Seeing Spots

Last week I asked what people were looking forward to and the first reply I got was Hot Chocolate with marshmallows. This wouldn't be my drink of choice but reminded me of Costa's Spiced Apple drink. I really hope it'll be out again this year.

I also need a new winter coat, jumper dresses and boots.

I feel like there is tonnes of stuff here and I feel that it's rate that I actually finish products so I made the effort to use things up. I also selected it as prompt as I knew I was coming to the end of a few things and was sure I could use them up by the end of the month.

When I first started reading and watching empties posts I was a bit like. I don't care about your trash.

BUT after watching a few and thinking about it I actually thought it's really good to see what people thing of products they have actually used up.

Hair Products

Batiste Dry Shampoo a hint of colour medium and brunette - I don't know why I keep buying Batisite it really doesn't agree with my scalp. I did use this up and for me it is one of the better ones they do. When they first brought out the hint of colour there was a brown / brunette one and that was amazing. It didn't make my scalp itch and didn't give me the grey sheen. I can't find the same one anywhere.

Toni & Guy Glamour Firm Hold Hairspray -  This was in a beauty box and I'm really impressed with it. It gives really good hold without being too firm and sticky. I don't use hairspray very often but this has been my go to one and I'm actually quite sad it's finished.

Lee Stafford Hair growth Shampoo / Conditioner and hair mask - This may well be an emperors new clothes type of product for some but I really like it. It works really well as hair product for me. It doens't make me have an itchy scalp. The shampoo is clear which works best for my hair. While I don't know if it actually helped my hair grow I do like it. I will repurchase it. I have this is at least the third time I've bought it.
Hand Cream

Atrixo - I can't remember where I got this from. I think it might have been from a goodie bag. Atrixo is the handcream of my childhood and it's always a really good thick cream. I'm prone to getting Eczema on my hands so this type if hand cream is good for me when i'm about to have a breakout.

Boots Hand and Nail Cream - I bought this and it was under £2. Although i've used the whole tube i'm still undecided about it. It feels a bit tacky when it goes on and doesn't sink in as quickly but as a cheap handcream its ok.

Essence Gel Nails at home super rich hand and nail cream - I picked this up at the Essence event a couple of months ago. My first impression was that I hated it, it smells quite chemically and it takes a while to soak in, but after using it for a couple of weeks I actually really like it and I would buy it again.

L'Occitane Amande Delicious Hands - I got this free from L'Occitane earlier in the year when they did a facebook promotion. I really like this. I did use this tube in a day. it smells amazing but I don't think i'd repurchase it.

Face Products

Clinique 3 step systems - I bought this from Debemhams for £18 (Special offer)  a while ago. I decided I needed to make a conscious effort to take care of my skin. I went for the number 2 Dry Combination. Initially I was impressed and my skin felt amazing,
    Liquid Soap -  I do really like this, it makes my skin feel really clean. I do use it after I remove my make up and I still wash my face before using it.
   Clarifying Lotion-  Really mixed reviews on this. It smells really strong and it almost burns and makes my face feel really tight initially but after a few mins I like how it makes my skin feel.
Moisturing lotion - I didn't like the moisturiser it doesn't feel like it did anything amazing

Over all I would try the three step system again but I'd try the number 3 system now i'm in a better skin care routine.

REN Gel Active 7 - I got this free with a magazine last year and use it on and off. I do like it and it makes me under eye area feel less puffy, but I'm not that massively into eye gels and wouldn't re buy it.

Ginvera Green Tea Exfoliating Marvel Gel - This was from a goodie bag and I finally decide to use it. I managed to get three uses out of this BUT I did the first two wrong! Ops I don't really see the point of this. When I did use it correctly I didn't really feel any exfoliating benefits.

No 7 Beautiful Skin Night cream - This was in a Christmas set and it's something I only use when my skin feels really dry and it is really thick and soaks in really quickly.

Essence minis to go demakeup wipes - These were from the essence event. I tend not to use wipes as much as I used to but it's always handy to have some around. I really like these and I have already repurchased these. I think they are £1.29. They are very small wipes but my face feels really clean after i've used them.

Aapri Exfoliating Cleansing Pillows - I bought these about 2 years ago and kept them at the caravan. Bought them more as a nostalgia thing and I don't think i'll be buying again but I love the idea of these. They have exfoliating dots on one side and are smooth on the other. They are handy to have but I'd rather use a wipe or a liquid cleanser.

