the Balm Manizer Sisters Luminizer Trio And My Highlighting Journey

I don't know about you but I'm so over this winter already! Although the weather hasn't been too bad in my little corner of the world, I'm sick of the rain, the wind, and the cold, and I'm spending my free time fantasising about tropical holidays and sunshine! I'm sick of being cold, I'm sick of my achy muscles and I'm sick of looking tired, pasty and ill.

Alas I can't see a tropical beach vacation on the horizon, but spring and summer will be here before we know it, and until then I'm going to wrap up warm, and use a bit of make up to give my skin the healthy glow that it's so desperately lacking.

If you're a new follower or a new reader, then you'll quickly realise that I have quite an obsessive personality when it comes to beauty products, and one of the things that I'm absolutely obsessed with is the humble highlighter. Nowadays you can't open a magazine without being greeted by a strobing tutorial or by a model with perfectly sculpted and shimmering cheekbones. Do you know what though? I was way ahead of the trend and even as a tiny little human I remember playing with a beautiful loose highlighting powder that my mum had from Oriflame, and spilling it all over the carpet!

It's been a long journey, but it's been a fun one, I don't care that my shimmer highlights my pores, I don't care that people say that highlighters are just for teens, I want glimmery cheekbones and I want them now!

Well, given the amount of highlighters, and luminizers that I own, I can have that supermodel look any time that i choose, but up until Christmas 2015 one particular highlighter alluded me, and now that I own it, I'm wondering why on earth I didn't get it sooner.

The product I'm talking about is Mary-Lou Manizer by the Balm. A lot of bloggers and beauty junkies out there own this product and even at first glance it is easy to see why. It's beautiful honey, champagne colour that works on just about any skin tone, and gives it that bathed in light, angelic glow. After seeing it and swatching it in my local Superdrug, I added it to my Christmas list and on Christmas morning 2015, I was lucky enough to receive not only Mary-Lou in my stocking, but her sisters as well.

Packaged in the Balm's signature cardboard packaging, with a magnetic clasp, the Balm's The Manizer Sisters Luminzer Trio, not only contains Mary-Lou Manizer, but it also contains their other two highlighting / luminzing shade, Cindy-Lou Manizer, and Betty-Lou Manizer.

As well as just using them on the cheeks as a highlighter, a bronzer, or a blusher, each of these triple milled powders can also be used as an eye shadow or as an all over face colour, and radiance booster.

The first shade that you get is probably the best known of the three, Mary-Lou Manizer, AKA The Luminizer, as I said before this is a beautiful honey, champagne colour, that gives the skin that real lit from within glow. The next shade is Cindy- Luminizer AKA The Con-tour Artist. This is described as rose pink shade, and whilst I do think that it looks quite pink in the palette, in my opinion it looks warmer and peachier on the skin and when it's swatched. The final colour that you get is Betty-Lou Manizer AKA The Bronzing Bandit. This as the name would suggest is a beautiful deep, copper bronzer shade, with an almost metallic shimmer to it

I've had quite a while to try these out now but unfortunately I still haven't managed to get a good picture of them on my face, so I'm afraid the swatches will have to do for now x All of these shades are actually very different and that's one of the reasons why I think that this palette is so versatile. I've mainly been using Cindy-Lou Manizer as a blush, and the Mary-Lou Manizer on my cheekbones, and at the moment because I'm quite pale I've actually been using the Betty-Lou Manizer as a beautiful coppery, bronze eye colour, with just a hint of the Mary-Lou Manizer to highlight my brow bone.

As you can see from my swatches the pigmentation is fantastic, The triple milling means that these powders are soft soft, and almost creamy to the touch, and whilst they all contain shimmer, they don't contain chunky glitter, and they don't have that gritty feel that you can often associate with some powder highlighters.

