Weekly Wishlist #1

Topshop Mighty Boots

Marc Jacobs Dot Perfume

ASOS Mint Peplum Top

Matalan Mint Green Quilted Bag

You can probably tell that I'm loving mint green at the moment. It took a lot of self-control to not flood this entire collage full of mint green goodness! But first off those boots, do they not just scream 'buy me!'? I would love to be able to pull off a really nice every day heel and these Topshop ones look brilliant. Price tag, not so much!

Marc Jacobs' fragrances always pull me in with 'Daisy' being my favourite by far. When they released this fragrance, I hot-footed it down to my local Boots to inhale it's amazing scent! Plus, how cute is the bottle? Definitely not handbag friendly, but would look amazing on your dresser! If you haven't smelt it, I would encourage you to do so.

Ever since Jennie from SailorJennie posted about this quilted mint green bag from Matalan, I have been lusting over it like crazy! I would like this in my life...now please.

I have been dabbling in the world of peplum tops recently and after purchasing the Topshop black peplum, I would like to add more into my wardrobe. They are so easy to wear and covers up my *cough* muffin top *cough* perfectly! This one from ASOS is on sale for only £17.50! Bargain! I just really hope it's still on the website by the time my first pay wage comes through next month!

A nice introduction to my 'weekly wishlist' series :)

What do you think? What have you been coveting recently?

Vanessa

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Sunday Summary #14: A Soft Pretzel Recipe Edition

Some of you keen-eyed readers might have noticed that I didn't do a 'Sunday Summary' last week. It has to do with the fact that I'm not really doing a LOT during my week and I do prefer to do special 'editions' more as they will hopefully add a little happiness to your Sunday! I've been spending my Sunday baking in the kitchen and it resulted in these uh-mazing pretzels!

I bought a pretzel yesterday from the newly opened 'Mr Pretzel' in my local shopping centre, I was definitely tempted by the aroma of sugar and cinnamon (one of my favourite flavour combinations ever!). I then thought to myself, that I could probably make my own for less than what I paid, and I actually had ALL the ingredients already!

I'm not going to lie, the recipe is time-consuming (in my eyes) and you do need to be a little bit confident in your baking. But I believe that anyone can make these!

I wish someone would invent smell-o-vision already!

Recipe (from Laura in the Kitchen)
Makes 12 Soft Pretzels

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of warm water
1 tbsp of sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 packet of yeast
2 tbsp of melted butter
4 1/2 to 5 cups of plain flour

6 cups of water
1/3 cup of baking soda

Egg wash
Your choice of toppings

1. Add water, sugar and salt to a bowl and mix. Sprinkle to yeast on top and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

2. Add the flour and the melted butter and mix with an electric mixer with the dough hook attachment. Once everything is combined, mix for about 5 minutes until you achieve a smooth dough.

3. Brush the insides of a bowl with some oil and put the dough in the bowl. Cover with cling film or a clean dish towel and let it rise in a warm area for about 1 hour.

4. Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius, and line two baking trays with baking paper and oil well.

5. Put the water and baking soda in a large pot and let the water come to a boil.

6. Once the dough has risen, cut into 12 equal pieces, roll each piece into a rope and make a U shape, then press the ends of the rope at the bottom of the U shape and pinch the ends. Place your pretzels onto the baking tray.

7. Place the pretzels into the boiling water for 30 seconds, two at a time. Remove from the water and put them back on the baking tray. Cook all of the pretzels this way in the water. Brush the pretzels with the egg wash and lightly sprinkle with your topping.

8. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until deeply golden brown.

9. Serve warm.

I used salt, brown sugar and brown sugar mixed with cinnamon for my toppings. Once out the oven and cooled slightly, you can sprinkle more of your topping on top to make it more tasty! These definitely rival the leading pretzel making shops and you can show off that you made them yourself!

Have you ever tried making your own pretzels before?

