Glossybox "All I Want" Advent Calendar - Part 1 - Days 1 - 12

Now I know that some people don't like them but personally I love a luxury advent calendar. I've always had an advent calendar ever since was a child, and even though we've now come a long way since the cardboard and glitter calendars of my childhood, opening a box or a door every morning in the run up to Christmas still gives me that hint of childhood excitement.

We're well advented out in the house, between 2 people and 3 cats, we seem to have acquired 6 advent calendars. The cats have one with kitty heart shaped treats inside, my mum has a Lindt chocolate one, and a NEXT home fragrance calendar, and somehow I've ended up with 3. I have a traditional Cadbury's one, a lovely Moo Free chocolate one which was a gift from a friends parents and I also have a luxury beauty advent calendar, which this year is from Glossybox.

Pretty much every brand and store this seemed to be doing their own advent calendar this year, and there were so many that I could have chosen or gone for, but after receiving a press release, I decided to go for the Glossybox UK All I Want Advent Calendar. This to the best of my knowledge is Glossybox UK's first advent calendar, and as expected it proved to be extremely successful and it did in fact sell out. I'm super grateful that Mummy Lou ordered it for me as part of my Christmas present, the retail price was originally £99 for non subscribers, but subscribers like me got the chance to pre order it for just £75. I also had some Glossy Credits which you could redeem against it, so we paid a little bit less in the end.

The designs itself is beautiful, wrapped in a pink ribbon, it's predominately in shades of pink, rose gold, and grey. Open the door and you're greeted with 24 different sized boxes all filled with goodies and shred, the boxes themselves are stacked on 4 little shelves within the box. That's not all though adhered to the inside of the left hand door is another box, with a 25 on it which is just the icing on the cake in my opinion, it's really nice to have an extra gift on Christmas Day itself.

Unlike the calendar that I got last year, this one probably isn't quite as reusable, but I'm definitely going to think of a way to reuse it, obviously you could refill it as it is, or you can use the individual boxes either for gift wrapping or for storing decorations. I'm definitely going to try and resuse it even if I just put something on the little shelves, we'll see, but it's definitely too pretty to just recycle.

Even though I had a few hints (okay a full contents list!) it's still exciting opening the boxes every morning and seeing what's inside! I've been posting day by day pics on Instagram but like in previous years I thought I'd share some initial impressions about the products inside on the blog, some of them will be full reviews with swatches and so on and with some products I'll just be telling you about more about what it is, what does, and an idea of the retail price so you make your own mind up as to whether or this calendar was worth the money - so a little but here are days 1 - 12.

Day 1 - NARS Velvet Lip Glide - 3.4ml - Immoral

Ah, NARS, who doesn't love a bit of NARS. They're one of those brands that I would happily buy everything from, providing I had unlimited funds that is,  I love their products, and thanks to the Glossbox All I Want Advent Calendar I've been able to try another one.

Lip colours are the one area where NARS and I haven't really got on, but this one thankfully was a winner. NARS Velvet Lip Glide is the perfect mix of a lipstick and a gloss, they apply with the smoothness of a gloss but with the intensity and pigmentation of a lipstick. Containing waterlily and white tea they are moisturising on the lips and have a smooth satin to semi matte finish.

Immoral is a beautiful creamy, cool fuchsia pink shade, it's extremely pigmented and it feels smooth and nourishing on the lips. I am officially in love with both this colour and this formulation. You can see a quick pic of it below and I am also wearing it in upcoming December 2018 Glossybox Unboxing Video x The one pity is that this shade appears to be a limited edition and quite hard to find, if you're in the USA though you can be this shade in this deluxe mini size as part of duo for around $16. Glossybox estimate this deluxe mini size at around £13.72 - a full 5.7ml Velvet Lip Glide retails at around £23. Although it might be quite difficult to get your hands on this particular shade, there are lots and lots of other shades to try, and I'm definitely going to be splashing out on a few more of these in the future x

Day 2 - Nip + Fab Hydrate Dragon's Blood Fix Plumping Serum - 30ml

I've tried a few products from Nip + Fab, mainly from the Glycolic and Kale ranges but I've never tried anything from their Dragon's Blood range before. A few people have told me how much they like this product and apparently Kylie Jenner is a fan too.

