Avon Sleep Serenity

Everyone knows how hard it is to juggle your job or school work and a social life as well time with family/SOs. When you've got a lot on in your life, more often than not, it’s your sleeping pattern that takes a hit. I know I used to go weeks on about three hours sleep a night when I was at uni, just trying to cram in a few extra words on a project or coming in at 6am from a night out, crashing for a few hours, and then dragging myself to a class!

Even now that I’m semi-adult, with a full-time ‘grown up’ job and a mortgage to save for, I still manage to pull all-nighters like I’m in my first year of uni! Whether it’s stressing about work, or bills, or relationships there always seems to be something keeping me up at night, no matter how hard I try to sleep!

I’ve tried every type of sleeping technique going – everything from counting sheep to controlled breathing! As a last resort, before dragging myself to the doctors, I ordered some Avon Sleep Serenity products which are designed to calm and soothe you before you sleep. After leaving the doctors with a long list of recommended products designed to help you sleep I totally forgot I’d ordered from Avon.

When my order arrived a few weeks later I was already getting to sleep quite well with herbal remedies that I’d found thanks to my doctor, but I thought there was nothing to lose so why not give it a go? I got the sleep mist and balm, the mist is to spray on and around your pillow before you get into bed and the balm is to rub on your temples and chest (kind of like vapour rub).

Both the products smell faintly of lavender which is relaxing on its own, so I was pretty optimistic as I got into bed that night – and you know what? They actually did help me to relax.

Now I am in no way claiming that these products are a miracle cure for sleepless nights. However they did give me the one thing I needed, which was a distraction. I lay in bed thinking how nice they smelt and how relaxing it was to be surrounded by the fresh scent of Lavender….and then I just drifted off! No assistance needed!

They simply relax your mind so all the stress from the day simply floats away and you’re free to sink into sleep! I still need to use the other sleep products from time to time, but if I haven’t had a particularly stressful day I just spray my pillow, rub the balm in and lie back, soothed to sleep!

If you’re a bit stressed at the moment, or are staying up to meet deadlines I strongly recommend trying out these little Avon beauties. You can order them your local Avon salesperson or alternatively check them out on the Avon website.

Remember if you are having serious trouble sleeping or are overly stressed you should always speak to a friend or family member, or visit your doctor instead of suffering in silence. It may feel silly to visit a doctor over sleep sometimes but when you go they more often than not can give you a simple solution! Alternatively I’m always here if anyone needs advice or a chat – I’ll always try to help to the best of my ability.

What do you think about Avon Sleep Serenity? How do you get yourself to sleep at night? Let me know in a comment below!

Super Mega Lush Haul

Hi guys! My blogging dry January is finally over and I'm so excited to be getting back into writing! I've got so many exciting posts coming your way and what better way to start than with a Lush haul!? 

Lush hauls are my absolute guilty pleasure. I love reading and watching reviews of all the products and seeing fellow bloggers opinions on the new collections! My haul is mainly goodies from the Boxing Day sales (which were awesome this year BTW!), as well as gifts and a few bits I picked up from the new seasons range.

First up is the HelloGorgeous gift box, which was a Christmas present from Josh's parents. In it was the Rub Rub Rub shower scrub – an exfoliating scrub which can also be used as a hair product, it has a citrusy scent and is really good for scrubbing away dry and dead winter skin! Also in the box was the Love and Light hand cream which is amazingly soft and soothing and has a lovely cocoa like scent, there was also a sample of Gorgeous face moisturiser which I'm in love with – I can't wait to purchase the full size version. The Comforter bubble bar (pink and white swirled) and the Sex Bomb (pink and purple with a rose on top) bath bomb were also a part of the gift set, which are two of my all time favourites!

Next up are some of my goodies from the Valentines collection and from the new season collection. First is the Karma bubble bar, which is a gold, purple and orange pyramid. It smells like tropical fruits and is one of my new favourites. Next is the Pink Flamingo reusable bubble bar (pink flamingo on a stick!) which has a woody floral scent and leaves your bath pretty and pink!

From the Valentines collection I got the Unicorn Horn bubble bar, which is a rainbow of glittering, pastel colours in the shape of a unicorn horn! This was something I saw on Instagram a few weeks back and searched three separate stores to find – now that's commitment! I also grabbed a 500g bottle of the Prince Charming shower crème. I love this product, it smells like pomegranate and is beautifully pink but I would have preferred it in a shower gel as I just feel it lathers up better!

Now for the big boring bit! I got three separate xmas gift sets in the Boxing Day sales (festive or not, they're still good products!) as well as two mini gift boxes and some random bath bombs and beauty goodies! Sadly I can't post links to these products as they're now all sold out but I hope you al still enjoy reading about them anyway!

