HAUL // Homesense & others

Soooo, I've recently moved house and if you didn't already know, I love to buy things and post them on the internet for people to see, so I'm going to do a home version of that today. I've also done a massive Ikea shop as well, but it's more furniture so I might post that up at some point this week as well. There's quite a few bits here and they're all quite random so stick with me as we go through!

Hope you enjoy, let me know if you want more home hauls in the future! 

Soph x



Chick Paper Lantern - £4.20

I'm obsessed with this, it's a paper egg shape lantern, clearly for easter but I'm going to continue with this throughout the year, I'm going to get some LED string lights and bunch them up inside it to make a kind of lamp effect.



Homesense - Specialita Virginia Tin - £6

I have a couple of these tins about the place, they're very pretty and suit my girly, kitsch taste.


Homesense - Olive Oil Trio - £6.99

This is a very random purchase, it's 3 little tins of portugese olive oil but the tins are really pretty and I thought they'd look nice dotted around the kitchen. Unnecessary but pretty.


Homebase - Floral Lightshade - £7

Again, this is overly girly and kitsch for a 26 year old but I love it, I think this will end up in the haul - the boys I live with will love that.



Homesense - Glass Caraffe with Strawberry detail - £2.99

I'm using this as a flower vase at the minute but it could double up as a little water jug for beside the bed I'm thinking too. Really pretty shape and has a little strawberry indentation on the front.


Homesense - White Peach Candle - £4.99

This smells amazing in the jar, a really creamy peach scent but it really doesn't give off much of a scent when burning unfortunately.


Homesence - Tilly Parker Sweet Pea Candle - £6.99

Again, smells amazing in the jar, but really doesn't give off very much when it's burning.


Homesense - Sugar Skull Money Box - £4.99

I'm not even sure what to say with this one, it's pink, it has a diamond on it, it's a skull, I wanted it.


Homesense - Anchors Tray - £12.99

This is one of my favourite bits from homesense, it's a pearl shell base with a kind of woven rope edge and anchor detail, I really like this and makes a nice change from the white/floral thing my room has going on at the minute.


Homesense - Rhino Book End - £9.99

I had to throw this in at the end - I absolutely love this and had been on the hunt for some quirky book ends for a while, I think these were a bit of a steal for under £10 as well.

REVIEW // Antipodes Divine Face Oil

Another Antipodes post for you today, I'd been on the hunt for a rosehip based face oil for a while when I stumbled across the Antipodes Divine Face Oil, this is a blend of Avocado and Rosehip oils to moisturise, protect and heal skin. The Avocado oil moisturises the skin and helps with fine lines, the Rosehip oil helps with pigmentation and scarring. As with most Antipodes products it's all natural and certified organic which as you may have spotted, is definitely something I'm leaning more towards when picking my skincare recently and as you know, Antipodes is one of my favourite skin care companies - I've actually spotted that they have a make up range out as well so keep an eye out for reviews on that as soon as I can hunt some of them down.

Anyway, back to the divine face oil, this smells so, so good, it has a very faint rose scent with a hint of sweet orange, which is present in a lot of Antipodes products but it really does smell amazing. The product claims that it is "Scientifically shown to stimulate Type 1 collagen in human skin fibroblast cells by up to 51%
Which is quite a claim and one I can't really prove but am happy to live with this and trust the lovely people at Antipodes. I tend to use this more in the evening, just because I don't really like applying my makeup over an oil but there's no reason why you couldn't apply in the morning as well, I also tend to apply instead of a moisturiser but if you have quite dry skin, you could apply this before applying a moisturiser, in fact, if I'm ill or have had a heavy night, I tend to apply this along with my Estee Lauder Night Repair and my Origins Night-A-Mins so that my skins getting a real whack of goodness and the three combined, really do sort my skin out. This is also my go to product if I can feel a breakout coming, it the rosehip works really well to prevent scarring and reduce redness and because I tend to massage this in when I apply it, it helps to calm down and reduce the spot as well. I'm a fan of killing a spot with kindness rather than stripping it and trying to dry it out and this product really helps with that. 

Application wise, this bottle has a little pipette in the bottle, it's quite a runny oil so I tend to put a few drops in my hand, rub them together and then massage the oil into my face, if I'm in a rush, I will just press the oil into my skin but I find best results are when I massage it in. This product really does help to even out my skin tone and I find that the following day I can normally go without foundation because my skin looks clear, even and almost dewy. It also lasts for ages, you really don't need much, I use mine all the time and have done since last summer and I haven't even used a quarter of the bottle yet. I'm going to stop ranting about this now, but if you haven't already guessed, I love this stuff.

