From House to Home

(AD) If you follow me on Instagram, you might have noticed that I have shared a bit more homelife - the cats, the bathroom, books, flowers and my insanely pretty wax met burner, don't worry I am not about to start sharing Hinch lists or anything like that, but working from home does lead to doing those jobs you have never quite finished or completed.

When we moved into this place well over 10 years ago now, it was nothing like we had agreed when we signed all the legal papers. It took 3 months from exchange and completion to actually move in and boy oh boy was it a nightmare. I had cleverly arranged for all our furniture to arrive on the day we moved in, the broadband people, I was going to sort all the bills out and ensure we had done the Council tax and so on... when I opened the door with the keys, well... someone had been living here that was obvious. In the middle of the bedroom we had furniture that was not mine, there was no skirting boards, light fittings, curtain poles and door handles had been removed - all those annoying things that you need. To put everything right, it takes time, it takes money and of course patience.

The hallway is quite easily the most used part of the house, we all walk through it several times a day and whilst the skirting boards have now been fixed in place and we have finally started to hang pictures on the wall now it has been decorated. The one thing we still haven't done is changed the parquet flooring*, part of which suffered water damage when we had a leak from the flat upstairs. Instead, we have just made do because the bathroom renovation cost a little more than we had budgeted for, but worth every penny.  

Slowly but surely, we have made this house a home, granted as time goes on things need replacing and fixing - again the fridge freezer is being a nightmare, so that is the next purchase, but oddly, I have enjoyed doing little bits here and there, changing one room at a time.

Is there a room in your house that you are working on right now?

*this post contains PR samples, paid link and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

How Does Beauty Pie work? I’ll explain...

One of the main questions I was asked most after posting my product purchases on my Instagram grid and stories is "how does Beauty Pie work?". Seemingly a few people are confused by the concept which has lead to questions of affordability, is it worth it, how you buy stuff and what do I need.

Admittedly I felt like there had been an explosion of posts across my social media channels of everyone being part of Beauty Pie, pretty much every grid square has bloggers, friends and friends of friends all claiming it was amazing and how much I needed it. However, as with all things popular, I took a step back to see how many of these people remained convinced this was an amazing service, I even asked the same questions you are all asking me, then I decided to just go for it! 

 

This post is not in any way sponsored by Beauty Pie, the opinions are all my own based on my experience and I pay for my own subscription.

Beauty Pie’s mantra is that they offer “luxury skincare and beauty products without the luxury prices” and essentially because they are online only, don’t have celebrity endorsements, don’t rely on product markups by retailers, they can do exactly this.   As well as Makeup and Skincare, Beauty Pie also offer fragrances, candles and a few giftsets too.

What is BeautyPie?

To all intents and purposes, Beauty Pie is a subscription service for which you have to pay a monthly fee to be able to access all the products they have to offer. Much like Netflix or Amazon Prime, by paying a subscription fee, you get benefits that those who are not members do not - case in point is Amazon Prime. So Beauty Pie is essentially the same, but how it works is a little more tricky.  In fact, I paid my fee, got a tad carried away filling my cart and then got confused at that checkout, emptied my cart and possibly repeated the process a few times before I got how it worked.  

For me, the downside of Beauty Pie is how the service works from paying your membership fee to picking your products and then checking out is something that could and should be explained better than it is, but hopefully my own experience will do that for you. They do have their own blog which explains some of the insights, in-depth information about products and a few Q&A offerings too.

How Beauty Pie Works:

As I mentioned, Beauty Pie is a membership service and that membership gives you the chance to buy products at “members prices” and I’m going to write how that works as simply as I can. 

1. Choosing a membership - The first stage of becoming a member is to choose a membership with a monthly fee. The monthly fee is charged whether or not you use your spending limit. Prices per month start as low as £5 and rise upwards to £99 per year. So picking the service which is best for you is important.  

