Week in photographs # 27

More graduation/congratulations cards, selling on ebay, sale buys, outfit of the day, rain!

My week has consisted of: sale shopping, visiting family, more graduation cards, rain, watching Bones and Wimbledon, selling on ebay and having no internet!

Well, lets start with the horrible events of the week - we had no internet from Wednesday night to Friday night! Apparently someone had stolen the talktalk/BT internet and phone cables so Manchester, Lancashire and parts of Yorkshire had no internet or phone services for a couple of days! Usually when the internet goes off, it comes back on within a few minutes which myself and my sister can live with but two days - we almost busted out the board games #living in the stone age

We have been watching Bones (gotta love a bit of Bones), Wimbledon, old re-runs of The Simpsons and the news for two days - it was torture. Although it made my write some reviews that needed to be done. Also I received some more graduation/congratulations cards this week from friends and neighbours which was nice but it is making me nervous - it is only 17 days until graduation! And I don't have a graduation outfit now as we have been told that we cannot wear dresses. 

Finally, sale shopping has been going on again this week - I bought four Ciate nail polishes today in the shades 'stiletto', 'pepperminty', 'Iced frappe' and 'red hot chili' all of which were only £4.50 each - how amazing is that! Wait, it gets better, I have a code for 30% off - code: MARIE30! So I bought four Ciate polishes (free delivery) for just under £13! I also got some amazing bargains from Organic Surge - they are having 75% off and you can get free delivery with the code: NEWDEL.

I hope everyone had a great week - oh and google friend connect might be going tomorrow so if you want to keep in touch and follow my blog then you can via Bloglovin' x

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Review: Clinique 7 Day Facial Scrub

Just another quick skincare product review - this is one of my fairly recent empties products but I think it deserves its own blog post because I am so impressed with it and I am going to re-purchase. 

I received this product as part of a free gift with purchase at Debenhams and I really don't think too much of free gifts with purchases on the whole but I ended up LOVING this product! 

It is a facial scrub from Clinique and I have tried Clinique skincare before and I have been fairly impressed with it (the three step range). The scrub is an off white colour, it has a lot of fine grains - it is not like the bead scrubs where they are mostly face wash, this product is all scrub! The grains/texture of the product is fairly abrasive but it is fine grained too so it is not that harsh, in my opinion.

I used this product about once a week (you shouldn't use it more than that as face scrubs can be harsh and damaging if you use them too often or incorrectly). I use a pea sized amount and gently massage it into damp/wet skin. The scrub really exfoliates and gives my skin a good ol' scrub. The scrub doesn't irritate my skin and it leaves my skin looking and feeling so smooth, soft and lovely - it also makes my skin texture feel more even. 

Overall, I LOVE this product. I find it has enough abrasiveness to really exfoliate and smooth the skin but it is not too harsh or stripping for my skin. I would definitely recommend this product to anyone, although if you have really sensitive skin I think it would probably be too harsh. x

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A Night of Confessions

I have seen this on Twitter and some posts - it is where you reveal 20 of your secret confessions - although if you are planning to rob a bank or have put your pets in the washing machine, probably best not to mention that! These are just 20 secret confessions about yourself, for a laugh only! I saw this first on Charlotte Havs blog (link here) and I thought it would be fun to do. Also I have had quite a few new followers recently, so it is a king of getting to know me post too. The number of confession is 20 but I am only going to do 10 as it can get a bit long. 

1. I HATE Britians got talent, The Voice and X Factor! 

2. I eat pasta, soup, takeaway, noodles and sandwiches for breakfast

3. I LOVE europop and Eurovision (dying of shame)

4. I was absolutely terrified at York Dungeons (a scary tourist attraction) that my younger sister wasn't even scared of!

5. I hate buses and public transport in general, I get a bit nervous when I have to go on a bus - especially when I haven't been on that route before

6. The longest I have gone without washing my hair is 6 days (awful I know, but washing the hair isn't good for it - and Tim Minchin doesn't wash his hair for 2 weeks at a time)...I am making up excuses now, ha ha

7. Even though I am a vegetarian, and I have been for 9 years now and I don't think I will ever eat meat/fish, I do like the smell of bacon 

8. I tidy my room, mainly, by shoving things in drawers and leaving them there

9. Writing lists and then ticking things off when I have only done half a job...oops *I am a master of procrastination, oh look a squirrel*

10. And the final confession, I keep some makeup far longer than I should - I have a few palettes in my collection from Dior that are 4/5 years old!

If you would like to do this tag style post then create a blog post and leave the link in the comments or just write your confession in the comments too x

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Review: Caudalie Beauty Elixir

I put off buying this product for such a long time but I did eventually buy it and...I LOVE it! I used this up fully a couple of weeks ago and I am going to put it in a empties blog post but this product is so good it had to have a post dedicated to it.

Firstly, what is this product? It is a glorified water spray, like the Avene and Vichy sprays. They are multipurpose, designed to be used as a refreshing facial water spray, a toner and a makeup setting spray. I use it for all three purposes and it is great at all three.