The idea of dragons blood sounds a little bit scary, but no komodo dragons, Smaugs, or Drogons have been harmed in the making of this product, dragons blood is in fact the sap from the Croton Lechleri tree, which when teamed up with velvet flower extract and hyaluronic acid provides intense moisture, plumpness  and comfort to all skin types but especially dehydrated and sensitive skin that is prone to redness. My skin is strange at the moment I have a few hormonal spots on my chin but at the same time, it feels quite dry, so I might give this ago in the run up to Christmas to see if it can perform a festive miracle or two x This is a good 30ml size which Glossybox value at around £11.97, the regular 50ml size retails at around £19.85

Day 3 - Yankee Candle Small Jar Candle - Berry Trifle 104g

I do love a candle especially when it's cold and dark outside, there is something so warming and soothing about candlelight, especially when it smells as good as this one does. Apparently there were two different scents but the one I got was Berry Trifle. I love food and fruit scents so this one is right up my street. It has a mouthwatering warm, fruity, berry scent with just a hint of vanilla and creaminess. Between us, me and Mummy Lou could probably own our own candle store and we I first smelled this I thought we already owned this one, but the one we actually have is the similar smelling Berry Jam, so Berry Trifle is a welcome addition to our extensive candle library. This is a Yankee Candle Small Jar Candle, which burns for 20-30 hours, they retail at £8.99 so this was a nice item to receive.

Day 4 - Philip Kingsley Body Building Conditioner - 60ml

Now, I'm a huge Philip Kingsley fan, Elasticizer is a must have and I regularly use the brands shampoos and conditioners and I have a few other bits to try. I've tried a couple of their conditioners before but I've never tried this one before. I've reviewed the corresponding shampoo before (read my review here) but this is new to me. I haven't had a chance to try it yet but once I've cleared a few more products out of the shower I'll be giving this ago.

According to Philip Kingsley (who are a professional trichology brand) this is an ultra lightweight conditioner that's ideal for fine hair types, it's designed to add moisture without weight, and it's designed to thicken the appearance of each individual hair strange, and detangling the hair as well as combating frizz and fly aways. Sounds good? I'll probably let you know what I think in a future empties post x This 60ml size is quite hard to find but it retails at around £7.00, the 75ml size retails at £10 if you fancy giving this a go.

Day 5 - MDM Flow Greater Than Mascara - 6.5ml

I've tried a couple of lip products from this UK, cruelty free brand before, but I've never tried any of their eye or face products. Now I haven't opened this that because I've already got a couple of mascaras on the go but it sounds pretty promising. According to everything that I've read this is a highly pigmented black volumising mascara, with a indented brush designed for increased volume and clump free application. It's also apparently long wearing but it contains a unique Easy-Off formulation that makes it easy to remove with either water or a water based eye make up remover. Sounds good and I can't wait to give it ago - I'll let you in a future post what I think about it if you're interested. This full 6.5ml size of the MDM Flow Greater Than Mascara retails at around £18.

Day 6 - 3INA The Lip Primer - 10ml

I've used a few bits from 3INA in the past but this is new to me x I've never much of a fan of lip primers if I'm honest - the majority either seem to dry your lips out or they just look like you've covered your lips in concealer, this is a little bit different. As well as being paraben free, vegan, and cruelty free, it's also water based. It's basically just a slightly iridescent pink, liquid cream. It matiffies the lips without making them dry or sore. I've mainly be using this under both lipsticks and glosses and it definitely makes the majority of them that I've tried last a little bit longer. You can also use it as a lip nourishing produce and on top of lipstick to give a more mattifying effect. This is a full size and retails at around £9.95.

Day 7 - Patisserie De Bain Strawberry Cupcake Bath & Shower Creme - 50ml

I was a little bit excited when I saw this, I do love fruity smelling shower products and this is the scent of summer in a tube just what you want when it's freezing outside! Patisserie De Bain are the sister brand of Yorkshire based company Rose & Co. I've tried a few Rose & Co products, and my mum is already a huge fan of Patisserie De Bain's Sugared Violet range, but this is a new scent to us both. This vegan friendly shower product apparently smells exactly like strawberries and cream, yummy! I'm in a wintry and warming mood at the moment when it comes to shower products so I'm going to hang on to this one and keep for when it quite so vile outside x This product has an estimated RRP of £2.99.