For me (and Charlie!) this palette is a winner, and I'm really pleased that I got this, rather than the Mary-Lou Manizer on it's own. The pans admittedly are smaller than full size, with the total weight of this palette being 11.3g compared to each individual full size weighing in 8.5g but for me personally I'll probably get more use out of this whole palette than I would out of one individual luminizer. The three colours are both multi functional, and super versatile, and this palette is definitely something that I'll use all year round.

the Balm Manizer Sisters Luminizer Trio retails are around £24 and is currently available from Debenhams, Look Fantastic, and Feelunique. If the whole palette isn't for you though you can buy each of the colours in the larger sizes individually from various retailers including ASOS, Debenhams, and Superdrug for a variety of differing price points ranging from £15-£20 Have you tried any of these luminizers or any other products from the Balm? Let me know in the comments x

OPI Breakfast At Tiffany's Nail Polish Collection - Holiday 2016

Even though nail posts have been a bit thin on the ground lately, I'm still as in love with nail polish as I ever was, I'm just battling a set of very short and gnarly fingernails. Thankfully I'm starting to see an improvement, so hopefully it won't be long but I can get painting and get trying out some of my newest polishes.

I own a hell of a lot of nail polishes but one brand that I just keep coming back to is OPI. The quality of their polishes in my opinion is second to none, they're easy to apply, and they're always one of the first

Over the years OPI have teamed up with numerous celebrities, movies franchises and well known characters to create fabulous, and highly collectible limited edition collections, and in my opinion 2016 was one of their best years to date.

As well as their amazing Hello Kitty collection, their 2016 holiday collection also saw OPI celebrate the 55th anniversary of the iconic Audrey Hepburn film, Breakfast At Tiffany's, with a collection of limited edition nail colours, and limited edition collectible kits.

My mum is weird she doesn't see the appeal of either Audrey Hepburn or Breakfast At Tiffany's, but I do, I've always loved the book and the film, and the whole sophisticated, glamorous and iconic look of Audrey Hepburn, so this collection was an absolute must have for me.

As I say the collection comprises of 12 shades in OPI's classic formulation, and 6 (including a couple of duplicates) in their gel like, Infinite Shine formula. That's a lot of polishes and as tempted as I was to buy every single shade, it just wasn't that essential or practical, so instead I just bought 3 limited edition kits that contained some of my favourite shades.

The first set that I got was the I Believe In Manicures Duo, this kit contains a free limited edition fabric make up / manicure bag with the words "I believe in MANICURES" written on it.

It contained two, full sized 15ml nail lacquers in probably the two, most iconic shades in the collection, Black Dress Not Optional, a deep, glossy black that's reminiscent of Audrey, gorgeous understated Givenchy number,

and I Believe In Manicures, which is a beautiful pale, turquoise blue, that resembles the colour of a box from where else, but Tiffany's. Unfortunately it isn't the exact shade of a Tiffany box because apparently the colour is trademarked but it's a gorgeous spring summer colour regardless of how authentic it is.

The next kit that I picked up was the Breakfast At Tiffany's OPI Style Icons set. I'm a huge fan of mini polishes, for reasons that I've probably talked about more than once, and this kit contains 4, 3.75ml bottles of nail lacquer, including again I Believe In Manicures.

It also contains (from left to right), Apartment For Two, a rich raspberry shade, Rich & Brazilian, a beautiful burgundy, plum which is shot through with gold, and finally Got The Mean Reds, a deep classic red.

Despite being mini bottles the coverage, and consistency of these polishes was still decent and the brushes, are nearly identical to the brushes in the full sized bottles.

Whenever you buy anything online, you should always make sure you know exactly what you're buying! I bought this last kit online and to be honest I didn't even look at what colours it contained, I assumed it would just contain all of the colours from the collection in a mini size, but I was wrong.

The Breakfast At Tiffany's OPI The Classics Collection doesn't actually contain any of the shades from the Breakfast At Tiffany's collection, instead it contains 10 of OPI's all time best selling and most popular polishes. The kit contains, two individual boxes of 5 polishes and the first box contains 5 of OPI's most popular pinks, and neutral shades.

The furst two colours in the set, are OPI's classic French manicure shades, Alpine Snow, a crisp, snowy white, and Bubble Bath, a warm, creamy, sheer pink. Next up you have their classic, nude, Tickle My Francey, the bright pink Suzi Nails New Orleans from last years New Orleans collection, and finally another deep red shade, Madame President (sob!) from winter 2016's Washington DC collection.

