Recent Skincare Reviews*

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I've started my PhD work and it's going well although annoyingly I still don't have internet in my flat and Sky are being really useless about it! It's been a whole week and they still haven't sent an engineer out to me, I definitely won't be going with them again! Luckily I have wifi at work so I can catch up with things :) I recently went to two blogging events: #BloggersFestival and #BLFW and I picked up some skincare goodies so I thought I would share my thoughts about them with you. I also have dry skin so bear that in mind :)

*Bee Good Honey and Propolis 2 in 1 Cream Cleanser Travel Size £4.95

I really enjoyed using this Cream Cleanser and I can't really fault it! I found it took my makeup off nicely, even my eye makeup (although I haven't tried it with waterproof) and it left my skin feeling nic and soft. It has a slight pepperminty smell but it's not overempowering which is nice. The other day I took off my makeup after a night out with a makeup wipe and thought I got it all off.. I then used this cleanser and I realised how wrong I was haha! I might have to buy a few other products and see what else I like :)

Balance Active Formula *Hyaluronic Moisturiser (£6.99) and *Vitamin C Serum (£5.99)

I really wanted to like these but I'm afraid I didn't XD There's a serum and a moisturiser which is nice as you're then not mixing different brands. I liked that the serum had a pipette and it was quite lightweight and gave nice coverage. The moisturiser also felt nice on. The thing I didn't like about these two products is the smell, it had a sort of.. woody and earthy smell, I guess a bit like tea tree and I just couldn't get over the smell. It's such a shame as they feel nice on your face and they're affordable but it got to the stage where I didn't want to use it as I didn't like the smell so I didn't want to put it on my face :') I'm very fussy haha!

*Kleem Organics Vitamin C Serum $35 / £22.80

I was really looking forward to trying this Vitamin C Serum when it was gifted to me as it has had a lot of positive reviews and it has 20% Vitamin C where usually serums have around 5% and I am really happy with it and find myself reaching for it every day. It has a slight citrus-ey smell too it but it's quite pleasant and I like the formulation. I find that one pump is more than enough for your face but where my skin is dry I prefer having more as my skin's annoying like that! And then when it dries your skin feels really nice and you can't feel that there's product there, if that makes sense! For someone with normal skin this would probably be enough but I need to find a good moisturiser to wear on top as my forehead gets dry some days and especially during Winter :)

*Weekenders Skincare Kit (minus bee venom) by Deborah Mitchell £28

I really like this weekenders kit and it feels like a little mini pamper whenever I use it XD The only thing I found was that the moisturiser it came with is quite thick so it didn't really go a long way and I feel like I needed to use it sparingly otherwise I'd use it up really quickly. Where my skin is dry I liked the thickness but yeah again it would be gone in no time as you don't get much in a pot :) 

*Exuviance Triple Microdermabrasion Face Polish £57.50

I think my favourite product that I received was this Face Polish but it's also the most expensive. I was recommended this product as I have dry, sensitive skin and it sometimes goes quite dry and patchy on my forehead and around my eyebrows, so annoying! So they gifted me this face polish which I use in the shower, usually on days when I wash my hair. I like the smell of it as it's really gentle and I'm not a huge fan of perfumey smells. The microbeads are also really gentle and it washes off super easy :) So all in all I really like this product, I found a little bit definitely goes a long way and it should last a long time, however it is pricey :)

So those are my thought on my recent skincare pieces! Have you ever tried any of these? I'm currently looking for a face cream if anyone can recommend any? :)

*Even though these products were gifted to me all opinions are 100% my own :)

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Exeter and Sidmouth

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! A few weeks ago we drove my brother back to Exeter University and then we thought we would also stop off at Sidmouth on the way back. Exeter looks sooo nice! I wish I went there :')

It was a really nice drive, we took the scenic route so it was through the countrysides and through little towns and by stretches of greenery. I don't think there was phone signal through most of it either :')

When we were in Exeter we visited the Uni which looks really nice and then we also went into the town centre to see the Cathedral. Even the shops on the highstreet were in really pretty buildings :)

We stopped off in Sidmouth on the way back for an hour and walked along the beachfront as it was such a lovely day. It was roughly 40 minutes from Exeter and Ive heard that Exmouth is also meant to be nice. It makes me wish I lived on the coast somewhere, it just seems so much nicer. Have you ever been to Exeter or Sidmouth? I would recommend stopping by if you were passing :)

Thanks Dad for some of the photos :)

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Halo Hair Extensions*

Hey everyone! Hope you're all well! I'm currently relaxing and sunbathing in sunny Greece and I'm having a lovely time. Recently I went to #BLFW and I was kindly sent away with this 20" Dark Brown Halo* so I thought I would do a little review for you all. When I was at the event I also got two little *pink extensions by GL apps put in my hair as I thought why not :') So they're in the photos too. Annoyingly as soon as we went to take photos it started raining because.. this is England. :')

My hair is quite long anyway so with extensions I usually look for added volume rather than added length to get princess hair XD They seem really good quality and are made from 100% human hair so they can be styled using heat up to 180 degrees. I can't dye my hair as I'm allergic to hair dye but luckily my hair is an easy/boring colour so it's easy to find the right colour :)

