Organic Surge Haul

Afternoon beautiful (yes, you!) .. I have a little haul for you here, I ordered this mid June but never got round to taking photo's for a haul. If you follow me on Instagram (allthesimplethingsxo) you would know I finally fixed one of my blogging problems and bought a new laptop :D It's on windows 8 though so I'm really struggling to get used to it hence this taking so long. Anyway.. to the haul!

I told you it was a little one..

First class mask - £8.49
Daily care face wash - Reduced from £5.49 - £2.74
Blissful daily moisturiser - £8.49
Kiss & Make up wipes - Reduced from £3.49 - £0.87

I've tried and loved the BDM so wanted to grab another tub/jar and it was free shipping over £20 I think so I thought I'd treat myself as my birthday had just been. Have to say though, I'm not very keen on the smell of the face wash.. but I shall report back if and when I use it.

I have another collective haul coming up soon (with 2 parts) so stay tuned!

June Empties

I will get back into blogging properly soon.. This blog isn't just for 'Empties', as it seems lately.

Anyway, lets get on with the show


Hair..

1. L'oreal Preference Hair dye - Tried this for a change instead of the 'nice n easy' ones and wanted to go slightly lighter anyway, so just grabbed a box and didn't look back. + I love the way it has turned out. Repurchase? When my roots need doing, yes.

2. Superdrug Heart On Your Sleeve Dry Shampoo - This dry shampoo smelt lovely, just like holidays and cocktail.. but sadly didn't do too much for my hairs state of cant-be-bothered-to-shampoo-ness. It sadly just made my hair feel a bit powdery. Repurchase? No. 

Make up etc.. 

1. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - One of my all time favourites.. I bought it a few years ago when it was all the rage and It broke me out to start with, but after a few uses it was fine. It's a light to medium coverage, but that's perfect for me day to day. Repurchase? Yes as I'm dying to see what to new one is like.

2. Garnier Shine Be Gone Moisture Match - Aimed at Combination Oily skin (Not that you can tell by the name) I wouldn't say it was mattifying in any way nor did it control shine. It did smell pretty nice though. Repurchase? Probably not.
3. No7 Stay Perfect Nail Polish in Milan - I'm not really sure what to say about this.. apart from if you can get hold of it, do! It's such a lovely colour and it's shiny without being glittery (Which when it comes to removal is a bonus.)

4. L'oreal Super Liner - My now all time favourite eye liner, I got in to liquid eye liner towards the end of last year and this has served me a very good 6-8 months. As I have oily lids it's staying power isn't brilliant, but with an eye primer underneath it lasts as long as I need it to. Repurchase? Yes.

Misc.. 

1. St Moriz Self Tanning Mousse in Dark - Not much I can say about this that you haven't probably already heard. Although a couple of things I find different to other people, it doesn't dry my skin out and it doesn't transfer (Maybe my skin is just super absorbent or something) So if your looking for a budget self tanner, I'd definitely give this a go, but I recommend putting some kind of rubber/ latex gloves on under your tanning mit so you don't get grubby paws!!
2. Sainsbury's Little Ones Fragrance Free baby wipes - Not alot to say about these really, I used them to clean my desk and mascara wands etc. I did on a few lazy occasions use them to remove my make up, but my sensitive skin wasn't too impressed. Repurchase? Yes.
3. Boots Therapy Relaxing Bath Essence - As you may or may not know, I love own brand bubble baths.. but this did not live up to my usual Asda/Tesco/ etc.. standards sadly. Maybe I just didn't enjoy the scent.. I dunno. But if asked would I, Repurchase? The answer would have to be no.
4. Dr. Bronner's Magig Soap (Citrus Orange) - I tried this as a a shower gel, but it was very much like a soap and dried out my skin (I know that sounds silly given the name but hey thought i'd try it) So I just decided to use it as a pre cleanse when washing my make up brushes, which worked a treat!! Repurchase? Yes.

