GAMING | Addicted to Sims4

So my social life has officially gone out of the window!  I bought Sims 4.  I knew I'd become obsessed so I tried to resist buying it but I just had to have it.

 

I thought I'd do a YouTube series on my adventures.  If you enjoy gaming check out my gaming YouTube channel.

 

Here's the first episode in which I create my first family which includes... well I'm not going to tell you! You'll have to watch the video to find out ;)

 

 

If the embedded video doesn't work for you click the direct link HERE

 

 

 

Do you play video games?

 

What's your all time favourite game?

 

 

 



BEAUTY | Soap & Glory Bits

 

I have a major love of Soap & Glory.  So when I was in Boots and saw it was on offer at buy 1 get one half price I knew I had to buy some more.

I decided to limit myself to 2 make up products and 2 body products and oh my the choice was hard.

The body products I choose were Sugar Crush Body Wash and Sugar Crush Body Scrub. I haven't tried either before and thought the smell of them was really interesting.

The body wash is scented with lime which has a really zesty, fresh scent which I really love.

 

I bought the body scrub as I've recently come back from my holidays so my legs are starting to get quite scaly. Is that gross? Do you get scaly legs after a holiday in the sun? Please say you do!

I figured I'd use the body scrub and the body wash on alternate days in my morning shower in the hope of getting my legs back to looking like a lady as opposed to a scaly lizard. 

The make up products I chose were Solar Powder, which is, of course, a classic and a new one for me, Sexy Mother Blusher.

There are 3 shades of the blusher. I went for Berry Jamm which is a vivid pink. The blush is in a chubby pencil form which I actually have never tried before, I've always gone for powder blushers.

The blush is extremely creamy and highly pigmented. I applied straight from the stick to my cheeks and blended with a blusher brush.  It blends beautifully and my cheeks had a wonderful, natural looking flush of colour. 

I've worn this a few times now and I'm becoming slightly obsessed (I might have to try the other 2 colours).  I love that it's slightly dewy but also slightly matte. Does that even make sense? It lasts all day and is easily removed at night. I love that you can apply it lightly for a natural look or you can apply it heavier if you'd like. I would definitely recommend these if you haven't tried them already.

 

And finally onto Solar Powder. I just love this product. One of the reasons I love it is because my initials are SG and, well, there's an SG on the powder when it's new. I feel I have personalised make up just for me. Is that sad? 

The Solar Powder is a two-toned bronzer, one lighter and one darker so you can either mix them together for an all over glow or use the darker shade to contour and the lighter shade for a subtle bronze. It isn't at all orangey which I find with some bronzers. I use this when I want a less intense bronzer.


What's your favourite Soap & Glory product?


 

LIFE | Barcelona (Part 2)

 

I'm back with more Barcelona pictures!  I've already done a Barcelona | Part 1 which included my beachy time in Barcelona.  This post is about when we went inland slightly and up on the hills.

 

Having a 9 year old boy I tend to have to go to a lot of castles. Don't get me wrong - I enjoy castles myself, but I am kinda getting the feeling that once you've seen one castle they're all pretty much the same. 

 

We decided to head up to Castell Montjuic partly because 'there are huge canons there mum' and partly because I'd heard the views of the city were spectacular from there.  Mini Greenoids happy.  I'm happy.  Perfect.

 

One problem.  Getting there.  There were 2 options - walk through the gardens (not Mini Greenoids first choice) or the Teleferic de Montjuic.  The Teleferic de Montjuic is a short(ish) cable car ride up to the top of the hill.  Now, cable cars scare me.  I'm not the best with heights at the best of times and dangling from a cable kinda fills me with dread.  Saying all that, I did want to do it.  I think it's good to be a little bit scared of something but do it anyway.

I have to say it was enjoyable.  The views going up and down were amazing.  The whole city was laid out before us. 

When we got to the top we had a look around the castle and sat for a while looking at the city and talking about which parts we knew.  I have to say, it's definitely a trip I'd recommend if you're ever in Barcelona. 

The gardens leading up to the castle are, apparently, beautiful too.  So if you can't pluck up the courage to use the Teleferic de Montjuic there's always that option.

 

 

 

After the castle we headed over to the Olympic Stadium which is only a short walk away.  I knew it was free to get in and that's always a winner in my book for a tourist attraction!  There isn't much to do there.  There is, of course, a little shop and café there.  But it was just a nice thing to go and see.  When the Olympics were in London in 2012 myself , Mini Greenoid and my sister when to watch a few various events so it was interesting to go to Barcelona's Olympic stadium and talk about the Olympics.  

 

 

Do you enjoy city breaks?

Where's the best city you've visited?

Do you prefer relaxing on a beach or sightseeing?

What I Ate Wednesday | Erratic Eating

So my What I Ate Wednesdays have now returned from the sunny skies of Spain to the slightly grey skies of Northern England. But that's ok. (Really did I just say that that was ok??) 

We're still kinda on our holidays in the Greenoid household. I don't go back to work and Mini Greenoids not back at school until Monday. It's been lovely getting back off my hols and having a week to get back in to the whole swing of normality.

I have been working slightly - catching up on paperwork and getting organised for the start of a new term but nothing major.

So, on to this weeks WIAW. I've been struggling since getting back off holiday to get back into what I would call a 'normal' eating pattern. 

 

On holiday, breakfast isn't till around 11:30am, lunch could either be a big lunch at a restaurant around 2ish or a small snack of tortilla round the pool around 3:30pm and tea? heck knows what tea could be from night to night from nibbles at a friends house to a 3 course restaurant meal.

 

My body isn't quite used to eating early in the morning yet so I'm eating kinda erratically.  I figure once I'm back at work properly though this will all just fit back in to place so I'm not too concerned.

