Review: Organic Surge Skin Perfecting Face Polish

A: I received this in one of my Pink Parcels recently and was super excited to give it a go. I  love a good exfoliator, and this Pure Rosemary and Lemon Essential Oil Polish is beautiful.

I’ve been using this about twice a week for the last month, and I’ve been really happy with it – and actually looked forward to using it each time. It smells beyond amazing. Lemon is one of my favourite scents, and this smells like lemon curd so you can’t go wrong! It has a lovely silky and creamy texture, with beads for exfoliating and removing dead skin. therefore giving a smoother, brighter and softer complexion and makes my skin feel amazing. Plus, it hasn’t put my sensitive skin out of balance at all, which I’m impressed with.

Its a real treat to use – and the scents make it feel automatically calming. It’s also 100% free from parabens, synthetic fragrances and colourings – which is something I always try to look for in skincare products. And after using lots of different exfoliators, I’ve never felt pushed to repurchase any – but this I definitely would.

This is available from the Organic Surge website for just £6.99 (just click here!), and after having a browse on the site I’ve already spotted so many products I want to buy!

Have you tried any Organic Surge products? #twolittleowls

A Mini Weekend Haul

A: Okay so I was a little bored and took myself shopping to TK Maxx (our favourite shop ever) today! I was good and didn’t buy too much stuff that I don’t need with money that could definitely be spent on more useful things, but here’s what I did get!

Firstly, this really cute top. I love tops with detail on the back, and this keyhole cut out and ‘v’ shaped split are super cute. Plus I love the vintage print. It’ll be perfect with a navy skirt, tights and boots – or with some skinny jeans. It was £12.99, and fits beautifully.

Another top with detailing on the back, but this one has buttons – another look I can’t refuse. It has such a summery floral print and I love the scalloped hem too. I’m really hankering after some high waisted skinnes for the summer (shock horror, jeans are not something which feature in my wardrobe), and they would look perfect with this and some vans for a dressed down look. This was £6.99 – bargain!

I am well aware that these trousers look hideous, but I really don’t care because I love them. I’m a massive fan of palazzo pants for summer but these have a split in the side of both legs. I’m definitely going to have to tack the splits at my knee or a little higher though cause the split actually doesn’t stop until it gets to the waistband…could quite easily lose any dignity I have left whilst wearing these. They sit just right on my hips though and are super flattering, which is always a winner for me. These were £12.99 and I plan on teaming them with a fitted black tshirt and a statement necklace.

Lastly this cute tray and candle. I can never say no to a candle, especially an Orange Blossom scented one! And this tray was too adorable to not buy, especially for £3.99!!! I love the floral print on it and it’ll be perfect for taking tea and biscuits upstairs for breakfast In bed on the weekends 🙂

What have you guys been buying recently? #twolittleowls

 

Chloe’s March 2015 Empties.

C: oh hallo March! This year is going crazy quick, but atleast I am sticking with one of my resolutions and have been using up some of my crazy beauty/skincare stash ready for my house move. I think I would need about 10 boxes just to empty the bathroom/dressing table cupboards! So here is this months empties:

Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield Base & Top Coat – personally I wasn’t that keen on this. It made a good base coat and protected my nails well but I wouldn’t say it made my nail polishes last any longer. In fact this is still half full, and as I haven’t used it in so long it has gone gloopy and horrid.

Repurchase? No.

The Body Shop Moringa Shower Gel – I received a few of these for Crimbo from one of my work colleagues, and I was most excited about using this one as I had not tried anything from this range before but knew it was quite popular. Obviously the formula was as lovely as all Body Shop shower gels but I personally thought it smelt like my nan… soz.

Repurchase? Not this flavour, no.

Lush Eau Roma Water Toner Water – I bought this after trying the Tea Tree Water toner from Lush, thinking that this might be better for my sensitive skin. I really enjoyed using this, and found that it did calm down my skin beautifully, but did not help with my blemishes. So I now use this in the morning to calm down any redness, and the Tea Tree Water in the evening to combat spots. Perfect combo.

Repurchase? Yes.

Gilchrist & Soames Mineral Bath – I received this in a Birchbox, and was never that excited about using it. I left it in my over night bag and ended up using it several times whilst at my parents – we just have a shower at our apartment. It was a lovely formula, but once again the scent just wasn’t for me. I prefer sweet, vanilla-ry scents.

Repurchase? no.

Soap & Glory Thick & Fast Mascara – this was in the giant S&G box I got for Crimbo last year! Mental. I keep stuff for too long apparently. I really enjoyed using this, it took a lot of getting used too as the brush is quite big for my tiny squinty eyes, but once I got the hang of it I loved it. It really thickens lashes, is super black and lasts all day. It doesn’t quite trump my Benefit They’re Real Mascara but as a cheaper option this is perfect.

