Glamour Magazine Free Gift

I confess I am always on the lookout for a bargain. Last week I found Glamour magazine had a balance me product as a free gift when you buy it. There is a choice of four different products, a Revitalising Hand and Body Wash rrp £6, Tinted Wonder Eye Cream rrp £11, Radiance Face Mask rrp £12 and a Limited Edition Lip Balm rrp £12 to choose from.
I got the tinted wonder eye cream, I've read good things about this product, so looking forward to trying it. And the magazine is only £2.00 so an excellent buy, plus I have a something to read later :)

Birchbox March 2016

This month's Birchbox is here, can you believe that is the third box already, the months are flying by. Spring will hopefully appear soon.
I liked this box it has a word puzzle on it, if you get all the names and mark them on the box, photo it you can enter the competition to win a large box of goodies. I don't want to mark my box :( I like it.
The box contents were good this month two full sized items and 4 sample/ travel sized items all in the little fabric bag inside the box.
The first full sized item was a colour enhancing lip balm (full sized £11) this is made by birchbox its their new Arrow Boost line which is paraben-free, cruelty-free and vegan. The Color Enhancing Lip Balm has a mild minty scent and the colour tint in the balm adjusts to your lips PH so the color is unique to you. My lip colour only had a tiny colour change, a little darker, which I was happy with. The balm was soft and I have been using it when I am out 'n' about as the weather has been cold and windy, it has stopped my lips from cracking, which is very good, It's now living in my purse and I am very happy with it. The other full sized item, was ModelCo - More brows (Full sized £13.00) its a tinted eyebrow gel that has little particles in it that thicken the brows, it does what it saids, although not sure what happens when it rains, it does not say if its waterproof,  
The sample products were The Works Pillow Spray in deep sleep (The sample was 5ml, Full sized 75ml £16.00), I love this product and have been using it every night, I may need to buy this soon. You spray it on your pillow to help you sleep, it has the essential oils of wild chamomile, vetivert and true lavender, it smells really nice (some lavenders remind me of cleaning products, this has a good lavender smell). I do seem to be sleeping for longer too. 
I got another Polaar product (had one in last months mylittlebox) this is a moisturising gel called IceSource a good sized sample (The sample was 25ml, Full sized 50ml £27.00) it has glacier water to cool and mattify the complexion, not sure of the mattifying effect but it smells nice and my skin was strangely cool and very smooth and soft, very nice. I love trying new products :) 
The last two products were both for the hair, I will use them soon - Philip B Drop Dead Straighting Baume (The sample was 15ml, Full sized 178ml £20.00) A silicone free treatment to shorten blow-drying time for any hair type, relaxing unruly hair (how did they know about my hair!!!) and Amika Nourishing Mask (The sample was 20ml, Full sized 250ml £19.99) with sea buckthorn berry and jojoba oil to soften and repair hair in minutes! 
I really liked this box, new products to explore and try I Love it :)


Note: If you want £5.00 worth of points with your first box email me (or use the contact form on the right) for a link, I currently also have a code for 50% off the first box which can be used with the link - just put the code in the promo code box before ordering.  So that's half price for the 1st box and £5.00 in points, don't forgot to review the products when you get them and that's up to another £5.00 worth of points to spend in their shop. 
Birchbox UK cost £10.00 plus 2.95 p&p monthly, you can cancel at any time via your online account. They are an American company, different countries receive different boxes and products. 

Diploma in Personal Nutrition

Trying to do new things this years and be healthier, decided to do a nutrition course (Diploma Introduction to Personal Nutrition) . As I have done other courses with the Shaw Academy the personal nutrition course seemed good (you can get discounts for their courses on places like groupon and wowcher), it was very well organised and had lots of information, plus interactive challenges each week like drinking more water and eating more fruit and veg (via twitter or facebook). You watch the live webinar (8 live & 2 recorded in total over 4 weeks), if you miss a session they record them and put them on their site 24 hours later. The advantage of attending the webinar live is you can ask questions and get answers (you can also email them) I really enjoyed this course, even happier I finished my final exams with a Distinction :)


I have just started a completely different course in Mobile Web Development, its 4 weeks I'll see how I get on :)

Shamrock Coaster

With St Patrick's Day approaching on the 17th March here's a quick shamrock coaster to make. I can't guarantee it will bring you luck (I hope it will) but it's quick and easy to make :)

INSTRUCTIONS: Chain 76.  Chain 3 to turn this will count as first treble crochet(UK)/ double crochet(USA) of first row.  Treble crochet(UK)/ double crochet(USA) in 5th chain from hook. Treble crochet(UK)/ double crochet(USA) in next 2 chains to complete bottom right solid square of row 1.  Continue following pattern for first row reading pattern right to left.  After  completing first row, chain 3 to turn to start next row.  Continue following pattern until all rows are  complete.  At end of row 25 fasten off

