Jack Wills | English Velvet Eau de Toilette

I'm one of those people who won't take a chance and buy a perfume without smelling it first. Even if the description sounds like the kind of notes that I usually go for, I just will not risk it.
I have about ten bottles of perfume; some about five years old (I probably should throw them out but they still smell the same as from new) some for day, some for evening, but I was looking at getting a little something to take me through the winter.
A recent trip to Cardiff saw me stop off at the Jack Wills store. After spraying ALMOST everything in Debenhams and Jo Malone I couldn't find one I liked that I'd already got in a similar fragrance. While my husband was talking to the sales guy (it turned out he knew his parents) I wondered off to the beauty section.
English Velvet has a hint of floral and warm amber, but I quite like the musky smell as I think I wear perfume mostly of an evening and this suits the colder months. I like the style of the bottle too, nothing fancy or outrageous just straight to the point. I think it looks pretty on my dressing table and it's light enough with a secure lid to throw in my handbag.
I purchased the 50ml at £29.50.

Rachel xx

Bloglovin With Bloglovin ~ My Current Top 5 ~ Winter 2014

For the past 15 months I've been part of the amazing blogger community that is Bloglovin. For those of you that might be unfamiliar with it, it's simply a place to follow your favourite bloggers easily and also to find various blogs on a range of interests such as beauty, fashion, cooking, gaming etc...
I love to read (of an evening mostly) and settle into bed with my iPad and catch up on 'my feed' on my homepage. My current top five that I enjoy reading the most are listed below.
Lydia - Fuzzy Peach Drops I first came across Lydia on twitter a few weeks ago and I have been reading her new and old posts ever since. She's a fellow Mummy and lives in Cardiff and writes about beauty, baby and thoughts.
Sarah - Sarah Loves Makeup Sarah has a popular Instagram account and this is where I found her first when using #bbloggers in a photo I posted. Her blog has great photography and I love her daily looks and general layout of her page.
Allison - Allison Anderson I'm hoping most of you know who Allison is. She is a popular beauty you tuber and I especially love her tutorial posts and homeware hauls. Her photography is to die for and I can't get enough of her videos.
Lisa - China Doll Diaries Lisa writes in detail in her posts and I love her product swatches and has really great photography.
Grace - Graceyblossom Grace is another beauty blogger I came across on Instagram. I love her blog because it's fun, girly and gets to the point.

I hope that those of you reading this visit my current top five blogs. I think that Bloglovin is a great community and we should share and support each other.

Rachel xx

Collective Beauty Haul ~ Autumn 2014

This is a little round up of some recent beauty items that I have purchased over the last few shopping trips that I thought I would share with you. Even though I have this blog and I try to post regularly, I don't all that often buy lots of beauty items together.
I'll start with my most recent lipstick which is by MAC in Naked Bud.  This was part of the Fantasy of Flowers collection and I purchased this as new from Depop. It's a lovely nude shade with buildable colour application. A very natural lipstick which I'm wearing mostly everyday.
When it comes to mascara I'm a bit of a whore. I have so many that I often forget what I have if I don't keep them in once place. My newest addition is the Wonder'full by Rimmel London. This formula contains Argan Oil for smooth clump free lashes and this is exactly what it does as I use this daily at present.
I haven't bought any single eye shadows for a while, as I tend to use my palettes but at two recent stops at The Body Shop I picked up these; Steel My heart which is a silver pearlescent and Melt My Heart a gold/brown pearlescent, both I've yet to use. The colours looked quite pigmented when I swatted them in store, so we'll have to see.
The other eye shadow is from Lancome which I bought from a sale shelf in Debenhams. I wasn't able to swatch it but I thought I would take a chance at £4.20. It looks a smokey green/grey shade. It says G20 underneath so this could have been a display only one, but was in new condition.
I was going to purchase the Clinique cleansing brush, but at almost £80 I thought this was way overpriced when I looked at it. As I'm a huge fan of the No7 range at Boots, I decided to purchase their version at £24.95. I'm using it everyday so I'll you know later on how I'm getting on with it.
Lastly is a product I've been wanting to get for quite a while as I've read/watched many beauty bloggers talk about how good the Becca Ever-Matte Poreless Priming Perfector is. This was an online purchase from Space:NK. As with the cleansing brush, I'm using this daily so will let you know my thoughts on it.
Please feel free to leave your comments on my recent haul and if you have any questions about any of the products I've bought.