Day 8 - Real Techniques 200 Expert Foundation / Face Brush

I do love a make up brush and I was thrilled to open one of my little boxes, and see a make up brush from Real Techniques. If you haven't heard of Real Techniques where have you been?? It is an excellent, and affordable make up brush for make up artists and You Tuber's Sam and Nic aka Pixiwoo. I love their brushes and this is a limited edition version of one of their most popular brushes, their foundation / face brush. Their brushes are cruelty free, soft, durable and silky, and in this case in particular they look amazing. This brush which perfect for applying both cream and liquid foundations has super soft, densely packed duo fibre hairs. The body of the brush in a gorgeous almost rose gold, pink metal, and a almost rubberised feel plastic. I can't actually find this brush for sale on it's own so it's definitely a limited edition, a comparable brush would retail for around £9.99 but if this one has taken your fancy then it is available as part of the newly released Everyday Essentials Set which retails at around £19.99 and contains 4 brushes including this one and a Miracle Complexion Sponge.

Day 9 - Charles Worthington Take Aways Volume & Bounce Body Booster Mousse - 50ml

Now I've got to be honest I don't really use hair mousse, my hairdressers occasionally uses it before she blow drys my hair but it isn't something that I use at home. My mam on the other hand has crazy curly hair, and as a result she loves her mousse, so she's already nabbed this, and fingers crossed she likes it. From celebrity hairdresser Charles Worthington's line this mousse contains collagen is designed to boost volume, and give body, bounce, and lasting volume x This is a travel sized mini and has a retail price of around £2.49.

Day 10 - Bare Minerals Skinlongevity Vital Power Infusion - 7.5ml 

I actually have a tube or two of this but as yet I haven't tried it. You may be familiar with bare minerals as a make up brand but did you know that they've now branched out into skincare. It's a natural progression I guess for a natural brand that already produced make up with so many skincare benefits. This sounds amazing and I'm actually going to try it out tonight. Containing Bare Minerals patented Long Life Herb Extract. this is basically an all round skin replenisher, which is designed to promote a more youthful appearance, by adding moisture, and diminishing the appearance of fine lines, pores, wrinkles and uneven skin texture. You simply apply it to the face and neck after cleansing both morning and evening. You can either use on it's own or under your normal moisturiser for extra boost. According to Glossybox this 7.5ml size retails at around £7.29.

Day 11 - Bellapierre Cosmetics Kiss Proof Lip Finish - 3.8g

Bellapierre are another mineral based make up brand, all of their products are toxin, paraben free, and cruelty free, and contain only naturally derived ingredients, I own a few of their products already including some of their pigments and I've been pretty impressed with the things that I have tried but this is something new!

Now this product has flummoxed me a bit - At first I wasn't sure exactly what it was - was it a lip gloss or was it a lip sealer like Lipcote, designed to keep your lipstick in place no matter who many people you kiss under the mistletoe, it turns out it's probably a combination of the two. Kiss Proof Lip Finish is a hydrating clear lip gloss that is designed specifically to be worn on top of Bellapierre's Kiss Proof Lips Cremes, transfer what is in essence a matte product to a long lasting glossy one

Obviously you can use over any lip colour and I actually tried it over NARS Immoral and wow the difference in appearance was phenomenal, for a pretty satin finish to a full on almost mirror like gloss finish in one sweep. The gloss is a bit runny but it gave a fabulous almost mirror like finish to the lips and believe it or not it improved the wear time of something that was already pretty long lasting. This is a full size and retails at £15.

Day 12 - MUA Make Up Academy Eyeshadow Palette - Cosmic Vixen 

and on day 12 my true love, or Glossybox in this case, gave to me a full size MUA Make Up Academy Eyeshadow Palette. Although they are definitely at the lower end of the price spectrum, Make Up Academy Eyeshadow Palettes are pretty amazing and I already own quite a few of them but I didn't have thankfully I didn't have this one.

This palette is both talc and cruelty free and contains 15 fabulous shades in a mixture of textures, mattes, shimmers and high pearl finishes, this palette isn't for the faint hearted, there are some pretty out there shades in it. From pinks, almost reds and corals, to mauve's, purples and plums, there are some bright colours in this palette. Fear not that because it also has a few gold, taupe's and bronzes so it isn't all scary. If you like the idea of Urban Decay Naked Cherry with just a touch of Naked Heat thrown in then this palette is a fab budget alternative.

