2017 Quarter One Empties - Hair Care - Yes To, DGJ Organics, Superdrug, 7th Heaven, Batiste

So, if anyone read my life update in January, you'll know things were a little chaotic at the end of last year/start of this year. I haven't done empties since November, December and early January don't count because of Christmas and travel, so I've been collecting these since the start of January. The only sensible thing to do seemed to be to split them down into categories and hair care was the smallest so I decided to start with it.

Not crazy big or scary. Anyone that's been here for a while might recognise one or two of these from my 17 by 2017 project, which sadly got scrapped when the boiler died in my old flat. 

So we have the Yes to Blueberries Shampoo and Conditioner (full review here) which I loved, and sadly Boots now only stock online in the UK. They smell great, don't irritate my scalp and sort my hair out. I'll definetly buy them again. Having to order online and collect in store is a pain in the bum but, in all honesty, I really think they're worth it.

DGJ Orangics Hair Juice Shampoo and Conditioner. I didn't love these as much as the Yes To Blueberries ones but they're still pretty nice. Again, zero scalp irritation and worked fine with my crazy hair. The smell is to die for though. I never thought I would like melon scented shampoo, that sounds kind of gross I think about it, but it was so nice. Thinking about it again (I finished these over a month ago) makes me really want to re-order it. Bad Kirstie, Bad. I have three or four shampoo and conditioner sets in my stash right now, and thats not including whats in my bathroom so I need to get through them before I re-purchase anything.

Onto masques and treatments (and the photo had to be blurry!!). On the left is the Superdrugs Coconut Water and Coconut Oil Masque, it's the only other product in this particular post I've done a dedicated review on (here). I really like this, its more like a thick conditioner than what I expect a masque to be, and it leaves my hair really soft and shiny. I've already re-purchased it and am half way through that one. Also because it's not so masque-like its really easy to wash out, meaning I can use it during the week and not have to stress about it taking seven rinses and an extra 23 minutes to wash my hair. 

So, want to know something funny, this is the second time I've typed up this next bit. Blogger thought it would be hilarious to not save, despite me hammering the save button about twenty times. So, I'm sorry if it sames extra sassy and angry but I worked two hours overtime, had salad for dinner and took the time to actually spell check the original post, only for my hard work to disappear off into the ether. 

And then we have this little stinker. And by stinker I mean it literally stinks. It has the same strong fake powdery honey sent of a Lemon & Honey Lemsip, and that smell does not bring back good memories (because who wants their hair to smell strongly of "my nose is snotty, I'm coughing and my ears need to pop so badly they hurt" medicine. I don't like it, it didn't do much for my hair and I wouldn't repurchase or recommend it.

So now we have an *shrug* product, something I hated with a passion and dry shampoo. If its OK with you I'll skip the Batiste as everyone knows what it is and what it does. It's that magic in a bottle that gives me an extra 20 minutes in bed some morning, if I don't mind a slightly irritated scalp for the rest of the day.

Pantene Aqua Light Something Spray, I've binned the bottle already. I got this out the Poundshop a couple of years ago and it didn't do very much for my hair so it just hung about in my collection. I don't really know what else to say, it didn't do a lot, but it smelled nice, There we go, lets be positive here.

And last, and also least, we have the DGJ Organics Argan Oil. Smelled OK but weighed my hair down more than I thought was possible. It also felt sticky and I had to wash my hands after using it. Normally with hair oil I'm wet, my hairs wet and I'm wearing a wet towel so I can just rub my hand on my hair and then rub them on the towel and bobs your teapot, no more hair oil. This stuff needed a proper soapy lather to get it off. 

Like I said, I can't believe how much more curly and bouncy my hairs been since I went back the Superdrug Macadamia Oil. Lesson learned, the thing that costs at least 2x what the thing you know works won't always be better.   

So thats all, not to painful (despite the double type). Thinking next it will either by makeup or body care. I'm currently undecided.

XOXO Scruffy

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com

50 Days, 50 Lipsticks - Days 1 to 10 - Kat Von D, Lime Crime, NYX, Milani, Kiko Milano

I own to much lipstick. I own waaayyy to much lipstick. And I hate some of it.

