A cheaters 'homemade' wreath

I picked all of these little bits up basically because I fell in love with the little wooden love birds decoration. I had no intention to buy a wreath but it was all so cheap I couldn't resist. All were bought from Tesco. 

Wreath 97p

Lovebirds decoration 96p 

Mixed mini decorations 99p

Gold Beads 99p 

All of this was under £4 - so happy! I won't do a step by step it's pretty self explanatory - all of the little decorations come on green wire so are super easy to tie around the wreath. This is my last Christmas in my bedroom at home which is ridiculously pink so I thought why not girly it up whilst I have one last chance. I absolutely love it and its a little treat for my neighbours too :) The whole wreath might not make it into my new home but the cute love birds decoration will definitely be on my tree next year! 

Yves Rocher Lipstick in Bright Red

I recieved this Yves Rocher lipstick in my October Glossybox and haven't used it until now. It is a gorgeous bright red in shade 101 Framboise. It is pure Hollywood glamour and is just so bright but not primary school paint bright. It's ever so moisturising and has pretty decent staying power for a red. I find a lot of reds completely wash me out but the creme sheen finish to this leaves them moisturised and is very wearable. This is going to be worn a lot during Christmas party season - I'm glad I gave it a go and I want to try more Yves Rocher products and different lipsticks the finish of this would be gorgeous in nude. 

Christmas Gift Guide - Hair Obsessions

Her 
Save  Ojon Damage Reverse™ Restorative Hair Treatment 50ml £16  // Charles Worthington Salon at Home Secrets Collection Moisture Seal Overnight Ultimate Hair Healer 200ml £9.99

Spend Moroccan Oil Treatment £30.45 // TIGI Bed Head Styleshots Epic Volume Tween Shampoo & Conditioner Duo 2 x 750ml £24.95

Splurge  ghd Scarlet Deluxe Limited Edition Collection Set £134.90 // Macadamia Luxe Repair Set £51

Sunday Moment #1

I did a Sunday Saying post months ago and I liked it but I just didn't get round to posting any more so I thought I'd start it up again and call them Sunday Moments a chance to look back at the past week or just share something really random that I'm loving at the moment. I've been listening to A LOT of Disney tunes this week and I haven't been able to get this line from Elton John's Circle of Life out of my head so it's easily this weeks moment.

Empties - November 2012

I've tried to be really good this month and not buy too much whilst also saving my empty bottles for this post. This is massively all about hair care at the moment - during a recent clean out I found a stupid amount of products that had been lost in neat little boxes at the back of my wardrobe so I'm trying to use them up prior to Christmas.

Vivo Baked Bronze - Healthy Glow
I love this product and use it pretty much everyday. No matter what foundation I use gliding this over the top gives my skin a lovely glowing flawless finish. I've already repurchased it as I couldn't bear not having it. It has the perfect amount of bronze and highlighter for an everyday look.

Boots - Coconut & Almond Intensive Hair Mask 
This has always been a firm favourite of mine simply because it smells like heaven and is also a lovely little price. I don't think it's the best hair mask on the market at all but I will never stop having a pot of this in my cupboard. As it's so cheap you don't need to be sparing and I love slathering my hair in this stuff and leaving it on over night for guaranteed soft sleek hair that smells amazing the next day.

L'Oreal Elvive Restore 5 Leave-In Conditioner
I enjoyed using this and it is a lovely leave-in conditioner but I prefer my current fave Dove's Leave In Oil Care conditioner. Absolutely nothing against it but I've just found something I love more so I won't be repurchasing this.

Batiste Diva Dry Shampoo 
I love dry shampoo - this isn't my favourite scent from Batiste but I have nothing against it either. I seem to have aquired so many dry shampoo's from picking up offers here and there that I definitely don't need to repurchase any time soon but I do like this product and am forever using it.

Umberto Gianninni Glam Hair Tousled Salt Spray 
I'm trying to cut down on how much I use salt spray at the moment as it's so drying and I need to move onto more nourishing products really. However saying that this is my favourite salt spray that I've ever tried. It spent a lot of time in my handbag and gives your hair good texture whilst smelling ridiculously tasty. I know I should try not to but I will be repurchasing this as it's a good go to product if I'm feeling lazy in the mornings.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Purifying Mask

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Purifying Mask £5.95 FeelUnique.com 

I've been reading a lot about face masks recently how good it's made lots of bloggers skin overall. All the reviews I've read have been of some gorgeous looking masks but all of them seem really expensive. I've decided myself to ease myself in gently with this offering from Palmer's Cocoa Butter Purifying Mask. I love Palmer's Cocoa Body Butter so was excited to give some of their skin care a go. 