All of the shades feel soft and silly and the shimmers and pearls almost have a creamy feel to them. As you would expect pigmentation wise it's the shimmers and pearls that will blow your socks off, smooth shimmery, buttery and delicious colour payoff. The mattes on the other hand whilst feeling soft and silky vary slightly, the pay off on the darker colours in fine, but some of the paler shades are a bit chalky.

In reality I probably wouldn't have bought this palette, a lot of the colours are just slightly too bold for me but even though I've just managed to swatch it I'm really thinking that I could make more of the colours work for me than what I first thought. It's definitely going to be one that I'm to experiment with in the new year. This is a full size palette and retails at a pretty fabulous £5.

So 12 days down, (well more like 16 now) and a week and a bit to go before the big day - Verdict? So far, so good - A good assortment of products, full sizes and prices, and a few fabulous new discoveries - Highlights? too many but NARS, 3INA, Yankee Candles, and Real Techniques are the things that excited my most, we'll see though when I've had a proper play. Don't forget you can keep track of the days and the boxes on my Instagram and I'll be posting days 13 - 24, hopefully on Christmas Eve. In the meantime if you have any questions on any of the products in the calendar so far, I'd love to hear them so leave me a comment below xx

Clinique Chubby Stick Cheers To Chubby Set - Review And Swatches

You should know by now that I'm a pretty honest person so I'm going to start this post with a bit of a confession, and it's one that applies to pretty every single post bar 1 that I'm going to be publishing in the run up to Christmas - This post like so many others is late in fact it's almost a year late!

Despite the fact that I love a bargain, I'm not a huge fan of the post Christmas sales, after being squished and stressed whilst shopping in the run up to Christmas, the last thing that I want to do is to go through it all again on Boxing Day. That said I have been known to brave the frustration of websites going down, and online queueing systems, to do a bit of sales shopping online. Although I used to be a little bit more slap dash, I'm not more selective about what I do buy, and way back in December 2017 I picked this Clinique Chubby Stick Cheers To Chubby Set up in the Boots sale.

At that point my lip colour collection was probably worse than it is now, but despite trying every chunky lip pen, and chubby stick inspired lipsticks I had never ever tried the original, and this kit gave me the perfect opportunity to try both of the Clinique Chubby Stick formulations, and some of their most popular colours.

This kit was obviously a one off for Christmas last year and as a result it's no longer available but I still think that it's worth talking about because of the shades are permanent and are still available in their full sizes from both the Clinique website, and from their online and in store concessions.

The kit itself came packaged in a compact and reusable metal tin, emblazoned with the Clinique logo. The tin contained 5 x1g Chubby Stick Lip Colour Balms, in both of Clinique's Chubby Stick formulations.

The original Chubby Stick formulation is the Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm, which contains both mango and Shea butter, and is designed to give the lips intense nourishment and a subtle sheen and tint. There were 2 of these in this kit 13 Mighty Mimosa and 07 Super Strawberry.

If you want a bit more coverage in your lip balm then Clinique also make the Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm, they have a similar ultra nourishing formula but with a more intense gloss colour. There were 3 shades in this formulation in this kit 08 Grandest Grape, 05 Plushest Punch, and 03 Mightiest Maraschino.

From left to right - 13 Mighty Mimosa, 03 Mightiest Maraschino, 05 Plushest Punch, 08 Grandest Grape, and 07 Super Strawberry

I'm going to talk about each colour individually but first just a few general thoughts x First of all Clinique are known for catering for sensitive skin so all of these products are fragrance free, and they have no real taste to them, which personally is a bit of shame since the names lend them so well to flavours and tastes.

Secondly, as you would expect for something called a chubby stick these are quite chunky, so if you have really thin lips you might have problems applying these neatly, it's fine with the original formulation but even on my full lips it was a bit difficult to apply the intense shades particularly on the cupids bow area without the need for a little bit of a clean up. It's not a serious problem you just have to be a bit careful, and you could of course use a brush for neater application

Finally as you can see these are the 1g size which is around half the size of a regular Chubby Stick, the components are probably a little bit more plastic based but they look pretty similar to their bigger cousins. The biggest difference though with these is that you can't twist them up or down so I can imagine it will get harder to use the more you use it and you will probably will end up using a lip brush to get the last bits out. Hassle ? Maybe but if you're anything like me you'll want to use every last bit of all of these colours.

