What I've Used Up! - March

As I have been on a Money Challenge I have actually used more up because I'm not drifting from new product to new product. Its been good for my purse as well as my lack of storage space!

This month I have been into baths, so I have used up quite a few lush bits! I tend to break bubble bars etc into three or four pieces, this allows more baths and I still find that there is more than enough bubbles or oils in the bath to give a lovely bath.


Out of my Lush collection I have used up:

• The Christmas Penguin bubble bar
• The comforter bubble bar 
• Bombardino
• Snow Fairy Shower gel (this bottle I accidentally binned!)

I Then used up a mini of a Ted Baker body butter, which I must have got three years ago and never opened, this was a whipped butter and sunk into the skin very quickly to leave a non greasy soft feeling skin, the way a body butter should be!

This mini bi-facil by Lancome was used as an all over makeup remover because I wash my face after, i figured it would be ok, It does really cut through the makeup, leaving minimal makeup on the skin ready to wash my face. I am not one to use these type of products typically but if you are into this kind of thing this is the best one I have tried and used for it purpose it did remove waterproof eye make-up with ease. 

I also used up a non brand shower gel I just use to clean my brushes!

The last item I have used up is my favourite face wash, since finding this three years ago I have not used another, and not even wanted to! The gentle facial wash is not too harsh on the skin but it removes every last scrap of makeup and the second application leaves my face squeaky clean!

Hannah x

March Loves

It's the end of the month, and what better way to celebrate then to tell you what I am loving this month!

This month I have been wearing Sally Hansen Nail strips, these little guys stay on for weeks! literally! I had these on my nails for two, almost three weeks, which completely amazed me!

I have never had quite so many compliments on my nails by strangers. and I love how professional the outcome was!

I have also been loving a new foundation, I know pretty unbelievable considering my love of Lancome, but after rave reviews of the Rimmel Wake Me Up I wanted to give it a go, I found it on offer in Sainsburys for £5 which made it too good to pass up!

At first I wasn't too sure because of the glitter but then I used a buffing brush instead of my stippling brush and I was in love,  it gives a flawless look to the skin, has great staying power and at £23 cheaper than my Lancome there isn't a ton of difference, I do prefer the Lancome but I have been wearing Wake me up day to day and not even my boyfriend (who is very observant) noticed the difference!

To go along with this, another favourite is the brush I brought as part of a set for £6 I have been really enjoying the buffing brush, it is nothing special, Ive just never had one and I  like the results it gives.

My Last beauty favourite is my Rimmel lipstick in Heartbreaker, As I've been shopping my stash and trying to use up some stuff, I came across this, I had because so obsessed with my MAC and Lancome lipsticks I forgot I even had it, But it is a beautiful colour and all I've worn all month!

I have been Loving fruity candles and this month I have been in love with Yankee Candles Black Cherry, it has a lovely fruit cherry smell but a sharp twist to not make it too sweet!

Lastly one of my favourites this month has been the Mrs Crimbles gluten free Chocolate chip muffins, I kid not not, these taste like the real thing! soft spongey muffin with small crispy choc chips, packed full of them in-fact! AMAZING!


What have you been loving?

Hannah x

Tesco Free From Chocolate Digestive Biscuits

Yet again I'm thinking about my belly! And yet again its biscuits!
We have started shopping online using Tesco, where before we used to go to Morrisons, buying online gives me a much wider range of gluten free products from cake to ready meals, and my latest love is these...

Image from tesco.com

These are Tesco Free From Chocolate Digestive Biscuits and I think the secret to their tastiness is that they do contain milk, I know this is no good for those who have a dairy intolerance but it is very clear when a product tries to be free from everything, the taste is most certainly compromised!

The taste and texture of these digestives is very authentic and cannot be distinguished from a regular digestive, apart from the fact they are slightly smaller than a typical Mcvities which is not big deal. These are so good I accidentally ate 4 today, oops!

Another positive is they are only £1.35 regular price and at the minute they have 25p off, but even without the discount these biscuits are very good value for a gluten free product. I didn't count how many were in the pack but I would say there is 16-20 of them which makes them amazing value.

Why not give them a go!

Hannah x

Money Challenge - Week Two

We are half way through my Four week money challenge!