I picked mine up in WholeFoods, but you can get it here for £18.95

Have you used this? What did ya think?

Soph x


GIVEAWAY // MAC Eyeshadow

Hello Lovely People, I'm running another little giveaway seeing as it's been a few months since my last one - this time, you can win a MAC eyeshadow in the colour of your choice. I'm in the process of building up a palette so I figured if I do a little giveaway, I can probably justify buying myself an eyeshadow when I buy the giveaway prize - that way, we all win - yay!

I'm keeping it fairly simple, you just need to follow me via GFC or Bloglovin and can earn additional entries by tweeting about the giveaway or following me on Instagram or Twitter.

The giveaway is open internationally and is ending late May because I'm away for a few weeks at the start of May so I want to be able to get the prize out to you when I'm back.

Good luck and get entering :)

Soph x

a Rafflecopter giveaway

REVIEW // Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Hand Treatment

I'm talking about the Origins Make A Difference Rejuvenating Hand Treatment today, This was a bit of a curveball product for me, I'd never heard about or tried it but during the January sales, I managed to pick up the Origins Merry Moisturisers set (for an amazing price of £19, it was £59), I actually thought it was the Moisturise & Be Merry set that I already had which has the Make A difference + Rejuvenating Treatment (My usual daily Moisturiser), Rejuvenating Cleansing Milk, Rejuvenating Treatment Lotion & Rejuvenating Serum BUT, I realise I'm rambling here, bear with me - I got the Merry Moisturisers set which has Make  A Difference + Rejuvenating Moisturiser, Rejuvenating Treatment Lotion, Rejuvenating Hand Treatment & a 50ml Drink Up Intensive Overnight Mask and it was in this little set that I found the Rejuvenating Hand Treatment which has to be one of the best hand creams I've ever used. 

I suffer massively from dry hands during the winter time, they get really dry but my fingers also tend to get quite sore and cracked around my knuckle area, which I think is a side effect of my eczema, however since using this along side the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Concentrated Hand Cream, they've stopped cracking and and only feel dry if I haven't put any cream on that day to be honest. My hands still feel soft and supple even after washing them when I've been using this which really is a good sign and means that the cream is actually doing more than just sit on the surface of the hands. It smells amazing, just like the resdt of the Make A Difference range, a fresh, citrus scent that lingers on the hands but without being over bearing, I use a tiny bit of this, about the size of a 5p piece, this seems to be about the perfect amount for me and the cream sinks in almost immediately, leaves no greasy feeling but adds just the right amount of moisture to my hands. I've had friends borrow this and as soon as they put it on, they're amazed at how lovely it feels without me saying anything which is a pretty good sign that it really works. 


I think Hand Treatment rather than Hand Cream is the correct description for this, because it is more than a hand cream and feels like it's really doing something for your hands. Packaging wise, it's lovely, a pretty mint green tube that fits in with the rest of the Make A Difference range. My only negative with this, is the price, it's £19 for a 75ml tube which is crazy expensive but it's a really lovely product and I asked myself the question, would I repurchase and almost immediately I thought yes, I can't imagine not having this in my bag to be honest, it's been a saviour for my hands.

You can get hold of it here.

Have you tried this? What's your favourite hand cream?

Soph x




HAUL // Beauty feat. Butter London, Bioderma, Kerastase, Kiehls &more...

A little beauty haul for you today. It's a bit random but has some bits and pieces that I've picked up over the past few weeks.

Hope you enjoy!

Soph x



TK Maxx - £5/each

These are in the shades, Primrose Hill Picnic and Jaffa - they were only £5 each in TK Maxx so I couldn't turn them down, I love the formula of Butter London polishes, super shiny and apply really smoothly.


Space NK - £31

I've been after a sun cream for my face for a while but have always been worried about them breaking me out, I researched this thoroughly and it seems to be OK so far, I have had a break out but I think it's due to something else I've added into my routine so I'm going to stick wit this and report back.


Hair Salon - £19.50

My hairdresser has used this heat protectant on me for the past few years and I've always loved it but never purchased it, it smells amazing, really citrusy and fresh and doesn't weigh hair down at all, it's basically a cream that you run through the hair before blow drying or using a hair tool to protect the hair.


Hair Salon - £20

I haven't tried this before but my hairdresser recommended it so I figured i'd give it a go, it's a hair mask that helps dry or broken hair. I haven't given it a whirl yet but will report back when I have.


