Wednesday 23 September 2015

Garnier Micellar Water



Micellar water has soared in popularity, particularly now that there are more affordable brands and choices available. 

But what is micellar water? I get asked this a lot and it basically removes make up, dirt, oil and cleanses the skin without having to rinse, ideal for when you can't get to water to wash your face properly! The name comes from the "micelles" which are tiny cleansing balls that float in the water and when they come into contact with make up, dirt, oil etc it can all be wiped away. Pretty cool right?

 Before I carry on though, I do feel there are many misconceptions around micellar water, they were designed to be used where water isn't available and are not a substitute for washing your face properly! I keep seeing them described as a "gentle" way of removing make up or as having no chemicals, or fragrance, or soap, or whatever other vague terms they can think of but actually, although it's micellar WATER and WATER sounds all lovely and natural and gentle and the like the fact is they do have chemicals in, how else is it going to get rid of make up etc? The idea is to use them when you can't wash your face properly, not as a regular thing. At the end of the day the best thing you can do for your face is wash it properly!

Now I've had my little rant you may notice my bottle of Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water is actually empty! I find it really useful to take off make up when the baby is asleep and I don't want to wake him filling the sink up and prattling around the bathroom, or I can sit and do it in my living room so I keep an eye on him (or when he starts going crazy when I leave the room, he's at that age now) or when I'm just feeling plain lazy! I got mine on offer for around £3 (RRP £4.99) and you get 400ml of product which I think is pretty generous as other ones tend to be about half that for a similar price point. I found it to be effective at removing make up but my only gripe was that it couldn't remove my waterproof Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara (more on that HERE) which is VERY waterproof indeed! It also didn't sting my eyes or skin which I have found can be the case with your standard make up remover.

All in all a thumbs up from me but not in place of a proper cleanser!

Get yours HERE or at your local store.

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

    


Monday 21 September 2015

Mask Monday! #7



Happy Monday everyone! 

I have a Mask Monday for you today! I picked up this Montagne Jeunesse (do not ask me to pronounce that one!) 7th Heaven Manuka Honey Peel Off mask in Boots last time I was in there and this morning I put it to the test! 

First things first and I actually found this really easy to open! You may be thinking I've become a 90 year old woman but fear not, I always find sachets of things really god damn hard to open with wet hands in the bath! Next it smells divine, like a nice, sweet, honey smell (believe it or not!) that made me want to eat it! (Not recommended!) and it has a slight yellow colour to it (which I think is expected of a honey scented product). It doesn't sting or tingle, I personally don't mind a little tingle as I feel like a mask is doing something if it tingles but there is a fine line between tingle and sting, and sting is not good but you don't get any of that with this, so I think it would be fine for sensitive skin. It says it's a peel off formula and as you can see from the picture above it does peel off but I'd say there was about 10% of it that I had to wash off. I think it was just in areas where I applied it a little thick but it wasn't difficult to wash off with water and a sponge. 

The mask claims to purify and remove dead skin cells and I do feel like my skin looked brighter and smoother after use so I do agree with those claims. No it doesn't make a radical difference but I just enjoy kicking back in the tub and having a little relax with a mask always makes me feel better. Time is something you need with this mask as it says to leave it on 20-25 minutes, any excuse to take a nice, long bath right!? 

You can pick these up in Boots or other retailers for around the £1.00 mark

Do you have any mask recommendations?

Thanks for reading,

Wench X 

Friday 18 September 2015

Freebie Friday! #11




I have to say magazine freebies recently have been pants or non existent! 

But I'm glad to say I have an offering for you today, although I'm late to the party this month! Marie Claire are offering its readers a free Balance Me cleanser, hand cream, or face cream. I opted for the cleanser as I've heard good things about it. In a previous magazine freebie I had a face wash from Balance Me and the smell was horrific! I'm hoping the cleanser is better! 

In magazines like these I find there's not an awful lot to read in them, the amount of adverts is just silly but it's worth it for the freebies and you often find smelly perfume pages (there's a Gucci Bamboo in this one!) and other little samples (there's Garnier BB Cream and Elvive Extraordinary Oil Shampoo)

Have you found any good freebies recently?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Slimming World! #4


SOURCE thehousethatneverrests.com
Just another little update for you!

I lost 1.5 pounds last week which I was really pleased about as I was staying at my parents house while I did my driving course and I was being very well looked after by my mummy! It's tough sticking to plan when someone else is cooking for you (don't get me wrong though, I'm certainly grateful!) but my mummy is very healthy so it was all good. I did have some cheeky pieces of toast while I was out driving!

This week I don't think I'll have lost anything, after failing my test I had a whole pizza to myself as I was sulking! We'll see on weigh in day! 

I have lost a total of 10.5 pounds so far, I'm really chuffed!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x 

Tuesday 15 September 2015

I'm Still Learning!