So this idea came to me a couple of weeks ago, the day before (or maybe two days before) day one. And its simple, for the next fifty makeup days I will wear a different lipstick, report on my findings and hopefully chuck some at the end of it. I don't wear makeup ever single day and I'm not putting on makeup for the sake of it, because that's craziness, so this will take more than 50 calendar days. I'll post updates every ten lipstick days (which I'm guessing will be roughly 12-14 days) and if anyone wants to join in, please feel free and tag me in a link so I can read about what you're loving and loathing.

This makeup bag... Sometimes I love the H&M sale

Day 1: Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Mother

Since I moved Kat Von D is one of the few brands of liquid lipstick I've been wearing a lot, mostly in Lolita and Double Dare though. I found Mother when I was shopping my stash and decided I had to get some more use out of it. 

It's a gorgeous, dusky pink kind of colour and the thin, long wearing Kat Von D formula is one of my favourites. so I was hoping for a good lipstick day.

Overall it wore well. Have I done a review of all the Kat Von D lipsticks? I might need to do that. It did need touched up after lunch and again on the bus home but I am incredibly hard on my lipstick. I talk a lot at work (for work, as in part of my job is talking) and drink about a billion mugs of tea, so my lips are constantly getting wet and then moving. 

Its nice. I like it. I'm almost sad I wore it first though as now I can't wear it again for at least fifty days.

Day 2: Kiko Milano Matte Heart Shaped Lipstick in 01

Kiko Milanos limited edition lipstick packaging (OK, limited edition lipstick packaging and blush products) make me happy. They always look so classy and the lipsticks always have some component that just speaks to me. The other lipsticks I have are magnetic and ping and stay beautifully. This has a solid, brushed metal kind of look with a spiral of writing up it, the cap unscrews rather than pops and the actual lipstick is heart shaped. 

It looks so cute, but its a pain in the butt to apply. The top of the lipstick is slanted to make application easier, however the top part of the heart (two rounded bits) are the highest point meaning there's not a straight edge or point like on a standard lipstick for precise application. This makes trying to get any kind of shape nearly impossible. I'm hoping once I wear it down a bit this will become more usable.

Formula wise, this lipstick isn't bad. I really like the pinky, mauvey colour and the matte formula it fairly good for a bullet lipstick. It does chunk up a little in the inner rim of my mouth but nothing I can't handle. I look forward to playing with this more in the future.

Day 3: Lime Crime Velvetine in Cashmere

It had been a long time since I last wore a Velvetine and in my head I'd somehow turned them into this horrendous, flakey, dry mess, so I was a little skeptical about using one for work. I was, however, really surprised and enjoyed this a lot. Cashmere was always one of my favourite shades and by the end of the day I was annoyed at myself for not wearing it more often. Yeah it was a little dry, but not much more than the Kat Von D formula, and it certainly didn't flake anywhere. Touching up was fine and it didn't get to chunky or bunch up on the inner rim of my mouth. It also coped far better with the oily sun-dried tomatoes in my lunch that the Kiko Milano lipstick from the day before.

Overall, it wore well and looked good but you get very little lipstick for your money and the coconut type smell reminded me of the gorse bushes that used to grow along the road next to my house. (Large spikey weeds with vibrant, yellow, coconut scented flower. The reason the highlands of Scotland smell of coconuts, because everyone comes to my blog for the geographical education).

Day 4.1 NYX High Voltage Lipstick in 15 Tan-gerine.

Way too light and not even remotely Tangerine coloured. Looked hideous, like I'd mixed stick concealer with Vaseline and rubbed it on my lips, on so it's in the bin and didn't even make it out the house on my face.

Note to self, do not buy lipstick online again. It will disappoint you. Do not trust the swatch photos. They can be highly inaccurate. Oh and remember your lips are about 3x more pink than most people's so 80% of lipsticks look hideous on you. Sincerely, the me that

Day 4.2  Kiko Milano Temptress Lipstick in 01

So I have no idea why this lipstick range was called temptress as this colour and formula would be far more suited to a name like "boring office worker lipstick" or "I wanted something that wouldn't look like shite if I couldn't be arsed lining my lips, lipstick".

I got this in the Kiko sale after Christmas and today was the first time I wore it. It's another pale nude, similar to Tan-gerine but darker, less concealer and vaseline-sequel, and it washed me out way less and looked far better on my pale but also very red face. It also had a really comfortable satin finish and overall it lasted pretty well for a sale bin lipstick.