Body Scrub

Soap and Glory  Flake Away - Again this was from a Christmas set. I really like this. I saved it to take away with me and it's taken quite a while to use up. I have a big pot of this on the go as well. I don't think i'd buy it myself but i'm sure it will always be a staple of the christmas sets. 4

Toothpaste

Pearldrops Pro White 4D - Normally I wouldn't have saved a toothpaste to show you but this is the 2nd one i've gone through. Both have come from goodie bags but i have to say this is the best tooth paste i've ever used. I haven't repurchased it for two reasons. One I haven't actually seen it in any shops and two my papa buys toothpaste in bulk at costco so I kinda don't need to spend my own money of toothpaste. BUT it is amazing.

Primer

Benefit Porefessional - This was either free with a magaizine or from a set I bought from boots that had 3 benefit miniatures in for £9.99. I love this. I am considering buying a full size tube of it BUT it is expensive.

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Pro Primer 002 - This is from Boots and is the second I'v had and this is my favourite primer ever and one of the things putting my off buying the full size benefit primer!

Cotton Products

Johnson's Cotton Buds - I'm a bit of cotton bud snob! I go through a lot of cotton buds and I only like the Johnson's ones. I tend to buy them from the pound shops.

Boots Essentials Cotton Wool Pads. These are really soft, but I bought because I got myself a cotton wool acrylic storage container which is round. I had been buying superdrugs square version which are bigger. But as cotton wool pads go they are nice and soft.

I think that concludes the empties for August. I don't expect to have any empties for quite a while but do you like empties posts? Should I carry on saving my trash?

They have an enormous array of tea's but I had to go for good old Yorkshire tea. I also went for a chicken and stuffing sandwich from the specials board.


My gran has this stool! I wanted to take more photo's but there were quite a lot of people in there and I didn't want to get strangers in my blog post pictures.



We were split out over a few tables but was so amazing to be around so many amazing people. There are too many to name individually but what is amazing is how nice everyone is.

Emma had organised a little goodie bag for us all. I realised that I didn't take a picture of everything Em had put together. Sadly in my packing all the components of have been displaced.

The goodie bag had a name sticker, pen to write our name (fab idea), Sweets, Glittery hearts, bubbles. She had also been sent some Silver and Gold Temporary Tattoos and a necklace from Emi Jewellery
I did take a picture of the necklace. It's a bit on the short side for me but They do have lots of other items and I have seen someone with a really cute apple necklace.

The first time I went I got these two candles. They were only £1.50 each and I've put them on the heart shelves in my room. I will probably never light them. I'm always scared I'll burn the house down! They smell amazing but I can't remember the flavours!


Haribo Goldbears or Golden bears as I always call them. £0.90. These are my all time favourite Haribo confection. I didn't know they were Halal maybe these are special ones. Does anyone know?



A belt. A Size M belt I might add. It's super stretchy elastic and I bought it to go with a maxidress I got from BHS (you might have seen it on instagram) I've also worn it with my jumpsuit. It cost a whole £2


Superhero socks £1.00 Yay socks. What can I say.. just look how marvelous they are.

Gel Pens £1. You know me I love pens



Sunglasses - £2.00 I won't be able to see anything when I wear them but decided I really liked them. they will be ok for posing in on holiday. Who needs to see all the time anyway!

Black Vest - I seem to be going through a black phase clothes wise so decided to get another vest. they only had 18s and I haven't tried it on so it might be a donation to the overflowing wardrobe of la mama

Wired Headband - I know my hair will annoy me on holiday. I thought this was pretty cute and will help keep my hair off my face and neck and who knows I might even look cute wearing it!

A couple of months ago I was asked if I wanted to try a hair growth treatment and as i'd run out of my Lee Stafford treatment I decided to give it ago.

Despite cutting my hair I'm still trying to grow it and I'm hoping it won't belong before I can tie it all back in a pony tail (A plait would be amazing)


I was sent the Meado Organic Hair Growth Oil Treatment by Old Wives Tail and it retails for £13.99 with Free P&P (my favourite thing)

It smells amazing, it is an oil so for me a little goes a long way.

You massage it in to wet hair and leave on for an hour. I must admit I have only once left it on that long and I can't say I've noticed much of a difference from leaving it on for 30 mins or a hour but my hair is naturally very oily so this could be why.

You then rinse your hair, shampoo and rinse until it runs clear and condition the ends if you feel it needs it. I have been conditioning the end but i'm one of those people who likes to use matching shampoo and conditioner at all times.


My hair has grown in the couple of months I've been using this. It is also really shiny and health looking.