5. Dove Original Deo - Written about in nearly all my empties. Repurchase? 100x yes.
6. Veet Hair Removal Cream for sensitive skin - Again, not much I can say really.. it works haha. The only bad thing I have to say is the smell.. and i think this goes for most hair removal creams.. they smell like perming lotion (EWW!) But yes, as it says on the packaging.. it  even works on super short hairs! Repurchase? Maybe, but using a boots version this time round (Spolier - It doesn't smell like perming lotion! :D)

Rambling's about rubbish over, hope this wasn't too boring..

April + May Empties.

Here I am, late as usual.. (I wish I had a camera and laptop that would work at the same time!! - A whole other story) Alas, I present you with my empties of the last two months..

Hair..

1. Bed Head Hard Head - One of my favourite hairsprays of all time! It can make quite the mess if you use it too close, but none the less I loved it and It lasted forever! Repurchase? Yes.
2. Pantene Pro-V Volume & Body Hairspray - I was very happy with this, I bought it on a wim just so I had a softer hairspray than the bed head, and I can't complain. Repurchase? Yes.
3. Tresemme Instant Refresh Dry Shampoo - Not the best dry shampoo in the world, It worked to an extent but have definitely used better. Repurchase? No.

4. Clairol nice'n easy Colourseal Conditioning Gloss -  Hair dye conditioner, to you and me. I absolutely love this stuff! I never use it as directed as a once a week conditioning treatment .. but on the odd occasion I do use it, wow! All I can say on that matter. Repurchase? As I buy hair dye all the time, yes!

Skin care..

1. Tesco 100% Cotton pads - Just your average cotton pads really, I've spoke previously about the Tesco Value ones and I find these are exactly the same yet more expensive yet I haven't been able to find the value ones in any Tesco recently *sad face* Repurchase? Yes.
2. Simple Kind To Skin Soothing Facial Toner - I find this brilliant as an all rounder, to refresh your face of a morning or after cleansing, for taking make up off (Including mascara). Repurchase? Yes.
3. Skin Therapy Gentle Cleansing Facial Wips (for sensitive skin) - I'm generally not a fan of using wipes to remove my make up (unless I'm feeling very lazy) When I used the first few I found they were far to soap'y for my face so disregarded them completely and just used them to wipe my window sills down etc.
4. Aesop Facial Hydrating Cream + Oil Free Hydrating Serum - Both were very nice to use and I have a few more samples left, but I can't say they left me wow'ed. Repurchase? Probably not.

Body..

1. Garnier Intensive 7 Days Ultra Softening Lotion - Can't say I'm that Impressed with the claim as I am about the product itself. I got the dry to extra dry skin one even though I have normal skin on my body as I had my doubts, and I was even right then.. Okay fair enough I didn't use it twice daily for 4 weeks, but I shouldn't have to do that, or maybe their claim should be altered slightly?! The Lotion itself was lovely, was fast absorbing, smelt good and made my skin feel super soft (Until I had my next shower) Repurchase? Yes.
2. Dirty Works Supreme Cream Body Butter - Sainsbury's answer to Soap&Glory, no?! Minus the different scent, it was a lot like the famous Righteous Butter and about half the price. Repurchase? Yes.

Make up..

1. Rimmel X10 Volume Flash Mascara (Waterproof) - I bought this a very long time ago as I just wanted to try a new waterproof mascara for holiday, and I wasn't that impressed.. I found it to be quite clumpy and annoying, so I threw it to the back of my drawer and forgot about it till just recently. I got all my mascara's out to see if they'd dried up etc. This was one of the ones that hadn't so I put them all in a mug on my dressing table to force me to use them up and I used it again, and was soooo happy! It finally was working how I'd liked it to have all those months ago! *HAPPY FACE* And It wasn't going to leave my lashes without a fight so thumbs up on the waterproof front. (Story over) Repurchase? When all my others have been used, yes!
2. Rimmel Match Perfection 2-in-1 Concealer & Highlighter - In my eyes, this product is utter perfection! I never got on with the collection stupidly-long-named-lasting perfection-concealer. I find this does a better job, it's nice a light but still conceals. And does a good job at brightening those area's that need a little something something. Repurchase? If you saw my previous post 'Make Up Surgery' You'd know I don't need to just yet, but definitely will in the future.

