Turning 16: Afternoon tea and presents

April is one of my favourite months. The days are getting longer, it's just beginning to get warmer (this is the UK, after all) and there's lots of lambs in the fields. It also happens to be my birthday month. 

This year I decided I wanted to have afternoon tea at Betty's. I wasn't sure what else I wanted to do with my day, I just wanted afternoon tea (it's quite possibly my favourite meal.) We went decided to go to the York branch as it's so pretty there and not far on the train. First, we went for some food as we needed something to keep us going before our afternoon tea. Then we went for a river cruise down the River Ouse. It lasted for about an hour and was a really nice way to see more of the city.

Then we went to Betty's where we devoured our afternoon teas. I love Betty's-it's so old fashioned and cute. The waitresses are lovely (I want to work there just to get one of the beautiful embroidered blouses they wear) and the food is excellent. The raspberry macaroons were particularly nice, though the scones were pretty good too.

After that, we made our way home where I opened all the lovely presents my family and friends got me. I'd asked for some red Hunters as I've always wanted some, so I was very happy to recieve some.

When shopping, I spotted a beautiful bag in TX Maxx and really, really wanted it, but couldn't afford it, so my parents very kindly said they'd pay for half of it for my birthday. If it's possible to be in love with a bag, I am. It has two sections, loads of pockets and compartments and has both a short and long strap so it's really practical as well as a lovely thing to sit and stroke (the leather is so soft)

I also got this gorgeous watch from Urban Outfitters from my friends. Now I have it, I can't work out how I managed without a watch for so long. It goes so well with everything and just makes outfits a bit more interesting. 

I also got some bath stuff, a scrapbook, some very cute post it notes and lots of chocolate from my friends.
I've mentioned in a previous post my love of the Archers, a radio drama, and so I was very excited when I opened my presents from my sister and found she'd given me an archers CD, with episodes from the 60's and 70's.  She also gave me three Maybelline nail polishes, which I'll do a review of later.

I received some lovely presents, but more importantly,I had a really lovely day with my family, and later with my friends.

Helen x

Body Shop Skin Care

I've never had a real Skincare regime before, but after getting fed up of imperfections and oily skin I decided to look at buying some new skincare. I've always liked The Body Shop products and so decided to try out some of their skincare.

I've never had a real Skincare regime before, but after getting fed up of imperfections and oily skin I decided to look at buying some new skincare. I've always liked The Body Shop products and so decided to try out some of their skincare.

I bought two products from their Anti-Blemish range and one from their Oil-Control range. The tea tree is said to 'give clearer skin from one week' It also contains Tamanu Oil extract 'which is reputed to help generate new tissue and improve the healing process for skin.' I bought the toner and face mask from this range.

I'm not sure whether it's just the batch I got, but some of the toner separates out and settles at the bottom, so I have to knock it to dislodge it from the bottom of the bottle. Other than though, I really like this. It smells lovely, but the scent of tea tree isn't too overpowering. It leaves my skin feeling very clean and refreshed, but doesn't strip my skin and leave it feeling tight and dry, as some toners can. This is though I got it when there was a 40% off offer going on, which I believe there is at the moment....

I also bought their face mask. The Body shop says 'this instantly cooling face mask cleanses, soothes and refreshes the skin.' I use this once a week and I'm really enjoying it. Before buying this, I just used to use the cheap one use masks from superdrug on a very irregular basis.They always took around 15 minutes to dry, but after 10 minutes I'd be sitting on my hands to avoid scratching my face constantly as they just got so itchy. I could never see any results either. The great thing about this mask is that it doesn't dry so it never gets to that uncomfortable stage. I've been using this once a week and can definitely see the results. 

The last thing I bought was from the Seaweed range. It is the Seaweed purifying facial cleanser. It's £8. I like this but I'm not sure that I would buy it again. It's quite expensive for a cleanser that I don't love. I think my skin has got less oily but I think I may try out some other products from this range before repurchasing this.

Now my skincare regime is a lot more organised, my skin is looking a lot better. 

I definitely recommend The Body Shop skincare!

Helen x

NOTD:Quick and easy

I've been really enjoying bright, spring like colours on my nails at the moment. This week I'm wearing MUA's pretty baby pink (I don't know the actual shade name or number-sorry) To make it a bit different I used my nail art set to draw a pink line a third of the way into my nail. I then used my Barry M clear polish over the top. 

Helen x