32.____Cash Strapped Skin Care

After reading a blog by Christina Lindsay on www.fashionsmostwanted.blogspot.com on credit crunch skincare, I dutifully headed off to my local Body Shop to investigate further.

To my delight I found their skin care had a 3 for 2 offer on, so for £22.50 I got the Vitamin C Skin Reviver, the Vitamin E Moisture Serum & the Vitamin E moisturiser, because I'm a Love Your Body card holder I also got the Vitamin C Eye Reviver for free! Not a bad haul.

       

I've tried them a couple of times, I'll report back when I see the results! I tried the Vitamin E Moisture Cream on The Boyfriend and he didn't mind it, which could give it extra points as being good for men too! We'll see if he stays still long enough for me to try it again...

I already use Soap & Glory, Off Your Face face wipes, which smell really nice! And again, The Boyfriend doesn't mind occasionally stealing one of these! They easily wipe off make up, eyeliner & mascara, which is a great help after a night out!

These are about £4.00 a pack but they're often on offer in Boots on 3 for 2 or money off, apparently they're also sold in Harvey Nichols, if you stumble in there on your way to Boots.

I'm also itching to try these Soap & Glory products; 

Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser, £9.00 for 100ml, is a more luxury alternative to the face wipes - when you've got time rather than a drunken attempt not to mark your pillows!

The Greatest Scrub of All £8.00 - a face scrub which I've heard rave reviews from some friends - male ones included! Might have to accidentally leave this in The Boyfriend's bathroom ;) 

Scrub Your Nose In It, £7.00 125ml - a face scrub which can also be used as a mask - a cheaper (& probably better) alternative to Benefit's Honey Snap Out Of It Scrub - £19.50 for 150ml.

Cleansing has always been something that I forget to do, but recently on a jaunt to Edinburgh, I bought some Kiehls products - these are brilliant, if not a little expensive.

I have the Centella Skin Calming Cleanser - for really sensitive skin - this is good, but it was a little painful buying it at £29.00 for 200ml.

The Cucumber Toner is great, leaves your skin feeling really clean and fresh & The Boyfriend has been known to pinch this - this is a tad more reasonable at £16.00 for 250ml.

Finally, I have the Supremely Gentle Eye Make Up Remover, this is good, but a little hard to apply - cotton buds are best for removing eye liner, but it does work! Although, it's a tad steep at £17.00 for 125ml.

To be honest though, if you are feeling a bit more flushed and want to spend some money on your skin care, Chanel is always brilliant, they work, smell gorgeous and leave you feeling sophisticated if nothing else.

31.____Flickr

I've got some photos on Flickr, mainly of my travels but there's a few more, feel free to have a look.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/charliesmoothy/

30.____Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton have launched a new ad campaign for its A/W 2010, and I love it, it's so feminine and is a step back to  glamorous fashion, Coco Chanel would be proud.

The models are Christy Turlington, Natalia Vordinova and Karen Elson. Shot by Steven Meisel in New York, the ad releases in fashion magazines in August 2010. It is undeniably beautiful, recreating retro Hollywood glamour, which Louis Vuitton is trying to bring back to the forefront of fashion. I'm definitely on board, women are meant to be beautiful, sophisticated beings, and this is a brilliant celebration of that.

29.____Tag Heuer Monaco

The worlds most gorgeous watch, I really want it! I've requested it for my 21st, although my dad did make an almost strangled noise when I mentioned it, it's not really my fault! He is a jeweller and he did ask me to work for him, I just happened to try the pretty watch on and it suited me, oh what a pity!

Cheryl Cole wore it in her video, Parachute, so clearly, I have good taste!

28.____Kenya

On Tuesday evening, I landed back in Blighty after 2 weeks in Kenya, soaking up the African sun and paddling in the Indian Ocean. We had a wonderful time, although, we didn't realise that we were in Kenya's winter, so it did rain a bit but it was warm so it didn't matter too much.

The sunset was beautiful, as was the sunrise.

Sunset.

Sunrise.

Kenya was a real eye opener, we had a fantastic time but didn't quite realise what a third world country that it actually was. We saw a Shanty town, where whole families would live in a room which was roughly about 8 x 6 feet, and would pay up to £300 for the privilege. For us, it was incomprehensible, but for them that was the way of life. We met a waiter who's daughter was at a boarding school 40km away from where he lived, it took him 5 hours to get there, a journey which would take us a maximum of 40 minutes.

"Sainsburys"

This was one of the first things that you saw as you left the hotel, "Sainsburys", the people were desperate for any trade, barely getting any money, and most of what they sold was overpriced but they had nothing and desperately needed everything.

The Tusks In Mombassa

Mombassa's most famous land mark, not made of ivory as our guide informed us, however, we'd already seen the sheet metal, they were, though, HUGE!

Spices at the Market

The market was nothing like I'd been in before, the hustle and bustle was unbelievable, but the colours of the spices were amazing.

Local School Children & a 120 year old Giant Tortoise.

The children were lovely, they were on a school trip to Haller Park with their French teacher, they shook our hands and smiled, coming up to us. Their teacher asked us to be in a photo with them, it was such an honour, to know that we'll grace a wall in a Kenyan school, and were a little part of something was amazing. Unfortunately, I was as tall as the children, so you can barely see me over the top of them!

All in all, we had a great time, Kenya is definitely worth a visit, but Europe it ain't.

27.___Dali

Salvador Dali was, to be honest, a bit of a lunatic, however, his works are wonderful, for example;

Sleep.

Clock?

Swans

The man himself was born in 1904, and lived for an epic 84 years, being born and dying in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain. He was, without a doubt the father of the Cubist movement, so many artists owe him their fame. 

26.____Lady Georgiana

This is a letter I found, which I love, it's one which really makes you look twice at yourself and teaches you to smile even when it's hard.

Dear Lady Georgiana,

-Nobody has suffered more from low spirits than I have done - so I feel for you.

1st. Live as well as you dare.

2nd. Go into the showerbath with a small quantity of water at a temperature low enough to give you a slight sensation of cold, 75º or 80º.

3rd. Amusing books.

4th. Short views of human life - not further than dinner or tea.

5th. Be as busy as you can.

6th. See as much as you can of those friends who like and respect you.

7th. And of those acquaintances who amuse you.

8th. Make no secret of low spirits to your friends, but talk of them freely - they are always worse for dignified concealment.

9th. Attend to the effects tea and coffee produce upon you.

10th. Don't expect too much from human life - a sorry business at the best.

11th. Compare your lot with that of other people.

12th. Avoid poetry, dramatic representations (except comedy), music, serious novels, melancholy, sentimental people, everything likely to excite feeling or emotion, not ending in active benevolence.

13th. DO GOOD, and endeavor to please everybody of every degree. 1

4th. Be as much as you can in the open air without fatigue.

15th. Make the room where you commonly sit gay and pleasant.

16th. Struggle little by little against idleness.

17th. Don't be too severe upon yourself, or underrate yourself, but do yourself justice.

18th. Keep good blazing fires.

19th. Be firm and constant in the exercise of rational religion.

20th. Believe me, dear Lady Georgiana,

Very truly yours, - SYDNEY SMITH."