The next box comprises of five, 3.75ml polishes, in an assortment of deeper, and more dramatic shades.

Again from left to right, the colours are, Big Apple Red, which is a warmer shade of red, and Malaga Wine, a deep rich wine shade. The next two shades are both from the Washington DC collection you get Squeaker Of The House, which is a taupe, chocolate brown and CIA = Color Is Awesome, which despite looking black here is actually a deep, dark dusky, teal blue. The final shade is one of OPI's all time classics Lincoln Park After Dark, which is officially described as a midnight plum.

Despite the fact that this kit wasn't exactly what I'd hoped it would be, I'm still really pleased that I got. These colours are a mix some of OPI's newest and oldest classic shades, and they're all really wearable, and usable colours no matter what your taste or your age.

I always get quite excited about OPI's Holiday collections and this has been one of my favourites to date. What I like about it, is it's versatility, none of the colours particularly scream Christmas, yes it contains a few classic reds, and there are a few glitters in the wider collection, but there is nothing that you couldn't wear all year round.

Although we're heading towards the launch of the new Spring collections, most of these kits and these polishes are still available in selected stores and online, and if you're lucky enough you might be able to pick them up at a sale price.

Apologies again for lack of pictures of the polishes on real nails, but I will try and do some nails of the days with some of these colours when my nails grow up a bit. I hope you've found this post useful, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this collaboration so leave me your comments and let me know x

What I Got For Christmas 2016 - You Tube

I know what you're all thinking, I say that I'm going to get my blog on and then what do I do? I disappear. I know that I haven't managed to get a post up this week but I can promise you that I've been working on a lot of posts and I've been a busy bee on You Tube.

This week has definitely been a You Tube week, and in the last 7 days I've uploaded five videos  to my channel for your delectation and delight, including a couple of unboxings and 3 What I Got For Christmas videos x

As much as I would love you all to subscribe to my You Tube channel and watch every single one of my videos from start to finish, I know that videos aren't everyone's cup of tea (and maybe my rambling isn't either!) but I know a lot of people are nosey like me so I thought I'd share my What I Got For Christmas videos with you on the blog x

Like everyone who posts videos, and Christmas present posts I'm not bragging, we post them because people normally request them, and in my case especially I do it to show my gratitude towards, and my love for my family and friends. I'm very, very lucky and believe me I do know that and appreciate it x 

If there is anything in any of these videos, that you would like to see more of, or in the case of the beauty products that you would like to see reviewed then please leave me a comment below, and if you really want to make my day then please subscribe to my You Tube channel via this link  for more exclusive content x 

A Late December 2016 Primark Haul

As I've said before I'm not really a one of making new years resolutions, but every year I promise myself that this will be the year when I rein in my spending and try and save a bit of money, and this year is no different. in 2017 I'm definitely going to try and cut down on my spending  and I'm going to try and be a bit more selective about what I do buy and obviously I'm going to try and cut down on the haul posts. Will I achieve it ? Only time will tell I guess x

Anyways back on point and what have I got for you today? Well a haul post of course LOL, to be fair though this haul is from last year, or should I say last month, and it's my final Primark haul of 2016.

I managed a couple of Primark visits in December and whilst i was good and mainly bought pressies for my friends and family, I did pick a few bits and pieces for me :)

I'm going to be honest and say that this jacket, come long line kimono, come over shirt, has no hanger appeal at all, it needs a body to fill it out. It's basically a long line lightweight crepe jacket, with no fastenings, or buttons, and slightly flared kimono like sleeves, and side pockets. I love the floral pattern and the flowing feel. You can get some trousers in the same print, to give more of a suit look, but personally I'm going to be wearing this over a skinny trouser, a skinny jean or a pair of leggings. This jacket was £15.

