Author: ramblingmads

I am a thirtysomething from London, with a cat, a husband, bookshelves which keep threatening to crush me under their load and chronic health conditions. Basically your average over stressed millennial. Welcome.
fashion, fashion friday, lifestyle, shoes

Fashion Friday – Converse Obsessed

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I love shoes, there are a lot of them in my wardrobe but whatever shoes I buy I always come back to my beloved Converse.

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Photo from Converse Facebook page

I have had so many pairs over the years, in a rainbow of colours and styles.
My first pair were hot pink high tops, and discovering how comfy they were – started an obsession.

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Photo from Converse Facebook page

My idea of Heaven is the Converse Gallery above Size? on Carnaby Street, every colour, style, fabric imaginable. Oh yes, please. They had rainbow sequin ones last time I went, I wanted to stroke them, they were so beautiful.

Even when I go shoe shopping for work shoes or a particular thing, like winter boots, I am drawn to the Converse display, I won’t show you a picture of my many beat up pairs, but at last count, one pair of boots, two high tops, three low rise (including Wonder Woman ones) and four pairs of the pump style ones I live in all summer.

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Photo from Converse Facebook page

I’m started to crave a new pair, roll on the sales, I might even get two!

What are your favourite shoes? Do you have a pair or brand you wear all the time? Let me know in the comments.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, glossybox, make up, reviews, skincare

October Glossybox

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Glossybox has really upped their game in the last few months, their boxes are all full size products, making it a total bargain.

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Inside this month’s box –

Nicka K Airbrush Blending Sponge – I’ve heard a lot about these magic blending sponge, which claim to create a flawless look with any liquid make up product.

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Talika Photo-Hydra Dry – hydrating moisturiser from French brand Talika, claims to leave your complexion hydrated and primed.

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Lanolips Golden Ointment Dry Skin Salve – lanolin, Manuka honey and vitamin E combined to tackle super dry skin, just a shame I’m allergic to lanolin.

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So Susan Haute Light Highlighting Pencil – blend over brow or cheek bones to boost radiance or along the inner rim of your eyes to make the whites pop.

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Jelly Pong Pong Fairy Lashes Curl Mascara – cruelty-free with a unique brush to boost the curl in your lashes with dramatic volume and definition.

A nice selection, with the obligatory mascara, perfect for some skin TLC and added glow in the coming cold weather.

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beauty, beauty boxes, latest in beauty, reviews, skincare

Latest in Beauty Get the Gloss – The Cult Collection

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Another season, another great box from LiB, the second this year in collaboration with Get the Gloss.

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Inside there’s a nicely curated selection of products that have been everywhere this year.

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St Tropez Gradual Tan in Shower Lotion – I remember the old days of St Tropez, orange streaks and that weird biscuity smell. This in shower self tan has been raved about by bloggers and journalists alike. My own tan tester (and best friend) reported success. Might have to give my pasty legs a treat!

Eyeko Fat Liquid Eyeliner Black – I love eyeko’s chubby colour sticks, but eyeliner is something I never quite get right. This is basically a felt tip and I have some success with similar liners before.

Ciate nail polish in mistress – as you know I’m a polish addict. Red isn’t really my preference so I’ll probably be passing this along to my mum (who used to pinch mine, but now can’t).

Dr Lipp Miracle Balm – this multi use balm (lips, dry bits) claims to last for hours with no sticky residue. We’ll see about that, nothing has yet kept my cracked lips moisturised for long!

Bee Good Youth Enhancing Lift and Brighten Eye Cream – I don’t really use eye creams – but before you gasp in horror, there’s a reason. I have had allergic reactions to eye creams in the past, which were extremely painful so now I stick to multi use moisturisers. But as this seems to be mostly natural ingredients maybe my skin will be ok with it.

Nude Skincare ProGenius Rescue Oil – this oil has been in so many beauty boxes this year, but I didn’t get on with it. I don’t think skin oils are for me.

Prismologie Pink O’Clock Hand & Cuticle Cream and Indigo Interlude Foot Cream – the tiniest tubes ever of hand and foot creams. However they do smell nice and I like to treat my hands and feet, they work rather hard.

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Are there any favourites in this box or something you’d like to try?

What are your cult favourites?

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, haircare, make up, reviews, skincare

Look Fantastic Beauty Box No. 1

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White and gold shiny box – wonder what’s inside!?!?
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Look Fantastic has curated a nice little selection for their subscriber box.

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Balance Me Radiance Face Mask

Monu Spa Firming Moisturiser

Percy & Reed Volumising No Oil Oil

Nuxe Hand and Nail Cream

Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser

Elemis Hydra-Balance Day Cream

Look Good Feel Better Eye Shading Brush

Some great brands included here, just a shame that none of them are full size.

Look Good Feel Better is a charity that supports women and teenagers struggling with the effects of their treatment, and its product range helps them do their valuable work.

Nuxe Paris is a brand I’ve become quite familiar with over the last few months so it’s nice to see a product from them, and a handbag sized hand cream is never a bad thing.

Your entire skincare routine in a box from cleansing to moisturizing, plus hair oil that doesn’t leave a sticky film.

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baking, life, tv

Great British Bake Off

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Can we just talk a minute about how fabulous Nadiya from GBBO is?

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From her incredible bakes (soda pop cake) to her wonderfully expressive face, Nadiya is just marvellous. And she won. The only woman in the final, where she made a wedding cake (her own in fact, as she didn’t have one on the big day), she was funny (chocolate souffles are worse than childbirth) and sweet (that star baker phone call home to her hubby).

