New year, new scent - Ghost by Ghost

Now, I'm not the one who goes out and buys the next new fragrance just so I have it in my collection but when a new scent hits my nose and I like it, I just have to have it.  Back in Christmas 2012, I received Viva La Juicy by Juicy Couture, I still have this but limiting its usage as I don't have much of this left.  I first smelt this fragrance in the toilets of my Student Union bar...Yes, that's right I smelt it in the toilets...one of the girls walked past and I instantly fell in love with the scent that I had to ask what it was (So uncharacteristic of me to ask some random person about their fragrance)  I spent 14 weeks wanting two perfumes...the other was Michael Kors Glam Jasmine and I asked my other half to buy me the Glam Jasmine for Christmas as I found that I could get this perfume in the January sales.

Ghost by Ghost was launched back in 2000 and is said to be a floral fruity fragrance.  Within the Ghost line, they have 19 different perfumes with the newest fragrance released in 2014.  Ghost has 7 different notes within the fragrance.  The top notes are Rose and Jasmine, the middle notes are Amber, Vanilla and Peach (Yum!) and the base notes are Sandalwood and Musk.

This fragrance has fast become my favourite perfume to wear.  I feel that it is an all year round scent but it especially suits me during the winter.  I can definitely smell the vanilla scent as well as a floral hit.  The bottle is slim and lightweight and can easily fit in a handbag or a clutch bag.  The only problem I have with the bottle is the top.  The top seems like it would fall off easily but I have yet to have that happen.

The perfume retails in most perfume and drugstore such as Boots for around £24 but I paid £16.50 in the January sales and got a body lotion as well which I am not too keen as a lotion so I did not include this.  I will be repurchasing this fragrance once it is nearly finished but as you can see, I haven't used much in 5 weeks and I have been using this multiple times a day (I have a 10ml bottle)  I can see this lasting a long time to come.

Have you got a favourite new scent this year?

Bye for now.

Jess. X

Birchbox January 2015 - Woman's Health Edition

Back in December on day 2 of Blogmas, I reviewed November's Birchbox and I was very impressed with the concept and the items which were included in the box that I decided to get a years subscription.  You can find my post of that box here where I will explain about the concept of the box and you can also see my view on the product (some of which could be reviewed now I have used them a bit more!)

I received my box in good time as I wasn't expecting it to land in my mail room at Uni until later this week...so far so good Birchbox!  I rushed back to my dorm room and opened it instantly and was very happy with the design of the box!  It is white and purple with the white part showing pretty patterns of sports and exercise equipment.  This months box has teamed up with Women's Health and is designed with health and fitness after the Christmas break to become healthier, all of which I am pleased about as I am starting the gym come Monday!

 Look at all the pretty stuff I got!  Out of all the items I received, I think I wont use 2 maybe 3 out of the 7 products and all will be revealed why further in the blogpost!









The first item is this sachet of Embrace Matcha Loose Green Tea.
What Birchbox says: 'Our new favourite superfood, Matcha is 100% natural with 10 times the antioxidants of regular green tea.'  I have only just got into drinking herbal tea and green tea is one tea that I haven't tried yet and one where I don't think I will try any time soon.  This sample may just go into my samples box and I may try it out, I may not do.
Price full size: £24.99

The next item is the only full sized item in the entire box and that is Stila's Lip Glaze in 'Gleam'
What Birchbox say: 'A coverted, suits-all-complexions colour - this sheer lip gloss is a cult classic for a reason!' 
I have never tried any products from Stila as I think they are a little over priced but my opinion may change after using this.
Price full size: £15




This product, I am sure a few people got back in November and this was the product I wanted but never got and I was very happy when I saw it in this months box.  This is Beauty Protector's Protect & Detangle Spray.
What Birchbox say: 'This sweet-smelling spray detangles, adds shine and protects from both UVA rays and heat damage.'
I loved the hair mask that I received back in November and am excited to try this out next time I wash my hair (which will be very soon!)
Price full size: £14

activbod is a brand I have never heard of and one that may get a bit of usage once I start the gym.  This is activbod's Feel Great Shower Concentrate.
What Birchbox say: 'Refreshing sea-minerals and green tea mingle with soothing almond oil for and energising post-workout shower.'
Like I said above, I have never heard of this product but that's what this box is for right?  I may just have to try this out after my first post-gym shower on Monday and do a review/first impressions as I can only see this sample as a one use only product.
Price full size: £5

This is another product that I was excited to see this month.  Lately, I have been on a skincare kick and have been trying to stick to a skincare routine (I will be posting my routine soon!) This cute little sample is REN's Glycolactic Radience Renewal Mask.
What Birchbox say: 'Radience in a tube!  A fast-working, exfoliating treatment that improves texture, tone and combats congestion.'
I have been back to Uni for a week now and my skin has just freaked out and like I said above, I have had to create a skincare routine to try and combat my freaked out skin so anything skincare related is good enough for me!
Price full size: £30

