Superdrug Vitamin E Skin Care || Product Review

I've been using two products from Superdrug's Vitamin E range for the past few weeks and decided to review them. Both of these products and others on the Vitamin E range are super affordable! Both of these are for Normal to Dry skin and I have quite dry, dehydrated skin but also a bit oily in some areas. 

Vitamin E Nourishing Night Cream 

(you can buy this here)
This product pleasantly surprised me. The first time I used it, my skin felt so moisturised and soft in the morning. It is a very light consistency so unlike most moisturising creams it is not heavy on the skin. It also has a great, fresh smell to it which I loved. It really worked for me - I've even used it during the day a few times and, although I wouldn't recommend using it as a moisturiser before make up, it still worked well. I would definitely purchase it again, especially considering the low price. I've noticed an improvement on my dry skin since using it and my skin feels a lot more moisturised than before.

Vitamin E Leave On Moisture Mask

(you can buy it here)

Although this was somewhat similar to the night cream in terms of consistency, I don't think it was as good. It seems quite strange to use it as a mask because it sinks into my skin almost instantly and does not leave it as moisturised as the night cream does. The smell is also different from the night cream although it still smells quite nice. With this product, I will definitely be using it up but I will not be purchasing it again. 

Cardiff Short Break || Travel

For my boyfriend's birthday this April, I offered to take him to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff as he is a massive Doctor Who fan. So, we decided to spend 3 days there and visit other places in Cardiff as well as we had never been there before.

Going into Cardiff, I was really surprised at how small and quiet the city is in comparison to London, even the City Centre. It is a very calm city especially during the weekdays which is a lovely change from busy life in London. I really enjoyed being there and we're already looking forward to visit again!



23rd April 2015 (First Day)

When we arrived, we firstly walked around the City Centre to figure out where everything was. We went to a few shops in the shop centre and it's amazing how there is hardly anyone around during the day - it makes it such a nice shopping experience. We then stumbled across the National Cardiff Museum and decided to have a look. It is a beautiful building as with any museum, but again, unlike London this museum was not busy at all so it was very pleasant. It has a range of collections from Art to Biology and taught me some interesting facts about Wales. My favourite part was a music area where you could chose a vinyl and play it. It was really fun!
After this, we checked in at our hotel The Big Sleep - I had booked it on-line and was pleasantly surprised, the room was massive and we had an awesome sunset view as we were put on the 10th floor. It also has the plus of an included breakfast and tea and coffee in your bedroom.
Later in the evening we went out for dinner at the City Centre and chose to eat at a quiet Greek restaurant called PiPis - I didn't take any food pictures during the trip but we ate calamari, vine leaves, lamb Kleftiko and chicken and pork skewers with salad and for dessert we shared some chocolate cream cake. I really recommend this restaurant if your in Cardiff!



24th April 2015 (Second Day)

We had breakfast at the hotel quite early and made our way to Cardiff Bay. In the morning we walked around the bay, all the way to Cardiff barrage and it was so pleasant as there was no one out and the weather was lovely.

At the Doctor Who Experience, I had a great time. I will admit, I'm not a Doctor Who fan and I've only watched a few episodes but going to the museum in Cardiff has made me want to watch it as it was great fun. I will not give any spoilers as I think it's best when you don't know what to expect but if you like the show I encourage you to visit. We also went on a Doctor Who tour that takes you around places where the show was filmed and it was amazing learning about how the episodes are filmed and the work that goes into it - this was my favourite part of the day!

The Doctor Who building in the background.

After this, we went back to the hotel and then came back to the bay to have dinner. We went to Bosphorus Turkish Restaurant (theme here?) a family run business. Here we ate Falafel with hummus, King prawns, Seafood Bosphorus way (monk fish, prawns and mushrooms in tomato sauce with rice) and Grilled salmon with veg. For dessert we had the Apricots with ice cream and Baklava.
The bay looks beautiful at night with all the lights reflecting on the water so we enjoyed the view before walking back to the hotel.



25th April 2015 (Last Day)

For today, we decided to rent some bicycles - these were quite vintage but were good enough for us! We cycled around the city which is great since Cardiff accommodates cycling really well (it seems like the majority of people cycle/run/walk everywhere here!). We again went to Cardiff bay and cycled to a town called Penarth to visit their church which was used for a Doctor Who episode. Go prepared if you are visiting Penarth though because there are some steep heels there!

After that, we cycled back to Mermaid Quay and went for lunch at Eddies Diner - it serves tasty American food and has a really cool '50s style. Here, my boyfriend had Chilli burger and onion rings and I had chicken wings and cheese fries. I recommend!
Later, we were a bit adventurous and went on a 15 minute boat splash. If you walk along the bay there's various boat tours on offer, the one we did also has a 1 hour tour available which we really want to do next time we go to Cardiff. It was so much fun and really exciting!