I've been dying my hair blonder and blonder over the past few months and I have no dry or frazzled ends and I'm sure this is helping.

A very belated Suits you from me this month. I did blame Plus North and being ill for not having chance to do it.

I've sat down tonight and had a good blog stalk of Sally and one thing I know is she isn't afraid of colour, she loves dresses and has an amazing blog.

If you don't already she can be found:

Blog address: www.thehumanmannequin.co.uk

Twitter: @sallywills

Instagram: @sallywills



I saw this dress and fell in love. I could see Sally wearing this. I do think it's a bit longer than what she normally wears but I can't for the life of me work out how tall she is (I have tweeted her! 5'8 - the model is 5'10)

I think it has a bit of a downton feel to it and I hate to use the C word but It would be nice for a Christmas Party.

The Bag is the only Item I struggled with for this challenge, I have become obsessed by backpacks and I couldn't move away from it.

These shoes OMG. flowers and silver and 3D effect If Sally doesn't like like them I'll take them (I realise these are just virtual and neither of us will get our grubby little mits on them)

Leah is styling me this month. I don't know if she's posted yet but I can't wait to see what she picks out for me.

I'm thinking about wearing them for travelling on holiday in and taking or wearing a vest top for when we arrive.

I spend £18.50 and full price it should have been £45. I like that kind of saving!

As i've said it was a single room which was small but I hd plenty of room for my stuff and it was a comfy room.

In real life I don't remember it being so brown! It was also a really light room and as it was on the side of the hotel there was no noise from outside.


There wasn't any heating control but there was a radiator and a ceiling fan which I did need to use.

There is also free WiFi in the bedrooms, I had a pretty strong signal and even managed to watch youtube in my room but I know others who couldn't pick up the WiFi in their room.

The bathroom was a little dated but it was clean and the shower was amazing. Nice and powerful and it stayed a constant temperature.

They also provided toiletries including, shampoo, bath foam, a sewing kit, over night kit with cotton buds and a nail file. A shoe shiner and two ikea pots one with cotton wool balls and another with bath salts (A nice and cute touch)

The only real downside was noisy guests on the friday night arguing in the corridor and doors banging. This was at midnight and 2am so coming home from the pub times. The rooms are opened with a real key which I think was the source of the struggle. I can't blame the hotel for the noise but that was my pet peeve.

I would stay here again and on the Saturday night I had a cracking sleep.

Did you go to Plus North? What was you're hotel room like?

Liquids are my friend!

Waiting for the bus back from the walk in centre

 I took their advice  which was pretty much what i'd been doing all week and slept all day Thursday and most of Friday and by 5pm Friday I felt 100 times better. I knew i felt better as I felt hungry. The only downside was all the sleep caught up with me and I didn't sleep at all on Friday night. I didn't help every time I lie down I get this really fake sounding cough. I finally fell asleep 6am Saturday Morning. I don't think it helped I was home alone. The wind, rain and every little noise my house made had me on edge. I'd say I had a good sleep from 6am - 11am but I'd clearly been sleep walking (scary when home alone) I woke up surrounded by clean washing that my mum had hung out Friday day and i'd brought in and left in the dining room on Friday night. My feet were also dirty so I don't know if i'd been outside or if they'd got dirty when I brought the washing in! I hope the latter. The house was all locked up in the morning so I  think I stayed inside!

5am Friday Night / Saturday Morning wanting sleep

I braved town on Saturday mainly to starve off the cabin fever and to get more pain killers. I bumped into my gran who asked if I was feeling better before I could answer she said you're not well look at your eyes! Thanks gran, glad she didn't see me earlier in the week!


PS I'm in no way blaming Plus North for getting Ill. I'm 99% sure my germs came from my mum!

A couple if weeks ago I was invited to a baby shower organised by one of my close friends.

I'd been looking for something to take and while my actual present was actually organised by someone from work (Thank you!!!) I wanted to take something else with me.

When the lovely people at Baker Days contacted me about trying one of their letter box cakes I thought the baby shower would be the perfect opportunity for a cake.



My friend also makes Nappy Cakes, I know it's slightly blury but I wanted to show you how amazing it was.



The sponge was a nice vanilla sponge, they also have a number of other options including wheat and gluten free. They also have dairy free options.


The icing is very sweet and attached with a thin layer of buttercream so you get that to break up the cake and icing ratio. You can also personalise the icing with your own design or picture. I asked Baker Days to come up with their own design.

