Nivea Men Post Shave Balm || Primer

Before anyone thinks I've gone mad and bought a mens shaving gel thinking it's a primer, I've not, I did intentionally pick this up as I had heard it made a really good primer. The product contains a lot of glycerin which is perfect as a primer because it locks in the skins moisture and provides a smooth, non-greasy base for make-up application.

The packaging of the product is quite simple like most Nivea products, although it does feel more luxurious than most as its in a glass bottle. Which is fab because it makes the product look nicer but a bit of an inconvenience for travelling with.

I don't usually bother with primers because I've never found one that doesn't leave my face feeling like it has some kind of film on it and I personally have never really noticed much of a difference. However, this one was entirely different - potentially because it hasn't been designed for use as a primer, it just sinks into the skin like a cream. You also only need a teeny tiny bit because it is extremely runny which is something to bare in mind when pouring it out to use. 

I apply it after my moisturiser has sunk in but before my foundation/base make up which tends to be the way this product works best. That being said, one time before a night out I forgot to put it on but wanted it on so I applied it on after and just blended it over my foundation with my foundation brush and it still worked and didn't affect the way my foundation sat on my skin. My make-up usually lasts really well anyway but it was still perfectly in place after nights out and I also wore it to work and went to the gym straight after and my makeup still looked as if I had just done it. So I am really impressed with this products ability to prolong the longevity of makeup.

The best part about this product is that it cost me £4 in Tesco which is cheaper than most drug store primers let alone high end ones like Benefit's porefessional, wh

ich I have tried and didn't think it made the slightest bit of difference. You can also pick this up in Boots or Superdrug as well. 

The only potential downside to this product (apart from it being easy to spill with it's runny consistency) is that it smells like a mans product which might irritate some people but after a few minutes the smell fades away so I personally don't think it's a problem.

Lots of Love,

A

♥

Goodbye 2015 || Hello 2016

As 2015 is drawing to a close I just wanted to share a little message with you all to wish you all the very best in 2016 and to explain a little about what has/is going on with my blog. 

2015 hasn't been the best year for me, in fact I'd go as far to say it was probably the worst so I for one will definitely be welcoming a fresh year with open arms!! I know I haven't been the most regular with my blog this year and I know I went MIA with very little explanation so I'll try to shed some light on that. I was going through a difficult, stressful breakdown of my 2 year relationship which as you can imagine was very difficult and something I didn't feel ready to talk about for a long time. It was a very unhealthy relationship and I am in a much better situation now. As I think most of you know, we both have a puppy together too so there was a lot to sort out regarding him, I do still see Luca and he is very much a big, positive part of my life. Then it's also my final year of university so that has been keeping me very busy because the work load for that is insane!! Lastly there was a lot of things that went on all around the same time which made my anxiety and panic attacks bad which resulted in me needing counselling and CBT at the mental health hospital. All of this was quite confusing and was a massive change to my lifestyle so I just needed to take a step back from everything which I hope you can understand. However, I am much better now and in a really good place with my life and have come out of it much stronger so please don't worry/feel sorry for me etc because I really am much better for it. 

I'm feeling super positive about 2016, I've said goodbye to a lot of negative people and moving forward I think this year is gonna be a good one!! I've got amazing supportive friends and family and I'm healthy and getting a degree and I'm feeling 100x better than I was this time last year. If anything I think it's made me much more grateful for what I do have. I promise I will be posting more on my blog especially after May when university finishes, it is my internet baby and definitely not something I intentionally stopped doing. Just sometimes life gets too much and I didn't want to put out half hearted content or come across as down and unhappy because I want my blog to be a happy place.

I just wanted to share that message with you as the year comes to a close because I post so much of my life on here and I feel it's only fair to explain my absence somewhat and to let you know that I'm still very much here. I also want to let you know that if you're going through a hard time at the moment then it does get better, just hold on in there and you'll come out much stronger for it, I promise.

So here's to 2016, whether you've had a bad 2015 or a fabulous one, I really hope 2016 is even better and that you all celebrate in style tonight!!

I love you all so much,

Lots of Love,

A 

♥

Girls Christmas Dinner || Frankie & Benny's

A few weeks back Frankie & Benny's got in touch with me and asked if I would like to have a girls Christmas meal where we could try out their Christmas menu. We all love Frankies & Benny's so were delighted to get to try out their Christmas menu. On their Christmas menu you can get a three course Christmas meal for just under £20 or a two course meal for just under £17. They also have cute Christmas crackers on the table which was a nice touch.

