All Change!

As I mentioned in my last post (Empties #16) that I had some news to share with you but I would do a separate post on it, so here we go!

The Co-Op sent me this to help with the move, so cute!

I've been job hunting fairly seriously since about December looking for entry level jobs in Merchandising but I didn't get very far.  The furthest I got was at the end of last year: a phone interview with House of Fraser which I passed and got to the next level which was a workshop at their head office in London.  However I ended up turning it down because I would need to move to London and the salary was definitely not high enough for me to be able to support myself, and they weren't going to cover my travel costs for the interview either.

I applied for a few more and had a few calls from agencies with jobs for me to apply for but they were always in London!  I tried contacting numerous Scottish retail head offices to see if they could give me any sort of work experience but with no luck, so I decided to widen my search to include northern England.

Long story short:  At the start of April I finally managed to get a job, yayy!!  However it is in Greater Manchester so in less than a week I will be moving down south...

It's slightly terrifying but I'm so excited and can't wait to start my new life down there.  I've got a flat sorted but I've only seen it once and the next time I see it will be when I'm moving in which is making life a bit stressful trying to get everything organised for furnishing it...  I'm looking forward to moving into my own place because I'm still living at home so it will be so good having my own space and choosing my interiors etc!

Are any of you working in retail head offices or in Merchandising?  I've no idea what to expect!

<3

Empties #16

I have got some super exciting news to share with you all (although if you follow me on Twitter you probably know!) but I will do a separate more personal/life themed post so you can read it if you are interested :) Anyway, onto this next bunch of empties!

John Frieda Full Repair Deep Conditioner

Thoughts: I received this to try out along with other John Frieda products.  I wasn't particularly impressed by the others but I really liked this deep conditioner.  I used it just as a normal conditioner but sometimes I would leave it on for longer as a hydrating mask.  £6.99/150ml here via Boots.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.
Repurchase?: Yes.

REN Hydra-Calm Cleansing Milk

Thoughts: I got this as sample with an order from LoveLula and I really like it!  It leaves my skin feeling so clean and soft.  The Hydra-Calm range have been rebranded as Evercalm now but as far as I'm aware they're just the same.  £16/150ml here. 

Cruelty-free?: Yes.
Repurchase?: Yes.

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint in Light

Thoughts: LOVE this product!  This is now my everyday tinted moisturiser - I only wear foundation on special occasions haha!  I like to mix it with a highlighter such as Soap & Glory Hocus Focus to give it a nice and glowy finish.  £21/40ml here.

Cruelty-free?: Yes.
Repurchase?: Already have!

Bourjois Fan-Tastic Volume Mascara

Thoughts: This mascara was fine, I quite liked the shape of the wand.  As the name implies, it was in a one sided fan shape which was quite good for coating the lashes and giving them a bit of curl.  £9.99/9ml here via Boots.

Cruelty-free?: I thought so but there's a bit of confusion with them at the moment as they've been seen selling in China.  I have emailed them asking so we shall find out soon hopefully!

Repurchase?: Probably not.

Lush So White Bath Bomb (not pictured)

Thoughts: So White is a Christmas bath bomb which smells like apples!  I love apple scented products and this was no exception.  Fizzes nicely with some white foam and it even changes colour on the inside which was a nice surprise! 

Cruelty-free?: Yes.
Repurchase?: Yes.

REN Rosa Centifolia & Vita Mineral Special Purchase Kit

Just a quick post this evening to share this with you! LoveLula are doing a deal on this REN Skincare kit which includes: 50ml Vita Mineral Daily Supplement Cream (full size), 50ml Rosa Centifolia 3 in 1 Cleansing Water, 25ml Rosa Centifolia Cleansing Gel, 10ml Vita Mineral Omega 3 Face Oil and 3ml Vita Mineral Active 7 Eye Gel all for only £23! Link here.

Unfortunately it's now sold out and I'm so annoyed that I didn't get it yesterday when I got the email!  However, it does have a 'notify me' when it's back in stock where you can add your email which is what I've done.  I'm not even sure if it's a limited edition thing or what, but it's worth adding your email if it's something you think you'd like to try.

