Things I love having done!

Do you ever sit back, daydream, think wishfully that you could just pop into your local spa/hairdressing salon or even spend the day with your closest and mostest for some pampering?  I know I do.  I have gone from hating strangers touching me, fear of the hairdressers to absolutely loving being pampered, though please stay away from my feet, that is one phobia I cannot deal with.

This is a post about some of the things I absolutely love being done to me and why, honestly it isn't as rude as it sounds.  As a beauty blogger, you won't be surprised to find out what they are and why.

I have quite a busy and stressful job, at times all I want to do is sit back or indeed lay back and escape from that world and just do something for me, sadly I don't get too many opportunities to do those very often, but if I did, well this is what I would want.

Someone washing my hair for me

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One thing that I absolutely love having done whenever I go to the salon for a haircut/trim is having someone else wash my hair.  Not a chore in itself and it is something I actually don't mind doing, but it is just so relaxing when someone else does it for you and combined with a head massage, hair brushing and temple rubbing, I am almost snoring in minutes.

Having a facial

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I haven't had many in my life, well two actually but I do love having a facial.  Both times I have been lucky enough to have one, it has been totally amazing, relaxing and de-stressing not to mention that feeling of total cleanness afterwards is something I can never repeat at home.

Having a manicure

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This is something I have recently started to really really enjoy.  I had a bad experience of a manicure when I was at University and the manicurist at the time, instead of filing my nails, used scissors to cut them, slipped with the scissors and anyway... needless to say I have had a fear since. 

 Now having been to a few blogger events and met some absolutely lovely manicurists, this is something i had begun to enjoy and something I look forward to having done.

Hand and arm massage

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This is another treatment that I find really relaxing, though it has been a while since I have had it done.  It is incredibly relaxing to have something massage both your hands and your arms using many lotions and potions.  The last one I had was at a beauty event with Debenhams last year and the lovely ladies of Elemis were on hand to do this exact treatment and it was pure heaven.

Back and Shoulder massage

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This is possibly one of the best treatments ever, though again, a bad experience when I was at Uni for a spa day with my housemates terrified me.  The masseuse was so rough with massaging my shoulders that I screamed in pain for her to stop because it was utter agony and for weeks it hurt like anything to move.

Then a few years ago, I took the plunge having had chronic back-ache for weeks to go and have a massage and honestly it was the most amazing thing ever, so relaxing and de-stressing and something that almost had me in a deep sleep.  I find that with having a stressful job my shoulders are usually always quite tense and having them massaged literally cures everything for me.

So there you have, the top 5 things I love having done.  

Do you have a favourite treatment you like to have? is there anything you absolutely swear by?

What would you wear?

One of my closest friends has a big birthday coming up.  As she hits 40 she is determined that she is going to have one party that she has always wanted but never had - fancy dress.  I have been to fancy dress parties before with many wide and varied themes - Abba, 1950's, Cops and Robbers you name it, I have probably been to it.

This time it seems she wants to go with the horror/Halloween theme, not particularly attractive but quite good fun all the same and given as I have a few months notice, a friend and I have already been looking online at things we could wear either as a gruesome twosome or as individuals. The one site we have both agreed we like for options is Acefancydress and so far these have been my favourite:

The Gothic Doll  / Zombie Dorothy / Zombie School girl

Of course, you couldn't have Halloween without a witch costume

Sinful Witch / Witch

The possibilities are of course endless because anything can be adapted to become a horror or Halloween costume and that is part of the fun.

What would be your ideal fancy dress party?

'This post has been done in collaboration with Ace Fancy Dress'

Things ive been loving lately!

Today I thought I would share with you some of the things I have been loving lately. I am not one of those people who is very good at using products up before opening something new, instead I am like a child at Christmas who just wants to use everything now. 

However, just lately I have really been loving:

Kindle Fire

I am very much a bookworm.  Every day I travel too and from work on public transport which is either the tube or the bus and I need some sort of distraction from what is going on around me, so I tend to read.  I never ever thought I would become a fan of the Kindle because I have always loved books, but for me it is about convenience and the Kindle fits nicely in my bag and I never have to worry about running out of things to read.

Orange Is The New Black

I do love watching TV shows and I am a huge fan of American TV dramas. Favourites include Dexter, House, CSI, NCIS, Hannibal and more recently I was hooked on Revenge (Hurry up season 4).  Now I am currently watching Orange Is the New Black, which is an American comedy-drama series set in a women's prison.  I am half way through season 1 and so far I have so many favourite characters and cannot wait to see what happens in the end.

MAC Angel Lipstick

This is a recent addition to my make-up bag but I am really really liking using it.  I did a full review of it which you can find HERE but it is fast becoming my go to everyday lipstick.