I've only really used the little sachet face masks you buy for girly sleepovers so it was all pretty new to me but I do know I love what this did and is doing for my skin. I've been using this mask about twice a week and apply it 15 minutes for a shower then thoroughly wash it off in the shower. It's a very thick clay formula that I apply thinly all over but more heavily in problem area's - as seen in the glamorous picture below. 

I've been using this for a few weeks now and it really works well with my skin type. I have normal skin but in the winter it's pretty dry. This clears out my skin without drying it out too - it leaves my face feeling fresh and nourished and my skin really supple. I've loved using this and for just £5.95 and such a large tube I'm really impressed. It's a welcome addition to my skincare routine now the cold winter months have set in and a good face mask is firmly now in my routine. I'd love recommendations of other face masks that are good for normal to dry skin so if anyone has any I'd love to hear . 

Christmas Gift Idea's - His and Hers Drinks

Him 
SAVE - Grants Gift Set £6.50 // Hip Flask £10

SPEND - Beer Bottle Goblets £14.99

SPLURGE - Balvanie 15 year old Whiskey £51.69 // Big Box of British Beer £39.99 (or better still buy a hamper and make your own)

Her 
SAVE - Rose Wine £6

SPEND - Catch 22 Vodka  £12.99 // Sparkling Vodka £14.99

SPLURGE - MOET Champagne £39.99 // Instagram Coasters 12 for £29.99

Essie - Bikini So Teeny

Essie Bikini So Teeny £7.99 RRP (£1.99 Fragrance Direct)

I love love love this shade - it's very spring time but it's so pretty I can't stop wearing it at the moment. It's a gorgeous pale blue that glides onto my nails and only needs two coats. It's a completely different shade to anything in my collection and I am loving it. I'm loving the little Essie bargains that pop on Fragrance Direct at the moment. For £1.99 you can not go wrong - I think this shade is sold out at the moment but keep checking the link above as they are always adding and dropping different shades. 

November Glossybox 2012

It's Glossybox time again - this month I'm a happy girly I really liked this box. It's god a good mix of different products that all do different things so you know it's going to be fun to try them all out.

Ayuuri Sandlewood Face Cream - Never in my life have I seen a face cream so big. This would last you so long - I actually don't really like the scent. Whenever something contains Patchouli I'm sad I just had the smell of this essential oil and it jumps through this cream quite strongly. I prefer face creams that are unscented or really lightly fragranced as I find ones with such strong scents just break me out. I will be passing this product on to someone lovely as I'm sure if you like the scents it will be fab maybe on a slightly older less acne prone skin type.

Burberry Body Perfume - I love the packaging of this sample. This is how Glossybox perfume samples should be it's ideal for your handbag. I really wanted to love the scent as it's ideal to take just about everywhere with you. For me though this is definitely a scent for a slightly older woman it's very deep and quite strong and will be going to my mum as I know she'll adore it.

Alison Claire Natural Beauty Mango Body Butter - This is my favourite product I love the pump dispenser and the strong mango scent I want to jump in a bath full of it. It's super thick and just a lovely body butter.

Nails Inc Top Coat - A girl can never have enough top coats and this is a particularly nice one in a cute little mini bottle. I like.

Dermalogica Daily Microfoliant - Me and my skin love dermalogica so I'm excited to try this out. It's a very decent sized sample so I'm looking forward to giving this a good go in the next few weeks.

Overall I loved this box I think Glossybox are getting back to their good range and selection after a few duff boxes in a row. I'm excited to see this year's Christmas box next month as last year's was one of my favourite boxes ever.

Superdrug - Dry Shampoo

Superdrug Dry Shampoo £1.99 Superdrug 

I've always grabbed Batiste every time I've needed dry shampoo not really for any other reason than it's often the only branded dry shampoo on the shelf. However I've noticed it's creeping up in price a tiny bit and I thought it was time to check out some alternatives. I picked these Superdrug dry shampoo's up with an offer of buy one get two free (the third is at my boyfriends) so it was bargainous and looking at their website they seem to have an offer on these pretty consistently so they were very very cheap. 