Fingers crossed!

<3

Current Favourite Eye Make Up Remover

I've been trialling several eye make up removers over the past few months after my favourite one ended up not being cruelty free (it was Boots Botanics, but apparently they reformulated it and made it crap so that makes me feel better!).

After going though various different brands I've finally settled on The Body Shop Camomile Gentle Eye Make Up Remover and am now on my second bottle.  

Generally I prefer oil based products but I've yet to find one which is cruelty free actually - if you can think of one please let me know! - so I've just been using water based ones recently.  I think this one works really well at removing eye (and lip) make up quickly and effectively.  Although Caroline Hirons says that you shouldn't need a separate eye make up remover, your cleanser should do the job, I definitely prefer taking it off before cleansing, especially if the make up's quite heavy!  Most of my cleansers would be fine at taking off eye make up but I rarely use them for that, I also feel a bit worried about rubbing round my eye area with a muslin cloth or flannel!

The ingredients for this product are on the website - here.  It contains SLES which I'm not a big fan of and prefer to avoid but it's not a main ingredient thankfully.

Honestly, it's not amazing but it's definitely the best one I have used which is cruelty free, I am quite happy with how it does the job.  My only complaint would be that if you have too much on the cotton ball/pad then it can sting the eyes a bit but to counteract this I use it on my eyebrows first to remove excess liquid.

It is £8 for 250ml but I only buy from The Body Shop when they have offers on, which is pretty much all the time!  If you keep an eye out you will rarely pay full price for any of their products online.

I see that they also do a waterproof eye and lip make up remover, has anyone tried this one?  What's your favourite eye make up remover?

<3

Homemade Veggie Nandos

Nando's seems to be a bit of a love or hate thing, some people are obsessed and others think it's rubbish and overrated.  I am part of the 'love it' category which probably sounds crazy to some people seeing as Nandos is a chicken restaurant and I don't eat chicken...  But if you actually look at the menu, yes there's loads of chicken, but there's also loads of veggie options!  For example, for the main meals you have bean burger, veggie burger or portobello mushroom and halloumi...  The one I always get is the latter, usually in a burger with chips and spicy rice.

However one night I was lying in bed and had this sudden amazing idea - to make a homemade Nando's using Quorn?!  So the next night my boyfriend and I were cooking dinner so we decided to have a go at this and see how it would turn out.

We went to Asda and picked up the following ingredients:

Quorn 6 Chicken Fillets
Nando's Peri-Peri rub in Medium
Nando's Garlic Peri-Peri Sauce
Nando's Chip Salt
Asda Seasoned French Fries
Shredded iceberg lettuce
Pitta bread (we got the giant ones)

1. We started by turning on the oven for the chips and rolling 4 chicken pieces in the spice rub.
2. Put some chips on a tray and sprinkle some chip salt over them.
3. Heat olive oil in a griddle or frying pan then place in the 4 chicken pieces.
4. Fry the Quorn on both sides until cooked through, adding in more of the spice mix if desired.
5. Toast the pitta bread in toaster or under the grill to heat them up.
6. Assemble everything on the plate - 2 pieces of Quorn, lettuce and sauce in the pitta, then chips at the side with more chip salt over the top.

It was sooo good!  Far too spicy though, when we made it the second time we used the Lemon & Herb Peri-Peri rub and it was so much better, didn't burn my tongue off!  My boyfriend hadn't tried Quorn before and he said he really enjoyed it and couldn't tell it wasn't real meat.

Have you got any good meat substitute recipes?  The Nandos products are also suitable for vegans so it could quite easily be adjusted for a vegan diet too.

<3

Out There Interiors Wishlist

I still live at home but I'm expecting to move out fairly soon (i.e. once I can get a job that means I can afford to...) so recently I've been keeping an eye out for things I'd like to have in my own flat/house.  I was introduced to Out There Interiors recently and have been enjoying browsing through their website, there's a lot of stunning and really unusual items on there!  Here are a selection of ones I like, although be warned, this is definitely a 'money is no object' wishlist!

