September Favourites

Hello everyone!

I feel like this month has gone by in such a blur, I have been extremely busy in all aspects of my life. I hope you guys have been enjoying this month as much as me, it can be one of the most exciting times of the year! What with the returns to school and university and the change in seasons :-) 

This month I have been really loving all things cosy! I'm a big one for putting on a tv show as background noise when I'm tidying, unpacking and doing general house chores. I'm currently watching Vampire Diaries seasons 1 and 5 simultaneously. I've been watching a bit of season 5 to try to catch up and to help me chill out in the evenings. Season 1 is a re-watch as background noise! I love this series so much, it's so corny and un-realistic, but I don't care. I unapologetically love it! :-) 

Two of the key things to a cosy TV evening are candles and chocolate. My number one favourite form of chocolate is the much adored Terry's Chocolate Orange. Some people think these should only be a Christmas food, however, I disagree and eat them all year round! I recently bought this Ghost Stories candle from Old Glow Candles. They do a huge range of bookish and movie themed candles, that are affordable and smell amazing! My housemates personal favourite is Wonderland which is quite a sweet smell, like a cake. Ghost Stories is a bit more fresh, like wood and leaves, so it's definitely getting me in the mood for autumn :-) 

In terms of beauty I have been loving my Benefit Air Patrol eyeshadow primer. I do extremely long days, so it is vital that my makeup stays in place. I go with the logic of "if I look good, then I'll feel better". This primer is perfect for me, it doesn't irritate my eyes the way some others do and my eyeshadow honestly does not fade at all! Even after a 12 hour day!! 

Handling lots of animal patients means that I wash my hands a million times each day, which can be a nightmare for dry skin. My saviour for this is the La Main Verte hand moisturiser from Lush, it is super refreshing and could even be called a little spicy. It's really creamy so I can work it right into my hands and really feel my skin drinking it in. The richness of the rose oil, cocoa butter and almond oil feels like a proper nutrient punch for my hands. 

My final September favourite is a mushy one! Can I put Mr.GingerSnap as a monthly favourite? With going back to university and rotating in the teaching hospital for long, stressful hours I have been needing a lot of TLC! He has had the Starbucks pumpkin spice hot chocolates and cuddles at the ready, such a lifesaver! :-) 

What have you been loving this month? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo

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Too Faced Trials

Hello everyone! 

Who loves Too Faced products? Aside from the obvious major plus of their cruelty free stance, they actually have consistently high quality products. I have been using them for years and somewhere in the depths of my makeup collection is a smokey eye palette which is probably looooong out of date… I’m not saying I love and must buy every product they bring out, I try to only buy what I think will suit my style. However, between my friends and myself we have probably tried a good majority of their stuff! It is always good, trust me. 

BUT, I do have a rather large bug bear with them not always releasing products in the UK, notably their recent Peanut Butter and Jelly palette. I had been coveting that palette since they announced it and I was so upset to find out it isn’t coming to the UK. I could, of course, buy it online and ship it from America, but the shipping is more than the product itself and I can’t justify it to myself. As a red head, this palette would be perfect for me, the purple berry tones, combined with the warm brown and umber shades would just look divine *sigh* and I love the smell of peanut butter. 

Look how cute it is! 

If you combined the original Chocolate Bar and Semi-Sweet palettes you could probably achieve almost identical looks, but they are much bulkier and less cute in my opinion! In the vague hope that they might yet release it I am going to hold off considering buying the chocolate palettes. Although, I have purchased the Chocolate Bon Bons palette as it is very different and is just all around stunning (she says whilst desperately trying to justify it!). 

First off, the packaging is very cute. I love the cardboard box the most, it reminds me of in the newer Charlie and the Chocolate factory with the Whipple-Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight (Roald Dahl nerd in the house!) chocolate bars. You guys agree? When you get in there the packaging is this gorgeously girly pink tin with 16 matte and shimmer shades. Seriously, the smell of chocolate is insane! I can smell it all day, no kidding. Some of the shades look really strong, particularly Totally Fetch and Black Current, but they apply quite lightly so you can build them for a stronger look or incorporate them into a more natural look. The usual Too Faced triple cheat sheet for looks is present and correct, love those, they are super helpful for inspiration. The only small down side is the lack of a brush within the tin, but hey you can’t have everything! 

 In rows from left to right the colours are Almond Truffle, Satin Sheets, Sprinkles, Molasses Chip, Malted, Cashew Chew, Cotton Candy, Cafe au Lait, Bordeaux, Mocha, Black Currant, Dark Truffle, Pecan Praline, Totally Fetch, Eary Grey and Divinity. 

Gretchen Weiners finally made Fetch happen with the gorgeous hot pink shadow! 

I may have been a little bit naughty and also treated myself to a new blush, damn Sephora temptations! I have had my eye on the Sweethearts blushes for quite a while. I think the packaging is very sweet and was pleasantly surprised by the size of the product. I have a feeling this will last a while! So far the blush is gorgeous, as it has 3 shades, you can choose to apply one or mix them all together or even a combination 2, this gives you so many options for different looks and is perfect for spring. I chose the Candy Glow blush as it suits my skin tone the best. There are also 3 other shades, well two at the minute with a third to be released soon. These range from a strong coral palette, to a bronze and then a very gold shimmer palette. I do love the shimmer of these as it almost acts as a highlighter too. It applies and blends beautifully, my only fault being that isn’t very portable, but I can’t really complain about it being too big can I?! 

If you guys would like me to, I will do a couple of eyeshadow looks using this palette for you in a separate post. Let me know in the comments below if you’re keen :-) To take a peek at my Facebook page click here.

xoxo

Manly Mondays - Chill Out Time

Hello everyone, 

This one will be a very quick Manly Monday I'm afraid, I have my first exam of the season tomorrow...wish me luck! I didn't want to disappoint you all by missing out a week from the column so here is a little evening relaxation inspiration for all you gentlemen out there. 

There is nothing better at the end of the day than a nice steaming mug of tea, or so I'm told, I'm not a tea drinker myself. After a long hard day at work Mr.Gingersnap likes nothing more than cosying up on the sofa with tea, chocolate and a DVD. Sometimes he likes to swap the tea for a whisky so we found some chocolates to make the best of both worlds. 

These choccies are by Anthon Berg, each has it's own different liquor secreted in the delicious dark chocolate casing. There are some well loved favourites in there like Jim Bean, Remy Martin, Cointreau and XO. They are really yummy and so rich, it's quite a luxurious treat with 16 different chocolates. Definitely a winner over here! 

Mr.Gingersnap is a big lover of second world war history and must have watched HBO's Band of Brothers a dozen times, but now he has a new excuse to watch it as I have got into it too. This 10 episode series follows the Easy Company as they train and join the war effort. This series has some serious ups and downs, I have been in tears of laughter and sadness multiple times already. Each episode focuses more on one soldier, helping you form an emotional attachment to them all as individuals. I think the most heart wrenching part of this is that it is based on real life events and has commentary at the beginning from actual surviving members of Easy Company. With some big names like Damien Lewis, Ron Livingston, Donnie Wahlberg and Scott Grimes it really is a must watch, but have the tissues at the ready! 

What do you like to do to unwind in the evening? Let me know in the comments below :-) 

xoxo