Weekend wind-up: Back to work and missing the sun, Sephora hauls and new moisturiser

This week I'm afraid it's back to work and the cold weather. I am thoroughly missing Spain and my holiday from last week. It's been very cold here in the UK and having sunshine really makes a difference to my mood and outlook. Hopefully it will start warming up soon and we can have the warm weather too.

Whilst I was in Spain I did make a sneaky trip to Sephora and there was a haul post yesterday if you would like to see what I bought. I wish Sephora would come to the UK but it's probably a good thing for my bank account that it doesn't! 

One thing I am really loving from that haul is the Origins GinZing moisturiser. The smell alone is reason enough to try it out. I'm sure this will be making into my February favourites shortly. I would love to know what moisturiser you use- have you got a firm favourite? Especially those with dry skin, I am constantly on the hunt to solve my dry dull skin.

This weekend I am going up north to see my grandparents and to take them out to see a surprise concert. Coming from a musical family where playing in a brass band and being a miner was part of the norm, I took them to see Black Dyke brass band as a birthday surprise, we also went out for dinner. Now that I am slightly older, it is really nice to be able to take my family out and treat them.

I've also been loving the series 'Back in time for the weekend' on BBC in which a family gives up 21st century technology and travels back in time to discover leisure time in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s. The Ashby Hawkins family have their home decorated to suit the era and try out all of the games, gadgets and lifestyle of that decade- definitely worth a watch. Next week is the 90s which I'm sure will bring back lots of fun memories- gameboys, arrival of the internet, going to the gym and home makeover shows!

I would love to know what you have been up to- what is your favourite show right now?

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Sephora haul

Last week I went to Spain and was very excited to visit Sephora as we don't have them in the UK. I visited the Alicante store where I picked up a few naughty purchases.

Firstly, I got another Too Faced better than sex mascara which I have been loving for quite some time. This was also in my 2015 favourite post. As you can see from the photo, there is a dramatic increase in length and volume. The only downside would be that it doesn't hold a curl all day. Despite this, it is my favourite masara so far and if you are from the UK you can also get this in debenhams too.

Next up, I got two of the Sephora sheet masks in pearl and lotus. I picked these up whilst waiting at the checkout as I've wanted to try a sheet mask for a while now. These are fibre masks soaked in the mask goodie which you place straight onto the face- no scrubbing dried mud off here!

I'll let you know my thoughts soon.

I then headed over to the makeup forever counter. We do have makeup forever in the UK now but it isn't widely available so it was lovely to be able to see so many products I have yet to try. I decided to pick up the ever pro sculpting face palette. This contains a highlight, contour, shimmer and blush in cream form. I've been using this for the last week and I am really enjoying it.


Particularly the contour shade which is a great dupe for the Kevyn Aucoin creamy glow duo.
This is only £6.50 more and you also get a blush and a highlight. A great palette for travelling

Radiant primer

Also from makeup forever, I picked up the step 1 radiant primer which is for use under makeup to give you a glow. One of the ladies in Sephora actually tried this out in store on my face along with a few other products and it really impressed me. I am forever in search of a glow as my skin is often dry and dull. Again, I will keep you posted with my thoughts.

Finally, I got the Origins enery- boosting moisturiser which I have been eyeing up for a while now. Anything orangey and it's got my name on it! This smells incredible, so fresh and citrus. I really like the texture of this as it does't feel like a standard moisturiser. It feels gel like when you first put it onto the skin and then almost feels like an oil when you massage it in. It is lightweight and oil-free with panax ginseng and coffee bean which helps to rehydrate the skin and give you a healthy glow. I've been using this for the last week and so far so good! This is also available in the UK at boots or from the Origins website where you can currently get a full size eye cream for free (£20 value) when you spend £40 PLUS if you register your email first you will get another £5 as a new customer with the code NEW2

Have you tried anything new from Sephora recently?

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

New editions to my Spring wardrobe from Oliver Bonas

Now it is slowly approaching Spring I have been craving some more colour in my wardrobe. As much as I love greys and blacks, I have really missed colour this winter so I decided to pick up this bank holiday jumper in a lovely peachy tone with a ribbed knit effect. I don't know if you are like me but when I'm looking at clothes I feel them as I walk past and this one stopped me in my tracks. It is sooooo soft! This looks great with a pair of skinny jeans and a floral scarf or even tucked into a little skirt. I'm not sure it is bare leg weather yet but we're getting there!

I also purchased this cloud 9 jumper. I saw this on the website as I really liked the contrast collar and trim and the soft siloutte/bat wing style cut. This really doesn't look good on the hanger but once you try it on it is very flattering. I love this muted blue colour- again perfect with jeans or a statement necklace to dress it up.

What have been your new purchases recently- have you got a new favourite item in your wardrobe?

Thanks for reading
Katherine
xxx

Weekend wind-up: Holidays, blogging break, Sephora hauls and cocktails

This week I jetted off to Torrevieja in Spain for a must needed rest. I joined my parents out in a two bed apartment with my sister for the week. Apart from having to get up at 3am to go to the airport, I had such a relaxing week and feel much more human again. 

I've found it quite hard to blog recently, especially when it is so grey and miserable outside. Not only does it effect your mood but it really narrows the window in which you can take good photos for your blog. I've decided to do 3 posts a week for the moment instead of 4 as I really want to put up content that I feel proud of and not just churn out rubbish for the sake of it. 

