What I Loved in March

Today I want to share with you some of the things I have been loving in March. I wont start with the usual 'Can you believe its nearly April, where did March go', but seriously where did March go?

This month I have a mixtures of beauty and non beauty favourites, sometimes its fun to mix things up a bit!

However lets start with the beauty favourites.

My first product I have been loving in Marching is the much hyped Bourjois 123 Perfect CC Cream, I did a full review of this little product here. In the interest of this post though to cut a long story short the CC Cream from Bourjois is a light but buidable formula which leaves the skin looking even and perfected, with a natural glowing finish, its basically your skin but better and I have been reaching for this everyday since I purchased it.

My next most loved product in the month of March, has been my Garnier Michellar cleansing water, again I did a full review of this here, but this is an extremely gentle yet effective cleanser which I use every morning and night, it has left my skin feeling clean, soft, smooth and hydrated. Its brilliant for removing my make up at the end of the day, and for £4.99 you get a lot of product, so no complaints from me and I will defintley be repurchasing.

Moving on to Soap and Glory who continue to impress me with their fun packaging and quirky product names but its what inside this hand food cream that is most impressing. Can you believe before this month I had never even tried this, even though so many bloggers recommended it, I know naughty blogger. However, when I finally did try it I fell in love with it and can appreciate why everyone told me to try it. I have been slathering this rich buttery cream all over my hands every night before bed and literally straight away my hands feel soft and moisturised without feeling greasy or oily. I also really like the sweet scent this leaves on my hands, but its not over powering or heavy. I will definitely do a full review of this soon for you, promise.

Next up is Sleek Pixie Pink blush, I have done a full review of this little blush here. I have been so impressed with this beautiful blush, the pigmentation and finish on the cheek is amazing for a high street product, very similar to Nar's blushes which is impressive for more then half the price. I love this pink shade it looks very bright in the pan but applied with a light hand this gives your cheeks a lovely pinched look, perfect for the spring!

Next up is Revlon Colorburst Laquer balm, I am working on a full review of both the matte and laquer balms, but the shade Demure is my favourite of the three I purchased. Demure is a natural pink blush shade with glitter particles, the formula inst too glittery, it just has the right amount of sparkle to give your lips a glossy finish. This particular shade has a sheer finish so is a great every day colour. These balms from Revlon are the perfect hand bag lip product because they are really easy to apply, I have managed to touch this up in the day without a mirror, now that is impressive.

My final beauty pick of the month is the Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser, again you can read a full review here. There has been a lot of mixed reviews of this light weight gel primer, but personally I have really enjoyed using this on my skin before applying foundation. You only need a very light layer but baby skin minimizes my pore, calms redness on the skin and its a good long lasting base for my make up, and well its just so darn cute! What's not to love! 

Now onto some books I purchased this month, I am a real book worm and love snuggling up with a good book. I have particularly been enjoying 'The New York Times, 36 hours, 125 weekend in Europe. Ok so that is quite a mouthful of title, but basically this book gives you a list of the best places to sight see, stay and eat in 125 places in Europe (if you hadn't guessed that). This book caught my eye because me and my other half are going on a little mini moon after our wedding, we aren't going on our honey moon till November, so we thought it would be nice to go away for a few days after the wedding and bought this to give us some inspiration. The book is great and has lots of ideas,  the only problem we have now got  to attempt to narrow it down to one place, do we go to Edinburgh or London? Paris or Rome? because we now have a long list of places we want to visit now thank to this amazing travel guide. 

The next book is the delightful 'Love letters of Great men', any good sex and the city fan will have heard of this book. Now it could well be because I am getting married this summer so I am feeling the love but I have really enjoyed reading this book filled with romantic letters from male historical figures throughout the ages to their love ones, there is just something so romantic and charming about hand written letters, its a lovely and relaxing read.

