Trimming My Stash - November And December 2021 Edition - Empties, Mini Reviews, And A 2021 Round Up*

Hey Guys,  It's been a little while since I've posted any of 'my own' content, so I want to apologise for taking yet another unexpected break but I haven't been too well. About a month ago now I developed a really nasty chest, and sinus infection, and ended up with a course of antibiotics, and a steroid nasal spray which thankfully did the trick or so I thought! To cut a long story short I'm ill again with exactly the same thing, my immune system just seems to have given up the ghost! Although I was offered a telephone appointment with a GP next week, I actually want to see my GP face to face so she can try sort out my ailing body out for once and for all, so I've got to wait a little bit longer for an appointment, so fingers crossed I can hang on till then! In the meantime though for the sake of my own mental health I'm trying to avoid the horror and inhumanity that is the news, and I'm keeping hydrated and throwing myself into a bit of craft and some blogging x  

Before I get into today's post though it's time for cake and I want to say a very belated thank you to all of you. On the 12th February my blog celebrated it's 15th birthday - I can hardly believe that I've been sharing my life and my thoughts you for over 15 years now. It's crazy when you think about but as I slowly edge towards 2 million all time page views, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you guys. So I want to say a huge, huge thank you to everyone of you for reading, commenting, sharing, and supporting my blog through thick and thin x 

So to celebrate my blogging birthday, all be it a few days late, I've got an epic empties post for you, and today I'm sharing both my November and December 2021 empties, as my final totals for Trimming My Stash 2021.

AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml
Bubble T Peach Hand Cream - 60ml
Nair Wax Strips - Face - 12 Wax Strips
Alpha-H Gentle Daily Exfoliant - 50g
Rodial Dragon's Blood Eye Masks - 1 x Pair - 5g
AVON ANEW Radiance Maximising Tonic - Vitamin C & Glycolic Acid - 200ml
The Body Shop Hand Cream Vanilla Pumpkin - 30ml

Total - 7 Items

First up lets take a little trip back to November; the month of fireworks, the start of winter, and of course in my world beauty empties. Although in comparison it wasn't the best of months, I still managed to finish a fairly respectable 7 items, including a few skin care items, a couple of hand creams, and 'sniff' a now discontinued haircare product!

1. AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo - 250ml

I always knew that this day would come, and in November it finally did as I finished my very last bottle of the AVON Advance Techniques Anti Hair Fall Shampoo! From the first moment that I tried it, I fell in love with the fresh and fruity with a hint of mint scent, and I loved the effect that the combination of arginine and the keratin complex had on my hair.

For a 'budget' shampoo it made a real difference to my hair, and whilst I've found another Advance Techniques range that I love, when I eventually finish the remaining bottle of conditioner, I will remember this range with fondness.

2. Bubble T Peach Hand Cream - 60ml

Next up the first of two hand creams, and this one is from fruity tea and cocktail inspired brand, Bubble T. Back in 2021 I received a Bubble T Hand Cream in the fragrance Peach Bellini in the February edition of Glossybox UK, and I loved it! The scent was super sweet and fruity, and it was a great everyday hand cream. Alas when I came to try and repurchase it, like so many products that come in subscription boxes, I couldn't find it anywhere!

What I did find though was this Bubble T Peach Hand Cream, and do you know what? Apart from the size, it's pretty much identical! From the ingredients (shea butter and aloe vera), to the sweet fruity scent, there really isn't that much of a difference between the two. 

Thankfully this one is still pretty widely available and is available from various stockists including Beauty Expert and The Bath & Body Shop, where it retails anywhere between £1.99 - £2.99.

3. Nair Wax Strips - Face - 12 Wax Strips

When it comes to beauty products, 2021 was definitely a year of discovery, I tried lots of new things, and some of those products have ultimately already achieved holy grail status. Top of my new holy grail list is of course the Beauty Pie Sugar Scrub, but these bargaintastic facial waxing strips are right up there!

At just £1 a pack they do the job, and my upper lip is smoother than it's been in years! I wasted so much time and money on other methods when all I really needed was a wax strip,

I will definitely continue to buy these but in the last month or so I have been trying out a few different facial hair removal products, and one of them is also a potential repurchase, so these babies may have a rival, but more on that in a future post x 

4. Alpha-H Gentle Daily Exfoliant - 50g

This is another one of those products that I'm almost embarrassed to show you because it's so old! I don't know how long ago it was that I bought this, but I think that it must have came in a QVC UK kit when I purchased the brands famous Liquid Gold.Obviously from Australian skin brand Alpha-H, this is basically a micro exfoliator, designed to remove unwanted skin cells, as well as improving texture and reducing pigmentation.

Containing pineapple and green papaya enzymes, and bentonite clay, the bottle contained a fairly fine white powder. It didn't have a lot of fragrance, it just smelled ever so slightly fresh, and chalk like.

Designed to be used on cleansed skin, you mix a small amount with warm water until you get a creamy paste; you then massaged it on your face for around 1 minute before rinsing with warm water.

Whilst it didn't feel too scratchy or rough it definitely felt as though it was doing something to your skin. It did leave my skin a touch pink after removal (not unusual), but it felt very smooth and clean. As the name would suggest it was designed to be used daily, but I personally only used it once or twice a week.

I actually really liked this and how smooth it left my skin. I don't know whether it's down to my early experience with the much missed Japanese Washing Grains from The Body Shop, but I love products like this where you can mix a product to a paste in your hands. Unfortunately this product appears to have been discontinued but I still have a couple of similar products in my stash from both elf and Dermalogica to use up.

5. Rodial Dragon's Blood Eye Masks - 1 x Pair - 5g

Next up another skincare product, and it's something that I spoke about quite recently. You can read a full review of these eye masks here, and to be honest it's safe to say that I wasn't that impressed.

6. AVON ANEW Radiance Maximising Tonic - Vitamin C & Glycolic Acid - 200ml

I know they go in and out of popularity but ever since I started using skin care 'properly' I've always used some sort of toner, and even though I usually have a few on the go at once, depending on how well my skins behaving, I always have some sort of glycolic or general AHA tonic in my routine.

There are a couple that I keep coming back to but like with everything beauty wise, I love trying new things and this is one of my latest discoveries. From AVON's popular ANEW range, this skin tonic contains vitamin C, glycolic acid and lactic acid, and is designed to exfoliate and brighten the skin.

