garnier summer body vs. johnson's holiday skin!

hey everyone!
this post is coming from the holder of the most pastiest legs ever!
in the summer, i find my face, arms and chest tan really easily and i generally go a golden colour. however, when it comes to my legs - nada!
it looks a bit silly really, it looks like i've subtly fake tanned my whole body but forgot to do my legs!

i've always had this fear of fake tan - i've never tried it but i know that if i did i'd end up looking like the love child of an oompa-loompa and snooki!

so i thought it was about time i found a really good gradual tan for my legs!
i've only tried two so i thought i'd review the two that i have tried.

johnson's holiday skin:-

quite frankly, i think this was an absolute let down.
firstly, i am one of those people that when i start using something i want to see results instantly. so when i try a gradual tan i want to start seeing results within about 5 days!
i didn't see any results with this. i even started using it day and night at one point and still nothing! i am quite pale, so i don't think its because i was using the palest one because my legs are so pale they could blind! so if i can't use the subtlest one who can?!
secondly, on the back of the bottle it says that you need to let the moisturiser sink in completely before you put your clothes on, but i wasn't expecting it to take about 10 minutes! i found it left my skin quite sticky and it just sort of sat on the skin and didn't properly sink in.
so as you can proberly tell, i am not a fan of this. it has a pleasant smell i spose, but i didn't use it for the smell i used it for the tan and it didn't do anything :(
1 star - and that's pushing it ;D

garnier summer body:-

after the johnson's holiday skin i had kind of lost faith in gradual tan, but i knew i had to do something about the legs so i had to give another one a go!
my friends had been using the garnier summer body and i had also heard about it in the blogging and youtube community, so i decided to give it a go.
the thing i fell in love with instantly was the smell! it has a gorgeous apricot scent and is just so summery!
i knew it would be moisturising too because its from the same sort of line as the 7 day intensive lotion which i also love.
i noticed results with this within three days which is amazing - i really wasn't expecting to see results that quickly! it gave me a really nice natural colour. i got the most subtle one because of my paleness and it made my legs looked naturally tanned instead of looking so orange!
also, there is absolutely no waiting around for this to sink in. it does say on the back of the bottle that you do have to wait so i was expecting thay it might take a while but i didn't have to wait at all!
i am so happy with this - definitely 5 stars! i am no longer a pale-legged freak :D

i definitely recommend the garnier summer body and steer clear from the johnson's holiday skin!

thanks for reading!
xo

Hello Stranger!

Well, hello there!
I really hope you are all well, as its pretty obvious that I haven't blogged in ages, in fact its been since April, which is actually quite embarrassing!
But honestly, it has been the season of GCSE's *shudders* and they have had to take priority. And not only have I had to revise, I've had to make sure I see friends and family and just have a bit of almighty chilling time!
However, my exams do end soon - a week tomorrow! Yippeeeeeee! Freedom, well, until September when its A-Level time! But I am quite looking forward to starting my A-Levels because I really enjoy the subjects I want to take and I think it will make the experience a lot more enjoyable - well, as enjoyable as A-Levels can be!

So as I said my exams finish a week tomorrow and then I've got a really long summer, so much more blogging!

Please leave any requests for posts you have down below and I will do my best to do them!

Please forgive me!
Thanks for reading!
xo

imagine all the people

jumper - ebay

skirt - fit and flare dress from topshop

boots - peacocks

bracelets - gifts, ebay, dorothy perkins

hey everyone!

just another quick ootd. never thought of putting a jumper over the dress before but i really like the casual look it gives!
and i love the jumper because it has lyrics to john lennon's 'imagine' in the peace sign, which is one of my favourite songs! :D

thanks for reading!
maddie xx

review | bomb cosmetics 'choc around the clock' brulee

hey everyone!
i got this from my friend for my birthday like, last september but never got around to using it. then sunday night i decided it smelt too good to leave so i used it for the first time and... oh my god.
okay, it says on the packaging that you drop it into your bath and it relases all sorts of essential oils and shea butter and all that jazz, then you take it out and you can use it again! (which is why it's not looking it's original self in the picture.)
i dropped it in my bath, left it in for about a minute then took it out again. there was a bit of all the essential oils still left on top of it and it felt like heaven! i used it with the lush ma bar bubble bar so you can imagine the wonderful chocolatey smell. when i got in the bath, the water was sooo soft and smelt like absolute heaven! i didn't even need to moisturise when i got out of the bath because my skin was so soft!
in its original packaging, it looks like an adorable little cupcake and it comes in the cupcake case so i'm guessing thats the idea!
i think you can get bomb cosmetics in little bath and body type shops everywhere. i know there's one in my town and one in a little town near me too. they have a website and i would highly recommend trying out some of their products! i'm definitely going to be trying out some more stuff from there!

thanks for reading!
maddie xx

banana and chocolate chip loaf!

                                        
                                          unappetising mashed banana!

