Paws For Thought

It's that time of the year again, Winter is fast approaching, days are getting shorter and weather is getting colder which also means that our hands need that extra 'TLC' <3
For me, this time of the year is the worst for my hands especially as I have Psoriasis which means I get extremely dry and cracked hands during these chilly months - plus I'm going on a Winter city break (yay!) next week and it's colder than the UK so thought this would be appropriate ;)


Even though I love Winter when I can layer up with warm snugly clothes, my hands definitely take a slight battering! So as soon as it hits Autumn, I am already stocking up and trying out all types of hand creams ready to brave the cold. This year was no different and in this post I am going to share with you the few hand creams I have invested in for the Winter!


L'Occitane Hand Cream  

Source: L'Occitane.com

So you can imagine how happy I was to hear that Marie Claire were giving free L'Occitane hand creams out in their November issue. Perfect! I have always wanted to try their hand creams as I have heard raving reviews  however was always put off by the price. Therefore this was the perfect opportunity to test the product out without having to fork out too much ;)

This product is well-known for containing high content of Shea butter. Shea butter is a rich oil formed by grinding together nuts from the Shea tree - one of my fave beauty ingredients! Apart from it smelling absolutely heavenly and does wonders in moisturization, it is an beauty ingredient that is changing lives on the other side of the world. Known as 'women's gold' in Burkino Faso where it is produced, women have been saved from poverty from selling Shea butter to Western beauty devotees.

I've been using the product for a few weeks now and I love the texture of this hand cream, where it was not too thick in consistency, yet rich enough to give my hands a deep moisturise without being greasy which is so important in a hand cream. A little goes a long way with this product, thus it would definite last a long time! And the smell is absolutely yummy! I ended up buying all four of the creams (yes that meant buying Marie Claire four times eeek!) as it seemed rude not to get the whole family ;) and at £3.60 it was a bargain (RRP £7.50 for 30ml) I think I have been converted....this stuff is amazing! The effects last for ages, I only needed to reapply if I washed my hands.

The limited edition hand creams came in four different scents; The Original for dry hands, Desert Rose, Hibiscus Flower and Cocoa Flower. My fave was the Desert Rose which gave a subtle rose scent that wasn't too strong.

Hands down my fave hand cream of the season and the one I will be taking away with me! <3


Soap and Glory 'Hand Food' 

This was a last minute and random buy. Falling into the Boots 3 for 2 trap (once again) I needed another a third 'free' item ;) and ended up running to grab something quickly halfway queuing up! Though I defo think that I made a good last minute choice! I love funky and creative packaging and this funky pink design was to die for!

It wasn't just pretty and witty packaging; the hand cream was fabulous! Great moisturization and smells amazing! It is quite strong so if you prefer light scented hand creams then this may not be for you.  Non-greasy and great for my dry skin which I did not expect from this. Even though it was not as long-lasting as the L'Occitane, it serves well for the price you pay for it. I would defo get this again and highly recommend it to those looking for a bargain hand cream. 


Jurlique Rose Hand Cream

This is an Australian brand hand cream which is intensely rich, made with ingredients including Safflower Seed Oil and Macadamia Oil to help rebalance dryness and protect from moisture loss.
The most pricey of them all at £17.00 for 40ml and £33 for 125ml,  it was the one I least liked.
I loved the Rose scent which wasn't too strong, however it appeared to be greasy after application and took a while to sink into the skin. Saying that, the greasiness makes it a long-lasting cream and kept my hands protected and moisturised from the effects of the Winter weather and heaters.

Thanks for reading guys and hope this helps you in buying a new hand cream for the Winter months! Even if you don't have horrible dry hands like me, it's a great excuse to indulge in some scrumptious smelling creams! ;) 

Americano Weekend

So the boyf arrived back from America on Friday....it has already been 4 weeks since he left! Spent the weekend chilling together which was nice :)  He tells me he came back to see me especially....however I found out that the Premier League season started this weekend....hmmm great timing huh? Haha! Can't believe he left for that long....and most likely will have to return there in a couple of days...GREAT! >.< At least he got to travel in STYLE..uber jealous! I have never flown business...YET! Daymmmm! He brought back some yummy American treats....I'm totally in love with the Hershey's chocoloate (especially the white chocolate-cookies & cream....Mmmmmmm nom nom!!!) and I got a new iPod....a big fat upgrade from my 6 year old 6gb iPod mini which doesn't even turn on anymore =( . Now I can put all my music on it and also use it in my car! Woo! ^__^

Boyf sent me this to get me all jealous...yeah yeah Business-Class >.<

American Goodies!