The scents on all the range were nice - nothing offensive amongst them. I do like the scent of Heart on Your Sleeve the most it's a kind of romantic yet fresh scent that is lovely to spritz all over your roots. So how do they stand up - the only thing between these and Batiste is that these are a lot more talcum powder than spray and you have to spritz them quite far away from our head and give it a good ruffle to not end up with a white scalp. But despite this they do work and I'm willing to give my hair more a ruffle to save some serious pennies. I'm reaching for dry shampoo more recently to just add texture to my hair so I'm getting through it a fair bit. I like to always have a back up in my drawer and when they're this cheap I can leave them everywhere :) 

Tresemme Salon Professional Volume Curls

Tresemme Salon Professional Volume Curls £20 Amazon

When I was 16 I got a pair of GHD's and I've used them to straighten my hair ever since. They've never let me down and I've never even thought about straying away from them. My story of hair curlers and tongs is completely different in the last 7 years I have probably purchased and still have 10 types of curling tongs, wands and ceramic rollers. Ceramic rollers are probably my favourite but they take some planning you can't just curl your hair then hit the town you need to get them hot and put them in whilst getting ready which I'm often not organised enough to do on a Saturday night after a few glasses of wine. 

In a dream world I want an instrument that curls my hair ever so quickly leaving gorgeous big bouncy curls that last. I kind of somewhat have that with the Tresemme Salon Professional Volume Curls. It has a 32mm barrel which leaves you with big chunky bouncy curls that I love. They heat up pretty quickly too not out of this world quickly but not slow enough to be annoying. I also love the pink barrel they are super girly and it gets really hot (up to 200 degrees) so you get a good curl pretty quickly. 

Overall I do love this curling tong it's one of the best value for money curling irons I've bought as I've used them a lot since I've bought them - it gives my hair a nice effortless curl that is perfect for a night out. I'm still looking for my dream tong - I think as my hair is naturally straight and I have a lot of it I will never be able to find something that curls that quickly as I just have a lot of hair and secondly I probably need to focus on curling product a little more to get my curls to stay in a little longer. 

I'd love some curling product tips as I think if I get the product right this curling tong will be perfect so please leave comments :) 

Autumns Face.

Foundation: Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Concealer: Maybelline Fit Me Concealer Blusher: Maybelline Dream Touch in Apricot Highlighter: Topshop in Sunbeam Eyebrows: ELF Eyebrow Kit Mascara: Benefit They're Real Eyes: Vivo Matte and Pearl Eyeshadows Lips: Clinique Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry  

Somehow as winter is setting in I'm learning to tone down the tan - just. I'm still all over it for nights out and when I'm feeling a little sorry for myself but day to day work face is becoming a little more English winter rose. I feel like I'm getting into a bit of a make-up rut as writing out the products for this I realised I've pretty much worn all of these non-stop for weeks I might try and shake things up again soon... but I must say I do love all of the products featured in this post as they haven't left my everyday make-up selection for quite some time.

Christmas Gift Idea's - Skincare Obsessions

So I have so many Christmas gift idea posts that it made sense to start getting them up now. With only 41 days to go I will be starting my obsessions related posts. These are the little bits I've had my eye on but didn't have enough people to buy them all for. They may appear a little sexist at times but its hard to blend in my categories without going generic female and male - I'd also like to add that nothing appearing in these posts has been bought for any of my nearest or dearest so I'm not ruining any surprises :) 

I hope they help people struggling to buy Christmas gifts and it also puts a use to my many many evenings searching for Christmas presents. 

HIM

Save Nivea Shave Set £7.99 // Men-u Ultimate Shave Facial Set £6.95

Spend Elemis King of Skin Advanced Skincare for Men Set £25 // Decleor Natural Skincare £27.20

Splurge men-u db Premier Synthetic Bristle Shaving Brush & Chrome Stand £44.95 // Clarins Men Grooming Essentials £38

HER
Save Simple Skincare £2 - £6 // Nivea Mini Treats £5

Spend Yes To Cucumbers Ultimate Calming Facial Kit £19.99 // Korres Best of Korres Set £19

Splurge Clarins Vital Light Skin Illuminators Collection £53.10 // Ole Henriksen The Whole Truth Kit £45

Moroccanoil Treatment

Morroccanoil Treatment - 25ml £12.35 100ml £30.45  feelunique.com 

I have become a little obsessed with hair oils over the last few months - since ruining my locks with the short lived 'ombre' effect my hair is desperately asking me to treat it nicely. I've tried quite a few hair oils in the hope of getting my old hair. L'Oreal Extraordinary Oil, Tresemme Liquid Gold, and Organix Coconut Oil Serum to name but a few. However much I've loved them and they've worked for my hair I've always had the age old beauty blogger feeling of but I'm sure there's better - and as Moroccanoil is down as the original and the best I've been so desperate to try it for ages.

The thing that has stopped me is the price tag - £12.35 for 25 mere millilitres seems more than extreme when you can pick up some competitors for half the price and 4x the amount of product. However when it was featured in the recent Glossybox Exclusive Edition I couldn't pass it by.

