Whats In My Bag: Flight Edition

I am off on vacation on Saturday guys and gals.

 Throw your hands in the air one time for sum sum summer. It has been a while since I had a vacay which entailed leaving the country.

 Last year I had two mini breaks, one to Centre Parcs for 4 days and another one over the August Bank  Holiday. However there is just something about laying about on a beach, with a straw hat and a cold drink. On this trip I can look forward to hanging with my chicas, going to the beach, good food and yeah going to the beach. 

Of course traveling out of the country means I have to make some adjustments when it comes to the beauty products I cart along, decisions, decisions. These are the items I have pretty much decided to will take with me to the airport/ on the flight. 

Face

I will taking along my trusty Garnier Cleansing wipes in absence of my Garnier Micellar water (Garnier needs to make this in a 100ml size. Even if it is only sold in airports.) The 3oz rule, +  no aerosols means I wont be able to carry my trusty Avene Thermal water spray, but no worries I have  my Simple Hydrating Face Mist (GREAT DUPE for the MAC Travel Sized  Fix + Spray) to keep my skin hydrated during the flight along with my Korres Pomegranate Cream Gel/Body Shop Serum in Oil. 

Body

Sometimes my hands feel a bit grimey and travelling/being on the go there might not be an available sink with running water and hand soap readily available. My hand bag packet of Wet Ones will keep my hands feeling fresh and not sticky. My trusty Kleenex tissues are on hand to wipe up any spills or drips that might occur (dab the ob bit of foundation/the end of a mascara wand.) Hand sanitizer is my truth my light and my way (plus it will in handy for cleaning my hand before applying my makeup. This little mini tub of Nivea Creme is going to  come in very handy for moisturizing my arms and legs/feet. L'Occitane Hand cream (full tube) self explanatory. 

Fragrance

Davidoff Cool Water edt, Ralph Lauren Romance edp, Marc Jacobs LoLa edp I love a good scent and I love having a choice. The Marc Jacobs Lola is a gorgeous scent, is sold as a 20ml purse spray, the other 2 fragrances are 30ml sizes so they aren't too heavy. 

Breath

I am very suspicious of those mini tubes of tooth pate they give out on flights. There isn't enough toothpaste to get a good scrub on (my dentists recommends brushing for 2 minutes long) and the texture is just weird. This is a mini 19ml tube of Colgate Total. I got it as a free sample from my dentists office. In the event I eat a hot curry or something really garlicky, I have some Extra chewing gum & mints to keep me going until I can brush my teeth. 

Food

I have some Go Ahead cereal bars, and some Oat cakes to keep me going. I usually buy these as my work snacks, but they will keep me going, if I am feeling peckish and a packet of crisps are not to hand (or the stewardess is being stingy with the snacks. 

Miscellaneous

Shilling oil I cannot really explain what this is for, it covered a multitude of sins. Ipod mini this is for listening to music on the way to the airport and in the departure lounge. Revlon Colour Burst lipglosses to keep my lips moisturized with a bit of colour. 

Yayyyyyyyy. I'm going on holiday.

Shimmy shimmy cocoa puff. 

xx

Whats In My Bag: Zara Leather Messenger Bag

Last week I hauled this lil gem, my Zara Leather Messenger bag. 

 Today I thought I would do a little follow up/ Whats In My Bag, to show what I take with me on nights out. 

my lil gem all packed up

Darn tootin' (I've been watching too many Nashville episodes)

Diary

Passport

Lipgloss - MAC

Mints - Extra

Hand Sanitizer - Carex (decanted into the Purell container)

Blot Power - MAC

Asthma Inhaler - Salbutomol Sulphate

Lipstick - Rimmel, Sleek

Hand Cream - L'Occitane

Mini Mascara - Benefit

Pen - Bic

I must admit, I  thought that I would have to return this bag.
 Since it would be full after I put in my lipgloss and inhaler, but this lil bag holds quite a few things. I had to eat my words. 
It is s lovely little bag, with a great price point, plus it is made from  leather.
I look forward to many adventures with my lil gem.
 It is especially handy right now for trips to the pub to watch the world cup games.

xx

Rollin' in the Creams: L' Occitane, The Body Shop, Carex, Neals Yard

Soooo somehow between magazine freebies, gifts and half price offers I have accumulated a tiny hand cream collection. I know, I know it looks bad but in my defense I like hand creams and these will be used up. I have a little strategy in relation to using them as well, no fear there is a method in the madness. 

