips noticeably smoother than any other lip balm has on my lips before including the Pink Punch one I tried which I also tried to use twice a day.

So how about the Mint Fresh lip balm does this live up to the hype? Well I would say if any of the range deserve hype so far for me it would be this one! It is my favorite and I'm glad I picked it up!

My overall opinion on baby lips...

Honestly I think each one has an appeal to it but at the end of the day they are lip balms! That's pretty much it! If you're actually in the market for a new lip balm you should get these as they are the best lip balms I have tried but to be honest if you don't need a new lip balm or don't suffer from dry lips I wouldn't go rushing out for them (except the Mint Fresh one I kind of have fallen in love with that one and would recommend it...) From my experience the pigmentation is pretty good for a lip balm! Both scents also seem to be pleasant but not overbearing/fake smelling which is always a positive.




So what are your thoughts on the Baby Lips? Do you own any? Which ones? Let me know in the comments!


Wednesday 4 September 2013

NOTD September 4th

Hello Everyone! So I thought I would do a NOTD post today! As we all know summer is winding down and I think we are all exited for Winter and Autumn fashion to begin! I thought I would wear this bright green color which is in 430 Grasshopper by Sally Hansen. I included this in my Poundland controversy blog here if you'd like to read it. So I got this pretty cheap! I didn't really get a chance to wear this through the summer so I thought I would give it a go! I love it! This color I was able to achieve with just one coat!


So what nail polish are you loving/wearing now? Are there any polishes you are exited to wear for Autumn and Winter? Let me know in the comments!



Monday 2 September 2013

The many uses of Vaseline!

Hello everyone! So rather than writing a review today I thought I would blog about a product we all probably have in some way or another, either in a small tin or a massive tub of the stuff, Vaseline. Vaseline is one of those necessity buys that everyone needs really because there are so many uses for it and I'm going to let you in on the many ways I use it!


1. Lip balm - This is pretty much the standard use that everyone uses Vaseline for. What I like to do is apply some every morning when I wake up or when I am doing my make-up then some before bed just so I remember to hydrate my lips at some point during the day.

2. Cuticle oil - If you guys follow my blog you will know that I am in to my nail art and always have my nails painted. Lately I have been using Vaseline as moisturizer for the cuticles to keep them hydrated.

3. Eyelash conditioner/Make-up Remover - I think the world and its grandmother has heard this tip! Occasionally (about once a month) I like to sleep with some of this on my eyelashes to help condition them. You can also use Vaseline to help remove stubborn mascara or eyeliner at the base of the eyelash. This is a god send if you wear heavy performance make-up.

4. Foot cream - Yes you read that right; foot cream. Lately I have seen so many people say they use this as a foot cream so I gave it a try and yes it does work! Just rub some on to your feet and then put bed socks on! Simple as!

5. Dry elbows - For those of you that fake tan this was a tip I heard through the grape vine. If you have dry elbows put a little Vaseline on; this helps to moisturize the elbows pretty quickly!

6. Mix with sugar to make a lip scrub - In need of a lip scrub? Just mix a bit of Vaseline with some sugar and scrub away!

7. Use as a mask around the hairline to prevent dyes e.t.c going on the skin - For those of you that treat/dye your hair at home this is a good one! Apply a little Vaseline round the hair line to ensure that any hair products stay on your hair!

8. Prevent blisters whilst wearing heels - This one was a god send to me back when I was 18. If you find you get blisters whilst wearing heels in certain areas apply a little Vaseline there - it prevents friction and also the blisters! 

So there you go! I hope you guys enjoyed these tips! How do you guys use Vaseline? Let me know some more tips in the comments if you have any! Let us all in to them!