This Month's Magazines

I've always been a bit of a magazine hoarder! This obsession goes back to the days when I would save my pocket money as a 13 year old and buy the monthly edition of Vogue, Elle and any magazine on offer, much to my Dad's dismay. I'd then proceed to read these again and again and save them up with the corner of pages folded highlighting the best articles. Of course, this hoarding didn't last long as I kept running out of space to keep them all but my magazine love still runs deep! So, I thought I would do a couple of posts a month looking at this months magazines, the best deals and offers/free gifts and then maybe one on my favourite articles. Let me know if you have any other ideas?

Anyway, for this post I thought I'd showcase some of the best magazine deals I've seen for May. 

• Glamour - (£1 - normally £2) - I love this one for popping in my handbag being a smaller size!
• Cosmopolitan - (£2 - normally £3.80) - Great mix of designer and high street articles
• Vogue - (£2 - normally £4) - One of my all time favourites with more designer products mentioned and a lot of style inspiration!

I've seen these magazines for these prices in all supermarkets, so I'm guessing its company promotions rather than exclusive to one shop

Let me know if you've seen any other great magazine deals this month!

Blogger's Chocolate Cookies

I love baking, as do many! With revising for exams and everything else going on, I've been baking a lot recently as my downtime in the late evenings so that I have to think about something else. I've got my own version of chocolate chip cookies that I've used for years and have tweaked to what I think to be a perfect recipe. But, lately I've wanted to try something new and seeing both Tanya Burr and Vivianna Does Makeup's cookie recipes, I just couldn't resist! (I noticed they're quite similar recipes as well) So I've chosen to mix them together a bit and even if I do say so myself they taste great!

Ingredients (Makes 12 Cookies):

275g Self Raising Flour

150g Caster Sugar

200g Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)

1 Large Egg

75g Cocoa Powder (although sometimes I'm a bit generous with this, what can I say I'm a chocolate lover!)

About 150g of both White Chocolate and Milk Chocolate

A Splash of Milk

Method:

1. Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy

2. Add the egg and mix well

3. Fold in all the dry ingredients (I find it easier to do this a bit at a time)

4. Break up the chocolate bars into chunks and stir into the mixture

5. If the mixture is looking a bit dry and not all mixed together, add a splash of milk just to add a little moisture

6. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper and scoop the mixture into 12 balls (make sure to place them far apart on the trays)

7. Place in a pre-heated oven at Gas Mark 6 for 10-12 minutes

8. Remove them and leave to cool for around 30 minutes

Link's to Tanya and Anna's Cookie Recipes!

Have you made Tanya or Anna's cookies before? Let me know other recipes I should try!

Great Christmas Discounts

Even though this time of year I always say that I'm going to be super organised and buy presents well in advance, there always seems to be something that I forget/miss and I end up running around trying to find something good! This year though, there are a few great Christmas discount codes out for these last few weeks that are great for those who have left their Christmas shopping to the last minute. Here's a little run down of a few I think are well worth checking out...

1. Boots

With £10 off orders of £90/£100, £5 off Fragrance orders of £50 and Free Next Day Delivery along with their 3 for 2 on Christmas Gifts, there's so much you could choose from to finish your Christmas Shopping by the Weekend! 

2. Look Fantastic

At the moment, Look Fantastic are doing a great 20% off of First Orders but also have some great offers on such as 15% off selected brands and 15% off £50 orders with Free Next Day Delivery. Definitely worth checking out for those beauty lovers presents!

3. Debenhams

Offering a free £5 voucher when you order online and use Click and Collect in store, you save both on delivery and get a voucher to spend in the New Year, double bonus! Also an offering of Free Next Day Delivery on orders over £30, great for getting a range of gifts with all the different things Debenhams has to offer!

4. Buyagift

For the less conventional present, Buyagift have some great offerings and a great £10 off orders over £20/£50 etc, you can hopefully find something for even the hardest person to buy for.

5. The Fragrance Shop

An extra 15% off online/instore is being offered at the moment, great again for those beauty lovers and they do some lovely gift sets this time of year!

