February Favourites

Bioderma Crealine H2O Cleansing Solution
This makeup remover is something that I've been after for absolutely ages. My beloved Lancome Eau Micellaire Douceur finally ran out so I decided to give the Bioderma one a go. This cleanser tends to be highly regarded within the beauty community as it is the makeup remover of choice for many professional makeup artists. Sadly its almost impossible to find it in the UK so I had to purchase my bottle from ebay. Its such a simple cleanser to use as you just put some on a cotton pad & wipe your face. Theres no rinsing off involved. It is really gentle and feels as though you're just wiping your face with water. It cleanses brilliantly and removes even waterproof mascara with the utmost of ease. It leaves my face feeling really fresh and cool which is lovely after a long day. I prefer micellar formulas as they actually cleanse your face of makeup rather than spreading it around first. La Roche Posay also do one of these cleansers but the Bioderma one works out as the most amount product for your money even though you do have to order it online.

BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector
Lisa Eldridge is solely responsible for my purchase of this product. I own a stupid amount of highlighters that I've bought in my never ending quest for perfect glowing skin. But this is one highlighting product that has always intrigued me. When Lisa uses this in her videos it imparts the loveliest sheen to her face that looks really natural yet obvious enough to be noticed. I was so excited to see this in the shade Pearl on BuyaPowa because it meant I could get it for £30 including delivery. Thats not actually a very big discount but BuyaPowa is such an enabler! Think I might have to ban myself from that site. Anyway I've tried using this mixed into my foundation and just blended on top of my cheekbones. Either way it makes my skin look pretty fab! I can't recommend this enough if you want glowing skin as it really is a brilliant highlighter.

Super by Dr. Nicholas Perricone Lush Lips
I also got this product from BuyaPowa which brought the price down to £10.50. I own a ton of lip balms but I'm always up for trying something new. As I really love coconut oil products this seemed like it would be a good thing to purchase. At first I wasn't sure if it was doing anything even though it made my lips feel really soft as soon as I applied it. Within a few days I found that at the times when I hadn't applied it my lips still felt a lot softer than they did previously. The balm doesn't feel heavy or greasy at all and I love the subtle taste & smell of coconut this has. Even though there are plenty of other lip balms out there, this is the one I just keep on reaching for.

By Terry Blush Terrybly
This is quite possibly the loveliest blusher that I own. I thought that nothing would ever topple my love for NARS Deep Throat but this really is the most perfect pink blusher ever. It adds a wonderful healthy glow to my cheeks that looks really natural. This shade is called Cheek To Cheek Rose and is quite pale and sheer. It will probably work best on people with very fair skin colours but By Terry do six other shades as well. Apparently this blusher has the ability to help slow down the ageing process by renewing the skin and features something called freshtone technology which detoxifies the skin as well as plumping it up by stimulating collagen. The powder itself feels silky smooth and blends beautifully into my cheeks. I love the packaging of it too as the silver compact feels very sturdy & high quality. I received this as a Christmas present but I just checked the price on Space.NK and it actually costs £53?! I don't think thats something I would ever pay for a blusher myself but it is something that I properly love and have been using every day this month. If you're feeling flush or have a birthday coming up then this is a beautiful product to get.

Philosophy The Microdelivery Peel
Philosophy is a brand that I've been really loving lately. I'm obsessed with their Purity cleanser, Cinnamon Buns shower gel, The Present primer & now I'm obsessed with this too. I always thought that these acidic peel type products were only really meant for older people with tons of wrinkles. However this one works absolute wonders on my skin. I didn't think it was possible for my skin to feel any smoother or look any better than it does after using my Clarisonic Mia with Liz Earle's Cleanse & Polish but I was very wrong. This kit comes in two parts. First of all you take some of the Vitamin C crystals and massage them over your face for one minute. Then you massage some of the activating gel, which contains lactic & salicylic acid, on top of the crystals. This creates a warming & foaming effect to show that the crystals have been activated. After two minutes you wash this off and you're left with super soft, glowing skin. I think this is something I'm gonna review in more detail because it really is one of the best skincare products I've tried.

Jenny Craig Week One

As I previously mentioned I've been doing a two week trial of the Jenny Craig diet. If you've never heard of Jenny Craig before, they are essentially a diet food delivery service. They send you a huge hamper filled with breakfasts, lunches, dinners & snacks that are all super healthy. When you sign up to the programme you receive an initial phone call to set up the service for you. You tell the consultant your height, weight & activity level as well as how much you want to lose. You can also tailor the programme so that you don't receive any food you dislike or would be allergic to. What I think makes Jenny Craig stand out from some of the other diet food delivery services is that each week you receive a phone call from your personal consultant. They keep a record of your weight & measurements, discuss the programme with you & help you plan for meals out.

As well as the food, you get sent a binder filled with lots of information about the plan and worksheets to help with your healthy eating habits, exercise & mindset. It also comes with some set menus so you know exactly what to eat on a certain day. Each day is perfectly balanced so that you get the right amount of protein, fats & carbs. Heres the kind of thing I've been eating in an average day.


