NEW IN: REVIEWS #2

A month ago I decided to stop doing favourites posts and instead do occasional review posts featuring all the new things I've been trying rather than just the products I've liked. Because, it is always helpful to hear about products that aren't so great too. The first post can be found here.

OOTD - MINT & PINK

Today I nipped in to town to pick up a few things I needed and ended up falling in love with the new Body Shop Hair Chalks. My friend Rachelle tried them out on me and I wish I bought them both but I walked away with the pink one. I'm clearly going to end up going back for the blue one.
I also wore out my new Boohoo jumper and boots as well as wearing a pair of jeans by my own choice and I actually love them! CRAZY.

Jumper; Boohoo | Shirt (worn underneath); Primark | Jeans; Dorothy Perkins | Boots; Boohoo | Nails; Rimmel 'Loafer Love For You' & Essie 'Bikini So Teeny'

DITCHING THE POWDER

If there's one step that has never been avoided in the past when it came to makeup, it's powder. I have always preferred the matte look on myself and avoided any dewy-ness like the plague. Until recently anyway...

Rimmel Stay Matte 'Transparent' Pressed Powder | MAC Mineralised Skin Finish 'Light' | ELF Tone Correcting Powder

THE SUNDAY PAMPER SESSION

I work full time in an office (in an accountants to be precise so January has been a little stressful) and then on Saturdays I generally spend the time playing with and looking after my niece and nephew (both under the age of 2) so when Sunday arrives I see this as my complete chill day.

I tend to wake up earlier than I'd like, as my body clock doesn't understand weekends, and then I end up lying in bed for an extra two hours in that social media checking vicious circle before I finally decide to claw my way out of the pit and make breakfast. I then throw on a onesie and get back in bed with my laptop and only then do I move for food. Perfect.
I also like to make Sunday the day to give my face a good clean and refresh so I'm ready to start the next week feeling good.
(Last week after getting home from Russia I had the BEST, and much needed, pamper time.)

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.