HERSHEY'S! Cookies & Choc are so delicious!

A Willy Wonka bar!!!

Loved all the goodies - especially the Hershey's! Nearly all gone already tho :-( maybe it's not so bad that the boyf is returning after all kekeke! Re-stock time!!! ^_* 

Thanks for reading~goodbye for now! xxx

It's Been a While...

Wow I've neglected this space for a while...sorry have been so busy with things lately! Some crazy things have happened since I last been on here, e.g. the riots in UK! I'm just going to update with lots of pictures for this post of some of the things I've been up to in the past few weeks...enjoy!

*WARNING: Picture-Heavy Post!*

"A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words"

Bench-Building: "Honey the Little Helper..."

For some reason Honey seems to love to sleep amongst all the tools and the un-finished bench my bro has been building! How adorable huh?! ;)

Bench Completion: Honey marks her spot

Minnie & Mickey :)

It was my cousin's wedding last week during the riots in Brum which was scary! Lucky we got out before it all started kicking off! Few weeks before, I went to her hen-do (my first hen-do actually!) which was in the theme of 'Mickey & Minnie'. Was interesting shall I say! So many people are getting hitched lately, it's kinda scary! Everyone is growing up so fast! Does that mean I am getting old lol?!...

Kite-Flying

"What you looking at? I don't like walking and what?"

Honey loves chilling in the beach tent - much prefer it than running around the park! Not your typical dog for sure! She knows how to relax haha! ^__^

"However I do like this tent..."

"This is my kind of walking ;)"

Walking past St Pauls

 

So this was the scene at the entrance of Westfields during the week of the riots-gates and police dogs were there guarding the place. Nothing stops me from a shopping spree haha. Extra security during my trip - why not hey?! ^.^ 

Decisions Decisions.... ^__^

Worst Vietnamese-style noodles ever...Westfields foodcourt - NEVER again!

Just some random pics I've taken in the lsat few weeks...please excuse the quality of the pics as they are all from my phone! Need to get a real camera soon lol  >.< Ciao for now!

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

"Missing someone gets easier every day because even though you are one day further from the last time you saw them, you are one day closer to the next time you will."

Yesterday my boyf flew to America for a work trip for a couple of weeks and it made me realise how much I missed him and how different it was without him around. The last time we experienced it was when I was in Sydney for work so it's not our first time-but regardless it still has an impact on you especially if you see that someone on a daily basis! Actually we used to have a 'mini' long-distance relationship when we were in our teens if you can even call it that as we lived in different cities! That feels soo long ago...those times were more difficult as we were young and just at the beginning of our relationship.

It's interesting for us how we have both experienced the different sides to a long distance relationship as a result of work trips abroad-never expected to be doing it so early on in our careers haha! But it's definitely another stepping stone in a relationship and inevitably makes the relationship stronger. Personally for me, I believe that "Trust", "Honesty" and "Communication" are the key factors in creating a long-lasting relationship (and love obviously!) especially trust. If you don't trust your other half, no matter how near or far they are from you- the relationship will not last. So when my boyf told me he will be taken to strip clubs, bars and clubs where there will be lots of scantily-clad women... I was like "Hey, you know I totally TRUST you....!!!" >.<

I have so much respect for couples that are in long-distance relationships as it takes so much to make it work being so far apart and not being able to see each other-however if it works, it's a great indicator of how strong your relationship is and is totally worth it in the end. 

Mini Me

So I recently changed my car...well when I say recently it was a few weeks/months ago actually! Been super occupied lately to blog. Back to the car, well for those that know me know that I am no car fanatic and if my old car (Toyota Yaris) did not konk out on me....I would never of got a new car for a while! Basically, my old Yaris was a auto and had this issue of not starting up (each time this happened I had to get my Ikea brolly out to whack the engine a few times!! This always did the trick however I did get some funny stares from passer-bys!) The final few times I drove it it just went into neutral whilst I was moving! I mean how dangerous and scary is that? After that, everytime I got in I was scared...scared of when it would just stop. It meant I barely drove it and when I did it was for really short drives-long motorway drives were totally outta the question!

Well after much deliberation and 'uuming and ahhh-ing' I finally decided to go for it and got the car I really thinks they are the most common cars around at the moment and obv because of the size. Well seeing as I got to choose I went for it and fulfilled my dreams of being a Mini owner woop! Even though the car was second-hand (nope could not afford a new one unfortunately) it was brand new to me!!!! Was super exciting to pick it up and it even came with a Bulldog plushie! How adorable! Made for me ha!

