Garnier Dark Spot Treatment Serum | Review

Surprise surprise, I've got another review for you guys! The Garnier Dark Spot Corrector moisturiser review that I wrote at the end of last year is still the most popular post of mine to this day, so I thought I would follow it up with a review of their recently released intensive renewal serum. 

 I bought this product because even though I did like the moisturiser that I just mentioned, it just wasn't working as well as I would have liked it to. When I saw that Garnier were releasing an intensive serum version of the moisturiser I just had to rush out and buy it! I have been using this product for a few months now and I only have positive things to say. I use this because I have discolouration and dark spots on my face from acne marks and spots and things like that which aren't too fun, so I'm always on the hunt for something that will help to lighten them. 

This serum has 4% glycolic acid in it (what is used in Alpha H's 'Liquid Gold') which is used to refine and smooth skin texture, and vitamin Cg which is an antioxidant and has brightening properties. It is highly concentrated and aims to repair the skin overnight by gently exfoliating the skin (that's what the glycolic acid does), leaving it feeling more smooth and lightning the dark spots over time (what the vitamin Cg does).

Now, this is no miracle product, but it does work really well. I have noticed more dramatic change using this product than I have with anything else. It has really begun to lighten my dark spots tremendously, and I use it every night before bed. I apply it after I've cleansed and toned my face, and it absorbs into my skin instantly. It has a nice little fine point on the tube to ensure that you're getting the desired amount of product out and aren't wasting any. 

This is gentle on my skin and doesn't make it sensitive or give me any sort of horrible reaction which is definitely a good thing. I just think this is a really great product and has already helped my skin so much. It doesn't really do anything for blemishes, but it isn't supposed to. So far this has been the best thing that I have used on my skin and I highly recommend it to anyone who is in the same boat as me with their skin and just wants something to work. 

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A Little Room Tour

I have wanted to do a room tour blog post for a really long time, but whenever I take the photos for it I'm never fully satisfied with how they turn out, and I'm still not, but I'm writing this blog post anyway. I hope you enjoy this little sneak peak inside my room, and if anything catches your eye let me know if you want more information on it or whatever. Also, you should know that I really don't like my pink feature wall anymore, was a choice I made many years ago! I just haven't had the chance to paint over it. Perhaps this will even inspire you when decorating your own room. 

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6 Products I Couldn't Live Without

This tag always seems to circle around the beauty bloggers world, and I have recently come across it and decided to jump on board and join in! Choosing 6 products actually turned out to be much more difficult than I expected it to be, but I managed to narrow it down to only 6, as the tag requires! So here they are :)

1. Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion

I have horribly sensitive legs, and while this doesn't magically fix them, it does help more than anything else I've tried. If I didn't have this then my legs would look waaaaaaay worse than they already do! 

2. Burt's Bees Rejuvenating Lip Balm

Even though I was a baby lips fan forever, and I still am, this has got to be my number one go-to lip balm for sure. It is amazing in every way possible. And I really love that it is 100% natural, makes me feel a lot better about putting it on my lips.

3. Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream

I have a lot of love for this product. It blends beautifully into my skin, does a reasonable job at covering all my imperfections, is lightweight, doesn't slip off my face. I have definitely been loving it a lot more as the weather is getting hotter, because it's lighter than foundation so my skin can actually breathe. You can also read a review of this product here. 

4. Sukin Sensitive Facial Moisturiser

Let me start off by saying that this smells so lovely. It has a very vanilla-like, natural sort of smell which lingers and is pleasant and nice. I do plan to properly review this product in the near future, but for now I'll say that it is lightweight on my skin, my foundation applies nicely on top of it, does a relatively good job at hydrating my skin, doesn't irritate my skin in any way. Something that I also really love about this product is that it has no nasties in it whatsoever, no artificial colours, no parabens, no sulphates, no synthetic fragrances, and is 100% vegan and 100% carbon neutral. Basically just an incredible product! 

5. Sleek Blush in 926 Rose Gold

This is by far my favourite blush that I own, it is so lovely to wear and has incredible pigmentation. I'm definitely going to be asking for some more of these for Christmas because they're amazing quality and so cheap! This one is a beautiful pinky, peachy, rosy, golden colour and really looks amazing on my skin.