6. New Look

Also offering a great discount for £10 off orders of £50, you can normally get free Click and Collect Delivery with this as well which is great if you don't want to pay for postage! They do some great sets for presents as well as their normal accessories range etc that I think make lovely gifts!

These are just a few great discounts out at the moment for last minute shopping, there's loads more out there though! I normally check www.vouchercodes.co.uk as they have pretty much all of the most up to date codes and some great exclusives!

 What great discounts have you found this year?

Winter Wish List

I really enjoyed making my Autumn wish lists (linked here and here) and looking back to see what I have actually got or what I'm carrying over. So I thought I would do one for Winter as well! Even thought the weather hasn't changed as much as it does from Summer to Autumn, I still find that with it getting a lot colder I need to change both my beauty/skincare routine and my wardrobe. Here's just a few things I'm going to be looking out for this Winter...

(Going clockwise from top left)

1. Knee high boots
 I've become slightly shoe obsessed in previous months and have decided the next thing I'd like which I don't have in my collection are a pair of knee high boots. These ones are from Duo and I've been eyeing them up for ages now (possibly a early Christmas present for myself? I wish!)

2. MAC 'Ruby Woo' Lipstick
I've seen so many people raving about this one lately saying that it's a staple item and I definitely think I've been convinced! Such a perfect colour for this time of year and possibly the perfect red shade!

3. The 'Boyfriend' Coat
 I absolutely love this style of coat and think it looks so chic but really easy to wear! I've been looking for one all last season but can't get one that isn't too long/doesn't look like I'm wearing my Dad's coat so I'll definitely be on the hunt for one like this!

4. New Look Tartan Reversible Scarf 
New Look have brought out a few colours of these scarves and I honestly can't decide which one is my favourite! I love that you can almost get two scarves out of one or wrap it round and get the different sides together!

5. Una Brennan Superfacialist 'Salicylic Acid Anti Blemish Pore Purifying Clay Mask'
 I've been meaning to try this out for ages and have been really been getting into using face masks more as a little pamper session in the evenings. I love the idea that this hopefully absorbs oil and helps with blemishes!

6. Body Shop 'Glazed Apple' Collection
I think this is a limited edition scent for Christmas and I'm really hoping they bring it in to their full range! It's such a fresh scent (I almost want to eat it!) and I'm going to try and stock up before it leaves stores!

7. Elegant Touch Press On Nails 
I've been trying out a set of these nails recently and am really impressed! The current pair I'm wearing have only been on for a couple of days but they're really comfortable and didn't take me too long to apply seeing as I normally get someone else to do them. I love the glitter and Christmas versions they have out though and will definitely be picking some up for parties this time of year!

What's on your wish list at the moment?

Soap and Glory Skincare Series - 3 - Instant Radiance Energy Boost Balm

In my third edition to my skincare review series of Soap and Glory products I've been trying out the 'Bright Here Bright Now Instant Radiance Energy Boost Balm' (bit of a tongue tangler!). This is a skin-perfecting cream which claims to lift, energise, tighten and brighten the skin and give a super-radiant glow! My skin has been lacking recently and I feel I quite often go through stages with my skin where it just seems a bit dull and doesn't react well to my make up, so thought I would try this out and see if it helped at all.

 

At first try of this one, as with many of the other Soap and Glory products, it did tingle slightly whilst it soaked in, but by the second go I didn't even notice it was on my skin! It has a bit of a strong scent when you initially pop it onto the skin which I didn't like too much, but doesn't smell at all once rubbed in and soaks in really easily. The formula is pretty much that of a light moisturiser, which is how I like to use it, or it can be mixed in with your foundation/base products. 

I've noticed a slight difference with this, using it in the morning and letting it soak in before doing my make up. I've definitely noticed a bit of a skin-perfecting element (I don't expect it to do much without actual concealer added in as I do have quite bad scaring) and think that it just adds a bit of life to the skin with a bit of a radiance. It's not too brightening that you glow (I have combination skin so was slightly weary but I don't get any more oily in my t-zone than before using it) and it just adds a little highlight where needed! I think it would be really nice to use strategically as a subtle highlighter if you wanted!

I'm definitely going to be trying this out mixed in with tinted moisturiser next!

Have you tried any skincare products recently you've loved?