This is another product that might get stashed away in my samples box as I don't think I have any need for it.  This is Shaveworks 'The Cool Fix'
What Birchbox say: 'This genius cooling gel lotion treats ingrown hairs, razor bumps and redness after hair removal'
I never suffer with any other aforementioned hair removal conditions so this may not get used!
Price full size: £11


The lifestyle choice this month revolves around fitness and what this months box is about.  This is Birchbox's Pilates Band.
What Birchbox says: 'Tone, increase strength and improve muscle endurance with this stretchy resistance band.'
This is another product which may not get used but will have to see once I start going to the gym.  I may be able to incoporate it somewhere into my routine.
Price full size: £7.99

There are the usual cards with what they products are and how much the product is full size and a booklet of 12 mini challenges but I never read the cards unless there is something that is interesting on them :)

Overall this box has a pretty good selection of products which I will use.  I am pretty impressed with the fact of having a full sized product priced over the amount paid for the box has made it worth the £12.95 (with p &p) and there are a good number of products which I will used and enjoy happily this month and am looking forward to next months box.

Have you received a Birchbox this month and what do you think of your box this month?  How does yours differ to mine?

Bye for now.

Jess. X

2015 resolutions - BONUS POST

After seeing a lot of 2015 blogposts floating around the blogosphere, I decided to do my 2015 resolutions.  I did one of these back when I did blogmas but I think I might do a slightly updated one.

Go to the Gym and stick to a routine.  However tired I am from lectures or assignments, I am going to make time for the Gym.  I got a scholarship from my university and in that was a free Gym membership for 12 months and I have already let two months of that go to waste (mainly I have no trainers and have had no money for some [have asked the other half for some for Christmas]  I want to loose weight and feel healthier.

Attend all of my lectures unless I have a good reason not to go.  Granted I had freshers flu and still went but this semester I have missed a few due to lack of sleep and now I have my sleeping patten back on track, I am going to attend them more in the new year.

Pay more attention in lectures.  As much as I enjoy uni, this semester proved to me that I need to pay more attention in the lectures.  

Have a skincare routine and stick to it  I have tried to have a skincare routine before and not stuck to it and at the moment, I have been addicted to looking and reading about skincare.  Before now, I have not known what my skin was like apart from noticing a few dry patches on my skin when I wore foundation and that spurred me on to getting a consultation from Clinique.  I was told that I have combination/Dry skin so I bought a lot of moisturising skin products to try and combat this problem and I am going to try and stick to a morning and night time routine.

Wear make-up more often  I bought quite a bit of make-up and a lot of Real Techniques make-up brushes and I want to use them and use them often.  Plus how can a blogger review things if she never wears them right? 

Keep up with #30daystested As you may have read from a blogpost earlier this year, I am taking part in #30daystested, a thing that Gemma from Beautiful Things (she can be found here, go check her out, her blog is a good read)  and she created #30daystested.

Keep my blog up to date I have tried and failed many times to start a blog and this time I have been updating it more often and my goal at the moment is to get to my one year Blogaversary in December 2015.

Take better pictures I bought myself a new camera for this purpose and I want to use it to take better pictures.  I am still learning how to use it but I am hoping that my pictures will get better as time goes on.

Keep a schedule on blogposts I want to keep a schedule for posts that are upcoming and so that I don't get into a rut and not know what to write.

What resolutions have you given yourself ?

Bye for now.

Jess. X

Boots and Superdug Haul

As if it is 2015 already and my little blog is over one month old and a lot has happened.  As much as I as I would like to say I have been busy on holiday...I can't.  I have been doing University work and I would like to thank you all for being patient while my pile of work got smaller.  There will be a more regular schedule from today as I am sorting out a schedule for myself.  Enough of that, on with the post.

Recently I have done a bit of shopping, both on the internet and in shops...oops!  And as much as I would like to show you what I have bought on the internet, I really want to wait until I have everything I have ordered so for now, here is what I have bought...

(everything you see here I bought with my own money and am not being paid to write this :)  Also, this may be a picture heavy post)

The first place I went to was Superdrug and I spent a fortune in here...to be honest, I could have spent more but I stopped myself.