Repurchase? Yes, I would happily pick this up again.

So there we have my March empties! Have any of you guys tried any of these products before? What did you think of them? #twolittleowls

How To: Shabby Chic/Upcycle Vintage Furniture

C: now I hate the phrase shabby chic… my mum says “oh you like shabby chic stuff dont you?” NO THAT’S NEW STUFF THAT LOOKS OLD! I love vintage/antique stuff… so now that rant is over, let me show you how I updated some vintage bedside tables that my lovely auntie kindly gave to us for our new house! So here is what they originally looked like, nothing special/weird gold paint! What you need: Sandpaper, Paint Brushes 2 pots of paint, one in cream/white, the other in the accent colour to show through! Oak coloured wax 1. Sand the cupboards! You don’t need to remove all the original paint, just sand it enough to remove any bumps and to take the top layer of paint off. This will mean that when you go to paint it, the paint will stick/cover better. 2. Paint in your base/darker accent colour and then leave to dry – note to self do not leave cupboards open if you have weird cats like Annies, as they go and nap in them and get cat hair all in your nice paint. I went for an egg shell blue for this stage.

3. Paint over your accent colour with the paler colour, I chose Antique Cream for this stage, and then leave to dry. You may need a second coat of this colour. 4. Once completely dry, sand along the edges of your cabinet lightly until the accent colour shows through. Keep going until you are happy with the effect! 5. Rub in a layer of the oak effect wax! So here is our finished cabinets! L decided to sand his all over, whereas I just did the edges – I think mine looks way better on the left, but that is all down to personal preference! We are also going to buy some new door handles for these but we haven’t chose any yet! Let me know what you think, or if you decide to have a go at this yourself! Its the perfect way to update some old furniture rather than throwing it away! #twolittleowls

Review: Battle of the Avon Liquid Liners

A: Like most beauty bloggers, I am an avid liquid liner wearer – but I am still seeking my perfect product. I liked the They’re Real liner from Benefit, and W7’s liquid liner is one of my faves – but they just aren’t quite right. So when I spotted these in my Avon catalogue, I decided to give them a go because I hadn’t tried a ‘pen’ liner before.

The Super Extend Liquid Eye Liner is currently available on the Avon website for £3.75, and I would highly recommend it. The formula is opaque and super smudge resistant, meaning it easily lasts all day. The flexible but fine nib means you can be really precise and create really smooth wings, and wing tips but it also lends itself to being applied ‘flatly’, creating a thicker and bolder line. In all honesty, it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to remove, it comes off best with a cleansing balm – but this isn’t an issue for me because you can’t have both long lasting and easy to remove. 

The Mega Effects Liquid Eyeliner is priced at £3 online, which is super cheap. This is more like a felt tip, and has a slanted nip allowing you to easily create different looks. The line it creates isn’t as solid as the Super Extend Liner and does need a little more filling in – but the finished look is just as good. This one is also a lot easier to remove, but obviously isn’t as resistant to smudging. It has also not taken many uses to start drying out, I’m talking less than 10.

Comparing the two liners next to one another, you can easily see the difference between the pigmentation and the quality of the Super Extend. Although the formulas are similar, the Super Extend is a lot heavier – which is a plus for me but maybe not for others. I do like the shape of the Mega Effects nib – and how easy it is to create different looks, but the point could be a lot finer for precision, it’s a little clumsy. If were to recommend one, it’s would obviously be the Super Extend, I think I may have found my HG liquid liner, and it’s super cheap!!

Have any of you tried these and had a different experience? #twolittleowlsblog

Review: Clinique Moisture Surge Extended Thirst Relief Moisturiser

C: oh here I go again… another moisturiser review. My skin has been so dry recently I have had to change up my routine, something I absolutely hate doing as I prefer to stick with products that I know work for me. Instead this has forced me to look through my stash and use up some of the many other products I have hiding away, and one little gem that has been discovered is this amazing Clinique moisturiser! I have always been a fan of Clinique skincare, and the Dramatically Different Moisturising Gel is usually my go to moisturiser, so I had high hopes for this – and as usual, I am super clever and was right!

First up isn’t this little pot super cute? The fact it is miniature and pink makes me way too happy. I clearly need a life. But anyway, my only problem with the packaging itself is that I hate having to put my fingers in a pot for skincare for my face! It just seems so unhygienic! But I suppose if you are less lazy than me you could use something to remove the product from the pot, or just shove it on your face and not moan. Either way.

