Glamour Magazine December 2014 | Free Nails Inc Nail Polish, The Body Shop Gift Card, and 20% off H&M

I don't read magazines because you get more adverts than content. Every now and again, though, I can't resist the freebie, and this month's Glamour is a good'un. For £2, you receive a choice of four Nails Inc nail polishes (there's also a lighter red and purpley navy shade), a 20% off H&M card when you spend £20 or more, a sample of Pantene Pro-V Conditioner, and a The Body Shop gift card. 

I bought the magazine for the latter. On it will either be £3, £15, £100 or £1000. Both of mine have the code 38933, which I've worked out to be £3 from online comments. Still, £3 for a £2 magazine? I'm happy! You can only use it on full priced products, but there's plenty around £3-4 mark. I'm either going to buy a shower gel (RRP £4) or hand cream (RRP £3.50) with mine. There's no point buying something more expensive when there's always a code floating around that'll give you a bigger discount overall. 

One thing I will say, though, is that some people haven't received a gift card, and others have received two, so I think there were issues in production. People have been told to contact Glamour about this, but I'm not sure what's happening there. If you're planning on buying more than one, I'd suggest buying one first and seeing if there's a card inside, and then go back and buy the others (they're likely to be from the same batch).

Will you be buying a copy or two?

Empties #09

It used to take me months to gather enough products for an empties post, but that doesn't seem to be the case these days. In fact, I'm having to split this post in two because there's just too much to talk about!

Figs & Rouge Mango and Mandarin Hand Cream, £3.95/20ml, Feel Unique, review here

The packaging, scent, and formula were all beautiful and made this the perfect handbag product. It wasn't greasy in the slightest, but still left my hands feeling soft and moisturised. I don't think I'd pay the full price of £3.95 for 20ml, but will certainly repurchase when there's a discount or code.

Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara, £9.99, Boots or Superdrug

Initially, I wasn't a fan of this. I just found it too clumpy for my liking. Then, once it'd dried out a little, it was perfect for a few weeks. Then it became too dry and clumpy again. For those few weeks, it separated my lashes and gave them length and volume, but I wouldn't repurchase because of the times either side.

The Body Shop Camomile Sumptuous Cleansing Butter, £12/90ml, review here

The camomile cleansers from The Body Shop have become my all time favourites. My other cleansers don't compare, and I'm thinking about getting rid of them and just stocking up on this and the oil. They remove makeup so well and leave your skin incredibly soft. Even after months, I still get that same baby soft skin after using them every night. I love them both equally, but would recommend the butter if you travel.

Lush Mask of Magnaminty, £5.50/125g

First of all, I managed to get 20 uses out of this small pot, which is about 28p a time. So cheap. It also left my skin feeling thoroughly cleansed. I'm not sure if it helped with blemishes, but my sister thinks it helped hers. She's even bought her own pot, and she's not a fan of Lush!

Blistex Intensive Moisturiser, £2.63/5g Boots or £2.59/5g Superdrug (currently just £1.28, though!)

This is the best lip balm I've ever used, and the first I've actually finished. I apply it at night, and wake up with incredibly moisturised lips. It doesn't just moisturise the top layer of skin, like so many others do. Repurchase? Already have!

Nelsons Pure & Clear Blemish Gel, £7.40/10g, Feel Unique

This used to be sold in Boots, but I can't find it on the website any more. I managed to buy a tube on clearance for less than £2 a month or so ago, so I'm guessing they were removing it from the shelves. Anyway, I've always been unsure as to whether blemish gels work, but I can definitely see a difference when I use this. It just seems to calm and reduce spots. I prefer it over Lush's Grease Lightning, and the tube lasts for ages. This is another product that I've already repurchased.