I was a bit nervous about going as my usual plus one was on holiday and as we all know i'm not a baby person and I only knew 3 other people at the shower but I had a lovely afternoon. I got to spend time with my friend and her little girl is about 14 months and  a bit more robust now so we had a lovely time playing with her Peppa Pig mobile.

The mummy to be was also spoilt rotten, this is just the tip of the present iceberg and apart from a small child running full whack into a pole dancing pole a good time was had by all!


Do you like the idea of cake in the post? I think this is a lovely idea and a real treat for someone you love.

The cake was provided free of charge but all opinions are my own. 

The Glamour Box is from Latest in Beauty and they do a few different boxes and as far as I can see you always know what you'll be getting with the exception that you might not know what shade of a product you'll be getting. They also have build your own box where you can buy one off products to supplement your box.


I added two extra items this time the Make up Revolution pallet and a Sanctuary Spa body scrub. Sadly the pallet had a smashed colour (it looks ok in the picture but if you look closely you can see the sparkly brown 3rd up on the right is cracked, when i opened it the lid it splattered everywhere!) I'm so glad i wasn't at home when I opened it as it went everywhere! I emailed them attaching photo's and they sent me a replacement no quibble which I think is great service. I know it was only one colour but the fall out had infected all the others and I wasn't going to bother but glad I did.

I really like the colours, some i'll never use and the slots are quite narrow meaning I keep picking up a bit of the next colour when I apply it but it has good pigmentation and lasts really well.


I've put the scrub away for my holiday. I always take a body scrub away with me, I like using it to get rid of the build up of sun cream and I think it stops me peeling as much.


This box was amazing value this month. It's the third Glamour box i've had and I think they get better each time.

As with all boxes there are things I won't use and I've already given some stuff away to friends.

I think I paid £17 not including postage.

I've looked on Boots website and googled prices so these might not be accurate but over all I feel like I got a good deal.

Rimmel Sunshimmer Instant Tan and BB Perfector £6.99 (Rimmel is usually on offer from what I can see) I didn't try this or the Mit (Which I can't seem to find online) I don't use fake tans. I've got a fairly dark complexion so I think this would have been too pale for me anyway but it's a full size product which is always nice to get.

C&E Nail Polish £6 this isn't a brand I've come across before, there was two colours and I was hoping to get the red colour and initially decided I didn't like this one. but i did swatch it on my nail and it's pretty much clear. I did one thin coat and it lasted very well. I am planning on trying this in the next week or so.

DHC Deep Cleansing Oil £4.50 for this size about £20 for 200ml. Again not something i've tried, i'm a bit scared of oil based cleaners as my skin gets greasy quickly. It does say it's suitable for all skin types but i'm wary. If I use it i'll let you know!

Hawaiian Tropic SPF 30 This is a travel size I know full size ones are about £7 but there are always offers. This smells amazing, I've put this away for my holiday.

Tony and Guy Volume Whip £7.19 again this is full sized. I haven't used it yet but I like the sound of it. I'm going to use it next time I go out.

I did say I wanted to post after i'd used the products and so far it's I've given this away, I've put that to one side, I'm a bit scared of that!!

Next up the products I have used and the real reasons I know i've got my moneys worth!!!


Bourjois Cream Blush 01 £7.99. I am on an eternal quest to get the right blusher. I no matter how many YouTube videos I watch I never feel like I can get it right on me. This little pot is fab as it's really easy to control when I put it on and the colour is lovely.

Illamasqua £18.50 This is one of the new nudes (say that fast 5 times!) This is a brand i've been a bit scared of, it's so fancy and intimidating but when I saw there would be one of these lipsticks in the box I was excited, there are 7 nude shades and I like 4/7. I was please that I did get one of the ones I liked. While I could never justify £18.50 on one lippy this more than covers the cost of the box. It's something I have used and will continue to use and because I didn't pay full for it i'm not scared of it. It goes on easily but I haven't really noticed how long wearing it is. I will pay attention next time

Magnifibers £21 (I think this is the RRP) Wow, I was dubious. I was like what white fluff will make me have long lashes but I love this stuff. I expected it to irritate my eyes but it doesn't. I have long lashes naturally and it really does make them look longer and thicker. I've been using this with a very cheap and basic Essence mascara and I don't think it looks clumpy. I tried it with my Benfit Bad Gal Lash and didn't like it but that had come undone in my makeup bag so i'm blaming it on it being a bit dry rather than the combination itself.

Based on these three items it was a great box. I hope they do more collaborations. I'll report back when I use more of the products in this box