giveaway, jewellery

A little giveaway

ramblingmads

I am a total magpie, I love shiny things and have a crazy amount of jewellery.

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Pretty much

So as I can’t stand this cold and gloomy weather and shiny things cheer me up, I thought I’d give you lovely people a chance to win this very cute Punky Pins necklace.

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To enter, all you have to do is post a comment telling me what cheers you up when it’s cold and grey outside. Simple as that. You have till next Wednesday (25th November) and then I will put all the names in a hat and pick a winner.

Good luck.

ramblingmads

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

TVK Beauty Box Five

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I love beauty products, make up, skincare, you name it, but I also love animals, I’m mum to five rats, and animal testing horrifies me. The comestic industry really doesn’t need to test shampoo on rabbits or mascara on mice.

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The Vegan Kind‘s three monthly beauty boxes contain products that demonstrate this fact wholeheartedly. None of these items have been tested on animals and all are suitable for use by humans.

The box contains six items for £18.95, is delivered every three months and this box has donated 20p for every box sold to The Dr Hadwen Trust – the UK’s leading non-animal medical research lab.

Inside the box;

Human+Kind Hand Elbow and Foot Cream 500ml (RRP £6) this rich and pleasant scented multi use cream contains cocoa butter and avocado oil to deliver lasting hydration.

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Spectrum Collections Concealer and Eyeshadow Brush (RRP £4.99) I am a sucker for a nice brush and love the soft electric blue bristles on this baby. Shaped for applying colour to your lids or concealer to that pesky dark shadow. I might have to use my exclusive discount code to treat myself to a few more.

Cocoyou Coconut Oil 200ml (RRP £5.99) coconut oil is everywhere this year, in baking, stir fries, slathered on skin and hair, used in teeth cleaning (oil pulling). This tub is perfect for your beauty routine, coat your face at night, smooth through the ends of your hair and use it to sort out your cuticles.

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Emani Vegan Cosmetics Soulmate Lipshine 7ml (RRP £11) this pink gloss goes on clear with a slight sheen of shine.

Vegan Button Mirror – soon to be available from the TVK website, this little pocket mirror is rather sweet with it’s bunny logo.

Green People’s Vegan & Organic Intensive Repair Shampoo 30ml trial size. Strengthens and repairs dry, damaged or weak hair. Excellent for the upcoming party season when too much hairspray and too many late nights stress your hair out. There’s also 20% off for subscribers.

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ramblingmads

life, mental health, mindfulness

Why I’m taking a Facebook break

ramblingmads

Let’s be honest, the world is full of heartbreakingly sad things, and people arguing about them.

My anxiety levels are through the roof in general at the moment and all the carrying on online is only making it worse. So I removed the app from my home screen, I didn’t delete it because I genuinely don’t know my password and should I ever go back, I’d like to be able to get into my account.

I haven’t used Twitter much recently, and having deleted dozens of random accounts I was following, I’m going to try to use it more, bite sized info that I can handle. I’m also on Instagram. Imaginatively my handle on both is ramblingmads, so do come say hi.

Facebook was overwhelming, too many voices screaming for attention. If I do decide I want back in, I think scaling back groups and “friends” will be a must. I’m starting to think my friend Jack, who does not use any social media, may have a point.

If you need me I’ll be reading a book and painting my nails.

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ramblingmads

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

November Glossybox

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This month’s Glossybox features five full sized beauty goodies from well known brands.

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Eylure Natural Lashes – I don’t wear false lashes, despite how blonde I am, I have long lashes that sometimes get caught in my glasses, but I know these are very popular with a lot of my friends for making their eyes pop.

MUA Eyeshadow Palette – I love MUA’s gorgeous, affordable range and this palette from natural shades to smoky is brilliant for the tawny eyed look that I keep seeing on blogs and in magazines.

Emite Diamond Heart Primer – primer has been something I’ve only recently started adding to my routine, and I’m always on the lookout for the perfect one.

Royal Apothic Body Lotion – this is designed to be massaged into damp skin after a shower to lock in moisture, something that my skin craves, especially as the temperature drops.

Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick – infused with vitamin E and avocado oil, this lipstick is designed to provide moisture and a pop of colour. There are four shades available and I received Pink in the Afternoon.

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beauty, beauty boxes, my little box, perfume, reviews, skincare

My Little Sweet Box

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This month MLB managed to get delivered in plenty of time! Hooray.

