Rodial Skinny Beach

A couple of weeks ago Rodial put a special offer on twitter in which you could purchase two of their Skinny Beach products - Skinny Beach Sticks & Skinny Beach SPF 15 Tinted - for just £21 including shipping. Considering this was a massive saving of £73 I decided to give it a go. I'd always wanted to try some of their diet sticks, either Crash Diet or Tummy Tuck, as who doesn't love a product offering inch loss with literally no effort? The premise of the diet sticks is that you mix one sachet with 100ml of water and drink that every day for two weeks. This supposedly results in inch loss from the waist & hip areas. However the Skinny Beach range are slightly different in that as well as slimming your stomach they boost your natural UV protection and tanning levels to ensure more time efficient and successful tanning.

If you've ever seen one of my outfit posts you would know that I am ghostly in colour but I'm pretty happy that way. And I am most definitely not heading to the beach this Summer (unless a day trip to Brighton counts?). So to be honest that whole tanning element is pretty useless to me but I could definitely do with a flatter stomach.



I tried my first Skinny Beach stick this morning. This is what it looks like in drink form. The flavour is quite pleasant, like a very watered down glass of papaya juice. I'll be drinking these for the next two weeks so I'll let you know if they actually do anything. I measured my waist and hips this morning just before drinking it. My waist is currently 29" and my hips are 37". I'm hoping that these will take either one or two inches off each of these measurements. If they can do that I will say that this experiment has been successful. I will be continuing with my current diet & exercise routine of 1200 calories a day with lots of walking & weight lifting so that this is fair. Plus I do really want this product to work!



The SPF 15 Tinted seems like a product that is definitely not for me. As you can see it comes out as a very dark brown glittery liquid. When rubbed into the skin there is not a noticeable difference in colour at all. It does give a very slight glow & from these pictures the only difference I can see is that it seems to have collected in the pores on my arm. Gross. It has also left loads of glitter on my arm further establishing my Edward Cullen sparkly vampire look.

This product is said to 'immediately firm, lift and tone the body as well as boosting your natural tanning ability, leaving you with a darker, richer tan, but in less exposure time. Meanwhile caffeine, carnitine complex and saccharide salt work together to rid the body of cellulite presence, reduce swelling and water retention and to improve the overall firmness of the skin'. These promises make this product sound like something every beach-goer could do with. However the product description appears to have left out the repulsive smell! Seriously it smells bloody awful, far worse than that biscuity fake tan smell. It actually makes me feel a little bit sick. I was planning to use this on my stomach and legs for the slimming effect but it just smells too bad for me to even attempt to use again.

So those are my initial impressions of the Rodial Skinny Beach products. I'll let you know if the sticks have had any effect in two weeks. Did anyone else purchase this offer? I'd love to know your thoughts.

EDIT: Since for some reason I never posted about these again (oops) I'd just like to let everyone know that these things do not work. I didn't lose a single pound or any inches off my waist etc. So I really don't recommend wasting your money. You'd be better off doing a juice cleanse or just a normal low-cal diet.

Everything Was All Violet

Shirt - American Apparel
Body - Topshop
Shorts - Topshop
Tights - Primark
Headband - Primark
Necklace - Italy
Ring - JWLRY
So today I finally dyed my hair lilac! Last night I decided that I was bored of my hair colour being literally the same as my skin colour; without makeup I often looked like a ghost! This morning I mixed half a tub of Directions lilac hair dye with some James Brown conditioner and this is how it turned out. I'm surprised at how natural it looks on me for it being a completely unnatural colour. Its very patchy but I wasn't expecting any different. Theres a reason why I haven't dyed my hair at home since I was about 14! Plus I only left it on for about 15 mins.

I really love this sheer black shirt from American Apparel. It photographs really badly but it looks lovely in real life. I feel like I could wear it with anything. Today I'm wearing it with my high waisted shorts and a leopard print body underneath. You can't really see the leopard print from underneath here, thats another reason why this outfit looks better in person. I finally got some of those floral headbands from Primark. My local Primark has sorted itself out a bit and got some good stock in for once. This daisy one is my fave. I never want to take it off!