Vanessa

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P.S...I hope you're all having a great Sunday! I will definitely be watching the Olympics closing ceremony tonight!

Products I've Used Up #2

Feels like yesterday that I was doing my first 'Products I've Used Up' post! But I always love a reason to buy and try new products! So, here's what I've used up lately...

001: No.7 Radiance Boosting Hot Cloth Cleanser: This is a dupe for the infamous Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser and is only £5 when bought with those little £5 off No.7 vouchers! This is such a great alternative if you want to dip your toe in the world of hot cloth cleansers.

Would I re-purchase? Yes, but not at full price. If No.7 were doing those £5 vouchers again, I would!

002: Clarins Energizing Gel: A really nice gel like cleanser which is great for getting smooth summer skin!

Would I re-purchase? Probably, but not right now I don't think.

003: Clarins Energizing Cream: Oooh, this is such a great light-weight cream! Again, it goes hand in hand with the energizing gel! Works really well together :)

Would I re-purchase? Again, probably. But there's just so much other skincare products out there that I want to try first!

004: Lee Stafford Hair Treatment for hair that never grows past a certain length: Phew! Could there be a longer title for a product? Smells amazing and my hair felt so nourished after using it! At £7.99 a pop, it lasts a good wee while depending on your use.

Would I re-purchase? I would say yes!

005: Soap & Glory Off Your Face Cleansing Wipes: I love face wipes as much as the next person but I found these a little TOO overpowering. It has that oh so famous Soap & Glory scent which I love, but I didn't like wiping it over my face. I finally managed to begrudgingly finish these!

Would I re-purchase? No. As much as I love the Soap & Glory brand, these just didn't wash very well with me!

Well, there's me gone off and bought a whole new load of skincare! Wooo! Hopefully you'll see them in another 'empties' post soon!

Have you used any of these products before? What have you used up lately?

Vanessa

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Review: Etat Pur Express Purifying Mask

I have really started to enjoy incorporating a face mask into my skincare routine, so when July's Joliebox contained this little beauty; I literally jumped up and down at the prospect of trying this. 

This is the Etat Pur Express Purifying Mask and it states on the packaging:

'Biomimetic formula. Dermatologically tested. Absorbs impurities and excess sebum. Leaves the skin clean and soft. All skin types, even sensitive'.

I was a bit dubious that something like this can cater to all skin types as I have dry skin so the idea of absorbing my 'excess sebum' (surprised that I would have any seeing as I have dry skin) made me wary to try this. I shouldn't have been. This is pretty good! It really helped balance the different areas of my face and left it really nice and soft. I even managed to rope in Brother Orchid to try this and he loved it!

I use this every Sunday (such an easy day to remember when I have to use it!), apply a thin layer and leave on for about 5 minutes. Once rinsed off I feel like it takes out all the grime from the past week and prepares me for the week to come! There isn't a clear scent to this product and seems quite neutral which is great because overly-scented face masks are a huge no-no for me!

The 50ml is a full sized product and I think I have about a few more weeks of usage from this.

You can purchase this online at the Etat Pur website for £7.50 for 50ml which is actually a really good price!

Were you lucky enough to receive this in your July Joliebox? Do you like using face masks?

Vanessa

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FOTD: Teardrops on my Guitar

Oh hai Pikachu in the background! 

I've been running about today doing some errands AND it's been raining off and on all day, basically typical Scottish summer weather! I attempted a very minimalistic make-up look and narrowed it down to 5 products! I think I did pretty well!

I've really been enjoying using my BB cream lately as my skin has been breaking out like crazy. I'd rather even out my skin tone than slapping on a layer of foundation to cover my sins! With a quick lick of mascara, I'm ready to go! 

The concept of only using 5 products has been challenging and interesting, but I've really enjoyed doing it as it also gives me the chance to rotate make-up products and discover old favourites!

Have you tried reducing the amount of make-up products you use? 

Vanessa

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Are you the type to save a life?