Onto the product itself, as a moisturiser it is pretty dayum impressive and definitely lives up to its super long name. All of my dry patches were gone with one use! No joke. One use. It didn’t break me out or clog up my skin so I was pretty happy. However, I personally found it too heavy to use as a day cream under my make up, as I have pretty oily skin so it did make me extra shiny. To combat this I used my Clinique Gel Moisturiser in the morning and just used this as almost a face mask over night. All dry skin gone and no hint of oily skin! It sinks in quickly and doesn’t feel heavy on the skin so it was a pleasure to use at night. I would deffo recommend for anyone with super dry skin like me!

Have any of you guys tried this? #twolittleowls

Review: Magnitone Lucid – The Secret to Amazing Skin?

A & C: as we were lucky enough to be offered a lovely discount by Magnitone, we decided to try out the Magnitone Lucid in our ever expanding quest for perfect skin! Now we have had a chance to try it out properly we wanted to share our opinions with you lovely readers, but first lets explain exactly what it is/does. “Magnitone Lucid is powered by Active Electromagnetic Technology™. Enhanced electromagnetic pulsations that send rapid vibrations into skin. They naturally unclog pores, and sweep away dry and dead skin cells, leaving a clearer complexion. With over 10,000 movements per minute, your skin is better prepared to absorb all your skincare products” Magnitone claim that results are visible within one week. The brush is also waterproof so can be used in the shower, offers two settings (one for sensitive skin) and has a built in timer to guide your cleanse. So what did we think? C: I went for the bright pink, Pixie Lott option… just because it was pink basically. It also includes an extra little headband to keep your hair out of the way whilst using it which was nifty! I have been using this with my First Aid Beauty cleanser for about three weeks now and I have been really enjoying it. In terms of exfoliation I saw immediate results, my skin was softer and brighter and all dry skin was removed (seriously, I always struggle to exfoliate around my nose piercing and this has solved all of my problems!), my make up applied better and I was super happy. Unfortunately after about 3/4 days it did cause a small break out – basically two spots so not really a disaster, but after just over a week I was left with clear, exfoliated skin that was in good condition and absorbed my moisturiser easily. I feel like I am really looking after my skin when I used this, and it was definitely worth the pennies!

 A: I went for the mint green, which is one of my favourite colours.

I was a little worried about trying this, I have super sensitive skin which is massively prone to spots and blemishes – but I knew that if I persevered, the Magnitone would probably help with this. I’ve been using it once a day now for three weeks, and I have noticed a difference in my skin. It’s brighter, clearer and softer, and although I still have the odd blemish they have cleared up a little. As with Chloe, my make up is so much nicer to apply because my skin is super exfoliated. I’m not sure how it’s affected my pores yet, it is always a little hard to tell. But I think they do look a little smaller. Like Chloe, I have been using my FAB First Aid Cleanser (which we reviewed here), and they work really well together. It is a little pricey, but I really do think it’s worth it – especially as Chloe and I have both got on well with it even though we both have sensitive skin.

Have any of you guys tried the Magnitone Lucid? Or thinking about trying it? Let us know #twolittleowls

A Pregnancy Update: What to expect in your First Trimester

C: now I know most of you lovely followers aren’t going to be that interested in hearing all the gory details about being preggo. But unfortunately I can’t do something this exciting and not blog about it at all… so you will have to put up with it. However, I am just doing a trimester sort of thing… so you will only have to put up with 3 (and maybe a post about the birth if its horrendous/anything funny happens). So here is what I have learnt so far:

1. The first 12 weeks is pretty much like a permanent hunger hangover. I have never been pregnant before, but I have often been hungover and it is the only thing I can compare it to. You will be super tired, have a headache and feel sick, yet want to eat everything all the time.

2. You are meant to eat super healthy but all you want to eat is toast/crumpets and all things that are not good for you. I forced myself to eat healthy at first, but it made me super ill so I gave up and just ate what I fancied until the morning sickness died down. Don’t feel guilty about it, you are taking vitamins… you will feel better soon and be able to eat normally again!

3. You won’t poo. Ever. Soz but its true. A diet consisting of toast also doesn’t help.

4. By the time you have got showered/dressed in the morning you will be ready for a nap again. When you wake up from your nap you will be super hangry…. by the time you have eaten its time for your next nap. Just roll with it, I have heard babies don’t sleep much so get as much sleep in whilst you can!

5. Once people find out they will tell you either horrendously boring stories about their children that you aren’t interested in, or tell you horror stories about giving birth. These are more interesting… but also something you don’t want to listen to.

6. You will start watching one born every minute as “revision”.

7. You will see babies everywhere. One minute you want to squeeze them/put them in your handbag and run… the next minute you freak out and think OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE I DONE and try and escape from the evil children that are everywhere.

8. Eating takeaway/fast food and thinking “its okay, I’m pregnant. Baby needs chips” one minute, then the next weighing yourself and moaning you are fat. Then going to have a piece of toast to make yourself feel better about it.

