AD/PR Sample | Birthday Gifts From Moonpig

Birthdays have been a little different this year for a lot of people so we've not been spending them the way we normally may do. I've recently celebrated my own birthday and had to think about what I'd like to do, as I am limited due to shielding at the moment. It was a nice surprise when I was contacted by Moonpig who wanted to send me some goodies to help with enjoying my birthday. Moonpig allows you to order cards for many occasions and these can also be personalised to the recipient, whether this is photo cards where you can upload your own images, or personalise the design of the card already created. They also offer a range of unique gifts as well as flowers, so you should be able to find something suitable. These items can be ordered at the same time as any card, and you can choose to have them delivered to yourself to give to someone in person or have them delivered directly to the recipient, which could be particularly useful with the current situation we find ourselves in.

To start my birthday celebrations this year I went pumpkin picking with some of my family which I absolutely loved. I've always enjoyed Halloween so being able to go and pick my own pumpkins has started to become a little tradition around my birthday. Last year I went on my actual birthday but this year we went slightly earlier as the sun was shining, and when you are wandering around a big field it helps if it's not raining! I also wanted to go when it was a little quieter given the current pandemic. After bringing back the wheelbarrow full of pumpkins I have been arranging them and deciding where to pop them in the house to decorate and I ended up creating a Halloween themed spread on my living room coffee table which turned out great in time for my birthday. On the day we ordered some pizza and had a film night with the family in my household, and yes it was a Halloween film.

The first item I received from Moonpig was the Rainbow Cake Kit (£12.00) that looks like it's going to create an amazingly bright and colourful cake. It gives you almost everything you'll need to bake the cake, all you need to get is some eggs, butter and milk to add. I've not baked the cake yet as I need to swap out the food colouring for some vegetarian safe ones, but once I've got these it's going to be a fun activity to do and I'm sure my little sister will enjoy baking this with me, and she will no doubt enjoy eating it too. The second item I received was the Chocolate Indulgence Wicker Tray (£25.00) that contained a selection of chocolatey goodies. My tray contained Honeyrose Bakery Organic Triple Chocolate Cookies, Divine Cocoa - which would be perfect for hot chocolates or baking, Ritter Sport Butter Biscuit and Lily O' Brien's Petit Indulgence Collection. If you enjoy chocolate then one of these trays are perfect. 

It's not just food items that Moonpig offer, as I also received a Miss Patisserie 'Happy Birthday' Gift Set (£15.00) which contains four good-sized fizzing bath bombs and are 100% vegan and part of the Moonpig vegan range. I love their colours and glittery effect and can't wait to see what they look like in the bath. The last item I received was The Red Anthurium Plant (£24.00) which is a nice household plant that is easy to care for can brighten up your room. It comes in a white plant pot so it ready to pop wherever you desire. That's it for my Moonpig birthday gifts. As I mentioned earlier it was a lovely surprise to receive these in the post to help celebrate my birthday this year. They have so many options to choose from that whatever the event, you should be able to choose ideal cards, gifts or flowers to give to your loved ones or friends. 

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September Favourites!

Happy October! Sorry, October is my favourite month and I'm ridiculously excited to enter the month! Little rundown: 4th - Sister's 3rd Birthday 8th - Twinny's (A best friend) 21st Birthday 11th - Andy's (boyfriend) 21st Birthday 19th - My 21st Birthday 31st - Halloween! I have a very busy month as it is, along with starting my dissertation for my final year of my law degree! However, let's talk about lovely things, like makeup of course.