Source

 Okay, so this is a little different post from me today and somewhat controversial in some ways I guess. But today, I was booking a blood donor session at my local blood donor centre and I thought it would make for a good post seeing as I would like to do more 'lifestyle' posts in terms of my blog. I totally understand if you don't want to read anymore about it and no-one will blame you for clicking that tiny 'x' in the corner of your screen and at the end of the day, we're all adult enough to make that decision :)

I've been donating blood since 2007 and I do it on a regular basis (well, as often as they'd allow me to!). I understand that there are different services for Scotland and the rest of the UK so my experiences will mainly be based on the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS). Let me say first off that I was PETRIFIED of needles. Like anything pointy that could penetrate skin would bring me out in a nervous cold sweat! So when a blood drive came to my university in 2007, I decided that my phobia of needles couldn't compare even remotely to someone in desperate need of my blood. And I guess that's what really started my blood donation story.

My family would prefer if I didn't do it (something to do with my Chinese roots!) but I'm old enough to make that decision and I've never had any trouble with it. The process is very simple; fill in a donor form, iron levels check and then off you go to donate! Afterwards you get to rest with a choccy biscuit and some juice! Simples! Some people are scared that it hurts, I'm not going to lie...it's somewhat 'uncomfortable' but you'll only ever feel a slight pinch and then it's 15 minutes of staring vacantly into space whilst they take only a pint of your blood (it's actually a little less than a pint!) and you're done!

So why do I do it? Well...why not? My body makes new blood on a regular basis and once every 4 months is like 2% of my time! It makes me feel like I'm contributing something to society and if I can help even one person then for those 4 months I know I've made a difference somewhere (however selfish that may sound). I was told once that only 3% of Scots actually donate blood. 3%!!! That's like nothing. I'm proud to be one of the 3% who do.

So...thanks for sticking with me through this post. What are your thoughts on blood donation? Are you a regular donor? Have you not really thought about it before? 

Vanessa

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P.S...If you're wondering, I'm not that scared of needles anymore but even the bravest of us are scared sometimes.

Battle of the Beauty Boxes

In the past year or so, there has been a big surge in the phenomenon of beauty boxes. A subscription service where subscribers can expect beauty samples shipped to their house every month for a fee paid every month. Sounds like a great idea huh? Trying new products from the comfort of your home and you discover great brands that you might not have heard of before. 

I'm obviously very influenced by the beauty community on the bloggersphere and YouTube so I jumped at the chance to be involved in this! I've only ever been subscribed to two of the UK based beauty boxes; GlossyBox and Joliebox. My thoughts and opinions will only be based on the service and products I have received from these two brands only! I thought this would be a good post to do if you are interested in subscribing to any two of these brands and my own experiences with them. My intention is not to paint any of these companies in a bad light, but just to give a overview of what you can expect for your money.

GlossyBox & Joliebox are both £10 per month plus £2.95 p+p

Packaging

GLOSSYBOX: GlossyBox products are housed in a beautiful pink box with black detailing. I really liked the sturdiness and theme of the box when I first got it. Months later, I use the boxes to house all sorts of things like nail polish, hair accessories and even gift boxes for friends! My only gripe has to be the cardboard filling inside. Sometimes the products aren't that big and putting them in big boxes makes it look really sparse. Probably not very environmentally friendly either. But other than that, I liked the presentation.

JOLIEBOX: Joliebox products come in a black drawstring bag and then housed in a black box with white detailing. I do prefer Joliebox's packaging as the box is significantly smaller and compact and it makes it look like the box is jam packed with products! 

Products/Samples

GLOSSYBOX: They managed to lure in a load of subscribers after popping in a full sized NARS product in their first box (yes, I'll admit that I was one of those people!) but after that, I felt it kind of went downhill from there. I was a subscriber from May 2011-November 2011 and I probably only used about five items. After I stopped subscribing, they did come out with some really good products, but had I kept on subscribing, I would have received another HD Brow Kit that was in July's 2012 GlossyBox. Whut?!