This fresh and slightly fruity scented toner, does make my skin tinge just a tad on application, but in the period that I used it, it definitely made a difference texture wise, spots cleared up more quickly and skin definitely look brighter and less grey and tired.

As it contains both acids and vitamin C, it is recommended that you apply SPF if you use it during the day (which you should probably be doing anyway) but I mainly used this particular product as part of my nighttime routine.

I'm a big fan of products like this - I like how smooth and bright they make my skin, and I'm also a big fan of products that feel as though they are doing something. I've got a few other things to use up first but I've already repurchased this one, and if you fancy trying it for yourself, whether directly from your local AVON representative, or from their website, keep an eye out for offers because you can often get it cheaper than the £10 RRP.  

7. The Body Shop Hand Cream Vanilla Pumpkin - 30ml

The final product that I finished in November was quite a seasonal one, and it was another hand cream, this time from The Body Shop. Yes, it's a Vanilla Pumpkin product! For those of you who've never tried anything from this seasonal range - let me tell you, you're missing out!

Officially described as Madagascan Vanilla, blended with sweet, warm, baked pumpkin, with hazelnut, caramel, maple syrup and almond milk, it has a delicious warming, comforting foodie scent that just makes you want more.

I did notice a tiny bit more of a bitter almond scent to this hand cream, which as you know isn't my favourite scent, but it kind of worked for me for some reason. Combine the yummy scent with a shea butter, rich cream / gel hand cream, which absorbs quickly and leaves the skin feeling hydrated, and protected, and you've got a winner!

Alas this is a fall / autumn limited edition so it's currently unavailable anywhere else bar on the secondary market, and I have my fingers tightly crossed that it will be available again around September time.

So in November I managed to finish 7 items but could I end the year on a high and beat that total in December...

Lush Santa's Belly Shower Jelly - 100g
Ecooking Moisturising Serum - 10ml
AVON Care Calming Moisture With Tea Tree Hand Soap - 250ml
Kiehls Rare Earth Pore Minimising Lotion - 75ml
Berry Smooth Strawberry Foaming Salt Scrub - 240g
Skin Techniques Honey & Almond Reindeer Moisturising Foot Mask - 1 Pair x 28ml
Oh K! Nourishing Lemon Oil Cuticle Mask With Vitamin E - 10 Fingertip Masks
The Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cream - 30ml
Derma V10 Coconut Printed Sheet Mask - 1 x Mask
Derma V10 Argan Oil Printed Foot Pack - 1 x Pair

Total - 10 Items

Well, it turns out that I could, and whilst I couldn't quite hit the highs of Septembers total of 11 items, I still managed to finish a pretty impressive 10 items! Again it was a nice mix of products including some more skin care bits, some more long haulers, and as you would expect some festive items. 

1. Lush Santa's Belly Shower Jelly - 100g

First up one of those festive products that I just mentioned and it's a product from Lush, that I'd been eeking out since Christmas 2020! and no it wasn't a bottle of Snow Fairy! Instead it was a product that dare I say I think I actually liked more than Snow Fairy, and unfortunately it was a product that didn't return in Lush's Christmas 2021 inventory, I am of course talking about Santa's Belly Shower Jelly!

I think that it was probably the smell of this product that I liked more than anything else. Containing seaweed, red grape juice, apple juice, star anise, orange flower, bergamot, and rose, Santa's Belly had a gorgeous fruity, apple scent with just a hint of festive spices, that for me just screamed Christmas.

You only needed a tiny amount of this translucent red jelly squished up either in your hands or with a shower puff and some warm water to produce a mountain of creamy bubbles. It was fun to use and I loved the scent, come on Lush bring it back for Christmas 2022, you know you want to ;)

2. Ecooking Moisturising Serum - 10ml

Next up the first of 3 skincare products in December's list and it's something else that I've reviewed before. From the January 2021 edition of Glossybox UK came the Ecooking Moisturising Serum, and you can read my full review here. I'm still really loving hyaluronic acid based serums at the moment, and whilst this one did the job, I did find it a touch sticky and a bit expensive so I probably wouldn't repurchase.

3. AVON Care Calming Moisture With Tea Tree Hand Soap - 250ml

One constant of both 2020 and as it turned out 2021, was the impact that products like hand wash and hand sanitiser would have on our lives - you would honestly think that some people had just started washing their hands! Anyways like in 2020, in 2021 I tried a variety of different hand washes, and liquid soaps, and this was the year when I finely convinced Mummy Lou that communal bars of soap on the sink just aren't that hygienic.

This AVON offering was just one of the products that we used, and it was decent - nothing fancy but it cleaned the hands multiple times a day without leaving them feeling sore or dry. I do though have one slight issue with it - if you see a product that contains antibacterial technology, and vitamin E, and TEA TREE not only as an ingredient but also the name of it, then surely it's fair to assume that with tea tree being such a strong, distinctive scent, then you might say be able to smell it a bit? Nada! Nothing! Instead this had a fresh clean scent almost like an aloe vera product, and I personally couldn't smell even the tiniest whiff of tea tree. Great if you aren't a fan of the scent of it but maybe I've been spoiled by using the Australian Bodycare range, maybe it's a personal thing but if something contains tea tree and it's actually in the name of the product - I want it to smell like it!

Urgh! Rant over! Anyways if you want a nice clean smelling hand wash that must definitely does not smell like tea tree then this could be one to try. Again it's regularly on offer but you can get it for around £1.65 direct from your rep and from the AVON website, and there is also a matching hand cream available.

4. Kiehls Rare Earth Pore Minimising Lotion - 75ml

This next product, is another one of those item that seems to have been hanging around my skincare drawer for what seems like forever! Way, way back in the day in 2016, I attended a fashion and beauty even in what was then Intu Metro Centre. At the event attendees we're invited to make an appointment with skincare brand Kiehls, for a complimentary skincare analysis and facial treatment, and this was one of the products that was recommended to me, and as I had some birthday money I bought it!

Designed for normal to oily skin, this moisturiser contained Amazonian white clay, and was specially formulated to minimise pores, refine the texture of the skin, and reduce oiliness. It had a lightweight lotion like texture, and a subtle fresh if again slightly chalky scent. It absorbed quite quickly and left the skin with a slight matte finish. Although it didn't completely erase my pores, it definitely made them less noticeable, and it was also a great base for make up. You can read a little bit more about it here.

