Competition: GOSH Smokey Eye Palettes

Make-up.

I wear it every day; I'm too pale with chickenpox-scarred skin (plus chloasma) to not wear foundation at least. Then because I'm wearing foundation my eyes disappear. Truth be told, wearing make-up makes me feel more confident and smarter. The only problem is that I've got in a rut with my eye make-up. White eyeshadow with a slick of grey-silver eyeliner pencil smudged in (to highlight the grey of my eyes) and a slick of black mascara. I'm bored of wearing it, others must be bored of looking at it.

So when I was sent the latest GOSH Smokey Eyes Palettes to try out, I was more than happy. Smokey eyes don't have to just be for evenings and nights out, and I always like the look of them in the glossies in the supermarket or hairdressers, so I was eager to try them out on myself.

I was sent the three palettes to try out: Black, Brown and Plum and was really impressed with them. Admittedly I personally don't favour the brown palette as I'm so pale that I think it makes me look washed out, but the black palette is my new favourite eyeshadow and it means I get to use my expensive make-up brush set that sits feeling forlorn.

eyeshadow

The eyeshadow is very good quality, blends easily and lasts for hours without settling into creases. I adore it and have had quite a few compliments from work friends about the colours. I feel a bit more like a 34 year old and not a frumpy fuddy duddy.

GOSH Smokey Eyes Palettes are available from Superdrug for £7.99 each and come in three colours.

Competition:

I am able to offer five lucky readers the opportunity to win one of these palettes, in the colour of their choice. Simply fill in the Rafflecopter form below. Incomplete entries will be deleted.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday 1st July 2012 – 'Self-Portrait' (183/366)

Earlier in the year when I discovered and fell in love with Instagram, I started noticing people using the hashtag #photoaday. Upon investigating it, I soon realised that it was a massive project undertaken by a lovely and talented Instagram photographer by the name of FatMumSlim. She sets a daily prompt for an entire month at a time and there are tens of thousands of people taking part in it, the world over.

I have started and failed to complete the monthly challenge several times now, but as I am currently flagging with 366 ideas (I blame the, quite frankly, bloody awful weather!), I decided that following her #PhotoADayJuly prompts would be a little bit of a different tack this month.

For some of them, I'm going to have to be creative, like today's: 'Self-Portrait'. I'm not going to think outside the box, let's pretend there is no box!

366 #26

Half way!

We have all managed to get half way through the project now: 183 days, 26 weeks, 6 months, half a year. Well done us!

To celebrate the mammoth accomplishment so far, I'm bringing you another competition, this time courtesy of Hello Canvas.

photo canvas

Hello Canvas is an incredibly popular photo canvas site, one of the largest in Britain, and offers the ever popular facility of printing your photographs onto canvas using UV-protected inks (so it doesn't fade through sunlight exposure). One of the differences that I've noticed with this company though, is that they are able to produce canvasses from either digital or analogue photographs. Therefore if you have an old print of grandparents or parents as children for example, they can scan the original analogue photo for you, print it onto the canvas and return both to you. Nifty hey? They also offer a range of effects to enhance your photos, many of which are free. With prices from as little as £13 for an 8x8inch canvas, I think they are an incredibly reasonable option.

When I was asked if I'd like to review for them, I realised that I have nowhere else to put another canvas and so asked if they'd like to donate the canvas as a competition prize. So here you are! (If you'd like to see a review of their canvasses, see here or here)

You can win a 20×28 inch photo canvas (worth £39) by completing the Rafflecopter form below the normal linky.

Don't forget to add the badge and comment on a handful of other posts, this linky only happens because of each other's support!

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Mia Tui: Ava (Competition)

It is no secret that I am a huge fan of Mia Tui bags, in fact I own… <counts> five of them. Eeek! I have an Amelie and four Graces, my most prized one is the beautiful leather one although my red canvas Grace offers up stiff competition.

The fantastically versatile bags were originally designed as travel bags, but they were quickly discovered to be excellent change bags as there are so many different compartments inside to hold all the paraphenalia required with babies! As The Boy has grown, I have downsized from the Tardis-like Amelie to the more sedate Grace, which Mary Poppins would be very impressed with. I skipped the in between stage of the Ava for no reason other than I was trying to be brutal with the amount of stuff I was carrying around. However it is an excellent meeting point between the two, and an incredibly useful design with a plethora of pockets still and plenty of inside space.

Now one lucky reader of TheBoyandMe can be in with a chance of winning a stunning black Ava worth £49.99

[Read more…]

Goose Bedding (Review)

I seem to post a lot of photos of my son asleep in his toddler bed; mainly because I can't believe how quickly he is growing and changing, where did the last three years go? However, it's no wonder that I was asked to review a duvet set, and more recently a bedding set.