Out There Interiors by looweezbx

1. Chrome Globe Chandelier - Available in 3 sizes and also in a gold colour, I think this chandelier looks really classy but not too over the top.
2. Arne Style Egg Chair -  This chair looks so comfy and comes in a great selection of colours!  I love this bright orange one though.  No idea where I'd put this, perhaps in an office area?
3. Fusion Dinner Plate - How crazy are these dinner plates?!  There's lots of designs and types of crockery.  They're so quirky and unusual, love them.
4. Mirrored Two-Drawer Dressing Table - I've always liked mirrored furniture ever since I saw it in TiffanyD's (the youtube beauty guru) videos.  As stunning as it is, I think it would be such a pain to keep clean!
5. Dressing Table Triple Mirror - Although the dressing table is mirrored, it's not much use without an actual mirror is it... 
6. Dressmaker's Mannequin - How cute is this!  It comes in different patterns too.  I'd like this for displaying some necklaces - and possibly for 'storing' clothes (aka flinging them on there instead of on the floor...).

Have you heard of Out There Interiors before?  Have you got a favourite homeware store/website?

<3

Sigma Kabuki Kit

I got this set as well when I bought the Mrs Bunny Travel Kit in 2012 when Sigma did free international shipping for Black Friday.  I can't seem to find this set on the Sigma website anymore so I'm not sure if they've discontinued it, but the Kabuki Kit with 5 brushes is still available for $84.

The brushes in this set are all available individually for $21 so in the 5 brush set you're technically getting one brush for free.  The four brushes I have are as follows:

F80 Flat Kabuki - As I've mentioned before I don't like flat foundation brushes, I much prefer to buff it into my skin, so this is one of the brushes I use for foundation.

F82 Round Kabuki - I also really like this one for foundation, more so than the flat one as the round shape is better at getting in around the nose area.

F84 Angled Kabuki - This one is perfect for bronzer and contouring, but I also like to use the tip for highlighter.

F86 Tapered Kabuki - I particularly like this one for highlighter but the shape of it is also good for contouring.

I really like these brushes, they're so soft and densely packed.  The downside of this is that that can take forever to dry after washing them!  Also because I use Brush Guards to help them keep their shape, this probably makes it a bit longer too.  I usually leave them out drying for a couple of days just to make sure!

<3

Lush Golden Egg Bath Melt/Bomb

I managed to get to a Lush and buy some items from my Easter wishlist, I was quite good though and only got 2 things!  The first one I've tried is the Golden Egg which is a bath bomb surrounded by a bath melt, and then by looks of it, drenched in gold glitter...  I got the lady in Lush to pick it up for me so I didn't get covered in the stuff haha.

As you can see compared to my hand it's a good size, which you would expect really as it's a '2 in 1' product!  I popped it in my bath and all the glitter came off into the water, beginning to melt turning it a golden yellow.  Once all the 'melt' part was finished, you could tell as it started fizzing properly and bobbing around, giving off more colour and some foamy bubbles.  When it was fully dissolved - which took ages, at least 5 minutes - the water ended up kind of a weird colour actually!  More of a pale yellow with some glitter floating around which was a bit odd haha!  However once you get over that, it is a rather pleasant bath, the cocoa butter makes the water really soft and silky.  The scent of it is similar to Honey I Washed The Kids, however I don't think it's quite as sweet as the soap, with a very slight cirtus-y edge to it which is nice.  As someone who isn't a big fan of really sweet smells, I think this was a perfect balance for me.

After getting out the bath my skin felt nice and soft but not too oily.  I did need to shower to get rid of any excess product and glitter on my skin!  When I drained the bath, the entire bottom was just covered in glitter, oops!  Luckily most of it just washed away but there was some still left stuck, which I did mean to clean with a flannel at some point...

I enjoyed this bath ballistic and would repurchase at some point but I'm not bothered about stocking up on it while the Easter collection is out.  At £3.50 I think it's pretty reasonable when you get the effects and benefits of both the melt and bomb.  Also I should add that unlike HIWTK, Golden Egg is vegan which is great!  Online here.

Have you tried this Lush product?

<3