Merci Handi // Keeping Germs Away...

Merci Handy, the French born lifestyle gel brand, will soon be hitting Topshop's shelves.

The little bottles contain the gel sanitiser and little emollient pearls that help soften the surface of the skin, whilst killing the nasties that we pick up on an every day basis.

They all have their own individual scent, ranging from fruits to florals. My favourites are definitely Oh my Lemon and Cherie Cherry - I love the smell of both.
They're not sticky, and they don't leave any residue either. It's a case of popping a drop on your palms and then rubbing it across the surface of both hands, between your fingers and across the backs. Done!
From what I can tell, these products are all free of any animal derivatives and are not tested on animals, but they are packaged in China so depending on your views they may/may not be cruelty free.

You can grab your own little bottle of Merci Handy from Topshop this month for the price of £2.90/bottle* - that's less than a toffee nut toasted marshmallow caramel frappe.

I've got a sneaky lil feeling there will be more from Merci Handy, the brand that are already brightening up my every-day products.

Let me know what you think of these little bottles of love! Given the nature of my day job I don't think Cherie Cherry will have much left by the end of term...

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* These products were sent to me free of charge 

however, as usual, my thoughts are honest and entirely my own. 

I would hands down (heh, punny) buy these of my own accord.

Summer holidays are over!

Once again, I've reached the last day of my summer holidays and I'm sitting on the sofa in a haze of what I (not so) fondly call the 'Sunday Blues'.

I feel lucky to do the job that I do for a number of reasons, but I'm not going to lie to you - the summer holidays are a huge factor. Six weeks free from students, exercise books, behaviour logs, house points and endless half-finished cups of tea. Six weeks with the potential for naps at any time of the day, hair dye (that ultimately stains and requires a bleach bath...) and wearing piercings that are strictly not appropriate in front of 100+ students every day. Six weeks of F U N! And that is exactly what I've done this year.

Here are a few snaps from July to the end of August to commemorate the fun and freedom of Summer '16.

boat hangs in Kalkan

poolside essentials

birthday cocktail on my 25th

Magic Kingdom with my bff

candy floss hair and nude lips

our bellepad home for Reading festival

field beer before Fall Out Boy & Biffy at Reading

My job gets in the way of a lot of elements of my life, blogging being one of them, but the summer I've had is worth blogging about so maybe this will get my back into a regular posting schedule.

I hope those of you in teaching also had a wonderful six weeks...back to the grind tomorrow!

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Urban Decay Eyeshadows // Virgin & Sin

After the purchase of my first Naked palette (earlier review here) I quickly hit pan on my two staple colours - Virgin and Sin. Naturally, I had to go out and restock, but rather than re-buying the whole palette I just picked up the two neutral shades on their own.

I absolutely love both of these shades, and I use them daily. They're a powder product, but I don't notice fall-out or any waste left on my chosen eyeshadow brush. They pack on nicely and are easily buildable for a day or night look, but they do have a slight shimmer to them.

Ultimately, both of these shades are worth picking up. They last well with Urban Decay's eyeshadow primer, but they hold their own without a base as well.

So, there's a very quick recommendation of two every day neutral eyeshadows. Quick, pick them up from here for £14 each.

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This review is based solely on my opinion of these products.

I cannot, and do not, guarantee that you will have the same experience.

Skincare secrets with Farfetch Beauty

Gone are the days when I could sleep with the remnants of the day's makeup on and not suffer the consequences. As a teacher with busy school days, and even busier weekends, I find my morning and evening skincare routine to be a bit of light relief.

I'm just about to reach the end of one of the busiest terms - we waved off year 11 four days ago,  only now seeing them when they come in for their GCSE exams. The last month has consisted of early mornings and late nights, when marking 180 mock exams has had to be a priority and deadlines for grades and reports have been looming, taking up the work day and the evenings.
Due to this I've been trying to schedule in time to keep myself sane; in the mornings it's with my makeup and in the evenings it's been with my skincare regime.

My mornings usually consist of a quick rendezvous with my Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, a hearty swipe of my Pixi Glow Tonic which is chased by Lush's Enzymion moisturiser. Somewhere in there I make a cup of tea (usually managing to drink half before forgetting about it...) and maybe have a little dance around to my morning playlist.

