Keep calm: Don't turn ruby woo!

Well it's been a while... ironically my actual life here at 2F3 has got in the way of 'life at 2F3' and my blog has seriously been neglected. I have been really busy with work recently, travelling loads, mostly to really boring parts of the country and my friends have been popping babies out left, right and centre. Well actually, hopefully, mostly out of the centre so I have been playing pass the baby or buy the baby a gift for what seems like since time began (I exaggerate). However we had my boyfriends Sister to stay last night as she is moving from London to Edinburgh this month and had a job interview in our fabulous (but dull and rainy) city this morning. While she was reading over her interview notes and the beads of sweat began to slowly appear it got me thinking of all the poor people having job interviews today.

 Job interviews have to be THE worst thing ever, well maybe along side work presentations, neither of which I am any good at. Luckily I have a job and only have to do 2 formal presentations a year so I escape lightly, but seriously why do they make job interviews so hard. I almost cried in the interview 5 years ago I had for my current job and actually had to take a moment to pep talk the tears from the surface to the backs of my eyeballs. When I finally escaped from the interview room my face (and neck) had turned from normal skin tone colour to Mac's ruby woo and I thought WOW that couldn't have gone any worse...Needless to say, despite showing chameleon colour changing talents I got the job and have maintained employment within the same company ever since. Should the day come again when I need to face the dreaded apprentice stylee boardroom I will read this post and remind myself that the best thing you can do it stay calm and try your best.

Good luck to everyone out there who has a job interview today. I wish you lots of luck and remember if you don't succeed maybe it wasn't meant to be and something more suitable will come up. Don't beat yourself up, at least you are motivated enough to try and find work and that counts for a lot. X

An Au-natural Glossybox arrives

Not only is the April Glossybox channelling us all to embrace the green goddess within with an all Natural beauty box, containing 5 natural products in a 100% biodegradable box...It is my first ever! - and what a way to start. I delayed joining Glossybox for the simple reason that I was trying to be "cool" by bucking the trend and opting for a lesser known beauty box that was potentially better than its competitors but with less following thus leaving me as a smug and independent champion of something new, relatively unknown and wonderful. However in reality this delay left me feeling slightly jealous of everyone receiving their beautiful Glossyboxes every month, not to mention when my then current following Carmine decided to pass all their business over to Glossybox anyway, and don't even get me started on missing the Harrods edition!

So without any further delay I subscribed to Glossybox with excitement and 100% trust that I had to give it a whirl. I have to say categorically I wish I had subscribed sooner. Receiving the box in the post on Saturday was such an anticipated moment for me that even just opening the outside cardboard packaging was an enjoyable task... After months of wishing, deliberating and imagining, I finally had my very own Glossybox!

Since it was 'the Natural Glossybox' I decided to open it in the natural surroundings of my roof terrace (excuse the weeds, I will embrace the green goddess within, but green fingers is a bigger ask) And here it is...

 

 

and here is what was inside

1. Ayuuri Natural body wash in Sandalwood

2. Figs & Rouge balm in Rambling rose

3. Kai perfume oil

4. Caudalie - Vinosource SOS Thirst- Quenching serum

5. Inika cosmetics organic eyeliner in Graphite

So far I have only tried the balm on my lips although glossybox say you can use on skin too ideal for knees and elbows. It is pretty glossy and does not have a thick texture at all but a much oilier consistency. This may be due to the 100% pure and organic ingredients. It leaves your lips super soft with a nice sheen and the packaging is pretty and compact. A great multipurpose travel product which I absolutely love! It has now replaced all other lip balms in my bag and a real favourite.

I love Caudalie products and therefore am very excited to try their newly launched serum. I am sadly coming to the end of my current Caudalie vinoperfect radiance serum so this couldn't have come at a better time for me to try. The deluxe sample size is big enough to take with me travelling and get a good weeks use out of both morning and night. I have used a few times already and I think I prefer this one to the radiance serum. It leaves you skin soft supple and has actually cleared up my skin slightly so perhaps was suffering from serious skin dehydration. If you also feel like your skin could do with a big drink of something moisturising but light in texture then I would recommend you try this product.