JOLIEBOX: It was their great skincare products that lured me into subscribing to Joliebox in the first place. Products range from French skincare to home favourites. I'm a big skincare fanatic so this made a smile on this old Orchid's face! As with all beauty boxes there were some items that didn't take my fancy but you can't have everything!

Service

GLOSSYBOX: They have been scolded for having terrible customer service but I don't think they're all that bad. My GlossyBox failed to turn up one time and they promptly shipped another to me but when I got it, it just looked like they had thrown it together at the last minute with the leftover samples they had. Wasn't very impressed that time! The point of having to fill out the beauty profile/questionnaire was to get customised products but through a lot of research, I found out that they don't even look at the profiles so the products you get are not tailored to you. Bit of a waste of time if you ask me, especially since I got the HD Brows kit for blondes when I clearly stated I have dark hair.

JOLIEBOX: The first month I subscribed, my box didn't arrive until the month after it was supposed to AND because of the delivery mix up, I didn't get a customised product and a new subscriber gift. Nonetheless, they listened to customer feedback and changed their delivery service. The next box after that came very prompt and was filled with great things as well!

Overall

GLOSSYBOX: I liked the fact that they introduced a few theme boxes and often you get some really nice products but I don't feel that £12.95 is good value for unpredictable products and the vast variations between everyone's boxes was the deal breaker for me! But in saying that, GlossyBox is a great all-rounder and you do get a nice variety of samples.
JOLIEBOX: I really like Joliebox more over GlossyBox. But that's due to the fact that I am a skincare junkie and they tailor to my preferences more. Joliebox joined forces with the French box Boudoir Prive so you can expect lots of French brand samples!


I don't think that I will ever go back to GlossyBox and unfortunately, I have suspended my subscription with Joliebox for now as I really need every penny I can muster for London this month. Once I start my new job and a regular income comes rolling in, I may resubscribe again. 


Are beauty boxes worth the money? I'd say yes to a certain extent. You really are just paying for the service itself rather than the samples but it really does open your eyes to a plethora of beauty products out there on the market! If you like having something exciting to open every month and love the element of surprise, then this will be right up your street. I'd just encourage you to do as much research as you can beforehand before committing to one as there are an abundance of services on the market just now!


Phew!! Have you stuck with me so far? 'Snaps' for you if you managed to make your way through this post!


What do you think of the beauty subscription services? Are you currently subscribed to one?


Vanessa


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Review: Vivo Baked Blush in 'Peaches and Cream'

I must be the last person in the UK to get my hands on an item of the Vivo make-up line from Tesco! In my defence, the biggest Tesco in my city is on the other side of town and I don't tend to venture down there very often. So imagine my surprise when I suggested to my family that we take a trip there (obviously my main aim was to see the make-up line, and not to food shop!) and they agreed! 

The only thing I wanted was this baked blush. Although the other items were nice and very inviting, I didn't really need anything else so this went in the trolley and off I went a very happy Orchid indeed!

At only £4, you can't really fault this! It's a beautifully baked blush that is a light coral shade laced with highlights of nude and golden pinks. The pigmentation is great so I've learnt to use a very light hand when applying it as the first time I did, I had patches of shimmer all over my cheeks and it did not look very attractive at all! But when I finally managed to control the usage, I looked like I had been kissed by a rose! Okay, a very slight exaggeration but it did give a gorgeous warm glow. With the correct way to apply this, I'm sure you could even use this as a highlighter just to give your complexion that extra pop!

From what I saw at the make-up stand, the line itself is very impressive! Along with baked eyeshadows, eyelashes, bronzers and even BB creams...there is something for everyone! The packaging is sturdy and is great quality for what you are paying.

You can buy Vivo cosmetics from Tesco stores or Tesco Online in the UK. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you haven't already done so.

What do you think? Do you own anything else from the Vivo make-up line?

Vanessa

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