Glossybox April 2012

I left it too late to cancel this so I've received the April box.

It is called the Natural Beauty box - natural beauty products guaranteed to make you feel your best, look gorgeous while at the same time satisfying the green goddess within - I will reserve judgement on that statement I think.

Anyway this is what arrived in the very nice cream coloured biodegradable box

CAUDALIE - Vinosource SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum

Full size is £29 for 30ml. The sample is 10ml so worth £9.66.

When you join Glossybox you are asked to fill in a personal beauty profile and it asks your skin type. Now my skin is anything but thirsty and I ticked the greasy section so just a tiny amount of this serum on my face has added to the shine.  Obviously my profile was ignored with this choice.

MONU PROFESSIONAL SKINCARE - Moisture Rich Collagen Cream

Apparently a full size at 50ml worth £17.50

For dry, very dry or dehydrated skin. Again absolutely no good to my facial skin type so its either going on ebay or on my reptile skinlike hands instead.

BURT'S BEES - Naturally Nourishing Milk and Honey Body Lotion

Full size is 190g at £9.99 and this is 70g worth around £3.68

I've seen this brand in Boots and have been very tempted but never actually bought anything.  I figured milk and honey would be lovely but if I'm totally honest I think it smells more like furniture polish than a beauty product. I suppose that will be the bee bit. It is a bit offputting but not enough that I won't use it.  My legs are quite dry so I'll give it a try.

FIGS & ROUGE - Lip Balm

Full size £3.29

I've never heard of this brand before.  I have to say I'm very impressed and at £3.29 I think it is definitely something I will buy again. It is for the body too so I can see it being useful for dry skin patches on knees, etc

INIKA COSMETICS - certified organic eyeliner

Full size £11.75

This was perfect timing. My trusty Estee Lauder eye pencil that I've had for way longer than is probably hygenically recommended is now down to a tiny stub so a new pencil is very welcome.  Even the shade of Coco is perfect. 

My overall verdict is mixed.  I did cancel the subscription before this box arrived and I think I will leave it cancelled unless they offer me a very good deal to stay.  It was obvious from the facial products sent that they haven't read my beauty profile.  However I did love the lip balm and it was perfect timing for the pencil. I'm still undecided about the body lotion because of the smell.

The April She Said Beauty box is due soon aswell as the highly anticipated Luxbox so as soon as they arrive I'll let you know what I think.

Punky Scraps Picky Challenge 48

Over at Punky Scraps it is the picky week of the month and we had a great list to work from this month.  Here is what I created:

The full list of items to choose from is over at Punky Scraps together with the inspiration from our fantastic design team.

Skywatch

These photos are from a couple of weekends ago. A walk by the river, a little liquid refreshment and walk back home.

It was a windy, cold and miserable day




The geese didn't seem too bothered by the cold



and the water was moving much faster than in previous weeks - probably due to the snow coming down off the hills



It was a sit inside job at the pub as the beer garden was too cold.
Some party boats passed by as we were leaving and I just managed to snap the back end of the convoy.



It didn't bother the swan who I managed to get out of focus!

Punky Scraps - Sketch Challenge

This week on Punky Scraps it is our sketch challenge.  You can see the sketch over at Punky Central

Here is my take on it

I used a hexagon mask with a paint dabber and then once that had dried I used a floral mask and misted parts of it. That bit didn't turn out as I thought.  I used a hipstamatic photo of my middle son on a bug hunt last summer on a sticky doily from this months Cocoa Daisy kit, the brown butterfly and bee (in centre of the prima flower) from the march scrapagogo kit and some Websters ribbons.  As soon as I saw the sketch I just knew I would be using the blue Prima butterfly that I have had in my stash for a long while saved for a special project.

WOYWW

What's on your work desk Wednesday - nothing paper related this week.

I'm trying to get on top of the stock I need for a craft fair stall I have in a couple of weekends time.

These are some hair clips with flat backed embellishments glued on. I say glued on in very loose terms! I did them a couple of weeks ago with an all purpose glue and they seemed fine so I bagged them up ready for carding and then when I came back to them on Monday they had come unstuck.

Last night I had another go but with contact adhesive this time. This resulted in lots of stuck togetherness of my fingers. I've left them overnight but they are still a little tacky so I'll leave them for the rest of the day and see if the glue hardens up and they remain stuck. Does anybody know of a uk available glue that works well for plastic to metal please?