Misc.. 

1. Colgate Sensitive Whitening Tooth Paste - I'm not too fussy when it comes to tooth paste as long as it leaves my breath nice and fresh! I do prefer it to be a sensitive one as I do suffer quite a bit with sensitivity. I found this to be okay, but didn't help my teeth much. Repurchase? Maybe.

2+3. Dove Original Deodorant - My favourite deo ever! If you look at my other empties posts you'll know that for sure! I was very happy when they brought out the 'compressed' one's at Sure, Dove and Vaseline.. they're so handy for travelling! and they actually stand up in my 'every day crap drawer' Repurchase? Yes, a million times over.

The other bits I didn't get to throw in;

2 bubble baths, both the Radox Moisture Soak (The pink one) - Love love love! But I find the Asda's own 'pink one' is near enough the same and you get more for you money. Repurchase? No, both were gifts which is the only reason I had them.
2 Different Impereal Leather shower creams - They were on offer at the time, but I tend to prefer gels of creams (With the exception of Soap & Glory Clean on me). Repurchase? No.
A mini Soap and Glory Clean on me - I absolutely loved this, even though it's a cream rather than a gel it still lathered up a dream and smells amazing as I'm sure your all already know!! Repurchase? Yes yes yes!!
 

One last random thing;
Benadryl Allergy Relief - I bought this as me and my boyfriend were off on holiday and I know I tend to suffer with skin irritation (Heat rash) on most if not all holiday's. As expected I got it, head to toe.. red, ichy, sore and a general pain in the arse! More so when the pills I was taking to atempt to help it, didn't work.. I used it after a day in the sun and in the morning as a prevention. But neither seemed to work. I just don't think they had a high enough level of antihistamine in them sadly. Repurchase? No.

Makeup Surgery..

Good afternoon lovelies :D  It's nice and sunny here where I am, and has been all day.. and as this weather cheers me up so much I thought get my ass in gear, write a blog post + have a work out!! So part 1.. Le blog post.

Today I'm sharing a little procedure with you on some used up concealer.. (Well at least I thought they were).

What you will need: 

1. The item(s) your cutting open.

2. Scissors.

3. A cotton bud stick.

4. A little empty sample pot.

Now this is probably this simplest thing you could ever do, and you don't really need me to tell you what to do, but this is mearly what I've done and me showing you how much product/ money your about to throw away.

First things first, cut the cotton bud off the stick.

Then cut the product open! Don't be scared, get stuck in! 

Use the stick of the cotton bud to scoop the remaining product out and into the pot. (It may be an idea to have some tissue or baby wipes handy at this point).

 - Pretty much empty concealer..












                 Half full pot of concealer, yay! - 

March Empties

So it may be the 17th of April, but honest mistake.. i forgot to post this the day i wrote it and it said on the blogger app i already had. Alas, here is my March empties.
Another month has passed, and another bunch of products have been used up!
To my surprise I actually managed to use up a fair few things, I didn't start most of these at the beginning of the month, but I still managed to finish them by the end.

Hair.. 

VO5 Heat Protect styling spray - I don't have a lot to say about heat protections really, as I rarely use heat on my hair.. I never notice if actually affects my hair atall. They have since changed this bottle and smell etc. The newer one has been in an empties of mine (Click here to see the previous post). Repurchase? No as I can't get this exact one.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Blush - I'm not going to on like most people do about this, as quite frankly.. I don't like using it.. I much prefer to wash my hair! But on those days where needs must, it's alright.. nothing special. Repurchase? Maybe, doubtful though.

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Silver Shimmer - Probably the worst dry shampoo ever! Why why why did the feel the need to make dry shampoo's with actual glitter in! For it's purpose that's just a massive no! You use dry shampoo to make your hair less obviously greasy to others.. this only draws people in!! In honest I think this has been finished for a while but I thought I'd include it to tell you my thoughts. Repurchase? Don't even know if it's still available, but that's a hands down NO!