Unfortunately, again, this particular moisturiser has now been discontinued, but the corresponding cleanser and face mask are still available. I did like it but that being said I probably wouldn't have repurchased it; My skin has definitely changed over the last few years, and whilst my pores are still screaming look at me, my skin is a lot less oily, and a lot more moisture hungry than it was back in 2016.

5. Berry Smooth Strawberry Foaming Salt Scrub - 240g

From quite a pricy purchase to the first of several pretty cheap ones, and like a few of the others this one is from Poundland. This was one of their Lush a likes and I think I paid around £1.50 for it. It was basically a foaming salt based body scrub. Each pot as you can see below contained a 3 layers of the same scrub only in 3 different colours, red, blue and yellow. Marketed as a strawberry scrub it actually had more of an artificial berry / grape / bubblegum like scent. It passed my scrubby test, it wasn't too harsh or drying and it was fun to use.

I do actually have another one of these to use up, and whilst you might still find it in your local store, I haven't seen it in my nearest branch for quite some time now.

6. Skin Techniques Honey & Almond Reindeer Moisturising Foot Mask - 1 Pair x 28ml

Next up the first of 3 festive themed masks, that I used over Christmas and new year. From a brand called Skin Techniques, I purchased this particular mask from B&M stores just before Christmas and it's the first of two foot masks in this post. Foot masks fall into two basic categories, peeling and exfoliating masks, and moisturising masks, and with vitamin E, and extracts of honey and lemon, this one was a moisture mask.

The pack contained 2 plastic socks with a super cute snowflake and reindeer design. Like with all of these masks you cut along the dotted line to open up the booties, and inside them was a fibre like lining and lots of slightly sweet scented creamy liquid.

It's advised that you wear them for about 20 minutes but I think I ended up wearing them for about half an hour (alongside my fabulous NYC Christmas PJ's). They felt quite cool and squishy, but the liquid had quite a slick moisturising feel to is.

After I removed them my feel felt very wet, and there was a lot of obvious liquid still on my feet. As per the instructions I massage the excess into my feet concentrating on my soles, heels, and nails, where it took about 5 minutes or so to fully absorb. There was a noticeable difference to my feet, the dry bits looked less dry and whilst my feet looked a touch pink, they looked more healthy and hydrated, and my feet felt super smooth even on my soles.

I was so, so impressed with these socks and since they do them in a regular, non festive version, for just £1 I'll definitely be buying them again.

7. Oh K! Nourishing Lemon Oil Cuticle Mask With Vitamin E - 10 Fingertip Masks

From feet to hands, and yet another seemingly discontinued product, this time from Korean inspired beauty brand, Oh K! Over the last 5 or 6 months, I've really struggled with dry hands, dry raggy cuticles, and dry brittle nails, I've literally used everything that I can get my hands on, thankfully I'm now seeing an improvement back way back in December I was getting a bit desperate, so when I found this cuticle mask, which I think came in a NEXT Beauty Box, in my stash, I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Containing coconut and argan oil, as well as sesame seed extract, lemon juice, and liquorice root. these fingertip masks are designed to brighten and nourish the nails and cuticles. The outer sachet contained 2 sets of 5 plastic, fibre / paper lined pod like sheet masks (1 for each finger). 

To use them, you had to separate them from each other by cutting along the dashed line, and then you had to cut the bottoms off so you could put them on to clean, dry finger tips, like little finger puppets.

Before

Each pod contained a small amount of watery, cloudy white serum, which had a very subtle sweet scent. As you would expect they felt cool, wet and squishy. The plastic layer did have a tendency to split so I found easier and more practical to do one hand at a time.

On Application 

After removing the mask after around 30 minutes, there was a tiny bit of residue left on my nails and cuticles, which the instructions said to massage into the fingers. It was a tiny bit sticky and it took a little while to fully absorb but overall I was pretty pleased with the results.

After 

I don't know how obvious it is in these pictures (not very I don't think) but my nails and cuticles definitely looked more hydrated. The skin peels and hangnails were still there, but these masks were a nice treat that my dry and sore nails and fingers really appreciated.

8. The Body Shop Satsuma Hand Cream - 30ml

Sticking with hands and nails, in December I also managed to finish another hand cream, and it was another one from The Body Shop. From their underrated Satsuma range, this hand cream which contains shea butter, sweet almond oil, and Argentinian cold pressed satsuma oil, is pale peach in colour and it has a dense cream / gel texture. It's fairly easy massage in and whilst it feels a touch sticky at first, it quickly absorbs down and leaves an almost protective sheen on the skin.

As you would expect from a hand cream from The Body Shop, it does exactly what you want it to, but for me personally this ones biggest selling point has to be the scent. The satsuma range has quite a strong fresh sweet yet tangy citrus scent, it reminds me a bit of orangeade or an orange ice lolly I remember from my childhood. I don't think it's for everyone but personally I love it! This full 30ml size retails at £5.50.

9. Derma V10 Coconut Printed Sheet Mask - 1 x Mask

Finally I'm going to end December's countdown with the last two beauty products that I used up in 2021, as me and Mummy Lou ended the year with nibbles, Prosecco, The Meg! and a some festive themed pampering products !

First a face mask, and it was another Poundland buy, this time from Derma V10. I don't know about you but in 2020 and 2021 we went slight daft over gonks, so it seemed fitting to add a little bit of that fun nordic spirit to our NYE pamper party.

Containing vitamin E, chamomile, and aloe vera, this subtle coconut scented sheet mask had printed gonk. The mask felt very wet and slightly oily but despite that it was of a decent quality so it was fairly easy to unfold.

Alas no pics of Mummy Lou is either of her masks but initially it felt quite cold and wet but as you would expect it gradually warmed up to body temperature, and slowly started to dry out.

I removed it after about 20 minutes and there was quite a lot of excess serum left on my skin, but it was really easy to massage in, and within about 3 minutes it had pretty much all absorbed into my skin. It felt a touch tacky at first but that quickly subsided leaving my skin feeling soft and smooth and despite the salty snacks and alcohol, looking brighter and more hydrated - it was just what I needed after a stressful week and a bit!

10. Derma V10 Argan Oil Printed Foot Pack - 1 x Pair

Finally we come back to the feet again, with a coordinating gonk foot mask, also from Derma V10 and Poundland.