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It’s also a tin for treats as opposed to a box, rather sweetly decorated too.

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Inside are baking themed goodies, including jar labels and a cute apron, as well as some beauty treats. They’ve teamed up with food blogger Mimi Thorisson.

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The beauty items are mostly skincare;

* Dr Pierre Ricaud Neck & Decolletage Lifting Cream – this little pot of cream plumps and perks skin cells.

* Yves Rocher Sensual Fragrance – a rather warm and sexy scent in a tiny bottle of perfume.

* My Little Beauty Sweet Hand Cream – marshmallowy sweetness in a rich and soothing cream.

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lifestyle boxes, reviews, waxbox

Waxbox November

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I think I might have to pause this subscription box, I’m drowning in wax.

However there are some rather yummy scents in this month’s box, so we’ll see.

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As always the wax is handpicked and packed by the lovely Paula and features a range of candle and wax companies – many of whom are small businesses.

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Wax and Wicks Toffee Latte melt – based in Yorkshire, not to be confused with wicknwax, these three dinky melts are made of soy wax and smell rather nice, a subtle sweetness.

Luxurious Melts, from Warrington, also use soya wax, the crème brulee mini tarts are quite pleasant, with a hint of marshmallow.

Butterfly Scents Mandarin & Berries wax melt is glittery and smells amazing, like a little shot of summer.

The Bridgewater Candle Company votive candle is possibly my favourite scent in the box. Definitely going in my front room to freshen it up.

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Wax Scentsual’s Avensus is quite a fresh, ocean scent. Perfect for the bathroom.

Regent House’s Wish Upon a Star wax granules are something a bit different. Pour into the burner and melt.

Finally a hint of Christmas in the peppermint mini melts from Wales’ Busy Bee Candles, which I added it to my current marshmallow melt, delicious.

ramblingmads

life, paris

Paris is burning

ramblingmads

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Tonight terrible things have happened in Paris, a city I love, the land of my ancestors.

Gunmen opened fire across the city including the Bataclan nightclub where people were attending a gig. This is the latest act of mass violence in the last few years in France.

I can’t tell you why this happened or how to stop it. But we have to love furiously, we have to stand together and say no more. Because if we don’t evil does, evil that sits in the hearts and minds and pushes people apart.

So hold your loved ones tight and hold on to the community around you, stand up and say ‘no more’.

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ramblingmads

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

Birchbox x Skinny Dip London

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This month Birchbox has joined forces with accessories brand Skinny Dip London. Confusingly there are no items from Skinny Dip in the box, you could however add a phone cover from their range for an extra £4. The boxes feature a shell print design from Skinny Dip.

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Inside there’s six beauty products from a variety of brands. Let’s take a look inside.

Ren Wake Wonderful Night-Time Facial – this works while you sleep, leaving you with plumped up, radiant skin in the morning. I’ll be giving this a go to relieve tired winter skin.

Lord & Berry Silhouette Neutral Lip Liner – I’m not really a lip liner kinda girl, I don’t really wear lipstick, but this doesn’t need matching to your lipstick of choice as it’s translucent.

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Cowshed Cow Pat Hand Cream – I loved the Cowshed body lotions that I’ve tried and winter means hand cream becomes more essential than ever. This one contains grapefruit and coriander essential oils, and smells quite pleasant.

Number 4 Lumiere d’Hiver Super Comb Prep & Protect – like a hair oil, you spritz this on towel dried hair, comb through and style. Strengthen and repair tired hair while detangling and taming flyaways. Not sure it’ll come between me and my argan oil though.

Delarom Crème Acquaconfort – with almond and apricot oils, vitamin E this facial cream nourishes and soothes dehydrated skin and perks it up.

L.Erickson Grab & Go Ponytail Holder – metal free hair tie, designed to avoid getting tangled in your hair.

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beauty, beauty boxes, reviews, skincare, you beauty

November You Beauty Discovery Box

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This month I was a bit disappointed by the choices offered by YBD. There were three shades of wands to hide grey roots, which luckily I don’t yet have to worry about, a Gin & Tonic perfume spritz, eye gel, facial oil and bubble bath.

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I picked the eye gek and bubble jelly, but for some reason I’ve been sent a facial oil instead, as well as the bubble jelly.

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The bonus items are a bit lacking – a sample sachet of shower gel (which we had two months ago) and a sheet mask sample.

To be honest this month’s box was poor altogether. I hope their December one, the last of the year, has a bit more zip to it.

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