                                                          

            about to go in the oven - sorry about the flash!              

the finished product :)

hey everyone!

i do love a spot of baking and i decided to make a scrummy banana and chocolate chip loaf! it's fabulous!

here's what you'll need and how to do it!

1 and a half bananas

75g of plain flour

75g of caster sugar

50g of butter

half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

half a teaspoon of baking powder

1 egg

1 tablespoon of milk

50g of chocolate chips (i used milk chocolate)

• Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas mark 3. Grease/line a loaf tin. Mash the banana with a fork in a mixing bowl.
• Add the rest of the ingredients except the chocolate chips. Wisk them together (i used an electric hand wish - will be so much easier!) until combined and smooth.
• Stir in the chocolate chips and pour/spoon the mixture into the loaf tin.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until it's golden brown on top and is shrinking away from the edges of the loaf tin.
• Leave it to cool for a bit, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.

and that's it! easy peasy! and i'm not going to lie it tastes absolutely divine! :)

I hope you give it a go and enjoy it as much as i do hehe!

thank's for reading!

maddie xx 

current faves!

soap and glory clean girls body wash - such a lovely body wash. so moisturising and creamy! its also got that famous floral yet vanillary soap and glory scent, and when i come out of the shower not only do i feel as soft as a marshmallow, i smell good enough to eat! if i do say so myself hehe

soap and glory scrub em and leave em body scrub - great stuff! and its not one of those scrubs where you get a little scrubby thing every now and then, and you have to use one for your whole arm (grr.) there's loads of those little scrubby ball things packed into this! it has the same scent as the clean girls body wash, and those two used together are a lethal showering combination - brilliant!

no7 hot cloth cleanser - i stopped using this for a while, i don't know why, maybe its because i started to get a bit lazy with my skin in the evenings! but lately i've been using it to take off my makeup instead of using a makeup wipe and it leaves my skin feeling so clean and soft. i've been following it up with the clean and clear blackhead clearing daily scrub every evening and it's been doing a lot of good for my skin!

simple rich moisturiser - i only use this in the mornings under my makeup and its great for that! it's also a good moisturiser! i don't know what else to say about it really hehe but its a fabulous moisturier!

umberto giannini salt spray - review here :)

sleek new skin revive foundation - review here :)

maybelline gel liner - i also have a review of this, but it was my first ever post and its quite shocking haha! but its a great gel liner. i don't think there's many good drugstore gel liners out there, but this one is fantastic. stays in place all day and is really pigmented - what else could you want from a gel liner?! highly reccommend this!

prestige higlighter - i've found that i definitely prefer powder highlighters to liquid ones - i definitely favour this to benefit's highbeam! this is part of my everyday makeup routine (when i actually where makeup) and i use it along the tops of my cheekbones and down my nose. it gives a gorgeous glow to the skin!

sarah jessica parker nyc fragrence - this really is the most girliest perfume i think i've ever smelt! and it's definitely my favourite perfume. sooo fruity and floral and a great everyday perfume because its not too heavy but i wear it on all occasions!

miscellaneous favourites...

cherries on snow yankee candle - i got this after christmas when all the christmas yankee candles went down to half price. i really like it because its a strong cherry fragrence but not too strong to be unbearable because its got that light, fresh smell which i suppose is the snow! lovely :-)

the shopaholic books - i've read the shopaholic books before and i absolutely loved them! so much so that i'm reading them a gain! the secret dream world of a shopaholic is the first in the series and i just find them so funny! sophie kinsella is a fabulous author!

i had to stop reading never let me go because i found it so boring - it just dragged on and on! didn't like it at all!

arthur - this is my absolute favourite film of all time! it has russell brand, helen mirren, jennifer garner and the girl from elf in it, and it's the ultimate feel good comedy film! i think everyone needs to see this its just so great!

my ipod - i absolutely love music and my ipod must get use atleast 5 times a day so i thought it was worthy to be in my favourites!

thanks for reading!

maddie xx

catch up

hey everyone!

so the easter holidays are upon us - yippee! however soon its gcse season and therefore, revision. *boo.* but i refuse to be bogged down with work! i mean, of course i'll be doing revision but a girl's gotta have a break right?! it's definitely gonna be a chilled one, and next week is my friend jemma's 16th so we're going out for a meal for that!

yesterday, i got something of my long fashion wishlist! if you follow me on twitter you may have seen that i FINALLY got a vintage levis denim jacket! aaaaah! and for an absolute bargain price of £6. yes, you saw that correctly. my mum's friend sold it to us and i love it too much. i think i may have just encouraged Kudzai (blog here) to get one hehehe!

i ditched the blondeness on saturday and my auntie put a lovely light brown colour over my hair, but its really natural looking cos some of the blondeness is still showing through so it's brown with a goldnen hint to it. that makes no sense whatsoever. i'm not down on the hair terms.

sorry if you thought this was a boring post but i like to enlighten you on what i've been up to even if you don't care haha!

hope your all well and having a lovely easter break if you're having one!
thanks for reading!
maddie xx