With your membership subscription comes a limit as to how much you can “spend” during that month. If you don’t use all of your spend then it rolls over to the next month and if you find your spend isn’t high enough you can upgrade your subscription level and if you find it too much, you can reduce it. 

Here is a screenshot of what the monthly memberships cost and how much your spending limit is: 

So there are some extra benefits depending on your level of membership and obviously, if you opt to pay £99 for the year, then you have three rewards that the other levels do not, these are shown by the star next to that reward.

2. How the £100 Spend Works - I started with the £10/mo membership which gave me a £100 spend for the first month plus a bonus £100. So during my first month as a member, I had £200 to spend.

However and this is where you need to pay attention to how it works to use that spend. So, £200 might sound like a lot because it is a lot, I was worried as to how much £200 worth of products would look if I was being promised items which cost as low as £4! But it is a little more complicated than that.

Beauty Pie estimates how much a product would be on the high-street which is referred to as a “typical spend”. So again I’ve screenshot an example of the typical price v’s the Beauty Pie price.

As you can see, there is quite a difference in price, in this case, £34.23. This is how Beauty Pie sell their luxury products without the luxury prices. 

3. Happy Shopping - A product I had heard a lot about is the Super Healthy Hair Detox Wash Shampoo which Beauty Pie claim typically costs £25 and as a member it is priced at £6.31. So when you add that to your cart the £25 comes off your £200 monthly spend limit and when you check out you only pay £6.31.  Still with me?

To break it down further, of my £200 spend limit, remember I was given a bonus of £100 in my first month, I bought the following items:

So, instead of spending £140 I actually spent £32.54 which Beautypie estimates saved me £107.46 and then on top of that there is the cost of postage and packaging. I still have money left to roll-over to next month and whilst there are a few more products I want to try, I think the £100 spend is more than enough for me.

Is Beautypie worth it?

Absolutely yes it is. But naturally, you have to work out which products will work best for you. I also think that, as with my own experience, your own will come with some trial and error getting used to the site and then finding the products that work for you, but that really is no different to going to Boots and buying a 3 for 2 deal only to find because your best friend loves it, you hate it. 

You will have to commit to the membership which is for a minimum of 3 months and I believe in that time you will find some absolute must-have products that you can’t be without whilst st the same time, be daring enough to try a product you like the sound of. For me, those are both the reasons I was drawn in. 

So yes I am happy to report that Beauty Pie is not a scam, parts of it could and should be explained in simpler terms to how they currently are,  but if you do have further questions, then please message me here or on social media and I will do my best to answer them.

I am intending to review my purchases on another post but if you have decided to give BeautyPie a try then Every person who uses Beauty Pie can get a referral code and if you use mine, or anyone’s, you can get your first month of membership fees for free and that existing member gets a top-up credit to their account. So if I have convinced you to try it... hopefully that will help!

Have you joined Beauty Pie yet?

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Erborian Sleeping BB Mask

I have been lucky enough to try quite a few products from Erborian, a brand whose name is derived from 'Herbs of the Orient' and was born back in 2007 when two women, both experts in the demanding world of cosmetics happened to meet. Blending the power of Korean textures and ingredients with French sensoriality and know-how, Erborian was created. Today, I am sharing the Sleeping BB Mask, a product which is referred to as being a 'Night energy blast face mask'.

I am a huge fan of 'lazy skincare' and by that, I mean using products which does more work for your skin than you need too especially night time products. The Sleeping BB Mask is described as being a cocoon mask which works whilst you sleep and helps you to fight signs of fatigue, and leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth to the touch.

The texture of this sleeping mask is like a serum and the formula contains a combination of traditional herbs which includes:

• 7 Herbs complex - Used in many Erborian products for their soothing properties
• Sweet almond oil - This is softening, nourishing and helps to strengthen skin barrier function
• Sesame oil (Sesamum indicum) - An antioxidant, protects, nourishing, soothing
• Corn Oil - An emollient
• Soybean Oil - Helps to prevent skin dehydration
• Tocopherol - An antioxidant

The advice from Erborian is to use this product 2-3 times a week after cleansing and rinse off the following morning.  What I like about this mask is how it is lightweight on the skin, it sinks in and the following day, my skin is soft and smooth to the touch.