The first gift set I got was the Snow Fairy’s Castle box. It came in a super cute box that looked like a Disney castle and had a 100g bottle of the Snow Fairy shower gel, a So White bath bomb, a Magic Wand reusable bubble bar and a little 50g bottle of Fairy Dust – which is a glittering dusting powder! I also got a Little Snow Fairy gift set (one of the mini boxes) which contained another 100g bottle of the Snow Fairy shower gel and the Pink Fun. I’m not the biggest fan of the ‘Fun’ products from Lush as I don’t see the point in them but they still make a good shower scrub!

One of the other big boxes I got in the sale was the Fire Cracker gift set which contained two of my favourite bath bombs; The Experimenter and Intergalactic as well as on of this year’s best sellers, the Candy Mountain bubble bar. Candy Mountain is usually really pretty and pink but, as you can see in the pictures above, mine got dyed slightly blue due to the long journey packed in a box with the two darker bath bombs! I also got the Merry  Christmas gift set which was full of Christmas best sellers, including; a Peeping Santa bubble bar, a Lord of Misrule bath bomb, a Golden Wonder bath bomb, a Dashing Santa bath bomb and finally the mini Cinders bath bomb.

There was also a large tin box of goodies I ordered in the sale but I can’t remember the name! I just know it came in a round, cake tin style box with a really cute reindeer on the lid! In it was; a 100g bottle of the Gorgeous shower gel, a Golden Wonder bath bomb, a re-usable sparkling bubble bar, another Cinders bath bomb, a 100g tub of the Karma Karma had and body lotion and a citrusy smelling golden soap.

The other mini set I got was the Santa’s Belly bauble which contained a 100g tub of the Santa’s Belly shower jelly, which was bright, sparkly red and full of golden stars, as well a 100g of the Red Fun. Finally some of the extra goodies I grabbed in the sale were a couple of extra Golden Wonder bath bombs, some White Star bombs, blocks of Father Time soap and 12 Butter Bear bombs which also came in a super cute re-usable tin.

So I hope you all enjoyed reading about this ridiculously over-sized Lush haul as much as I’m enjoying using it all! Which is your favourite Lush goodie? Let me know in a comment below!

Book Club #2

The New Year Book Club post is finally here! Hoorah! This post has taken me a while to construct plainly because there were just too many books I wanted to get in here! I eventually decided there was no better way to kick of the 2016 book club than by reviewing my all time favourite kick ass, motivational, girl power books! I've picked out three of the books that have inspired me to become the (slightly scary) business woman I am today as well as a stronger person in general! I hope you enjoy the mini reviews and I hope these books inspire you to become the bad ass b*tches you truly are!

First up we have Leave Your Mark by Aliza Light. Aliza is a kick-ass communications executive, fashions favourite PR girl and a social networking phenomenon – all a 2016 girl aspires to be no? In her book she offers a personal and professional guide to people just starting out in their careers and for those who are already well on their way. The invaluable life lessons in this book got me through that awkward “what the shit am I doing with my life” phase after I finished uni. This book is ideal for those who are looking to buff up on communication skills whilst building your own personal brand.

Whether you need that little push into your new career or are looking to gain confidence in your area of work, Aliza’s book will offer you the support and sassiness you need to move on up in the world! It's also a great help for those of us who sometimes feel at a bit of a loss when it comes to their careers, maybe you've just finished uni or college? Or you've come face to face with unemployment for the first time in years? Or maybe you are picking the specialist study subjects for you’re A-levels? Whatever life has thrown at you, this is the book to get you out of your slump and motivate you to kick your problems in the ass! Get your very own copy HERE from Amazon.

Next we have a book that I stumbled upon in my second year of Uni, where I was facing one of the hardest times in my life, #GIRLBOSS. Suffering with mental illness following the loss of a close friend I was struggling to keep up with my studies and the thought of spending time with friends terrified me beyond reason. There were times when I genuinely didn't know how I was going to carry on, and then I found out about Sophia Amoruso, through her autobiographical book. This woman has faced depression and severe illnesses and had still managed to come out on top and become a boss ass business woman.

Reading about Sophia’s struggles and success gave me the strength to see that everyone, no matter their situation, can power through and become stronger than they ever were. She is the founder and former CEO of Nasty Gal clothing (who we all know and love) as well as a New York Times best selling author. The book follows the life of Sophia starting with the first thing she ever sold, a stolen book, on eBay, but is infinitely so much more than use a mediocre autobiography. It is inspirational and motivational and for me was a real life changer. The perfect book if need some empowerment in your life. Get your copy from Amazon HERE.