Is it my favourite lipstick ever? No. Will I wear it out at the weekend? Probably not. Once I get to the end of this will it take up residence as in my makeup bag as my "I was running late so I did my makeup on the bus" lipstick? Yup. So work people's, if you see me wearing this, it's a safe bet I slept in, dry shampooed my hair, washed with three baby wipes and am wearing the first three items of clothing that came to hand. Sorry if I look a bit manic, or have my dress on back to front.

Lipstick scatter...

Day 5.1 Milani Amore Matte Lip Crème in 16 Sweetheart

I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie wooooooorld......

Just not today please.

Another online purchase, formula feels great, the colour isn't as expected but for a bright pink looks surprising alright on. I'll play around with it more once this I've tried most of my stash.

In other news I changed as I had bright blue eyeliner on and when I added this I started to look like a suspiciously old extra from Saved by the Bell.

Day 5.2 Milani Amore Matte Lip Crème in 10 Adorable

Decided to stay on brand today, so I swapped Sweetheart out with Adorable. What colour is Adorable I hear you ask? "Exactly the same as Bow and Arrow from Kat Von D" colour I reply, and under half the price.

I had worn some of these before but not this colour and wasn't sure if I loved the formula or not. Its alright. Well actually its good for the price. And they smell so nice. I did have to watch for wear and tear as it was a far lighter colour than I normally like but its still pretty, and wasn't too much hassle over all.

Day 6: Milani Colour Statement Lipstick in 27 Dulce Caramelo

And the award for "lipstick I spent more than £5 on but stills smells, feels and looks like something from Miss Sporty" goes to... Any of the shimmery lipsticks in this line (I have this one and Cinnamon Spice).

I actually don't mean to hate on this lipstick or come across as harsh as that may have, it's actually not bad and wears pretty well. It just has that fake sour watermelon smell to it much cheaper lipsticks do, which I'm not a huge fan of. It's a shame as Milani's liquid lipsticks smell exactly like a bag of flumps (sweet, sugary marshmallows) and I love that, though it does make me want flumps... *Drools and ruins make-up*.

It's a bit dated and plain Jane but not had. I'd be interested in trying more of these lipsticks (in the plain, non sparkly formula) but clearly buying online isn't my strong point so I might have to do some research on them first.

Day 7: NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in 09 Tea & Cookies

Harsh honesty for a second here, I've been putting off reviewing this line for a while now (I have seven of them) because I'd worn this one a few times and hated the formula. 18 Foul Mouth, one of the newer shades, on the other hand has one of the best formulas ever for a semi-matte lipstick. We'll see if my opinion has changed any by the end of today.

So the first hour or wearing this lipstick was horrible, it doesn't dry down, it smudges on everything and if you live somewhere windy (like the whole of Scotland) and your hair gets blown into your face, it's pretty much guaranteed to feel the same way as when you're hair gets in your lipgloss. It got all over my mug during my first cuppa at work and at this point I felt like giving up on it, but when I went to the loo there was still a surprising amount of it on my lips, and by this point enough had smudged off that it didn't feel sticky or weird any more. I'd say between the hours of 10am and 1pm were the golden hours for this lipstick.

Over lunch it became patchy and when I reapplied the cream it became chunky and odd. Drinking another cup of tea made that worse and by 4.30pm it looked really really bad.

I'm going to hold on to this long enough to do the swatch post and full review with all the other shades I own, then it's going in the bin. It's a shame as the dusky pink colour is really pretty, it's just a shame the formula is less "Tea and Biscuits" and more "Cold Bovril and Soggy Mini Cheddars"

Day 8: NYX Full Throttle Lipstick in 09 Jolt

This is one of my favourite orange lipsticks of all time (see full review here). Bright, comfortable and log wearing, this little guy is a hidden gem in my makeup collection.

Must. Wear. This. More.

Day 9: NYX High Voltage Lipstick in 05 Flutter Kiss

I know further up I had a bit of a disaster with a High Voltage lipstick but I couldn't feel more different about this one. Firstly I need to say a huge thanks to Siena from Tantrums and Tea who sent me this. It's lovely,

Colour wise this is a gorgeous dark nude colour on me, pinky but not overly so. Its an ideal "work to pub" shade. It has a really creamy, soft, lipbalm but thicker formula that doesn't feel drying or uncomfortable. It had a classic, satin finish that I really enjoyed. Everything up until now has been matte or very frosty so change is good. It lasted pretty well and didn't seem to smudge off to much when I was drinking tea. I have a couple more of these lipsticks coming from LuxPlus so I might need to review all the ones I end up with (including the one above that shall not be spoken of).