Containing argan oil, shea butter, and vitamin E, again this was a moisture mask, featuring a pair of plastic gonk design socks! Again sealed to prevent mess, cut open the socks and contained a fibre like lining, and lots of cloudy liquidy serum, that smelled vaguely of something like antiseptic or menthol.

Like all foot masks when you first put them on, they felt cool and squishy. This was another 20 minute treatment but I got engrossed by Jason Statham (I do not understand why everyone thinks he's attractive - he's not!) fighting Megaladons! so I probably left them on for nearer 40!

As expected there was a lot of excess liquid left both in the socks and again on my feet which immediately felt a bit sticky, when I started to massage it in but it quickly absorbed leaving my feet feeling instantly silky soft on the tops, and quite a bit smoother on the soles. They also looked visibly more hydrated, and the dry white patches of skin, had all be it temporarily disappeared.

So there you have it, I ended the last two month of 2021 by adding another 17 items to my yearly total, which was a good finish but who will did I do overall...

January - 6 Items

February - 4 Items

March -  8 Items

April - 7 Items

May - 7 Items

June - 10 Items

July - 10 Items

August - 10 Items

September - 11 Items

October - 4 Items

November - 7 Items

December - 10 Items

2021 Total - 94 Items 

Yes, your eyes aren't deceiving you, in 2021 I managed to finish 94 beauty products, which utterly destroys 2020's total of 75 items; Not only that but it was my best yearly performance since 2013 when I finished an absolutely crazy 130 items!

I'm not sure that I'll ever manage to finish that many items again, but you never know! 2022 hasn't started off too well in any sense, but hopefully things can only get better! I'll be updating my January and February empties lists in my sidebar later today so you can keep tabs on my progress, and hopefully my January empties post at least should be up in the next week or so x 

If you have any questions or comments on any of the products that I've talked about in this post, or if you would like to share a link to your own empties posts or project 10 pan challenges, then please leave me a comment below x Thanks again for reading this epic post, and thank you again for your support, and I'll see you soon with another post x 

*This Post Contains Automatic Affiliate, Added Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links.

A Late Happy New Year And A Little Blogging And Life Update*

Hi Guys x I know it's a little bit late but since this is my first post of 2021, I guess I can still say an albeit snowy,  Happy New Year x Like most people I couldn't wait to see the back of 2020 but with another lockdown in place here in the 2021 hasn't started out the way that most people wanted, but without putting a jinx on it, surely it can only get better from here on in!?

2020 was a fail on so many counts but on a personal level I don't think I've had such an unproductive year. After a viral infection at the start of the year that didn't seem to want to go away, I struggled with my physical health for most of the year, which is bad enough, but the combination of illness, and lockdowns meant that my mental health reached rock bottom. My personal relationships suffered, I felt my self worth diminishing, and my enthusiasm for life pretty much disappeared. I spent a lot of 2020 trying to put on a happy face and pretending that I was coping, after all being at home for the majority of the time wasn't that strange to me, but in truth like so many people I was struggling.

It's no surprise therefore that yet again my blog suffered, my 2020 content when I did manage to post anything was pretty samey. I'm fighting the urge to apologise for that but at least I tried to keep posting and keep a sense of normality, which was a huge plus point, when you consider that deleting the whole thing crossed my mind more than once.

As I've said before my blog has always been my safe place, but at times last year, it made me feel anxious as though I could and should have done more, I became hypercritical of everything that I did manage to write, and I felt as though the whole thing was just a massive disaster, and a complete waste of time.

Looking back with clearer eyes, I don't think anything that I wrote or product was that bad, it was just symptomatic of the negative mindset that seemed to overtake so many of us in 2020.

Despite hitting over 1,500,000 all time page views last year, I still think 2021 is going to be a make or break year for me when it comes to the blog, even before Covid, I've struggled to maintain my niche and fell out of love with blogging, so hopefully this will be the year when I get my mojo back.

So what are my plans for LouLouLand in 2021, will first up I'm going to catch up, I have loads of  backdated Glossybox unboxings, and Glossybox advent calendar reviews for you, that I'm still planning on writing, as well as lots of new beauty reviews, hopefully some more fashion and lifestyle posts, as well as the return of some old favourites like empties posts and maybe the odd foodie Friday post.

I can't promise that I won't disappear again, after all my physical and mental health, and the health and wellbeing of those I love comes first but no matter what 2021 throws at us, I'm still going to be here x So thank you for sticking with me, I hope you're all doing as well as can be expected (don't forget about the helpline numbers in my previous post if you need someone to talk to), and I hope that 2021 is a better year for all of us xx 

*This Post Contains An Added Affiliate Link

All About Pink Parcel And Unboxing Pink Parcel - January 2019 Edition

So today I'm going to talk about menstruation, periods, the red tide or however else you chose to describe that rather icky time of the month. For something that so many people experience it still isn't talked about as often as it should be, so today I'm going to talk about my period and something that I do to make it a little less hellish!

I think I was about 12 when I started my period, and at that point in history ( yes history! it was probably around 28 years ago after all!) it was still all a bit hush, hush, and any mention of it usually triggered a lot of snigger's, particularly from teen and preteen boys, I remember one particular occasion when the girls in my form were sent into the school hall for a little talk on our changing bodies and our new monthly visitor. I've got no problem with that all education is a plus, but if you know that you're going to be handing out boxes of tampons and booklets, at least let the girls take their bags with them! You can imagine what happened when we went back to classroom with our freebies in tow - embarrassment doesn't quite cover it! That's why I firmly believe that boys should be taught about periods - if you're a guy at some point in time you're probably going to either live with a woman, be it a mother, a sister or a partner, or even spend time with a member of the female species, so you're going to need to know how it all goes down. We need to break down that stigma, and make those times of the month easier for every woman.

I don't know about you but my period is definitely a low point of month, I was on the pill for quite a few years, which worked wonders, my periods were short, light and virtually pain free - A couple of years ago though now I made the decision for certain health reasons to come off the pill, and as a result my periods are longer, heavier, and more painful, and my mood can change in a matter or seconds. Add horrid periods to chronic illness and you don't have the best of combinations. I'm not going to lie I dread it, and anything that I can do to make it even a tiny bit easier is therefore a godsend, and that's why I subscribe to Pink Parcel.