Witch Anti Blemish Skin Clearing Primer, £6.99/30ml, Boots

I've used and loved this before, but stopped using it to try others. Then I found it in Superdrug heavily reduced (I think they were discontinuing it), so picked up two bottles for just 87p each. My skin's so used to this now that the effects have become the norm. I don't remember what makeup applies like without it, but I do remember thinking this made it apply smoother when I first started using it. It also reduced the amount of creasing around my eyes. I won't be running out to repurchase another bottle just yet because I've been loving the blur effect primers recently, but it's something I can see myself going back to in the future.

Have you tried any of these products?

The Body Shop Purchases

The Body Shop currently have a sale and 40% off (when don't they?), so thought I'd repurchase a staple and try a couple other bits. I was quite restrained this time! I was tempted to buy another Camomile Cleansing Butter and the entire Frosted Cranberry range, but really need to use what I have first!

All in One Face Base in 02 - RRP £14, paid £8.40

This is my 4th one of these, and I love it. It has a little coverage and a velvety smooth, matte finish.

Vineyard Peach Body Scrub - RRP £12.50, sale price £6.50, paid £3.90

The one thing my stash is missing is body scrub because I normally just use exfoliating gloves. I love the rest of the Vineyard Peach range, so thought I'd give this a go (especially for the price!).

Frosted Cranberry Hand Cream - RRP £3.50, paid £2.10

I think the new Frosted Cranberry range is the same as the old Cranberry Joy one, or at least very similar. It's amazing. I thought I'd just get the hand cream for now, since it's something I've started using a lot in my job. The seasonal products that have just been released (Frosted Cranberry, Glazed Apple, and Vanilla Brulee) aren't actually included in the 40% off promotion, but it was applied to everything at the till. I'm not complaining!

I never used to buy products in store because I didn't realise the codes could be used at the tills. Even though you can get cash back online, I think I prefer being able to smell and swatch the products available. Have you bought anything from The Body Shop recently?

Autumn Treats | Apple, Cinnamon, and Raisin Muffins

I hadn't baked in months, so wanted to change that yesterday. I found a basic muffin recipe, changed it to my liking, and then added my fruit and flavours of choice. Thankfully, they turned out well (my dad ate six last night), so thought I'd share it with you. I wasn't planning on blogging about them, and they're already gone, hence the Instagram photo! Feel free to change the measures and ingredients to your taste!

Makes 12

You will need:

260g self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

100g caster sugar

100g butter

180ml milk (I used full fat, but semi skimmed will be fine)

2-3 peeled and chopped apples (I used granny smith, but you can use cooking ones if you have them to hand)

Raisins (I just dumped these in the bowl without measuring, so it's up to you!)

Demerara or brown sugar to sprinkle over the top

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C and line your muffin tray with cases

2. Cream together the butter and caster sugar

3. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon

4. Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and sugar, alternating with the milk

5. Fold in the fruit

6. Spoon the mixture into the cases and sprinkle with demerara/brown sugar

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes

I'm definitely going to bake these again this autumn, and I think they would be perfect in a bowl with some hot custard. Let me know what your favourite muffin recipe is!

AW14 with GOSH | New Velvet Touch Lipstick Shades and Giant Blush Sticks

GOSH Velvet Touch Lipsticks in Angel, Adorable, Temptation, Divine, Scarlet, Diva, Pretty, Night Kiss, and Twilight, Velvet Touch Lipliner in Raspberry Dream, and Giant Blush Sticks in Shy and Passion*

Angel, Divine

I feel like GOSH products haven't been spoken about much recently. I personally haven't used them in ages. So, I was intrigued to see if these AW14 releases were any good! 

The lipsticks haven't disappointed, and are just as intense and long lasting as I remember, without being drying. I dislike Adorable because I'm really not a fan of candy pinks, and Angel is a little too light for my liking, but the rest of the shades are beautiful. Although Angel has the potential to make me look like a corpse, I wanted to show you it on the lips because it's not chalky at all, and that surprised me.  

The lipliner has impressed me more than I thought it would. First of all, the colour is beautiful. It's also creamy and very long lasting. I'll definitely be taking a look at the other shades available next time I'm in store!

