Hello World,

How are you? I’m having the most delicious weekend in Derby so far. After a long tiring week, I finally managed to catch up on some beauty sleep. Yup that’s right, I’ve been in my PJ’s all day and I’ve loved every second of it. There’s something so comforting about warm fleecy cotton. M&S do lovely lounge-wear that incidentally I need to top up on and I’ve just realised I sound like an OAP. But that’s alright (I’m embracing my inner Miss Marple whilst enjoying my fleece meerkat PJ’s).

OK, back to speaking of beauty. I booked myself in for a mini-makeover at the Liz Earle counter at Boots, Intu Derby. I was looking to update my beauty regime and was in the capable hands of Sandra. I was shown products from the daily beauty regime range (toner, spritzer, daily moisturiser, exfoliator + 2 cleansing cloths) plus skin tint moisturiser, lipstick and lip-liner.

Now, Sandra has a fantastic eye for detail and magic fingers. I had popped in straight after work and I was looking and feeling as if I’d just done ten rounds with David Hayes (tired as hell and looking like a walking talking tired old wrinkle). You know that fairy godmother in Cinderella? Well I liken Sandra to her. She transformed me back to a pretty human and I walked out of Boots with a spring in my step and the renewed will to write.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to be wowed. I just thought I’d duck in after work, spend 10 minutes being shown the product range and walk back out feeling blah. Boy was I wrong. I’ve sampled many makeovers from larger department stores (cough, Selfridges, cough) and Sandra’s session is on top of the list. We went through the cleansing routine, tips and tricks to revive tired eyes and tried new shades of lipsticks. I loved the Heather lipstick and Juniper lip-liner, which complemented my fresh glowing skin. (I would have posted pictures, but my phone was being erratic and the pics didn’t come out properly – next time I have a makeover I promise to be more pictorial.)

And I’ve never used skin tint before, being strictly a foundation gal. The skin tint has better coverage and leaves the skin with a natural glow. I think I may be a convert, I really loved it and is now on my To Buy List for next month. (I couldn’t buy this time round, having dropped a mini-fortune but it’s definitely on my radar as a must-buy for next month.)

I bought the Daily Essentials Kit (£45) and 50 EDP Number 100 perfume (£47). This scent has now one of my favourite of all time (right up there with Estee Lauder’s Modern Muse, Hermes’s Eau de Mervaille & Sisley’s Eau du Soir). The perfume is 89% derived from natural ingredients and whenever I’ve worn it, always get compliments. What’s your favourite scent and has it changed over the years? I’d love to know!

Ciao for now,

RAxx

PS I heard yesterday that Aldi are doing a KitchenAid-esque cake mixer launched this weekend I can’t wait to check it out!