Lastly, we tried welsh cakes for the first time at a little shop and wow, they were so, so good. You can buy them packaged or freshly baked. We also visited the pier head and the staff there were so passionate and helpful in telling us more about the history of Cardiff. Beautiful building!

After this tiring day, my feet were definitely hurting so we cycled back to the City Centre to return the bikes and checked out from our hotel before getting on the coach back to London.

I really enjoyed this 3 day break and will be travelling a lot more in the months to come for sure!
Also, I might start posting some things in video format and perhaps do some travel vlogs...



I hope you enjoyed this post,
Thanks for reading!

What I Got for Christmas 2014

Hello, 

This was my first Christmas away from my family as my parents went away to Portugal this year and I stayed in London with my boyfriend. Nonetheless it was a lovely day and I enjoyed myself. 
These were the gifts that I got and I'm incredibly grateful for each of these.


Firstly, I got given a silver picture frame by my friend with a picture of us in it (a really old picture which I won't post!). 

From Portugal, my parents bought me a gold and silver ring and some gold earings which were absolutely beautiful and I love them. 

My godmother sent me a handmade keyring from a portuguese shop which ironically has a british theme to it! 

My Aunt sent me a silver bracelet watch. 

Something that was left under the tree for me by my parents was this box of Thorntons chocolate with a lovely Christmas card from them on it. Needless to say, I ate these in a few days.

 

And lastly, I got given a Canon EOS 1200D by my boyfriend which I couldn't believe. I haven't done photography for a long time because my camera broke, but now I have no excuse. This camera is amazing, and hopefuly I will be able to use it to its full potential in due time. 



Hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas,
 Happy belated holidays! 

British Tag

Yeah, I am technically not British but living here for most of my teenage years I feel like it's the place I identify with the most.

So I decided to do this tag which was created by Beauty Crush. Feel free to do this tag yourself and share the link to your blog in the comments.

1. How many cups of tea do you have a day? How many sugars?

This depends a lot on the weather but I can have around 6 cups of tea a day, especially in the winter. There's just something very comforting about a warm cup of tea on your hands on cold days. I usually have honey in my tea as opposed to sugar but if there's no honey I will have 1-2 sugars.

2. Favourite part of your roast

My family doesn't usually cook roast since we tend to eat more traditional Portuguese food but when I have had it my favourite bit is always the gravy since it just pulls all the other ingredients together. Also I believe if the other bits of the roast aren't that good, the gravy can make it all better!

3. Favourite dunking biscuit

I LOVE ALL BISCUITS! Nice biscuits, ginger biscuits, any chocolate chip ones, bourbons, chocolate digestives. Basically anything that is sweet and you can dunk in your tea.

4. Favourite quintessentially British pastime?

I'm not sure if this would be considered one but I love going on walks or bike riding at the park or around London. Some of my favourite places are Richmond Park, Greenwich area and south bank. I also love visiting little markets on the weekends.

5. Favourite word?

I wouldn't say I have a favourite British word but I tend to say lovely a lot (I probably got it from Cassie in Skins). 

6. Cockney rhyme slang?

I don't use cockney rhyme slang but the classic apples and pears is the best one in my opinion and the one that most people know.

7. Favourite sweet

Jelly babies for sure! I don't usually like sweets and this is the only one I enjoy having (aside from chocolate). I actually only had jelly babies for the first time a couple of years ago.

8. What would your pub be called?

I've never thought about this but I always like the sound of pub names that are to do with animals such as The Hound or The White Eagle. 

9. No.1 British person

The three that instantly come to my head are The Queen, James Bond (Daniel Craig) and Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson).

10. Favourite shop / restaurant

I love any high street store such as Topshop, Lush, Body shop, New look, Primark, etc. 

For restaurant, I love Wagamama (not sure if it's British) but I mostly like to eat at small businesses around

London or street food in markets.

11. What British song pops into your head?

This has to be one by the Beatles and Yellow Submarine is the first one I heard by them.

12. Marmite.

Never tried it before. My mum doesn't buy it and when I did have it at home she threw it away before I had a chance to taste it because she didn't like it but I'm really curious to try.

What is your favourite thing about Britain? 

xx

Beauty: Superdrug Dead Sea Mud mask // Review

I wanted to pick up a new drug store face mask this month since my skin hasn't been looking great. I have been getting a lot of blackheads lately and I can't get rid of them with my usual skin care products.
So I decided to try out the Dead Sea Mud mask from Superdrug which was £2.59

When I first applied this mask it seemed to be good quality although it did have a bit of a strong scent to it which I wasn't too bothered about as I quite liked the smell. However, if you don't like earthy type of smells then it may not be the mask for you. On the plus side, the smell doesn't linger after removing the mask.