Okay it reminds me that my periods on its way, but it gives me one less thing to think about at that time of the month. Pink Parcel is basically a period subscription box, all you need to do is answer a few questions about the dates and the average length of your period, and select the type of sanitary protection that you would like, and you will never need to make a late night visit to the 24 hour garage again!

There are three different types of box to choose from, tampons only, sanitary pads only, and a mixed box which contains both tampons and sanitary pads. You can then choose various different products from top brands including Tampax, Bodyform, Lil-lets and Always, to suit your preference, and if you fancy a change it's really easy to change your preferences on the Pink Parcel website

The people at Pink Parcel recognise though that periods can be pretty horrible so as well as sending you enough sanitary protection to cover your period, you also receive a little box filled with treats to cheer you up and to make the 5 days or so, just a little bit better. You mainly receive a selection of beauty and lifestyle products, ranging from skincare items, to make up, to jewellery and candles, and you always get something to snack on, such as biscuits, chocolate or sweeties, and either a tea bag or a hot drink sachet, and if you fall in love with the products inside you can can often buy them directly from the Pink Parcel Shop, which you can find on their website x (Check out my You Tube channel to see some previous unboxings x).

There are a number of different subscription options, and you can put it on hold, and cancel your boxes quite easily. Like with Glossybox I just get the self renewing, monthly subscription which costs £10.50, but you can also subscribe for 3 months for £35.97, 6 months for £64.95 and for a full 12 months for £129.90.

I love the concept and since I started subscribing it'd definitely gave me one less thing to worry about but I'm going to be honest with you and say that I've had a few emails from Pink Parcel lately apologising for various things, and talking about changes and restructuring within the company, and changes to the box itself, so apparently in February we will be getting a new and revamped box, which is probably just as well because to be honest January's box was a bit confusing and a bit of a let down.

Now in theory Pink Parcel's boxes fit through the majority of letterboxes, and yes mine seems too but it always seems to look a bit squashed when it arrives, and according to some of the emails that I've received from Pink Parcel this is a common problem, so from February the box will be a little bit different and a bit sturdier. The current box is made from a very thin card, so to be honest I usually just stick it straight in the recycling so something reusable would be a bonus.

Immediately on pulling back the perforated tab and opening my box I realised that something was amiss. Normally the Pink Parcel box contains a booklet telling you the theme of the box and giving you a bit more information on some of the products inside but on this occasion it was missing!

The rest of the box looked normal and contained the usual 2 boxes and 1 fabric pouch containing sanitary protection. The "For Night" box contains extra absorbent products especially for nighttime use, the"For Later" box contains the bulk of your sanitary protection, and the fabric pouch is designed especially for your handbag or office drawer and contains usually some "normal' items and some pantyliners.

As I say you can request different types of boxes and since I was running low on pads I requested a pads only box. Normally you will get say all Always or Bodyform products but I do seem to have got a mixture of both here, instead of the Always products that I requested but since the replacement products were all of the same absorbency it didn't really matter. Just to give you an idea of how much you'll get, I received 25 sanitary pads, and 5 pantyliners in my parcel.

Now as I say periods aren't really something to look forward but in some ways I always seem to look forward to this little pink and grey box with the words "For You A Little Something To Cheer You Up" printed on it that comes inside my Pink Parcel. Pink Parcel by their own admission isn't a beauty box but you do normally a good variety of items including beauty products in your box. That said for me the word variety couldn't really be used about January's box, it was a definite let down compared to pretty much every other box I'd had from them, there didn't seem to be any theme, and it seemed to be made up of leftover products, I mean 3 face masks in one box really?

Natura Rose Infused Sheet Mask - 1 x Mask - 22ml - Full Size - RRP £4.95

First up a full sized face mask from Beauty Pro's Natura brand. I've said this before I love a face mask, and as well as helping with any skin irritation at that time of the month, face masks are a great tool to aid relaxation, just pop a mask on and zone out for 15 minutes.

I've tried a few Beauty Pro masks now but I haven't tried anything from the Natura line but being a rose fan this sounds lovely. This vegan friendly mask contains rosewater, lavender and rosemary is designed to calm and hydrate the skin, and to soothe irritation and minimise redness. My skin is a bit Topsy turvy at the moment so I think I'll be using this mask sooner rather than later, so keep an eye out for it in my February empties post x 

Beauty Pro Black Peel Charcoal Mask - 7ml x 1 - RRP £4.95 For 3 

Next another face mask and another one from Beauty Pro, on the Pink Parcel website they advise that you use this mask first and then the Natura mask, so I guess we've got to give them that one I suppose for giving us a mini skincare routine. Based on the picture I think it's one of those super effective, but quite painful peel off masks, designed to detoxify, re balance and exfoliate the skin, it also claims to re balance oil production, and improve skin tone. It contains charcoal powder, fruit extracts, lavender, tea tree, ginkgo biloba, and deep sea water, and is free from mineral oils, lanolin, parabens, and petroleum. My skin is just a touch sensitive at the moment so I'm going to stick this in the drawer and attack my pores at a later date. This mask normally comes in a pack of 3.

MudMasky Morning Boost Mask - 20ml - Travel Size - RRP $25 / €23

And would you believe it another mask! Now I've already had this in at least one other beauty box, but I haven't tried it yet. It's a one minute mask that is designed for morning use - it's apparently energising, lifting, feeding, hydrating and smoothing and it contains arabica coffee, Moroccan lava clay, Indonesian flowers and rice. Since I have more than one of these I should really give it a go - maybe it might be just the thing to give me a boost after a sleepless or insomnia filled night x

Percy & Reed No-Fuss Fabulous Dry Shampoo - 50ml - Travel Size - RRP £5.00

Next something else that seems quite familiar x I've tried a few Percy & Reed products before that I've received in various subscription boxes and I've usually been pretty impressed x This is a dry shampoo which means it's designed to soak up extra oil, and aid styling, whilst at the same time fragrancing the hair. I do love a dry shampoo but since I currently have about 3 or 4 on the go at the moment, and a few more stuffed in a drawer it might a while before I use this one. I do like the travel size though so it may end up making a slightly earlier appearance in my handbag or my travel bag.

