Pin Me Happy!

I've been a bit absent from the blogging world lately.  I've been a bit down in the dumps and not really in the mood for wiring a blog post.  It's nothing overly major, just a lot of little things that have been getting me down and have come to a head a little bit.  Work has been pretty rubbish, and I've also been missing my boyfriend lots; although he was home this weekend just gone and provided me with lots of cuddles and giggles which made me feel a lot better.  (He's in the Army incase you were wondering!)

Credit to Louise for this image :)

In a bid to get back into blogging, and hopefully take my mind off things, I thought I'd take part in the lovely Louise from Sprinkle of Glitter's latest blog post.  Something nice and simple, that doesn't require me to take and edit photos,  but is also actually quite fitting for how I've been feeling lately.   Louise's happy, positive attitude and outlook on life really comes through in her You Tube videos,  but even the happiest of folk feel a little blue now and again, and Louise is right, these little wordy creations (or whatever you want to call them!) really do lift you and get you smiling again.

So after reading Louise's lovely blog post, I blew the cobwebs off my Pinterst account and scoured various boards and pins for some words of wisdom of my own.

Honestly, I could have spent HOURS doing this.  Simply searching "words" and then selecting Boards, brought up loads of boards full of pins like these, some inspiring, some funny and some I could really relate to.  I never really 'got' Pinterest until now, and I now see why people love it so much!  Today was definitely a bit of a "meh" day, but after browsing Pinterest for the last hour or so, I'm feeling that little bit more cheery, and I'm off to Zumba shortly so that ought to make me cheerier still!

I'd like to finish this post by saying a big thank you to Louise for doing this post in the first place.  I really enjoyed doing it and you have certainly got me hooked on Pinterest!  

My Chamilia Bracelet

I know, I know, there's not much on it at the moment. But I thought I'd share my Chamilia bracelet with you, as it does seem to be a brand that often gets over looked thanks to the likes of Pandora.  I received this as a birthday gift this year from my parents, who also got me the 'daughter' charm, a pretty self-explanatory one really! My aunty bought my the little basket charm in the middle.  It reminds me of the sort of bag you take to the beach with you on holiday.  I bought the other charm myself with some birthday money.  It's not totally clear in the picture above but it's a little paw print made out of pink Swarovski... well, Swarovski Elements, whatever that means!

I'm not sure why I received a Chamilia one, as opposed to the very popular and more well-known Pandora variety, but I'm actually very happy about it.  There's so many beautiful charms on the website and I already have a huge wish list that I have e-mailed my boyfriend a couple of times. (He's not taken the hint though - sniff!). I think it's a bit more unique too as everybody seems to have Pandora bracelets and I actually quite like correcting people when they assume the same for mine!

I also love how it's a leather bracelet, as opposed to the silver ones.  Personally I think the silver bracelet, coupled with X amount of silver charms can look a little too flashy for my liking.  The leather style of mine is a lot more casual and goes a lot better with the kinds of clothes I wear on a day to day basis.  I'm not sure what length it is,  but it's long enough to wrap around my wrist three times.  I'm not sure if it's supposed to, it may just be my skinny wrists(!).

Like I said, there's loads of gorgeous charms available, and there's a lovely Disney collection available at the moment. I have my eye on a couple of those as you can see in the picture below! The first two are from this collection.  The first says "Dreams really do come true" on the back, and the second is obviously a lyric from the Cinderalla song! These are just a few that I like, and I keep adding to my wish list all the time! 

Images from http://uk.chamilia.com

Boots Botanics Soothing Eye Make Up Remover.

You may recognise this from my recent Skincare Haul post. I was looking for an alternative to my Clinque 'Take The Day Off' eye make up remover, and after deciding against the No7 one, I went for the Botanics version. All three of these products are of the oil-based variety, where you have to shake the bottle before using, which I really like.  I find they do a better job, and always follow with a cleaner anyway so oily lids after using them doesn't bother me.

I have used the Botanics one in the past and have really liked it, and attracted to the pretty new packaging, I decided to buy it again.  Unfortunately, the packaging isn't all they've changed.  When I got it home I realised that it had more of a pinky hue to it than I remembered the older version having.   It turns out that they have reformulated the product and, sorry Boots, I'm not a fan! For a start, it isn't as effective as removing my eye make up than the older version.  Since I always cleanse afterwards anyway (or use a wipe if I'm lazy!) I could probably put up with this until I've used the product up, and make a mental note not to repurchase.  My main issue with this is that it makes my eyes feel sore and irritated.  They sting as soon as I apply the cotton wool pad to my eye, and also I've noticed my eyes sometimes feeling sore throughout the next day too.  This is the only new product I've used around my eyes too, so I can't see anything else being to blame.  The old formula was so gentle, and never made my eyes feel sore or irritated and I'm disappointed that this new formulation didn't live up to that. I'm gutted really, I didn't use Botanics religiously, but knew it was always there, and I'd often go back to the eye make up remover, as well as other products.  Sorry Botanics, I think our love affair is over. Sob!

Benefit Stay Don't Stray

Eyeshadow primer is a must for me, without it my eyeshadows apply very unevenly, fades quickly and basically do everything a primer stops it from doing. For years I've used the infamous Urban Decay Primer Potion, but when my last tube ran out, I decided to try the  Benefit for a change.

As you can see, Stay Don't Stray (right) is slightly darker and thicker than UDPP

Benefit describe this as having a universally flattering shade.  Unlike the likes of UDPP this doesn't dry translucent on the skin, it actually applies almost like a nude cream eyeshadow.  This isn't an issue for me, and I've even just put this on my eyelids with no shadow over it.  It does a great job of hiding the discolouration on my eyelids and just evens them out a bit.  This and a bit of liquid liner & mascara and I've got a quick and easy eye look. I'm unsure if those with darker skin tones would prefer a primer that does dry translucent, although if it's going to be covered over with eyeshadow, it won't matter too much maybe! It is also slightly thicker in texture, and I seem to need a smaller 'dollop' than I would with UDPP. With eye shadow, it worked really well for me too, possibly better than UDPP.  Eight hours later my eye makeup was still intact and hard barely creased. Result!

Stay Don't Stray is a "dual action" primer, as it can also be used to help your concealer stay put longer.  To be honest, I felt it made no difference to my concealer.  I wasn't too bothered about this as I bought it purely to use as an eyeshadow primer.  But obviously I gave it a go under my concealers, but felt they did just as good a job on their own.  My go-to concealer at the moment is the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection, a liquid concealer, so maybe it'd work better with a cream concealer. But like I say, this wouldn't put me off buying this again as I didn't buy it for this purpose.

The major downfall of this product for me is the packaging.  Remember the old UDPP packaging with the genie bottle? And the You Tube videos that showed us how cutting the bottle in half would unleash more product than the wand could reach?!  Well Benefit have made a similar boo boo here. While the pump dispenser is hygienic, unless you are extremely careful, it dispenses too much product. WAY too much product.  Over time I've learned that you only need to press gently on the pump, and not push it all the way down.  This is easier said than done, especially if you're in a rush to get ready like I usually am and even doing this often gives you too much product.  I've possibly wasted more product than I've actually used, which when a product costs almost £20, it's not something you want to do!

 

As much as I love Benefit, and how much this works well for me, I'm not sure I'd repurchase this again, unless they changed the packaging.  It's a shame really, as the primer itself works better for me than UDPP, but £19.50 is a lot of money for me if half the product is going to waste.