April Favourites

How can April already be over? So much has been going on for me this month and these products have helped me get through this month in their own way.

Cath Kidston Mug // This was a birthday present from my Sister-in-law, who obviously knows me well as I love both Cath Kidston designs and hot drinks. Apart from the beautiful floral design, I really love the size of this mug. It is not so small that I feel like I need another brew immediately after finishing the first, but not so large that I never finish it. Who do I think I am.. Goldilocks?

The *TeaShed Teabags // This also came as a bonus present for me along with my mug. I adore Earl Grey tea. I know a lot of people find the fragrant taste a little overpowering, but I really think it's one of my favourite types of tea. The packaging of this is lovely with, "Probably Definitely The Best Cup Of Tea" emblazoned on the side, which makes me smile every time I look at it. And, you know, I would actually have to agree. It really is perfect, especially when accompanied with a cheeky biscuit (or three).

Sweet Freedom // A few years ago I stopped taking sugar in my tea and changed to a sweetener. I found it helped with my sweet tooth, but helped me decrease my sugar intake. I know that there are many health concerns with regard to a regular usage of sweeteners so I have been looking out for another alternative that could become the new replacement. Well my friends, I think I have found it in the form of Sweet Freedom. In the bottle it looks like golden syrup, but it is actually made 100% from natural fruit extracts. It also has 25% fewer calories than sugar, which is always a good thing. It's in a squirty bottle so it is clean and simple to squirt into your tea, baking or cereal etc.

Papaya Body Butter // I picked this up in one of The Body Shop's many clearance sales. They also do many promotions on their website, so if you are a TBS fan then get yourself on there! I paid £5 for this and it was certainly money well spent. Having quite dry skin, I really benefit from a more nourishing body moisturiser. I have no problems in putting this on after my shower and getting dressed pretty much straight away. There is no stickiness and my skin drinks it up beautifully. It literally smells so summery and fruity that I can't stop smelling my arm on my way to work. Standard.

Hand Dream // I featured this hand cream in my Soap & Glory Haul and I have not been disappointed. I work in a cold environment at work, which makes my hands incredibly dry in between my fingers. This not only smells delicious, but soaks in quickly and doesn't leave my hands feeling greasy. That is my one pet hate. It is actually quite a large bottle so I've been keeping this at the side of my bed to put on when needed.

Palmer's Swivel Stick // This is one of my favourite lip balms ever. It is pretty huge and people do make fun of me at work when I pull it out of my bag. Most people think I'm putting Pritt Stick on my lips, well they probably wish I was with me being a little chatterbox. It is a cocoa butter based lip balm, which feels smooth when applied on the lips and really helps to nourish my lips when they are feeling sore. I do use it under lipsticks sometimes, but it can make things a little slippery if applied straight after. Give it 5 minutes and it will sink in nicely. Because of the size, it can be used for dry skin patches and elbows but mine never makes it past my lips.

Wax Lyrical Colony Candle // I was actually doing a very middle aged thing where myself and Chris went to the supermarket and popped into the adjoining Dobbies store. If you've not heard of Dobbies it is a bit like a garden centre crossed with The Range. I get lost in the homeware sections every time, much to Chris' annoyance. I was on the lookout for a new candle and spotted this amongst the Yankee Candles. I liked that the company is based in Cumbria and their products are made in the UK. I spent ages sniffing them all and finally chose Mandarin & Peach. It really does manage to throw it's scent around the room. It doesn't burn as evenly as more expensive candles, but it isn't terrible by any means. I have it on the table next to me in the living room and love getting the occasional whiff of fruit. Perfect for Spring.

Whiskas Dentabits // No, this is not my mid-afternoon snack after my daily cat nap. (geddit!) These are for Alfie the cat. If he could he would eat cat treats instead of his food. He may need to go to rehab for his addiction. What I've tried to do is meet him in the middle and get him cat treats which have additional benefits. These treats are quite knobbly in shape, which are supposed to help clean Alfie's teeth. Whether it works, I'm not sure, but he enjoys eating them anyway.

Pedometer // Now this is not anything crazy expensive, It was just a cheap bargain from EBay. I actually purchased 3, as myself and my friends at work wanted to see how many steps we were taking at work. I do a 5 hour shift and am averaging around 4000 steps. Not bad eh! It does resemble a plastic toy and has been prone to fly off my trousers when bending down, but for 99p, I'm really not going to complain.

So there we have it, these are my April favourites. What have you been loving this month?

All products featured were purchased by myself or were presents from my family.

Make Up Storage

                        

A couple of years ago I purchased a second hand white dressing table from eBay. It was everything I was looking for in a dressing table... It was not too deep (small bedroom = lack of space), it had the shabby chic style I had lusted over in so many magazines, not to mention two extra drawers to over fill with cosmetics and all manner of things that I can never seem to throw away. (is that just me?)

Fast forward 2 years later and I realise that having my make up rolling around everywhere each time I opened those darned drawers was becoming tiresome, to say the least! "Enough is enough", I told my cat, who was sat on my bed at the time. He glanced over at me with a look of boredom. On a side note, I'm not sure he is bothered in the slightest about my drawer nightmare, he only really cares about being fed, chasing cats and getting treats. Some would say that is a selfish way to live your cat life. So, the search for a new way of storing my main make up was started in earnest. 

During one of my days of catching up on a bit of beauty blog reading, for research of course, I saw the Muji stacking wide drawers time and time again. They seemed the ideal solution. Not only could they make my make up so much more visibly appealing, but I could add more drawers as my make up collection increased. After eyeing up a 10% off code (MUJIBEAUTY - valid until 13th February) on Lily Pebbles' blog I decided this was the perfect time to get me a Muji fix. I opted for the two sets of the Acrylic 2 Drawers Wide and one Acrylic 2 Drawers Wide with Flip Top Lid. They arrived 4 or 5 days later and were really well packaged. Seriously, I mean really, really well! They must have used a whole roll of bubble wrap on my single delivery. 

Oh, I may have accidentally ordered their log fire candle at the same time. This wasn't planned, but after reading VDM's comments on it being a dupe for Diptyque's Feu de Bois, and with it being a mere £3.50, I just couldn't resist. I figured my husband Chris would probably not mind another candle purchase, what with it being a much more masculine smell compared to my usual candle scents.

After the friendly delivery driver handed me my parcel, I raced upstairs (OK, I first spent 20 minutes popping the bubble wrap) and it was Operation Clear Out Messy Drawers. I actually ended up throwing out quite a lot of make up. I figured if I couldn't remember when I had actually bought it, and if it was looking a bit BLEUGH then it was probably time to say goodbye. 

Half an hour later I then had a work of modern art on my chest of drawers and two empty dressing table drawers. WINNER! By the way, apologies for the photo quality.. My camera battery died so I used my iPhone. So it's probably about time that I go and buy more stuff to put in them right? I can sense a haul blog post appearing in the near future. How do you store your make up?

My own money was used to purchase these products in this blog post.