6. Maybelline Cat Eyes Volum' Express Mascara 

You guys know just how much I love my Maybelline mascaras, so of course I had to include one as part of my top 6. I love this one because it is so versatile and makes my lashes look lovely. Sadly this one isn't waterproof, but it doesn't smudge or anything so that's alright. 

Now I'm tagging anyone else who wants to take up this challenge and pick their top 6! Good luck, and comment below if you did so I can read what yours were.

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Wanderlust Dreams

This is a spur of the moment late night post as my mind was filled with thoughts and I just needed to quickly write them down here. I really want to travel the world. There aren't a lot of things that I'm 100% sure of, but that is one of them that I am. I also want to live in England for a little bit of time. I would also like to fall in love young - particularly with someone who is American or British, not really quite sure why. This post is basically just to say that I want to travel and see the world, and I hope that one day I will be able to document those adventures on here. I'm writing this to hopefully be kept accountable by you guys, to push myself out of my comfort zone and get a little uncomfortable, because that's where life really begins. I don't have much else to say on this really, so I'll leave you to ponder these random thoughts of mine, and perhaps it'll even stir up new desires within you as well. 

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Banana Bread | Recipe

Whenever I come across a great recipe I make note of it in my bookmarks section, and sometimes I'll share those recipes with you guys! This happens to be one of those days. As you may have guessed from the title, it is banana bread! Yum yum yum. Banana bread is one of my favourite things ever, and it really is quite simple and easy to make. Don't forget to let me know how it turned out for you in the comments below! 

Ingredients:

melted butter, to grease your baking tray

1 3/4 cups self-raising flour

1/4 cup plain flour

tsp ground cinnamon

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup skin milk

2 eggs, lightly whisked

50g butter, melted and cooled

2 overripe medium sized bananas, mashed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease the baking tray with the butter and then line with baking paper.

2. Sift both the self-raising flour and plain flour with the cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in the brown sugar and make a well in the centre of the mixture. Place the milk, eggs, melted butter, and banana into a separate bowl and mix until combined. Add the banana mixture to the flour mixture and stir altogether until combined. Spoon the combined mixture into your baking tray and smooth the surface. 

3. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer that's inserted comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to completely cool. Cut into slices and serve with butter. 

Storage:

Store in an air-tight container for a couple of days. 

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This recipe can also be found on the Taste website. 

Someday Summary | Monday

I have decided that every now and then I am going to post a 'Someday Summary'. These are quite commonly done as specific day summaries, 'Wednesday Summary', for example, but I don't want to limit it to a specific day so that's why I'm calling it someday instead! Hope you enjoy this little update style post. 

• Even though I'm not totally thrilled with my skin at the moment, the above photos are completely makeup free! Yippee. (But they are a little retouched and filtered, thanks iPhoto!)
• My super cute cat pyjama shorts (pictured above) which I got for my birthday have become my new favourite thing. 
• I baked banana bread today and it smells amazing. Expect a blogpost on it in the coming week.
• I only have two weeks left of uni for the year, which is so exciting because it means my course is 1/3 complete already. But I have about 3 more major assignments due within the next few weeks so today has been spent planning them out. 
• It's my brothers birthday tomorrow, and we're going out for dinner tonight to celebrate so that's exciting! 
• Currently reading Zoella, Essie Button and Rose Petals 

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Birthday Week ; Some Presents

So, it was my 19th birthday yesterday! Yay, happy birthday to me. I had quite a lovely day filled with laughter, happiness, love, and friendship. Sounds super cheesy, but it was! I basically spent the day at church, and hanging with my friends. We had Nando's for lunch which is my favourite! It was actually a very relaxed day, but the weather was super hot and windy which was not fun! I just thought I would share some of the gifts that I got with you guys. I love reading people's blogposts like these, or watching their videos, so perhaps you guys like reading them too. The gifts mentioned below were some of my standout favourites, and I shall include where it is from if I know so that you can go and buy it yourself if you wish. 

Some lovely cards from my friends and family

Liverpool jersey from Sports Direct 

Real Techniques 'Powder brush' 'Core Collection' and 'Eye Shading' brushes from iHerb

Pretty little bow earrings from Prouds, I think 

Body butter from Kmart

Cat pyjamas & scottish dog pyjamas, both from Kmart

Deer teacup, Will Grayson, Will Grayson book from Book Depository, 365 book & 2014 Diary from Kikki K

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Current Favourites

What better post to do than a current beauty favourites one! I would have loved to film this as a video, but I just don't have the energy or time to do so, so a trusty blog post it is! 

