This Works Deep Sleep Bath Soak

Knowing that I am a really rubbish sleeper my boyfriend bought me this bath soak for my birthday. 

I've mentioned previously that my favourite pillow spray is by  This Works so I instantly had high hopes for the Deep Sleep Bath Soak. 

The Soak itself is bath salts, and they are lavender and vetivert scented, they claim to soothe and help you relax in order to get a good nights sleep.

I know plenty of people are skeptical about whether things like this will help you sleep, but let me just say this, the first time I used these afterwards I felt the most relaxed I'd felt in a very long time, even a very small amount creates such a heavily scented bath, which really does smell incredible.

The lavender also does not irritate my skin which can be common with some products.

 Obviously if you are sensitive to scents you may not love this product.

However I do not doubt at all it's relaxing ability this will definitely be a repurchase for me!!

It is fairly pricey for £22.00 for 200g, and is available from Feel Unique.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox

MAC Stripdown Lip pencil.

So I asked for this lip pencil for my birthday, simply because I had heard both Kim Kardashian and Molly King for the Saturday's used it, two of my all time girl crushes. 

At first I did wonder if it would even suit me, I hadn't actually ever looked at it in person, so was just going on a whim, I did see Nic from Pixiwoo use it in a tutorial and was sold. 

It is a very simple nude lip pencil, and it goes with nearly anything, from classic nudes, to more darker plummy nudes. I know the colour may look brown and pretty unwearable but on the lip it actually is probably one of the most wearable lip colours I own. It also increases the longevity of your lip colour when layered. 

Obviously Kim Kardashian and Molly King are completely difference skin tones, so it is a really universal colour that I think could work on the majority of people.

Overall I LOVE!

Thank you for reading!

Hannah -ox

Timotei Pure

I've been searching for a good clarifying shampoo for a while, most overly strip my hair and leave it looking so dry and coarse. I recently saw in Tesco that Timotei and re-branded and launched a range using 0% Parabens, Silicones and colurants, even better that one was aimed to be more clarifying and was for normal/greasy hair. (My hair is very oily at the root)

Ever since purchasing the Timotei pure Shampoo I have been in love, it makes my hair feel really clean and fresh and I am no longer having to wash every day, BONUS! 

One thing I love about this is that it's eco-friendly instead of buying a new bottle each time you can buy a refill pack which is 67% less packaging.

I then saw that they had a dry shampoo something I use nearly every day, so instantly snapped it up. In terms of making your hair look and feel refreshed it is fab, it also smells incredible, I think this is down to the pure green tea extract in both products. It's a much finer spray then any other dry shampoo I've used before, so doesn't leave a white cast, so in terms of masking my darker roots it's not so great (maybe would be quite good for darker hair colours though).  

I haven't tried the conditioner purely because I'm happy with what I'm currently using. This range is seriously such a great find! I'd recommend to anyone who does struggle with oily roots.

It is also very affordable!

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox

My Bedtime Routine...

I've mentioned in past posts that I have a terrible time sleeping, this is partly due to the fact that I work what are known as sleeping nights, so I'll go to work do my shift and then go to sleep at work, I'm then on call throughout the night and I generally get woken up most nights atleast once or twice, then at 6:30am I get up and work another couple of hours in the morning. 

This has had an impact on how well I sleep (although I want to make it clear I love my job), I'm lucky if I go to sleep before midnight pretty much every night, and I never sleep throughout the night (I tend to wake up every few hours). I've had to develop a good night time routine to get me settled before bed, otherwise I can literally lie awake for HOURS!

1. I cleanse my skin - generally I try to do this as soon as I've finished working or when I'm home. I love makeup but I feel much more comfortable with bare skin. 

2. I will then spray my pillows with Lavender pillow spray and the top of my quilt, I've tried many over the years, the Boots own one and one from This Works are the best I've found so far. I also light a candle normally (only when I'm not at work) and switch the fairy lights near my bed on. Dimmer lights help your body wind down and get ready for sleep. 