The Boy was sent a feather duvet and pillow set from Goose, who have created a range of feather and duck down bedding for our little goslings!

I'll put my hands up now and admit to having always disliked sleeping under feather duvets, mainly because my one main experience was in my inlaws' house and I always found that the feathers slumped down to the bottom of the cover overnight, leaving my feet boiling and my shoulders freezing.

However, when I read about the 'technology' behind Goose bedding, I was happy to give it a go and be proven wrong. Anything to try and keep The Boy sleeping longer in the morning, and for us to regain the hours of sleep that we crave.

I'm a big fan of sleep and will happily sleep anywhere, but it transpires that for us to get the best quality sleep (which is after all what we want for our little ones to help them grow) we need to maintain an even body and skin temperature. It seems obvious when stated, but clearly when we get too cold or too hot it disturbs our sleep and we either throw off the duvet covers or try and snuggle in more. In the middle of the night, when our body temperature drops, this is even more important. The natural materials (like the lightweight 100% cotton casing and 100% down fillings) used in Goose bedding result in reduced moisture levels (approximately 80% of perspired moisture during sleep is transported through the duvet and evaporates; the duvet acts like a filter in a way), helping to maintain the right temperature and a better quality, deeper sleep. And because they use natural materials, they are more breathable; down fillings offer three or four more air circulation than synthetic fibres, making it lightweight, breathable and allowing moisture (and nasty bacteria) to escape more easily.

With a family history of eczema and asthma, allergies are something that concerns me. However, most allergies come from house or dust mites (or rather their excrement), but they are nigh on impossible to avoid with modern living arrangements. The advantage to Goose duvets in this case, is that dust mites do not feed on feather or down. The tightly woven casing of the duvet works as a barrier preventing the house dust mites from penetrating the fabric, and stops the down from sticking in little (human) bodies while they sleep.

children's duvets

The photo on the right looks a little odd, but I wanted to show this to you. When I help the duvet up to shake it out, the light shone through and I realised that at regular intervals all over the duvet outer, there are small sections sewn together which obviously hold the shape correctly. Furthermore, they prevent the feathers from working their way down to the bottom. Impressive.

Both the pillow and the duvet are fluffy and plump, much softer than the normal bedding that The Boy has on his bed. We put them on his bed on Friday night and it's like a miracle; he has slept soundly every night since, waking up after 7.30am each morning! The Boy is obviously very comfortable while asleep, and I've noticed that the pillow retains its shape really well during his nightime gymnastics (which are also less as he sleeps more soundly).

I like the plumpness of the bedding, the quality feel to it, the fact that it's breathable and helps him to sleep better. It's also machine washable, making it practical with a pre-schooler. The duvet is perfect for his toddler bed, measuring 120x150cm, and is a 4 tog duvet which is great for all-year round bedding.

And what better review point can I make than highlighting that my son is sleeping longer in the morning?

The Goose down duvet (4 Tog) measuring 120x150cm costs £48 and the feather & down pillow measuring 57x35cm costs £18. Available from Goose Bedding and Not On The High Street.

I was sent this set for the purpose of this review. My opinion is honest and unbiased.

ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better

It's that time of year again, you might have noticed the effect. Over the last few months, the culmination of Easter, CybHer, half-term holidays and BritMums Live! has meant that there are a fair few posts which, if published at another time of year, might have done better.

This weekend is your opportunity to link-up that post that filled you with a sense of satisfaction. You typed that last full stop, pressed 'publish' and thought "yes, this will be a good one!" and waited.

And waited.

But no bugger actually bothered to read it, or if they did they certainly didn't comment on it!

Why? I can still hear you shouting it at the stats counter/comments log.

Heaven only know why. They didn't deserve it, they were good posts. It's not their fault that they were published when 500 bloggers were in London. They don't deserve to feel inadequate, not when they've done nothing wrong.

This weekend, I'd like you to help that post to hold its head up high! Brush them off, stick my badge at the bottom of the post and show them off for everyone to see. Don't be ashamed of them, help them shout at everyone:

I SHOULD HAVE DONE BETTER!

ShowOff ShowCase

ShowOff ShowCase: The One That Should Have Done Better

It's back!

After a short interlude, I thought I'd bring back ShowOff ShowCase for those posts of yours that really deserved a little more attention than they got.

Tomorrow morning from 8am, you can link up The One That Should Have Done Better. Don't forget to comment and share the blog love!

ShowOff ShowCase