All us girls are massive macaroni cheese fans and we did get super excited over the fact that as an option for a starter was a macaroni cheese cake. It comes with salad on top of it and drizzled barbecue sauce and it was amazing, in fact two of us have already went back to have it again haha! The only criticism of this is that I'd prefer the salad on the side because it looks much nicer than having it dumped on top. 

Aimee was the only one who didn't go for the mac and cheese cake and she went for buttermilk chicken tenders which she said tasted really good!

For mains none of us actually went for the traditional turkey, me and Aimee went for the Festive pizza which has mozzarella, chicken pieces, salsa rossa and salsa verde. I went for mine without the chicken pieces and Aimee had hers with, we both thought these were really good although couldn't finish them because we were so full! Aimee wasn't so keen on the salsa verde, I actually liked it but I think there was maybe a little too much of it. 

Gillian and Erin both got the bacon and cheese burgers, they thought they were tasty but the chips they came with were slightly congealed in parts. 

For dessert we all got the chocolate yule log, this was delicious although I don't think any of us could finish it all because we were so full. The only way this could be better is if the yule log was served a little hotter but other than that it was really nice. 

I will definitely be making a few more trips back to Frankie & Benny's before their Christmas menu ends! Have you tried it yet?

Lots of Love,

A

♥

*This post is sponsored but as always all opinions are honest and entirely my friends and my own

My HD Brows Experience || Zen Lifestyle

So a couple of weeks ago, I was invited by Zen Lifestyles to get HD brows done and I've never had them done before so I was really unsure but all the celebs get HD brows so I didn't want to pass up the opportunity.

HD brows is a unique process of waxing, shaping, threading, tweezing and tinting to create the perfect, unique eyebrow that suits both your colouring and face shape. Even if you have very sparse brows, HD brows can work on a re-growth programme with you, re-shaping every 6 weeks to create a thicker, fuller brow.

The salon that I got my brows done in was the Hanover Street salon and inside it is gorgeous, currently it's decked out in Christmas garlands and gorgeous red flowers. They have really nice silver baubles dangling from the ceiling with the most amazing mirror that I most definitely wanted to steal for my bedroom. Another thing I loved about the salon is the gorgeous spa smell it had and they had the nicest water on the table infused with lemon and cucumber. It's just one of those places where you instantly feel relaxed when you walk in the door and I guess their salon name is pretty apt for how it makes you feel when you're there.

Close up of my eyebrow before HD brows 

Naturally, I have quite a good eyebrow shape so manage to look after them myself without getting them waxed or threaded and because I like my natural shape I'm always very paranoid about letting someone else touch them. The lady who did my brows (who's name I can't quite remember, sorry!) was very good, she asked me what I liked and I showed her a picture of how I like my brows when they're at their best (I'd let them grow in a bit for the treatment) and she said she would stick to my natural shape, just enhance it.

I have to say it wasn't the most painless experience, the waxing part is okay although painful when the tail of the eyebrow is being waxed and threading made my eyes water but it was bearable and I'm a complete woose so if I can hack it, anyone can! The lady also asked me how dark I like my eyebrows, I chose quite dark because that's just how I like them. I had that sick feeling as she raised the mirror, paranoid that I was going to be left with no eyebrows or a shape that I detested but I actually loved them! It was like my natural brows, with a slightly more defined arch, she managed to make my good eyebrow even better and my bad eyebrow to match it (admit it we all have one good eyebrow!) and they looked like I had filled them in but I hadn't. I was completely wowed by how much thicker and higher my eyebrows were, I have no idea how my lovely therapist managed it but I was very impressed.

The first week and a half were absolutely amazing, I had no pain afterwards and my eyebrows were amazing, I had that extra 5 minutes in the morning because I didn't need to fill in my brows. Now I do have to go back to filling them in because the tint has worn off my skin but they're much quicker to fill in because the shapes already perfect, it's just filling in the sparse hairs. 

Close up of eyebrow straight after getting HD brows done

I would without a doubt get HD brows done again at Zen Lifestyle, I've always had compliments on my brows but now I get even more and it takes me much less time in the morning in perfecting them. They are slightly more expensive than your usual wax treatment (£38) but I've had my eyebrows waxed before and I never looked at my eyebrows for weeks after and still admired them like I have been with my HD brows.

My brows yesterday in work, two weeks after treatment

If you're wanting to get HD brows done I completely recommend Zen lifestyle, I always think its better to get your eyebrows done somewhere you've had a recommendation from than going in blind cause lets face it nobody wants to be fixing their eyebrows for months after a botch job.

