Nivea

Candles, Clothing and Fashion, Make-up, Nails, Skincare

Accidental May Haul

May 29, 2014

Sometimes you just want to shop. It’s an urge that truly can not be ignored, especially if Gem and I are left alone, unsupervised! This afternoon was definitely one of those times and we ended up going on a completely unplanned spree.

No budget style shop would be complete without a trip to Primark and even though I didn’t -need- anything at all, I still ended up with a bag full of stuff. I absolutely adore giraffes and I squeeled with delight when I found the giraffe print dress and the tote bag. Even though I usually buy matching underwear from La Senza or Ann Summers, I often pick up some cheap briefs when I can for the gym or lounging around, because lets face it, no one wants to spend 30 minutes on a treadmill in lacy briefs. I really couldn’t resist the pack of four Brazilian style briefs which came in red animal print, red lipsticks, red hearts and navy polka dots and the 5 pairs of animal print “shoe liners” or better know to me as … socks I can wear at the gym with my trainers.

Giraffe Dress – £5 – Primark

Giraffe tote bag – £1.50 – Primark

Pack of 4 brazilian briefs – £4.50 – Primark

Animal print shoe liners – £2.50 – Primark

And now the stuff that I really really didn’t need. Another candle to add to my collection from Primark in “red berries & orchid” a beautiful berry candle in a gorgeous purple tin, surely this was meant for my dressing table?

A trip to boots ended up in me picking the Rimmel Scandel Eyes gel eyeliner up, which you can read Gem’s review about here, and also NO7’s Beautiful Skin Day Cream with spf15. This was my primary reason for going into Boots as I had a £5 off No7 skincare voucher and really needed some day moisturiser which had spf in. This was for dry to very dry skin and all the reviews I’ve read about this cream were pretty good, so I’m excited to give it a try when I run out of my current moisturiser.

Despite my worries of going to Superdrug and buying half the store, I was actually very sensible, as it was 3 for 2 on most of their makeup, I did pick up an MUA lip-liner in “Red Drama”, MUA lipstick in “Shade 3” and another MUA power pout in “Crazy in Love” (you can see my review of the MUA power pout in “Runaway” here). I also picked up some Garnier Micellar water, which I really did need and some more deodorant which I’m almost out of.

Lastly, we fell into Poundland where I stupidly decided that I had to have a Revlon nail varnish in “Runway Pearl”, two W7 “rock and roll” eye-shadows in “sage” and “envy”, some zebra pens (I already have a vast collection of these exact pens in my desk drawer!) and some beautiful blue paper, a nice addition to my craft room.

Purple tin candle – £3.50 – Primark

Rimmel Scandel Eyes Gel Eyeliner – 4.99 – Boots (usually £6.99 and also £6.99 in Superdrug)

No 7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream – £12.50 – Boots (only £7.50 with my £5 off voucher)

Nivea deodorant – £2.29 – Superdrug (2 for £3)

MUA Power Pout – £3 – Superdrug

MUA Lip Liner – £1 – Superdrug

MUA Lipstick – £1 – Superdrug (3 for 2 – £4 in total)

Revlon Nail Varnish – £1 – Poundland

Decorative paper – £1 – Poundland

W7 rock and roll eyeshadow – £1 each – Poundland

Zebra animal print pens – £1 – Poundland

I absolutely blame our shop on Lauren over at Lauren Amy Blogs, since I was up late last night reading some of her “Superdrug haul” posts and I had an overwhelming urge to go out and buy things. Despite both Gem and I having a no spending month *cough*, together we are a force that is unstoppable – thankfully we did manage to resist the £5 blow up chairs in Ann Summers complete with built in penis’ – something we thought would be absolutely hilarious to take to our upcoming festivals.

This is definitely my last haul for a while, but if you’ve had a recent haul, please post us your links in the comments below so instead of spending our money we can live precariously through you and your blog posts :o).

Totally hellbent for having an uncontrollable addiction that I thankfully share with my bested friend in the whole world

-Pants

Skincare

Pants’ every day Skincare Regime

September 15, 2013

For many years, I was a believer of less is more. This is something I told myself when it came to my skincare regime, in that I wouldn’t really go above and beyond the morning face wipe/wash and moisturise routine.

I have naturally dry skin, so a lot of soap based products make my face feel especially awful. I try not to use too much on my face, and as part of my morning regime, rely heavily on good quality face wipes rather than washing with soap based products which makes my skin look terrible for the rest of the day.

One thing I will recommend, is invest in the more expensive face wipe, it’s amazing the difference this makes. Some of my favorites at the moment are Superdrug’s Vitamin E wipes, Nivea and Simple. They are relatively cheap to buy as well.

My latest edition, is cleanser and toner. I have no idea how I managed to get through life without these! It’s truly amazing to think of all the gunk and dirt that was left behind on my face – even after exfoliating face washes in the shower. I mostly use The Body Shop’s Vitamin E cleanser and toner, and find this suits me the best. I have tried Simple, and even the aloe Vera range from The Body Shop, but these tend to leave my skin feeling a little dry.

I use Superdrug’s Tea Tree Exfoliating Face wash around 2-3 times a week. I’ve found that out of most brands, this is the best as I like my exfoliating scrubs to feel similar to that of rolling around on sand paper! It leaves my face feeling invigorated and very much awake. This is especially good to take to festivals and I’ve never felt more clean/awake than when I’ve used this. Additionally, I like the Superdrug Tea Tree exfoliating pads which I use most days too.