You may have noticed I have a different background to my previous posts! I've moved into a student flat with Andy and have bought myself some lovely furniture and realising how often I saw lovely, oops. Benefit Stay Don't Stray I mentioned this in a post I did a while ago (here). My mum bought me this as part of an early 21st Birthday present and I've been wearing it a fair bit lately. I have the shade Light/Medium which is perfect for my pale skin. It helps my eyeshadow and liner stay put during the day, and helps hide the dark circles under my eyes too; a dual purpose product! Benefit Hervana Blush I also mentioned this in the above post, and love how it has different shades that you can swirl together or use individually. I'm loving these multi-purpose products apparently... Rosy pink blushers suit me best, as opposed to a more browny toned one, as I have pale skin and blonde hair. I love how blendable this is too, I can add a tiny bit to make me a bit flushed, quite natural looking, or for an evening out I can apply more heavily and blend to look more noticeable. Urban Decay Perversion Mascara I've only had this a few days but I thought it was worth adding into my favourites! It lengthens my lashes without them looking like spiders legs (which I really don't like, as well as clumps). My lashes have never looked so long, and the thick brush makes applying it really effortless too. Urban Decay Subversion Lash Primer This is applied under the Perversion Mascara and it has really helped my mascara stay on all day. I noticed over summer how my lashes looked thinner on days when I'd worn mascara all day. That really annoyed me, as it defeats the purpose of having longer, fuller lashes. This definitely helps avoid this. Urban Decay Perversion Eyeliner With bold claims of 24 hour stay, they tell the truth. This is super black on, and really does last all day. It's super smooth and worth the £15 you pay for it (not that I did, thanks Cohorted!). Makeup Revolution Eyeliner This I Heart Makeup All Day and Night eyeliner is absolutely gorgeous, with blue flex in the black formula. It doesn't last as long as UD's eyeliner, but it is most definitely worth it for £1.99! What are your September favourites?

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Judge Bakeware Twin Blade Stand Mixer

I've always loved baking since I was a child and remember watching Delia Smith for inspiration. Being able to test out different recipes is something I really enjoy, and I've done a number of people's birthday cakes and like to challenge myself with bigger and better designs each time. Obviously, baking cakes like this requires a lot of mixing and doing this by hand can become quite tiring so I was excited to have my own stand mixer to use, with this Judge Bakeware Twin Blade Stand Mixer one being great. 

The kit is something a little different to the normal mixer as it's a hand and stand mixer combined into one very useful kitchen appliance. The hand mixer slots into the stand and means you have a fully functional item to use for baking. If you need to use it out of the stand, simply detach and use it as a hand mixer. Being a slightly smaller size means this is ideal for those with a smaller kitchen as it won't take over your worktop. It still has a 1.5L liquid/750g solid capacity in the detachable bowl so should still be able to hold plenty for the majority of people's needs. It seems to be well built and with the 2-year electrical domestic guarantee, I feel reassured that it will be up to the challenge. 

The 300 Watt motor has five different speed settings which are operated easily via a thumb control switch, with a turbo button located just below. The bowl also rotates to ensure that the ingredients get thoroughly mixed, while the tilting head gives you easy access to the bowl. Both the beaters and dough hooks are included with the mixer so that it's ready to go right out of the box. I've already used the Judge Mixer to make a birthday cake for a test run and was really impressed by how easy it was to use and it made my life so much easier. I've got upcoming plans to create another birthday cake for Andy's birthday and I will be doing a tutorial on how I made the cake with the Judge Twin Blade Stand Mixer so there is more to come.

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AD/PR Sample | My Glossier Summer Picks

It's been a couple of months since I picked up some of Glossier's bits for spring. I had a browse on their website recently and chose three products to try out. The first thing I ever heard about Glossier was their balms, and although I've had the chance to try out a couple of them previously, I fancied testing out their birthday balm this time around so that was on my list to pick up. Glossier offers both makeup and skincare products, along with a few body and fragrance items too. They have their own beauty website called Into The Gloss which allows people to share the products they love which help to drive the ideas for the new items they bring out which ensure they are designed around what people actually want and need. 

The Pro Tip Brush Point Liquid Eyeliner (£15) is a black liquid eyeliner that will allow you to get "a smooth, precise line every time". The smudge-resistant formula and incredibly fine tip will make getting that perfect line achievable. It has flexible fibers that will curve along the lash line to make it nice and easy when applying. The quick-drying time helps you to build this product up to create the look you are going for which can last for up to 12 hours, although as it's a densely pigmented product, you shouldn't need to apply too much each time you wear it. With certain products, they tend to get decreasingly effective over time, but the Pro Tip has an internal ball shaker that means the formula can move around evenly inside the product to ensure you get that smooth line each time you use it without it dragging on application. I've found it easier to achieve a good line with this product as the fine tip makes it much easier to apply exactly where you want it. 