These products are basically just some things I have been really loving and using a lot recently. Lately I've been going for a more natural, basic, fuss-free look and these are some things I have been using to achieve it. 

1) Maybelline Dream Pure BB Cream $15.95

I had a not-so-wonderful experience with my Garnier BB Cream as I have mentioned before, so while I was hesitant trying this one out, I actually really do like it. It has a mousse-like consistency, similar to the Maybelline Dream foundation range. It blends quite nicely and lasts all day long. So far I haven't broken out majorly from it, which is always a bonus! I've actually found myself reaching for this a lot more than my Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation, which is a massive deal for me! This is just nice with the awful hot weather we've been having lately, especially if you don't want that full face of heavy makeup feeling. (You can read my more in-depth review of this product here)

2) Sportsgirl Glow and Behold Illuminating Bronzer $9.95

I love this stuff a lot! Because it has bronze, golden, and pink shades in it it really gives you such a beautiful glow without being too bronzed or too pink. I've been using this as my bronzer, blush, contour, and highlighter lately because it's so easy and simple to use and I'm done in no time. I just think it has a beautiful finish on my skin and is so perfect for the warm spring and summer days! 

3) Maybelline the Falsies Waterproof Mascara $19.25

I feel like this is such a holy grail product and it absolutely deserves to be! I always go through phases where I don't like to wear any eye makeup, but lately I have been reaching for this more than ever. I think mascara just really helps to open up your eyes, and makes you look more put together. The fact that this is waterproof is also really great as it is only getting hotter here in Australia! 

4) Topshop Eye Crayon in Marble $3.00

This was such a wonderful bargain buy, as you can tell. And I would happily pay full price for this product. This was on sale, obviously, but I think they're normally about $10 (could be wrong, just going off memory). This colour is so pretty for everyday wear, and I love it so much because it really opens up my eyes and make me look so much brighter and more awake. It's just perfect! Lately I have just been popping this on and blending it with my finger, then putting the falsies on my lashes and I'm good to go for eye makeup. 

5) Maybelline Baby Lips Color in Berry Crush $3.95

This has been a product that I've loved for a long time, but have actually forgotten about up until recently when I rediscovered it in my makeup collection and fell in love all over again! This is my go-to for when I want a touch of colour on my lips. It's so moisturising and smells lovely and looks lovely and natural on the lips. The formula of these are really nice, and they're so great for when you want a kiss of colour without it being too much. 

6) Sportsgirl Nail It! Two-in-One Base and Top Coat $7.95

I have actually found myself wearing nail polish a lot more recently, and that has given me plenty of chances to try out this base and top coat from Sportsgirl. I know there are probably loads more out there that are so much better, but I am really quite enjoying this one. It definitely makes my nail polish last longer, and helps to stop it from chipping. There really isn't much else to say, but I'm a fan of this product! 

7) Taylor by Taylor Swift perfume $79 (100mL)

This perfume smells so so so good! I have gotten so many compliments wearing this, you have no idea. This has definitely been my go-to perfume since buying it last month. It's so perfect for everyday wear, or even for wearing out at night. It's just so beautiful and versatile. I did a whole blog post on this product, so feel free to go and read that here!

Well, they are all of the products that I have been really loving lately and using pretty much every single day! What are some things you guys have been loving lately?

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Birthday Week ; Treats to Myself

Guess what guys, it is my birthday this week! On Sunday the 13th of October I will turn 19 and I am so beyond excited, you guys have no idea. This year I have decided to maximise the celebrations and am going to celebrate birthday week, which I think is just where you celebrate and get excited over your birthday every day of the week which your birthday is on. So why not! 

I went shopping with one of my friends from uni today and bought a few things for myself whilst we were there. They were basically all things that I was planning to buy anyway, but never really got around to doing so. If you guys would like a more in-depth review of anything just let me know and I will be more than happy to do so for you! Also, expect to see some more posts throughout the week as my birthday celebrations continue! 

Handbag, on sale for $25 (normally $49.95), Sportsgirl

Tea Tree Oil $9.95, The Body Shop

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer in shade #10 $14.95 & Maybelline MasterShape Eyebrow Pencil in Deep Brown $11.50, both from Priceline

Bobble Filtered Water Bottle $12, Target

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