My holiday has refreshed my brain and mood and I feel more excited to blog again. During the week we did a bit of sunbathing, walked along the beach and ate lots of lovely food including tapas and paella. The weather was very good for February, we had 3 sunny days which were around 16 degrees and hot enough to lay in the sun, much better than I was expecting. Obviously all the lovely food we ate had to be washed down with some lovely cocktails too, this photo was taken at a little cocktail hut along the sea front near where we stayed.

We also visited Alicante for the day where I had to make a trip to Sephora. There will be a haul coming your way very shortly. I also got some new clothing items which I will show you too.

If you missed it, I did a Space NK haul and also a DIY for home decor photo frames too.

I hope you had a lovely week

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

DIY photo frames PLUS discount code!

I recently created these two lovely frames for my bathrooms and decided to share with you how I created them. I find if you buy already framed prints they can be extremely expensive. These work out at £15.62 each.

I bought the prints from Etsy from a shop seller Visual aesthetics. You can download and print the saying you would like that day. These particular ones were £4.26 each 'Peace begins with a smile' and  'prove them wrong'. You can also customise your own in beautiful fonts and styles. There is currently a sale. 15% purchases between $10-19.99 with the code take15 and 25% over $20 with the code take20.

I then printed these out at home in A4 size and framed them in these grey frames from Marks and Spencers for £12. They also come with a stand if you didn't want to mount them on the wall. They also come in bright colours which would be great for a gallery wall in coral, aqua, yellow, white, black and natural wood. Ikea is also great for cheap picture frames.

A great DIY which also makes a lovely gift for someone too!

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Space NK and Boots haul

I recently made a naughty trip to Space NK and boots and thought I would show you what I picked up. I have been really good recently and haven't spent any money on makeup/ clothes so I thought it was about time for a haul. First and top of my list were the Hourglass ambient strobe lighting powders. I have been eyeing these up for the last couple of weeks and finally gave in. I picked up the shade iridescent strobe light. I wrote a full review and blog post all about these here if you want to see swatches of the other shades too. Also, until Wednesday 17th February, Space NK are overing £15 a £60 spent which means you could try the hourglass strobe powders. There are plenty of other goodies on the website too if you only wanted to pick up one. Use the code EXPLORE16 at the checkout before tomorrow!

I also picked up the NARS pure radiant tinted moisturiser the shade Light 1 Finland. Now we are approaching Spring I fancied trying a new base which is lighter in coverage. I really love the Chanel Vital Lumiere aqua and the Estee Lauder EE skin corrector for light coverage so let's see how this compares- full review coming soon!

As you read this I will be in Sunny Spain for a weeks much needed rest with my family. I decided to pick up the Simple Kind to skin protecting moisture cream SPF 30. If I fancy a day without makeup I thought it would be good to keep my skin protected from the sun. After all, we haven't had any sun here in the UK for quite some time! At only £4.99 I thought this was a bargain. 

Lastly I picked up another Denman ceramic barrel hot curling brush. I recently had my haircut and find that the ends of my hair are sticking out more so I needed a barrel brush to keep the ends at bay. I've also been enjoying using my Babyliss big hair spinning brush for giving myself that hairdresser blow dry look at home.

Thanks for reading 

Katherine

xxx

Review: The new Hourglass ambient strobe lighting powders PLUS discount code!

Hourglass recently released four new ambient strobe lighting powders which instantly sent my heart a flutter! As you can see from the photo, I am a huge fan on the hourglass powders and palettes. In this new collection there is:

• Euphoric Strobe Light
• Iridescent Strobe Light
• Brilliant Strobe Light 
• Incandescent Strobe Light

Pictured left to right:

Brilliant light, Iridescent light, Incadescent light and Euphoric light

These have a beautiful glowy shimmer running through them and are perfect to give you a natural glow or highlight. They are very finely milled and do not disappoint compared to the blushes, powders and bronzers already in the collection. These retail at £34 each but keep reading for a discount code.

I took two photos of the strobe powders- one in day light and one inside.

I found it quite hard to choose which one I liked the most. Brilliant is a beautiful golden/yellow highlight, iridescent and incandescent are very similar. Iridescent is more pinky toned/ rose gold and euphoric is the darkest of the four with a warm golden/bronze tone.

After much swatching and deliberation I went for Iridescent light. I thought I was missing a more pinky toned highlight from my collection.

Until Wednesday 17th February, Space NK are overing £15 a £60 spent which means you could pick up two of these for only £53 (£26.50 each) saving £7.50 on each one. There are plenty of other goodies on the website too if you only wanted to pick up one.

Use the code EXPLORE16 at the checkout

Thanks for reading

Katherine

xxx

Current ASOS wishlist edit

It's finally pay day! I always find January a difficult one as you end up spending a lot of money at Christmas and all through January you have the sales and you are trying to save your pennies until pay day. I haven't been spending any money recently to try and save up for the important things in life, but if I do decide to get spendy, here is what I would choose:

Avocado toast t shirt £36

2 in 1 strip jumper £39

Daisy street pink jumper £12

Vila printed shirt £30

ASOS parka £37.50

Denim look jogger £22

Monki printed shirt dress £35

Pearl ear cuff £4

Boohoo boxy cropped shirt £18

Ear cuff pack £7

Ring stack £12

What is on your current wishlist?

Thanks for reading

Katherine 

xxx