Who doesn't love an eyeliner, especially when its full size and a great every day colour like graphite. The liner has a soft, creamy texture and has a strong pigment that could be easily blended for a smokey eye. It has a slight blueish grey metallic shine and is a great alternative to the standard black liner.  LOVE

The body wash and perfume oil still remain untested but a full size bottle of body wash gets a massive tick from me. I was about to venture into lush in search of something new as I am bored of my Bodyshop selection which seems to have lasted me forever ( not a bad thing). I will definitely be giving these a whirl now I am home from my travels.

I absolutely love my first glossybox and cannot wait for my next one. My boyfriend was also watching me as I examined each product with some intrigue and even said it would be nice if they did something like that for men... I feel a glossybox gift coming on :-) X

Here is another picture of my roof terrace the day I received my glossybox. Just for fun!

 

April Wishlist

This feels like the longest month so far this year, especially in the old bank account. Never mind, its pay day next week and I have already spent the large majority of it in my head. Obviously there are items on my April wish list which will never be bought but a girl can dream... 

Its quite a nice eclectic mix of "stuff" including beauty products and fashion, as well as books, DVDs etc... Its entering wedding season once again and I have a few to attend this year (not as many as last year thank goodness) and I thought item 8 would be a perfect summer wedding outfit - not to long, not too short, bright enough that it embraces the brights of summer, but not too bright that says you're trying too hard.

I am possibly the last person in the world to see bridesmaids but am desperate to see it, as well as read the follow up books to the hunger games after seeing the film and reading the first book in the trilogy and absolutely loving both! These will definitely be bought for the Summer hols!

I have some serious amount of boots advantage points after many months (perhaps years) of saving, so I am going to treat myself to my first and long awaited bottle of Miss Dior. Perhaps I will even have enough left for the new Chanel vitalumiere aqua compact - yes seriously I have that many points. I have never tried vitalumiere aqua despite being a Chanel foundation addict and as my prolumiere stocks are slowly dwindling I am beginning to feel brave enough to venture out into the new wave of foundations on the market.

The Marc Jacobs watch is a thing of beauty and I really didn't get the whole rose gold craze that seems to be coming to an end, but am thankful a new more chocolaty, more espresso coloured trend in watches seems to be emerging... I think its much easier to wear for all skin tones and easier to match to other accessorise than rose gold, not to mention I think it actually looks a bit classier. Whether I will ever have enough money to afford one is another matter. Fingers crossed for the lottery tomorrow X

1. Cushions - John Lewis £15-£25 

2. Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Compact - Boots £39

3. Bikini - Topshop £32

4. Bridesmaids DVD - Amazon £7.49

5. Marc Jacobs watch - Asos £250

6. Friendship Bracelet - Asos £6

7. Playsuit - Topshop £35

8. Dress - Karen Millen £140

9. Miss Dior Eau de Parfum 50ml - Boots £60.50

10. Books - Amazon and Amazon £3.99 each

11. Dress - Philip Lim

12. Sandles - River Island £50

13. Neom Candle - Look Fantastic £37.50

What will you spend your money on when you get paid?

Essie - Lovie Dovie

So I love white chocolate and I love pink nail varnishes - put them together and you've got a match made in heaven! I purchased this nail varnish a while ago and have worn it a lot as I absolutley love it! It was only a matter of time before I shared the lov-(ie) dovie.

With Flash

Without Flash

Delicious Treat!

You can get away with one coat with this colour but two coats gives it that extra opaque candy pink tone that is so pretty and perfect for Spring's pastel trend.

Beauty Bay have a brilliant range of Essie nail varnishes retailing at £7.75 for 15ml, cheaper than both OPI and Ciate, not to mention there is fruit inside the white chocolate so they're not too naughty. 

Its oh so SLEEK!

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One Night Stand!

I travel with work a lot... and when I say a lot I mean a couple of days every week so compact packing is an essential skill in my life. Quite often I stay in hotels with very little (if any) entertainment surrounding so I have to make sure I have everything I need to keep my skin, hair and body feeling good. For this reason I have become a bit of a master at packing, especially my toiletries which is usually the most bulky item in my luggage.

Here are some pictures from a recent one night stay in Dublin. I flew (obviously) so my luggage was limited, therefore so were my beauty products. I will exhibit my very organised and limited make up at another time but this post is about travel toiletries only.