If you look on their website there's a little video demonstrating how to put them on which will explain it a lot better than me :') But basically theres a little clear plastic wire attached to the extensions in like a loop or I guess halo and you pop them on top of your hair and then using a comb pull out your hair so it sits on top and so that it hides the wire. I was worried about how well my hair would hide them and I was really surprised that you couldn't tell, even where I have my parting which is good! I've found that this technique feels lighter on your head than wearing clip in ones as they feel concentrated on just the hair they're clipped onto whereas with these your whole head sort of takes the weight :)

I think the thickness is roughly the thickness of all of my hair, if not thicker so when I put them on I was like woah! So much hair and volume :') They were also really easy to curl and held a curl similarly to how my hair does. I put them on and then curled everything using my Babyliss curling wand then brushed my hair through afterwards. The only problem I had with them was that where I had quite a small head the extensions felt quite wide and I was worried that you'd be able to see them if you looked closely by my ears but no one else could notice them so I think I covered them well #SmallHeadProblems XD They are also quite expensive so you can find cheaper alternatives but the quality is there so it depends on how much you feel like splashing out XD 

The rain killed my hair :')

When I went to Serbia over the summer my cousin gave me this dress as it's too small for her and it's soooo pretty it's like a princess dress! She's a size bigger than me but I liked it so much that I took it anyway and I need to get mum to take it in at the top otherwise it falls right down :') Not a good look haha! I kept my jewellery really simple although looking at the photos I feel like some long elegant silver earrings would have gone better.. so I need to go shopping haha :)

Dress- Zara (old)

Heels- Peacocks

Jewellery- no brand, old

*Hair extensions- c/o Halo Hair Extensions

*Pink hair extensions- c/o GL apps

So there is my review of The Halo hair extensions, thank you Halo for gifting them to me. What are your thoughts on hair extensions? Which brands do you wear? :)

*Even though these items were gifted to me all opinions are 100% my own :)

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#BLFW 2015

Little Ondine

Hey everyone! Last week I attended The Blogger Hangouts #BLFW event in London and thought I would share it with you :) It was a nice event and the location was sooo much nicer than their previous #BLFW event. It was in the Oxo Tower near Waterloo and it was really bright and spacious upstairs. It was nice to chat to so many different brands and catch up with other bloggers :)

Loved by Lilly

There was loads of different brands there ranging from hair extensions, to nail varnishes, jewellery, beauty, clothes and lingerie.. so basically everything haha! The brands were also generous so I picked up some goodies which I've enjoyed using :)

*Shampoo and Conditioner- c/o Halo Hair Extensions, *Nail Varnish- c/o True Brit London, Earrings- c/o Lissie Design 

Halo Hair Extensions had some lovely extensions which are attached in a different way as opposed to clips, instead it's by a like, plastic wire which rests on the top of your head and you hide it under your hair. They very kindly gifted me a set which I will be sharing pictures of on Wednesday :)
True Brit London had a huge range of nailvarnishes and I was gifted with 'Rule Britannia'. I really like the colour on my skin tone and it's a really nice varnish. I've currently been wearing it for three days and there are no signs of chipping yet, so I'm really pleased! Although I didn't realise how expensive they were so for that price you'd hope they last ages :')

*Weekenders Skincare Kit- c/o Heaven by Deborah Mitchell

Heaven by Deborah Mitchell had some really nice skincare with some products based on bee venom. I went home with their little weekender pack and it feels like a mini pamper whenever I use it XD

Magnitone

*Serum- c/o Kleem Organics

Kleem Organics had some 20% Vitamin C serums which I've gladly tried out and it feels really nice on my skin, I'll be doing a better review next week if you're interested :)

Fleur by England

c/o Motel Rocks

Motel Rocks were there showcasing their new collection and kindly gifted bloggers with little goody bags. Personally, I'm not too keen on the make up wipes, I like my cheap tesco ones, they're the best XD I'm in love with my new Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara, the packaging is sooo nice and it makes my lashes really big and feathery, however it is pricy. I also can't wait to wear my new false eyelashes for my birthday in two weeks :)

*Pendant and Necklace- c/o Miglio

Miglio had some really cute jewellery and they have a huge selection! I was gifted with a little pendant and necklace. I really like it however the necklace is a bit of an awkward length on me with certain tops so I just swap the pendant to a shorter chain for those. I've found it looks nice with white blouses :)

*Drinks- c/o Berry White

Berry White had some really yummy Organic drinks, they were really light and refreshing without being overly sweet which was nice. I also really like that a percentage of their sales go to charity which is such a lovely idea. I really enjoyed them and I'll be ordering some more :)

There were loads of other brands as well, as well as a DJ and a bar which made some really yummy cocktails, I definitely need to try making them myself! Thank you to Daniel from The Bloggers Hangout for organising everything and to all the lovely brands :)

*Even though items labelled c/o were gifted to me, all opinions are 100% my own.

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