3. I will brush my teeth then either have a shower or bath, I always try to have a bath as I find this most relaxing, but it tends to depend on how late it is, I love to go to bed feeling clean and fresh. I then will dry and apply moisturiser to my body and put on my pj's. 

4. I get in bed and I listen to my hypnotherapy. A vital part of my daily routine. It keeps me on track.

5. I will have a quick check of facebook and twitter, and then usually will encourage myself to read, I don't always read but it tends to depend on how active my mind is, sometimes I need to be distracted from my stresses and worries. 

6. Finally I'll put on my Ocean Waves sounds, this is also known as natural white noise, it has been used for many years to help sleep, one of my old teachers once told me they'd listen to the static on the radio every night before they went to sleep because it helped them 'tune' out. This really does work and there are thousands of different types out there, along with things like wildlife sounds, birds, rainforest, and wind. I will normally fall asleep with this on and it just plays until it stops, however sometimes I will listen for about half an hour and be settled enough to turn it off myself. 

This may seem like quite a drawn out process, and you're probably thinking no wonder you're not asleep until midnight, but this is what works for me, it doesn't happen like clockwork every night, but if I have a few really bad nights sleep this is what I do to get myself settled and back into what a 'normal' sleeping pattern is for me.

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah -ox

Happy Birthday Louise!

I just wanted to wish one of my longest and closest friends Louise a Happy Happy Happy 20th Birthday!

Finally the same age again (our birthdays are exactly 2 weeks apart!)

Hope the Birthday Fairy brings you everything you (didn't) ask for! hehe

Mwah xxx

Original Source Shower Gels.

So I absolutely LOVE Original Source, their shower gels are seriously amazing. 

I recently bought the Lavender and Tea Tree one when it was on offer in Superdrug, I sometimes find that products that have Lavender in irritate my skin, particularly Radox ones do! Apparently it's something to do with how the scent/oil is extracted from the plant/flower.

This not only works really well as a shower gel but is also nice on an evening to have a nice relaxing bubble baths. 

I also love the Mint scent, and the Chilli and Cracked Black Pepper (mainly aimed at men but hey ho) scent, they both tingle the skin and leave you feeling really clean and awake! Particularly good for those mornings when your lacking a bit of get up and go! 

I'm sure most people in Britain have tried Original Source at some point and if you haven't I would definitely recommend!! They're usually on offer in supermarkets or drugstores too so very affordable! 

Thanks for reading today's post even though it was short and sweet!

Hannah -ox

Good Things Fresh Start Cleanser.

I mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of the Good Things range, I love the fact that it's all natural products, and free from all the nasties.

I use this cleanser pretty much every morning, it's really gentle yet leaves my skin feeling so clean and refreshed, it smells really fresh and I love the pomegranate as it wakes me up. 

The consistency is nice and thick, what I normally do is massage it into my skin then remove with hot water and flannel, I then follow with my Good Things Miracle Mattifier Moisturiser. It doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or oily, just nice and refreshed and clean.

Overall this is a great cleanser for first thing in a morning, it doesn't irritate my sensitive skin, and just leaves my skin nice and refreshed. 

Another win for the Good Things range, if you haven't already tried something from this company you must! 

I'm almost certain you won't regret it! 

And for £4.99 is completely affordable.

Thanks for reading!

Hannah -ox

Loreal Gentle Eye Makeup remover.

So recently in little blog land, there's been a huge hubbub about the Loreal 3 in 1 Micellar Solution, which of course I had to try, and actually wasn't blown away with. I never use Micellar solutions/waters to remove my foundation as normally they don't budge Double wear and if they do then they don't leave my face feeling remotely clean. I'd been using the Loreal one just to remove my eye makeup, which it was ok at, however I noticed that my eyelashes were starting to feel quite brittle and some had even broken.