I have realised that some budgets I set are not realistic, I've come to realise I have a small addiction to my Starbucks and it is not something I am willing to give up!

This week I have found I would have over spent my coffee budget if I wasn't treated to a couple, however I have not got any clothes yet so surely that makes it better right?


So this week:

• I spent £7.85 in Starbucks
• I spent £1.20 on Makeup - This included a Body Shop brush and Body shop mascara (using a gif card)
• I also brought mothers day presents but I am yet to know if these gifts will be shared or not so I won't account that just yet.

Total spent this week: £9.05

Remaining budgeting money

• Makeup/skincare - £14.30
• Bath Products - £9.05
• Clothes  - £50
• Starbucks - £16.90

Used up:

This week I used up a travel size of the Lancome eye makeup remover, I actually used it all over my face to remove the bulk of my makeup before using a face wash. I would not go out and buy this product because I am essentially using it as a glorified makeup wipe, nevertheless I do have two more which I will use in the same way. They tend to come in a set with a mascara and eyeliner for the price of the mascara and I enjoy the mascara and  eyeliner so its a good freebie, just not worth the money to buy alone for me. 

I also used up an airwick candle which was in a vanilla sent and couple of lush bubble bars, including the comforter but for obvious reasons the empties of theses cannot be photographed! 

I also have a mini of a Ted Baker body butter with one more use in it, so that just missed being featured this week! 

Hannah x 

Sally Hansen Nail Strips

I had seen these nail strips when they were first realised, they interested me at the time but for £8 which only included enough strips to do your nails once I thought it was a waste on money, particularly because they were released the same as those eye shadow transfers, the thought of those still make me shudder!

But when I saw the pattern Kitty Kitty in my local Poundland I couldn't resist but give them a go. I was fully expecting that they would be awful, I had pictured them to be like the kids nail polish I had in the late 90's which once you had painted on and it had dried you could peel it straight back off!

However I was surprised! This photo has been taken 4 days after applying and in those days I have been painting sets, packing parcels as well as many other tasks which have a lot of wear and tear on my nails, and all I can see is a little tip wear. I did apply a top coat onto the strip the morning after I had applied them just because I like a really glossy nail so I do not know if this has helped the longevity of the strip.

All I did was follow the instructions word for word in the box and there you go! Amazing nails!

Kitty Kitty is your typical leopard print but is very shimmery without being glittery, this was the only pattern that was available in my local shop but I'm sure they must have some other patterns elsewhere.

I would 100% recommend them and if you are near a Poundland I suggest you see if they have any in stock.

Is it just me or have all the pound shops upped their game?

Hannah x

Money Challenge - Week one

Sorry it's Monday and not Sunday! I have been super busy. But I'm back with the update after my first week of budgeting!

This week was not too bad considering I knew that this week was the week I would need to stock up on bits that I don't purchase often however I did spend more than I thought I would, here is the break down:

• I spent £15.25 in Starbucks on four drinks! (I'm now certain this will be over budget by the end of the month!
• I spent £9.50 on Makeup - This included a brush set on offer for £6 that I just couldn't pass up, a bottle of nail plush remover and a Glamour magazine, does that count as beauty?
• I spent £10.95 on lush goods , a couple of bath bombs and a lovely smelling soap. I didn't really need the soap but it was limited edition, oops, this is a big less than I would have normally got though!
• I then got a £15 gift card for a friends birthday.
• I also spent £6.95 at a lunch out with my friend.

Total spent this week: £57.64

Remaining budgeting money

• Makeup/skincare - £15.50
• Bath Products - £9.05
• Clothes  - £50
• Starbucks - £24.75

I feel I would be cheating if I didn't tell you if I received any items through the week, This week I was in the pound shop with my family so my Dad kindly paid for the few items I picked up with his bits because there was a huge line for the tills. In this trip I found two more china glaze crackles, Sinful colours polishes and Sally Hansen nail strips (wish I got more of these, AMAZING)

This week has been a success in using up my hoards of products though! I have used up three items this week and I am very pleased with this.

These products are a sample of Lancome Mascara, Lush Snow Fairy shower gel and a bottle of dry shampoo.

Lets hope next week is better!

Hannah x 

Coloured Shampoo? Not for me!

