Monthly Roundup | April

01. GlamGlow Super Mud Treatment Mask (here) The start of the month saw me sing the praises of what I can only describe as a miracle in a pot. A skincare hero that will banish all complexion woes and tackle those pesky spots once and for all. 
02. MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquers (here) After months of searching but to little avail, I finally managed to get my mitts on a purse friendly dupe for the sought after Lime Crime Velvetine Liquid Lipsticks.
03. Spring Staples (here) With Spring in full swing, the time has arrived to give my makeup a well overdue shakeup. This month I welcomed lighter bases paired with a Spring appropriate pop of colour. 
04. Tarte Amazonian Clay Blushers (here) With Tarte now available within the UK, I thought it was about time I gave my two cents on the highly sought after blushers. 
05. Bath & Body Works Haul (here) Finally, during her recent trip to Oman, my fabulous mother managed to track down a Bath & Body Works in Muskat City Centre. Upon her return I was greeted with a rather large bag of goodies. 

Spring Staples

So spring has officially sprung. The nights are at last lighter, the days a little brighter and all the flowers are in full bloom. With warmer weather on the horizon (heres hoping), the time has finally arrived to give my makeup a well overdue Spring shakeup, as I bid farewell to high coverage foundations and deep berry tones and welcome in its place, a lighter base paired with a Spring appropriate pop of colour. 

For base, I have been reaching for the Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme. A light coverage, fuss free beauty balm that creates a beautiful flawless finish, whist still looking natural. Lately I have been pairing this with the ultimate complexion perfection ingredient, Chanel Les Beiges. A lightweight, velvety soft powder that has become a firm staple in my makeup bag thanks to its wonderful ability to prevent me from becoming an oily mess. Add to the already perfect mix, a few sweeps of serious radiance, aka Guerlian Meteorite Pearls and your good to go. 

Recently my beloved Tarte Park Avenue Princess has been pushed aside in favour of a more season appropriate splash of colour. Enter Tarte Tipsy, a super pigmented, long lasting, easy to work with blush and the ultimate companion to Tanya Burr's Picnic In The Park. A subtle, pinky coral gloss perfectly suited for Spring. 

Finally for eyes, I have been keeping things simple with this effortless shimmery pink nude from The Body Shop Chocolate Box Shimmer Cube Palette, along with some serious lashings of Benefit's They're Real Mascara.

What are your go to Spring Staples? 

The Body Shop Shimmer Cube Palette | Chocolate Box

Aside from avidly writing about they're views on animal testing as part of an Ethics module in University (an assignment that my lecturer still recalled me writing in third year), The Body Shop is a brand that I have paid little attention to since freshers year. But with the welcome arrival of a 3 Step Chocolate Box Eye Kit, in particular the Chocolate Box Shimmer Cube Palette, its safe to say that my love affair with the brand has well and truly been rekindled.

As a teen I remember The Body Shop being 'the place' to go for makeup, and the beautiful shimmer cubes, more specifically the vibrant lilac palette (oh Sophie) were always the object of my affections. So I am thrilled to finally have this palette in my possession. First things first, lets talk packaging. The shadows are individually contained (each with a lid) within practical, sturdy, acrylic cubes, making it an ideal palette for travelling. To top it off, unlike most shadows, the cubes are seriously deep, meaning that they will last a lifetime.

The shadows themselves are beautiful. This particular palette contains four complimentary shades, Honeycomb (a beautiful shimmery gold), Dark Chocolate (a deep shimmery brown), Marshmallow (a subtle pinky nude) and Choco Chip (a subtle shimmery taupe). Seriously pigmented and long lasting all four shades are ideal for both night & day time looks.

I received the Chocolate Box Shimmer Cube as part of a Limited Edition Christmas Kit, however I am happy to say that the palette can be purchased separately from The Body Shop for £16.

Have you tried any of The Body Shop Shimmer Cubes?

A Body Shop Freebie= an unnecessary purchase!!

 I dont know what it is about The Body Shop, but it has the great ability to lure me in and make me part my pennies in return for unnecessary items!! well this exact thing happened tuesday during a trip to Cabot circus!!..a sales assistant was standing outside the shop with a basket full of empty pots, which you could bring inside to get a free sample of whatever you wished (excluding makeup)..so off me and my friend trotted in smelling and testing all of the lovely delights..i finally decided to choose the cranberry joy shimmer body lotion, it smells yummy, leaves my hands feeling soft, and best of all it has shimmer (kerchiing) i was happily ready to leave the shop when my friend spotted the coconut shimmer body butter!!

left cranberry joy shimmer body lotion and right, coconut shimmer body butter

 there is something about anything coconut related that my mind just automatically tells me i need it (when in reality i bloody well dont haha)..the sales assistant kindly gave us a second little tester, which was great, but then she did the 'this is on offer for half price'. well what do you know before i knew it i had parted £6 for this yummy treat!!

 This is really lovely..it smells amazing, leaves my skin feeling so smooth, which is brilliant for my skin with all this cold weather, and it is full of shimmer, perfect for the Christmas season!!

Do you ever get roped into buying something you know you dont need?? 

my first FOTN

Face

Urban Decay Naked Palette: Sin, creep and gunmetal

E.L.F eyebrow kit

Benefit: Confessions of a concealaholic

Witch concealer stick

Nars Orgasm

17 False effect Mascara

Body Shop black Kohl eyeliner

maxfactor miracle touch foundation

Outfit

dress: Miss Selfridge

shoes: Next

Bag: Next

My week in pictures..&..30 Day Challenge 24 & 25

Hello Lovelies, hope your all having a relaxing Sunday, So here's what iv'e been up to the past week :) 

Iv'e spent alot of time this week catching up with friends, a few of us are trying to make it a weekly thing to go to different restaurants and catch up etc :)..which links in perfectly with my challenge question (day 24) my favourite food without a doubt has to be steak followed by a scrummy pud (preferably eton mess) which I gladly ate on Friday night ;)

I also spent a day watching movies and taking silly photos with one of the besties

even her doggie Freddie joined in!! how cute does he look, he's like a big teddy as it is haha

Gem from Flutter and Sparkle made scrummy marshmallows covered in chocolate and i just had to give them a go!! they went down a treat with Tim and his family :)..thanks for the idea Gem :) 

Once  again ive been taking advantage of all the freebies, i picked up Marie Claire with the free ciate lip gloss, the two body shop eye-liners from in style and also the misguided polish in cosmopolitan..like the saddo i am i also tottered down to Tesco this morning with my vouchers for the free nails inc polishes :) 

talking of freebies all Marie Claire readers can receive £10 to spend online with ciate if you register before the 3rd of August and enter the code CTMC10 at the checkout, if this wasn't enough there also giving away a choice of two of their polishes in next months issue :) (none of these freebies are helping with my nail polish obsession haha).

Talking of obsessions I finally picked up The book an Idiot Abroad full of Karl Pilkington's views on his time travelling, which ties in perfectly with my challenge (Day 25) as this is already one of my favourite books :)

  So what have you been up to this week?? 

Also thank you for all the lovely new followers, and all the lovely comments i receive, i appreciate each and every one of them :)