This mask really burned my skin the first few minutes of using it which was not comfortable at all but hey, my mum always told me that if it buns then it means it's working! After the burning stopped, it felt quite nice on my skin and I let it on for the recommended amount of time.

As soon as I removed it, I noticed that my skin was a bit irritated and red which worried me at first but this may be because I have sensitive skin. If you are going to buy this product, I recommend not using it right before you need to go out. Leave at least one hour for your skin to rest, especially if your skin is sensitive like mine.

The results on my skin weren't too impressive. I noticed that the mask did reduce the big pores I have around my nose and chin which was amazing however, this did not last very long as a few hours later my pores were back to normal.
Another good thing about it was that it made my skin feel super soft but again this did not last.
It did not remove my blackheads which is understandable as that's not what it's supposed to do, but I at least expected it to clear my pores a bit as it claims to do that.

Overall, this mask is good if you are on a budget as it is very cheap and for a quick pamper as it does make your skin feel good initially. However, I am sure there are much better products than this, which last longer.




Leave me any suggestions of good skincare products for blackheads that you'd like me to try out.
Until next time!

Primark Make up Range // Review

Primark P.S. Love This Kabuki Brush

£2.50

This brush is amazing. It feels super soft and applies the make up quite nicely. I use it for powder and also bronzer and it works well for both - mainly the powder but that is expected from a Kabuki brush. However, after using it for a few weeks now I have noticed that the brush is not as soft any more and I can tell that it is not as long lasting as a more expensive brush would be. It still works well though and feels very soft so I definitely recommend it.

Primark P.S Love Volume Boost Mascara

£1.00

This mascara again surprised me positively. It works well for me since my lashes are naturally quite long. I would say it is better for length though rather than volume but nonetheless it is very long lasting (it takes ages to wash it off which can be annoying) and I love it. For one pound, you can't go wrong. The only bad aspects are that if you are not careful when applying it, it does tend to clump up. Also, it is not water proof which is ok but the mascara smudges a bit as you are applying it and also if you come into contact with water which will give you a great panda eye look!

                                     

Primark P.S. Love... Lipstick 

£1.00

This was definitely my least favourite product. The colour looks great but when you actually apply it, it becomes very sheer. This didn't bother me too much though because you can use it like that. However, the colour does not last at all and after about 30 minutes you have to reapply. I don't recommend these lipsticks. Also they don't have names for the colours which is a bit weird.

New Look Sales // Haul

Hello,

I decided to do some online shopping as I had a birthday discount code (New Look sends these emails to those who have an account with them). However, I shall be returning some of these items but I haven't decided which ones I definitely do not want. 

I will try to link as many of the items below as I can but it may not be possible for some since these were bought in the sale and may not be available any more.

Cream Lace Contrast Sleeve T-shirt

£12

I love this trend for spring/summer with the lace patterns. It looks really feminine and gives a plain old T-shirt a more polished look. Plus, it is easy to style since you don't need too many accessories.

Cream Fisherman Knit Jumper

£10

This may not be so season appropriate but is great quality and quite cheap. I'll use it in winter but also in the cooler summer days that we have here in the UK. 

Red Tribal Print Snood

£2

I love the pattern on this scarf and also the colour of it. It's a great way to add a pop of colour into a plain outfit. Also, it was a bargain.

Daisy Print Snood

£2

Another awesome bargain with a more summery pattern. 

Monochrome Palm Leaf Print T-Shirt

£9

This was possibly my favourite out of all the items. It's appropriate to wear for any season and I really like that the sleeves are a bit longer than usual.

Pink Tape Knit Jumper

£11

I really like the style of this jumper, especially the shorter sleeves as I can wear it in the spring/summer. However, not too keen on the colour so I'm not sure if I will keep it.

Cream Flower Embellished Quilted Sweater

£12

I really liked the look of this sweater on the website, but seeing it in person I'm not sure if I do like it. It looks good in terms of its quality but not really something I would usually wear.

Floral Print Bodycon Dress

£18

I really loved this dress, from the way its shaped to the pattern. It looks really flattering on and also is made from the most comfortable material I've ever seen on a dress. However, I won't be able to keep it since I don't have an event to wear it to and it's too pricey for me to keep if I'm not sure that I'll wear it. I would recommend it for anyone who is going to a wedding or anything similar or event if you just want to wear it on a day to day basis.

Black Lace Back T-shirt

£6

Although this may look like a normal black T-shirt but the back looks amazing. It's cut out aztec print for extra ventilation on those hot days and it can jazz up a simple T-shirt and jeans outfit.

Black Floral Lace Cami

£8

Again, a lace top - this time in black. The pictures really do not make it justice. It is a bit like a crop top, however, it does not show too much tummy due to the lace that covers it.  

Let me know if you would prefer to see the pictures as a try-on type of haul instead of just the clothes. 

Hope you enjoyed!