The blush sticks are okay. I don't like them as much as the lipsticks, but then I think I'm going through a lipstick phase at the moment! They're supposed to have a cream to powder formula, but I feel like it varies between the shades a lot. Shy is very dewy, even when blended, and it almost disappears, so you need to build the colour up. Passion, on the other hand, has more of a satin finish and is a lot more pigmented. A little amount with considerable blending is needed. I like them, but would like them a lot more if the formula was in between both.

The Velvet Touch Lipsticks are £6.49, the Velvet Touch Lipliner is £4.99, and the Giant Blush Sticks are £6.99, so they're all reasonably priced. You can purchase them from Superdrug stores and superdrug.com

Huge Boots Haul!

1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13/14/15/16/17/18/19/20/21/22/23/24/25/26/27/28/29/30/31/32/33/34/35

Boots staff double discount happened, and this isn't even all of it! I've removed some presents and doubles from the photo, and I forgot to include the No7 mirror and foundations (which I paid pennies for thanks to clearance and vouchers). In my defence, a number of items above are Christmas presents for various people. I'm just going to talk through a handful of things because we'll be here for a long time else!

I'm not one for false lashes, but I had a few styes and started pulling mine out (I know), so needed something to fill the gaps while they grow back! The individual lashes have been great, and while they don't last for days and days, they look natural. I remove them every night like I do with any cosmetic. This would be time consuming if I applied a full set every morning, but I only apply a couple. The Naturalites (10) also look promising!

I well and truly stocked up on the Tresemme Platinum Strength shampoo and conditioner because they ended up being just £1.87 a bottle. It's definitely a range I'd recommend trying!

Original Source have brought out some body moisturisers, and I couldn't resist buying the peach and apricot lotion. It smells like a peach and apricot yoghurt! There's also a watermelon one, which I wouldn't mind smelling at some point.

29, 34, and 35 were on clearance in my store, so I ended up paying just 39p and 87p for them! Another exciting lip product purchase is L'Oreal's Colour Riche Exclusive Red Lipstick in Julianne. It's beautiful!

The Babyliss straighteners and Soap & Glory gift sets are for my mum for Christmas. She's only ever had mine and my sister's old straighteners, and her favourite colour is purple, so I thought the Elegance Pro would be perfect. She's not familiar with Soap & Glory, but after telling her a bit about the products and showing her reviews/swatches, she's excited to start using them!

Other points to mention: I'm excited to use the No7 makeup products (7 and 25-28) because they all have great reviews, I love the Laura Ashley kitchen accessories, and I don't know why I included the anti-blister stick and spray plaster. It must have been a long day!

Have you splurged recently?

Graduation Dresses

I'm graduating this month! Finally. Other universities had their ceremonies months ago. So, weeks had gone by, thousands upon thousands of dresses were looked at, and I didn't like any. Then I stumbled upon House of Fraser and Zalando, and they both had dresses from the brand Closet. I'd never heard of this brand before, but liked it straight away. The dresses were closer to what I had in mind than any others. They were just the right amount of formal, and the shapes and cuts were simple yet flattering. 

I ordered the two above within five minutes of each other, and I'm keeping both! The first one, with the little heart print, was from House of Fraser here, and the second one was from Zalando here. I wasn't planning on going with navy (they look black in the photo, but they're definitely navy), but that must be what I gravitate towards. Both feel like great quality (I ordered another from Miss Guided, but it felt and looked cheap) and both have pockets! I love that they have pockets. They don't look like much on the hangers, but they really are beautiful. I think I'm probably going to go with the laced bottom one for this occasion, though. It doesn't look as nice as the heart print one on the hanger, but it fits perfectly. The shape is just what I wanted.

I just need to find shoes and a necklace now. I'm thinking these should have a pop of colour. I've seen some dark red, perfect-for-autumn heels, which I think would go beautifully with the navy. My dad thinks I'll look like Dorothy, but is there really anything wrong with that?! I'm not talking about a bright red anyway, so I don't think I will.

What accessories would you choose?