Christmas gift 2013

Magazine freebies, yup £58 worth of free handcream

The 30ml L'Occitane Shea Butter  hand creams I keep for carrying around daily/ on nights out. They are the perfect handbag/clutch bag size. I keep one in my Longchamp pouchette 24/7.

 These are good because they are super moisturizing and even the scented ones are not terrible overpowering.

 My sister knows of my "L'Occitane Love" and she bought me the L'Occitane gift box (pictured above) as a part of my Christmas gift. 

The Neal's Yard Hand Cream (Save The Bees guys) I plan to start using this as a hand bag cream when the weather really heats up. I tend to like citrus scents during the warmer months. 

Half priced purchases

The Body Shop Hand creams I picked these up for 2 reasons 1. I had been watching them for a while. From time to time The Body Shop emails would come to my inbox and I would have a gander  to see what products were on offer, these hand creams kept coming up peaking my interest. One day I gave in and purchased them when they were on offer with 50% off discount (these 100ml sizes are usually £10 each, I bought them for £5 each)

2. I toyed with the idea of giving each of my siblings a hand cream and a hand sanitizer as a part of their Christmas presents  (don;t judge one of my sisters gave me socks). Sadly The hand creams did not make it to the Christmas gift boxes but the hand sanitizers did. 

 

I use these during the day if I am at home and in the evenings before bed. I think these are great desk hand creams. 

Cussons Carex Antibacterial Hand Creams first let me say this was a great way for Cussons to diversify their product range. They make so many hand washes, it was just the sensible move for them to start making hand creams. Cussons -----------> WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG? I bought these last August when they first launched in Superdrug and were half priced (£1.20). I originally had two of them the Vitamin E (pictured above, now resides on my desk) and the Aloe Vera ( which has been used and now rests with the hand cream gods). These I use at the office. 

There you are my lovelies.

 I told you there was a method to the madness. 

xx

Magazine freebies - Marie Claire UK November 2013

Rose Tenderness, Gentle Violet, and Passionate Jasmine

Among L'occitane's latest offerings, are these  new limited edition shea butter hand creams. Small enough to fit in your clutch, hand bag or carry on, plus they are available with the current issue of Marie Claire magazine as a free gift. The L'Occitane Shea Butter handcream is rich in formular but when applied absorbs into the skin very easily. I absolutely love it and I am not ashamed that I bought 3 Marie Claire magazines, in order for me to obtain all three of these limited edition scents. I saved 53% off the RRP, there is no shame in the L'Occitane game.

**remember these lil hand creams make great presents, there is no shame is grabbing a few to use as stocking fillers** 

Read my review of the L'Occitane Shea Butter handcream here

Read my winter hand cream guide containing the L'Occitane hand cream here

peace and light my lovelies 

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My travel Makeup/Skincare/Bodycare UK August Bank holiday

You already know about my disastrous experience at Notting Hill Carnival. What you do not know is, before I went to London, I had to attend my Godsons christening. Which meant I had to do a bit of cross country travelling, therefore I had to break out my travel goodies. 

Body - Garnier Minerals Clean Sensation anti antiperspirant, Nivea Pearl Beauty gentle care antiperspirant, L'occitane Plum Blossom skin moisture gel (travel size), Marks and Spencers Coconut hand and body lotion (decanted into a travel sized bottle), The Body Shop Shea Butter Shower cream (travel size), Burberry Body Eau de Parfum, Elizabeth Arden Red door Revealed Eau de Parfum. 

Face - Emma Hardie Amazing Face Natural lift and Sculpt Morninga Cleansing Balm (sample size), Origins Modern Friction (sample size), Clarins Gentle Eye Makeup Remover Lotion (sample size)

Hair - Organics Olive Oil Hair Polish Finishing Mist

Makeup - MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural in Deep dark, MAC Blot Powder, Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara (travel size), Clinique High Impact Mascara (travel size), The Body Shop Super volume Mascara (travel size), 

Stuff - Cuticura Passion Flower and Mango antibacterial gel (decanted into my purell 60ml pump bottle), Wet Ones anti bacterial wipes, Avene Eau de thermal spray.

See you next time lovelies.

xx

Winter Skincare Series- Hand cream

     Hand cream is not only a Winter must have, but a year round must have, a handbag must have and a desk top must have. Your hands are one part of your body which is always exposed, we see and use them quite often. Our hands are very delicate and often start showing signs of ageing quickly, hence the need to moisturise. 