L'oreal Elvive Full Restore 5 Repairing Shampoo - I didn't buy it because it's claims, I just wanted to try a different shampoo. What can I say? It cleaned my hair.. But it was nothing special. Repurchase? No.
L'oreal Elvive Triple Resist 3 Reinforcing Conditioner - Same as the shampoo really.. ended up just using it to shave my legs as I just got bored of it. Repurchase? No.

Joico K-PAK Deep penetrating reconstructor - I got this a few years ago in a Christmas gift set from my dad.. But In all honesty, my hair never needed it.. It's in such good condition I didn't notice any difference it may have made. I'm not actually sure if I like this fact or not.. but it also smelt of banana. Repurchase? No. 

Miscellaneous..

Simple Moisturising Facial Wash - Facial wash's aren't really my cup of tea, but I'm currently using a Tea Tree cleanser (which I darn't put on my eyes) so I use this to just take the mojority of my make up off before cleansing. It wasn't brilliant and I'm kind of glad to see the end of it. Repurchase? No.
Dove Invisible Dry Anti White Marks Deodorant - This and the original (blue lid) are my absolute favs. It does what it says on the tin.. keeps you smelling and feeling fresh, that's all I need to say. Repurchase? Already have about 3 times (One for my bag, at home and the boyfriends)
Imperial Leather Bewitching Bath Creme (LTD Edition) - I'm thinking now it was meant for a shower gel/ cream.. but I actually used it as bubble bath. I can't say I was particularly taken by the scent! But it made some bubbles.. Repurchase? No.
Garnier Body Intensive 7 Day Lotion - Love love love!! I got like 5 of these sample pack things when this first got released.. I can't say it lives up to 7 days claim.. but It's a body lotion not a miracle worker! I'd have loved for it to have lasted even 3 days as I'm very lazy when it comes to body butters, lotions and creams. Alas, I think It does the job for 1 day and that's fine. Repurchase? Already have.
FCUK Polished Bodywash Souffle - Not sure if this is still available, but if it is.. don't go near it! I hated using this, but didn't want to waste it so I kept on going (Is it me, or do things last forever to use when you hate using them?) Repurchase? Think I've already answered that, no!
Tesco Value Cotton Wool Pads - I know normal ones aren't pricey, but honestly.. give these a shot.. they're just  as good as boots, superdrug etc and half the price! Repurchase? I would if I could find them anywhere!

All done again for another month, think it's dinner time! 

Review; The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream

I'll start of by saying, this is by no means going to be a positive review and be warned there is going to be some bare faced icky photos!
I guess as this is a skincare review I best start of by saying what my 'skin type' is.. I have sensitive, combination/oily skin (Well at least I did - Explanation below). 

I had made an order on the body shop site sometime last year, and I received a little 15ml tub of there Vitamin E cream as a little free gift. I have to admit, I kind of just shoved it away and forgot about it. But I went onto a mission to getting into a proper skin care routine and thought I'd give it a try, to my devastation!

So of an evening I decided to pop this cream all over my face in place of my normal moisturiser.. 

So yeah, I thought that bugger of a spot was the last of my worries.. but the longer I was awake I realised it really wasn't..

The right photo isn't very clear, hence all the arrows dotted everywhere but I was just sat downstairs watching tv and realised my face was a little warm and thought nothing of it till I looked in the mirror to see all these red blotches all over my face!! Now my skin was never the best to start with.. but It was never like this. 

The cells soon repaired themselves, and my skin was somewhat clear again. But I didn't rule out the moisturiser straight away so thought I'd give it another go a week or so later. But alas, I woke up 10 times worse!! My face felt like it was burning, it was ridiculously dry (not just on the blotchy areas) and it just felt so irritated. 