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 05 Plushest Punch

Plushest Punch is one of the Intense shades which are a lot bolder and a lot more pigmented. Plushest Punch is one of my favourite shades in the kit, I love pinks, and this is a gorgeous deep pink. For such a pigmented shade I was really impressed with just how moisturising it was and just how glossy the finish was. Given the moisture content it wasn't surprising that this colour transferred onto onto other humans, and of course glasses and mugs but considering the texture and finish the wear time was still pretty good. You can see it on my lips in the picture below and I am also wearing it my October Pink Parcel video that you can see here x

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 03 Mightiest Maraschino

If you're looking for a lip colour for that Christmas party then Mightiest Maraschino could be the one, it's a lovely bright cherry red, with the merest hint of pink, so it's perfect if you normally shy away from reds. Again it's from the Intense line so the pigmentation is superb, it applies well, and it feels smooth and creamy on the lips. There was a bit of transfer again, and it did bleed and travel over the lip line a little bit so touch ups and careful application was needed but again it wore well, and once the gloss had faded it almost seemed to leave a stain on the lips

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Moisturizing Lip Colour Balm - 08 Grandest Grape

One good thing about kits like this is that they give you the opportunity to try out both products and colours that you wouldn't normally try, and one such colour is Grandest Grape. I'm not that experimental when it comes to lip colour but after trying this I think particular shade I think I need to expand my horizons. Grandest Grape is a deep plummy, berry shade again with some pink undertones. The pigmentation and colour payoff again was superb, and if anything this particular colour seemed to even more pigmented and more moisturising. It was probably the hardest shade to apply neatly, because it's such a deep shade the application needs to be spot on and given the creamy texture that wasn't that easy with such a chunky applicator, throw in the fact that it was prone to transferring and smudging then you'd think that maybe it wasn't worth the effort. Well let me tell you that it was, I've had several compliments on this lip colour, and if you can get past the need to clean up every now and then, it actually wore really well and again it seemed to almost leave a moisture filled stain on the lips, when a lot of the gloss had disappeared x See what you think in the pic below x

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm - 13 Mighty Mimosa

Now if intense bold colour isn't your thing, then this kit also contained 2 shades in Clinique's original Chubby Stick formulation. These shades are all about the treatment, and less about the colour, they impart all of the moisture only with a sheer, more natural colour, that for some is a lot more wearable for every day.  Mighty Mimosa is the perfect peachy, nude, pink shade, obviously the pigment isn't quite as intense as the other 3 shades but there is still a bit of colour there. You obviously get the same burst of moisture, but you also get a hint of sheer glossy colour.

Clinique Chubby Stick Moisturising Lip Colour Balm - 07 Super Strawberry

Again Super Strawberry offers intense moisture, with just a hint of glossy light strawberry pink colour. Both this and Mighty Mimosa are shades that will suit everyone, the colour doesn't last quite as long, but with these less pigmented shades they are really easy to reapply even with the chunky tip, and you needn't worry as much about bleeding, smudging or going over the lip line.

I am so so pleased that I picked up this kit, I have been pretty impressed with a lot of the Chubby Stick dupes, but now I've tried the real thing I can now say that I completely understand the hype! and Plushest Punch is definitely on my repurchase list. As I say this particular kit is not longer available but all of these shades are available in the full size for around £18.50 each. If you want to experiment a bit or if you're already a Chubby Stick fan then there are a number of limited edition kits around at the moment that may fulfil your Chubby Stick fantasies (that sounds so wrong but I can't resist lol). If you are already a fan of Chubby Sticks then the Clinique website is selling a kit called The Chubbettes which contains 20 x 1g shades, it's an investment at £68 but you probably wouldn't need to buy any more lip colours for a long, long time. If you're after something similar to what I picked up last year though then Boots are currently selling the Clinique Lip Out Loud set which contains 3 x 1g colours for just £15.50 which would a fab stocking filler, and if you want something that gives you the chance to try 5 shades, then you can get the Clinique Chubby Colour Make Up Gift Set from various retailers including Boots, Debenhams and John Lewis, for £25 and it contains 5 x 1g Chubby Sticks. There are loads of options out there if you're a fan of these and I have to say I'm now a convert so if you have any colour recommendations then please let me know in the comments x