Handbag Handcreams

     The L'occitane Shea Butter Hand Cream this cream is quite thick but it absorbs quickly without any greasy after feeling. This come in a varying amount of sizes 10ml, 30ml (the size shown above) and  150ml. The 30ml is priced at £8, and the 150ml is £17.50. 

Desktop Creams

      These are the creams which are great not just in size but value, yes the L'occitane cream is great but there are great choices also available from the lower priced brands. I do not like using my handbag cream at work, because at times I tend to forget it. For me it is better to have different creams with their individual uses and assigned purposes.  These are the hand creams which I use at work because of the larger sized tubes. They are convenient for me to use at work, aka I can use as much hand cream as I like without fearing they will finish at any moment. 

 These hand creams are great follow ups to the L'occitane Shea Butter hand cream. they are moisturising but not greasy.  The Garnier hand cream is 100ml and is priced at £2.50 - £3.50 depending on where you purchase. The Jergens hand creams are £3 - £3.50. 

Double Duty 
This is a mini body butter this is a great body cream which can also double as a hand cream. The small 50ml size makes it a great size to be used for a weekend away or for sharing with friend. 

Check out my post on body butters here

Check out my post on shower creams here

Check out my review on the L'occitane hand cream here

Perfect Pairings - Plum

     Unlike my last post BOTH of these items contain Plum in the scent. This will be a high/ low pairing, the scents compliment each other very well. 

 L'OCCITANE's Plum Blossom skin moisture gel - though it was the Garnier moisture gel which sent me scurrying to the loving arms of Cocoa Butter in February. I quite like this moisture gel, for one thing it actually moisturises and does not disappear within two minutes, leaving my confused as the whether I had moisturised my skin. It has a light consistency and spreads well, but it is not watery. 

Dove Go Fresh Plum and Sakura Blossom body wash - one thing I have noticed about Dove body washes which I have never noted, they lather really well. For products which contain 1/4 moisturiser they have alot of bubbling action going on. However even with the bubbling action, this body wash will eave your skin feeling clean and moisturised but not tight as you would from soap. 

Winter Skincare Series - Body Butters

       It is here the frostier months of which I spoke last week have arrived full force. customers are now including de-icer in their week grocery purchases. The first snow fell can you believe that!!!!!! Christmas decorations, gifts, foods, and various other paraphernalia are on sale stacked high in every possible space. During winter I prefer to use a thicker moisturiser on my body, the other lotions and body creams just do't seem to cut it when battling lower level of hydration, central heating, layered clothing and the overall winter climate. Below are some of the body butters which are currently in my winter skincare arsenal

      My body butters of choice used to be from the Body Shop however regular everyday brands such as Vaseline, Palmers and Jergens have all stepped up and included the heavier moisturiser as a part of their product ranges. These everyday brands of course are accompanied with pocket friendly price tags. However do not be fooled The Jergens body butter is truly one to be reckoned with followed by the Vaseline Cocoa Butter body butter, the Palmers body butters come up third but they are still in the running. The thicker formulas of body butters keep my skin well moisturised and feeling supple all day during the winter months.  

Texture is an important factor for some when choosing a body butter. The Body Shop Body butters are   the thickest out of all of these, followed closely by the Vaseline body butter, next in line is the Jergens, then the L'Occitane and last the Palmers body butters. 

       The Palmers body butters come in three varieties Shea, Cocoa and Olive butters, The body Shop body butters are available in over 12 different scents, including, Strawberry, Orange, Blueberry, Moringa, Lemon. Scent is another factor to consider when choosing a body butter. I quite like to use the fruity scents on the weekends and the neutral scents such as Shea, Cocoa Butter, Jergens oatmeal during the week. Some persons are sensitive to strong scents and the body shop body butters are definite strongly scented. Other maybe like my friend Darren, who banned me from wearing fruity scented Body Butters to lectures because they made him hungry. lol (uni memories)

Price 
Palmers Body Butters - £4.99 per 200ml
Vaseline Body Butter - £5.06 per 200ml
Jergens Body Butters - £4.99 per 200ml
Body Shop Body Butter - £13 per 200ml (Shea and Satsuma both gifts)
L'occitane Ultra rich body Cream - £16 per 100ml (Apricot & Vineyard rose purchased in the summer sale for £4.80 each)

Both the Vaseline and the Jergens body butters are currently on offer at Superdrug.