Jenny Craig breakfasts are really nice & give me a great burst of energy to start the day with. I was sent a mixture of muesli, porridge & Special K style cereal. This is apple & cinnamon porridge which is simply made by just adding 125ml of boiling water. I found it really delicious. I've just added a blood orange, a Muller Light yoghurt & a huge mug of Dr Stuart's Detox tea.





Lunches tend to be pasta pots, mash potato pots or soups. This is pasta with cream sauce. With most of the meals you're sent from Jenny Craig you have to add some of your own food. At lunch time you always have to add at least one cup of salad. You get sent this small plastic measuring cup and whatever you can fit in there is equal to half a cup. Its really handy for measuring things like cheese to make sure you're not adding too many calories. I like to pile up my plate with salad because I find the lunches to be the least filling of all the meals. I dress my salad with a few sprays of this balsamic dressing. It adds some flavour to the vegetables without the huge amount of calories & the spray pump stops me from completely drowning the salad. The Jenny Craig soups & pasta pots are really nice but I wasn't too keen on the mash pots. Its basically a pot of instant mash with some dried peas & carrots, some of which didn't rehydrate properly meaning I had to eat crunchy peas, eww. Even after adding some cheese, they still tasted pretty rank.



In the afternoon you have a Jenny Craig snack. These include cereal bars, chocolate bars & crisps. I adore the potato bites. They taste really good, especially the Thai chilli flavour. Theres also something called 'free foods' which you can eat all day long if you so wish. Its mainly things like vegetables but you can easily add in a few more snack meals of things like crudités & salsa dip or ratatouille. That way you'll never go hungry whilst still sticking to the diet. I found that I was starting to struggle in the mid afternoon because even after eating one of the packs of crisps I was still hungry & thats when I would cheat with a couple of biscuits or pieces of chocolate. Luckily my consultant suggested that I should fill up on free foods during this time & I've managed to stick to it properly since then.


Dinners have the most variety to them. I've had things like curries, chilli, chicken provencal, beef tortellini & casseroles. This meal was chicken & mash with gravy. I'm so impressed with all the chicken meals, they're full of huge tender chunks of meat. I really enjoyed this one & the chicken provencal. The chicken tikka & rice was lovely too but I'm starting to a bit fed up of curry after having it three times in one week! You have to add at least one cup of cooked vegetables to all of the dinners. I buy those Sainsbury's value bags of carrots & broccoli for 75p because you can just pop them in the microwave & you get a huge portion of veg. The dinners are really filling & taste great.

I did a weigh in on Wednesday morning before having my second consultation and I've lost 2lbs in one week! Thats pretty good for me because I've definitely struggled with getting a loss as I get closer to my target weight. I wasn't really sure if I was following the diet correctly as it seemed like I was constantly eating but it does seem to be working. I've not done a huge amount of exercise but I do walk everywhere whilst pushing a toddler in a huge pram thats normally loaded with shopping bags. I'm really enjoying the diet so far and its obviously working if I've lost 2lbs in a week with literally no effort. It has helped me to learn a lot about my eating habits & how to balance my meals better. I've still got a few more days left so hopefully I can lose two more pounds in that time. I'll be posting a full review of the Jenny Craig diet next week.

If you're interested in joining Jenny Craig they currently have a special offer on where you can get a 50% discount on a two week programme, which works out at just £38.50 a week/£5.50 a day for all your food and consultations. I think thats a great bargain because I can easily spend that on just my lunch every day. You can find out more by calling 0800 088 2048.

Topshop Sisters Of The New Moon Lipsticks

Last month Topshop launched their latest makeup collection. Its called Sisters Of The New Moon and the whole range looks rather gorgeous. I really love the packaging & the 'magical' image they're trying to achieve with it. Naturally as a bit of a lipstick addict I immediately gravitated towards the two new lipsticks they had brought out.


Charmed
Charmed is a beautiful peach colour. When swatched on my hand it looks like quite a scary bright orange colour but it becomes something completely different on my lips. Its very sheer and appears to be more of a warm toned peachy nude. The formula is very moisturising but not particularly long lasting. It really is a gorgeous colour though so this is one I'm happy to keep topping up with throughout the day.


Crystal
Crystal looks amazing in the lipstick packaging. Its a clear neon pink with silver glitter. This one isn't actually a lipstick, its more like a very nice lip balm. Its one of those 'magic' products that change colour according to the pH levels of your lips. On my hand it imparts a very pale pink sheen but on my lips it turns into a super bright pink. The colour lasts on your lips for ages even when the balm part starts to wear off. L'Oreal do a similar product but I think this one looks prettier even though the sparkles aren't too visible.


Charmed & Crystal
I love both of these colours alone but I think they look even better when you wear them together. The soft orange of Charmed & the neon pink of Crystal merge together to create a gorgeous coral colour. Each lipstick cost £9 so for £18 you can actually get 3 different colours from the two lipsticks. I think they're definitely worth the money. I find that Topshop's makeup products can be a bit hit and miss but these two colours are lovely additions to the range.


A few weeks before I got these I also picked up the infamous Topshop Pillow Talk lipstick from their last collection. Sadly I don't think its available anymore but it was too beautiful not to share. Its such a lovely pink that I can see myself wearing every day.