Refreshing water spray: I took this product on holiday with me last year and it was really useful. We went on a cruise holiday with Royal Caribbean and we went to Italy, Corsica, Sardinia and Spain - so it was quite hot. This product came in so useful on holiday, it has an instant cooling effect on the skin which lasts for a while which was great. It is great for refreshing the skin!

Toner: I also use it as a toner, but sparingly, as it is fairly expensive. I spray it onto a cotton pad and then sweep it over the face and neck. It again has an instant cooling effect and the skin just feels clean and refreshed but not dry or irritated which is fantastic!

Makeup setting spray: This product works really well as a makeup setting spray - it refreshed old makeup and it is great as a final setting spray to stop makeup looking caky or powdery. It also makes the skin glowing and radiant - I don't know how it makes my skin look so radiant (but not shiny or oily) - it is amazing!

Overall, it is an expensive product but it works so well, the packaging is great, it doesn't irritate my dry/sensitive skin and it makes my skin look great! Also because it is multipurpose I can justify the price tag - I am definitely going to repurchase soon! x

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Random Buys!

Here is just a couple of random accessories/makeup/footwear buys from the last few weeks - from Primark and Amazon.

1. Primark Studded Pumps (£6/8): I can't remember exactly how much these shoes were - they were either £6 or £8, I think they were £6. They are my sisters are they look like my far more expensive Zara studded pumps/flats. My Zara shoes were about £25 and these are obviously cheaper - they do look very similar from a distance but these Primark ones have studs and sparkly flat embellishments too. 

2. Primark Aztec Printed Snood (£4): I love Primark for their cheap scarves and snoods especially. This one feels quite expensive, it is made from a really soft/smooth/comfy material and it it quite heavy and well made. It falls really nicely and because it is a neutral light grey colour, it goes with a lot of outfits. 

3. Primark RayBan Style Sunglasses (£1): I picked these up because 1. they look great and 2. they were only £1 - how could I not get them?! The lenses/frame is a lot smaller than most primark sunglasses which tend to be massive and just don't look right on me. These are great though - you can see what they look like on, on my OOTD post (link here). 

4. Bourjois Radiance Healthy Mix Foundation (£9.99): I bought this from Amazon UK in the lightest shade '51 light vanilla'. I love Bourjois foundations on the whole - I LOVE their brush on foundation which I can't find anymore. I have only tried this foundation a couple of times and so far I am not impressed - sure it gives good coverage, the shade is great and it doesn't irritate my skin. But for me this foundation is not radiant or glowy or hydrating - I find this emphasises dryness and it doesn't make my skin look hydrated or glowing or radiant which is quite disappointing. Full review will be posted when I have tried it out more. 

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Week in photographs # 26

My week has consisted of: apps, comfort food, slacking on exercising, lots of sale shopping, getting a First for my degree and being ill. 

Well, it has been on interesting week - I will start with the main thing which is... I got a First for my Psychology (Bsc, Hons) degree! I am really happy! I got my result on Tuesday this week and I was so nervous leading up to the day. If you don't know, there are different grades for degrees such as 2:3, 2:2, 2:1 and a First - a First is the highest you can get. I received a couple of balloons and a bottle of champagne and a card from my parents. My friends/neighbours also got me a card and a bottle of Rose wine. I also received a cute money box saying 'shoe fund' from my auntie with some money. I am a very happy heather! 

Also this week I have been ill - I have had a horrible cold (which I still have) and a viral throat infection - typical that I had it when it was results day! So I have been slacking on my Jillian Michaels 30 day shred but I have been ill (that's my excuse). I have been comfort eating too (naughty, naughty, I know). The main thing I have been loving, apart from cheesy pasta, is the new Ben and Jerrys Core Peanut Butter Me Up Ice Cream - LOVE IT! It is half vanilla, half peanut butter ice cream with raspberry jam and peanut butter caps *heaven*. 

Sale shopping has taken up a lot of my week too - almost everywhere is having a start of summer/mid season sale on. I have bought some bits from H&M, The Body Shop, Topshop and House of Fraser as you can see from the photographs above. The blue H&M nail polish is called 'Blue My Mind' and I think it is a dupe for Nails Inc 'Baker Street'. There will be some sale haul posts coming soon from Zara, The Body Shop, House of Fraser and maybe Etsy. Oh and I also won a Glamour Magazine competition this week - I won the Sleek Oh So Special Eyeshadow Palette, love it. Get on the House of Fraser, Debenhams or Harrods websites for amazing makeup/beauty sales!

My favourite things this week: The photograph app from A Beautiful Mess (I highly recommend the app and their website/blog). I also love the Dumb Ways To Die app too. My favourite song of the week has to be 'Diana Young' from Vampire Weekend - I cannot stop listening to it! My favourite tv shows this week have been: The White Queen (bbc), Da Vinci's Demons, Benidorm (available on youtube) and The Simpsons! Favourite book this week - Miranda Hart, is it just me? - highly recommend it!

I hope everyone had a great week and don't forget to enter my international giveaway - it ends soon! x

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