I really enjoyed writing my first Thoughts & Photos post and think it's such a nice way to basically ramble a bit more and show a few personal photos!
This week me and the fiance went on a last minute trip to Southport in Lancashire which is around 40 minutes drive from where we live. We only got there just before 5pm but as the day was so summery and warm it really didn't make a difference. Southport is such a lovely traditional Victorian seaside town full of different areas to walk around - shopping on Lord St and at Wayfarers Arcade, riding the carousel, visiting Funland and the free Hall of Mirrors, antique shopping, boating on the marina, visiting the sand dunes, eating al fresco in one of the many brasserie and of course the beach and pier! Or if you are slightly alternative you could visit the British Lawnmower Museum - which is actually the top 3rd thing to do in Southport according to Trip Advisor, who knew!
1. Jetty over marshlands at the end of the beach. 2. Waterstones building on the corner of Lord St. built in 1833. 3. Kitsch beach hunt next to the marina 4. Sand Dunes - which are my absolute favourite, some are so high and very fun to run down!
5. A beautiful Victorian house off the Promenade. 6. War Memorial for those that died in World War 1 - across from Lord Street. 7. Gardens next to the memorial overlooking the shops on Lord Street Boulevard - a perfect place to have an ice-cream! 8. More sand dunes!
It's just such a nice place to visit in Summer and a place I really hope to live in the future someday. If you do ever visit Southport make sure to have a game of crazy golf and an amazingly flavoured ice-cream on Neville st!
9. For over a year now I have been aware of the different carcinogenics in products which is why I don't use any product containing Sulfate (found in cleansers, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, bubble bath, shower gel - anything that lathers up basically) and I've also stopped using deodorant containing Parabens, which may seem a bit extreme but every breast cancer tumour tested has contained parabens and parabens have estrogen-like properties so it would make sense. So it's something that I've incorporated into my life and now it's just the norm however with the rise of cancers, Alzheimer's, eye diseases and so much more I thought I would take my Internet reading a step further and buy a book on it!
The first book I purchase is Skin Deep by Pat Thomas and is so in-depth and honest and has really opened my eyes to how many harsh and bad chemicals are in products - even in colourants and fragrances! But I knew the book could be seriously overwhelming so in the same order I purchased Feeding Your Skin by Carla Oates which is full of homemade recipes for every beauty product! The first products I want to try out making is The Brightest Hour Strawberry Scrub and the Rose Syrup mask, both for oily skin, oh and the Banana and Lime Hair Treatment! The book is just filled with inspiring recipes that look fun yet sophisticated.
Overall I'm more than pleased with the two books and think they both compliment each other perfectly. I'll be sure to share my new found knowledge with you all once I've read both books and tried out a few homemade products!
The first book I purchase is Skin Deep by Pat Thomas and is so in-depth and honest and has really opened my eyes to how many harsh and bad chemicals are in products - even in colourants and fragrances! But I knew the book could be seriously overwhelming so in the same order I purchased Feeding Your Skin by Carla Oates which is full of homemade recipes for every beauty product! The first products I want to try out making is The Brightest Hour Strawberry Scrub and the Rose Syrup mask, both for oily skin, oh and the Banana and Lime Hair Treatment! The book is just filled with inspiring recipes that look fun yet sophisticated.
Overall I'm more than pleased with the two books and think they both compliment each other perfectly. I'll be sure to share my new found knowledge with you all once I've read both books and tried out a few homemade products!
10. Lonny is a bi-monthly interior/home decor online magazine that is totally free... and I love it! I love magazines but as I have so many different interests - interiors, fashion & beauty, cooking it can quickly become pricey by the end of the month if I purchase all the magazines I liked. So for a few months now I've been limiting myself to around 3 magazines a month and then going online to read my favourite blogs and online magazines.
But what I love about Lonny it is like an actual magazine. It's not focused on selling the products of one company or trying to force you into paying for anything, it's just free to enjoy! I also love that it's an American interior magazine as I think British interiors can be a bit stuffy and also the content is just great. Though if home decor isn't your thing Pure Beauty magazine is another free online magazine that keeps you up to date with the latest products and also give you a bit of a behind the scenes view of the beauty world.
But what I love about Lonny it is like an actual magazine. It's not focused on selling the products of one company or trying to force you into paying for anything, it's just free to enjoy! I also love that it's an American interior magazine as I think British interiors can be a bit stuffy and also the content is just great. Though if home decor isn't your thing Pure Beauty magazine is another free online magazine that keeps you up to date with the latest products and also give you a bit of a behind the scenes view of the beauty world.