So, in terms of my regime, my morning starts as follows:

A good quality face wipe to remove most visible dirt, a quick blast of an exfoliating pad just to get down to those nitty gritty bits around 3 times a week. I then cleanse, tone, apply moisturising serum and then my moisturiser. I do the same thing just before bed and ensure that all my makeup has been removed.

Here are some of my top tips for a good skincare regime:

Always use a good quality face wash that suits your skin when you shower. Some people shower daily – I must confess I do not. Be mindful that our skin has natural oils which are often affected with the use of some washes so you may want to consider a milder soap. My exfoliating wash is quite harsh, which is why I use this no more than 3 times a week, and rely on the pads for in between days which are not as harsh.
Remove makeup before going to bed. It’s amazing how much grime you can have caked on your skin, and the night time gives it a chance to breathe!
Choose a moisturiser for your skin type. If you have naturally oily skin, then something for very dry skin is probably not going to be a good choice. If in doubt, look out for product reviews.

There we have it, my basic skin care regime. I love trying out new skin care products, so keep your eyes peels for reviews!

Totally hellbent for cleansing!

-Pants

Festivals, Metal, Music, Skincare

Pants’ top 5 festival life savers for Summer 2013

September 15, 2013

Well festival season is officially over. Dakesis played Sunkfest and The New Disorder Festival, which were great when it comes to prolonging the post festival blues. Unfortunately, it’s now miserable outside and we are almost half way through September!

With so many memories from this year already what better way to reflect, than to think of all the scrummy products I got to try out whilst in a tent with significantly less access to things that make me look clean.

After much pondering on this, I have come up with my top 5 festival life savers for this year. It took some thought, but these are the 5 products that I absolutely couldn’t have lived without!

Suncream – I absolutely couldn’t have lived without my Simple factor 50 suncream as well as the Coola slightly tinted SPF 20 screen. Gem and I were very silly and had managed to get ourselves burnt to a crisp whilst on our ferry to Holland, but the Coola tinted moisturiser matched my self inflicted shade of orange perfectly, meaning I didn’t need to try make foundation work over my sore, sunburnt, orange and peeling skin
Facial Wipes – This are a must have, decent facial wipes to take off makeup, suncream and dirt. So long as I have these, it’s OK if I run out of toner and cleanser or don’t have access to showering facilities.
Eyebrow Kit – This ranks higher than any other makeup product, with my eyebrows filled out I at least resemble a human being!
Jelly Pong Pong Mascara – When the going get’s hot and sweaty, I am loathed to put makeup on knowing it will run and make me clammy. I love this mascara so much that I didn’t need any eyeliner or eyeshadow to glam up. An application of this left me looking refreshed and glamourous despite having spent 4 days in a field.
Facial Spritz – This was a life saver. It was so hot, that Gem and I were teasing each other by asking ourselves to imagine what it would be like if we were wrapped up in fleece blankets, whilst wearing onsies, with a hot water bottle and a heater on. It may not sound much, but the thought of this was nauseating! In this unbearable heat we took it in turns to spray each other (and our partners) with our recently acquired Glossybox spoil. This facial spritz feels like the most refreshing thing in all of the land when it’s 30 degress, with zero cloud cover, a multitude of black clothing and no shade. This is coming with me to every place that is in danger of reaching 21 degress upwards!

Totally hellbent for looking fab with minimum effort

-Pants

Festivals, Make-up

Gig + Field x Stage Face = Big bag

July 11, 2013

Dakesis recently played for the 16th birthday of an amazing girl called Alice. Since she is already so metal, she had a mini festival with her own band playing and asked us to do a set.

So, I thought this would be a good example to show you one of my more “basic” gig sets. Obviously this gig was a little more low key and since I was planning on spending a great deal of time drinking in a field, I wasn’t overly bothered about how I would end up looking. Despite this, I do like to ensure I have all the essentials to remove my panda eyes before bed!!

In order, here are some of my lovely essentials:

1 Makeup Case

2 Old duster for cleaning my brushes whilst out and about

3 The Body Shop’s Vitamin E Day and Night Cream

4 The Body Shop’s Vitamin E Moisturising Serum

5 The Body Shop’s Vitamin E mini cleanser and toner

6 Dainty Doll Foundation

7 Kindle

8 Elf Studio Eyebrow Kit

9 17 Miracle Matte Pressed Powder

10 The Body Shop’s Vitamin E BB cream (I mix this in with my foundation)

11 Nivea Visage Refreshing Facial Cleansing Wipes

12 Nivea Hydra Moisturising Cream

13 Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Mascara (my new love, from my Glossy Box)

14 Christina Aguilera Secret Potion Perfume

15 Nivea Roll On Deodrant (Keeps me fresh all day long)

16 Elf Brush Cleaner

17 Elf Makeup Lock and Seal (an absolute requirement for stage makeup)

18 Rimmel Exaggerate Liquid Eyeliner

19 The Body Shop’s Shimmer Cube Palette Eyeshadow Blue/Grey

20 Elf Brightening Eye Colour in Drama

21 The Body Shop All in One Blusher

22 Ecotools Kabuki (From Boots, bought this on a whim after I desperately needed one, and this was the only one I could almost guarantee would be cruelty free)

23 Various brushes – The Body Shop Eyeshadow Brush, Bobby Brown brushes, Elf angled foundation brush (studio range).

There is a lot more to my essentials list that this, but you get the idea! Look out for reviews of some of these products in the near future too!!

I will leave you with a thoroughly amusing picture of camping chair makeup application & the sight of hair in much need of dying!