Polaar Icy Magic Instant Eye Contour Energiser With Siberian Ginseng - 10ml - Est. RRP £29.50

From what I can gather this seems to be the most expensive product in the box, I can't find this exact packaging but the same size product in different packaging retails at a pretty hefty £29.50.  Now I know for a fact I've received something from this brand before in a subscription box but whether or not it was this product I can't be sure - maybe I should brave my skincare box and have a proper sort out, if it's getting to the stage I don't know what I already own - eek!

Anyways Polaar are a skincare company that draws their inspiration and their ingredients from the polar regions of the Arctic, and Antarctic, and one of the main ingredients in this product is Siberian Ginseng which tones and brightens the skin, and it also contains pro-vitamins and peptides.

I'm pretty lazy when it comes to eye treatments but I do love a roll on, and this one promises to hydrate and lift the eyes, whilst at the same time combating dull and puffy skin, and apparently aiding lash growth. I've only tried it a couple of times, but the liquid, and the metal roller ball feels really cooling, and soothing on the skin, so I'm definitely going to keep using it x

COCOBA Orange Milk Chocolate Neapolitans x 2 

Now one of the reasons I look forward to Pink Parcel so much is that I know that there will always be something that I can eat inside, in the past I've had sweets from Candy Kittens, popcorn from Joe & Sephs, and Cornish fudge - yummy! In this box though it was chocolate, and it was two tiny squares of orange milk chocolate from British based chocolate company COCOBA. Unfortunately I can't find these online which is a shame so I can't give you any sort of price comparison, but I do love chocolate, and these were particularly nice, so much so in fact that I could have definitely eaten a few more

Tea + Detox Apple And Blackcurrant Green Tea + Vitamins - 1 x 2g Bag - RRP £3.49 For 14 / 15 Bags

Now whenever I have my period my hot drink consumption always increase, a nice cup or tea or a hot chocolate, definitely helps when the dreaded cramp strikes, so it's always to find either a tea bag, or some other form of hot drink in my monthly Pink Parcel. When it comes to tea though, you can't beat a normal brew but since Mummy Lou is partial to a fancy cuppa every now and then though, she tends to drink the majority of my Pink Parcel blends.This one is green tea blended with milk thistle, dandelion root, ginseng, added vitamins and apple and blackcurrant flavours. It sounds yummy but I can pretty much guarantee that Mummy Lou will get to it first x I had some problems finding this online so the price estimate is either for a box of 14 or 15 bags x

Okay, maybe I've was a little bit harsh about this box at the beginning of this post because after doing a little bit research the value seems pretty decent, and I will probably end up using all of the beauty products at some point. It's a funny one the value is there but the box just doesn't seem to have been that well thought out, and it does seem as though it was put together with products that they had lying around without any aim or theme hmmm.

As I mentioned earlier in the last few weeks Pink Parcel subscribers have received quite a few emails basically telling us that changes are afoot, so I guess we'll see what happens. I've been a happy subscriber for quite a long while now so here is hoping that February's box is a better one x If you want to subscribe or find out more about Pink Parcel than please check out their website for more information x

*This Post Contains Both Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links 

An Announcement On My You Tube Future, And An Unboxing Video

Next month my blog celebrates it's 12th birthday - sometimes it's hard to believe that I've been blogging for so long, I've seen some many amazing bloggers come and go in that time, but some how I've managed to keep at it and stick it out.

It hasn't always been an easy ride, in the last few years especially I've found it hard to stay motivated, and sometimes I've started to wonder if it's all worth while. Life and my health really have started to get in the way at times, and my blog has definitely suffered, posting has been sporadic at best and as a result, my blog hasn't grown in quite the way that I wanted it to. It's a vicious circle I guess, you don't post, you don't get views, you miss out on opportunities and you feel as though you've let people down, and as result you wonder if it's all worthwhile, and if it's worth ploughing energy that you don't really have into something that's on a downhill slide, so you don't post, and the circle continues.

The easiest option would be to give it up, but I don't want to do that, I've worked too damn hard to get as far as I have, and unlike a lot of people who've say they've fallen out of love with writing, I haven't, I still enjoy writing, using my brain a bit, and the whole blogging process, I want to keep going and despite the likelihood that life is still going to get in the way, in 2019 I want to be a better blogger and I want to push my blog on, like I know that I can. In order to do that though, I'm going to have to make some sacrifices, and unfortunately one of them is going to be my You Tube channel.

For 9 years now, I've regularly posted videos to my You Tube channel, I've posted everything from cat videos, to holiday snapshots, to unboxing's and hauls, and it's something that I've really enjoyed doing. Despite the odd nasty comment, I've really found that it's boosted my confidence, and it's given me another way to express myself. For whatever reason though my channel never really hit the heights that I wanted it too, and I found it incredibly difficult to grow any sort of following on You Tube, despite my own perceived failings in that sense though, I achieved enough views to earn a little bit of money from my videos, which was an added incentive to keep at it. Alas like so many small You Tubers policy changes meant that I lost the ability to monetise my videos, I wasn't earning a lot by any means but it as I say it gave me a reason to continue; Around the same time coincidental or not my views dropped like a stone and any form of interaction pretty much dried up.

I've gave it the benefit of the doubt for quite a few months now and I've kept at it, but given the time and the energy (that I don't really have) that it takes me to film, edit and upload even a short video, I've came to the conclusion that I could put both my time and my energy to better use. So after 9 years, I've decided at least in the short term to call it quits on You Tube. I've given it my best shot but at the end of the day I think the odds were always against me. I won't be deleting my You Tube channel so by all means stay subscribed and watch a few of my videos if you haven't already but for the foreseeable future I won't be posting any new videos.

So now that my You Tube channel is officially on hold, hopefully now I can give my blog all the love, time, attention and energy that it deserves. A lot of the content that I produced for my You Tube channel such as favourites videos, and unboxings will translate pretty well into blog posts, so you can look forward to lots of new posts and different types of content, including some unboxing posts, the first of which should be live next week x In the meantime though don't forget to watch my You Tube back catalogue, and please have a little watch of my last video where I'm unboxing the December 2018 edition of Pink Parcel x You can watch below or via this link x



Thank you as per usual for watching, reading and for all your support x

Trimming My Stash - December 2018 Edition - Empties, Mini Reviews, A 2018 Round Up And A Life Update

Since this is my first post of 2019, I'd like to start it off by wishing you all a very Happy New Year x I had originally intended to keep on posting right through the Christmas and New Year holiday, but I changed my plans slightly and decided to take a bit of extra time out, for me and mine, and do you know what? I'm glad I did! Coping with chronic illness at the best of times is a struggle, but at Christmas time, that struggle seems to be amped right up, and even though I didn't do a lot of extra work or socialising by some peoples standards, by Boxing Day all I wanted was my bed, so I took a few unplanned days off to recharge my batteries enough to enjoy a bit of extra rest and a bit of extra family time.

