June Favourites

So maybe a little overdue but I got up to so much in June I wanted to write about it.  This has possibly been my favourite month so far in 2014 with the English weather warming up, weekdays do not just consist of 9 to 5, dinner and bed.  In the summer it is socially acceptable to meet up with friends and have a cheeky cider wherever we see fit.

4th June is my anniversary with my boyfriend, even though we had to work out how long we had actually been together, it seems like we have been together much longer than 3 years.  We went out for dinner to The Swan where we (me) drunk lovely cocktails and stuffed ourselves with duck and pork belly.

June was also a big month for concerts and music for me. Me and one of my gorgeous friends stood in awe and watched Justin Timberlake do his thing for 2 and a half hours and he was pure perfection.  If I told you I didn't fall in love I would be lying. He moved the front half of the stage to the back of the O2 so that even the people at the back could see his amazing dance moves. He also stood on the bar and did a shot of Tequila!  I also went to Capital's Summertime Ball where I saw everything from Jessie J Slut dropping to Miley Cyrus, being well Miley Cyrus. The photo shows Enrique running and jumping down the stairs.

Me and my boyfriend took a relaxing summer break to Lanzarote for a week. An island that neither of us had been to before so we explored the volcanoes and took a camel ride.  I'm sure the owner called him Jimmy.  We spent the week chilling by the pool, playing table tennis, eating and drinking cocktails.  Only in Spain do they serve tapas at midday with an alcoholic shot.  You may have seen my duty free purchases that I bought while I was away.

To round the month off my boyfriend turned 23, which like every year since I have known him he dragged out for a good week and a bit.  First we went for dinner at Byron Burger, Joe being the burger lover that he is wanted to celebrate his birthday with the Ronaldo burger.  The next day we went for dinner with his family to CAU, a restaurant I hadn't eaten in before and it most definitely did not disappoint. Being a lover of all things cow print I really appreciated the black and white colour theme. At the weekend we celebrated with our friends and it was nice seeing some of my boyfriend's oldest friends turn out.

Some of you may have noticed it is Sale time on the UK highstreet and I have been loving these floral tailored trousers that I snapped up from Topshop a few weeks ago.  I have had so many compliments and hopefully I will have an outfit post with them in shortly.  I haven't tried out too many new products this month, mainly the new purchases from holiday.  MAC face and body foundation is my new favourite summer foundation, it is light weight so perfect for when it is hot and also creates a nice base to apply cream products.  My new nail favourite is the Bourjois Instant Nail Dry Drops.  I have finally got on the Nuxe lip balm hype and I totally see why it is a cult favourite among the beauty world, though I can find it slightly sickly.  Lady Million perfume, what a bargain I got on this little beauty and I have worn it every day since I got back from Lanzarote. Garnier Intensive 7 day moisturiser is a definite must after being in the sun and wanting to put some moisture back into the skin.  Stopped me peeling after 2 days and is so light on the skin yet lasts ages.

The Body Shop White Musk Smoky Rose Collection

I stumbled upon this collection but accident really. I used to be an avid white musk wearer back in my younger years and the sweet musky scent always remind me of a school trip to France in particular. So I was browsing around the body mists, as I have heard a whole hog of bloggers include The Body Shop scents in their favourites recently, when I was taken in by the rose scented version. Normally I am not a fan of rose but the musky undertones really gives this scent a grown up feel. So before I knew it I had bought the body spray in the sale and of I popped. A week or so later I was in The Body Shop again looking for the Honey Bronzer, when I saw there was a Christmas set of the perfume and body wash reduced in the sale. 

Needless to say I have the collection and to be honest I probably don't need the body spray and perfume but the glass packaging looks and feels so much more expensive. At 30ml the perfume is perfect to throw in your bag and go.  I also love the look of the glass body mist on my desk at work. I find that the body mist is just that, it sprays the rights amount in a lovely mist so it is never too over powering.The body wash I have only used once but the thick texture allows it to lather quickly and I was happy.

I have just noticed that there is also the lotion to go with this set but as I am trying not to buy any more body lotions I will have to save that for another day.  Have you tried the White Musk Smoky Rose Collection from The Body Shop? 