11. Peanut Butter Bacon Cookies - Yes you heard right! I am more than rubbish when it comes to baking but these are at my level and taste amazing. The combination does seem VERY odd and any type of meat in a cookie is enough to turn anyone off but it actually works! They aren't savoury in the least and the bacon add more texture and punch to the taste than anything. I've also got quite a few people try them now and no one has spotted they contain bacon but it definitely is a needed ingredient.
You can find the recipe at Joy The Baker however it is in cup measurements , so feel free to tweet me @Makeup_savvy if you would like the ingredients in grams. If you like baking or eating soft gooey cookies then the recipe is definitely for you!
You can find the recipe at Joy The Baker however it is in cup measurements , so feel free to tweet me @Makeup_savvy if you would like the ingredients in grams. If you like baking or eating soft gooey cookies then the recipe is definitely for you!
12. I love shopping and would definitely class it as a hobby, rather than a thing to do! So I thought it would only be right to talk about things I have seen/bought and also one of my favourite shops - Homesense. All the products above are from Homesense (the furniture sister of TK Maxx) and are things I wanted to buy there and then. The little (well quite large) wooden house is actually a bird house would you believe, just so cute... but I'm not too sure how you are supposed to hang it or where you put it. I also spotted a lovely white wooden letter holder in the stationary section that would be perfect for storing makeup palettes in, as I seem to be growing quite a collection now.
Last but not least I found a gorgeous chest of drawer which is unlike anything I have seen before - it's quite hard to describe but you may be able to see in the bottom right corner of the framed piece that is is mirrored, but in a vintage way and only to parts of the piece. Just so lovely! Which is why I want it in my bedroom with a gorgeous hand made mother of pearl mirror hanging above it - which won't happen as we are current saving for our wedding!
The Apprentice Susan Ma's mystery skincare brand - I've loved watching The Apprentice so far this year but every time I watch it Susan mentions her skincare brand and knowing a lot about the beauty industry. However it's yet to say what it is... so I thought I'd do a bit of search in the hope to find out what her skincare line was called and if it's actually online and it is! It's actually called Tropic Skincare and is 100% natural and cruelty free, you can find the products here... but sadly I'm a little let down as it doesn't seem all that professional and the prices are very similar to Liz Earle. But then again she is only 21, so it is pretty amazing that she even has her own company!
Hope you are all enjoying these types of posts!
Last but not least I found a gorgeous chest of drawer which is unlike anything I have seen before - it's quite hard to describe but you may be able to see in the bottom right corner of the framed piece that is is mirrored, but in a vintage way and only to parts of the piece. Just so lovely! Which is why I want it in my bedroom with a gorgeous hand made mother of pearl mirror hanging above it - which won't happen as we are current saving for our wedding!
The Apprentice Susan Ma's mystery skincare brand - I've loved watching The Apprentice so far this year but every time I watch it Susan mentions her skincare brand and knowing a lot about the beauty industry. However it's yet to say what it is... so I thought I'd do a bit of search in the hope to find out what her skincare line was called and if it's actually online and it is! It's actually called Tropic Skincare and is 100% natural and cruelty free, you can find the products here... but sadly I'm a little let down as it doesn't seem all that professional and the prices are very similar to Liz Earle. But then again she is only 21, so it is pretty amazing that she even has her own company!
Hope you are all enjoying these types of posts!
Fee xo.
So I thought I'd start something a bit new on Makeup Savvy, something a bit more personal and something that would give me an excuse to take more photos plus ramble about things that are in the press and everyday life etc!
1. As it was recently my birthday I decided to get a new bag, no real reason other than I fancied one. So I went for the Fiorelli Wimbledon Medium Shoulder bag in Khaki (here). When it arrived it wasn't love at first sight as I'd hoped. It was sadly smaller than I'd normally go for but I really hate having to return things so I'm going to try and get used to it and the fact it reminds me of a grandma's purse with 7 different compartments in it! But I do love the quality of the bag and the shade so I shall see.
2. I also bought some lovely 70's sunglasses from Ashley Madekwe (she plays Bambi in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl). She has such an amazing sense of style (which is the reason for me lusting after some hot pink jeans right now) and also has a fashion blog over at Ring My Bell.