I hope this inspired more of you to gather those travel size samples the next time you are offered them. They really can prove handy!

2 plastic containers on left contain day and night moisturiser and Bioderma

In my Travalo I currently have Marc Jacobs 'Daisy'.

Morrocan oil decanted into a plastic container as I don't have the small version.

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Skincare haul review - Dual liquid eye make-up remover

I thought I would choose to review the simplest product in my most recent skincare haul first just to ease us in before we get to the more 'sciency' products.  The first product review is an absolute staple in my skincare routine as well - literally, I panic when I run out and have repurchased more times than I can remember therefore I feel it my duty to spread the word...Garnier! Or more appropriately, words... Soothing 2 in 1 make-up remover.

 

The Garnier Soothing 2 in 1 make-up remover from the Simply Essentials range is by far the best eye make-up remover I have ever used (apart from Bioderma which arrived yesterday but that's for another day)! It is fragrance and alcohol free so very gentle and kind to your eyes while leaving your skin clean and fresh. Its oil/cleansing water formula removes heavy duty make-up like bobbi brown long wear gel eyeliner and waterproof mascara with little effort, and the best part - Its only £2.99 for a 200ml bottle!

Link



I use it by shaking the bottle vigorously which allows the make up removing oil and cleansing water to temporarily mix together. I then pour some onto cotton pads and hold on my eyes for 10-20 seconds. This allows enough time for even tough make up to dissolve and then I just sweep cotton pad and make-up remnants away leaving my skin clean and fresh looking - and more importantly feeling.

Unfortunately I ran out of my Garnier '2 in 1' a few weeks ago, stupidly caught away from home without any and was forced to visit a Boots in a train station in search of my hero product, of course to find that it wasn't stocked in that branch - criminal. This forced my hand into trying something new in the hope it would work just as well.... It didn't.

Link



The No7 Beautiful skin Cleanse and Clear Eye Make-Up Remover looks very similar in that it is a dual liquid product containing an oil type substance and a cleansing water. The problem isn't in the make-up removal itself it does this pretty well although not as well as the Garnier product, however this I could have dealt with. What I couldn't deal with was the horrible, greasy, oily feeling on your skin it leaves behind. My skin didn't feel fresh and clean at all, which surely defeats the purpose of make-up remover. This product is also £7.75 for 100ml so the value for money category can't even be beaten by the No 7 contender.

I have in the past tried the similarly formulated Lancome Bi-facial Eye Make-up remover and I remember being impressed although have not bought any recently or indeed since that first purchase and therefore feel it would be unfair to compare with Garnier and No7. At £20 for 125ml it is certainly for those feeling more flash with the cash and like the more luxury branded products. However I feel it unnecessary to spend that much on eye-make up remover, especially when I am going to clean my face afterwards and then apply several lotions and potions. I just want an eye make-up remover that does its job and doesn't cost a fortune.

There are lots of these oil/water duo eye make-up remover products on the market and I have only tried a small minority of them but am totally sold on the Garnier one and don't feel the need to look any further. If you do however, here are some others widely available.

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Have any of you tried any other dual liquid eye make up removers you can recommend?

Skin care junkie - Moi?

Finally its pay-day, and for me, with this comes a weekend of shopping! I am in the market for some new skin care at the moment. I have finished 3 different cleansers in the last 3 weeks and am almost out of moisturisers so am very much in the market for some new skin beauty's. I therefore hit the shops and here is what I bought - some would say I got a bit carried away...



Instead of reviewing all products in this blog post I will be going through each product individually in different future posts allowing all the information to be digested as well as giving me a chance to try them out.

