A SPENDY, LAZY WEEKEND

Since before Christmas, I've been a bot poorly. I kept getting a bit better and then falling back down. But I'm feeling back to normal now and felt like I needed to treat myself. Along with being poorly, I was changing department at work and at the same time as doing my job I've been training my replacement so work have been pretty crazy. So the weekend was approaching and I was feeling spendy and my eyebrows needed sorting badly so I got up on Saturday and took myself in to town. I hate going shopping on a Saturday. I just can't cope with people being slow. So I try to go as early as I can force myself to get out of bed to avoid midday madness. 

I was only out for two hours but my card was on fire by the time I got home...

THE BACKUPS

What are you talking about, Louise?

Well, the backups are products that I'm so scared of running out of unexpectedly that I need to have another on standby for that moment so I never have to be without.
There's nothing worse that squeezing out the last bit of cleanser and realising you haven't bought a new one yet AND you can't get to the shop for another few days. Stress. That is stressful.

Here are what I always have on standby...

EMPTIES #2

Sorry it's been a while... again. I was just going to take a week off but then I got really poorly and I've been knocked back most of the month. I'm feeling loads better now though so back in the game!
Also, thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway. The winner has been contacted now so sorry if you didn't win. Hopefully there can be more in the future.

On to today's post though and I've accumulated a number of used up products since the first time I did this in December so without further ado...

THE "HOLIDAYS ARE OVER" PAMPER

I'm lucky enough that I now have a job that gives me the Christmas period off work. (Those of you who work in retail or medical jobs or any other jobs that don't get such luxury, I'm sorry and I hope your customers/clients have been respectful to you. It's the worst, I've been there.)
But in this two weeks off I've managed to destroy my body clock. For example, today I woke up at 1.30pm... I didn't really intent on that happening today. Usually on a weekend, my body automatically gets me up about 8.30 (don't appreciate that either, body.) So it's safe to say that tomorrow morning's 6.50am alarm is going to hurt.
I will be doing a good pamper session tonight to chill myself out and (hopefully) sleep at a reasonable time.

Here's the lowdown...

BOXING DAY BEAUTY

I hope you all had great days yesterday doing whatever you got up up to. Yesterday's post was a little more serious and if you didn't see it then you can click here.

But on to today... Let me guess - yesterday you ate a lot of food, perhaps had a few glasses of wine and completely demolished a tin of Celebrations? As well as getting about 5 hours sleep? Feeling good today? Possibly not.
Well, let me talk you through a mini Boxing Day pamper routine...

MINI SUPERDRUG HAUL

After The Body Shop event the other day I needed to go to Superdrug quickly for a few last minute presents and so obviously I thought I needed treating too...
I needed to restock on a couple of things but really I just can't help myself. I haven't included the presents I bought but here's what new to my collection...

UNSUNG HEROES: SUPERDRUG VITAMIN E HOT CLOTH CLEANSER

Next up in the series is from Superdrug's Hot Cloth Cleanser from their Vitamin E range. The previous posts can be found here.

EMPTY PRODUCTS #1

Today it's time for my first ever empty products rundown. I've collected these over the last couple of months and then when I was planning these December posts I thought I may as well throw this in now!

I like empty posts and knowing if they would be repurchased as that's definitely more likely to convince me to go out and pick it up too. So here is what I've used up recently...

REVIEW: PIXI GLOW TONIC

I have recently repurchased the Pixi Glow Tonic so I feel like I've definitely been using it long enough to share my thoughts...

I think knowing that I've repurchased this product shows that I am going to be giving this a good review and join in to the hype that already surrounds it.

DRUGSTORE BEAUTY HAUL

Why hello there lovelies! Sorry I have become a stranger once again. A mix of bloggers block and then getting really poorly. Not sure what happened to me but I got home from work one day and just had a turn and just couldn't get out of bed for a few days.
I'm feeling better now and I thought I'd treat myself with a little trip to Boots. I've not actually had a spendy moment for a while and being ill is the perfect excuse to change that!

CURRENT EVERYDAY AM + PM SKINCARE ROUTINE

I've mentioned a few times in previous posts over the last month or so that I would give you a little update on my skincare routine.
I've done a big Sunday Night Routine post at the start of the year (though it's a little outdated now..) but this is what I do to my skin on an every day basis.