The second product that I picked up was the Wowder Weightless Finishing Powder (£18). Glossier say that it will give you the "perfect matte-not-flat finish" as it is designed to reduce shine, set your makeup along with softening the appearance of your pores. You can apply this across any area of your face where you want to reduce the shine and it won't leave a film on your skin. It also won't show up when taking photos with flash which I'm really happy about as this is something I've experienced before with other products and it can be super annoying. Another bonus of this powder is that it doesn't get stuck in your fine lines which can sometimes be a problem with certain powders I've used in the past which then affected the overall appearance on my makeup. This Wowder should enhance your makeup rather than giving a cakey layer over the top while still helping to tackle oily skin. I'm excited to keep using this as I'm impressed so far.

As I mentioned earlier, I was lucky enough to test out some of the Glossier balms previously, but the one I've been looking forward to most is the Balm Dotcom (£10) in the Birthday flavour. Not only will this hydrate, but the natural emollients and antioxidants also help dry skin to improve the condition of your lips. It combines Beeswax, Caster Oil and Lanolin to boost and seal in moisture without making your lips shiny. Not only do I adore the packaging of the birthday flavour balm, because who doesn't like something sparkly and glittery, but I also love the subtle shimmer it gives when you wear it along with the vanilla cake flavour. I love funfetti cake and I've had birthday cake pancakes before so anytime I see something like this I am drawn to it for its appearance and flavour. It's perfect if you don't feel like wearing lipstick or lipgloss but want something a bit more than a clear lip balm to still give your lips that little pop. 

I've loved trying some other Glossier bits again. I've been really impressed by what I've had so far as you can tell they have really thought about the products they create. They don't overcomplicate things, just produce quality products that work well for what they are designed without having a big price tag. I'd definitely recommend having a browse on their website and see for yourself what products you like.

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Happy 21st Birthday To Me!

Hey Lovelies,
Sorry for the lack of posting this weekend, it's my birthday today and I've seen my friends and boyfriend this weekend, but I'll have lots of posts lined up for this week!

Last year on Andy's Birthday!

I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads my blog and I'm so proud of how my little blog is doing! In celebration of my birthday and hitting 2,000 Twitter followers on the same weekend, I have a giveaway up on my twitter if you'd like to enter! Just follow me and Cohorted to enter.
Hope you've all had a lovely weekend and I'll resume blogging tomorrow.

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I'm Feeling 22! | Blogtober

Today I turn 22! I didn't want to rush a 'birthday haul' style post until I could take proper photos so I may as well just show you some of my instagram photos and tell you all about my day. I woke up around half 8 despite not setting an alarm to allow me to have a lie in, typical. Andy and myself decided to go through the McDonald's drive thru to grab breakfast since I was letting myself eat whatever the hell I wanted. After making a Topshop order and eagerly waiting for my JD order to arrive, it was time to actually celebrate.

I opened my card and presents from Andy and was over the moon. I usually guess all of my presents and got every single one right this year, much to his dismay. His birthday was only 8 days ago and we finally decided on a budget in order to not spend a ridiculous amount like we did last year. After all, it's about spending time together and enjoying ourselves. I won't give away what he got me just yet, but they were good presents!

Once we came home we tucked into the Ferrero Rocher and Nutella birthday cake that Andy had kindly made me. He did such a good job and considering he never bakes and this is probably the first cake he has ever made by himself. It was so yummy and I couldn't finish a whole piece it was so chocolatey. I ended the day by watching the latest episode of The Walking Dead and then chilled out in bed. Tomorrow I'm off shopping for a few makeup bits with the birthday money I received and might include them in the haul post I'll put up in a few days time.

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A Birthday Biscuit Treat From Biscuiteers

My birthday is coming up at the end of this week and I'm marking a quarter of a century. I was lucky enough to be sent the Birthday Treats Biscuit Tin (£35.00) to review by Biscuiteers. The brand idea was thought up one weekend when the founders took a trip to New York. The aim of creating these biscuits was for them to "look as beautiful as they tasted". After launching in September 2007, the company has maintained the same handmade approach to producing their biscuits, which means every biscuit is unique.

As soon as unwrapped the package I was greeted by a pretty and distinctive tin that was housing the biscuits. I opened the lid to find 8 beautifully designed biscuits that almost looked too good to eat. I was immediately impressed by the detail and it was clear that much care had gone into producing them. The range of designs gave a new feel to this type of product as there was clearly effort gone into these to ensure they all had an individual design. The biscuits tasted nice and fresh and had a good crunch to them without being too dry. Even though the biscuits were reasonably thick, they still had a good icing to biscuit ratio which was nice to see. 