Day 10: Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Double Dare

I think I've said everything I want to say about this in the Day 1 slot with mother. I was hoping not to double up on products (so no two Everlasting Liquid Lipsticks or Liquid Suedes etc in any ten days) but with some brands (like Too Faced) I mostly own smart, work lipsticks and I'm trying not to exhaust them in the first few days in case I end up running out. 

That being said, this lipstick is what I would call a "work red". Its somewhere between red and brown and just muted enough it doesn't look out of place in the office. The formula is really nice and needed babysat less that Mother, this might have been because it was closer to my lip colour so was less obvious when it wore off. Will definitely be buying a full sized one of these once I'm done with this sample.

Running total

Days: 10

Lipsticks Worn: 12

Lipsticks being binned: 2

Top 3

1. NYX High Voltage Lipstick in 05 Flutter Kiss

2. Lime Crime Velvetine in Cashmere

3. Kat Von D Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in Double Dare

Bottom 3

1. NYX Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick in 09 Tea & Cookies

2. NYX High Voltage Lipstick in 15 Tan-Gerine

3. I don't actually have a third choice because I liked everything except these two a fair amount

What's being binned

Catch you next time

XOXO Scruffy

Whats in my Makeup Bag? - Lip product swap out with swatches - Cruelty Free Lipstick and Lipbalm

During this past week I lost an earring in my handbag. As I had some issues with my piercings recently, I knew I needed to find it, clean it and get it back into my ear as soon as possible. Unfortunately my oversized makeup bag was open and I couldn't rule out the earring falling in there so I had to go through that too.  I was a bit embarrassed when I tipped it out at my desk, 4 perfumes, 3 nail files, 3 black eyeliners, 3 other eyeliners and 12 lip products, along with about a squllion hair bobbles, kirby grips and other miscellaneous bits. It was a mess.

So over this weekend I decided to go through it, sort it out and workout what I need day to day. I was hoping to maybe swap for a smaller makeup bag to, but none of my wee ones are as cute as the angry clouds one so I guess that's not happening.

Lip Balms & Tints

So I tried to tile these next to each other but I couldn't keep them this size and have them side by side. 

So I had the Kiko Milano Kiss Balm in Raspberry, the MUA Sweet Sheen Lipbalm in Dusky Rose, Burts Bees Lip Shimmer in Rhubarb and an original Burts Bees Lip Balm (the minty one).  I swatched the first three below as they do have some colour to them. 

Ltr: Kiko Milano, MUA and the Burts Bees.

Out of the four I've put the two Burts Bees and the MUA on back in my bag and the Kiko Milano one has gone back into my stash. Its far newer than the other three and I don't ever reach for it. I use the two Burts Bees ones all the time and the MUA one saved my skin recently when I tried a horrible liquid lipstick (which I will review soon) and had to try and take it off in the middle of Silverburn. Its also getting a bit old and I want to try and use it up.

Lipstick & Liquid Lipstick

Too Faced Melted Lipstick in Chihuahua, Melted Matte Lipstick in Queen B and Melted Chocolate Lipstick in Chocolate Honey. 

As you can see these are all really nice, neutral, nude shades that are perfect for work. I would say since Christmas I've worn at least two of these a week, every week. They're comfortable to wear and easy to apply on the bus. I've decided to keep the two minis (Chihuahua and Chocolate Honey) in my handbag and put Queen B back in my stash. I know it wont stay there for long but I might actually remember to use a couple of other colours before I go back to it again.

Since the house move (not sure what I'm talking about, check my latest life update here) most of my makeup has been stored in one big deep drawer. Not ideal for finding things. I tend to store products by brand and once of the few lots I could find was my Kat Von D lipsticks. These were the three I had been using the most even though I own five or six. Left to right there's the limited edition Project Chimps one I picked up in the States, Lolita and a mini of Double Dare (which I will buy a full size of once its done).

For the time being all three of these will go back into my stash. Double Dare will no doubt emerge again very soon as I'm trying to use up most of my smaller products in 2017. 

Makeup Monsters liquid lipstick in Hook, Line and Sinker and Sleek Matte Lipstick in Russian Roulette. 