SOURCE bin-the-l-plates.co.uk


First of all I'd like to thank anyone who sent me those good vibes I asked for, for when I did my test!

Alas it was a FAIL! So I'm still a learner with a massive L on my head but never mind. I was so nervous on the day my chest hurt and I thought I was going to be sick (nice!) I failed because I cut a curb turning left from a minor road to major road (I didn't even notice, the examiner said it was a low curb!) and I should have given priority to an oncoming driver on a chicane (I had seen him, I just thought I was going to get there first!) They were just silly mistakes, easy fixes and I think I made them because I was so nervous. I had a reverse around a corner on the test which my instructor said most people hate but I find it quite easy (it's just the driving forward I have a problem with....!) and that went without a hitch!

If at first you don't succeed try, try, again, and I intend to! My next test is all booked for the 13th October, it sucks you have to wait so long I want it done and out of the way but hey, that's life and better luck next time! 

Again, please send me positive thoughts for my re test day and next time it's going to be a PASS!

Any tips for passing your driving test?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   


Monday 7 September 2015

A Crash Course in Driving!

SOURCE shop.theaa.com


A while back, I booked a driving course and it's finally come around! Eeeek!

I have done one before but at the end of it I knew I wasn't ready to do my test and I knew I would have failed it. This time however, I have booked 30 hours driving and I have a test included at the end of it on the Friday! No chickening out last minute that way.

Being able to drive is important to me and I'm not asking for the tiny violins to start playing or anything but my Hubby is disabled (a broken back and partly severed spinal cord from a motorbike accident a few years ago) and he can drive an automatic, but his feeling in his feet is patchy and sometimes he misjudges how much pressure he is putting on the pedals. Trust me, it makes for a hair raising journey sometimes! But joking aside we have a baby now and it worries me and as time goes on the Hubs condition will deteriorate and it will be ultimately up to me to get us around. I also live far away from my parents and I miss them so very much, I'm hoping being able to drive will help me feel not-so-far away (although I'm in negotiations to eventually move closer to them, how babies change things huh? But that's a whole post to itself!) My other danger is that I put so much pressure on myself that on test day I'll just crack up. I need to remember that if I fail it's not the end of the world and I can retake my test! But I so want to pass and get it out of the road (haaaa get it?) 

So as you can see there's a whole lot riding on me passing my test and to anyone reading this I would really appreciate it if you could wish me luck and send me some good vibes!

Do you have any tips on how to cope under pressure? Or how you passed your test?

Please let me know! I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x     

Friday 4 September 2015

Worth The Hype? Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer


Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer has been wide spread over bloggersphere so I thought I'd ask the question, is it worth the hype?

Short answer, yes! The product claims to illuminate and re awaken the under eye area and completely conceal spots. I do agree with this statement and it has earned it's place in my everyday make up bag (yes #beautybloggerproblems right there!) and I do use it everyday.

It has never broke me out or made any spots worse but one thing I would say is that if you have like, the mother of all spots, I'd go for something a bit more heavy duty, but for the occasional spot or blemish it does the job brilliantly. I was wary at first as I thought with it being an "illuminating" concealer it would light up my spots like a Christmas tree but it doesn't which means I don't have to swap between concealers and that make me very happy indeed.

Available HERE (currently £4.49 RRP £5.49) or in your local store! 

What's your favourite concealer?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

Wednesday 2 September 2015

Slimming World! #3




I thought I'd share one of my go-to Slimming World recipes as well as my weigh-in results today.

I lost 2lbs at Slimming World last Wednesday and got me a shiny sticker and my half stone certificate! Yay! I feel as though this celebration will be short lived as I've been full of a cold this past week and the chances of me losing anything this time is probably nil. I've just wanted to eat rubbish all week and then I lost my food diary and for the most part it's just gone right out the window! My fault I know I'm just hoping for damage limitation now in that I haven't put on everything I lost. Fingers crossed!  

The mess on a plate in the photo above is Egg, Chip, and Pepper Bake with salad dressed in syn-free dressing. All of which is Free, hooray! I'm sure you can figure the salad out for yourself but for the bake I used 4 desiree potatoes, (I think any kind of potato will do) a red pepper and two eggs.

It is essentially posh egg and chips!

  • Peel spuds and cut into chips
  • Boil for around 15 minutes
  • Pop chips into a casserole dish and spray with Fry-Light
  • Season and pop in the oven (220 degrees/gas mark 9) for around 20 mins 
  • Add sliced peppers and combine with chip and cook for a further 20 minutes
  • In the original recipe you make a few holes in the mixture and crack your eggs inside and put back in the oven until the eggs are done
  • I was trying to make it look good so I fried my eggs separately and I was going to put them on top as I usually break them putting them in the casserole dish
  • This was all in vain as I broke the eggs anyway! But I thought I'd include this alternative method as it is how I did Thanks for reading,

Wench x