For those times when you'd like to get someone a gift but you don't live close to them, this would be a good option for you to place the order online and get them delivered to their door. These biscuits could be a perfect alternative to giving someone flowers and would show that you have thought about their gift. As Biscuiteers have a few different box styles, they could also be a perfect option to be bought for work events when you want to have something a little different to the standard pack of biscuits that are normally used. If you'd like to order some biscuits for a gift, or even to treat yourself, check out the Biscuiteers range on their website and find the ones that are right for you.

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Birthday Beauty Haul | Blogtober

I was incredibly lucky this year. Upon turning 22 on Monday I was shocked to see that I had been gifted some beautiful presents. I think maybe the hint that I adore Mac and Urban Decay was apparent. My boyfriend Andy had already told me before the launch of the Smoky Palette in summer that he would buy it for my birthday along with some other bits and I am to excited buy it to touch it! I love it when you have brand new products and they look so perfect you don't want to ruin them. The packaging of the Smoky palette is gorgeous and it will come in handy closer to Winter time when I'll be wearing darker eyeshadows. 
As well as the palette, Andy also bought me Up The Amp from Mac which he knows have I been looking at for quite a while. I only started buying Mac lipsticks last year after umming and ah-ing for too long and I haven't got a colour in my collection that is similar so I can imagine this is one I'll be using pretty quickly. From other family members I received the shades Brave and Ruby Woo which overall make up most shades in my Mac collection now. I was shocked to have shades I was after for ages so either I'm talking too much or they know me too well.
I had always wanted to make my own Mac eyeshadow palette and received the blank palette with 15 shadow inserts and bought myself an eyeshadow just to put in ha! It was funny to see my Stepmum thought the eyeshadows were £2.50 each so it wouldn't take me long to fill the whole thing and was open mouthed when I told her they were £10 each, oops. Since I have a Mac gift card I plan on getting the brightest white and the darkest black since I find most palettes lack pigmentation in both of these are lacking in most eye palettes. 
The Mac brush cleanser is my favourite thing to was my makeup brushes with and since I actually ran out last night this came just at the right time. To set my makeup I was so relieved to have the Deslick spray from Urban Decay as oily/combination skin can ruin your makeup in minutes if you're in the heat. With some birthday money I bought myself a Nars Lip Pencil as the colour is a stunning burnt orange-red shade which looks nothing like anything I already own. I was given some bits from Primark and Topshop too which I might do a post about soon! I'm so grateful for everything I've received and can't wait to make some amazing makeup looks using these products.

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Colourpop Haul and UK Shipping Information

If you've already seen my birthday haul you may have seen that my boyfriend bought me some Colourpop goodies as part of my birthday present. He went totally overboard bless him, so it's only fair that I make the most out of the products I received, and what better way than to review them. The products I'm review are two Lippie Stix, one Ultra Satin Lip, the Zingara shadows and pigments set, the Where The Light Is shadows and pigments set, some individual Super Shock Shadows and a highlighter.

The two Lippie Stix ($5/£4) that I received were in the shades Lumiere and Poppin'. Lumiere is described as a dusty pink mauve in a matte finish, created by Kathleen Lights, who said that she wanted a colour that both shy and bold people could wear. For me, it's almost my perfect nude and I'm so glad I picked this shade out. It's such a wearable shade and is constantly in my handbag along with my Mac Hot Gossip lipstick. I didn't pick the shade out because of Kathleen Lights as I didn't know who she was until I went on Colourpop (and now I like her videos).

The second shade I have is Poppin', which is a bright pink which looked more fuschia on the website but is a bit more on the hot pink side of things instead of a mix of purple and pink. Regardless, it's a pretty colour and I'll be wearing this with more neutral makeup. The Ultra Satin Lip ($6/£4.80) shade that I picked up was November which is suited given that we're midway through the month. It's a mid-tone warm peachy pink and I expected it to be more glossy but I was pleasantly surprised that it's a bit like a matte liquid lipstick but more creamy. Totally impressed with this and will pick some more up after Christmas.

The two value sets I picked up where the Zingara and the Where The Light Is sets. Zingara ($18/£14.50) is part of the Fall 2016 line and consists of four eyeshadows in the shades Paradox (a cool-toned burgandy red in a satin finish), Elixir (a mid-tone true terracotta in a matte finish), Seeker (a warm reddish brown in a matte finish) and Jinxie (a soft gold in a pearlized finish). Worn together they make the perfect Autumn eye look. Jinxie is the perfect shade to be worn on the lid, Elixir as a transition colour in the crease, Seeker in the crease and then Paradox in the outer-v.

