Review: Elemis Fragipani Range

On Tuesday I left my baby girl with hubby for the first time and headed to my hairdressers and beauty salon for an Elemis shopping event. I already knew that I liked Elemis (I have used their facial products in the past), so a I knew that I would probably treat myself to a little something! After stuffing my face with canapés and treating myself to a little fizz, I went around the salon trying different tester pots, feeling like a little girl! By the end of the evening my hands were feeling very soft and smelt of various lovely Elemis scents. One scent that stood out in particular was the fragipani range. I think I'm in love! So I bought the gift set (shower creme, body lotion and oil).

I had a semi-relaxing bath last night (baby decided she wanted to feed 10mins into my bath!) and tried out my new products. The smell really is divine and made my bathroom smell gorgeous! My favourite product is the oil, my beautician told me I could use it in my hair, so I put a very small amount in my hair combed it through, left it for a minute (they suggest 15) and rinsed off. All I can say is AMAZING!! This made my hair feel gorgeous, and worked well with my Paul Mitchell curl creme. I love the fact I can still smell fragipani this morning! I also put the oil on my legs whilst they were still damp, and this morning they were lovely and smooth. This is great as I always struggle with really dry skin this time of year.

This morning I needed my fragipani fix so I put the body lotion on my arms and neck so the smell can stay with me all day, like the oil, it has left my skin feeling very smooth. My parents were wondering what to get me for Christmas, now I know, anything from the Elemis fragipani range! I'd love to try the salt glow scrub, has anyone else used this?

Afternoon Walk

We've just returned from a lovely walk by the river stour (my favourite location). We took Ellie in the ergo baby sling which is a fab sling for countryside walks, I'll get round to writing a review soon. Here's a pic of hubby and Ellie walking through a stream (hubby needed to clean his boots!) Have a good weekend

Review: ELF makeup

Last week I read a blog post about ELF makeup, and after checking out their website http://eyeslipsface.co.uk and seeing their amazing prices I thought I would try them out.

I had a little bit of a spending spree on Saturday, and my package arrived this morning. Luckily Eleanor was fast asleep so I had a chance to test out the products straight away! So here's my thoughts on my purchases:

Flawless Finish Foundation (£7.50)
I have very fair skin so I bought the porcelain shade. Firstly, I loved that the packaging looked quite expensive. I applied it using the foundation brush (an amazing price at £1.95!), I found it felt a little sticky and didn't seem to blend well, but I wonder if my moisturiser acted as some sort of barrier; I will try it again tomorrow. I ended up putting some of my usual powder over the top and that seemed to even things out. I'm still undecided about this product, I'll wear it over the next few days and see how I get on.

Beauty book (£6)
I chose the bronze set of colours as I felt this would go well with my autumn wardrobe. I was surprised at the size of the set, I was hoping for something I could put in my makeup bag, but this really is the size of a book!
I love the colours in the beauty book, and that it comes with a guide of how to create smokey eyes. The book comes with 6 different colours, highlighter, base colour and contour colour, in day and night shades. The set also includes an eyelid primer and eyeliner. The primer works well as a base although it took a little while to dry. I didn't like the eyeliner, it felt cheap and didn't stay very well. But the eye shadows do look great and they create a nice smokey effect, they also stayed on all day. Therefore I still think this is a great product for the price, but I will probably just be using the eye shadows.

Moisturising lipstick (£3.95)
I chose the party in the buff shade as I like neutral colours. Unfortunately I wasn't happy with this product, the colour came out quite peachy on my lips and it didn't seem to stay very well. However, I have heard good reviews about this product, and so it may be that it doesn't suit my skin but suits other people's.

Conditioning lip balm (£3.95).
I read excellent reviews about this product, and I must say this was the best buy of my order. The packaging makes it look more expensive than it is, although it is quite large for the amount of lip balm. The colour (peaceful pnk) is lovely, it looks very bright in the pot, but is paler on. I love the smell of it (reminds me of a chocolate lip balm I had years ago), and the balm itself isn't sticky. I would say it isn't a balm though, it comes out more as a lipstick and probably wouldn't look good on chapped lips, although it might over a clear lip balm such as Vaseline. Definitely a great product.

In summary I was pleased with my first order from ELF, I was amazed at the prices and most of the products appeared more expensive than their price tag. I will definitely be shopping with them again.

Review: The Ship West Stour

We had a lovely chilled out weekend, Saturday was spent lazing about the house and going on a dog walk in the beautiful autumn sunshine. On Sunday we had a nice visit from my dad (besotted grandpa!) and we went for lunch to the Ship Inn in West Stour, Dorset. As always the meal was delicious, I had a gorgeous mushroom and spinach Wellington, my dad had the beef roast,  and Jon had a chilli chicken burger. We all agreed that the food was excellent.

It was funny to think that the last time we ate here was for my birthday in September, when Eleanor was still 'bump'. As ever the staff were very friendly and accommodating. I think the best part for Jon is their huge array of local ciders, I hear the chilli cider is worth a try. For me it is their selection of gin and tonics (I will slowly work my way through the list over the coming months, as feeding allows!)

The Inn is very cosy, just as you would imagine a country restaurant. We sat in there bar area this time, but they also have a more formal restaurant area, seating to suit all occasions. They also have accommodation, we would definitely recommend friends and family stay there.

If you are in the area it is definitely wor a visit, but I would recommend booking as it is always busy!