 I bought a shower jelly from LUSH back in September and it has just been sitting on my desk staring at me to use it.  So after many hours of looking at reviews, I was informed that using a 'poof' or what ever they are called work the best with a shower jelly, so this was on the top of my list

 Next up is lip balms.  For some reason I have been addicted to buying these recently and altogether I have bought a total of 4 lip balms albeit 2 are the same product!  Both lip balms I bought from Superdrug are from Nivea.  First is Nivea' Fruity Shine lip balm in 'Peach'.  I adore all scents to do with peach and I knew when I saw it, I had to have it and this little fellow came home with me.  the next lip balm is Nivea's Lip Butter in 'Blueberry Blush'  I have two others from this range and I love them.  They are so moisturising and smell amazing!  I have enough of them to make a blogpost (ooo ideas!)  Next on the Nivea train is a skincare product.  Now I have to put it out there that my skin has never got on with Nivea before and I have always skipped this brand when choosing skincare but I liked the sound of this product and thought I would give it a go and boy am I happy I had.  This little beauty is Nivea's 'Soothing Cleansing Moose' and while it looks like a toner or water, this actually pumps out a lightweight foam that cleans so well.  I could write more but I am going to wait until I do a blogpost on it which will come very soon!


 Next is a trio of Superdrug's own Vitamin E skincare brand.  I have recently been on the look out for inexpensive but effective skincare to kick start my skincare routine and I picked up these three to start the ball rolling.  First we have Superdrug's 'Leave-on Moisture Mask'  I have only used this once and using it once doesn't leave me much to go on for a review so I will keep using it and get back to you but I am hoping it is going to be a good thing to keep stocked up as it seems to be a good product so far.  Next is Superdrug's 'Moisturising Day Cream with SPF 15'  I got this as a morning moisturising cream and I am not really enjoying it as I find it a thick cream for a morning but I am willing to give it a fair go until I can get a thinner cream.  Lastly is Superdrug's Nourishing Night Cream.  This stuff smells so good and is a thin, almost gel like cream that my skin seems to like.  All will have a full review sometime in the future.

Next is another Superdrug own brand of skincare called 'Naturally Radiant'  I bought a few products from this line with the first being a 2 in 1 Moisturiser and serum.  I haven't tried this yet but I am hoping to use this as my morning moisturiser.

 Another product from the 'Naturally Radiant' Line is their 'Glycolic Overnight Peel'  Again, I have only used this once and so far I am impressed and am wanting to try some more of this sort of product in the future.

 Next is Garnier's Moisture Match.  I saw this and thought that it could brighten up my skin while moisturising it at the same time.  I haven't used it yet as I want to see if the 2 in 1 moisturiser and serum does a good job as a morning moisturiser.

 I bought this as I read somewhere that this is good for exfoliation and boy was they right!  I have never seen or felt my skin being so smooth since using this.  I use it mainly with my cleansing foam and this is so gentle and yet removes the dead skin cells that are on the top layer of my skin.  I can see this being a product I will keep repurchasing as and when it is needed.

 This is yet another Superdrug own brand called 'Clearly Youthful' and from this collection I have two products.  The first is their 'Hydrating Day Serum'  I have only used this a handful of times and yet I am enjoying using this.

Another product from the 'Clearly Youthful' Line is their 'Resurfacing Night Serum'  I am enjoying this product also and it seems that my skin like this as well.

 This product was recommended by Hayley from London Beauty Queen (She can be found here!  Check her out, she is amazing!)  I like her and probably thousands who use hairspray hate the smell of the chemical ridden scent that seems to come with all hairsprays but 'Urban Fudge's Iced raspberry and Vanilla hair spray is just what we needed.  This has very little chemical smell and as for the hold of this product, I am yet to find out as I haven't tried this yet but I have high hopes for this!


Now onto the few boots products I bought while I was in Leeds the other day.

 Whilst browsing through the high end skincare and beauty section, I came across this brand that I hadn't heard anything about, Ioma.  This brand was only exclusive to the UK on-line or in Harrods stores and they have now branched out into the larger boots stores.  The product I bought from them was Ioma's 'Astringent Toning Foam' and the woman at the store said it was a toner and cleanser all in one and it smells like coconuts which I love the smell of!  I have very high hopes of this brand and this product so a review will be coming soon.

 I have heard of this foundation raved about by so many bloggers and youtubers that I had to buy it to see how good it is.  Chanel's 'Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation' is a highly popular and raved about foundation and I am in the lightest shade in shade 10.  I haven't used this yet but I will in the short term and there will definitely be a review coming soon!

Along with the Chanel foundation, I also bought Chanel's 'Le Blanc De Chanel' which is primer.  I have also got high hopes for this product and this smell amazing.  I will pair it up with a few other foundations that I own and see if it holds up to them too. 

Because I had bought a couple of products from Chanel, I got a cute little sample of their 'Hydra Beauty Micro Serum'  Again, I haven't tried this but when I do,  a small review will be on its way!

Phew!  That was a long post.  If you are still with me then thanks for reading.  What skincare and beauty products have you bought recently?

Bye for now.

Jess. X