I'm not a fan of going out on New Years Eve, it's hard when you can't drink much, and you don't have the energy to stand or dance all night, so I saw 2019 in, in front of the TV, in my PJ's with Mummy Lou, some fizz and some nibbles - simple pleasures! Despite the usual optimism at midnight, 2019 hasn't actually started off that well if I'm being honest - case in point, 2 days into the new year, and thanks to a jar of marmalade I managed to shatter my iPhone screen in several dozen pieces! My poor phone didn't look pretty at all and within a couple of seconds it became pretty much useless. The obvious option was to get it fixed but after being blessed with some Christmas money, and being able to upgrade my mobile phone contract, I took the plunge and got myself a shiny new iPhone X. It has a few quirks that I'm not quite used to yet but I'm getting there and I'm slowly falling in love with an inanimate object! Is that wrong? LOL probably but the battery lasts longer, everything seems quicker, and the camera is well on point, oh and I even managed to sell on my poor little 6S, so bar my bank balance being a little depleted, and a couple of stressful moments, I dealt with it and moved on.

I wish I could say the same thing about my poor little tooth though - For a change I had a really productive day on Friday I took some photos, did some editing, and sorted out the music on my new phone, by the time it got to 4pm though I was a bit tired so in true spoonie style I went for a quick Nana nap, or should that be a spoonie siesta? You know the story though my hours rest turned into a six and a half hour, full on sleep, I woke up about quarter to 12 at night, and I was hungry. I'd missed dinner, no problem though, we have still have plenty of food leftover from the holidays so I made myself a cheese sandwich and had a few posh crisps on the side. All good, good sandwich, good crisps, but then suddenly it all went wrong! I put a couple of crisps in my mouth and crunch I bit down on something hard, it felt like cat litter, it gets everywhere, but how did it get in my crisps? - I'll spare you the graphic details but it wasn't actually cat litter it was much worse than that, I'd taken a chunk out of one of my bottom teeth - sob - I care for my teeth, I do everything I'm supposed to, and then this happens - one of the perils of taking medication that leaves your eyes and mouth as dry as the Sahara Desert, can be dental problems - woohoo! Thankfully at the moment it doesn't really hurt bar a bit of irritation where the jagged edge is scraping my cheek and tongue, but obviously I'm going to have to be really careful about what I eat until I can see my dentist on Wednesday, so no nuts or toffees for me, and lots of gentle brushing, water flossing, and antibacterial mouthwash - oh the joys! -

So there we go, two things that have gone wrong already in 2019; They say that things come in 3's so can the third thing, if and when it comes, be equally minor and relatively easy to deal with, and then please can the year get better from then? I certainly hope so! 2018 wasn't the best of years for me for a lot of reasons but I came out of it a stronger, and hopefully a better person, and hopefully that will put me in good stead for whatever 2019 has to offer. I'm not big on resolutions, maybe because I'm not big on failing, but probably more so, I don't always feel that you should change who you are. Like my new diary suggest I don't really want to change the essence of who I am because the date on a calendar changes, I just want to be the best person that I can and do things for me and not for anyone else. What does that mean? well it basically means that you aren't going to get any life changing or world changing new years resolutions from me in 2019, I'm just going to try and make a few small changes to make my life easier, and hopefully even better. I am going to talk about a few changes that I'm going to make that may impact the blog in my next post, but other than that it's just the usual aims, and goals - to try and concentrate on the important things and the important people, try to save a bit of money and think about what I buy a bit more, and of course to try and be a bit more organised.

I seem to say the same thing pretty much every year but I'm hoping that 2019 will be the year that I wear more, and use more, and buy less. I'm already planning a huge clothing and accessory purge, and I am of course going to keep on tackling a significantly reduced beauty mountain. I didn't make a what I got for Christmas video this year but I was really blessed and received some lovely things (check out my Instagram if you want to see some of the things that I got x). Compared to previous years though I didn't get that many beauty products, I got quite a few nail polishes, and a few make up kits, but I didn't get a lot of skin care or body care bits, and since I've avoided the sales, I haven't added to my stash too much over the festive period, and since I'm only going to try and buy what I need in 2019, I don't intend to add too much more to it over the next 12 months or so. It therefore goes without saying that Trimming My Stash will be an ongoing thing in 2019, but before we get started and focus on the here and now, lets take a little look back and see what I managed to finish in December 2018..

Lush Snow Fairy Body Conditioner - 100g
Skin Republic X Olivia Buckland Prep + Glow Face Mask Sheet - 25ml - 1 x Sheet Mask
Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover - 250ml
The Body Shop Merry Cranberry Bath & Shower Gel - 250ml
NIVEA Caring Shower Gel Love Sunshine - 250ml
Primark PS Cuticle Oil
Primark PS... Micellar Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Total - 7 Items 

Well I ended the year by finishing a pretty solid 7 items, which seems to be a little bit better than my average monthly performance. I finished a nice assortment of items including lots of body care, products and a few skincare items, a couple of new things, and a couple of old favourites. In fact the only thing that would have made it better would have been to finish a make up item or two - pretty much the story of my year - I've managed to finish loads of everything else but hardly any make up, so that's definitely an area I need to focus on in 2019.

1. Lush Snow Fairy Body Conditioner - 100g

Ah Snow Fairy, would Christmas really be Christmas without that sweet bubblegum, candy floss like scent - I don't think so. Now you're probably familiar with the original Snow Fairy shower cream but have you tried this? Originally released in 2016, Snow Fairy Body Conditioner almost resembles pink blancmange, it's has a creamy buttery texture, and it contains organic cocoa, mango and avocado butters, and almond and jojoba oils as well as a smattering of iridescent shimmer.

Now despite the suggestion that this is a body moisturiser, Lush actually promote this as a shower product and they advise that you smooth a layer of the cream all over your body before rinsing it off in the bath or shower. As well as cleansing the skin it gives it a much bigger moisture boost than just using a conventional shower product, and because it's so creamy it's also brilliant to shave with. It is a really indulgent shower product but it does seem a bit of a waste to just wash it off, so what I and a lot of other Lushies tend to do it to use a small amount either as a body moisturiser, or to add a bit of shimmer to the skin. It takes a little while to absorb but it leaves the skin feel really smooth and deliciously scented.