I don't know why it is, but ever since Christmas I've been in the grip of a pretty major Fibro / CFS flare, and all I've wanted to do is sleep :( I've had an awful lot of duvet days over the last fortnight or so, and I've spent a lot of time in my PJ's. I love my PJ's and even though Santa bought me several pairs for Christmas, I can't resist buying cute pairs of PJ's when I see them.

These are just cream, legging style, drawstring waist, PJ pants, with a pale grey / beige and pink Pusheen the cat print. I love anything cat related and this Pusheen is super cute. These PJ pants were £8.

Although I have seen a Pusheen t-shirt in Primark's nightwear section before, I couldn't find a top that matched these pants so instead I decided to get a toning, vest top.

This creamy, ivory vest top was also from the nightwear / lounge wear section, and it's made of a super soft fabric, it contains an internal bra shelf, and it features adjustable shoulder straps, and a cute lace trim. It was only £2.50 and I think that it will coordinate not only with these Pusheen pants but also a lot of my other nightwear pieces.

Next up jewellery and I make no apologies that this haul is about 80% jewellery. I love fine jewellery as much as the next person but cheaper jewellery pieces are perfect for buying the on trend pieces, or for trying something new or even for expanding your own jewellery wardrobe. 

Primark is one of the best places for buying on trend and fashion pieces, their stock changes so regularly you can pretty much guarantee that you can pick up a least one of two pieces that are right on trend. One of the biggest trends, at the moment, jewellery wise has to be the disc or circle pendant. If you love the look that the likes of Links Of London, and Thomas Sabo, are all championing at the moment, but you don't have that kind of budget, then Primark should be your first port of call,

Unfortunately this photo doesn't do this piece justice. It's basically a silver tone chain, which comes, with a silver tone, crystal studded disc pendant. It's is super sparkly and it was just £1.50. My Godmother has a Thomas Sabo bracelet which features small almost identical diamond studded discs and this necklace matches it perfectly for about a 40th of the price! Okay it's not silver, or white gold or real diamonds but the look is definitely there.

This Y necklace that I also picked up has a similar smaller disc at the top of the Y, and at the base of the Y, is has a filigree disc, that is surrounded  by a crystal studded disc. This necklace has a real designer look and it was just £2 - Bargain!

The next necklace that I got is a double layer necklace, and this time it is in a rose gold tone.

The top strand features, an initial, I think they had all of the most common initials, but obviously I went for the letter L for Louise :). The second strand features an almost identical disc to the previous necklace only this time in the rose gold tone. It has a filigree centre, and it's surrounded by a crystal studded outer ring. This necklace was £2.

My final Primark jewellery purchase was a pair of birthstone earrings, which were just £1.50.

I can't remember what the correct name for these earrings is but I always call them back to front earrings. I can never describe this type of earring properly but these particular ones feature a gold ball stud (which you can wear separately) which is the part that goes through the ear, and they have a round green, crystal drop which is slightly set back. Useless description I know but I hope you know what I mean LOL. These particular earrings are birthstone themed, and being a May baby, these ones have a green faux emerald crystal stone. I also got my mum a pair of these for Christmas - her birthday is in September so hers have a deep blue, faux sapphire stone. These earrings were just £1.50 and I think that they would make a lovely birthday pressie for anyone with pierced ears.

The final two things that I picked up last month were both beauty related bits, first up a duo pack of my favourite face wipes for just £1

and I also picked up a tube of this GWA Girls With Attitude Brush On Eyelash Glue which was reduced to £2.

I really struggle with false lashes, and I particularly struggle with the glue. I always end up squeezing way too much out and making a mess, so I'm really hoping that this brush on adhesive will make it a little bit easier - I really want 2017 to be the year when I master false lashes!

I've made a little You Tube video to accompany this haul which you can see below or via this link x 

If you have any questions on anything that I've bought, then please leave me a comment below, and if you've written a Primark haul post, or uploaded a Primark haul video recently, then please leave me your links below so I have a nose and see what bargains you've picked up x 

Real Techniques Your Picks Berlin Holiday Set - Review And Giveaway - CLOSED

For someone who never used to use, or see the point in make up brushes, it's safe to say that I'm now slightly obsessed with them. I have 5 jars and vases full of make up brushes, and I have several more squirrelled away in make up bags and drawers. I've said it before and I'll say it again though , a cheap brush doesn't make a bad brush, and if you were to have a look through my brush collection then you'd see that I have brushes from a huge variety of brands and at a variety of different price points.

