Sunday 31 January 2016

My All Time Favourite Perfume!





I'll set the scene, your shopping for a new perfume, you've sprayed various testers up and down your arms and your looking for another space to spray yet another. And then you smell it. You instantly fall in love with it. It's you in a bottle.

For me, that's exactly what happened when I smelt Givenchy Very Irresistible for the first time. So much so, it's the fragrance I wore whenever I was meeting up with my now husband in the early days, I sprayed it on my bed sheets when he first came over and I even wore it on my wedding day.

When it comes to fragrance I chop and change so often and I have a staggering collection of perfumes I could probably open a shop (I blame my job for this!) so for me to repurchase a perfume is a rarity and yet it's happened a fair few times with this one. I think I first discovered it when I was about 16 and I still love it today. I recently bought a new bottle having not smelt it since before I was pregnant. Pregnancy changed my sense of smell and my preferences have changed since I had my son and I still love it. It's definitely stood the test of time for me! 

I'm not going to embarrass myself by trying to describe the scent but the write up for the fragrance says that it's made from an alliance of 5 types of roses with top notes of star anise and verbena leaf, heart notes of centifolia and peony rose and base notes of passion, fantasia, and emotion rose. It all sounds very rosy but take it from someone who hates that synthetic, old fashioned rose scent that's in just about everything rose scented, there's not a whiff that here. That probably doesn't help describe the scent and fragrance write ups tend to be mumbo jumbo so all I can say is next time you get an opportunity give it a sniff.

Sense of smell is so subjective and what one person hates another person might love so my advice for choosing perfume is not to be put off if someone says they don't like one that you do. After all your the one who has to smell it and wear it and you tend to find that perfume smells different on different people so always try and test it on your skin. The opposite is true too, if you smell something amazing on someone else be sure to try before you buy as you might find it's not as nice on you as it was on that person. 

Givenchy Very Irresistible (£38 for 30ml) can be purchased HERE  

What's your favourite perfume?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

     

Wednesday 27 January 2016

NEW Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation



A photo of maybelline dream velvet foundation

I like shiny new things and when I saw this new arrival in the drawers at work just as I was thinking that I needed a new foundation I decided it must be fate.

Okay, calling it fate is perhaps a bit dramatic but it was on offer so I decided to give it a go. I've only tried Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation a few times so today I thought I'd you a first impressions post and then I can perhaps revisit this in more detail down the line.

First point I want to mention is the colour. In the past, the lightest Maybelline foundation shade has been "Ivory" and I've always found the shade to be slightly orangey even though it's a pale colour. I'm glad to say they've done a shade lighter, it's the one I have here and it's 01 Natural which matches my super paleness quite nicely. The picture below shows the colour and consistency (not amazingly well I know!) and despite it looking an awful colour match on my hand it is for my face trust me! 


The next point is the application, I first used a flat top foundation brush as this is how I usually apply my foundation and I hated how it went on. The next day I just used my fingers and I found it to be so much better.   

Finally, the foundation itself is a liquid but has an almost light, mousse consistency (but not as thick as the actual Dream Matte Mousse). It goes on nice and smooth, doesn't feel heavy and for a matte foundation it didn't feel like it was going to dry out my skin, or cling to any dry patches that I already had. The finish is matte, but it's not super matte and I'd say it was medium coverage. It gave my skin a soft, even appearance that still looks like skin and not that "foundation face" look where it's obvious you've got a made up face. 

My first impressions of Maybelline Dream Velvet Foundation are pretty good. I feel like I'm going to get along with this one and it's going to be perfect for everyday wear. Time will certainly tell and I will let you know if I still feel this way as time goes on!

You can get yours HERE or at your local Boots or Superdrug.

What's your favourite foundation?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x

P.S I posted this accidentally earlier in the week, I wanted to add a little more so I apologise if you caught it earlier and wonder where it went!



Sunday 24 January 2016

The SHOCKING Truth About Social Media







Have you ever scrolled through your social media pages and found yourself looking at someones pictures or status updates and thinking "Wow, don't they have the perfect life?" 

Not to mention the pangs of jealous and feelings of emptiness that go hand in hand with comparing yourself to others. I'll be honest, I've seen some amazing pictures of what friends have been up to and it's made me feel jealous. And I've sat there myself and thought "You have the most amazing life."  