You may or may not be able to tell that I enjoy products from The Body Shop... Because I've definitely never mentioned it before... Ahem.

Their products are just really good and affordable and do their job. (They aren't paying me to say that but if they need a new cheerleader, then I am available...) 

MORNING

BEAUTY ENABLERS

I love beauty bloggers. I love reading their opinions, seeing new launches and swatches and how they look after their skin and apply makeup. I'm in nowhere near the standard of some of those guys, this is just a bit of fun for me. But those beauty bloggers are the biggest enablers around - so I guess, blogging is essentially doing it's job!

My Bloglovin and YouTube subscription list is full of the people who only have to say one good thing in a very short amount of time and I'm straight down the shops. So here's my pick of  Beauty Blogger Enabled Purchases...

BEAUTY HACKS

I've seen a lot of these beauty hack posts around recently so I thought I'd throw my two cents in and share some tips I've picked up and discovered over the years. Because anything that makes life easier is an absolute winner. Am I right? (Yes. Yes I am.)

Dry shampoo. Our saviour. Can't be bothered washing your hair? Woke up in a big greasy mess? A few spritz and you're ready to take over the world... grey patches and all. Ahem. Dry shampoo has advanced in that it does come tailored to dark hair as well now but you can still get patches that are missed when you rub it all in. I find it best to spray it at the roots before you go to bed. This way, with the movement you do in your sleep, it gets rubbed in perfectly and you wake up without greasiness. Bingo!

LET'S TALK CLEANSERS

I was just having a little tidy the other day and then realised I have accumulated quite a lot of cleansers so why not tell you about them..!

Okay so here we go..!

SUNDAY LOVING #6

First week back to work after a week off is always the worst. So much catching up on top of all the normal jobs to be done. But then a chilled weekend was much appreciated and needed. 

And this week I have been loving...

MUSIC

It seems like a million years since Ed Sheeran's first album came out (and it still sounds amazing!) and last week his second album finally came out and I've been playing it pretty much non stop since. It must be so hard when you do an album that is so amazing to then try and go one better and not many people actually do it but this is incredible and I think it may even be better than +. I can't fully decide my favourite track but I think Nina is probably it at the moment. I genuinely don't think it's possible to get bored of Ed's voice and his beautiful lyrics. 100% recommend this! Perfect summer road trip album.

A LITTLE BOOTS HAUL

Thought I'd leave the Sunday Loving post for this week. It's been a bit of a quiet one and I had a cheeky little peruse of Boots yesterday so I thought I'd show you what I bought.

I went to Boots as I needed dry shampoo and deodorant because I'm going to London for a few days tomorrow! (P.s. never been before, please leave me any tips or recommendations of what I should do!) Now, I could have gone to Tesco or even the tiny Boots that would take me 5 minutes to walk to. I didn't do this. Instead I drove for 25 minutes to the biggest one that's near me...

THE MID-WEEK PAMPER

A few months ago I posted about the Sunday Night Pamper Session and this is something I do every single week (I think that post may need an update too now...) I find it so enjoyable to just properly clean my face and be left feeling fresh with lovely, soft skin.
During the week, obviously I have a skincare routine but it's pretty scaled down from a Sunday. I'll do a makeup removal cleanse, then the double cleanser, toner, some kind of spot treatment then either night cream or oil. Done.
As it gets to the middle of the week things are starting to look a bit dull so around a Wednesday/Thursday I like to give my skin a little extra treat for a pick me up by adding in a couple extra products...

UNSUNG HEROES: GOOD THINGS FIVE MINUTE FACIAL FACE MASK

Time for another Unsung Hero from my beauty stash. I explained in the first post here that these are products that I completely love using but never give them any public love. Now today's product I actually did a full review about a year ago but I've since repurchased it and I use it all the time but haven't given it nearly enough love.

REVIEW: THE BODY SHOP CAMOMILE CLEANSING BUTTER

I usually do reviews on the blog as mini reviews of new products I've bought and putting them all together rather than individual reviews. However, this product has blown me away and I feel it deserves a post on it's own. (If you'd like to read any of the mini review posts, click here.)

UNSUNG HEROES: SOAP & GLORY PEACHES AND CLEAN CLEANSER

I am going to be doing a new little series on my blog dedicated to all those products that I love and use often but I've never really talked about before. The first Unsung Hero in my beauty stash is the Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean Cleanser!