One of the brush brands of the moment is of course Real Techniques, the beauty tool brand founded and championed by professional make up artists and You Tubers Sam and Nic aka Pixiwoos. As much as I love watching their tutorials up until recently I only owned a couple of their brushes, a stippling brush and an eyeliner brush. I'd heard a lot of great things about their brush sets but if I'm being honest I couldn't really justify buying a full brush set. I didn't desperately need any more brushes, and even though I view Real Techniques as being a made range brand I couldn't really justify the cost.

You know how it goes though, you stay strong for so long and then you just say sod it and buy it anyways. Well that's exactly what happened when I saw this set, the Real Techniques By Sam & Nic Your Picks Berlin Brush Set.

Comprising of 5 brushes for the face and eyes, this limited edition set is Real Techniques first ever fan voted kit. Way back in April, Real Techniques gave their fans the opportunity to vote via their Instagram and social media pages for which brush design they liked the best. All of the brushes were themed around cities, and the designs reflected local landmarks, art and culture. I'm going to be honest and say that I preferred the brighter Sydney or Shanghai designs, but this set Berlin was the clear winner.

The inspiration for this design came from the multi cultural Berlin street art scene, with the brushes reflecting abstract paintings, street murals and graffiti. All of the brushes are cruelty free and are made from 100% synthetic duo fibres so they can be used with liquids, creams and powders. The main metal section of the brush handle features an abstract black and white, which depending on how you look at it could be a cow print, or even brush strokes. The name of each brush is also printed on the side in hot pink / purple colour. In direct contrast to the black and white design, and the monochrome brush hairs, the end of the brush handle is also in a bright pink / purple plastic which has a slightly rubberised feel for easy grip.

As I say this kit contains 5 full sized brushes, for both the face, and the eyes. It's a real essentials kit, and it's perfecting for trying out Real Techniques for the first time, or for expanding you make up brush collection 

Buffing Brush

If you're a loose or pressed powder fan or if like so many of us, you love the look and ease of mineral foundation, then this is the brush for you. It's super soft and fluffy, but it isn't too big so you can apply the powder exactly where you need it.

I've been mainly using this brush with both loose and pressed powder and I've found it a really easy brush to use. It picks up powder with ease, and it feels gentle on the skin but at the same time it's firm enough to do the job. 

When I first used this brush I notice a little bit of shedding and as you probably see in the photos above some of the hairs were slight splayed. I do think that this was probably down to the packaging though rather than down to any manufacturing issue. The brushes are quite tightly packed it a piece of foam so I think that may be why some of the hairs were slightly displaced.

Contour Brush

One of the key beauty trend of 2016 was contouring, or using powders and creams to re shape your face. As well as needing the right bronzers, concealers and highlighters you also need the right brushes to apply you make up.

This smaller slightly domed brush is perfect for applying a bit of highlighter to your cheekbones or even for popping a bit of colour into the hollows of your cheeks. I've mainly been using this brush with a powder highlighter, and again I was really impressed with the softness of the brush, and with how easy it was to use.

Stippling Brush 

I already have quite a few similar brushes in my collection, and whilst I do sometimes mix it up and apply my foundation with a different type of brush or sponge, I always end up coming back to the classic stippling brush.

This duo fibre brush not only features two different types of hairs, but the hairs themselves are actually different lengths for a more natural, feathery finish. The brush hairs again are super soft but at the same time the brush is substantial enough to hold it's shape even when it covered in liquid. I've been using this brush mainly with a liquid foundation, but I've also tried it with a cream foundation and I was equally impressed.

I did notice a little bit of shedding the first time I used it but it was a very easy brush to work with and unlike some brushes that I've used in the past it blended out the product very easily and I didn't really get any streaks, or uneven patches.