 

I also haven't been for a big shop since getting back from holidays so the choice of recipes is rather limited.   

Breakfast 

It's pretty much a given now I'm back home that breakfast is some form of smoothie using my Blend Active. I've mentioned it before, but I really can't recommend the Blend Sctive enough, it's simply fantastic.

This mornings breakfast was 2 bananas and frozen cherries. Cherries are pretty much the only fruit that I'm not really that keen on but I did enjoy them in this smoothie.  I'm going to look in to some different recipes for smoothies this week so I can vary my usual of banana and some form of berry!

 

Do you have any good smoothie recipes?

Lunch

 

Lunch was a non starter today.  Like I said my eatings erratic at the moment.  I didn't have my smoothie till around 12pm as I was lazing around in bed for a while then did a bit of work on the computer.

 

I'm a big believer in trying to listen to my body and my body didn't tell me I was hungry until much later on so I didn't eat any lunch.  I suppose you could say my smoothie was my lunch and I skipped breakfast, as I did have it at lunch time.

Tea

 

  As lunch didn't happen i was pretty hungry come tea time! And as I've already mentioned I haven't really been shopping yet so... what else could I do but order pizza! 

 

Looking at the pictures now it looks all greasy, unhealthy and horrible but at the time is was yum.  We decided to have a movie night.  Mini Greenoid picked the film of Casino Royale and I ordered the pizzas.  Mini Greenoid had, of course, a margarita and I ordered a spicy vegetarian.  We also ordered some garlic bread to share but somehow I only got 1 piece.

 

I love pizza and movie nights!  Pizza is my favourite unhealthy food. I eat it topped with loads of veg though so I tell myself it's half healthy. That's ok right? :) 

 

Not the most healthy of days eats but there we go.  I've started running since I got back off holiday so I'm thinking I deserve a little treat here and there - considering the fact I can hardly walk and every muscle in my legs and even sides are aching! But more on that another time.

What is your favourite unhealthy food?

 

Do you find it easy to get back to 'normal' eating after a holiday?


 

BEAUTY | Glossybox August Review

I've finally opened my August GlossyBox. I know it's now September but I was on holiday for pretty much all of August and when I came home I had one of those annoying red cards from Royal Mail that meant I had to go down to the sorting office and collect my parcel.

This is only my second month of getting Glossybox but I'm enjoying them so much!

This month GlossyBox are celebrating their 3rd birthday so I was super excited to see what goodies they would be including in their box.  I had to avoid certain blogs and websites as I knew they would give away what was inside, and part of the fun for me is the surprise.

The box was a beautiful powdery pink colour and the product card was a handy foldable insert.

The products I received were

Kryolan Highlighter £12.50

Figs & Rouge Hand Cream £6.95

L'Amour Lalique Perfume Vial

Pep Cosmeceuticals SkinPep Super C15 Serum £13.99

Yves Rocher Nail Polish £3.60

Philip Kinglsey Elasticizer £12

I'm really looking forward to trying out this Kryolan highlighter.  It's not a product I've heard of before but when I looked in to them they seem to be well known for their professional make-up line.  This was specially made for GlossyBox and was imprinted with their logo and came in the shade Cashmere.

It is a versatile, lightweight cream with a gloss finish which gives cheekbones, lips, and other parts of the skin a beautiful velvety shine.

The colour looks really natural.  I tried it on my cheekbones and cupid's bow and it really does give that natural looking glow. The shade is really diverse making it suitable for all complexions.

I love a good hand cream so I was delighted with the inclusion of this Figs & Rouge hand cream which I haven't tried before.  I received the Rose Berry scent.  I love the packaging.  When I tried it, it seemed really rich and thick coming out of the tube but it sinks in to the skin almost instantly.  It's not greasy at all and is enriched with shea butter, natural antioxidants and algea extract. I wasn't overally keen on the scent as rose is not really my thing, but after looking at the website  I definitely think I might order the Mango and Mandarian version.

I love trying out new scents and am always on the hunt for different scents to add to my collection.  I suppose I didn't really luck out this box as this scent definitely has a rose undertone.  Rose just isn't my thing but the perfume is a beautiful fragrance with fresh bergamot and a musk undertone.  It's a delicate fragrance so makes it a perfect daytime scent (if you like rose!)

This SkinPep Super C15 Serum looks really interesting.  I've briefly used it for a few days now and I have to say I'm really enjoying it.  I apply a few drops morning and night under my moisturiser.  It claims to offer UV protection and collagen stimulation.  I haven't been using it long enough to notice any real benefits but I'll be sure to update you soon.



This is a teeny, tiny nail polish at just 3ml and it's GlossyBox's birthday bonus item this month.  It's a pretty pink colour and being a fan of all things pink I'm happy to add this polish to my collection.

There’s a guaranteed Elasticizer in every GlossyBox this month and a product which I’ve been keen to try for quite a while due to the many reviews I've read.

This pre-shampoo treatment was originally created specifically for the beauty Audrey Hepburn and claims to deliver elasticity, manageability, bounce and shine without weighing down or coating the hair.

I’ve not had chance to try this out yet but I'm really looking forward to.  My only issue with it is that hair needs to be wet before applying then leave on for 20 minutes. I think I'll have to do it on a lazy Sunday morning when I can take my time.

Overall, I'm really happy with this months box.  Ok, so I received a few rose smelling items but hey, that's ok. I love that I've received products and brands I've never heard of.

Do you subscribe to GlossyBox? 

What did you get in your box?

Thinking of signing up? 

Click GlossyBox to learn more about them.  Subscriptions are available as 3, 6 or 12 month plans.