Normally I would not do a post on something I truly do not like because if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all right?

I also want to point out that I have only tried the Superdrug brand of this product and I don't know if batiste, boots, etc. coloured dry shampoo are the same and this is not a reflection of all Superdrug own brand products because I love many others of their products!

Well I feel this is the case 99% of the time, however this time this product was so disappointing I want to share my experience, no I know it didn't kill me or cause serious harm to any one but at the same time it was very irritating.

A couple months ago I picked up my normal dry shampoo in Superdrug (batiste) and saw the super drugs own brand 'Superdrug Chocolate Brownie Dry Shampoo' for dark hair and I have never picked up the batiste version and for 3 for £2.50 or £1.05 each I decided to pick up three so my sister could have one too.

I used up the batiste dry shampoo this week and moved onto the super drug one on saturday. Baring in mind I only use minimal amounts of these products in my hair, I was surprised to find I only have to touch my hair and my fingers were dirty, I was expecting to transfer slightly because it is obviously coloured but not to the extent it did!

This would not have bothered me too much normally but I was actually dress shopping for cream dresses and accessories with my mum for an event she is going to in a couple of weeks, this resulted in me being completely paranoid all day that I was going to get marks on the dresses and accessories in House of Fraser.

I emailed Superdrug, not to complain essentially but just to make them aware that this product has way too much transferring and therefore isn't really useable, unless you do not touch any light! They were very quick at responding with an apology and also telling me that this would be forwarded to the own brand product department so they are aware and they also thanked me for taking the time to email with the issue because if they are not told, they don't know, (very true). I was very happy with the customer service I received and that they do care about customers opinions.

I don't want you all to think own brand products are bad, there are many Superdrug and other own brand products I really enjoy but this one was truly awful, perhaps the batiste brown is the same?

From now on I am definitely going to stick to what I know, no more coloured shampoos for me!

Hannah x

My Money Challenge Intro

Shopping makes us feel good, yes? but most of you must get the same feeling I get when I see my bank statement at the end of the month! The I spent how much where! syndrome, as I like to call it.

Image From www.bubblews.com

So this month (a.k.a my financial month, pay day to pay day) I am going on a challenge. I am not going cold turkey on beauty products etc. because firstly I know things that I don't stock pile like nail polish remover and makeup wipes will run out this month and also I know if I say no more makeup I will only want it even more!

This goes the same for any other areas in my life, if I can't have my weekly Starbucks I crave it more!


For the first month of this challenge I am setting loose goals because I really do not know how well I will do at this, and I don't want to kick myself for not being perfect, after all this is a working progress and won't be perfect in the first month!

Both My Sisters Birthday and Mothers day fall into this month so I do not want to set a budget for these, but I do want this to fall into my overall budget.


I am attempting not spend any more than:

• £25 on makeup and skin care, this is a scary thought to me because my favourite foundation is £27 and my favourite day and night cream are £39 each! Although I do know they will not be running out soon and I consider them splurge items!
• £50 on clothes, (this one depends on where/if  I go shopping as to how hard to keep).
• £20 on bath products (this won't be every month , I'm just running low on bath bombs).
• £40 on Starbucks (I always buy my sister and mum one too otherwise this budget would be half that). 

I know some of these budgets may seem large to some but cutting down slowly will make it easier to stick to!

As well as this budgeting I am aiming to use up my hoards of products, who needs 30 bottles of shower gel with matching body butters anyway! I need to get into the habit of realising it is only a good deal if you are going to get through it all!

I will keep you updated on my progress every Sunday I don't actually get paid till the 20th but because this month I have spent a lot on going away and gifts (for others as well as myself) so I am going to count the next week and a half into the budget.

Ideally I do not want to spend any more than £250 this month overall including essentials, but we will see how it goes...

Hannah x

Pound Land and other Beauty Finds!

Yesterday I nipped into town and did a little shopping whilst my sister and her friend were watching a show. Recently I have been on a kick of watching peoples cheap makeup finds, so I wanted to find some for myself!

I first went into boots, where everything was on three for two, my Mum picked up some bits and I picked up two bottles of dry shampoo and combining with Mum's purchases meant one of the bottles were free!

I don't tend to be picky over the different smells they do, so i just pick up the first ones I see.