Also top tip if you are planning on getting them done, don't wear face makeup or eyeshadow to your appointment because it does come off with the waxing which leaves awkward patches. It's not a good idea to fill the patches in with more make-up either because the pores are open from waxing so it's tempting spots if you put make-up over freshly waxed skin! 

If you're wanting to buy a voucher for HD brows at Zen lifestyle either for yourself or a fabby Christmas gift then you can do so here.

                                  Have you had HD brows done before? What did you think of them?

Lots of Love,

A

♥

* This treatment was complimentary but as always all opinions are my own

September/October || Instagram

♥ Costa chocolate creamy cooler

♥ Love driving at golden hour

 ♥ Woo Woo pitcher

♥ Me & Kat

 ♥ Mac haul on all these lippies will be up on my blog on Monday so keep your eyes peeled

♥ Doing 110 on leg press now at the gym 

♥ Embracing my inner Blair Waldorf

♥ I made homemade Nandos!

♥ Fashion Prescription bralette

 ♥ Dream boots from Ted & Muffy, blog post coming soon!

♥ Dead cat after Halloween but at least you can have a good look at my make-up!

If you'd like to see all my Instagram posts then give me a follow at @whatabbyloves

Lots of Love,

A 

♥

Maybelline Lash Sensational || Review

It's no secret that when it comes to mascara's that I'm very fussy with what I look for. For a long time I stopped using drug store mascara's because they just did absolutely nothing for my lashes and the amount of money I wasted, it worked out cheaper just to buy a high end one. That was until I found a Rimmel one that I loved which restored my faith in drug store mascara's.

I know Maybelline in general are frequently raved about for their mascara's but this one especially is one I keep hearing only positive things about. Many have compared it to Roller Lash by Benefit that I've been wanting to try so I gave in to the hype to see if it really is that good. 

I really like the packaging of it, it's a pretty pink colour and I like that the writing is just plain black. It looks much nicer than my bright green Rimmel one and it's also a lot less chunky which is handy for carrying around in make-up bags.

The wand on the mascara is really good, it's curved round to hug the lashes much like the Roller Lash one and it's a synthetic brush which generally I prefer. However, the formula of the mascara is really, really wet and I think it will be a much better mascara once it dries out a little.

I really wanted to like this mascara but I just don't. It takes me much longer to get ready in the morning when I use it because the formula is so wet that it's hard not to get it all over your eyelids which is not ideal when wearing eyeshadow. Despite this mascara being so wet, it sets to rock hard once it's on, this is quite possibly the most difficult mascara to remove.. and this isn't even the waterproof version! If you've tried They're Real by Benefit and found that hard to remove then I would completely swerve this one. It's great if you want your mascara to last but everytime I remove it, I lose a couple of eyelashes with it and it takes me way too long to remove when I'm tired. 

Maybe this would work better for you if you had longer natural lashes so you could use less product. However, because I have awful natural lashes I really need to use a lot of product and the messy formula is a nightmare for me. I'm going to try and use the rest of it up but I think I'll end up giving it away for somebody else to try!

What do you think of this mascara?

Lots of Love,

♥

Honeymania Bubble Bath Melt || Review

 When it comes to bath products I'm not very adventurous because I love Lush products so I always have a stash of them on the go. However I recently got sent this as a free gift from The Body Shop for spending over a certain amount of money - I'll be honest I actually spent more to get the free gift because it was a pretty good free gift set. Isn't that always how it works?

I have never tried Laura Mercier Honey Bath that comes with the swizzle stick but I imagine this to be the closest version you can get of it without the price tag. It unfortunately does not come with a swizzle stick but most people have plenty of things in their house that they can use as an alternative. It has a very sweet mixture of vanilla, floral and honey and it smells even more incredible when you mix it into the bath.

 I love how dreamy the texture and colour of this is, it mixes into the water nicely and doesn't just lie in gloops at the bottom like lots of bubble baths do. It doesn't create masses amount of bubbles which I really wish it did, it just gives a small amount but the smell is heavenly. It leaves your skin feeling lovely and soft too so definitely makes up for the lack of bubbles.

It's a massive tub and you barely need to use any of it, maybe if you use more you would get more bubbles though but I think this will last a long time. Especially considering with Lush I'm willing to pay £3 for something I'll only use once but this only costs £8 and will obviously give many more uses.

What's your favourite bath treats?

Lots of Love,

♥

Nail Box || Review

A while back I reviewed a nail polish subscription box from Coloristiq and I absolutely loved their box and thought it was such a good idea however I stated that I thought it could be improved by being allowed to keep the nail polishes. Then I discovered this brand Nail Box which you guessed it, does exactly that! Sends you four brand new nail polishes to keep every month and to top it off they also send you a nail tool as well. I love that a nail tool is added because that is something I really lack in my collection and never think to pick up. 

