My ClaireaBella Bag

This is just a small blog post today and I might do another little one later. Unfortunately my little brother came home from school sick this week and now the whole household has been taken by the same fever and are  nursing themselves back to health, including me. 

I had to share this amazing hand crafted, custom bag with you which I bought from claireabelladesigns.co.uk

I am so thoroughly pleased with this gorgeous bag! And it's pretty cool to customize it as well! You can customize the text, hair, eyes, dress and skin colour to personalize your bag! As you can see I matched mine up to my profile of blonde hair and blue eyes and a purples dress as its my favourite colour! The bag has other pretty features too like glitter, ribbons, a hand made with love silver charm, and Swarovski elements.

In April I am travelling to the Gold Coast, Australia for a month and I cannot wait to show off my bag on the beach! Its perfect for a beach bag and my sister ( who I'm going with) has her own so I'm sure we'll have the best beach bags there! ha!

They also make awesome, special gifts and I'm sure any girl who receives this would be chuffed! The bags start at £24.99 for a small and £39.99 for a large, a little pricey for those on a tighter budget (like me) but so worth it!

I hope you all have a fantastic Sunday!

Sophie Lily

xoxo

Goodbye Google Friends.

As most of you all know now the favourite Google Reader shall be no more as of first of July. Though there is some discrepancy over if GFC will be staying put I'd say the end is in sight for Google Friend Connect too as Google are encouraging Google +. If GFC does eventually go I'll be gutted as all 137 followers mean a lot to me. 

In light of this I'm making the transition to Bloglovin. If you're interested in keeping up to date with my blog please take the time to follow me on Bloglovin. I've now put the link in the side or you can click the image at the bottom of this post!  If you could it would mean so much to me!

xoxo 

Chalking It

I've loved the dip dye, non natural colours and ombre looks recently so I decided to attempt all of them by using some chalk. Though I was overall happy with the final look I did run in to a few problems. This isn't a tutorial because I wouldn't trust myself giving you advise on your hair, I'm no expert but here are just a couple of warnings.

First of all I would like to warn any of you who are thinking of using chalks and have blonde hair, DO NOT wet your hair before unless you want it to stain for a while. I followed a tutorial from a fellow blogger who was a brunette and had the misfortune of finding this out on one of the times I was experimenting.

Another thing, if you are buying hair chalks from online, espeacilly Amazon, though they may be advertised as hair chalks they're probably just ordinary art chalks which you can pick up really cheaply from all over the place! I bought mine from Amazon for fifteen pounds and regretted it once they arrived as they were not hair chalks just normal chalk but they work pretty well, it's just a waste of money when they could be a fifth of the price!

An extra hand would of been welcomed whilst I was doing this as doing round the back was a pain. From my pack I chose green, blue and purple so shade my hair in. It wasn't perfect but I really enjoyed the time playing with  the colours in my hair and I will be definitely experimenting more with the colours in the Spring and Summer as it's such a fun look. 

Id love to hear about you're experiences with hair chalk or any suggestions for the colour combo's I use next!

German Face Mask Reviews

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting Lindau in Germany, along with a quick trip to Lichtenstein and Switzerland. On my trip I decided to pick up a few face masks to try. I happily bought a few as all of them were in the range of ,49 and ,99 cents from a supermarket/drug store called Müller.

Müller Cadevera Pre&After Party

I decided to buy two supermarket brand face masks the first in which is the Müller Cadevera Pre&After Party Face Mask.

This, as you would guess it, is for before and after your "Party". There are two sachets with a different mask. in. The pre party sachet is a clear light pink gel to apply over the face and this smelt really sweet which must of been the honey and melon extract. There is also Aloe Vera extracts and this really refreshed  and softened my skin nicely before applying my make up. 

The after party sachet was a white face mask which was a more cream substance than a gel. My skin didn't take too kindly to this. I have quite sensitive skin and after I applied it burned a little and my face was very, very red when I washed it off. I can only hope that this was a sign that my skin was cleansed and any dirt from my previously worn make up is well and truly banished.