Deluxe Crease Brush

The last two brushes in the kit are both eye brushes and this one is the Deluxe Crease Brush which is specifically designed to contour and shape the eyelid.

This is quite an over sized fluffy crease brush, personally because I don't have a lot of lid space, I prefer a smaller more precise crease brush but I still think that I'll get a lot of use out of this brush. With a very steady hand I can use this brush to apply colour to my crease but I think I'm mainly going to be using this brush to blend and soften my eyeshadow, and maybe to apply a highlight colour to my brow bone, where I have a bit more space.

Like all of the other brushes in this kit this one was super soft, but it was substantial enough to the job. Again some of the hairs did look a bit splayed and I did actually notice a few loose hairs in this brush that came out when I first used it.

Base Shadow Brush

The final brush in the kit is the Base Shadow Brush. This brush is still pretty soft and fluffy but it's a lot smaller and as a result I think it's something that I will definitely be using on pretty much a daily basis.

As the name would suggest this brush is perfect for applying your base shadow colour all over your lid, personally though I would also use this brush for crease work and even for applying an eyeshadow primer. This is a super versatile brush and I think that it's one that most people would get a lot of use out of.

In fact I think that most people would get a lot of use out of this entire kit. This set contains 5 of the most useful essential brushes that everybody needs in their collection. These brushes look great and bar a couple of minor blips, the quality is excellent. All of the brushes were really easy to wash with minimal shedding and they were quick drying. 

I think that this kit would be perfect for someone who is new to make up or for anyone who wants to expand their make up brush collection in one easy step.

The Real Techniques Your Picks Berlin, is a limited edition set with a recommended retail price of around £25 and is available from all of the usual Real Techniques stockists including Boots, Superdrug and the Real Techniques website. This was a limited edition holiday kit though so you better get your skates on if you want to grab it before it disappears.

If you're having trouble finding it though, don't despair, in celebrating of the new year and LouLouLand reaching, 1,000,000 all time blog views,  I've managed to track down an extra set, which I'm going to be giving away to one of my lucky readers.

All you need to do is make sure you're following my blog and fill in the Rafflecopter form below. This giveaway is open internationally and will end on Saturday 4th February x 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you've any questions on this post then please leave me a comment x Thanks for reading and good luck x 

Trimming My Stash December 2016 Edition - Empties And A 2016 Round Up

Happy New Year! Hi Guys x I hope you all had a fabulous new year, and that you're chomping at the bit for whatever 2017 has in store. 2016 wasn't the best year for me as you all know, and I have quite a few hurdles to jump over in the next month or so, but I'm determined to make the best of things, and do everything in my own power to make 2017 the best year, that I possibly can.

I'm not a one for making new years resolutions because I just beat myself up when I don't stick to them. I do however have a few things though that I would either like to change or like to achieve in 2017, nothing major though just the usual things for me, up my blogging game, think more positively, eat less junk food, and be a bit tidier and bit more organised.

Being organised and tidier is definitely something that I'm going to really focus on in 2017. Over the years I've accumulated so much stuff, from clothes, shoes, craft bits, books, and beauty bits, that I literally have no room to store anything else. Towards the end of 2016 I filled up several charity bags and I'm aiming to fill several more before 2017 is out. This is definitely going to be the year that (pardon my French) I sort my shit out.

From that statement you've probably already realised that in 2017 I will be continuing to trim my beauty stash. Again in 2017 I'm going to be on a mission to use as many beauty products as I can , and of course I'll be keeping track of all the things that I finish over the year and sharing my totals with you. Before we can move on to 2017 though, we need to a step back and look at what products I managed to finish in December 2016.

Elemis Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules = 7 Day Supply
AVON Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage Foundation - Ivory - 30ml
Wilko Barely There White Lily And Sweet Rose Blossom Body Scrub - 100ml
Elemis Exotic Lime And Ginger Hand And Body Wash - 300ml
Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner For Dry Or Damaged Hair - 200ml
Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream - 15ml
Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1 - 3ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes
The Body Shop Rich Plum Shower Gel - 250ml
Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Total - 10 Items 

I finished 2016 on a bit of a high, and for only the second month in 2016, my total hit double figures. In December I managed to finish 10 items, and I managed to finish a nice combination of products including body care, skin care, and make up, as well as a few products that had been hanging around for what seemed like forever.