Where The Light Is is again another collab with Kathleen Lights which I didn't really know until I was researching for information after I received the set. I must say the colours chosen for this quad are absolutely beautiful, and they are Glow (a creamy vanilla in a matte finish), Kathleen Lights (a bright golden copper in a pearlized finish), Blaze (a coco bronze sprinkled with multi-dimensional glitter in a metallic finish) and Cornelious (a mid-tone warm caramel in a matte finish). In the same way as using Zingara, I use Glow as a base, Cornelious as a transition shade, Kathleen Lights on the lid, blended all over into the outer-v with Blaze in the very outer corner. I think this quad is more suited to every skin tone.

I have four Super Shock shadows ($5/£4) in the shades Nillionare, Rex, Tea Party and Shop. Nillionare is a warm bronzed metallic finished shadow with 'tons' of gold and multi-coloured glitter. It's a beautiful colour to be worn in the center of the lid and underneath your lower lashes. Rex is the most bold shadow I have from this whole Colourpop haul, and is described as a black drenched with multiple shades of blue glitter throughout. Blue is my favourite colour and although I don't wear bold shades everyday, I think this would look perfect with the Naked 3 palette from Urban Decay. Tea Party is a versatile soft peachy pink with a multitude of silver glitters with subtle hints of pale pink glitter and can honestly be worn with nearly any eyeshadow, worn quite naturally or worn to contrast a bold smokey look. Finally, Shop is a rusty coral shade in a matte finish which is more of a summer shade but could be worn with brown toned eyeshadows for an autumnal look.

The last item from the haul is the Highlighter ($8/£6.50) in Candyman which is a pearlized finished powder in a metallic rich gold which can honestly be worn as a highlighter or an eyeshadow but is so perfect for the colder months where brown shades come out to play.

UK Shipping Information
Now I managed to get in with Colourpop's free international shipping day which seems to appear once every few months. However, you can use a third party forwarding service to ship to the UK. I'll first talk about my experience with the international shipping, then I'll talk about how you can buy Colourpop products through a third party. 
With the free international shipping I think you had to spend a certain amount to qualify and since I didn't place the order myself, but I'm sure it was around $75. When it was shipped over and arrived in England, I had a grey Royal Mail card that said I had to pay customs fees from my local depot to pick up the order. When I arrived it was £21 in fees which is annoying but I was told some charges were much higher, and although my boyfriend paid for the products, I paid the fees as he couldn't add it into his budget as the items only arrived a few days before my birthday. The fees were paid and I was handed the order, and it only took about a week to arrive over from the USA.
With shipping charges being annoying, you may choose to opt to use a third party service, such as Go Send or Shipito. I'm currently using Go Send for a Bath & Body Works order, and with them they provide you with a locker address to order products from American websites in order to gain domestic shipping which is free on some websites. The orders are delivered to your locker and they calculate the shipping fees. Whenever you choose to release your locker you pay the delivery fees etc and pick which courier you want it shipped with, which is DHL for me. The good thing about the locker service is that you can keep items in your locker for 60 days, so my B&BW order is sitting in it right now, the second Colourpop order I've made is en route and later on I'm making an Anastasia Beverly Hills order to send there. Once it's all arrived I'll pay the fees and have it shipped over. They have a live chat if you get stuck and Colourpop is actually one of their advertised stores that definitely works with them (Sephora and Ulta will not ship to Go Send unfortunately). If you have any questions about the service feel free to write it in the comments below (I'm not collaborating with Go Send btw).

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Transitional Pieces | Summer To Autumn

I can't help myself window shopping when I know the next season is approaching, even though I feel like I've only just bought that season's clothes. Autumn is my favourite season as I can start layering again, the colours aren't as bright and the leaves are out, so it's no surprise that I end up wanting to buy near enough everything I see. I do tend to want to pick everything up in an excuse as it's 'birthday clothes' as I'm an October baby but you have to treat yourself for your birthday, right? Here are a few of my picks to transition from Summer to Autumn, from heels to boots, little bags to backpacks and of course, plenty of biker jackets.

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