If you follow me on Instagram then you'll already know Hook, Line and Sinker is maybe my favourite lipstick of all time. It has a very thin formula, is long wearing and very comfortable. However it's not really an everyday colour so back in my stash it goes. As for Russian Roulette, I don't think I've ever actually worn this. I like to keep a good dark red in my makeup bag. I feel like red lipstick can take work makeup to going out makeup and if I've managed to stain my lips with any number of bright and weird products it hides it all. This one isn't that opaque though and feels, looks and smells like a Makeup Revolution lipstick, and I'm not sure how it got switched out with Snow White by NYX, but back in the stash it goes.

What I'm adding to the bag

NYX Butter Lipstick in Root Beer Float aka Pops (NYX website calls it Root Beer Float, the packaging calls it Pops, its the same colour) and NYX Extra Creamy lipstick in Snow White.

Pops is an old favourite of mine, it was what I used to obsess over for work before I got the Too Faced minis. Its lovely, really comfortable on the lips and I haven't worn it in a really long time so it'll be nice to get some more use out of it. Snow White is going back in as I'm not even sure how it got swapped out in the first place. Unlike Russian Roulette it isn't matte, and you can see from the swatches its darker and more opaque, I also know from experience its really easy to work with (which is what I need after work). 

All in all, not a bad job I'd say. Started with twelve lip products, removed seven and added two. How long before my handbag is over-run again remains to be seen.

Whats the one item that seems to multiply in your handbag? 

xoxo Scruffy

More posts about lipstick and lip products

NYX Full Throttle Lipstick Review

Makeup Revolution Unicorns Unite Collection Review

MUA Velvet Lip Lacquer Review (Zest and Kooky)

M&S Limited Collection Lipstick and Lip Lacquer Review

Models Own Supernatural Palette, Ten Pan Eyeshadow Palette - Cruelty Free Makeup

Just after Christmas I was in the Buchanan Galleries killing some time when I stumbled upon (quite literally, I'm not exactly a graceful human being) the Models Own stand.  You know the ones shaped like a spilling bottle of nail polish?  Well they had a huge sale on, and as I've only ever tried their nail polish, I thought I'd take advantage of it. I picked up a set of brushes, a set of liners and this palette.

So I'm going to talk about this like I didn't get it on special offer as it currently isn't reduced so that's what will apply to if you're considering buying this palette now, Currently on the Models Own website this palette retails for £14.99 and you get 7 grams of product across ten pans of eyeshadow (0.7 grams per pan, or £2.14 per gram of eyeshadow ), which isn't a huge amount of product. To give a comparison the Sleek Eyeshadow Palettes, which I feel are the closest comparable products quality wise, on average contain 14.4g of product across 12 pans and retail for £8.99 (1.1 grams per pan, or £0.62 per gram of eyeshadow). So not what I would really call value for money.

So the palette is made of white plastic, with the palettes name either stuck or painted on the front. The holographic lettering is actually really pretty, however the rest of the palette just feels cheap and kind of nasty. This might be personal thing, I just don't like makeup that comes in white packaging. It gets dirty easily and the rounded out corners make my think of kiddie makeup. It kind of fits with Models Own aesthetic though, with their rainbow glitter nail polish and neon lip tars.  

Top row: Paranormal, Mystery, Celestial, Spiritual and Mythical

So inside the palette the pans look really small, if they were pushed up another pan at least could have been fitted in each row. Oh, and it also came with a brush (which I though I had binned but it turns out it was just in the dirty brush jar when I photographed this). 

Bottom Row: Mystic, Eternal, Phantom, Curse and Phenomenon

So you get three matte shades, mythical, mystic and phantom, and they're all pretty disappointing to be honest. They're finely milled, but there's not much colour pay off and they apply patchy.  

Finger and brush swatches of  Paranormal, Celestial and Eternal

The other seven are metallic and finger swatch amazingly, however if you use sweeping motions with a brush (as seen above) they lose that beautiful metallic sheen and high colour content. For best results I recommend using a good quality sticky primer (cough*Too Faced Glitter Insurance*cough) and either use your finger or a flat brush to pat them on. 

Overall thoughts, this palettes a little disappointing. The mattes aren't great and you don't get a lot of product in the metallic shades however they are pretty. 

Would I recommend it?  

Probably not. For just over half the price, you could have Sleek palette with more shades, more product and more variety. 

