A little update and a new blog!

Hi everyone! I think this is my first post in about a year! I'm not sure if I'll ever get back in to the flow of blogging on this one again, who knows.

I've decided a year from blogging is enough, but I'm headed in a different direction this time! If any of you remember my baking posts, you'll know I do it ALOT. Sooo, I've decided to do a baking/cooking blog, and if you sound interested head on over to hollyscakes.blogspot.com to follow!

Thanks!

Montagne Jeunesse travel pamper pack

Available on the Montagne Jeunesse website. I was recently sent this lovely little travel pack to try out by Montagne Jeunesse, consisting of 6 masks for various parts of your body, including your hair! Firstly I would like to point out that these masks are okay for Vegetarians and Montagne Jeunesse always look to use the most natural ingredients. Now that that's out of the way I'll get down to business! 2x Juiced orange body wash - If you have trouble waking up in the morning, I recommend you shower using this body wash! It's very zesty and leaves you feeling clean, refreshed, and awake. 1x Pomegranite & Passionflower peel off mask - I had a little trouble with this. I applied it way too thick on some parts of my face, so when I came to peel it off the thicker parts hadn't dried properly. The bits I had left to dry came off with no problem, it was my own fault I didn't apply it evenly! I'd say there's probably enough in this for two masks. I wasn't the biggest fan of this purely because it ended up being a huge mess for me! 1x Lime oil & Citrus spa hair mask - I've had trouble in the past with hair masks leaving my hair fairly knotted and tangled, this one seemed to detangle my hair pretty well. Again it had a very zesty, fresh smell, and left my hair feeling really clean. I'd love to use this again. 1x Blueberry & Spearming foot cooler - After a long day burning your feet off from the hot sand at the beach all I usually want to do is stick my feet in to a cold bucket of water. This foot mask was a bit strange. I wasn't keen on the smell at all, however it cooled my feet right down and left them feeling ultra soft. However, I used my hands to rub it in and they were left strangely dry and powdery! 1x Apricot & Mango skin smoother - Loved this! I have trouble with dry skin on my ankles and elbows, so it was great to just rub this in. It's packed with tiny little micro beads to exfloliate too, it left my skin instantly smoother. The smell wasn't as overpowering as the other masks! Perhaps my favourite out of the 6. All in all if you like to pamper yourself, this is a great little compact book of masks to just throw in your suitcase and use up on holiday. The foot cooler would work absolute wonders after a day at the beach, and also the hair mask. My hair always dries out awfully after being in the sea or spending too much time in the pool! What do you think? Holly x   *Travel pack kindly gifted for review.  

I'm back, and I chopped off all my hair!

After an extended break from blogging due to baking too many cakes and the weather being nice (The nice weather being very much in the past now!)I suddenly had an urge to just put something on here! On sunday my hairdresser came round to give me a much needed haircut as mine was literally an inch from touching my bum, and in a very last minute decision I just told her to cut it all off! Sadly I said goodbye to my Ombre dye (So much love for it and it will make a comeback in Winter!) and picked blonde with a little bit of root showing! I thought I would have some sort of meltdown chopping it all off, and have frequently been told by many that "they needed extensions for hair that long" but after waking up every morning in a pile of hair I decided enough was enough! I can say 100% that I regret nothing :)

What has everybody else decided to do with their hair for Summer? Or our version of Summer I should say?

Holly x

I'm supporting Team GB with Next!

Now I can't say I'm much of a fan of something like watching the World Cup (Or ANY football for that matter!) But when it comes to the Olympics, there's really something for everybody. When I was younger I used to be part of our citys Gymnastics club, often doing up to 12 and a half hours of Gymnastics a week! If I thought that was hard work, I can't imagine how much serious Athletes push themselves to acheive their dreams. So when the Olympics comes round, there's nothing I love more than watching the Gymnastics part of it and showing my support.

Next have designed a scarf to show their support for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympics, and rather than choosing to design something like a cap, or a T-shirt, they've chosen something versatile that can be styled to different peoples tastes. As well as Next wanting to show their support for the Olympics, they would also LOVE to know how you would style their Team GB scarf. I've always been a huge fan of taking scarves I've found in Charity shops and tying them round the handles of my handbags, so I've chosen to show my support by doing just that!

These scarves can be bought for either £5 or £10, depending on what size you would like, for more information on how to get your scarf, click here. The great thing about this campaign is that all profits from the scarves are donated to the British Olympic Association. If you also choose to get yourself a scarf and blog about it, by submitting it to the Next bloggers network, you could be in with a chance of winning a Team GB supportes kit and a £200 Next giftcard!

So what are you waiting for? Get your Team GB scarf and start supporting today! :)

Holly x

*This scarf was kindly gifted to me by Next.

DIY bracelet

If you've been reading my blog lately you'll know I've been going crazy for anything DIY. There's nothing better than having something homemade that nobody else will have! The things that have caught my eye are the most are the friendship bracelets over at HonestlyWTF, an amazingly brilliant DIY blog, so inspiring! I raided my wardrobe to see if there was anything I could use to do my own little take on a bracelet without having to go out and buy materials. 

I came across a very old spotty scarf which I havn't touched for years, and also a shoulder bag which I've never used, and never will use! So I unpicked the shoulder chain from it to use that. This bracelet that I made really isn't rocket science, all I did was measure enough chain for my wrist, enough material for my wrist plus a little extra to tie with, and just threaded the material in and out through the chain links. This may sound odd but I like how well the frayed material actually works on this bracelet! You can tell it's home made but stack a couple of these up on your wrist and I think they would look fab.

I have a ton of chain left from the bag I used, probably enough to make a good 4/5 bracelets! In our market in Carlisle there's a fabric stall that always has a basket with left over scraps, that's all you need for this bracelet, plus the chain links and you're good to go, they're easily taken apart if you don't like how they've turned out too!

Holly x 

Sigma F80 flat top kabuki brush

Price: $16

Availibility: Sigma

Buffing foundation rather than using the standard foundation brush seems to be where it's at these days, with the release of Samantha Chapman's Real Techniques brush line, and the ever so famous buffing brush, everyones gone mad for it! Although I am curious about the hype surrounding that brush line (which I will get at some point!) the majority of my brushes are Sigma, my absolute favourite, they're quality is undeniably good, and they're so affordable.

Long before Real Techniques, I'd had my eye on the Sigma Sigmax synthetic range, I'd seen them being used an awful lot on Dulcecandy87's channel, and have also seen quite a bit of rave about this flat topped kabuki on a few blogs, so I was really excited when I had the opportunity to try one!

I tried this as soon as I got it and I can't rave enough about it! One of my pet hates when applying foundation with a new brush is that the brush absorbs the majority of the foundation, not the case with this brush. It applies the product evenly and pretty quickly too, the Kabuki is a decent size and even gets in the tricky parts like the corners of your nose! The brush itself is incredibly dense, and gives a seemingly flawless finish to your makeup upon application.

I'm so pleased with this brush, I've never had another brush of similar shape that didn't shed or absorb too much of the product. Are you a fan of Sigma? Do you have any of their brushes? If so which are your favourite!?

Holly x

*This brush was gifted to me for reviewing purposes, this has not affected my opinion. Some affiliate links used.