Trimming My Stash - November 2018 Edition - Empties And Mini Reviews

Have you ever felt as though there just aren't enough hours in the day? I'm feeling that way at the moment, and it's so easy to see why people get so frazzled at this time of year, there just seems to so much to do at times and the to do list never seems to get any shorter! The annual decorating and tidying frenzy is well and truly under way, there are gifts still to wrap, cards still to deliver and there is shopping still to be done. For a spoonie that's hard enough to deal with but throw in an attack of the sniffles, a coughy, snotty and snuffly Mummy Lou, and all the everyday tasks that still need to be done, then it's no surprise that I don't whether I'm coming or going at the minute. It's hard for everyone at this time of year, so I'm trying not to put too much pressure on myself, I'm going to do what needs doing and I'm going to try not to stress about the little things, and above all I'm going to try and focus on what's important.

Having said that, although this post is up a lot later than I would have liked, this and my previous post probably marks the start of what hopefully be my busiest spell on the blog of 2018. I have lots of posts planned, they are nearly all photographed, and I'm really excited to start getting some content up, eventually! I've also got a festive giveaway planned so providing the creeks don't rise, stay tuned for some long awaited blog posts x First of all though it's time to take a step back to last month and have a look at November's beauty empties.

I was so proud of myself with October's total of 10 items, but alas I couldn't continue that success in November. I tried hard I really did but for some reason it just didn't happen and I only managed to finish a measly 3 items :( Not the best month I'm sure you'll agree but every little helps as the famous supermarket saying goes and it does, I now have 3 less items in my bulging cupboards and drawers, and I've created a tiny bit of space for potential beauty gifts (fingers crossed ;) Although there aren't many of them, the items that I managed to finish are pretty interesting and weirdly I loved them all and as you'll see, I will definitely be repurchasing two of them x 

Baija Paris Green Tea Jasmine Body Oil - 30ml
Oh K! Fruit Enriched Peeling Foot Mask - 2 x Skin Softening Socks - 2 x 20ml Sachets Stimulating Foot Essence
Simple Kind To Skin Eye Make Up Remover - 125ml

Total - 3 Items

1. Baija Paris Green Tea Jasmine Body Oil - 30ml

We'll start off with an item that I probably won't be repurchasing but I would if I could. Like so many unusual and less well known brands this product came in beauty box, I think it was either a My Little Box or a Birchbox. This isn't very well known brand but in my experience it should be, it's a French based predominantly body care brand, that seems to be famous for it's beautiful, natural aromas.

This was a beautiful, fine textured, easily absorbed body oil. You could use it as an all over body moisturiser but I tended to use it on my tiger stripes to add a bit of excess moisture and a bit of TLC! Okay, I admit it I have stretch marks, who doesn't? I'm not the biggest fan of them but thanks to growth, and periods of weight loss and weight gain, I have them and once you have them there isn't too much that you can do about them bar embrace them, and give them a little bit of moisture love. Although it doesn't get rid of them completely, moisturising can make them less visible and it can definitely prevent new ones from forming. Whilst this wasn't a miracle worker it did leave my skin feeling smooth and silky, and smelling amazing.

This oil had an amazing scent - a fabulous fresh, fruity floral green tea scent, mixed with just a hint of jasmine. It actually smelled very similar to Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, a scent that some people find a little bit old fashion but personally it's a one that I love and that I used to wear regularly. I would definitely consider repurchasing both this product and some of the other products that I've tried from Baija Paris but the range is incredibly difficult to get hold of in the UK, you can occasionally find the odd thing in TK Maxx, but other than that you're pretty much relying on resellers which is a shame, if you see it though the entire range is well worth trying x

2. Oh K! Fruit Enriched Peeling Foot Mask - 2 x Skin Softening Socks - 2 x 20ml Sachets Stimulating Foot Essence

Foot peels and peeling socks are probably one of the grossest beauty products on the market but personally I love them! There is something completely gross yet somewhat fascinating and even enjoyable about watching all of that dry skin fall off your feet! I don't even like feet that much but these things are just so satisfying - Does that make me a bit weird lol I don't know?

I've tried a lot of different types of peeling socks over the years but these ones are a little bit different to all of the other brands that I've tried so far. The box contains a pair of paper / fabric socks with a plastic lining. The socks are pretty decent quality they don't feel flimsy or thin and they have a tie which helps secure them onto your feet. The tie is a much better idea than the sticky tabs that these socks normally have, they felt really safe on my feet, they didn't feel as though they were going to slip off, and I didn't feel that I needed to put a pair of socks on over the top to hold them in place. 