9. Loads of people will be telling you how lovely it is to be pregnant/how you will start to feel better soon whilst you just want to punch them in the face as you still feel rubbish now and the second trimester is AGES away.

10. Panicking as you are suddenly in the second trimester and you haven’t bought anything yet/you are over a third cooked and it has gone too fast!

Seriously. Being pregnant is the weirdest/best/worst thing ever. Obviously everyones pregnancy is different, others may have different symptoms or not be as grumpy as me or have a fabulous time… but let us know if you agree or disagree with any of these experiences! Can’t wait to hear about all of your first trimesters! #twolittleowls

Starter Stories: Home Sweet Home

A: We have recently been introduced to Compass, and decided to join in on their Starter Stories blog post project about our first homes, the ways we have made them our own and our DIY triumphs. Chloe and I have both been wanting to write a post like this for a while, as we have both recently ventured onto the housing ladder and bought our first homes. My boyfriend and I actually moved into our house two years ago, and have been decorating and making it our own ever since. We still have so much to do – living in a DIY project whilst both working full time is neither a quick or easy task to take on, but we are getting there and we are both really happy with the changes we have made so far. When we moved in, our house was perfectly functional, but we (I!) felt the need to really make it our own but I’ve actually found it really hard to decide on themes and colours for each room. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to stuff like this, and I have put way too much pressure on myself to get everything right but I’ve also been worried that once a room is finished, I’ll change my mind within six months and want to redecorate… I do have a habit of that. To get around this, our bedroom is very simply decorated, with cream walls and a cream blind and curtain voiles – after getting rid of the horrible floral wallpaper obviously.





This means that I can change the bedding whenever I like, and it will still coordinate with the rest of the room. At the moment, this is my favourite bedding….



I love the spring colours in it and the vintage florals – and it goes perfectly with the throw my nanny knitted for me. One of my favourite features in our bedroom is my jewellery storage.

I’ve always struggled to store my jewellery – maybe this is something to do with the copious amount I have, but I came up with this idea and finished the project in just a day! You can see the full blog post about how to make these jewellery hangers by clicking here. 



Moving onto our living area, this is one of our finished rooms. My boyfriend is a plasterer, and although he is very good at his job, it is sometimes hard work to get him to do decorating jobs at home. But when he does plaster at home, he always wants to show off his skills – understandable. So he created these arches above the fire place, and also bought me this beautiful Moroccan lampshade for a birthday; which made me decide to continue with this theme.

This kitchen and second living area is an on going project. The fireplace was actually only replastered a few weeks ago, and my boyfriend also built an area to store logs (having a woodburner as our main source of heat is a very lovely but very messy experience). We are yet to attach a handmade door, but the addition of the tiny alcoves are one of my favourite things in our home. My boyfriend knows how much I love to light candles, and tea lights in jars look so pretty tucked away in here. 



This has also been one of my favourite projects, and something I enjoyed doing because of it’s history. This set of Victorian drawers was my Granny’s, and a little worse for wear when it arrived at my house. But after sanding, painting and some cute new handles I think it looks lovely. And Granny Kath would certainly be proud I think!

Lastly, I wanted to share some of my favourite trinkets with you. Chloe and I love to go to antique fairs, charity shops, flea markets and junk shops because we both love a bargain, and anything that is unusual, old and vintage. I think it’s these extras that make a house a home, and of course a pair of fat, lazy cats. 



I hope you enjoyed having an insight to our home – and I’d love see some of your favourite features in your own homes? #twolittleowls

Review: Essie Crocadilly

A: Chloe bought me this varnish for Christmas and this is the first time I’ve used it. To be honest, I wasn’t totally sure about the colour because it looks silver in the bottle and silver isn’t really a colour I usually wear. But when Chloe and I spent the afternoon drinking tea and painting our nails last weekend, I decided to give it a go. And then I realised why Chloe had chosen it for me.

Okay I realise it doesn’t look silver once it’s on; but this is because of the handy little magnet attached to the top of the bottle. The varnish is magnetic, and once you’ve done the usual buff, file, base coat and first coat of colour, and then add the second coat; you hold the magnet over the wet varnish for a few seconds. Once you take it away you can see the pattern it leaves, which is made up of tiny diamonds. This is the point where I understood the name behind the varnish – it looks like the skin of a crocodile!! The silvery black tones of the varnish separate from the green, leaving outlined diamond pattern or ‘crocodile skin’ effect.
I have used a Barry M magnetic varnish before, which doesn’t give as much of a definitive pattern as the Essie one and it is easy to use although does take a little bit of practice. The varnish also lasted a good few days without a top coat, but Essie are known for their high quality products. I would definitely recommend this product, and it was fun to use!

Have you used any magnetic varnishes? #twolittleowls