I had no idea what to do, I'm used to my face being an oil slick and I just had a normal Simple moisturiser, which I instantly slapped on but to no avail. I cried my way to Tesco where I bought a tube of E45, as I knew even if it didn't solve the issue it sure as hell wouldn't make it worse. Nearly a week after applying E45 heavily a few times a day (it was that dry and sore!) Still nothing, and me and the boyfriend had made plans to do to London that weekend and I didn't want to let him down. So again I slapped on the E45 and left the house so angry I couldn't put anything other than mascara on and with my skin super red and irritated.
I'm not going to lie, it litteraly took over a month to fix itself.. It's only now just started getting slightly oily so I can actually apply even a BB Cream let alone a foundation!

All in all I am not a happy bunny! I love the body shop, so will not let this ruin them for me.. I will simply throw this monstrosity away and steer clear in future!!

The Culprit ^

Rant over!..

Liebster Blog Awards

Eeee, I'm so happy.. I've been nominated for the Liebster Blog Awards twice :D 
I think I'll spread out my replies so It's not so annoying.. And so I actually have something to blog about as I'm having issues with cameras and computers at the moment (hence the lack of posts) ..
So here goes... 

This is my reply to the lovely Coleen from A Blog About Fashion & Beauty :) 

The Liebster Blog Award rules:

1. Share 11 things about yourself. 

2. Answer the 11 questions that your tagger has given you.

3. Choose 11 fellow blogs to nominate. The nominees must have under 200 Google Friend Connect followers and be told in a comment on their blog.

4. Think of 11 questions to ask the bloggers you have nominated.

5. Thank that person that nominated you and link back to their blog.

11 Things about me:
1. I Instagram everything and anything (Allthesimplethings1)
2. I don't own a camera

3. I order Domino's on a regular occasion

4. I'm a part timer at work
5. I have no idea what I want to do with my life

6. I have a kindle, but barely read it (Naughty me)

7. I live in sweats and hoodys

8. I can't stand red wine

9. I eat Philadephia on anything

10. I can only cook pasta and super noodles, and I'm not even a student!
11. I make customized phone cases

The questions Coleen set me: 

1. What inspired you to start blogging?

I don't know really, I get times where I really want to ramble about stuff.. and I thought to myself.. why not share my ramblings.

2. What is your favourite colour?

Without a doubt, pink.. any shade.

3. If you had £1000 to spend freely on something you would want, what would it be?

A decent camera and a holiday.

4. Favourite food?

Pizza and Pasta (Luckily half my boyfriends family are Italian :p haha)

5. Favourite Makeup brand?

I like different brands for different things, and don't really have a favourite.

6. Weirdest thing you ever saw?

I don't remember seeing anything weird?!

7. A celebrity you've met?

I don't think I have ever met a celeb

8. Where were you born?

In Southampton

9. How old are you?

18 (19 in June)

10. What is your dream job?

Probably if I had the money, I'd be a property developer.

11. How long can you hold your breath for?

No idea, and I don't plan to find out as I have a cold at the moment haha.

My 11 Nominees:

Shalini from sunsetswings

Roisin from Brutal Fashion & Beauty

Katie from Talk Ffashion

Megan-Rose from A Little Bit Of Makeup And Beauty

Clair from Clairs Pop up Closet

Chloe from A Girl Behind A Lens

Louise from Fashionxox1

Amanda from Blondies Blog

Laura from Elledeesbeauty

Fee from Vintage Fee

Georgina from Luxi Couture 

11 questions for my nominees:

1. Where do you see your blog in a years time?
2. Do you prefer to watch the film or read the book?

3. What city would you most like to visit?
4. What are your favorite blog posts to write?
5. What are your favorite posts to read? 

6. Do you work or are you at college or uni, and where?
7. Do you play any instruments?
8. Have you ever been tempted to make YouTube videos (If you don't already)?
9. What's your signature make up look/ day to day look (Photo's optional)?

10. How often do you check twitter/facebook/instagram?
11. If you could add whatever you wanted to a Domino's pizza, what would you choose?

I'm not going to lie, I really struggled to get to the end of this.. finding 11 bloggers with under 200 GFC followers is easier said than done!!
Good luck to everyone I nominated. +Thanks again to Coleen for nominating me!