Sounds pretty standard so far doesn't it but what is unusual is that the socks are completely dry, so the box also contains two sachets of stimulating foot essence (1 for each foot), which contains lactic, salicylic and glycolic acids and a variety of fruit acids including lemon, lime, orange, apple, grape and wild cherry, which you then pour into your socks.

All you do is wash and dry your feet, and then put the liquid filled socks on to your feet, secure them with the ties and then you just sit and relax for between an hour and an hour and a half, to let the liquid do it's thing before rinsing off your feet in plain, warm water.

There was no real scent to the liquid just a slight astringency, almost alcohol scent, The two phase system meant that the socks were really wet, and the liquid really did completely cover the feet. I'm not going to lie, after about 10 minutes I started to feel a tingling sensation, it wasn't unpleasant but it was noticeable, and you definitely felt as though it was doing something. 

The worst thing with this type of product is the waiting, over the next week or so your feet steadily get drier and drier, and no matter how much you want to, you can't moisturise them! I used these socks around 2 weeks ago now and it's safe to say that my feet do not look pretty! The skin is drying and peeling off on the soles, and balls of my feet and even between my toes . Soaking your feet makes a big difference and it can really help speed the process up, so for best result either shower with your feet in a washing up bowl (that's what I've been doing!), have a bath, or treat yourself to a foot spa, to really loosen off that dead skin!

Based on the initial feeling and the results so far these are probably the strongest type of these socks that I've tried, yes my feet look pretty horrid at the moment, but in a week or so they'll be smooth, baby soft and party ready x If your feet have seen better days and the thought of showing them to anyone fills you full of horror then these could be something to try, just make sure you give them long enough to work before that big event, as with these things it definitely gets worse before it gets better x Based on my current results I will definitely be repurchasing these socks again x They retail at around £8.50 from various retailers including FEELUNIQUE, ASOS and the Oh K Life website x 


3. Simple Kind To Skin Eye Make Up Remover - 125ml

As you know my quest for a new eye make up remover has been a long one - there have been lots of fails, and lots of nearly's, but at long last I think I may have found the one. Simple are specialists in skincare for sensitive skin, so why on earth did I wait so long before giving this one a go? I'm obviously not quite with it at times! 

Like all Simple products this eye make up remover is free from colours or dyes, artificial perfumes, or chemicals, it's also oil free, non comedogenic, hypoallergenic, dermatologically tested and approved, and opthamologically tested. Containing Pro Vitamin B5, it is designed to gently and effectively remove all eye make up including waterproof mascara, and it's also suitable for contact lens wearers.

As you would expect it is clear in colour and it has an almost water like appearance and texture, and no real scent. Given the slightly unassuming appearance I was really surprised at how well this worked. It removed everything that I threw at it with very little effort, long wear mascara took a little bit longer but it still removed easily without scrubbing or rubbing, and most importantly my eyes didn't feel dry or sore, and there was no watering or stinging!

I don't know if my quest is over, and I'll definitely keep trying new things, but with this product I've definitely found something that I like and that I'll continue to repurchase. In fact I've already bought another couple of bottles, the RRP for this is around £3.79 but in Superdrug in particular, it's normally on special offer so it's well worth stocking up if you like it as much as I do.

So only 3 items, but as hopefully you can see they were three very interesting items, 2 of which have subsequently become firm favourites. We're now well into December and so far I've only managed to finish one item so fingers crossed I can up my game and finish the month and the year on a high x Don't forget to let me know if you're doing something similar to Trimming My Stash and of course please let me know if you have any questions on any of the items in this post x 

A Gift And A Christmas Decoration All In One - NEXT Mini Stationery Set Bauble

After weeks and weeks of thinking that it's too early I guess we can't hide from it now, Christmas really is on its way. My main tree has been up since last Saturday and believe it or not there are already a few presents underneath it.

I love buying presents almost as much, if not more, than I enjoy receiving them, I don't know what it is but in some people you can almost see a return to that childhood excitement as they tear off the wrapping paper. I love making the people that I love happy, and gifts can do exactly that.