Even though I was really reluctant to buy the car, I have really fallen in love with it! It is an amazing smooth drive and sooo luxurious inside! It's even got mood lighting-how romantic ey? More importantly, it has definitely been a good decision as my boyf recently sold his car to save on costs as living in the city a car is not really needed-now we both ues one and he chips in towards all the costs! YAY! And by the way, he has totally taken back his negative comments about the Mini-he says it's such a nice drive and decent car...ha guys ey? Always think they know it all about cars! He totally misses his car, however he drives most the time when we go out anyway as I'm not too fussed with driving and much rather be a passenger ;)

My Mini and boyf's ex 2nd wifey ;)

Well that's all for now, promise I will be back to update my blog more often! Ciao~ xxx

Weekend Shopping Spree

I went shopping with my couz at the weekend and ended up buying no clothes but lots of make-up and accessories! When I end up finding no clothes-I love coming home with lots and lots of smaller items to compensate hehe!

Dove have teamed up with Nails Inc who are giving away limited edition nail polish with every two purchases of their beauty finish deodorant at Boots. The two shades include: Havana (pale pastel pink shade) and
Copacabana (bright coral orange shade). It was definitely worth buying four bottles of unnecessary deodorant for as Nail Inc costs £11 each typically which I am never willing to spend. Bargain!

I ended up bringing home four bottles of nail polish including a No7 in 'So Simple' (a beige pastel shade) and a Barry M in 'Melba' which is a pretty peachy shade I have been looking for everywhere =) Boots were also doing '3 for 2' on all eyelashes hence I snapped up a few Eyelure boxes! Love Boots and their special offers I can never resist >.< I bought a new Carmex and the new Maybelline 'Falsies' mascara which I am eager to try as I have read raving reviews about it.

Last but not least my haul of bargain jewellery from Primark. I have an obsession for gold jewellery and have been looking for a big gold cuff for ages however was unwilling to pay £12-15 for one from places like Topshop so when I saw this cuff for £2.50 I was super happy! I also picked up a bow bangle and a cute bracelet too!

Strawberry Picking

Thought I would share with you my experience when I went strawberry-picking last weekend! It was a beautiful summer's day so me and my boyf decided to go out and enjoy the sun and get in touch with nature ;)

The place was called 'Primrose Vale Farm Shop & PYO' situated near the edge of the Cotswolds where you can go and 'pick your own' from the fifteen different crops available throughout the year. Their most popular is their strawberries-which was what I was there for! As it was only early June, there were only strawberries and gooseberries available to pick.

We ended up walking through the rows and rows of strawberries stuffing our faces at the same time! The strawberries were some of the reddest and sweetest strawberries I have ever tasted! We eventually finished with one basket and for a basket of that size, the total came to just £3.50 approx (much more worth it than your typical box from the supermarkets and 10x's sweeter!)

Super sweet strawberry <3

I would definitely recommend you to go and pick your own fruits and veg if you live near something similar as it was definitely worth the extra few miles drive to get some of the most yummy and fresh produce for a cheaper price!

Hello my name is Honey...

So I thought I would introduce to you my lil doggy-the most adorable thing ever (yes I would say that!) Her name is 'Honey' named by my boyf! For those of you that are not familiar with dogs and the different breeds, she is a British Bulldog and is just over 2 years old this year (my baby is growing up fast!). Though she is definitely the smallest fully-grown bully I have ever seen-weighing in at only 14kg and still puppy-sized! Defo great if you were looking for a hand-bag sized bully! I am in love with the non-conventional breeds hence my love for bulldogs with a desire to own a Chow Chow or Shar-Pei one day-I just find them so unique and adorable!

Picking up puppy Honey

Honey @ 2 years old

Do you guys own any dogs and what breeds are your faves?

First Blog...First Post...First Time...

So I finally decided to start my own blog after weeks of putting it off! I know that blogs have been around for ages and getting super popular-but I just never got myself round to doing one!

To be honest,  I have always been a blog follower, following blogs and reading about the weird and wonderful things out there in the world...however during the last few weeks I have had lots of free time therefore thought 'Why not start my own blog?' 


Firstly, let me introduce myself...I'm a BBC (British-Born Chinese) from a small countryside town in the South West with a obsession for all things beauty & fashion fabulous (as all us girls are!)...with a special obsession for accessories-in particular jewellery and bags! And finally, I am a dog lover-loving dogs of all shapes and sizes, owning a British Bulldog pup myself :)


For me, this space is for writing about anything and everything that interests me and things I want to share with you guys so  I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I will writing it! By no means am I an expert in the things I write about, they are merely just my personal thoughts and opinions...so please enjoy! <3