Morroccanoil is a little luxurious glass bottle coming neatly packaged in a very cute little box. I love the branding of Morrocanoil it screams high end hair care and is simple yet informative. I kind of didn't want to like this product partly because I don't want to keep repurchasing it but I did like it - I liked it a lot. I've only been using it for just over a week but it's had a lasting effect on my hair unlike some previous hair oils I've tried that tend to make my hair only feel nourished during the day after I've applied them. Since using Morrocanoil I've also noticed my hair is more manageable after showering which means it must have some lasting effects.

Overall I love this product and think it will be hairs little treat. I find I only need a tiny amount to cover the ends of my hair so I have a feeling this little bottle will last me well. I've popped another mini bottle on my Christmas wish list. I don't intend to be repurchasing this all the time it will firmly be a Christmas or Birthday list buy I think. Maybe if I get a bonus as well it will be purchased in amongst some other expensive goodies I am lusting after - I do think this is worth the money but I also can't justify it all the time on my current budget. My hunt for a drug store alternative that matches up to Morrocanoil's lasting power is still firmly on. I'm also excited to see if this lives up to the claim that it makes your hair grow quicker - would love to read others reviews if you've given this a go please pop in the comments below :)

A Catch Up with Life - November, 2012

Top to bottom - left to right: Autumnal Nails, Little bit drunk heading to Sainsbury's, My Exclusive Edition Glossybox, Weekend Away, Sexy night out with Szczuble, Face for dinner with the boy, Doggle really wanted walkies, lighting lanterns for Miss Hannah, sleepy doggle. 

Top to bottom - left to right: hot ribena :), poker, annoyed boyfriend, night out with my best, same photo on her iPad haha, nails, making christmas wrapping paper, lighting lanterns, giant marshmallows, blighe lost control of our trolley, room service tea :), classy can of vodka and tonic, graduation hat, giving lambrini cider a go, helicopters and wine, my graduation seat!

I feel like this post is way overdue - it seems like forever ago since I've actually written something non beauty related which is silly because beauty products actually only take up a very small part of my day to day life. I've done a mass instagram upload above (@georginacallen if you would like to follow) and also included some of my graduation pictures. Time seems to be going way to fast and so much seems to be happening in such a short time. 

Graduation felt very surreal as dissertation hand in was a good 5 months ago and it is very strange to look at these pictures that mark the end to a 4 year chapter in my life. The second big thing to happen over the last few weeks is that the Charity Commission officially registered The Hannah Chamberlain Foundation. We've been working to get this registration for months so actually having it was a massive achievement and all of team #THCF are crazy excited for our 2013 fundraising plans. The THCF website also got a bit of make-over so please do check it out we'll also be updating our blog regularly now with upcoming events and achievements so there's lots going on there. 

I'm also a little consumed looking for a house to move out of my parents house early next year and live with a boy. Looking at cute furniture and kitchen accessories is filling up way too much of my time. That is pretty much my life at the moment! Charity, house hunting and graduating has been my last few months as well as quite a lot of zinfandel celebrating all of those things :)

Caudalie Beauty Elixir

Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml £9.90 Feel Unique

I picked this up in a recent little over indulgent Feel Unique haul. I've been using this little bottle pretty continuously for a couple of weeks now and I hate that I'm about to say this but I totally get the hype. I thought it would be a little like the Simple Moisture Boost Spray but it so different and has really sold to me the idea having a face spray in my handbag at all times.

I've read that a lot of people really hate the scent of this product but I adore it. It is ridiculously refreshing and has tones of grape and rosemary running through it. It just completely wakes up my skin throughout the day and leaves my make-up looking fresh and glowing after sitting in an office for many many hours. I normally use this first thing in the morning after applying my make-up and then throughout the day if me or my skin are feeling pretty sleepy. I do often get some odd looks from my co-workers opposite as I just sit there spritzing my face midday but I don't really mind. It's worth it for the lovely scent and refreshing finish.

I keep this in my handbag with me all the time so the 30ml is ideal it fits neatly in my mini make-up bag and comes everywhere with me. I've been using it constantly for about 2 weeks now and I've used up so little of the bottle so I think this is going to last so well - not sure I'd ever need the 100ml bottle as for me this is very much an out an about product that I love just whipping out to give my skin a boost wherever I am! I didn't want to like this product as in all honesty it's another extra that I could without having to repurchase but I do love it and I want it in my handbag forever. Has anyone else been sold on the Caudalie Beauty Elixir hype - please leave your reviews below I'd love to read some more reviews :)