The April box was the perfect Spring coloured shades:- a gorgeous baby pink by Essie called 'muchi, muchi', a bright coral from China Glaze called 'Peachy Keen', a pastel yellow from Revlon called 'Buttercup' and a bright pink from OPI called 'Kiss Me On My Tulips'. It also contained an Essie nail file which is already in my hand bag for those nail emergencies.

All four of these colours are colours that I love and I've already used all four. They're of amazing quality which doesn't surprise me considering they're all from good brands which is one of Nailboxes policies. I love the yellow shade Buttercup because I've been on the hunt for a good thick pastel yellow polish for so long and this is 100x better than Topshop's the 'Bees Knees'. Muchi Muchi is great at making your tan look even better and the colour reminds me of strawberry milkshake.

There are several different payment options for the box, you can pay £15 to buy a one off box or as little as £13.50 if you subscribe for an entire year. The box is carefully put together to try and include the very best nail trends. The value of the box is definitely worth it because even two of these nail polishes would be more expensive than the entire box.

The colours are all stunning so there's a high chance you'll like them all but if you don't you could always give them to someone as gift or use it as part of someones birthday present etc. Nailbox also promise to never send you the same colour twice and I think it would make a pretty cool gift to buy someone a years subscription for their birthday or Christmas etc. 

The boxes are limited edition so you do have to be quick in signing up for one because once they're gone they're gone for good. It is now too late to get your hands on this box but May's box is now available to buy and by the sounds of things it's gonna be a good one!

What do you think of nail polish subscription boxes?

Lots of Love,

♥

* This post contains PR samples

April || Favourites

I am so, so excited writing this because it is now May which means that university is over for the Summer!! Three cheers for being able to have my life back!! I don't have very many favourites this month, again.. but I have been loving these five products so had to share them with you. I've also thrown in a few non-beauty favourites this month too because I love finding new lifestyle things to try!

My first favourite will be no surprise to anyone if you read my How Now Fake Tanning post. It's a gradual tanner but not like the usual streaky gradual tanners no, this one actually gives you the colour a spray tan would! Except you can do it at home, use it on your face, it's so natural you could actually eat it and it doesn't dry your skin out because it's a moisturiser with tanning ingredients added. Impressed? You should be!

I'm not a big dry shampoo fan, I used to use Batiste but only because there was nothing better that I had found to do the job. Now I reach for Ruth Crilly's Collab dry shampoo, I don't watch her channel or read her blog so there's no bias because of who she is. It just really is a good dry shampoo, it smells good, it's cheap, it doesn't leave as much of a white cast as Batiste and it adds volume to my hair.

My favourite lipstick this month was definitely Blake's red. It's such a classic, pretty shade that would suit anyone and it makes your teeth look whiter! Obviously, anything that makes me any closer to looking like Serena Van Der Woodsen I am going to be up for. It's really long lasting, it smells delicious and I personally think it's the most 'Hollywood' red out of all the L'oreal red collection. If you want a matte red lipstick and want one that's comparable to Mac then I'd try this one out.

Aussie hair care has always been a favourite of mine because their products smell delicious and this one is no different. As I have really long hair, it tangles and matts really easily so I need to use a leave in conditioner to keep it soft and try to stop it becoming a big mess. This one also contains a heat protectant so it's a good product for multi-tasking with and I've had the bottle forever and it's still only half way down.

The face cream that I've been using this month is the gel Garnier moisture match one. I had heard it was a dupe for the Origins Gin Zing moisturiser which I've never tried so I don't know how good a dupe it is. It does feel really soothing and cooling on the face though and although the tube is tiny, it's still going strong.

My non-beauty favourites this month are tv programmes because I have had a lot of time to watch tv during exam procrastination. The first is Ordinary Lies which was on BBC One and was based around people who worked in a garage. Each week was based on a different person and a lie they told and how it escalated to something out of control. I thought this was brilliant, it was clever, sad, funny and just a good watch so definitely try catch up with it on iplayer. My Netflix favourite was actually 'Mr Selfridge' which is about the start up of Selfridges in London but I found it most interesting learning about life in that time. It features a lot on Suffragettes, the war and attitudes to woman in the early 20th century. It has two seasons and I watched both in the space of a week so it's a really easy watch (if you happen to have a lot of spare time).

What products did you love last month?

Lots of Love,

♥