I was away from home at work when this happened so decided instead of waiting (like any normal rational person) to go home I'd go to Sainsbury's and see if anything took my fancy.

Some may think it illogical to buy something from a brand I just decided I didn't like a product from but I knew that Loreal suited my skin and was unlikely to cause any breakouts and irritation. 

I came across this eye makeup remover and at £2.99 felt I couldn't go wrong.

This product is so gentle and nourishing on the eyes yet still manages to remove all traces of eye makeup, and a little bit goes a long way, it doesn't have much of a fragrance either. 

My eyes are quite sensitive and a lot of products tend to sting them or make them quite sore and blood shot afterwards and I was so happy that this didn't effect them at all! 

I feel like this was such a great find, and real hidden gem. I would definitely recommend to anybody particularly if you do have sensitive eyes, I've been using this since the beginning of August and so far have not had any brittleness or breakages in my lashes, I do not use this every time I remove my makeup as sometimes I do just use my EH cleansing balm to just remove everything.

Overall a win fr Loreal!

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah -ox

Phyto 7

Another day another hair product I've fallen in love with. I know I only recently wrote about how much I liked the Kerastase Ciment Thermique. However this product isn't exactly the same,  it is marketed as a 'hydrating day cream' and seems to be aimed at people with dry to very dry hair. 

My hair naturally is quite oily at the roots, but I have noticed as the seasons have started to change my ends have gotten really dry and frizzy. 

Although the Kerastase has been good at physically strengthening my hair, it doesn't do a great deal for dryness, particularly as it allows you to still use heat.

I was really surprised by the consistency of this product, I expected with it being hydrating to be really thick, however  as you rub it between your hands it is very light  and almost water like,and it doesn't weigh my hair down or make it feel greasy.

It's also a leave in product, so no fussy putting on and washing out 10 minutes later.  

I also love the fact that it is full of natural products. 

I can't say anymore good things about this! It is really amazing, and has beaten my frizzy ends' butt! 

It is available from feel unique for £13.50, which is I feel is reasonable for something that isn't full of nasty sillicones (it has 7 natural ingredients) and actually does the job! 

Thanks for reading! 

Hannah -ox

My 20th Birthday in Pictures.

WARNING: this is a very picture heavy post! :-) 

Hello everyone here's a post in pictures of my 20th birthday, on the actual day I went for lunch with my Mum and Boyfriend to San Carlo's in Leeds, it's an amazing restaurant I would definitely recommend! 

Then on Monday (7th) I went to the Harry Potter Studios, which was AMAAAAAZZZZZZIIING, I loved it!! You don't realise how much effort goes into making films (over 17,000 people were involved!).  

Soap & Glory The Ultimelt

.

I'm torn with this product, I think it's mainly because I love S&G and that so many people also love and rave about The Ultimelt. I want to love it, but unfortunately I don't.

I've not ventured too much into the Hot cloth cleansers, I've used Liz Earle before but only from borrowing my sisters (it was awful and stung my skin), I have also used No7's which surprisingly after using the Liz Earle I really liked and even bought my mum a gift set for Christmas.

I like to try be as unbiased as possible when trying new products, so I felt like given my past experience with hot cloth cleansers it was pretty even Stevens. 

The product its self has a very thick consistency, and when squeezing it out it almost reminded me of toothpaste (odd I know). The smell is similar to Liz Earle, fairly herbal not my cup of tea but I can cope with it. I massaged it in all over my face (it did have a slight sting but nowhere near as bad as Liz Earle) then removed with a flannel, I know it comes with a  muslin cloth, but I don't like them they always leave a residue on my skin. I used this as a first cleanse, and it's makeup removing power is pretty good, the more you massage the more it seems to remove, unfortunately this broke me out like nobodies business, I didn't realise at first what it was but after a few days going back to my Philosophy cleanser I soon realised that it was unfortunately this product. *sigh*

I then gave this to my mum to try, she has quite dehydrated but sensitive skin, and much to my utter disgust she is a face wipe worshiper.  To my surprise she actually had similar feelings to me (I didn't even discuss with her why I wanted her to try the product or the fact it had broken me out). Mum really didn't like the smell, and it also stung her skin, she actually felt that she needed to use a face wipe to remove the bulk of her makeup first (she too wears double wear) even when she double cleansed. This is more of a note to me too but she also said she'd of rather tried something that lathered *cringes* (it's always as little fuss and as quick as possible with her). 