I think that this is a lovely product but I think you have a tendency to overuse it so it doesn't seem to last that long. That said if you love Snow Fairy and you want a really indulgent and pampering product, and you want to fully immerse yourself in that sugary sweet scent then this is the product for you. Alas I did manage to get any more of this, this Christmas but I do have a large bottle of Snow Fairy to indulge all of my pick 'n' mix and candy floss fantasies in 2019 without all of the calories and the sugar.

2. Skin Republic X Olivia Buckland Prep + Glow Face Mask Sheet - 25ml - 1 x Sheet Mask

Now when I received this in November's Pink Parcel I openly admitted that I had no idea who Olivia Buckland is - what can I say I'm not a fan of Love Island or reality TV in general, and whilst I still don't know much about her what I can say is that this is without a doubt one of the nicest sheet masks that I've ever used!



High praise from moi! but just why did I like this so much well, for a start it did exactly what it promised - it promised me bright, hydrated and flawless skin and that's exactly what I got! This spun lace / paper feel mask contains plumping collagen, pomegranate extract and hydrating hyaluronic acid.

The first thing I noticed when I took the mask out of the packet was just how wet it was, it wasn't watery wet though, it felt thicker then that and almost slightly gel like. After doing my best Phantom Of The Opera impression for around 15 minute I removed the mask to find a layer of almost serum like liquid on my face. It was pretty easy to massage into the skin though and it didn't take too long to absorb. In fact there was so much extra liquid left over both on the mask itself and in the packet that I massaged the excess over my neck, decolletage, and even on my hands. Once it had absorbed my skin looked brighter, and felt smoother, plumper, and crammed full of moisture without feeling oily. I've tried quite a few sheet masks now and this is before the best I've tried in terms of feel and in terms of noticeable results. It may be a coincidence but in the days after I'd used it a few people commented on just how clear my skin looked, and how well rested I looked, despite the fact that I certainly didn't feel it! It's not the cheapest mask at £5.49 for one application but I was so pleased with the results that I'm definitely considering buying this one again, if you fancy giving it ago yourself, you can get it in Superdrug.

3. Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover - 250ml

Now nail polish remover isn't the most exciting of beauty products, but if you love your nail polish as much as I do it's an essential x It's acetone free, it's not drying on the nails, it doesn't smell horrible, it's cheap and it works, in fact I love it so much that I actually class it as one of my holy grail products - you can find out exactly why I love it so much in this post from 2011! The product is still exactly the same and it's still just £1.39 for 250ml - what is not to love?
4. The Body Shop Merry Cranberry Bath & Shower Gel - 250ml

Right I have no idea how old this product is but I'm sad to have finished - Every year I look forward to the Christmas collections from The Body Shop, and every year I pray that there will be something apple scented and something cranberry scented - in 2018 none of the scents made an appearance so for the first time in many, many years I didn't buy anything festive from The Body Shop. To be fair I didn't need anything but still it was a slightly strange feeling. Merry Cranberry was one of my favourite festive scents in recent (or maybe not so recent) years, the sweet, tart fruity scent was a delight to the senses and this was a shower gel that I really enjoyed using - Something makes me thing I have a few more cranberry inspired bottles tucked away so I'm going to dig those out and enjoy using them, and again I live in hope that 2019 will see the return of some of my favourite festive scents from The Body Shop 

5. NIVEA Caring Shower Gel Love Sunshine - 250ml*

From something old to something a lot more recent, and this summer scented shower gel from NIVEA. I was sent this product last summer to try and it really was summer in a bottle x You can read my full review here x 

6. Primark PS Cuticle Oil - 10ml

Yawn, you're probably sick of hearing about this stuff - I seem to have talked about in pretty much every other Trimming My Stash post in 2017 and 2018. Briefly it's cheap, and it works wonders, for just £1 a bottle it's a skin and nail saviour at this time of year buy it you will not be disappointed!!

7. Primark PS... Micellar Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Since I bought these Primark's face wipe range has been completely overhauled and repackaged so I honestly don't know if these wipes are still in existence. I think I picked these up once when I couldn't get the tea tree ones, and I have to say they weren't half bad - Yes I know cleansing wipes aren't good for you but in an emergency, be that a real one or laziness these were decent, they weren't quite wet enough for me but they removed make up, and grime without leaving the skin red or dry or irritated - you can't ask for anymore than that.
So all in all, not too bad an end to 2018, but how did I do over the course of the whole year? and just how many beauty products did I manage to finish? Well let's see...

January - 4 Items
February - 6 Items
March - 6 Items
April - 5 Items
May - 11 Items
June - 4 Items
July - 3 Items
August - 6 Items
September - 7 Items
October - 10 Items
November - 3 Items
December - 7 Items
Total - 72 Items 

Over the course of 2018, I managed to finish 72 beauty products, which isn't too bad. Although I'm a long way off matching 2016's total of 91, I managed to finish 2 items more than I did in 2017, so any improvement has to be seen as a win. I'm not resting on my laurels though, this is an ongoing thing, and like everything else I'm learning a few lessons on the way. The first one of course being, why on earth did I buy so much stuff in the first place!!! Whether I was trying to keeping up with Jones's or other bloggers, or I thought that I was getting a bargain, or was it because I needed a little treat to cheer myself up? Who knows? It's taken a while but I've definitely realised that I either need to be a little bit more selective in my shopping, or I need to cut down on the shopping thing altogether - hmmm a tough one that but as needs and bathroom cupboards must I guess - so for 2019 my mantra is buy less, and wear and use more x Again I'll be documenting all my trimming my stash ups and downs for you right here on my blog and if you're doing something similar I'd love to hear why, what your motivations are ? and any hints, tips or suggestions that you have for making 2019 the best year yet. I'd also love to hear from you if you're are doing Project 10 Pan this year, I've been debating for quite some time over whether or not to do it again, and I'm starting to think that this that it may be time x Let me know your thoughts, and I will see you soon with a video and a little announcement,  and a very late post sharing days 13 - 25 of the Glossybox All I Want Advent Calendar x 

*Press Sample