Escentual.com - £9.99 (Buy one get one free)

I actually have a stack of Micellar waters building up that I need to use but I saw this offer on Escentual for buy one get one free on Bioderma so snapped these up.


Escentual.com - £4.50

I've been wanting to try this for a while, it's the nettle shampoo from Klorane that helps with oily hair. My hair gets very dry at the ends but can be quite oily at the roots so I'm hoping this can help balance it out. 

REVIEW // Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm

The Nuxe Reve De Miel Lip Balm is a beauty blogger cult product, I don't think I have read a bad review of this lip balm and I have read oh so many a review of this over the past 2 years. My review is going to be no different, I remember the first time I tried this, I bought my pot in November 2012 and dipping into that little pot of chocolate orange scented goodness was a bit of a life changer, it's amazingly moisturising and leaves lips with a matte satin finish which you don't often find and I actually prefer it to the glossy finishes you normally get with Lip Balms and within a couple of uses, my lips were smooth and soft rather than the dry, chapped lips i'd started with. I think my thing is Lip Balms, I love them, I'm not quite sure why, but it's one of my favourite things to buy and I always have about 6 in my bag, but this is definitely one of my favourite and the one I reach for if my lips are feeling particularly dry.

As the name suggests one of the key ingredients in this is honey which is well known for it's moisturising properties, this also adds to the chocolate citrus honey scent that the lip balm has. Reve De Miel translates to Dream of Honey I believe which I think is suitably apt for this, it has quite a thick balmy texture and you have to work it into lips to almost melt it down and get it working. It also has a slightly gritty texture which almost feels a little like it is exfoliating your lips as you rub it in, but seems to melt down as well because you aren't left with any grittiness on your lips.

This works amazingly in the winter to combat chapped dry lips but to be honest, I reach for it year round, I always have a pot in my bag and I already have my back up pot re-purchased. As I mentioned earlier, I have had this since November 2012 and it's still going strong, although I think I will have used it up within the next month or two, but it does last. I won't go into this too much more to be honest because you've probably all read the reviews by now but if you haven't tried this and are after a lip balm that really works rather than just coating the lips, give this a try. 

I picked mine up in SpaceNK for around £9.

Soph x

HAUL // Primark

So I had a little after work mooch around Primark the other day & ended up with even more pajamas that really aren't needed but if you put Miffy and Care Bear Pajamas in front of me, I'm going to get them! Anyway, it's only a small haul but thought you might like to see these.

Let me know what you think!

Soph xx



Miffy - £8

I'm obsessed with these, stripes and Miffy - what's not to love?! 


Care Bears Short & Vest Set - £8



Floral Print Top - £9

I love, love, love this print, monochrome, spots, lace and flowers but unfortunately, this is not very flattering on me so it's going back.


Floral Jump Suit - £15

Again, I love the print of this, but again, this is probably the least flattering thing I could put on, it squishes my boobs down and emphasizes my hips and thighs which is something I really don't need so this one will be going back as well! 


HAUL // Random Skincare, Haircare & Makeup

This is a very random haul today but I figured I'd share anyway...

Soph x


TK Maxx - £12

Lord knows, I do not need another Tigi supersize shampoo, I have so many lying around that I need to use up but I've been after an everyday purple shampoo so I thought this might fit the bill. I'm still testing this out but I'll post a review up soon! 


The Body Shop - £5

I saw this in one of EssieButtons videos and had to pick it up - I've only ended up using this once so far but so far, so good! 


Boots - £3.69 each

I picked these up on a 3 for 2 offer - I didn't realise they had shimmer in them though, I'm not a huge shimmer fan in Nail Polish but it looks like this could be quite subtle.


Boots £5.49

Very random but as soon as I saw this was a sugar berry scent, I had to have it - why? I have no idea!


Boots - £7.99

This a re-purchase for me, I really like this face wash, it cleans deep without stripping the skin. 


The Body Shop - £6 

I've been trying to hunt this down for months ever since I saw Caroline Hirons talk about it - this was the last one in the shop so it was meant to be.

NOTD // Butter London Chancer

Another Butter London polish for you today, I actually thought I'd posted about this at Christmas but it appears not. This is quite similar to the Barry M Red Glitter polish that I posted about a while back - link here - but this has better lasting power and is a little glossier, it's also a bit deeper in colour and has more of a berry shade to it. Application wise, I apply this over one coat of a red base, normally Rimmel's Celebrity Bash which is a deep crimson shade. It's a really lovely polish and great for an event or a night out or if you just feel like cheering yourself up on a grey and rainy day! 

You can pick up Butter London polishes at Boots for £12.

What do you think of this?

Soph x