Now I know that a lot of bloggers spend hours and hours producing gift guides, but to be honest I've never been one of them, gifting is a really personal thing, and what is someones stocking filler might be someone else's main present, so although they are often written with the best of intentions and personally I do love reading them, they can be a bit of a minefield, So instead what I like to do is share a few items with you that I think would make a good gift either for someone special in your life or just for that person who you want to say a little thank you to this holiday season.

I've been really good this year, and I've just about finished my Christmas shopping already, I only need a few more little things and then I'm done. As stressful as shopping can be at this time of year I still try to have a little browse and make it enjoyable, I love seeing what's out there and what the present and buying trends are and something that I've noticed a lot this year is the concept of a gift in the form of a Christmas decoration.

Specialised and Christmas packaging is nothing new, and it's something that's been around for as long as I can remember and probably way longer than that, but over the last few years I've noticed a real trend in truly decorative packaging. Look on any high street and you'll see biscuits, sweets and chocolates, packaged in decorative tins that you can reuse and display around the home, Christmas crackers, filled with beauty products, chocolates and candles, and of course lots of things that you can hang on the Christmas tree from make up palettes with built in hanging loops from the like of Maybelline and Laura Geller, (more on some of these to come) to specially designed packaging from say Benefit, Molton Brown or Burts Bees that are filled with your favourite treats. Gifting and decorations are now in some senses one the same, and nowhere is that more evident than with the humble Christmas bauble.

The stores at the moment are full of either metal, solid card or plastic tree decorations containing everything from jewellery, to fudge and chocolates, to candles, alcohol miniatures, and of course beauty products with the likes of Lancome, boohoo, Nails Inc, Baylis & Harding, and L'Occitane, and more, all selling fabulous, decorative and in most cases reusable tree decorations containing all of your favourite products.

I love the idea of a bauble containing a gift, they are brilliant for table gifts, or as stocking fillers and in this age of cutting down on waste, the fact that the majority or them are reusable means that you can either refill them for next year or you can continue using them in years to come to decorate your Christmas tree. We've already bought some of the gorgeous L'Occitane tin star ones this year which contain mini hand creams, and I know for a fact that they'll be well received by their recipients. Seeing as this is predominantly a beauty and fashion blog you might think that's what I'm going to review here, but you'd be wrong, I'm going to talk about a bauble containing one of my other loves -stationery!

I love stationery! Buying stationery is as exciting to me as buying a new lipstick or a new top, I love the stuff, and even though I have more than enough for probably a full classroom, I still can't stop buying it. At the moment NEXT have a lot of stationery bits in, both from Paperchase and from their own brand, and a few months ago now I bought a stationery set, in a plastic case, for £10 containing all sorts of rose gold, copper toned, pencils, paper clips, washi tape and pastel coloured push pins, sticky notes and magnets. £10 sounds a lot but in my opinion it was well worth it and it looks beautiful . It's still available online and in store so if you're into stationery then I would definitely consider it,  but if you want something a little bit cheaper then one of my other recent buys, the NEXT Mini Stationery Set Bauble might be right up your street.

This cute bauble comes gift boxed and thanks to the clever design and the hanging loop poking through the box you can hang the whole thing on your tree. Open the box and you're greeted with a good sized clear plastic bauble, with a bright neon coral, orange ribbon hanging loop.

The two halves of the bauble snap easily apart and reseal so you can use it again. Inside the bauble there are 5 different stationery pieces in tonal pinks, corals, and coppery rose golds.

The bauble contains a coral, almost neon peach orange pad of heart shaped sticky notes, a rose gold / copper toned bulldog clip, and 3 rose gold / copper toned heart shaped paper clips, which match the ones in the other set perfectly.

The set also contains a copper / rose gold wrapped pencil eraser, and the cutest mini neon pink highlighter pen, and finally the most exciting thing for me a roll of fabulous silver glitter encrusted washi style sticky tape.

Lets not beat about the bush if you were to split it down item for item I don't think that this set which is priced at £4 probably represents the best value for money, but the products are nice, and decent quality, and I personally will use every single one of them, throw in the fact that the bauble itself is reusable (I intend to fill it with sweeties for Mummy Lou this year) then I don't think this is too bad a gift, either as a secret Santa, or a table gift, or as a stocking filler for the stationery lover in your life. Let me know in the comments and if you have any other stationery inspired stocking filler ideas I'd love to hear them x