Silent Sunday 007.

Autumn Walks.

I think I may becoming slightly addicted to Polyvore. For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, it is a great online tool that lets you create lots of wish lists. This is my 2nd, my first one was to create my dream Christmas Wishlist.

Autumn is really starting to set in now, with all the red & golden, crunchy leaves on the ground, and the crispier air. Scrolls through the park, and by the sea, are lovely this time of year.

I have been really loving Joules recently, their clothes are lovely, and full of pieces I want to wear on Autumn Walks.

My ideal Autumn walk outfit begins with a simple pair of skinny jeans, teamed with Joules' lovely Creme Meriel Womens Breton Stripe Jumper. The outfit is finished with a lovely warm navy snood, and cream beret, and finished with these gorgeous Joules Women's Field Wellies - Magenta.

Silent Sunday 006.

Bare Minerals Customizable 8-Piece Get Started Kit.

The wonderful Bare Minerals Customizable 8-piece Get Started Kit. How I love you so.

For anyone who is signed up to Bare Minerals mailing list, you may have seen the 5 Days of Complexion emails, which offered a different offer each day on their most popular complexion products.

I had wanted to order this kit previously during the 20% offer, but the shade I wanted, Fairly Medium, was out of stock in the Original foundation range. When I seen the email offering £5.00 off the price - £45 down from £50 - I couldn't resist. The kit is worth £108.00.

The kit contains:

• Your choice of full-size foundation from the Ready, Original or Matte range, including chose of shade.

• Original Mineral Veil finishing powder. 

• Prime Time Foundation Primer.

• Warmth All-Over Face Colour.

• Full Flawless Face Brush.

• Flawless Application Face Brush.

• Maximum Coverage Concealer Brush.

• How-to DVD, which shows you how to apply the products using Bare Minerals' Swirl, Tap & Buff method

Now, I am not a great fan of foundation. It tends to sit too heavily on my skin, shows off all my dry patches, and some brands just don't work with my skin. I tend to use tinted moisturisers instead, although Liz Earle's foundation wears pretty well on my skin. 

I have heard lots of good things about Bare Minerals, so when my kit finally arrived in the post, I ripped it open and quickly found myself in front of the bathroom mirror swirling, tapping and buffing away. 

I have been using the primer, foundation and mineral veil so far, applying the powders with the Full Flawless Face Brush. I love the products, and Fairly Medium is such a lovely colour and matches my skin well. The mineral veil adds a lovely, airbrush effect finish. 

The Full Flawless Face brush gives fuller coverage, where as the Flawless Application Face Brush gives light to medium coverage. I have applied the products with both brushes, and to my surprise I preferred the finish I got with the Full Flawless Face brush. I tend to be a more subtle look kind of girl!

I haven't tried the All Over Face Colour yet. The powder looks very dark in the pot, however I am keen to give it a go. 

Overall, I am really impressed with the kit and products, and will definitely be buying the foundation and mineral veil again. While I like the Prime time primer, I would be keen to try alternative products, as foundation primer is something I have never properly tried before. 

The kit is great value, and I would recommend anyone wanting to try Bare Minerals for the first time to consider buying this kit. 

Silent Sunday 005.

Christmas Wishlist 2013.

Over the past few days, I have started to think about Christmas. Yes, granted it is still over 3 months away, and yes, Halloween is still a few weeks away, but I like to be organised, ready with my list of Christmas present ideas.

This year has been particularly hard to think of things to get people. I am not sure why, but last year seemed to be a particularly successful year for Christmas present buying.

But enough about buying for other people, what about me! Last year was a bit of a disaster. The boyfriend was going to buy me a tablet, all I had to do was decide which one. At first I had my heart set on an Amazon Kindle Fire HD, then heard from others that the platform wasn't very good. I lost interest in it.

After much debate, mainly with a like-minded work mate, I settled for the Nexus 7 - even though I didn't (and still don't) like the Android system & really wanted the iPad Mini. Christmas day came, Nexus 7 under the tree from the boyfriend. Very grateful.

Boxing day. Standing inside Currys with a Nexus 7 that refused to work. Sigh. It was replaced there and then with a brand new, unopened Nexus 7. My 1 day old broken one was whisked off, I presume to the bin.

The Nexus 7 has since failed to charge, then the battery died completely, wouldn't charge or switch on. So back to Currys where it was sent off for repairing, and returned 5 weeks later with a new motherboard.

This year's wish list to the boyfriend is going to be a smaller, less expensive affair. Although I do like to dream of the iPad Mini. Without further ado, my Christmas 2013 wish list:

1. Zara Mini Office City Bag - I love this bag. I have seen it featured on quite a few blogs, including some lovely pictures on Abby's blog. My favourite is the Burgundy colour, which has been out of stock for at least the past week unfortunately, but if it doesn't come back in, I like the Navy colour too.

2. Cloud Nine's The Original Iron - I am using GHDs which I have had for a few years now, and are due a change. I have read many good reviews for Cloud Nine, and my hairdressers recently started using Cloud Nine in change of GHD, and I love how they leave my hair.

3. Hairdryer - I haven't chose the exact one I want, but I currently have a Tresemme hairdryer which is a few years old, and has seen better days. Definitely time for a replacement.

4. Jo Malone's White Jasmine & Mint perfume - This is my absolute favourite Jo Malone scent, and I have recently run out, so a new bottle of this lovely stuff is a must!

5. Apple's iPad Mini - Think I said it all above, and I am a bit of an Apple fangirl. I do love iOS7 though, and would think it would work well on the iPad Mini.

6. Zara Structured Bowling Bag with Pocket - I love this. I am always on the look out the perfect sturdy bowling bag, and this is it! Perfect price too!

7. Links of London Charms - My parents bought me a Links of London charm bracelet a few years ago and never managed to start my charm collection. My boyfriend bought me my first charm for Valentines, and I would love one to commemorate buying our house together. We were also in London in June for a few days, and never got the chance to get a charm to commemorate being in London together for the first time (we both love London!) maybe a post-London trip charm?

Anyone else have their Christmas list written? What are you asking for this year?

Silent Sunday 004.

Pre-Christmas spending ban.

After posting my September Empties post, I had a sort through of all the un-opened products and have decided to do a pre-Christmas spending ban. I have more than enough products from last year's Christmas gift sets, so have no reason to buy anymore!

While the temptation of this time of year will be hard to resist - 3 months to Christmas, the stores beginning to stock all the tempting Christmas goodies, I have decided on 3 exceptions to my spending ban:-

• Repurchases of products that I completely run out of, is allowed. Unless I can do without it/or have a substitute version.
• Boots have an Advert Calender which looks very good, and I have never had a beauty advent before, so this will be my one and only treat.
• There are a couple of birthdays during this time, and some beauty products are planned on being purchased for gifts.

I am going to start my ban from this Monday, 7th October, and keep it going until Monday 2nd December, 8 weeks in total. I will post little updates on how I am getting on, even the bad days! If anyone else is putting themselves through a spending ban, let me know! I am sure we could both do with some moral support!

P.S. I had a bit of a blog make over today, and made all the banners etc myself. Hopefully this will be the last blog make over I have...for a while anyway.

Also, I am still gaining numbers for the Bloggers Book Club I have been thinking of starting. A few of you have already signed up to receive the emails, and would love to try and gain some more interest to get off to a good start.

If you are interested to know more or sign up for the Bloggers Book Club, click here for all the details.