I'm probably going to play Pan the Palette with this later on in the year, as I only used each metallic shade a couple of times and I can already see dips forming in them. 

xoxo Scruffy

Other eyeshadow reviews

Technic Colour Max Palettes

Sleek Onto the Horizon Palette

Urban Decay Naked Ultimate Basics Palette

Natural Collection Single Pan Eyeshadows

Revolution Vivid Baked Highlighters in Pink Lights and Peach Lights - Cruelty Free Drugstore Makeup

Do not try and highlight with a brush like this unless you want to look crazy... Its just so pretty and silver I wanted to show it off.

 At the end of December I picked up these two baked highlighters from Revolution London through LuxPlus ( 'cause no one was having any luck with the TAM Beauty website over Christmas). I really enjoy peachy pink highlights and had religiously used the MUA pink highlighter for several months before getting these.

So on the left we have Pink Lights and on the right Peach Lights. As you can see I've really been playing with these and I've rubbed off some of the less indented design on the Peach one.

These retail for £3 on the Revolution and Superdrug website in the UK and $6 at Ulta in the States, though I'm not 100% sure all the colours are available. You get 7.5 grams of product in each, so you get a lot of product for your money. The packaging is really sturdy but it is a little cheap looking and feeling. I also really hate it when baked products come with unnecessary domed packaging. It just means I can't stack them and that's a big issue as my storage is a little limited.

OK so they miraculously switched sides in the photo above (the makeup pixies did it, honest...?!) but as you can see the formula isn't consistent. Peach lights is a bit smoother and more finely milled than pink lights, which has some clunky glittery fallout from it. I prefer peach lights and the fallout is the reason I haven't really played around with it much.  They are both beautiful and can be built up to be really intense if that's your thing, I am personally more a fan of a subtle healthy glow though.

Both highlighters have a very frosty silvery sheen to them, as a pale girl from a cold climate that suits me fine. I mean look at my wrist, its almost as white as the background. These probably wouldn't suit anyone with a skin tone that much deeper than mine, though I do think they have a gold, a bronze and a rose gold one that would probably look lovely on deeper skin tones.

And this is the above two swatches blended out. I did my best to not smudge them into each other but as I hadn't set the finger swipes out intending to blend out (I like the live dangerously and go with the swatch flow). It was a little bit difficult. Far more of the Pink Lights base colour shows once its blended, its really clear on the other edge of my hand where that highlight stops. Peach Lights doesn't do this as much, but that might be due to the peachy tone being closer to my skin colour than the pink one. Both shades do end up a little sparkly, but if you apply with a light hand, and aren't packing them on like I was for the swatches, they can give a really nice, subtle, glowy highlight.

Would I recommend them?

Overall, its a big, fat yes from me. They are a little glittery, and the pink one has some fallout, but they are £3 for 7.5 grams of products (which will last you forever) and the peach one is so pretty. 

If you are wanting something pink and highlighty, but not glittery at all, my current favourite for subtle days in the Revolution Strobe Highlighter in Moon Glow Lights. Its just a lovely, subtle powder, that catches the light in the most beautifully natural way. 

Thats all for now duckies.

XOXO Scruffy

Enquiry? Message me ascruffyduck@gmail.com

Other Revolution posts...

Review: Blush Queen Palette

Review: Unicorn Unite Lipstick Collection

Review: Solo Blush Collection

Life Update January 2017 - Broken Boilers, Christmas, Loch Migdale and Moving House

OK, well Happy New Year I guess...

Light box from New Look, Makeup Brushes from eBay, Necklace from Punkypins and the lipsticks are from Kiko Milano's Christmas 2016 collection.

I feel like it's been a very long time since I last wrote anything so bear with me for a second. 

What's been going on? Where to start?

At the start of November last year I began a Use Up 17 by 2017 project, and as you can see from my November 2061 Empties I went at it all guns blazing for a good month and got through a fair few. 

At the end of  November, my landlord told me he was selling the flat I was living in. No drama, the other half and I had already been talking about moving in together so we agreed I'd just live there till it was sold and then move in with him. Two days later the boiler in that flat died. The flat had individual electric radiators in each room so I wasn't without heating in winter but I was having to travel to my boyfriends to have a shower. I didn't want to be carting hundreds of half empty bottles to work, then on the bus, then home again. So I had to shelve that project. 

At the start of December I started Blogmas, and I managed a steady 19 days which I felt was quite good. The broken boiler hampered me a bit and I might have lasted longer if it was working. I lost on average an hour a day traveling either to or from my boyfriends and I couldn't review any of the Lush Christmas items I had bought specifically to for that purpose during Blogmas. Most of what I posted was reviews that were partially pre-written so that saved a lot of time, however I'm not sure I'd do that again.