The final book for this month is How to be Parisian Wherever you are: Love, Style and Bad Habits. Written by four fabulously accomplished French women the book educates us all on how to dress, party and behave (without behaving) as a Parisian. It's a different kind of inspirational to the two previous books but an inspiration all the same. Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Carline de Maigret and Sophie Mas are all working mothers who have been friends for years. Each of them, talented bohemian iconoclasts, with careers in music, film, fashion and publishing, offer a frank outlook on what it means to be Parisian and a personal and touching take on the world. 

This books not only inspires women to become empowered and shoot for the stars when it comes to their careers, but also highlights the mistakes and faults of an everyday human being – showing that it's not always an easy ride to the top. An excellent book for fashionistas, style enthusiasts, career obsessives and just any everyday gal that strives to be a bit more….well, Parisian! Get your copy HERE from Amazon.

I hope you all enjoyed the new Book Club post and if anyone has any book suggestions for me to read and review, then let me know in a comment below!

Ciaté Mini Mani Month

I've finally got round to doing the Ciaté Mini Mani Month review! Yaaaaay! Sorry about the huge delay with this post, it was originally due to be published on Christmas Eve, but I’ve been so disgustingly ill over the last month or so that I’ve been struggling to get myself dressed let alone write such a lengthy post! I’m currently taking antibiotics for a throat infection so all should be well, and posts back to normal, this week!

So if you haven’t seen my original post about the Ciaté calendar you can view it HERE, but I’ll still give a brief description of the products mentioned in that post, in this one as well. I’ve tried to break the varnishes up into sections (top coats, pastels, nail effects etc.) to try and break the post down a bit because there is a lot to get through!

Starting with the third image down, we have the sparkly top coats that came in the Mini Mani calendar. From left to right they are: Meet Me in Mayfair which is a black and white confetti style top coat with splashes of silver and pastel colour mixed in, next is Tinsel Town which is a peachy pink glitter with a bit of green and blue thrown in, the final glitter top coat shown in the picture is Glitterball, this is possibly one of my favourite mini manis as it’s just pure pink glitter! The glitter size ranges from quite a large, sequin glitter to a super small shimmer and looks fab over a nude varnish! 

There was also another glitter top coat called Confetti which is a hologram, silver glitter. For some reason I decided not to photograph this one but you can see it in the original post HERE.

Underneath we have the pastel varnishes. From left to right they are Pillow Fight – a lilac/grey colour, Amazing Gracie – a super pastel pink, Pepperminty – yep you guessed it, it’s a peppermint colour! Followed by Raincoat – think Burberry Mac colour, Sugar Plum – a fairy princess purple and finally there’s Members Only which a nude pink with a little shimmer to it.

Next are the nail effects, to use these you paint a coat of varnish on your nail and sprinkle some of these effects on top, alternatively you can pour some onto a piece of paper and roll your wet nail into it gently. Left to right: we have Jingle Belle which is a sparkly pink fairy dust, Ring Master – multi-coloured sequins, Christmas Tree – is a multi-coloured nail caviar and finally Miss Mistletoe is a mix of sunset coloured sequins!

Below them we have the cool shades. First up is Boom Box – a really bright electric blue, in the middle is Fit for a Queen – a solid, silver shimmer varnish and on the right is Power Dressing – a deep royal blue shade.

Next there are the warm colours, of which there are many, yay! From left to right: Access all Areas – a matte varnish in a bright highlighter orange shade, Boudoir – think Mac ‘Russian Red’ lippy colour, Encore – a burnt orange, Big Yellow Taxi – guess what that’s the colour of? And finally we have Hopscotch – a similar colour to Access all Areas, but slightly darker and not matte.

Last but certainly not least are the essential top coats! I would always suggest using base and top coats whenever painting your nail, it makes varnish removal easier, helps you avoid nail staining and is also a lot better for your nails and the surrounding skin. Ciaté’s top and base coats are definitely worth investing in as they are a really good quality, help make your nail varnish last and the actual bottles themselves last you quite a while! 

In the mini mani calendar I got the Suspension Top Coat – good for mixing nail affects into to create a textured look. There was also the Speed Coat which will help any slow drying nail varnish to solidify in just 60 seconds – what’s not to love!?

I’m absolutely over the moon with all the fab little varnishes I got in the Ciate Mini Mani calendar and can’t believe how much of a bargain it was! I hope you enjoy this post even though it was more of a list than an actual review! I hope it’s given you some nailspiration regardless!

Which is your favourite varnish from the Mini Mani collection? Did you get any unusual advent calendars? Let me know in a comment below!