Solution to Pale Girl Problems

I'm pale all year round without fail. I go on holiday and my skin's idea of a tan is to go a lobster shade of red and then straight back to milk bottle legs and arms. So when Sunkissed sent me these goodies I couldn't wait to try them out and I've got nothing but good things to say! With the upcoming party season fast approaching I definitely needed a self tan that wouldn't be letting me down. I'd actually had a dabble in Sunkissed's cosmetic range when I was a lot younger and enjoyed it back then so it's nice to go back to a familiar brand from your younger days isn't it?

Firstly the Application Mitt* (£3.99) works a treat, leaves my skin with no streaks and an even and flawless natural looking tan. My favourite thing about the mitt as I don't get any stains on my hands like you do with a lot of mitts out there. This usually leaves my tan uneven and patchy on my hands/wrists area but no problems with this mitt from Sunkissed. Then onto the Instant Self Tanning Mousse in Medium Bronze* (£4.99), nothing but good from this bottle of magic. Now you might not believe me until you try it but this doesn't have that digestive biscuit smell that self tan usually does have - instead it has a coconut scent to it. This makes me a massive fan as I love fruit scented beauty products. Gold star to Sunkissed for this as I can say goodbye to worrying about stinking a room out with self tan. Now this is an instant tan and as I mention all the time when I say I'm pale, I mean really pale so 'medium bronze' is probably a shade or two darker for me. I find best to apply at night before bed then shower in the morning which leaves me with a golden natural looking glow. I had so many compliments from friends and family saying I look a lot better with a bit of colour to me (I often get the "are you ill?" comments). Now possibly the best product I got sent was the Exfoliating Tan Remover* (£3.99), usually I find it so hard to get rid of any patchy areas after a few days of wearing self tan. I was so excited to see this and was even more excited to try it out. It clears up any patches as well as removing dead skin cells, making your next tan application even smoother! You can also use this product after applying your tan to make sure you have a flawless tan that's even and smooths out colour!

I can't recommend Sunkissed products enough and I personally can't wait to purchase some more. I'm pretty sure it will be my go to product for a natural glowing tan for the party season.

What are your favourite tanning products?

Christmas Lights Switch On | Lifestyle

On Friday evening I went along to a Christmas lights switch on at a local gardens in my area with a few family members. I really enjoyed this light switch on as usually they're full of rowdy youths and what not but this one was really family orientated and had a nice atmosphere to it. Before the lights came on we went for a walk around the garden centre there which is part of the Blue Diamond Garden Centres Company. They had all the Christmas decorations out and it made me super excited for the festive season. I picked up a few bits for my secret santa at work also. I'm going to go back after Christmas to because it has a stunning homeware section. I snapped a few photos on my phone as well..

I might have to go back and visit before Christmas to pick up a few last minute bits and bobs!

Fireworks and Santa! And terrible photo quality (oops!)

How are you getting into the festive spirit? 

& Make sure you enter my Secret Christmas Giveaway HERE!

SECRET CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY

I really wanted to host a giveaway for Christmas but with a twist! So I wanted everything I am giving away to be Christmas inspired but I wanted it to all be a secret. 

So here we have the Christmas giftbox for one of you lucky readers to win. So far I have included 10 gifts, 3 samples and 1 card addressed to winner. I'm going to add a few extras the more entries this giveaway gets though! I'll be using Rafflecopter to host the giveaway. All you have to do is follow me using GFC and/or Bloglovin'. If you do both of these then you can earn yourself more entries! The giveaway is open until 15/12/13 at 12:00am. I'm afraid the giveaway is only open to readers in the UK, an international giveaway is something I will look at in the future. I will then announce the winner later on that day and contact them. If you have any further questions about the giveaway then you can email me at: whatlaurensays@hotmail.co.uk

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck if you're entering! 

Christmas at Lush

I haven't brought anything from Lush for so long. So when I kept seeing rave reviews about their lip scrubs I knew I had to get my hands on one, especially as I'm prone to dry lips whatever the weather. Obviously I couldn't pick up just one thing though. I didn't go too wild though as at the new house we've moved to it has a corner bath which means it's mainly showers unless I want my legs up the wall to have a bath. So let's have a look at the Christmas bits I picked up from Lush..

| Santa's Lip Scrub - £5.50 |

When I heard this Christmas themed lip scrub was cola flavoured I knew I'd want that one. If I'm honest I didn't even give any of the others a chance but I'll definitely be grabbing another one when it becomes unacceptable to take anything with 'Santa' out in public. The scrub leaves my lips feeling so much better, especially as it gets colder. I use it a fair few times a day and have seen a much softer lip condition. The taste really is like cola cubes as well, yum!

| Luxury Lush Pud - £3.40 |

As I mentioned I couldn't go over the top as I just wouldn't get the use out of bath bombs with current bathing conditions at the new house. This smells gorgeous though and I'm excited to see what colours it sparks off around my tub. I'm a sucker for anything Christmas related, let's be honest!

What are you loving from Lush?

& I'm blogging every day of December!

November's Birchbox

I was very impressed with last month's Birchbox so I had to continue it! November's offering was just as brilliant - it's included two products that have become part of my daily products I've been using. However, I do wish Birchbox would change their boxes/packaging as it would be nice to have them themed every month (maybe I'm just asking for too much). But they do make brilliant storage for my make up collection!

| English Laundry Signature For Her Eau de Parfum - From £16 |

I really like the smell of this. It's a real fresh fragrance with jasmine petals and musk. It's been described as a tap into an English country garden. I can't wait to use this sample size on my trip to Birmingham next weekend, perfect travel size!

| Weleda Replenishing Oat Shampoo - £8.95 |

I always hear great things about Weleda products so I was excited to see this in my beauty box. I haven't tried this out yet but I've got to say the smell is a little off putting. No doubt I'll still use it then to see what the Weleda hype is all about.

| Pukka Herbs Selection Of Teas - £2.29 |

Now I might shock a few of you hear but I aren't a massive fan of tea at all. I don't even think I drink it once a month so a flavoured offering wasn't really my cup of tea (I'm sorry, that was an awful pun.) The smell of them from the enclosed packet was enough for me. I made good use of them though and passed them onto someone else that would enjoy them more than myself.

| Birchbox Pencil Sharpener - £3 |

What I love about this pencil sharpener is that when you do get the pencils out for a sharpen the shavings of the products won't drop here there and everywhere as it's a sealed up type sharpener box, so it can be emptied when a bin is near by. It's got two different size wholes too.

| Chella Highlighter Pencil (Ivory Lace) - £15.95 |

Without a doubt my favourite product from this month's box. This highlighter pencil from Chella has been a lifesaver on these early dark mornings to brighten up tired eyes and cover them vile under eye circles. I really couldn't be happier with this wonderful little pencil.

| Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Body Wash - £18 |

Another one I haven't tried out yet but it smells lovely on first impressions, it's not a strong fragrance at all but perfumed products don't sit well with my skin sometimes. I'm quite liking the packaging of this little bottle too, feels very luxurious indeed. 

| Laura Mercier Long Lash Mascara - £18.50 |

Now Birchbox are spoiling me with these Laura Mercier products aren't they?! I've been using this a fair amount since it dropped through the letterbox and been enjoying it a lot. It certainly looks brilliant with winged eye liner as well!

So another Birchbox and another impressed customer in the shape of me.

Have you tried out Birchbox yet?