Travel Mini Me

   

As the weather heats up, we embrace the spring.

Throwing off the layers of winter, our wander lust kicks in. Long weekends, mini breaks, city breaks, girlie holidays, the travel chatter begins. With  many people (like myself) opting to travel light i.e no checked luggage. Finding suitably sized products to keep you looking, as fabulous as you  would at home can take the joy of of preparing for a holiday/vacation. 

 Here enters the travel mini. 

One unlikely source of travel minis is your local chemist. 

There are many items sold in our  everyday high street (Boots / Superdrug)  which do not require agonizing over which items are best suited for us to use our 3 for 2 offer. 

This Astral cream is lightweight and very suited for the super hot temperatures. It is also 100ml and falls within the airport liquid requirements for flights. Any 30ml fragrance (with a sensible cover) is suitable travel mini in my book. Avene thermal water 50ml perfect for a spritz, to refresh your makeup or a cool down. A bar of soap like this Dove bar is a great way to save liquid space (weight in your handbag), pop in your carry on, zip and go.

Spf, should have a top spot in all summer travel kits and so should an effective remover. Soap and Glory Ultimelt (recommended to me by the skincare goddess Caroline Hirons) and Botanics Hot cloth cleanser are two travel (sized)  products you can find in your nearest Boots. 

  which are always suitable for travel. 



Christmas gift sets are an overlooked  source of great travel  minis.
The Boots Extracts mini body butters set, (the Soap & Glory body butter wheel gift) and the Ren Mini Travel set are great Christmas buys which make great travel minis. 




If you follow my blog, dropped in here and there, said hello occasionally, you know that I am a lover of a magazine freebie. Now I love a magazine (3 cheers for the revamped Cosmopolitan UK, it was long over due, doing very well so far). However I like a magazine with free stuff especially if it  is a magazine that I read all the time. The photo below shows the travel minis, I have collected from magazines over the last 6 months.  

 The last source of unlikely travel minis are samples. Do not over look a sample. Those little tubes of toothpaste at the dentist, The 5ml of foundation sample. The free hair shine / moisturizer/ hair gel in the relaxer kits. Even the little sample sprays from the fragrance counter. Samples are a great addition to your travel mini beauty kits.

Safe travels my lovelies.
xx

#NoBareLips30: Kiss Someone You Love

        #NoBareLips30 Lipstick Challenge. Theme of the day is Kiss someone you love. 

"The No Bare Lips Challenge was started by blogger Keiki Kaveri to prove that lipstick could be worn everyday without purchasing anything new." It is time to shop your stash ladies, have a scrummage around your makeup bags/drawers and pull out all of your glosses, tint and lipsticks the brighter the better. Check out KeikoKavari's blog here 

Someone I love = My big little brother aka the #BestBrotherEver (yes he made his own hashtag)

On the lips: Neals Yard Goji Berry Lipgloss

#NoBareLips30

                        Details, and Challenge Calendar (Daily Themes)  HERE

                             Have you hugged or kissed someone you love today?

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 June 2013

I love a freebie, the only thing which can make a freebie better is if the item is FULL sized. My lovelies it has been a while since I posted a good magazine freebie post. Not to worry this month newsstands are chock-a-block with magazines offering freebies. These are some great items  to add to your makeup bag or nail polish collection.

Marie Claire is currently offering a Ciate mini nail polish and caviar kit.

Instyle is currently offering a  50ml Neal's Yard Remedies Daily Moisturiser worth £12.00.  According to the Neal's Yard website they've blended "antioxidant-rich acai, bilberry and goji berry with moisturising hyaluronic acid in this lightweight, easily absorbed lotion, for beautifully nourished, radiant, healthy-looking skin."

Elle is currently offering a 58ml tube of Rodial Brazilian Tan freebie in a choice of three shades - clear, dark and light. 

Company is offering a free makeup bag, in 3 designs.

Glamour is on a double whammy not only is it on offer at £1 instead of £2 (usual price) they are currently offering a full sized product from Model Co. There are 5 products to choose from, yes FIVE with a combined value of £78!!!!! ----->  two lip glosses, mascara, lipliner and eyeliner.

Cosmopolitan is offering a free paid of sunglasses with 3 styles to choose from

Red Magazine is currently offering  a  15ml Elemis Pro-Radiance Illuminating Flash Balm

Harper's Bazaar is currently offering a free Leighton Denny Colour & Go Manicure Pen in 6 colours. (yup six colours) I think this is DEFINITELY the freebie of the month. £6 x £11 = £66, 6 x£4.20 = £25.20, that is a SAVING of  £40. 80. 

Tatler is also offering a free pair of shades, in 3 colours to choose from

There is nothing wrong with balling on a budget, my lovelies.

xx

April Magazine Freebie 2013

Marie Claire UK has teamed up with the the people at Neal's Yard to bring to the public the plight of the Bees. This is the Bee Lovers hand cream and is currently available with the April issue of Marie Claire magazine, also this cream can be purchased along with accompanying products at Neal's Yards tors and online. It has a slightly citrus scent and is a tad bit greasy, so be sure to use a little at a time.