Finally, I had to include some Easter chocolate, I am not normally a huge chocolate fan, maybe its because they are only available for part of the year but I love mini eggs and creme eggs. I have been trying to really limit my chocolate intake to once a week to make sure I fit in my wedding dress and keep my skin clear  so these are a lovely yummy sweet treat. I might do some easter baking soon and do a baking post, I bake all the time but I never remember to blog about it, thats my blogging goal for next month...baking post, dont let me forget lovely readers.

So thats it my March favourites, I would love to hear about what you have been loving this month.

What I love on the High Street

Hello beautifull readers, how are we all?

On Sunday I took part in the bloggers chat, these chats take place from 8.00-9.00pm every Wednesday and Friday on twitter. I really enjoy taking part in the chats it’s a great way to meet and chat to lots of bloggers and the conversation is always flowing because we all have a love and passion for the beauty world. This week’s topic was blogging on a budget and found it really interesting to explore different ways to save my pennies when it comes to my makeup and beauty addiction.

 My makeup collection is a real mixture of high end luxurious make up and high street bargains, but the chat really made me think about high street beauty. So today I thought I would share with you my top 5 high street gems. To be honest I found it hard to narrow it down to just 5 products because the high street is full of amazing products, but I really thought about my top 5 high street favourites that I would pick over a high end version of the product.

Eternal gold and on and on bronze

First on the list is Maybelline Colour tattoos. These little pots are a smooth creamy gel formulated eye shadows with a shimmery long lasting finish. I literally use these all the time my favorite is the ‘on and on bronze shade’ which is metallic warm bronze shade. The colour tattoos are great as a base for a smoky or dramatic  eye makeup look as you can pack on a good amount of it. I also like to use this shadow alone blended out for a subtle pop of colour for an everyday look. The pigmentation of the colour tattoos are really good and long lasting on the lid and will only cost you £4.99, I own about 5 of these little pots and reach for them more often than my MAC paint pots.

Number two is my favorite drug store foundation, Bourjois healthy mix foundation. I have recently been loving the CC cream but I have only been using this a month or two so didn't think I could put in my top 5 just yet, but before I purchased this the high street foundation I always grabbed for and has been a much loved staple in my rather large makeup collection is the healthy mix foundation. This foundation is a light airy formula that offers medium, but build-able coverage. The healthy mix foundation blends smoothly on the skin, covering all my redness and imperfections leaving a satin feel and glowing finish that is not too dewy or oily. Its also smells really yummy and fruity so with all this for the small price of £9.99 whats not to like. 

Sticking with Bourjois my next high street pick is their healthy balance powder. I wont go on about this too much as I did a full review here, but this is perfect powder for a healthy natural finish to the skin and it doesn't leave you looking too powdery or caked in powder, which is never a good look. You can purchase this compact powder for £8.99 and I find myself reaching for this over all my high end finishing powders. I just have to say I am so impressed with Bourjois recently they are quickly becoming my favourite make up brand on the high street with their beautiful array of potted blush, shimmering glosses and sweet scented face products...who could not love the chocolate bronzer. 

Nude and black

Moving onto number four is the Rimmel scandal eye liners which are around £3.99. I very rarely purchase high end eye liner, I just don't see the point of paying a fortune for a kohl pencil when there are so many good liners on the high street, especially since my eye liners always seem to go walk about. I love these Scandal eye liners from Rimmel, the soft creamy consistency glides on to my water line with ease and the lasting powder of these pencils is amazing, it does mean they can be pretty hard to budge these at the end of the day but I find an oil based cleanser is best for removing heavy eye makeup. As you can see from the swatches the pigmentation of these is amazing and just one layer gives your eyes a dramatic finish. 

 Left to right, tutti fruitti, strawberry shortcake, sorbet and candy apple. 