Benefit Hoola

One of the first products I ever owned from Benefit and one that I keep on coming back to despite having quite a few bronzers.  The thing I love most about it is that it is so easy to work with. I am one of those people who doesn't like heavy make-up, I like it to look more natural and with Hoola I can apply it and achieve the look I want without feeling heavily made-up and almost orange.

Canon EOS1000D

I have been going on and on about wanting a new camera instead of just using my iPhone, so imagine how chuffed I am with this Canon EOS1000D camera!  I have only had it for a few weeks and I am still learning how to use it and what each option on the camera does, but hopefully soon you will start to see the photos I have been taken for my blog.

PG Tips Jasmine Tea

Ever since I cut out caffeine last October, I have become slightly obsessed with different decaffeinated teas, something i never ever thought I would say. To be fair if I want a cup of tea or coffee then I will have one, but I am not reliant on 15 cups of tea a day to make it through work. The one tea I am absolutely obsessed with at the minute is from PG Tips and it is Jasmine Tea. It comes inside a pyramid teabag and you simply leave it in your cup for 2 minutes after which time you have this lovely fragrant brew to enjoy.

A somewhat odd bunch of things to be enjoying right now.  I would love to know What have you been loving lately?

Eucerin DermoPurifyer Cleanser

When Escentual asked for beauty bloggers with oily and blemish prone skin to try out a new cleanser, I quite literally jumped at the opportunity. I have combination skin which leans towards the oily side coupled with flare ups of Roseacea, so this product sounded like something I definitely needed to try. The cleanser in question is from the Eucerin range, one which I had not tried and a brand I didn't know that much about.

When my package arrived I was delighted to see that I not only have the Cleanser, but pretty much a whole series of products from the Eucerin range to try.  Within the package was:

• Eucerin Dermo Purifyer Cleanser in a 200ml bottle
• Eucerin Even Brighter Day Cream in a 20ml tub
• Eucerin even Brighter Night Cream in 20ml tub

Then there was a host of sample size products which included:

• 20ml version of the Dermo Purifyer Cleanser
• 10ml tube of Intensive Dry Skin Foot Cream
• 7ml tube of Anti-age volume filler
• 7ml tube Aquaporin Active
• 7ml tube of Anti-age Hyaluron Filler with SPF15
• 7ml tube of Q10 Active Anti-wrinkle Day Cream
• 7ml tube of DermoPurifyer Adjunctive Hydrating Care Cream
• 7ml tube of AtoControl Face Care Cream for dry and irritated skin
• 7ml tube of Anti-age Volume Filler with SPF15

With all of that in one package it is such a great introduction to a brand and one that I have enjoyed using.  I love sample products because you can use them for a few days to get an initial view of something before deciding whether or not you want to purchase a bigger size.  What I've found with these sample tubes is that you have enough for more than a few days which is really helpful.

The Eucerin DermoPURIFYER Cleanser states that it "cleanses gently and effectively eliminates excess sebum while removing dirt and make-up", it is also soap and fragrance free.  The cleanser comes in a cylindrical plastic tube with a green push down lid which is easy to open and when you close it, it is secure. The colour scheme is quite simple yet effective with the green and white working well together.

Living in London, I am sure you can imagine just how travelling around on and off public transport can make you feel.  There are days when I come home from work and want nothing more than to clean my face before I do anything else.

When using this cleanser you are directed to wet your face, apply the cleanser to your hands and work into a lather. When you apply it to your hands it comes out of the bottle it is a clear gel and as you rub it into your hands it quickly forms a lather which you can then apply to your face and massage in before rinsing with clean warm water.  Surprisingly you really don't need to use much of this product to create that lather to cover your entire face, so it is one of those products where a little goes a long way and you definitely get your moneys worth. As always, once you have finished rinsing your face, pat your skin dry.  I have been using this product for the last month and I had expected it to dry my skin out but surprisingly it didn't, what i did get was soft smooth skin which felt incredibly moisturised and there was no sign of irritation and nor did it cause any further flare-ups of my Roseacea.

As well as being soap and fragrance free, this cleasner contains citric acid and salicylic acid which helps to clean the skin and clear the skin to avoid breakouts.  The only thing I found this cleanser didn't do was eliminate excess sebum, half way through the day my shiny nose and forehead would still occur as they had before using this product, that said it did leave my face soft, smooth and supple as the claims stated it would and what impressed me the most is the fact I had no irritation and no further flare-ups.

For £9 I think you get very good value for money with this cleanser, I have another 2-3 months usage left in the bottle after having used it for just over a month already.  It does definitely clean the skin, that fresh clean feeling you get after using it is lovely, its just on my skin, it didn't clear eliminate the excess sebum, perhaps I misunderstood the claim but as it stands by mid-afternoon the sebum is definitely back.

You can purchase this product and others from the Eucerin range via ESCENTUAL but be quick as there are currently 1/3 off offers which are well worth taking advantage of.