I didn't really do much today other than food shopping and dying my hair. I did however make some rather amazing fudge! As soon as I saw the microwave fudge recipe featured on Lipglossiping I knew I had to make some. I decided to subsitiute the Baileys for some cherries. Cherry fudge is one of my favourite treats ever but hardly anywhere seems to sell it. I did manage to find some in Meadowhall but it was like 3 quid for a couple of tiny slices. I remember when I was younger I often tried to get my mum to make some cherry fudge but it always either turned into inedible rocks or sludge you had to eat with a spoon. So when I made this earlier I was seriously amazed at how easy it was and how well the fudge turned out. It makes me so happy knowing that theres a tub full of delicious cherry fudge that I made all by myself sitting upstairs in the kitchen. Shame that I'll end up eating it all by myself and gain about 5lbs...

Black & White Town

Dress - Miss Selfridge
Finally found the confidence to wear something not completely boring to baby group. Think I was inspired by Steffani who wears things like JC Litas to her baby group! I bought this dress from Miss Selfridge a few years ago. I think I even remember posting it on thehighstreet livejournal group once, thats how old school it is! I really love how loads of people who used to post on there are bloggers now hehe.

Anyways today we had planned to do a picnic in the park but the weathers been so crap today we just had it inside instead. Everyone had to bring at least one plate to the picnic so I bought some battenberg cake & cocktail sausages. I was gonna bake some cupcakes but I've been so lazy this week. Just felt like crap all the time. Blah. I really need to stop being so negative. I've got a night out with my friends in Leeds planned for tomorrow so I'm looking forward to that. I've not seen them since February! Bring on the Jagerbombs!

High School Sweetheart

Cardigan - Urban Outfitters
Leotard - Topshop
Skirt - H&M
Necklaces - Argos / Miss Selfridge
This is what I wore today for a quick shopping trip in town. I didn't break my shopping ban, just bought loads of goodies from Boots and some food. This outfit is disturbingly similar to my old school uniform. We had to wear maroon jumpers and grey skirts so I found it weird that I chose to wear something in those colours of my own accord. Still loving my Neil Sperling Urban Outfitters cardi. Its so comfy and strangely didn't make me too hot outside. I feel like I should wear it more often considering how much it cost. Wish I'd waited until it went in the sale, SMH!

I bought this skirt from H&M a few years ago. Its another item I feel I should wear more often. Really liking H&M at the moment. Its criminal that there isn't one in Huddersfield! They're opening one in the Autumn and have started advertising sales assistant positions. I'll probs get rejected considering Primark wouldn't even hire me part time but I really want to work there! Its gonna be a massive one spanning 3 floors so surely theres enough room for me too? Anyone work for H&M? Give me interview/CV tips, ta!

New New New

Dress - Pilot
Tights - Primark
Shoes - New Look
Necklace - Miss Selfridge
Bangle - Urban Outfitters
Rings - Edinburgh Woolen Mill / Me & Zena
Heres a quick look at some stuff I've bought recently. I've gone a bit mad with shopping lately so these are my last splurges before I go on a spending ban. I'm not gonna deny myself completely, if I really want something I'll still buy it but I do need to be a lot more careful with my money. I'm not gonna browse through clothes shops, I'll only go in if I know theres something specific I want or see in a shop window. Boring I know but I hate living off my overdraft so something has to be done!

Anyways onto the nice things I got. I bought this pink cape dress from Pilot. I never normally go into Pilot but I saw this in the shop window and bought it immediately. Not too bad for 20 quid I'd say. They had it in loads of colours including coral, black and white but as my wardrobe was lacking a pretty girly pink dress, I bought the pink one. The platform shoes from New Look cost £25. I'm so impressed with all the shoes in New Look lately. Theres some really gorgeous pairs in there. I decided to get these as I had wanted those Sugar platforms from Topshop but they'd been sold out for ages and were over double the price of these beauties. God knows if I'll be able to walk in them outside of the house but they seem pretty comfortable so far.

My last splurge was the Jimmy Choo perfume. It smells absolutely divine! Very much like Flowerbomb but less sickly and longer lasting. Its very fruity and floral so rather appropriate for Summertime. Its described as having green top notes, tiger orchid, sweet toffee caramel and Indonesian patchouli. Not sure I can smell all those things but it sure smells good!

Object Of Desire: Missguided

Lace Pleat Dress / Rabbit Print Dress
Coral Pleated Dress / Lace Peter Pan Collar Shift Dress
Leopard Print Platforms / Black Strappy Platforms / Cream Strappy Platforms / Black Strappy Wedges
A little bit obsessed with Missguided right now. I'm supposed to be curbing my excessive spending but I pretty much want everything from this site. They have some really lovely dresses, I'm having a tough time deciding what to order! Especially the shoes which are quite frankly to die for. I'm seriously thinking of ordering one of these pairs, which one should I go for?