After that it was Birthday, Christmas and New Year Celebrations. 

When I was at my parents over Christmas, I managed to get some cracking winter photos of Loch Migdale. (I grew up in the Highlands and my family still live there).  There's a lot so I wont be offended if you want to scroll past them. 

Not bad for an old HTC phone, right?

The Boiler eventually got fixed in the second week of January. Not totally my landlords fault, the first trades person he arranged couldn't fix it, the second two did show up at all and then I was gone for Christmas. A few days after that he told me the flat was in the final stages of being sold.

Let the chaotic packing begin. I'd expected to have a bit more time than I ended up having. Luckily I'm fairly good at de-cluttering and like to have a massive clear out about twice a year so I didn't have tonnes and tonnes of stuff needing packed. So for the past couple of weeks I've just been moving and sorting, moving and sorting. My furniture came across on Saturday so I've been able to start getting unpacked. I hand my keys back in for that flat on Monday (that might be today depending on when I post this).

If anyone follows me on Instagram you would have seen the photo of my new dressing area below. I love it, but trust me its the only part of the house that looks that sorted.

I'm hoping normal service will resume in the next two weeks, and my aim is to post twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday) and maybe a third post some Saturdays. I really don't want to commit to more than I can handle then end up stressing out over it. I have a backlog of reviews I need to write for products I tried over the past two months as well. I think there's a bit of everything in the mix, but if there's something you really want to see, like perfume or eyeshadow palettes then let me know and I can prioritise those.

XOXO Scruffy

Boots Ingredients Super Hyaluronic Sheet Mask Review - Moisturising and Nourishing, Cruelty Free Skincare

Two days before using this, I tried the 7th Heaven Argan Oil Mask for combination skin, and my poor face still hadn't recovered. I woke up the morning after it to a painful cluster of small spots and some nice peeling dry skin across the bridge of my nose. Normally I would just leave me skin to right itself however its hadn't been knocked this badly in a long time. Its was so bad I had to stop using my usual face wash and swap to the one I use for horrendously bad breakouts. 

48 hours and I wasn't seeing the slightest signs of improvement so I decided to intervene. I had good results with Boots sheet masks so far so I felt it was time to crack out the moisturising one and give that a go.

So according to the packaging and Boots website "This specially formulated sheet mask is enriched with Super Hyaluron to help leave your skin moisturised and nourished. Leaves skin feeling moisturised for up to 12 hours." Just what my face needs right now, I think.

I'm not going to go into how you use it because its just a sheet mask. What I will say is its the same fabric and clear gel combo as the Charcoal Mask which I now think I prefer to the milky fluid of the Tiger lily one. That might be because I know what to expect, as when I wrote that one I thought I preferred the milky fluid and not the gel. I just feel like it holds together better on the face and doesn't dry out anywhere near as quickly. It doesn't really have a smell.

When it comes to applying the mask to the face its a bit trickier than the other two I have mentioned. Its wetter, the gel is thinner and there seems to be far more of it than with the other two masks, so even just un-peeling it to slap it on is like a workout for your fine motor skills. 

Once I managed to get it stuck to my face it tingled the same way the others did, but again, not as intensely as the charcoal one. It quickly settled to a pleasant cooling feeling that lasted until I took the mask of 20 minutes later. I massaged the remaining serum into my skin, dabbing one of the wet bits from the sheet (it had dried out a lot since I applied it) on one of the driest areas of my face, grabbed a glass of water and went and had a look at the results in the mirror.

I was really impressed with the results, my skin looked healthier, less dry and a bit calmer than before, even the patch of red, inflamed, flaky broken out skin on my cheek looked less dry and angry. None of my face stung or hurt at all which was a big bonus. I actually went back to empty foil packet and rubbed some of the excess mask fluid (like I said, its very wet) on the areas of dry skin either side of my nose. These are always there and I don't know what causes them. I've wondered if it might be something to do with me wearing glasses most of the day. Its a mystery. 

The next morning my skin felt nice and soft, however it wasn't anything ground breaking or special, much like the Tiger Lily Mask. The areas along my cheeks were less flaky and angry and the overall condition of my skin was a bit better. 

I probably would get this again, its getting incredibly cold outside and my skin will dry out more as the winter stretches on. 

Have you tried any of these masks, let me know what you thought?

Thats all for now duckies.

XOXO Scruffy

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