Well I have some SHOCKING news for you. Chances are they don't. The thing about social media is that people only share their highlights, would you share on Facebook that you've just had a blazing row with your boyfriend? Probably not. Would you Instagram a picture of the flowers he bought you afterwards to say sorry? Yeah, you might do but would you say it's because you've made up after a fight? Probably not. You see what I did there? There are plenty of blanks that are not filled in when it comes to what people share online and therefore comparing your life to someone's on social media is pointless because all you get is the highlights, not the whole episode. 

Have a think about who you have on your social sites, friends, relatives, your ex and your mum maybe!? And with those kind of people viewing status updates and photos your definitely going to get a censored and abridged version of someones life. You want to look cool in front of your mates, like you've moved on in front of an ex and like butter wouldn't melt in front of your mum. In which case your not going to mention you were blazing drunk, crying over your ex and puffing on a ciggie the night before!

Nobody (or at least most people!) aren't going to air their dirty laundry for all to see on the internet so just bear in mind when you see the photos and the status's of other people that it might be all smiles and sunshine but they have shit to deal with in their personal life, just like you, and just like everybody else.

Nobody is perfect, and perfection is an imperfection anyway.

Perhaps not as SHOCKING as I made out this to be but it's easy to be misled online, just like the misleading title of this post!

Thanks for reading,

Wench x   

  

Wednesday 20 January 2016

Superdrug's Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser



A photo of naturally radiant hot cloth cleanser


I've tried a few hot cloth cleansers now and I do like them for how effective they are at dissolving make up and how quickly they do their job but I will admit their not my favourite method of make up removal. I find muslin cloths to be too scratchy so I swap them for a bog standard flannel and even then I find the constant washing of flannels a chore. After a single use I find any kind of cloth I use looks mucky, even after rinsing afterwards, useless of course you have the time to scrub at it after which is just time consuming.

However, I've used the Vitamin E Hot Cloth Cleanser before and found it to be really good so I thought I'd give the Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser a go too. This one claims to awaken skins natural glow and contains kiwi and mulberry extracts to help soften skin. It comes in a squeezy green tube and comes out as a thick white cream which you then massage into dry skin before wiping off with the muslin cloth that comes with it (or whatever you prefer if you'd rather forego the muslin cloth). 

 Packaging wise, I do prefer a squeezy tube as I feel you can get every bit of product out of there (especially if you cut the bottom off, which you can't do with other style packaging) one downside to the tube is that if you have this out on the side in the shower water can get inside the lid which then goes cold and gives you quite the shock when you tip it up next! (Luckily, I'm more of a bath kind of person!)

A few things to note, I don't like the smell of this stuff. It has an odd fruity smell that's hard to explain, but if your ever in a Superdrug smell something from the range and let me know what you think. It failed to remove my very waterproof Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara (which I spoke about HERE), I had to get rid of the panda eyes with a separate make up remover. It also claims to awakens skins natural glow but I haven't seen a difference in my skin, although perhaps all the sleepless nights with my little boy means my skin actually doesn't have a "natural glow" at all!

Superdrug Naturally Radiant Hot Cloth Cleanser (£5.99 and also currently buy one get one free) is available HERE or in store.

Have you ever used a hot cloth cleanser?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x    

Saturday 16 January 2016

Simple Micellar Water



A photo of simple micellar water

What do you call a blog with no internet?

Not a blog! After an unannounced blogging break due to moving house and having a few technical gremlins it's about time I got back to it and today I have a post about Simple Micellar Water.

You may notice I have a thing for these things as this is my third micellar water post. I've outlined before in THIS post the true purpose of micellar water and how it's not intended to replace washing your face but it certainly has a place in my bathroom stash and dare I say it Simple Micellar Water might be my favourite yet?

Remember that stubborn Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara that none of the other micellar waters could remove? Well guess what? Simple Micellar Water actually gets rid of it! It does take a bit of work but it shifts it and that makes this one my No. 1! It's also gentle around the eyes and doesn't sting if you accidentally get some in there! 

Simple Micellar Water retails for around (RRP) £4.49 for 200ml which is more than it's Garnier counterpart at (RRP) £4.99 for 400ml which contains twice as much product however with both products they are on offer a lot so shopping around is very much worth it.

Get your Simple Micellar Water HERE (currently on offer for £2.00)

Do you have a micellar water recommendation for me?

Thanks for reading,

Wench x