Priced at £36 via SpaceNK

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.

Kevin Murphy FRESH & EASY Set

I have been loving getting to know the hair care brand Kevin Murphy, I have been lucky to try quite a few products from the range including a Spray Wax, A Dry Conditioner and today the Fresh & Easy Collection.

The collection consists of three products - a shampoo, conditioner and a dry shampoo which work to complement one another.

The Smooth.Again.Wash is described as being a targeted smoothing and refining shampoo which cleanses, smoothes and softens thick, coarse or unruly hair. My hair is combination oily with dry ends, so at least once a week, I ensure my hair is treated to a mask to keep in as good a condition as possible.

This Smooth.Again.Wash smells absolutely wonderful and it is packed full of amazing ingredients which work to cleanse and smooth the hair and they include:

• Monoi Oil - A weightless restorative oil rebuilds the hair from the inside out.
• Sunflower Seed Extract - Which is rich in Vitamin E and Oleic Acid to smooth and soothe the hair.
• Murumuru Seed Butter - This is rich in essential Fatty Acids to help even out the moisture levels in the hair.
• Olive Fruit Oil - This oil mimics the hair’s healthy oils and protects from heat and styling

Putting these ingredients together, you have a product which balances the hairs moisture without being overly heavy and weighing the hair down and leaving it greasy. 

The Smooth.Again.Rinse is my favourite product in this collection. I tend to use a conditioner just a few times a week and this has been the one I have used the most. As with the Wash, the Rinse is a targeted smoothing and refining conditioner for thick, coarse hair. It uses ion-based cationic technology, so the Keratin Protein mimics the structure of proteins within the hair to fit seamlessly where it is needed most for smoothing and refining.

With this conditioner, you only need a really small amount, a little goes a very long way and resisting the urge to cover myself in the product because it smells that good is always hard. Once applied to wet hair, the advice is to leave it for a few minutes to work its magic. I only ever apply it to the lengths and ends of my hair. Upon washing out, the straggly mess, due to no hair salon visit for over 3 months, is actually silky smooth and those natural waves sit nicely rather than looking like a frizzy mess.

As with the Wash, this Rinse is packed full of amazing ingredients, four of which need a mention:

• Monoi Oil - Also present in the Rinse, it contains a high concentration of Lauric Acid to penetrate hair shaft and smooth cuticle and control frizz.
• Biomimetic Keratin Protein - This offers a highly targeted repair of damage to leave hair restored while adding a luminous shine.
• Cocoa Seed Butter - works to improve the hair’s flexibility while adding moisture and softness.
• Brazil Nut Oil - Thiis oil not only nourishes but also moisturises and reconstructs hair to smooth hair, fight frizz and tame curls.

This has been one of the best conditioning products I have used in a very long time and I have tried a few!

The third product within this collection is the Fresh.Hair Dry Shampoo and one thing about Kevin Murphy and his haircare range is that they know how to make a dry shampoo.

Described as being a dry shampoo for the hair that removes odours, excess oil, and all those nasties which make your hair look and feel dreadful. My one issue with some Dry Shampoo's is the white residue they create, often making your hair look worse and your head itch. With Fresh.Hair, the product is so lightweight it doesn't create residue and a light spritz across the hair and a brush through leaves no trace other than a light citrus scent which comes from the use of antioxidant and vitamin-rich tangerine oil, which not only protects the hair against environmental stresses but also stimulates the senses with its refreshing citrus scent. It also adds shine to dull, lifeless hair.

This set retails for £45 via Kevin Murphy and each product can also be bought separately.

*this post contains PR samples and/or Affiliate Links unless indicated otherwise - you can learn more on my Disclaimer page.