Müller Cadevera Anti-Pickel

This I bought a few of as I wanted to test the effects. An anti-pickel pack is basically anti spots mask, unfortunately like the Muller after party pack this felt like it was burning my skin and turned it bright red. This was also a white cream substance. As I don't have a big problem with spots so I rarely liked to use this product considering the effects on my skin. I assume as it's from the same brand that there is a ingredient they use that really aggravates my skin which is a shame. The pack comes with two sachets and I found you could get three uses worth out of one sachet. 

Schaebens Erbeer Maske

This was by far my favourite mask out of them all. The mask is for cleaning the dirt from your pores and purifying them aswell as preventing blemishes and aids skin rejuvenation. The mask strongly smelt of strawberries and was a light pink shade cream. The packet said "mit peeling" which I assumed meant that it was a peel off mask however the instructions said to wash it off with warm water so if anyone knows what "mit peeling" means for this I'd love for you to share your knowledge as my German is not the best. There was a slight exfoliant in this which was nice as I was applying and it didn't dry out my skin at all and my skin was very soft once it was washed.

Schaebens Schoko Maske

Now this one is pretty much all for the pleasure whilst your in the mood for pampering yourself as it claims to leave your soft and silky. The best thing about this mask is the taste! The packet says "schmeckt lecker" which translates to tastes delicious. And delicious it was. I had trouble to resist after the first time hesitantly tasting the mask. The mask was quite greasy and sticky, when I washed it off I didn't really notice any difference in my skin but its definitely a great one to use if you just want to relax and pamper yourself and it smells and tastes great!

With both the Schaebens you were given 2 sachets and I could comfortably squeeze two uses out of one sachet. These German face masks are if anything definitely value for money.

Book Review: Scarlet by Marissa Meyer *****

                                                                                                 Published: February, 2013

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

My Rating: 5 Stars

"Cinder returns in the second thrilling installment of the New York Times-bestselling Lunar Chronicles. She’s trying to break out of prison—even though if she succeeds, she’ll be the Commonwealth’s most wanted fugitive.

Halfway around the world, Scarlet Benoit’s grandmother is missing. It turns out there are many things Scarlet doesn’t know about her grandmother and the grave danger she has lived in her whole life. When Scarlet encounters Wolf, a street fighter who may have information as to her grandmother’s whereabouts, she has no choice but to trust him, though he clearly has a few dark secrets of his own.

As Scarlet and Wolf work to unravel one mystery, they find another when they cross paths with Cinder. Together, they must stay one step ahead of the vicious Lunar Queen who will do anything to make Prince Kai       her husband, her king, her prisoner."

Scarlet is Marissa Meyer’s newest sequel to the awesome Cinder, and it was a five full moons out of five!

Cinder I loved but I had some reservations on it. This book was a hands down five star for me, totally obliterating the small doubts I had in Cinder for The Lunar Chronicles. It was just so amazing that I sat reading like this…

The audience is introduced to the new characters of Scarlet and Wolf, no clues on what fairytale inspired this novel. Yet again we have another amazing heroine, Scarlet is a Parisian, fiery, intelligent character who is in the midst of trying to find her missing Grandmother when she bumps in to the charming, mysterious and slightly shy Wolf. We are also introduced to Thorne in Cinders part of the story.

At the time the beginning was a bit slow for me, I was really eager to get back to Cinder and Kai who do have their own chapters in the novel. I really liked the insights on Kai because though he wasn’t a main player in this novel it was good to see what was going on at his end. Though I was pining for more romance between Cinder and Kai, readers were substituted by the romance between Wolf and Scarlet. The romance in definitely better in this book, I guess its more forward where as in Cinder the romance was skirted which got me very giddy.

Overall this book made me howl with joy. The characters were improved, it was better paced, I enjoyed the romance more, it was funnier and just flowed so much better, the world created was much more satisfying and whole. I thought that it was fantastic how Scarlet and Cinder’s story intertwined and whilst I could guess what was going on in Cinder, Scarlet kept me on the edge of suspense trying to figure out what was panning out. The only bad thing is I have to wait till 2014 for the next instalment and it feels like it only just turned 2013! Noooooooooo!

Book Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer ****

Published: January, 2012

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

My Rating: 4 Stars

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . 

Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future

The premise for the story is just so inventive! Cinderella as a cyborg. The idea just blew me away and was so refreshing as at first I just though “oh it's another retelling of a fairytale.” There’s been quite a few of them recently. I also love how the fairytale and this story only seemed to lightly intertwine at parts rather than being constantly reminded of the stories origins as at times I completely forgot about Cinderella.

Cinder was just wow. I really digged that Meyer has made her in to a mechanic, she was intelligent without being a know it all, brave, resourceful and grounded and despite her evil stepmother and stepsister, she was loving towards Peony, her other stepsister and Iko her android. Iko is another amazing character, she has to be the most adorable and girliest android ever imagined and gifted quite a bit of humour to the tale. If I could ever have an android best friend, I’d pick her.

I enjoyed the setting of this book, set in the futuristic “New” Beijing of the Eastern Commonwealth though I wish the descriptions reflected more of the oriental setting therefore I felt it didn't meet its true potential. 

The love interest was an Asian Prince which was interesting as frankly Asian characters in books aren't very frequent. I really liked his character as despite being a prince he was really down to earth which made him really like-able and the romance between them wasn't all of a sudden nor was it juvenile.

Overall I did really love this book however I felt at times it was a bit predictable and could of been even greater if some of the elements of the book were expanded on. Nevertheless it was a invigorating read and I am impatient to read the next book as I'm sure this is going to be a brilliant series!

If you havn't, or even if you have read Cinder you should try the Prequel for free HERE.

Win £250 to spend at Urban Outfitters!

As you guys know I do like my fair share of entering competitions and this is just one of the competitions I have found.

Etail PR are giving away two hundred and fifty pounds to spend at Urban Outfitters, if you want the the chance to enter this competitions click HERE for the instructions.  

My January Birchbox

As I am sure everyone is aware of by now Birchbox, formerly known as Joliebox just launched their Beauty Box in the UK. I was lucky enough to win a three month subscription thanks to She Said Beauty so I am really excited to get to review these boxes until March!

Fresh® Sugar Rosé Lip Treatment

The fresh lip treatment was nice, I have tons of lip treatments, balms and lip glosses but this one worked really well leaving my lips really soft and moisturised for a long period not only for the first few minutes; It always a good thing to receive a product that always delivers on what its purpose is supposed to be. I also loved that taste, it reminded me of some sweets I used to eat as a small child, perhaps Sherbet, though I can't say for sure, it also smelt amazing.

Révérence de Bastien Unguent for Nails and Cuticles

I loved the fact this product was completely new to me. I normally neglect my hands and nails, most of the time I just cannot be bothered because if I give myself a manicure in two days time it will be chipped and horrid as it looks like my hands are doing the walk of shame. I also suck at giving myself a manicure. This product smelt really good and has a really silky, luxuriant texture. I'm no nail or cuticle expert though so I cant really comment on the healthiness of my nails but I do believe I have noticed my nails become shinier and stronger when I have used this product.

WEI Royal Ming firming and hydrating cream

Honestly I'm not really a fan on facial skin products, I like my simple stuff and as its only a sample its hard to ever tell the effects with these things. If someone else turned round to me and said its done wonders for them I would change my mind though.

KMS California Add Volume Volumizing Spray

I loved this, I loved the smell, it smelt so good and professional, like you've just been to a top notch salon!  I also loved the use, its boring getting products saying oh this well get rid of your damage or will make your hair shiny, but the purpose of this product quickens the time it takes to dry your hair. My hair takes ages to dry so this product I really noticed the difference so it was such a useful product! The only bad thing about this product though was the bottle, I found it really difficult to spray on to my hair, it was hard to press down and sometimes nothing would come out.

Teapigs

I don't like many kinds of tea, I am a PG tips girl and I like to stick to the regular kind of tea. Whilst I was glad I got my preferred flavour I wouldn't drink it at any other time. At least it was warm and wet.

Over all I thought his was a reasonably strong showcase for Birchbox, the products where of a good size and even though two of the products I wasn't that pleased with the other stuff I love and now use 

regularly. I also loved the magazine, I think its a really special touch added on to these beauty boxes as it is always awesome to have a little fun magazine to read about the products and other articles of interest.