Competition Wins | Winter 2012

As you can probably tell from the title, this post is just a teeny bit delayed!

Having been so busy with uni since the start of 2013, I haven't had chance to enter many competitions at all. The only ones I have entered have been blog competitions, one of which I was fortunate enough to win, so I'll squish that on the end of this post too!

The rest of the prizes I won throughout the last few months of 2012, and looking back I was actually really lucky, I definitely won more than I realised!

Laura Ashley lace shift dress | Twitter | RRP £150

Diesel Loverdose goody bag including nail file and moisturiser | Twitter | RRP £10

Nota Bene cleanser | Twitter | RRP £14.50

Aztec cardigan and skater skirt | Excite Clothing Twitter page | RRP £20

I actually did an OOTN post wearing this skirt which you can find here.

Pringles speaker | Facebook

This looks like a useless pile of junk, however I have to admit I have been using it with my iPod in the car and it's doing the trick!

Real facial cleanser | Twitter

Stylfile Nailcare Collection | Twitter | RRP £11.99

Faux leather shorts | FD Avenue Twitter page

I actually removed the studs from these as I wasn't sure if they made the shorts look a bit cheap, and I much prefer them now!

Chicnova faux leather skater dress | Victoria's Vintage blog

American makeup including Sephora eyelash curlers, Covergirl gloss balm and Tarte blusher | Lil Miss Chickas blog

Have you had any luck with competition wins recently?

Jo xx

Jelly Belly Candle | Crushed Pineapple

I have recently developed a huge love for scented candles. As I've mentioned on my blog before, I absolutely adore my room so burning scented candles and incense in there is something I really enjoy doing. However, I am quite picky when it comes to my scents in that I tend to dislike anything too overpowering.
I know; that probably sounds weird as I've just said I like to burn incense, but when I do I tend to leave the window open to diffuse the smell a bit, 'cause I'm odd like that. So I must admit I do prefer a good ol' scented candle to incense.

Anyhow, this Jelly Belly candle in Crushed Pineapple was actually a gift from my auntie a long while back which I have only just gotten round to using. I actually think the small, slightly retro-looking tin container is really cute and a nice change, although if you do fancy sticking to the popular glass jar candles Jelly Belly sell these too!

The unlit candle itself actually has a really strong, sweet scent, which although is genuinely a lovely smell it is ever so slightly sickly, so I was kind of worried at first how strong the scent would be.
It definitely reminds me of a particular sweet I used to eat when I was a wee nipper but I can't quite put my finger on which one, which is ever so slightly irritating...

Regardless, once lit the candle is the perfect fruity scent. It is such a subtle smell that the sweetness in the tin doesn't actually matter, however I would say it is definitely more of a summery scent, and the smell really doesn't seem to hang around for long unfortunately.

Overall though, it's a lovely little candle if you fancy a bit of a change from your usual floral scents!

Jelly Belly tin candles can be purchased here from Debenhams, where they are currently reduced from £5 to £4 each, available in a variety of scents from Liquorice to Blueberry!

What candle are you currently burning?

Jo xx

Tag | The Procrastinating Beauty Blogger

Hi, my name's Jo and I'm a serial procrastinator.

Cue reams of excuses as to why I deserve a break from writing my dissertation and how I have done so much work my word document will burst if I don't have a breather.

No. My word document will not burst.

My words will not fall off the end of the page.

My work will not do itself.

But I am going to do this tag because I want to, ok?

And because the beautiful Chloe from Chloe's Way tagged me and it would just be plain rude not to participate, right?

Glad that's settled. So moving swiftly on...

Rules:
1. Copy and paste these 'rules' into your post when you write it!
2. You must state that this tag was created by Laura from The Beau Bow.

3. You must thank the person who tagged you at the start of your post, follow them if you're feeling nice and at the end of your post state who you tag, and comment on their blog to let them know you tagged them.
4. Title this post 'The Procrastinating Beauty Blogger TAG' .
5. Have fun!

Source

1. Name a beauty regime that you rarely do.

Moisturise my body. Don't get me wrong, I'm amazing at moisturising my face but my body? I just cannot be bothered, particularly in the winter when it's so cold and I just want my bed!

2. Is washing your makeup brushes something you do regularly? 

Seriously? Never. It's actually appalling, I think the last time I washed them must have been a minimum of six months ago. I can always find something better to do!