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Nadiya, giving good 'brow

She is also a British Muslim woman wearing a hijab, before the watershed, not playing the wife of a terrorist (note to writers, this trope is tired and boring, come up with new material), nor was she silent or unable to speak English (in fact she’s probably bilingual).

The media are of course on the hunt for terrible things to say about her, her husband, family and why she won. This is just, quite frankly, disgusting behaviour. Nadiya seems like a sweet person, who loves her husband and her kids, practices her faith publicly, and is also funny, an excellent baker and made Mary Berry cry (and almost me too).

We should be celebrating her success, why shouldn’t she win? In the multiethnic, multifaith society we live in, I’m proud that Nadiya won, she’s got every right, she is British after all and that’s what the show’s called The Great BRITISH Bake Off, not The Great White Men Only Bake Off (they were well represented throughout as in life).

As ridiculous as it might sound – it does show, in a somewhat silly way (through the medium of cake) what Britain is – a place where anyone can achieve, regardless of what the media says, despite the things that could set us apart from one another.

So, well done Nadiya, oh and can I have the recipe for your lemon cake please.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, birchbox, reviews, skincare

Birchbox – Stylist edit

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This month you can choose between two different boxes – the one curated by Stylist’s Beauty Editor or a Back to Basics box.

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I chose the Stylist box – I like reading the free magazine handed out at tube stations and I wanted to see what their beauty editor would come up with.

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Inside the box are six items, 3 exclusive to Birchbox and one that’s full size.

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100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Lip Glaze – with avocado and cocoa butters, this is a matte finish lip glaze and it’s 100% vegan too.

Bioderma Sensibio H20 – teeny little bottle of micellar water.

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Parlor by Jeff Chastain Smoothing Blowout Spray – frizz reducing, protecting against heat damage, this little bottle packs a punch.

Rituals Yogi Flow Foaming Shower Gel – rose scented gel that becomes foam in hot water.

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When Travelmate Sheet Mask – these are really big in Korea and Japan and have been making their way over to the UK this year.

English Laundry No. 7 Signature For Her – rose geranium, white flowers and musk perfume. It reminds me of the famous Body Shop White Musk scent of my teens.

If you would like to subscribe to Birchbox and would like £5 of Birchbox points to spend, click here to start your subscription.

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, make up, nail polish, reviews, skincare

Cohorted October Box

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Having seen these boxes raved about all over the beauty blogosphere and social media I was really excited to get my hands on a Cohorted box. You cannot subscribe to them and they sell out super fast, so I felt rather pleased when I got the confirmation email.

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Then it turned up and wow am I not impressed. Previous boxes have contained some amazing products – including palettes and exclusive brands.

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The five items in this box really aren’t that exciting. All are however full size and the box has a value of £65.99 for £25.

Bare Minerals Purifying Facial Cleanser (RRP £15 for 60ml)

Bare Minerals Purely Nourishing Cream (£10 for 30ml)

Bare Minerals Marvelous Moxie Lip gloss in Hypnotist (£16.99)

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Ciate Nail Polish in Serendipity (£9)

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Peter Thomas Roth Lashes to Die For Mascara – Black (£15)

I’m not a huge fan of Bare Minerals – the products I’ve tried before haven’t been anything special. I also think they’re a bit overpriced.

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Sparkly nail polish – no thanks. I went off this when I reached my teens. Then there’s yet another mascara, every beauty box seems to have one of these – obviously a cheap and easy option.

Overall really not impressed – I don’t see quite what the fuss is about Cohorted if this is what is on offer.

Anyone had a Cohorted box before?

ramblingmads

beauty, beauty boxes, perfume, reviews, skincare, you beauty

You Beauty Discovery Box – October

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Every month I um and ah about whether to cancel this box. Then there’s a really good one (like September’s skin care special) and I stay. When it’s good, the £6.95 is totally worth it, a bargain in fact but then there’s month’s like this.

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I really struggled to pick my two samples, as I didn’t really like any of them. Nothing jumped out at me, waving and shouting. It was all a bit meh.

In the end I went with a product I will inevitably use and one I will try.

Roger & Gallet Gingembre Rouge body lotion and perfume samples – I slather body lotion on my dry legs every morning after a shower and I tend to be fairly indiscriminate about what I use. The scent is inspired by Zanzibar and has hints of ginger – though it smells very floral to me.

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The other item I picked was Kore’s Foaming Cleanser, Pearl Revitalising Toner and Pearl Gentle Exfoliator Trio. Kore is not a brand I’ve come across before – from Australia, free from animal testing and parabens.

Also in the box:  The White Company’s Day and Night perfume samples and Vichy Dermablend corrective foundation samples in shades 15 (opal) and 25 (nude).

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Not overwhelmed by this month’s box. If November’s is as naff, I think I’ll be speaking with my purse and saying sayonara to You Beauty. 

ramblingmads

fashion, fashion friday, reviews, wardrobe

Dorothy Perkins Curve collection – first impressions

ramblingmads

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So with much fuss and fanfare Dorothy Perkins has launched its Curve collection for UK sizes 18 – 28.

Rather than expanding their main range to cater for more sizes they’ve released a capsule collection and it’s really underwhelming.

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The models in the promotional shots (see above) are slim and don’t exactly give you an idea what the clothes would really look like on the larger sizes.

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Then there are the clothes themselves, a mix of bodycon skirts and dresses and shapeless, bland tent tops. Nothing is in the season’s colours or trends. There’s only about 10 items to choose from and it’s online only, you can’t even return things in store.

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It’s a big disappointment – Dorothy Perkins can be a bit hit and miss in general but you would hope a targeted range would be designed with a little more effort and research, giving women on the above side of the UK average 16 more to choose from not merely reproducing the rather stale offerings already out there.

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