Next step is the bin with them and I will learn not to try them again.

Ten On The Tenth

Linking up with Shimelle for Ten On The Tenth.  I haven't done this for a long while.

Ten things I'm liking in my home at the moment:

Easter cards

Living room mirror

 We've had this since we got married in 1994 and I've had a bit of a love hate relationship with it. It was ok when we first bought it, then we hit the different papers on the top and bottom of the wall separated by a horrible border stage.  It was at that point that I hated it but now I'm onto the loving it again stage. I don't very often like what I see in it but hey ho such is life.

Artifical Flowers

 I always said I would NEVER have artifical flowers in my house but times change and I bought these in the M&S sale to match my feature wallpaper that you can see on the mirror photo.  I think they are orchids and yes I love them.

Photo Frame

I saw this at half price in Sainsburys a couple of weeks ago and couldn't resist using some Nectar points on it. Haven't got around to putting any pics in it yet.  The box behind it is a new kitchen cupboard door from B&Q to replace one that was water damaged.  I want to replace them all but sods law the sale they always have on kitchens hasn't been on lately so I just bought the one for now.  It's waiting for us to get the right size screws but I keep forgetting.  Unfortunately I can't replace everything I need to right now because some of the units are broken beyond repair and we can't afford to replace them.

Bird picture

I don't like birds in real life but I like all the bird cage stuff that is around at the moment.  I couldn't resist this canvas for £10 in the Next sale last summer.

Stair carpet

 We had this fitted last week thanks to a gift from my dad (thanks dad).  After two years of no carpet at all it is absolute bliss to step onto carpet on a morning.

New bookcase

This little space at the bottom of the loft stairs and outside my middle son's bedroom previously housed our step ladders.  I was determined they weren't going back there so I bought this cheap little bookcase from Argos (£12.99) and it now houses a lot of the kids books we have.  We have another much larger bookcase at the bottom of the main stairs with lots lots more books on. Yet more artificial flowers on it - again M&S sale last year - peony in a blue jug.

tins of paint

 These are hopefully going to transform my kitchen soon.  It is currently a horrible yucky mid green colour and I'm going to go cream.

tea towels and red polka dot storage jars

 Cream walls with touches of red and beige so I bought these from Next when I saw them before I could change my mind.

New curtains

Next sale again and in need of a bit of alteration.

Thats my ten on the tenth for this month. 

Skywatch - A Day Of Two Halves

Yesterday was certainly such a day - we woke up to snow yet by late afternoon we were bathed in sunshine albeit still blooming cold though. The weather at the moment is just downright crazy. We went from record breaking temperatures last week and tshirts and shorts back to thermals this week.

Last weekend we parked up the car and walked by the river to a pub - exercise followed by liquid refreshment followed by exercise back to the car. I'm not really loving this section of the river in comparison to the section nearer home but I did take some photos.



I think it's because it isn't as peaceful. The M1 runs close by and walking underneath it isn't exactly quiet lol











Not too keen on this tunnel we had to walk through - river flowing underneath and trains thundering overhead.

What I'm Loving Wednesday

This Wednesday I'm loving:
The new stair carpet we had fitted yesterday. It's two years almost to the day that work started on the loft conversion. We ripped up the main stair carpet during the works as we planned to get a new one when we got the loft one done. Unfortunately hubby lost his job and despite getting another job within a month we have been playing catch up and the new carpet just never happened. I've done before and after shots of both sets of stairs. It doesn't look vastly different because I chose a boring safe brown


Loving that I have a proper tap in my bathroom now. The hot one broke about 18 months ago and has had lots of temporary fixes. The last one gave out recently and I had had enough. We bought taps when it originally broke thinking it was an easy job but we didn't reckon with the bolts being ceased up hence the temporary fixes as we thought a plumber would charge a fortune. Anyway as I say enough was enough and I requested a quote from a local plumber. I was expecting anywhere £75 upwards but he said £25. Needless to say I set up a fitting date there and then. He struggled a bit and said he could tell they were very old taps because they had square fittings. They were nice though and their replacements are modern eyesores in comparison but hey they work and that's all I'm wanting just now. Decorating comes next.