Finally I couldn't do a high street post without including my beloved Revlon lip butters, I always have one of these in my handbag. I adore these glossy buttery balms. They are highly pigmented and have a really good colour pay off, the rich buttery consistency leaves my lips moisturized and hydrated and they last really well on the lips. These are hands down my favorite high street lip products and I reach for these little beauties daily. If I had to pick just one shade  though it would be strawberry short cake, which is not only the cutest little name but it’s the cutest  baby pink shade, its not too blue toned so its perfect for every day where to add just a pop of pink to your look. I think I nearly own every colour available from the lip butter range…it’s an addiction  but what can I say but I love them, they only cost £7.99 so I am a very happy blogger when it comes to these little lip butters. I have swatched some of my favorite colours for you.

So that’s my it, my top 5 high street favorites. I would love to hear about your top 5 and whether you have tried any of my personal favorites.

Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream

I have many foundations, in fact far too many! Its an addiction, I am always on the hunt for that perfect air brush finish base, my hunt will probably never end and I have a number of beautiful favorite foundations which tick all the boxes. Yet, I am still not satisfied, does any one else have this problem? just me?

Well over the last month or so I have fallen in love with a new base product...let me tell you more.

The Bourjois 123 Perfect CC cream has been hyped about in the blogging world and being the easily sold blogger I am I had to give it a try. 

I will be totally honest I have never really understood the BB or CC obsession, its just a tinted moisturizer with a fancy name right? Well that was until now, oh my gosh I adore this CC cream. I purchased this in the shade rose beige for £10.99 from boots. 

The Bourjois CC cream has three colour correcting pigments that smooth away imperfections, apricot pigments to combat anti fatigue, green pigmentation to get rid of redness and finally white pigment to banish dark spots. Sounds like a miracle formula for a base product. 

This CC cream has a thin runny like consistency, I have been using my real techniques buffing brush to buff this into the skin, which I find blends really evenly into the skin. The consistency of this formula could definitely be blended in with fingers but if your a regular reader of my blog you will know I cant use my fingers to apply make up, its a germ thing.

Even though this is a light coverage base I was surprised how much it covered and perfected my skin. I get redness particularly around my cheeks and nose and this took away all the redness and dark circles under my eyes, it has good staying power and lasted a good 7 hours on my skin. I probably touched up with powder once in the middle of the day but this is quite normal for skin. 

The CC cream left my skin perfected and even, leaving it looking fresh and awake with a natural and radiant glow. Its basically your skin but better.

This formula actually really reminds of  the ultra light Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation, which is probably one of my favorite foundations ever, I have probably gone through four bottles, so that's probably why I adore this CC cream so much. 

I have literally used this CC cream everyday since I purchased it back in February and I can safely say I will be repurchasing again once this bottle runs out and I cant recommend it enough, seeing as my other foundations have sat unused and abandoned. 

Have you tried the Bourjois 123 perfect CC, What do you think?

Thanks for reading beauts

Baby Skin

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I am a sucker for cute packaging, if its bright, colourful and cute, something draws me in. Yes its a problem!

That's where Maybelline Baby Skin Instant PoreEraser Lightweight Primer  comes in. (wow that's a mouth full of a product name)l

I had manged to resist this product in the original hype period but I was having a bit of a shop in boots last week and I just couldn't resist this pretty little primer. 

For £7.99 this a high street primer which has been compared to the ever popular Porefessional by benefit which has been a firm favorite in my make up collection since its release. So I was very excited to give this primer a whirl. 

The baby skin primer is a light silky gel with an almost serum like formula that leaves your skin with a soft, matte and satin like finish to the skin. 

This primer can be applied to the skin to erase pores to prefect your skin on a no make up day. However it can also be used as a prime to prime and perfect your skin before applying makeup. 

I found you only need a very light layer of this primer to mattify your skin, too much made my skin too dewy. When I used this primer after hearing a mixture of review I was pleasantly surprised. My pores looked smaller and the gel like formula kept my oily areas and shine under control. My make up glided on with ease and didn't sit on any pores or imperfections.  My make up lasted well, similarly to the Benefit I only needed a little touch u after 5 hours or so. 


This isn't a miracle product I didn't find it completely erased my pores but it did minimize them. If your not a fan of silicone based products this probably isn't the primer for you but for me personally it does the job. 