Glossybox - November

This months theme is Stocking Fillers which is really nice to get everyone in the Christmas spirit.  This is probably my favourite box from Glossybox so I was really impressed this month.

Ayuuri - Sandalwood Face Cream

Firstly, the bottle is massive for a face cream, this is the full size at 200ml. This brand is dedicated to using natural products, and this might sound a bit silly but I think you can tell that it a natural scent and not perfumated. Therefore, I assume this would be good for sensitive skin as well as containing antiseptic ingredients. It also says paraben free which reflects all the natural goodness that they want in their products. The thing I know that would interest a lot of people is that it state 'no animal testing' this for me is important as I know it is for many other people too. I checked on their website and the brand seems to be sold mainly in pharmacies and chemists for around the £5 mark.

Burberry Body Eau de Parfum

This is possibly definitely the best perfume sample I have ever, and probably will ever receive. Basically this is not your everyday plastic, doesn't spray properly, sample. This is a beautiful, glass, mini-version of the actual bottle, which I am so impressed with. It is the same height as a nail varnish, which other brands may also do, but for me this is a first. It is just such a shame I don't like the scent, which is weird because I normally like musky scents, but I think this perfume is more suited towards an older woman.  Having said that, I do keep it in my handbag and whack it out so I can slyly show off my posh sample. 

Alison Claire Natural Beauty - Mango Body Butter

This is the best smell ever! It reminds me of a children's medicine that I used to have, but not a nasty one, the one you used to pretend to be ill for just so you could have a bit. Really nice and fruity without being overpowering. It has a lovely thick consistency as it should, being a body butter and also a pump bottle, which is unusual. The packaging reminds me of the Bourjois Health Mix foundation, due to the pump, the plastic bottle and the base inside moves upwards with the product so you know how much you have left. I have just noticed that the bottom of mine is smashed *sad face* this is really unhygienic as I can already see there is some black thing inside the bottle. I'll email Glossybox and see what their thoughts are, last time their customer service was good so hopefully it will be again.

Nails Inc - Kensington Caviar Topcoat

This is obviously a mini version, with 4ml there is enough to try the product out sufficiency. The first thing I noticed is that it doesn't really leave the nails that glossy I wasn't impressed with that side of it. But it does dry very quickly and makes your nail colour stay on longer than what it would without it. I do want to try this out a couple more times because at the moment I really am not seeing that all the fuss is about with Nails Inc. Also the second time I went to use this, I noticed that the silver on the lid has chipped quite badly, which is really ironic for a product that is meant to prolong chipping.  I really hope this is not the quality of their full sized products, I really wanted to love this.

Dermalogica - Daily Microfoliant

This part is going to be short and sweet because I am yet to try this product out as I have some other face products that I didn't want this to interfere with. Even though some other Dermologica products have broken me out in the past I am still so excited to try this. The full size retails for around £40, so in a way I hopefully won't get too attached when I do get round to trying this out.

Sorry for this being a bit late again, I promise a New Year's resolution is to get these up on time. Please tell me what you thought of this months box.

Better than Chanel for £3.99?

The perfume Mademoiselle by Chanel has been very popular and at £62 for a 50ml bottle, it seems it's not cheap to smell good. Or is it? International supermarket chain Lidl decided to rival the French brand by selling their own Suddenly Madame Glamour for only £3.99 per 50ml bottle.

Now everybody loves a dupe but does it really match up to the quality of Chanel? A blind test was carried out and the result showed that an amazing 91% not only liked the Lidl's version but actually preferred it to their £62 rival.


I, like other people, would ordinarily prefer to say I wore a branded perfume rather than one off of a supermarket shelf, however, the love of a good bargain is too much for me. I would now actually yell about how I get the same, if not better, for 15 times less than I would at a chanel counter.


Chanel

• Packaging is beautiful and I prefer the colour of the perfume
• Longer lasting and stronger scent
• Brand name

Lidl

• £3.99 (Can buy 15 bottles to one of Chanel's and still have some change left over)
• Softer scent but 91% of people preferred it
• Easy to find - Supermarket

Ding Ding, round one to Lidl I think. but which one would you buy?

But sshh remember, it's a secret!

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