Loving that we woke up to snow this morning even though last month was a record breaker for high temperatures. Not loving the accompanying wind blowing goodness only knows what at our window last night. Hoping it isn't a roof slate.


Loving that after a medical appointment this afternoon and the littlest having a swimming lesson there is nowhere I have to be until next Wednesday at the next appointment.

Loving that the kids are off school/home from university even if they are annoying each other a lot of the time.

Loving that the middle son and I have a date with the making of a creme egg cheesecake later this week.

Loving my Easter door sign from the pound shop




What are you loving this Wednesday? Linking up Here with Wednesday

She Said Beauty Box April 2012

I decided to try the She Said Beauty Box this month after trying the glossy box one last month. That review can be found here.

They released a sneeky peek on Friday and I couldn't resist having a looksie.

The box arrived this morning and I have to say I wasn't in the least bit disappointed with the contents

It contains the following:

Filthy Gorgeous Nail Polish in valentine which is bright red.

I'm not really a fan of red nails but it will be good for the toes.  It is a full size at 10ml and retail price is £9.  This was the only thing I was vaguely disappointed about and mainly because they say on the sneek that it comes with a plectrum charm thingy and it didn't.  I might query that with their customer services.

Comfort Zone Body Expert Kit

6 of what I would call large sized samples of various body products in a little bag shaped holder.  I haven't tried them yet but the packaging is so nice I might just look at them a little longer.  They are Fruity Peel Exfoliator, Aromasoul Shower Gel, D-Age Body Cream, Body Strategist+ Remodeller, Vital Leg Cream and Tranquility Cream.

Mischa Barton Luscious Lips Pink Pop

I love this. Not sticky like a lot of lip glosses and the colour is just the nicest shade of pink.

Bellapierre Shimmer Powder

This is a full sized shimmer powder in champagne.  Maybe not what I would buy but will definitely use.

Bharti Vyas - The ultimate therapy (UTR) face and neck polisher

Generous sample sized pot.  I haven't had chance to use it yet but I have to say it smells amazing.

Erno Laszio - The Hollywood Collection

WOW WOW WOW I tried the morning beauty rescue sample of this before I looked at the contents leaflet.  It is one of the nicest feeling face products I've ever used.  Then I looked at the leaflet and saw the prices of these items and my jaw dropped to the floor.  I'll be using these in careful quantities in future.  I definitely can't afford the full size ones which as you can see are very expensive.  If I could afford them though I would absolutely buy them

Ava Gardner - Instant Eye Repair - £85 for 0.5oz
Marilyn Monroe - Morning Beauty Rescue - £95 for 1.7oz
Katharine Hepburn - Intensive Porcelain Veil - £140 1.7oz
Grace Kelly - Refresh Moisture Infusion - £125 1.7oz
Greta Garbo - Velvet Night Cream - £175 1.7oz

and last but by no means least this little treat

All in all I would say that this was a good box. Not keen on the red nail polish and missing charm thing from it but apart from that I'm happy.

April Photo A Day

A new month means a new set of photos - this is the list for April from Fat Mum Slim

1 - your reflection - taken in the car window this morning at the supermarket

I realise I haven't uploaded the rest of March yet so I will do that shortly.

March Photos 18 to 31

My March photo a day photos from day 18 to day 31

18 - A Corner Of Your Home - unashamedly messy




19 - Funny - I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw this




20 - Before/After - steps before and after a walk




21 - Delicious - the colours of the paint chips I picked up in B&Q for a scrapbook project



22 - Kitchen Sink - again messy



23 - Moon - now this one I couldn't actually take on the day because we had clouds but later in the week there were two planets very close to the moon. Very rubbish photo



24 - An Animal - giraffe on a tshirt



25 - Breakfast - the cereal cupboard



26 - Key - I have somehow managed to miss doing this one

27 - Your name - on a leaflet



28 - Trash - I was lucky with this one because the bin men missed on their usual collection day so all the wheelie bins were still out in our area on this day



29 - Feet - hop along in his boot the hospital replaced his pot with



30 - Toy - video games are toys right? Lol


31 - Where You Relax - at the river/canal navigation point. There is actually another ledge below where they are sat so it isn't as close to the edge as it looks.


Thanks for looking at #marchphotoaday