I then went to check out the MUA stand in Superdrug, here I picked up one of the caviar nail sets in the shade Pisces which is, turquoise, pink and silver, this was £3. I then got the 'pistachio ice cream' nail polish for £1 (bargain!), which as you would imagine is a light almost mint green colour this means I'll be using the recommended nail polish for the caviar  (not that it should make any difference!)

Then I saw the 2true stand, I normally avoid these types of stands and I have no real reason as to why,  perhaps I'm just a bit snobby at times and think these products will be crap! Either way this pink polish in shade 6 spoke to me, it is also limited edition which made me need it even more and at £1.99 if it doesn't work how I want it to I won't cry! I also picked up some shades for my sister

I then went into poundland after being seeing so many budget bloggers finding some really good products. I would have got more but the lady working in there insisted on trying to tidy the shelves as I was trying to look, but there was so much I didn't know where to start!

I only picked up a couple of items but I fully intend on going back to get some more bits. But what I did get hold of was some China Glaze nail crackle nail polishes. I ended up buying a couple for my sister and one for myself, I already have many OPI ones that my boyfriend got me a couple of years back so I was excited to find the China Glaze versions, I got Charlotte a white and a blue because she does not own any crackles, and I got myself Latticed Lilac.

Where is your favourite place to find beauty bargains?

Hannah x

And in Five Years Time you Might Just Prove Me Wrong...

Who doesn't love a bit of Noah and the Whale! Yesterday (8th March) was James and my five year anniversary! Who would have thought! 

James and I have known each other for nine years, and first met when we were eight years old! That sounds a little crazy to me! 

To celebrate I got James a Ted Baker case and took him out for dinner at a local pub restaurant, and he turned up at the door with these!

How lovely is this beautiful hand tied!

Hannah x 

If I knew you were coming I'd have baked a cake...

No it's not quite a cake but you still bake a biscuit right?

Since entering the world of gluten free lifestyles I have found it so hard to find a nice biscuit (lets face it , nice anything!). But now I look no further.

Just before Christmas I ordered a gluten free hamper from Amazon when it was on offer for £17, (does anyone else remember when Amazon just sold books?). This hamper had a variety of things from biscuits and crackers to pasta.

I have had so much food I've brought to try that I completely forgot this gem was in my box in the cupboard, What I'm talking about is the Lazy day Belgian Dark Dipped Ginger Snaps.

Honestly I cannot tell the difference between this and a gluten filled equivalent, the chocolate has the rich slightly bitter taste and the biscuit has a proper snap to it, with no odd powdery texture or horrible aftertaste that many gluten free confectionary has, I am over the moon I have tried these and will most definitely try more from the Lazy Day brand. 

There is 8 biscuits in the box and on the Lazy day website they are £2.39 or £2.45 in Waitrose, and as other gluten free shoppers know, having a gluten intolerance is not cheap! However I feel that these are very reasonably priced for the quality you are receiving, to think I have spent £4 on biscuits that taste like eating card and rice! 

Just thinking about these makes me want another... If only I didn't finish the box earlier 

Hannah x 

An expensive weekend

A couple of weeks ago James and I went away for a shopping weekend in Ashford for a late Birthday celebration. We were going to go to the zoo on the sunday but the weather took a turn for the worst :(


Anyway we didn't let it ruin the day so after three days of nice coffee shops, good food, brisk walks and wandering round various shopping centres and complexes I finally got round to snapping what I picked up for myself.


Yet again I couldn't pass up a Body shop, especially an outlet store! So I picked up a passionfruit lip balm, almond hand cream and some organic cotton rounds. (I want to see if they are worth the hype!)

I then got a scarf from Fat Face outlet for £5 down from £19.50 (lets face it I own too many scarfs to justify spending £19.50 on one!) I also got this stripy top for £9 down from £20, can't complain at that.

I also picked up these Dalmatian socks in ASDA whilst getting some snacks and water, I can't resist Dalmatians.

Cat lovers brace yourselves, no I didn't buy a new kitten, but I did get kitten shoes! These were £29.99 down from £65, these were the last pair in the shop and they were in my size so I decided it was fate! so much so I debated all day decided I didn't need them and then asked James the next day if we could go back and get them.

speak soon!

Hannah x