3. How long will you last with chipped nail polish?

Once they start to chip, I could probably last an absolute maximum of three days before they become too vile to look at and I have no choice but to take it off.

4. How long do you put off buying/replacing a beauty or nail polish product even if you need it? (i.e. purchasing a new topcoat, or a new foundation etc.)

I'm actually pretty good at replacing products, only because I only tend to use up the stuff I use religiously. So things like cleansers, moisturisers, foundations and mascaras which I have my ultimate favourites of, I will stock up on before I run out.

Other things like lipsticks, eye shadows etc. I always have a huge selection of, so if I run out of one it's extremely rare that I will repurchase when I have a million and one alternatives.

5. What is your worst beauty habit?

Probably not being able to bring myself to stray away from doing neutral coloured smoky eyes. A couple of years or so ago I used to be a lot more willing to experiment with different colours. I need to get back to that habit and quit running back to my trusty brown eye shadows.

6. Name something non-beauty related that you put off doing all the time?

Healthy eating. I always say to myself "right, as of tomorrow no more snacking", then tomorrow comes and I'll be like, "as of tomorrow no more snacking", and so on and so forth. I need to kick myself into gear before my good metabolism decides it's not playing any more.

7. When going out somewhere, do you leave getting ready until the last minute or not?

If it's a night out I'm usually quite good at starting to get ready early enough, otherwise I'd be there all night. If it's anything like getting up to get ready for work then yes I really will push it time-wise. I'll snooze the alarm for half an hour, just so I can lie there and wish and wish that I didn't have to get out of bed.

8. Can you commit to spending bans?

I've never tried, but I'm usually quite good with my money and won't be ridiculous if I know full well I can't afford it or don't need it (unless of course, it's an absolute bargain). If I really tried I definitely think I could do it.

9. How organized is your makeup and nail polish collection?

I'd say it's all pretty organised to be honest! I know where everything is, as all my makeup is kept in a cute cake stand which separates my face, eye and lip products in different tiers, and my nail varnishes are all kept in the same box so yeah I'd say I'm doing alright on that front.

10. What is the longest amount of time you have gone without writing a blog post?

I think it was actually a couple of weeks ago that I went a whole week without blogging. Naughty Jo.

Thanks again to Chloe for tagging me!

I tag the following lovely bloggers:

Helen - Helen Hearts

 Katie - Katie Lew La 

Kerry - Kerralina

Louise - Confetti Letters

Rachel - Rachel's Journal

Plus anyone else who fancies giving this a go, just leave me a link below so I can check out your version!

Jo xx

How I Spent my Daxon Voucher (plus Easter Nail Art!)

Hello strangers, hope you all had a lovely long Easter weekend and ate double your body weight in chocolate! Before we start with the intended post I'd like to show you the nail art I did over the Easter weekend, which was inspired by Make-Up Savvy's (much neater) version here.

Not going to lie, I'm quite proud of how they turned out! Granted they're not as good as Fee's, but still...

Anyway, I have a relatively overdue post for you lovely lot today. I apologise for my lack of blogging recently, I am midway through tackling my dissertation and other assignments so as you can imagine I am in fact dying a little inside.

You may remember me blogging about the fabulous opportunity to become a part of the Daxon Blogger Network a few months ago (you can find said blog post here).

Well today I am going to show you a couple of things I purchased with my £50 Amazon voucher!

Wooden peep toe platform heels* | Amazon | £17.99 £15.99

I was desperate for some comfortable new black heels, as every pair I own rubs my poor toes to death. Admittedly, these do rub a little but I forgive them just because they are that damned pretty. Love.

Grey Converse All Stars* | Amazon | £34.99 £22.74

I have also been lusting after a pair of converse for so long it's unreal, and I am well and truly in love with these beauties. Although I was originally swooning over a burgundy pair, I am so glad I got these dark grey ones, as the colour is just perfect and goes with more or less everything in my wardrobe. Now I've just been left wondering why it's taken me so damned long to invest in a pair.

I did actually pay around £32.99 for these, but as you can see they have now been reduced by a significant amount so I would snap them up while you can if I were you, bit of a bargain there!

I'd like to say a huge thank you to Daxon for my amazingly generous £50 Amazon voucher. As you can see I did have a little bit of fun spending it, even if it did disappear rather too quickly for my liking.

Did you manage to get your hands on one of the £50 vouchers?

What did you spend it on? I'd love some links so I can have a nosy!

Jo xx