Miss Mai
xx

Part 1 of my Winter skincare series - Shower Creams post Click 

My 11 most reached for Beauty products.........

    This is a tag that has been around in the online beauty community for a while with beauty bloggers and vloggers. I find that with beauty being such a huge area we are constantly trying to find ways to set ourselves apart, however there is nothing wrong with conforming at times. Beauty tags in my opinion are a great way to find out what products, persons with similar interest are using. Other bloggers may be using a product you are using but in multiple ways, where as you may be only using it one way. These tags are a quick and easy way to share information. 

My 11 most reached for Beauty products

Victoria Jackson face palette (£20 with 3 other products) - 16 eye shadows, 6 lipsticks, a translucent powder, a bronzer and a blush.  -------> do not buy

L'oreal Made for Me Naturals, Brow and Eye Duo, Dark Skin Tones (£7) - 2 eye shadows and a brow powder.

Mascara - at the moment I am using the Soap and Glory Thick and Fast mascara (£10)

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural  Deep Dark  (£18.50)one of my girl friends aka the pageant junkie put me onto this a few years ago and I have loved it ever since. It gives me life!!!!! 

Estee Lauder  Bronzing brush  (£23) - a kabuki brush (but you know everybody is trying to be fancy)  when I bought this brush I though damn this is expensive, but its been 3 years and it works just as amazing now as it did the first day I bought it. 

Avene Rich hydrating creme spf 20 (£10.50) - this is what I am currently using as sunblock/spf protection. (trying to be as well preserved as possible for as long as possible, lol. 

L'Occitane Shea Butter hand cream (£7.50) - This hand cream is rich, but absorbs into skin very very easy. There is none of that greasy feeling after application. I absolutely love it. I am going to admit I have 3 of these as backups, no I am not shamed. They are always giving these away in magazines and I cop the freebies. Ain't NO shame in this L'Occitane game. 

Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil 004 Black Brown (£2.99) - if you do not have one of these -----> you need to get your life. 

Black eyeliner - at the moment I am using Maybelline Khol express water proof eyeliner glam black (4£4.99) - a blatant copy of the Urban decay 24/7 eyeliner, it does the job.

Coloured Eyeliner - I do not discriminate, in ratation i have from Urban decay -> Lucky, Lust, Electric, and Covet, H & M eyepens -> Bronze, Dark Grey, Maybelline Khol Express waterproof Eyeliner pencils -> Metallic Blue, Metallic Green, Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definers -> Pink impact, Aqua sparkle, MAC Powerpoint Eye Pencil -> Navy Stain, Barry M Khol pencil -> 19, Rimmel Special Eyes Precision Eye liner pencil -> Azure Shimmer. 

Lip Balm - At the moment I am using Blistex lip massage, Nivea Pure and Natural milk and honey, Blistex Daily lip conditioner.

miss mai

xx

Comment below and let me know what products you reach for most often (even if its your grandmas face cream, wink wink)

New Stuff - Doo Gro, L'Occitane, L'Oreal, Palmolive

Yea I know usually I would say this is a haul or something of the like, but everybody is hauling something or another these days. So I thought New Stuff, plus I like to plan my hauls. I save up my money make a list of things that I need to purchase, search different websites and blogs for deals that are going on and then buy I buy products. These are just products I have accrued over the last week. 

£2.43 this was on half price offer and I  am getting bored of my Infisium 23 (been using it religiously for over a year/ 12 months) so I thought I would give this one a try.

£1.01 this was on half priced offer as well, I bought it to suppliment my REN Morrocan Rose Otto body wash (£16  for 200ml that ish is not cheap). It smells exactly the same as the REN for wayyyyyyy less

£5.10 the most expensive purchase this week. I bought his to replace my beloved Aphogee Green tea and Keratin Reconstrustor, after nearly 2 solid years of service it is finished.

£4.80 I picked this up in the L'occitane summer sale. it was 70% off  So I thought I would treat myself. Also I have a few rose scented washes, so a lotion would be a good way to layer the fragrance. Did I mention it was 70% OFF. original price £16 for 100ml 

£4.80 same reason as above, I wanted to treat myself and it was 70% off.





what lotions and potions have you treated yourself to lately?
write in the comments and let me know.