Overall I am sad to say that I will not even be finishing this product let alone repurchasing. This is the first time I've ever really disliked something from Soap & Glory and I'm still in shock.

Obviously it would not stop me from continuing to buy their products, they are still one of my all time faves!

I hope this has been helpful! 

Thanks for reading, 

Hannah (& guest tester Mum) -ox

My 20th Birthday...

Tomorrow (6th October) is my birthday, and I will turn 20.

It's quite scary the thought that I've experienced 20 years of life, every year around my birthday I reminisce, it's easy to let life pass you by day by day, you sometimes miss the most important things, and unfortunately focus on the really terrible things.

This was my birthday last year, quite a weird one really as it was the first time I hadn't woken up at home on my birthday, I did the night shift at work the day before, and it never really felt like it was my birthday. This was a great surprise coming home to a newly decorated room, and cake and champagne.

The past year for me has been a tough one if I'm honest, unfortunately we've had to struggle through some really difficult times, not just me but my family too. It makes me feel ashamed sometimes how much I used to dislike having any sort of time with my family (particularly through my teens), where now I feel like it's time I really cherish, blood is always always thicker than water. Obviously part of this is due to maturing as a person, but I think a lot of it is due to the work that I do, I see people spend some of what should be the happiest days of their lives on their own, without their family without their friends. It really is heartbreaking. I always get told that I'm stone faced, and very controlling of my emotions, but I think if I wasn't like this working in care would tear me up inside, you see people at their very best but also their very worst it's extremely bitter sweet at times. 

This is me and my Pa and our lovely dog Bess who is now in doggy heaven most likely swimming or eating poop.

This year hasn't been all doom and gloom, it has also brought me lots of happiness, I have a job I love, a nice car, and a lovely home. Most importantly this year brought me someone special, who made me realise that I'm worth more than I think, not to let my past demons control me -they no longer matter, and to just be happy even when I feel like the world is against me and that I just want to cry, it isn't and I'm just being a little drama queen.

Most importantly, I'm so thankful, I'm thankful to my family and friends, but most importantly to my Mum, Dad, Sue, and Karl. They are my rocks, and my constant support network. 

Birthday's are not about the candles on the cake, the presents you receive, or the food that you eat, they are the reminders of the real gifts God has given you in life, and you should be ever thankful.

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Hannah -ox

Freederm Gel

Does anybody else ever get those nasty little pimples? I'm not talking acne here, I'm just talking that one off pimple/spot that rears it's red ugly head usually around the time of the month. 

If so this is the post for you!

Along with my 'normal' cystic acne, I also get hormonal breakouts around the time of the month, unfortunately there's very little you can do for these, it's important to know what type of acne you have, this can be easily diagnosed by your GP or a dermatologist. 

I've used Freederm gel from being a young teen, It's a really good product, however from experience it only works well on spots that have or have had a head, anything below the skins surface it isn't going to have much of an effect on. 

The main thing I really like about this is that it it contains nicotinamide which is an anti-inflamatory so takes that nasty red inflammation that tends to surround active breakouts. 

I use this at night, as it does tend to leave a white cast which does dry and can flake if you wear it under makeup. 

Overall this product will reduce redness and swelling overnight, this has been a night time routine staple for many years. I do have other topical creams for my other Acne, but this is a definite for anybody who has mild breakouts. 

Thanks for reading.

Hannah -ox