1. Elemis Cellular Recovery Skin Bliss Capsules - 14 Capsules - 7 Day Supply

I'm a huge, huge Elemis fan, and this was a product that I'd been want to try for a long time. I got these a few months ago but I used them in the run up to Christmas to give me skin a bit of a boost. The jar contained 14 capsules, 7 pink capsules that contains rose, and geranium essential oils, and Vitamin E, and 7 aqua coloured capsules that also contain Vitamin E as well as lavender and bergamot essential oils. You don't swallow these capsules instead you twist them open, and apply the oils from inside the capsules to you skin. You use the rose capsules during the day, and the lavender capsules at night. You are supposed to do a months course and what they do is basically give your skin a boost, and help to combat some of the signs of ageing and the affects of pollution and over indulgence. It hard to say whether or not I could say any real difference after a week but they were a real pleasure to use, the fragrances were amazing, and they left my skin feeling like silk, and not in the slightest bit oily. These are pretty expensive so I'm not sure I would repurchase them on their own but if they ever pop up in a QVC TSV then I'd happily try them again.

2. AVON Ideal Flawless Invisible Coverage Foundation - Ivory - 30ml

This was another one of those products that I was convinced that I'd reviewed on the blog but after searching and searching, I've actually barely mentioned it and I don't know why that is. I know I mentioned it once in a You Tube favourites video which should give you some indication of what I think about it. I love it and over the last 12 months or so it's probably been one of my most worn foundations. The colour is pretty much spot on, it's very pink toned and I like the coverage, it's substantial but it doesn't feel too thick or too heavy and even on my oil prone skin it wears well. I already have another one of these on the go but AVON recently re branded a lot of their make up items and I believe that this particular one is now called the AVON True Colour Flawless Liquid Foundation. The packaging is pretty much identical and the shade names are the same so I don't think that anything has really changed apart from the name, I will be picking another one up soon though, so I will be sure to let know if anything else has changed.

3. Wilko Barely There White Lily And Sweet Rose Blossom Body Scrub - 100ml

This was from a generic, hat box bath and body gift set that I got for Christmas a few years ago now, which originally came from Wilko. As well a coming in a super cute hat box, every product smelled amazing. Think baby powder, mixed with L'Occitane Shea Butter, mixed with Elemis Skin Nourishing Milk Bath. This stuff had the nicest powdery, gentle floral scent and I loved it, but I didn't really love this particular product. It was probably one of the most pathetic excuses for a body scrub that I've ever encountered. It had a thick gel texture which supposedly contained exfoliating grains, well if it did, I couldn't feel any. It just wasn't very scrubby unfortunately - I like a pretty heavy scrub and this just wasn't one - shame though because I really did like the smell. 

4. Elemis Exotic Lime And Ginger Hand And Body Wash - 300ml

Another Elemis product, and unfortunately one that I think has been discontinued. Elemis used to do quite a few products in this fragrance and now the only one that I can find is the salt glow scrub. They've introduced a lot of new fragrances lately including the White Lotus And Lime which I can't wait to try and unfortunately I think that this is one of the lines that that they've sacrificed to make way for new things. Although this wasn't my favourite Elemis aroma it definitely had it's place. Don't think festive ginger and sweet zingy lime, this was a headier more intense fragrance, that in my opinion was pretty unisex, you get the heat and spice of the ginger, and almost bitterness of the lime. It was one of those shower products that left you feeling really clean. 