I think benefit Porefessional will always be my favorite primer in my collection as its tinted so colour corrects as well as minimising pores, but 'Baby skin' gives it a good run for its money. 

Would I repurchase? Yes it does what it needs to do and its not as expensive as the high end versions which do a similar job. I don't think my other primers will go untouched but I am enjoying using this cute little primer. 

Have you tried Baby skin? What do you think?

Thanks for reading Beauts

Bourjois Healthy Balance Powder

I am one of those lucky girls who suffers with an oily T-zone so setting powder is an essential part of my make up routine. 

For nearly a year I have stayed true to my Rimmel stay Matte powder and used nothing else other than this. 

However one of my favorite beauty guru's Amelia Lianna raved about this healthy balance powder from Bourjois so I felt it was time I branched out and tried something new, any excuse to add to my make up collection. 

You can take a look Amelia's review of the powder here. Amelia says this powder is a good dupe for the Armani luminous silk powder but I have never used this so cannot comment.

The Bourjois Healthy Balance Compact Powder is a finely milled setting powder. I really like the ultra thin consistency of this powder. Its light coverage evens out skin tone and covers any imperfections but isn't too heavy that it takes away any dewy or natural glow from my foundation, but leaves a matte finish. It basically does as it says on the packet leaves your skin with a natural healthy glow. 

This powder claims to last 10 hours, now it didn't last 10 hours on me and I did have to touch up around my nose and forehead after around 6-7 hours, but I don't mind this as I regularly touch up my make up throughout the day. It may last longer on normal or dry skin types. 

Similarly to the healthy mix foundation this powder has a fresh and fruity scent in the pan but the fragrance is not too heavy on the skin it just has a nice fresh fragrance finish. 

This powder costs a very reasonably £8.99. The packaging in thin and compact so a great hand bag essential. It has a nice big mirror too, which is great for any touching up through out the day. 

 I have really enjoyed using this powder its the perfect natural glow setting powder that is not heavy on the skin. This has been a must have in my make up bag ever since. I will defintley be repurchasing and I would go as far as to say I think I prefer this to my much loved stay matte powder. 

Have you tried this powder? What are your thoughts on healthy balance powder?

Thanks for reading lovelies

Birthday treat: Aqua Sana Spa day at Centre Parcs.

For my birthday I was a very lucky girl and got treated to a day of pampering and relaxation at Aqua Sana at Centre Parc's sherwood forest.

Me and Gary had such a good day at Aqua Sana I just had to share it all with you. Now I didn't take any pictures of my own seeing as it was a day for relaxing and unwinding I left my phone locked away all day, and it was quite nice actually.  However, the kind PR staff at Aqua Sana have sent me some photos to include in this post.

So lets start at the beginning:

Normally for my birthday I have a nice long list wish list, however this year I had no idea what I wanted. Don't get me wrong there are plenty of things I want, but there was nothing I really need and with our wedding just 4 months away (aahhhhh) I didn't want Gary to spend a fortune on something I didn't really need right now. So instead I thought it would be lovely to spend the day out together, so I strongly hinted how nice it would be to go on a spa day.

Well the boy followed through and off to Aqua Sana we went. I have been to Aqua Sana before but only for the twilight spa, so I was very excited about having a full day to just relax and unwind.Gary had never been on any kind of spa experience before so he had no idea what to expect.

When we arrived we changed into our swimsuits and complimentary fluffy robes and went through to the cafe where we given a complimentary drink and breakfast snack.

While nibbling away on my pan au chocolate we were greeted by a very friendly member of the spa team who went through our spa experience, explaining the different rooms, seminars and lunch. Gary let slip to her it was my birthday and she came back over with two glasses of bubbly as a Happy Birthday treat, which was a lovely treat.

Then into the spa we went to explore all the different rooms and spa experiences around the spa. I cant remember exactly which order we did each experience, but I will give you a quick run down of them all.