3. For completing Lip balm cold turkey without cheating (even though it wasn't as successful as hoped) I treated myself to Impassioned from Mac which even though a very bright lipstick from the Amplified family it is much more versatile that I imagined. It looks really good on it's own of course, under a nude lipstick for a more softer pink lip, just dabbed on as a stain or used on the cheeks as a very summery long lasting blush. All in all more than pleased about getting this.
4. I have still yet to review my first GlossyBox as I really wanted to see other people's reactions to it and also decide what I genuinely thought about the products/samples that I received. I think there are some definite good and bad points to the beauty subscription (which I will mention in the upcoming review) but I have to say I do love the box that the samples came in. Which is now storing all the brands of nail polish that I reach for.
5. I also picked up another bag from Tesco this time which is very similar in style to the Alexander Wang Coco Duffel bag in dove gray (seen here). It was such a bargain at £9 down from £18 that I didn't hesitate in getting it. I'm quite tempted to say I like it more than the Fiorelli bag as it's just simple with details in all the right places. Just a really great everyday bag!
6. Around two weeks ago now I very kindly sent the fairly new Benefit Finding Mr. Bright kit by an online beauty shop which had actually spent the time reading my blog and in particular about how I felt that eBay was swamped with fake Benefit products and also how I had been wanting the kit since it was released. So it was more than refreshing to hear from them! The packaging I'm tempted to say is the nicest I've seen from Benefit and I've really been using all the products almost daily since I received it. I will of course be reviewing the set at a later date but so far I love Girl meets Pearl and Posietint. But as I'm loving GmP so much, Highbeam now doesn't seem as great (I've been using it for the last few years) and sadly the Erase Paste in medium is too dark for me.
7. This week I harvested the first lot of the new potatoes I have been growing - or first earlies as they are called. So we now have around 60 new potatoes which taste so good and creamy! This is the first real year me and my boyfriend have taken full advantage of the huge allotment we have (it's at the back of our actual garden so we use it as a second garden). We are now growing potatoes, red onions,tomatoes, spring onions, carrots, green beans, baby corn, sweetcorn and strawberries (which I grow every year)! It's all pretty new to me but it really is easy and just so rewarding. Next year I really hope to grow more specialist veg like little gem lettuce, peppers, pak choi for stir fries and more fruit! You really just can't believe the difference in taste when you grow your own.
8. Also lately with being more tanned/using fake tan I have been obsessed with body scrubs more so than usual! I'm absolutely in love with The Breakfast Scrub by S&G but I'm sadly hating one I thought I would love - Boots Extract Mango Sugar Scrub. It leaves just a nasty sticky residue on the skin that you have to scrub off to remove before getting out of the shower... and I had such high hopes for it.
Hairdresser James Brown in the press for all the wrong reasons (source) - Finally James Brown has been outed for being the egotistical pig that I'm pretty sure a lot of us secretly thought he was. His antics really didn't surprise me or that he played the 'too much to drink' card. But as I said on Twitter... A drunken mind speaks a sober heart. It will definitely be interesting to see how this affects his haircare line in Boots and also his TV programme.
MAC & Beauty Bloggers unite? (source) - I was tempted to write a full post on this but I've decided my opinions with be like many other bloggers I'm sure. I am definitely in the 'It's a huge marketing ploy' camp, I'd be tempted to feel otherwise if it was any other company but MAC. But I feel after the Rodarte collection controversy last year which highlighted the volumes on passionate influential beauty bloggers that existed to MAC and actually how annoyed we all where, they knew they needed to do something! So I 100% see this as MAC trying to get back 'on side' and also grabbing onto the coat tails of some very well respected beauty bloggers. Though I'm not denying how great it is too see beauty bloggers being valued enough to create actually shades. I think the collection being only online in the US & Canada for 43 days says it all really.
Naomi C in race row with Cadbury's Bliss chocolate ad (source) - Now I'm going to say I don't see racism in the advert at all, I mean why would Cadbury's be racist or want to be seen as racist! But I can see how people could see it as being of a racist nature as they are literally comparing Naomi Campbell to a chocolate bar. Though if you removed the colour of the chocolate here it is in pretty bad taste still... using Naomi's name and the diamonds just isn't needed for advert trying to sell chocolate and really isn't that humorous.
At the end of the day Cadbury definitely picked on the wrong diva here as Naomi has made a pretty big song and dance about the advert, resulting in it being pulled.
Hope you all enjoyed the post!
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