Little Fille

Hairbow - Little Fille
Denim Shirt - Topshop
Vest - Warehouse
Leggings - H&M
I've been lusting after a Little Fille hairbow for yonks now. I finally caved and bought one from the S/S 2011 collection. Its called Molly and is a gorgeous coral coloured two-way headband with an ultrasuede bow. The other side features some beautifully knotted cord. It was a bit pricier than say your average Topshop headband at £31 including postage. Its totally worth it though because of the wonderful craftsmanship that has obviously gone into it as well as the quality of the materials. I normally hate touching anything made of suede but the suede bow on this is incredibly soft and generally rather lovely.

I wore this yesterday to a baby group in the library. I feel like I have to dress down a bit for these meetups as everyone else is just wearing leggings and a t-shirt. Couldn't resist wearing my bow though! Think people are beginning to wonder how I always show up with a full face of makeup. I do it for their sake more than my own as I'm sure they'd be put off speaking to someone with a mug as ugly as mine!

May Favourites

Bobbi Brown Corrector
Sometimes when I apply concealer I notice that my dark circles are still really noticeable. This is because concealers tend to cover up just one colour shade. In order to really eradicate dark circles you need a different coloured corrector underneath. This product is the perfect dark circle corrector. It blends easily, doesn't cake under the eyes and it really does help to brighten your whole face. I would suggest getting matched at a counter as the colour of your dark circles will define whether you need a bisque or peach shade rather than your skin tone. I use Light Bisque and find that it is the perfect colour for me. You only need the tiniest amount too as you pat it directly onto the discolouration rather than underneath your whole eye. It works amazingly well with the Collection 2000 concealer.

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer
I had to see for myself why this concealer was getting so much hype. It really does its job well. The quality of this product is pretty much on par with the Estee Lauder Doublewear Concealer so its definitely worth the miniscule price tag. I prefer this to the Doublewear one as the Fair shade I use is actually a bit lighter, meaning that my under eye circles are barely visible & any imperfections are pretty much eradicated from sight. I like to use my Bobbi Brown corrector, apply my Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua with a MAC 187 brush and then blend this into my skin with the same brush. Flawless skin in a flash.

Liz Earle Eyebright Soothing Eye Lotion
Although every Liz Earle product is perfectly lovely, my favourite would have to be Eyebright. This was especially welcome on my eyes this morning after getting drunk last night. Its so cooling and refreshing on my skin. This is the perfect cure for tired, puffy eyes and it really helps to wake me up in the morning. It works even better if you keep it in the fridge.

L'Oreal Renewal Lash Serum
I posted about it when I first bought this product and now I've had a chance to trial it properly I can safely say its worked wonders for my lashes. All the gaps in my eyelashes have filled in and its helped my eyebrows to grow a lot too. I still don't like the applicator as I don't think it fits around my lashes properly making it really cumbersome to actually put on. The actual serum however works really well and is a lot cheaper than the likes of RapidLash.

Beaute Luminous Volume Gloss
I have a lot of Beaute lip products as I love the colours, the application, the feel and the longevity. The only thing I dislike about them is the price tag which is quite frankly ludicrous. This lipgloss cost a whopping £21! If you're willing to pay that however you're left with a magical product. It plumps up your lips slightly giving you really lovely kissable lips. The formula is a bit on the sticky side but I think that helps the lipgloss to last. This shade is called Medusa and its a gorgeous creamy pink beige. Its all I've worn on my lips lately. It photographs beautifully which I think is probably why all the Beaute lip products are favourites of many celebrities. I also love love love the Weightless Lip Cremes.



Ben & Jerry's Fairly Nuts Ice Cream
Mmm this is the best ice cream I've tasted in ages. Got this by accident as Asda didn't have any Cookie Dough left. Its caramel ice cream with praline almond clusters & caramel swirls. I could sit here right now and eat a whole tub. Yum.



Bones
I harp on a lot about how much I love Bones on Twitter but this show has been my life for the past month. Every night before bed I watch a couple of episodes and have almost made my way through the whole box set. I'm halfway through season 5 at the moment. Seriously its so good. If you like crime solving shows with amazing character development & interaction then you need to watch Bones. Apparently the 6th season isn't as good but I'll still download it. Dreading the inevitable drain that will be on my bandwidth allowance! Now that I've nearly finished watching this, I'm looking for some new TV shows to watch. Any recommendations? Pretty much all the good shows have finished for the Summer and the only thing to look forward to now is True Blood. Tell me your faves!