Tyrolean Sauna- This is a traditional wood lined sauna, by sitting (or laying) in the sauna your body heats up quickly bringing on perspiration and opening your pores. I love sauna's and this was lovely and warm and I just closed my eyes and imagined myself laying on the beach in Dubai. I did get very hot rather quickly so had to nip outside where there is a conveniently placed ice fountain which I reluctantly put my hands in and cooled myself off, and it felt lovely and refreshing.

Turkish Hammam- This is room is themed like a classic Turkish bath inspired by the Sultan's glittering palaces. This room is filled with steam and essential oils. The essential oils in this room work to detoxify and purify and relax any sore muscles and body aches. Me and Gary had our first holiday together in Turkey and had a traditional Turkish bath on the first day and in this room as we relaxed and reminisced about our trip to Turkey, deciding that we had to go back one day.

Indian blossom Steam room- This room is filled with glittering lights, flower petal and exotic aroma the soothing steam that will help your mind and body unwind. This aroma of this steam room is filled with eucalyptus and menthol which helps promote clear breathing.

Japanese salt steam bath- I loved this room, it was so relaxing and comforting I could have sat here all day, but there was too much to explore for that. The central focus in this steam room is an illuminated rose quartz stone. Rose quartz is a stone with healing qualities and the capacity to stimulate the senses and to heighten awareness. The room is filled with salt, jasmine and mint infused steam to help clear congestion and help you breath more easily. I was recovering from a cold so found this room really helped clear my sinuses.

Greek Herbal bath- This was Gary's favorite room so we had a few trips in here throughout the day. This room has individual domes to sit in, the room was infused with an array of herbal essences. A small bucket of water trickled over each herb individually and filled the room with its aroma. The herbs used were Chamomile, which cultivates a feeling of calm, soothing the mind body and spirit. Sage, reviving and stress relieving to counter muscle tiredness and fatigue. FinallyRosemary which stimulates the mind and body, while promoting clarity and thought, sharp memory and focused thinking. This was so relaxing, if I had been able to put my feet up I may well have drifted off into the land of nod.

Laconium- This is a very gentle heat bathed infused with citrus to purify and detoxify your body. This room slowly heats up your body and tingles your skin feeling refreshed. This room is cooler then some of the other experiences so this was perfect to cool down before lunch.

Which brings me on to lunch. We went through to the cafe, Gary seemed to know where we was going and took me to a table covered in confetti, happy birthday banners and a plated covered in melted chocolate spelling out 'Happy Birthday', which was lovely and made me feel really special. When I went to order my lunch I was serenaded to a enthusiastic round of Happy Birthday by the lovely staff behind the counter. We both went for a panini for lunch finished with a cake, I went for the lemon tart and it was delicious.

After lunch we went outside to a little log cabin like hut. Inside there was overhead heaters, cushions and some incredibly comfy and snuggly blankets. With our full bellies and relaxed minds we cuddled up together had a little chat about wedding and dozzed off and 40 winks. I don't know what it was but there was something so relaxing about seeing the rain trickling outside while we were wrapped up warm in the fresh air.. Waking up 30 minutes later  we both came back to life and agreed it was the best nap we had ever had and vowed that once we have a house with a garden we are building one of these in our back gardens, Gary suggested with a hot tub in the middle, that's up to debate.

After our little snooze we decided to go have a swim in the heated Outdoor pool, which is right in the center of the spa and has swim jets and bubbles to relax the muscles.

After a bit of a swim we went to the Tepidarium. we tried to get in here a couple of times but with just a handful of heated beds it was a battle to snatch one up. This room has warm mosaic beds, the ideal temperature allows your body to gently cleanse and bring a sense of well-being. This was very relaxing and would be the perfect place to get lost in a good book, I must remember to take one next time.

Finally the last experience was the Aqua meditation room. This room was extremely peaceful, I think Gary may have nodded off again but I just sat and allowed my mind to clear and relax. The meditation room is round with comfy seating around a bubble tubes. This room is filled with multi-sensory stimulation through water droplets,cascading from above to create a moving water surface which give a really peaceful atmosphere.