Until then here is a list of all the products I purchased and rough pricing

• Garnier 'Essentials 2 in 1 Make-up remover' - Boots (£2.99)


• Garnier 'Caffine eye roll on' - Boots (£9.99)


• Avene 'Extremley gentle cleanser' - Boots (£8 in 3 for 2 deal)


• La Roche Posay  'Toleraine dermo-cleanser' - Boots (£11 in 3 for 2 deal)


• La Roche Posay 'Physiological Micellar solution' - Boots (£11.50 in 3 for 2 deal)


• Caudalie 'Vinoperfect radiance serum complexion correcting' - John lewis (£44)


• Rodial 'glamtox night' - Harvey Nicols (£90)


• Rodial ' Brazilian tan airbrush' - Harvey Nicols (£9.95)


• Rodial 'Crash diet' - Harvey Nicols (Free - usually £75)


• Liz Earl 'Cleanse & polish Hot cloth cleanser' - John Lewis (£23)


• Liz Earl 'Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer - John Lewis (12.50)


• Origins 'A Perfect World Moisturiser' - John Lewis (£32)


• Origins 'Starting Over Age-Erasing Eye Cream With Mimosa' - John Lewis (£26)


• Butter London 'Nail varnish' - Harvey Nicols (Free usually £12)


• Elemis 'Exotic Monoi Moisture melt body oil - Harvey Nichols (£30)

Easy Nails Rock!

Before I delve into the details of my latest beauty discovery I thought it was necessary to give an update on the performance of the Neom candles I wrote about in my last blog post.

Straight out of the box they look and smell divine. Lit for a few hours however, supposedly allowing the scent to permeate my house, or even my living room and they are not so great. I have almost finished one of the two candles I purchased and only once has my boyfriend come home from work exclaiming “oh it smells nice in here” to which I found myself responding “does it?” I have struggled to notice any scent at all from it which means either my sense of smell is extremely bad (which could be a possibility, in which case I need a stronger candle) or the smell is so subtle that you only notice it when you have been on a smelly train for a hour and then walked through a bustling city for 10 minutes subjected to car fumes, restaurant odours and cigarette smoke – and if that is the case...you can keep the subtlety and give me Yankee candles any day!

Now I know that the smaller candle pots are known for their lesser perfume content or in Neoms case less essential oils but for £13 per 75G I was expecting something a bit more obvious for my money.

If you have had success with the larger Neom candles please let me know, as until my confidence is restored in Neom candles or I have to start taking smelly public transport to work in order to notice the subtle hints of Ylang Ylang and Patchouli in my home I am sticking to what I know best and can afford, a big ole jar of Yankee for £16.



On to things more pretty and polished now – check out my latest beauty find, and I know I may be slightly behind the nail fashionistas around me on this one but better late than never! I have very difficult and troublesome nails. While they are soft and bendy and therefore rarely make it more than a few mm above the end of my finger tip before they break, they also split really easily and therefore nail varnish is extremely prone to chipping with a home manicure lasting about 2 days before the glossy coloured varnish looks dull, old and tacky looking.

The new instant manicure nail strips popularised by Nail Rocks heat activated transfers are the best thing I have ever tried on my nails. I used the brand nailease which is a no heat required sticker for your nails meaning gels and awkward doubly thick overlays can be a thing of the past leaving your nails looking AMAZING while feeling natural and you can still fasten your own shirt and jacket buttons – Hoorah!

I have a few nail rocks packets in my collection which I am yet to try as I fear the heat requirement may make them slightly trickier to apply. I have also recently purchased one from the Mylene Klass collection in Boots in the quirky love heart design meant for Valentine’s day but I just couldn’t bare to part with my gold black glitter zebra print design yet.



In each nailease packet you get 20 self adhesive nail strips which you simply stick to the nail and file down meaning no dry time unlike nail polish or a shellac/gel manicure. The 20 strip packet means you should also be able to get two uses out of each packet and at £5.99-£6.99 per packet a potential 3 week manicure saves you a fortune compared to the astronomical price for other professional manicures.

With over 45 patterns and colours including the French manicure option you are not restricted in choice and of course if you become proficient in application you may feel brave enough to venture into the world of heat activated strips which again increases your options.

Feel free to elongate their life span too by applying a topcoat. I didn’t with my fist application as I was at a friends house who unusually didn’t have a clear varnish for me to borrow but I did with my second and it has definitely lasted longer. My preferred choice is Sally Hansens Insti-dry and this is what my nails look like after 12 days, also bear in mind that I wash dishes every day and frequently spend my spare time lounging in the Jacuzzi at my local gym which should affect the life span of my beautiful nails, it certainly does with regular polish, but not with nailease.