5. Liz Earle Botanical Shine Conditioner For Dry Or Damaged Hair - 200ml

This was one of the products that seems to have been hanging around my bathroom for what seems like forever. I'm slightly embarrassed to admit but I first reviewed this product way back in 2012. There was only a tiny bit left so I have no idea why I didn't finish it. Although some of the Liz Earle haircare formulations have changed slightly this conditioner was / is the most heavy duty one that they do. It a rich and creamy texture, that at the moment I found just a little bit too heavy. You don't need a lot of product and it's one of those those that you have to make sure that you rinse out properly. I did like this at the time, and if your hair is super dry I would definitely recommend giving this try but at the moment, my hair just didn't seem to like it that much. You can read a full review here x 

6. Elemis Pro Collagen Marine Cream - 15ml

What can I say about this stuff? other than I love, love, love it! It is hands down the nicest moisturiser I have used! It's an anti ageing moisturiser but thanks to its cream, gel texture, it isn't heavy and it isn't sticky. It smells beautiful, it feels cooling on the skin, and you can use it morning and night and even around the eye area. The one drawback is the price but be a smart shopper guys, and buy this from QVC when they have it on special offer, or in a TSV. The 30ml size retails at around £50 but shop well and you can get a whole kit for that price. I love it and my godmother who bless her heart, is in her late 80's also loves it. I get stressy every time I use some up but thankfully Santa was very generous and popped another pot in my stocking so i can breathe more easily and enjoy silky soft skin for the rest of the year.

7. Benefit The Porefessional Instant Wipeout Mask x 1 - 3ml

These are something that I've had in my skincare drawer for a few months now but I've just never got round to use them. I hate my pores with a passion, my skin constantly spews oil, and the pores especially on my nose and chin are always visible. Thanks to Caroline Hirons I now know that pores don't open and close like windows, but I'm always on the look out for products that can at least minimise their appearance slightly. These are essence partial sheet masks, that are specifically made for your nose and the surrounding areas although I guess you could position them anywhere on your face. Each one comes in an individual packet, you squeeze the little liquid pot to soak the mask then you pop it onto your face for about 10 minutes. They you wipe the remaining liquid over your face with the rougher side of the mask and let it sink in to your skin. Whilst i couldn't see any immediate visible changes my skin definitely felt smoother and tighter. I have a few more of these to use so it will be interesting to see if they have any long term effects. 

8. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes 
10. Primark PS Love Your Skin Oil Balancing Facial Cleansing Wipes x 25 Wipes

Ah, my old favourites, I've been swatching a load of make up products lately and these babies are perfect for cleaning up in between shots. I will definitely continue to keep buying these and I already have a few packets in back up.

9. The Body Shop Rich Plum Shower Gel - 250ml

As much as I loved 2016's festive offerings from The Body Shop, my heart always sinks a little bit when this fragrance doesn't reappear. An alleged plum offering a few years ago just didn't cut the mustard like this one did. I was sweet fruity and delicious, and I'm still lucky enough to have a few pieces left from the year dot when this was first released - Come on The Body Shop, pretty please bring this one back for 2017!

So I finished 10 items in December which as I say, I was pretty happy with but just how many beauty products did I manage to finish in 2016, well lets take a look 

January - 7 Items
February - 8 Items
March - 4 Items
April - 9 items
May - 7 Items
June - 14 Items
July - 8 Items
August - 8 Items
September - 3 Items
October - 7 Items
November - 6 Items
December - 10 Items
Total - 91 Items

Well I managed to finish a massive 91 beauty products in 2016, and to say I'm pretty chuffed is an understatement. I'm well up on 2015's total of 78, and I'm 7 up on 2014's total of 84. I'm still a long way of 2013's tally of 130 beauty empties but I'm still pretty pleased with how many products I've managed to use up over the last 12 months. My aim for 2017 therefore is pretty clear, I need to keep up the good work and use up as many products as I can, and I need to keep working on using up all of something instead of getting bored and moving on to something else! 2017 is going to be about discipline so I will definitely be doing a round of Project 10 Pan sometime this year, and I'm also debating over whether or not to do a no buy month, when I don't go shopping at all and I don't buy anything for myself. That would be a tough for a shopaholic like me but we'll see x I'd love to know if you're planning on doing something similar this year so let me now if you're trying to declutter or even if you're planning on doing Project 10 Pan this year, and I'd love to know your plans and aims are for the year ahead so please leave me a comment below and let me know x