After a day of teaching, talking, laughing (or maybe crying, depending on the day...) and marking I'll be ready to wash off the day. If it's been busy I'll hop in the shower and grab my Clarisonic face brush with my Bioderma cleansing gel. Together, these remove makeup and thoroughly cleanse the skin leaving my face feeling smooth.

Once I'm out, there's an opportunity for hair oil or leave-in conditioner which at the moment is either Aussie's 3 Minute Miracle or Phillip Kingsley's Damage Defence spray. I brush these through with my Wet Brush and then move back on to my skincare products.

Then, I go back over my whole face with my Pixi Glow Tonic and Enzymion. To avoid puffiness and keep the delicate under eye skin hydrated I rely on my Kiehl's Creamy Eye Treatment and pat that gently underneath my eye and a little round the sides to the edge of my brow bone.

After that there's just enough time for a swipe of my Nivea lip butter and that's when I'm done!

It does seem like a lot of products just for one person, but they all work together to keep my skin in good condition. I find having some confidence in the way my skin looks helps my body confidence remain at a relatively good level, even if I'm completely wiped out after a day at work!

Do you have any skin secrets to share that might help me remain sane in these last few weeks? If you need inspiration too have a browse of the Farfetch Beauty section.

Comment or tweet me!

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This post was published as a promotional piece with Farfetch.com 

My 7th Heaven - Real vs Fake

Around this time of year, people’s moods begin to change; and it all begins with a cheeky April fool's trick. But none-the-less, why should we have to keep all our playfulness to one day? Baring this in mind, leading cosmetics company My 7^th Heaven have decided to keep the fun coming and have used their creativity to develop a little light hearted game. Amongst their collection of skin care, hair care and foot care products are a wealth of face masks, hair masks and various other organic skin care products.

As a bit of fun, using the following ingredients, comment below as to which of the following are in My 7^th Heaven skin care, hair care and foot care products and which ones aren’t... Some might be more suited to a pizza than to your skin ;)

• Coconut Oil
• Rubber 
• Mojitos 
• Vanilla 
• Snail Gel 
• Orange 
• Essence of Anchovy
• Watermelon 
• Acai Berry 
• Marmite 
• Avocado 
• Dead Sea Mud 
• Chillies 
• Garlic

If you have any questions why not tweet them with the hashtags #Fake7 #Real7 @Ilove7thHeaven and they will give you some clues.

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This post was published as a promotional piece. Some products were gifted to me in return. 

As usual, 7th Heaven is a brand I do use and endorse through word-of-mouth.

A Lush Skincare Haul

I'm having some serious skincare woes at the moment. I've got a bit redness and some very frustrating under-the-skin spots, as well as some uninvited blackheads...ain't I a TREAT!?

So, I ventured into Lush and talked to a lovely lady who pointed me in the direction of these three products: Ultrabland for cleansing; Herbalism for exfoliating and Enzymion for moisturising.

Enzymion (top) is a lovely, thick moisturising cream that sinks in relatively quickly and makes a lovely base for make-up. A little goes a long way with this and I have to remind myself not to be too liberal. £14.95/100g here

Herbalism (bottom left) is quite crumbly initially, but when mixed with some water it forms a thick paste. I like to use a fair bit of this and rub in circular motions on my cheeks, forehead and chin. It's not particularly abrasive, which I quite like as I never feel like I've overdone it, but if you prefer a slightly harsher scrub this may not be for you. £6.95/100g here

Finally, Ultrabland is a thick cleanser that you apply all over the face. I'm careful around my eyes, but it doesn't irritate them at all. This removes make-up well, and is also nice to use to clean the face even if there's no make-up there. I use mine with a muslin cloth, but you can also remove it with a cotton pad. £11.50/100g here

Overall, I've really enjoyed using these products. I think Enzymion is my favourite as it is so fuss free ...there's no waiting for it to sink in and I'm never left feeling greasy. When I get through my pot of Herbalism I might experiment with another exfoliator, mainly for the pesky blackheads on my chin and around my nose.

Have you got any of these? Let me know your thoughts :)

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There is no guarantee that these products will work the same for others, I am writing from personal experience.