Rachel xx

The Body Shop Christmas Shower Gel Range 2014

Continuing with my festive shopping is my recent stop at The Body Shop to view this years Christmas goodies. I was hoping to repurchase the Gingerbread Sparkle range this year as I used last years goodies quite quickly, but sadly it hasn't been re-released for 2014. However The Body Shop never disappoint so I picked up three shower gels in this years festive scents.

Glazed Apple
For a Christmas scent this is quite sweet but not in a sickly way, It's actually quite crisp, fresh and mouth watering when I smell it from the bottle, so I'm hoping it will leave me feeling ready for the day when used. This is a clear/green consistency.

Frosted Cranberry
This is a subtle twist on the annual cranberry scent that is launched and again, I find this sweet but not over powering. This, like the Glazed Apple is a clear consistency in red.

Vanilla Brulee
This shower gel is creamy and looks more moisturising than the previous two. Very sweet scent with vanilla and a hint of caramel.

For 250ml the gels cost £4 which is good value on a limited edition range. As well as the shower gels there are complimentary products such as body butters, lip glosses, hand cream and shimmer lotion. There are also gift sets in beautiful packaging.

Will anything be on your Christmas list this year?

Rachel xx

Lush ~ Christmas In Colour 2014 Haul

With Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes Night over, the countdown to Christmas can officially start, for me anyway. Although I find it crazy that some shops have already started to belt out the festive tunes, it's usually around now that I start my seasonal shopping.
When I met up with my best friend for lunch and a catch up, I had the intention to buy a few things as gifts...I ended up buying only two and the rest where for me, oops. Anyone else have this problem?

It has been quite a while since I visited Lush as it's not really a shop I frequently stop at, but I do rather like their Christmas specials. Here is a round up of my haul.

Luxury Lush Pud, £3.50
This bath bomb contains 21 ingredients with the main scent that I pick up being lavender. The pastel colours are bound to create an explosion of colours in the bath water.

Christmas Eve, £2.95
I love bubble bars as I find them great value for money, and that I never need a huge amount in the bath to create bubbles, so lasts me quite a while. The colours aren't as vibrant as it appears online, but a lovely smell and I'm planning to use this way before Christmas Eve.

Twilight, £3.35
I thought this was a Christmas special, but since reading the Lush site, I can see that it's in the permanent collection. I wanted to try this as I'm not having a relaxing sleep, where I feel refreshed in the morning. I always wake up at around 2am, look at the clock and doze for a while. I think this is because my daughter, who's now 4 used to wake for a feed. This claims to treat insomnia and aid a restless sleep...hey, give me three at once!

First Snow, £4.75
My friend recommended this as she had bought it for her daughter to wear for a Hallowe'en party. It's a pretty sparkly dusting powder that you can either apply alone or on top of freshly moisturised skin. A little goes a long way unless you want to look like Edward Cullen. I'm looking forward to wearing this for upcoming Christmas parties.

So that completes my Lush haul. I wanted to buy a few more like the Holly Golightly and Drummers Drumming but held off for today. Any products you've picked up that you can recommend to me?
You can view the complete Christmas range here.

Rachel xx

No7 Instant Radiance Under Eye & Match Made Concealers*

My regular readers will know how much I adore the No7 range by Boots, especially the Match Made Service and when I was asked to review their concealer range for my blog I already new that I wouldn't be disappointed.
My skin colour is Calico in the foundation shades which I blogged about here, so having already knew that, it was fool proof that the concealers would match.
The Instant Radiance Under Eye Concealer is quite creamy when applied and I feel it's the same formulation as YSL Touche Éclat and even has the same brush applicator, but way less in price at £13.50. This aims to disguise dark circles as does the YSL. The Match Made Concealer is thicker in texture and dries quickly when blended and is shine free to cover pesky blemishes and age spots. £7.50 in 17 shades. Both are available to buy now and currently on a 3 for 2.

Rachel xx

*PR Sample

Thanks to Melina and Lisa at Boots, Carmarthen