My Little Home Box

I am late in posting this as I have had many Internet problems hopefully they have been solved now.
My second box from "My Little Box" arrived. It's so exciting opening it to find what goodies were inside. I am not missing my yarn buying at all and seem to be making more and designing/ writing up more patterns.
The theme this month is "Home" the box itself has a pretty illustration on it. There's a sticker inside the packing for your front door with a "Don't forget" list also with cute illustrations of keys, phone travel card and lipstick!
Opening the box, you find everything is neatly tied with a ribbon, there was a blue frame with a double sized card inside with illustrater Kanako's drawings, very nice (frame and print £6.00). 
I love the small drawstring fabric bag it has little lip sticks and beauty items printed on it, inside it contained three beauty items. Mine were Noxidoxi Mask and Peel, a skin reviving mask and face scrub (this is a V.large 40gm sample rrp full size 50gms = €20.00)  Polaar Genuine Lapland Hand Cream which is highly concentrated with an arctic berries extract (This was a full sized product approx. €16.90) and from My Little Boxes own brand beauty range My Little Beauty Early Morning Perfecting Face Cream (This was full sized product approx .€10.00) 
I added the euro prices but most items are available outside of France, except My Little Boxes own beauty range which is currently available only in France.
We have used the handcream so far which was very good, the smell is mild but a I find it a bit sour (so my fav. shea butter handcream from L'Occitance is not been replaced yet) but I will use it.
The other lifestyle item was a linen type cushion cover (rrp. £10.00), I can't find a fabric/ wash label on the cover so not sure what is the fabric content. One side is cream with little triangles, the other side is blue with white polka dots, but with the opening down the middle on the blue side (I would use the blue side), I think I will upcycle it a little, maybe just add some nice buttons, I feel it needs something, I will play :)
Overall it was a nice box of items, not as good as last months box, but I will not be cancelling yet. 
I need March's box now :)

Happy Valentines Day

This morning I hung out my Ogham Grà Love panel in the garden on one of the giant yucca plants (I did not harm the plant), as it's Valentines Day! I decided to join the celebrations in my own way! it was sunny but very cold out there ( Grà means love in Irish Gaelic, Ogham is a old Celtic script the pattern from my e-book Ogham Love Charts)


I hope everyone is having a good Valentines Day even the single people like me. I found a super bargain in the supermarket last week a reduced price (in the bargain section, I love finding bargains) for £1.99, a super cute large jammy dodger tin (a UK biscuit I ate as a child very tasty but sweet) I love tins, great for buttons, sewing needles and all the little things you want to keep tidy and neatly hidden away. This tin even had little packs of tiny jammy dodgers inside eekk!! As they have strawberry jam in them do you think I could count them as one of my 5 a day fruits & veg?
 

Just a reminder if you want the free "Valentines Heart 2016" pdf via Ravelry or Loveknitting please download it in the next 4 days as from Friday it's $1.50. I am doing another limited time free pattern soon for St Patricks Day, so to keep informed follow this blog, the facebook page or join the ravelry group.
Plus a note to fellow bloggers (blogger and blogspot) recently you may have seen your followers disappear this is because google are only allowing gmail or google+ account holders to follow  blogger/ blogspot blogs, they have removed those followers from twitter, openID and a few other sites :(

Birchbox February

My 2nd birchbox arrived, I was so excited as I did not expect it yet. It was a pretty box with "shine bright like a diamond in gold" printed in gold on it. I saw on their website there were three different colour boxes this month, I am happy with this colour. Sadly I don't find a diamond necklace in my box :( there was one placed randomly in one box this month. I saw a lucky person had found it on Instagram.
When I opened the box everything was in a bag again, I like these bags prefect for projects.
I knew about two of the products that were in this months box from emails. The first was birchboxes own brand LOC newly launched product - one and done shadow stick. We were sent an email at the end of January, with a choice of two colours "perfect cents" a gold/ copper colour and "champagne problems" a silver colour. I chose the perfect cents and I am really glad I did, its a really nice pale gold/ cooper that is not to shiny, a soft eye shadow pencil that is waterproof I love this, great for a contact lense wearer like me and it did work as I had to go to work this week in the nasty windy wet storms. I wore it to test it out, loved the colour too (the shadow stick is £8.00 a full sized product was sent). The second item was a tapered powder brush by Spectrum Collections (£7.99 full sized product sent) a super soft brush that looks pretty also, very happy with this brush. The other samples I received were  
Ayres Body Butter in Patagonia (Patagonia is a blend of jasmine, lavender, ylang-ylang, and fir) info on their site said " paraben-free formula contains a signature blend of natural plant emollients, herbal extracts, and vitamins to soothe and moisturise skin. Vitamin E protects skin from free radical damage, while shea butter sinks in for lasting hydration" (£19.50 for 191gms, sample size was 28gms) When I tried this cream out at first the smell reminded me of a strong designer men's aftershave, but after about an hour the smell was not so strong and changed to something I really liked (earthy, clean smell) and my skin liked it also very hydrating.  
Korres Milk Proteins 3-in-1 Cleanser (£15.00 for 200mls sample sent was 16mls) this does what it said on the tube, cleanses, tones, and removes eye make-up quick and easy to use. 
Lumiere d'Hiver Super Comb Prep & Protect (£20.00 for 200mls sample size 30mls) the site blurb saids "Strengthening, repairing, de tangling, great at taming flyway ends as well as nourishing and protecting, it's a brilliant all-rounder. It's also 100% Vegan, gluten-free, sulphate-free and paraben-free" You wash hair and spray on this leave-in conditioner, or like me in-between washes spray on, it was excellent for detanging my hair, which is long and wavy so tangles easily. I really really loved the fact it untanged my hair :) 
and the last sample I received was BioNike DEFENCE XAGE ULTIMATE RICH Lifting Remodelling Balm (£27.00 for 50mls sample was tiny 3.5mls) this was a light cream very hydrating but did not feel like a balm. Very small sample but seems like a very nice product.
So I am again very happy with my box :) 


Note: If you want £5.00 worth of points with your first box email me (or use the contact form on the right) for a link, I currently also have a code for 50% off the first box which can be used with the link - just put the code in the promo code box before ordering.  So that's half price for the 1st box and £5.00 in points, don't forgot to review the products when you get them and that's up to another £5.00 worth of points to spend in their shop.