So far 5 random people have commented on my nails saying how amazing they look and that’s not bad for 12 days of wear.

My next sought after patterns will be the French manicure , pink black polka dots and blue floral design although the limited edition Meadham Kirchoffs version for Nail Rock Topshop look absolutely adorable and I will certainly be purchasing while stocks last for my more braver days.

You can find nailease at:

http://www.nailease.co.uk/nail/gold-black-zebra-glitter

You can find Nail Rocks at:

www.topshop.com

www.nailrock.com

Neom Candles Haul

After using up all my Christmassy scented candles I felt it was time for some new scented candles in 2F3. My only dilemma was which scents and which brand on a limited budget, it is still January after all.

As I was buying my candles online (no time for shops at the moment) I was unable to choose based on smell - odd for this kind of purchase I know! So I decided to try a highly recommended brand taking a risk on the scents but not on the quality. I therefore opted for the popular and natural based Neom range in 75g pots costing £13 each. The smaller than my average purchase size of candle but also smaller price tag allowed me to rid myself of all gilt for guessing at which scents I would prefer. Neom candles are made natural vegetable waxes and pure essential oils rather than artificial fragrances and paraffin wax.

I eventually opted for 'Tranquillity' (English lavender, sweet basil and jasmine) and 'Sensuous' (Ylang Ylang, frankincense and Patchouli) and on first smell prefered the 'Tranquillity' scent being much fresher and zestier than the 'Sensuous' scent. However this may be different after being lit and allowing the aroma to perfume a room. I know generally the larger sized candles produce a stronger scent but I am hoping the smaller Neom candles will give me the confidence to splash out later in the year on one of their 3 wick candles priced at £37. I have not burnt either of the candles yet but will be tonight so I will post an update of my opinion after an evening of either pure tranquillity or sensuousness. However my first opinion is they both smell utterly gorgeous and I much prefer the idea of something more nautural ingrediant based. So far I love them.







I bought my candles from Beautybay.com along with some other products I will be reviewing soon.

These include:

Alpha H - Liquid Gold

Philip Kingsley - Pure silver shampoo

Ciate - Nail varnish in skinny jeans

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New Me - update

So its been a few weeks since my first 2012 blog post and some of my resolutions are in full swing here at 2F3.

I have been hitting the gym hard, going running 4 days in the week. I have also been eating really healthy (apart from a few slip ups for birthdays, trip to Holland) and have begun to feel the benefits already. I have lost 4.5 lbs and am well on my way to achieving my target, which by the way I have changed. I have decided I want to reach 8 stone 7lbs and see how I feel at that weight.

Here is an examples of my food diary:

Breakfast: White coffee with sweetener, 1 large poached egg on toast

Lunch: Ham salad seeded roll

Snack: Fruit

Dinner: Quorn sausages and salad in a brown pita

Nothing exciting or ground breaking here but it works for me. I have to eat carbs or I get too hungry especially if I am exercising vigorously, which I have been.  I also cannot cut out my morning coffee at the moment as I have drank it every morning for years and is just too much for me to give up while I have cut out most other bad things.

I have found a nice little sweet treat if you fancy a sugar hit after your evening meal. They are called strawberry pencils or cables, consist of only 40 calories per sweet and just the one satisfies me. Whats more a packet of 6 only costs 45p from Sainsburys.



Regarding my hair... I had my appointment and have had a hair overhaul. Here are the before and after pictures.

Before (slightly damp but you get the idea)

After (blonder, bouncier and much prettier) 

On a side note, my boyfriend and I have recently started watching the TV series boxset Prison Break and we absolutely LOVE IT! For anyone bored of bad January TV check it out. It is action packed, gripping, not to mention full of eye candy. The main character, Michael Scofield, who commits a crime in order to be imprisoned where his brother is currently facing death row in order to break him out is played by Wentworth Miller and he is Gorgeous with a capital G!



So, if after the gym on a boring work night while eating your healthy salad you are looking for something good to watch pick up the boxset. It's not cheap at £50 for all 4 seasons but it is well worth it as it is over 56 hours of watching, That's less than a pound per episode. Or you could do as we did and borrow. The boxset is a few years old now so a lot of people have it.