We revisited some of our favourite experience rooms, the only one we missed out on was the water beds which were very popular people were waiting to bounce on one as soon as there was a free bed so we decided to give this a miss.

My only regret about the day was that we didn't book a treatment. At the time of booking I think Gary was slightly overwhelmed and wasn't sure on the different treatments. We both said on the day it would have been lovely to indudge on a couples treatment of some kind, will make sure we do that next time.

Overall we had a fantastic day at Aqua Sana, the staff were super friendly and made my birthday very special. We both went home feeling  pampered, relaxed and it was so nice to have a day unwinding together. We both had an amazing night sleep that night and my skin was left feeling smooth and soft after being treated to the spa experiences.

We have both said we would really love another trip to Aqua Sana, we are looking at going before our wedding in July so we have a pamper and relax before the big day.

Thank you to the team at Aqua Sana for giving me one of the best birthday's ever.

If you fancy a spa day here is a link to the Aqua Sana website which has a range of spa breaks and prices.

Thanks for reading lovlies 

Mothers Day Gift guide

Mothers Day Gift guide by emmalouise-1414 featuring Tiffany & Co.

Hello beauties, I hope your all having a good week. I foolishly tripped over my own ankle on Monday. I ended up going to hospital and after 4 hours I left with an egg shaped looking lump on my ankle, some beautiful crutches and strict instructions to rest. Well I am not one for resting, on day one I was so bored I was pretending my crutch was a sword (yes I am a very grown up 26 year old) and knocked everything off my coffee table. I decided to spend the rest of the week reading my old Harry Potter books to keep myself out of trouble. 

Anyway enough about me and my clumsyness, today I wanted to share with you my mothers day gift guide. Mothering Sunday is March 30th so you still have a few weeks to whip up something special for your Mum, but in case your really stuck for ideas I thought I would give you some inspiration.

I have based this on my gifts I know my own mummy would love.

1. Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream. I have always found with gifts this is a safe option nearly women has heard of 8 hour cream or has tried this cult products. So I have always found this has gone down well. 

2. Yankee candle. I definitely inherited my candle burning obsession from my mum, there is always a candle burning at her house and I know she is a fan of Yankee candles so she would love another to add to her collection I am sure. 

3. Clinque. My mum is obsessed with Clinque, her whole extensive make up collection is primarily clinque, I first fell in love with Clinque even better foundation after, 'ahem' borrowing hers. So I would imagine any kind of set will go down well. 

4. Lush, Lush always bring out a lovely spring collection with some Mother's day inspired gift. My mum loves a good bath and relax, although she cant stand the smell of Lush shops, its all just too much for her. She has always enjoyed the bits and pieces I have picked up for her.

5. This Tiffany's inspired mug is so cute. I hope one day I can afford to buy my mum something from Tiffany's seeing as she bought me my first ever gift in the little mint green box for my 21st. For now though I know this mug would make her giggle.

6. My mum loves baking (I am starting to think I am a lot more like my mum then I thought). So any kind of baking or recipe book will be much appreciated, seeing as she is always whipping something up in the kitchen. I have just been nibbling on some very yummy poppy seed muffins actually she made me as get well soon present. 

7. I don't know about yours, but my mummy is obsessed with loose tea, and well just any kind of tea in general and Harrods is one of her favorite places in London so I know she would love this.

8. Flowers, you cant go wrong with fresh flowers.

9. Along the same theme, I don't think you can really go wrong with a good box of chocolates either. My mum only likes dark chocolate, she says milk is too sweet...hmm maybe we aren't that similar. 

10. Finally Perfume, my mum is a fan of Jo Malone...she has good taste.

So there you have it my Mothers day gift guide. I am not 100% what I am getting my mummy yet. I am taking my Mum and Granny for Sunday dinner at my wedding venue which they are both very excited about, so I am really looking forward to that. 

Thanks for reading lovlies and what ever gifts you buy or what ever you do on Mother's day have a lovely day.