RUSSIAN ADVENTURE

Hello!

Last night I arrived home from a week in Russia. I have previously mentioned I was taking a trip there with a couple of friends so i thought I'd share some photos from the trip with you, for a bit of a change to the norm on here. Hope you like it!

From last Sunday until Wednesday, we was in Saint Petersburg. Beautiful, old fashioned city with incredible architecture. We got ourselves all wrapped up and spent our first full day walking for about 6 hours in around -18C weather! Safe to say, we all in a significant amount of pain once we got back to our apartment. In Saint Petersburg we visited the Hermitage Palace (where Anastasia and the Romonov's lived!), Church on Spilled Blood, St Isaac's Cathedral and we saw St Nicholas' Cathedral too.

Just a warning, this will be quite photo heavy. But beautiful photos!

KATE MOSS: ICON

I've loved Kate Moss a lot for a very long time. She's an absolute giant in the fashion world and today she turns 40 and is still just as beautiful and chic as ever. She's graced the pages of Vogue more times than you can shake a fist it, done some amazing collaborations with Rimmel and Topshop (to name but two) and she still always absolutely nails it! So as a homage to Miss Moss, here are my favourite shots of her from over the years.
Happy birthday, Kate!

WEEKEND HAUL

This time next week I'll be in Saint Petersburg in Russia, most likely complaining about how cold my entire body is. This weekend I made a little trip over to see my friend Katie for an afternoon of Wetherspoons, cinema and a mooch of the shops and today I headed to the retail park to pick up some last minute bits for Russia.
Though obviously, the majority of my purchases didn't end up being travelling related...

Jeans; Dorothy Perkins | Tees; both New Look

I figure I can't very well wear tights and dresses in Russia so I've had to buy some jeans. I know from working there previously, the Dorothy Perkins ones are good quality and don't make me feel trapped and uncomfy. They also had 30% off today! And then I got some long sleeved tees from New Look for layering. So happy with finding a black and white striped instead of navy. I can never find black stripes!

 Candle; The Range | Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser | Real Techniques Fine Liner Brush

I absolutely love The Range. I don't know how common they are because the nearest one is where my friend lives and that's a 30 minute train journey. But it is just the best place. I picked up this double wick candle for about £3.50 in Vanilla Cupcake - so lovely!

Obviously, I can't go shopping without getting make up. I got this new primer from Maybelline which I am guessing is going to be similar to Benefit's POREfessional. The packaging is even quite similar colour wise. And I've been after a new brush for my gel eyeliner and Real Techniques never let me down so this also got thrown in the basket.

 Shoes; Topshop

I have LIVED in my cut out New Look boots since around September time and although it's still quite cold, I saw these flats and new I had to have them. I'm not usually a fan of patent as no matter how hard I try, I scuff the life out of them. They're super comfy and I love the tiger detail on the front. I thought they were quite reasonable for £24 too.

 Rucksack; New Look

I was keen to get a rucksack for my hand luggage for when I go away and I was thinking there'd be more on offer but alas there wasn't. I do like this one from New Look though and it has a few different pockets so it will do the job.

L'Oréal True Match Foundation C1 Rose Ivory | Beanie; New Look

(So I forgot to photograph these and so they got their own photo!)

The foundation purchase was a total impulse buy. I literally walked up to the stand, looked at the shades and put it in the basket. No thought. I've worn it today and the colour is perfect! Really like the finish and how easily it blends too. I'll probably do a review in a few weeks after a good few uses.

The beanie is from New Look and was in the sale for £1. Again, more impulse but I'll be able to take it to Russia to keep my ears warm. They had loads of other colours too.

Have you been indulging in retail therapy lately?

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BENEFIT POREFESSIONAL VS THE BODY SHOP PORE MINIMISER

First things first... I got a new camera and the quality is already 100 times better!

But on to today's post...

These two products aren't really all that similar overall but as they are both used to reduce the appearance of pores I thought I'd do a little comparison between the two. The products are The Body Shop's Tea Tree Pore Minimiser and Benefit's The POREfessional.
Both brands say that these products can be used on their own or as a make up base. Benefit's offering can also be used on top of make up for touch ups throughout the day however, I have never tried this method.