I hadn't fallen for the Huda Beauty hype until my friend leant me her Desert Dusk palette to play with and now I can't get enough. If there's ever a palette you need to add to your wish-list it's this one and although it's on the pricier range of the palette spectrum it's safe to say it's well worth it! 

The festive period is the perfect time of year for bold red lips and all the sparkle, if you're looking to twinkle like a festive fairy on a budget then Sleek Make Up have got you covered. I was kindly sent some of their bits to try and was pleasantly surprised with each product. 

St. Moriz have always been a firm favourite in my tanning choices, there was a time when I would slather myself in the stuff and look like the annoying orange in a wig but I thought I looked proper fit. These days, I prefer a more subtle glow to make myself look less walking dead and more walking health. However, because I am a complete tool – I can often struggle to apply fake tan without something disastrous happening. 

I never buy myself a colourful palettes so when this little rainbow beauty appeared in October's Glossy Box I was dead chuffed to have a go at shoving some colour on my face - with my recently dyed hair I was also excited to see how much the colours would stand out against my darker locks in comparison to my old blonde hair. Now, I've become a bit of a palette snob over the past couple of years, truth be told I rarely wear that much eye shadow (because I don't get up within enough time to put some on) and I certainly don't play around with colour, partly due to thinking I'd look like and idiot and also due the fact that I don't wear it enough to be brave enough to blend some bold shades in me old sockets. Anyway, this lack of effort and experienced has allowed me to justify splashing the cash on my trusty old warm toned brown palettes and leave the colourful colours to the proper mermaid / unicorn princesses out there. 

If you don't follow me on social media (which you totally should btw) you'll have missed me announce the amazing news that after two years of tests, tears and a little bit of treatment Luke and I finally managed to make a baby.  I thought that I'd embrace pregnancy with open arms and be some mother earth ethereal glowing princess basking in the joys of growing a baby but I've ended up giving the girl from the Exorcist a run for her money and felt rotten for the past 8 weeks, not to mention all the other fascinating yet terrifying changes that my body has gone through; with this in mind, I've compiled a list of the thoughts, changes and experiences I've had the past 12 weeks:

I got the Too Faced Sweet Peach collection way back in April but never got round to posting about it because there's only so many variations of the same review that the Blogosphere can take. After having a couple of days off work due this pesky fertility medication making me feel rotten I decided to perk myself up by having a big fat pamper bath followed by a little experiment with some colour. My eye make-up look often consists of similar shades of brown and a generic smoky eye, the whole purpose of getting the sweet peach eye shadow palette was to introduce my make-up routine to some colour. 

It's no secret that I love coffee, after Albie and Cecil coffee is probably my second love so any opportunity to sample coffee is snapped up. With age, I've become somewhat of a coffee snob - nothing tastes better than freshly ground coffee and instant just doesn't do it for me anymore. When We Love Coffee sent me three bags of their ground coffee I think I died and went to heaven. After spending the entire day sniffing the bags I couldn't wait to get them in a cafetiere. 

Glamglow kindly send me a sample of this and I was so impressed that I had to buy it. The Supermud Clearing Treatment works best on blemish prone skin to target, prevent and heal seemingly poreless skin with a heavenly scent of eucalyptus and a plethora of ingredients such as, activated charcoal with a koalin clay-base. For me, his mask isn't like any other out there - I apply it with my hands because I'm too lazy to commit to washing a brush after every application, a little goes a long way but it needs to be applied quickly as it's drying time is short. I tend to focus on my most problematic areas such a T-zone, chin and cheekbone areas but it can be used as an individual treatment on specific spots or blemishes. 

I first remember hearing about Bare Minerals in a rather cheesy infomercial that was on very late at night years ago - women were dramatically gasping at the results of it and I immediately thought it was too good to be true and brushed it off. It wasn't until a few years later when Bare Minerals really took off that I realised that there must be something in it. More recently, I've been drawn to trying Bare Minerals Original foundation out as a healthier alternative to liquid foundation. 

The time to begin my first cycle of Clomid finally arrived and with that here is the first in what I hope will be short series, The Clomid Diaries. I explained in my previous post about our Second Fertility Appointment what Clomid and why I need it and am using these posts to log the side affects and feelings of each cycle. 

Kittens are undeniably cute, fluffy little creatures that melt the coldest of hearts but having one (or two) isn't always fun and games (for you). I see any animal as a member of family and therefore see my boys as my actual babies but that doesn't mean they're any less hard work. Getting any animal is a massive commitment and not one that should be taken lightly. If you're unsure about getting a kitten, here's five reasons why you shouldn't:

Last week's mini break to Wales has probably been one of my best kept secrets - my little old lady of a mother turned the big 50 this year and as part of her birthday surprise we dragged her all the way over to Holyhead to photograph some sea birds (especially Puffins) and have a nice break away. I wanted to stay somewhere as close to the coast as possible that was also affordable. After a quick google search, Anglesey Outdoors popped up and I was relieved with their easy to navigate website that shows when bookings are available as well as clearly outlined prices. 

It's been a long and hard four months since our last appointment and we finally have some answers. Following on from the first appointment, I had the various blood tests need to create a full hormone profile of my cycle and awaited the results. I've previously mentioned what a mind f*ck infertility is and the best outcome for this appointment would be that I don't ovulate and the worst case, that I do ovulate and more investigative work would need to be undertaken which, would be bordering on unexplained infertility -  the dead scary stuff. 

Theresa May and Jeremy Hunt recently struggled to understand / define the complex reasons as to why nurses are reported going to food banks, like being flat broke isn't the reason why. I can understand why people earning higher incomes would fail to comprehend that qualified professionals are struggling to put food on their tables but the majority of people know that nurses aren't the only piss pot poor professionals out there. Being a professional often means having contracted hours and a pro rata, per annum salary that is above (if only slightly) NMW, based on experience and level of qualifications but being on a salary above NMW doesn't mean that surviving financially every month is possible, I should know.  

I don't often get my hair done professionally, in a all honesty I find the process boring and expensive especially in those dead fancy salons where you're made to feel crap with one look because you fessed up about trimming your own fringe. Barn It in Manchester have completely changed my mind. Barn It is an up and coming Super Salon that smashes every other salon out of the park with it's classy yet funky design, luxury treatments but good old down to earth northern vibe that makes any visitor feel like a princess / real life unicorn. I first noticed Barn It on Anoushka loves and Hello Terri Lowe  and immediately knew I had to visit.

L'Oreal are bouncing around the Blogosphere like a ping pong ball at the moment and have caught my eye with product releases and campaigns not to mention the fact that they're new collections are a little bit of alright. They've gone from a brand that I usually ignore to the first stand that I head to when I'm in Boots / Superdrug. After trying their Lip Laquers and the oh so famous Miss Baby Roll, I found myself in the market for an affordable foundation and there was this Infallible total cover screaming my name from the middle of Rimmel and GOSH, literally howling. 

When we first decided that we were going to get a kitten we knew we wanted to train them on a lead - living in a first floor flat means that we don't have outdoor access and me being a clingy mess of a woman means that I'm never comfortable wit cats going out on their own but taking them for walks means that they get to explore the world superglued to my metaphorical apron strings. I ordered these teeny tiny harnesses from Amazon a few weeks ago, they only just fit safely and the boys are ten weeks old - this means that I'm more confident with trying to get them to actually walk on their walks rather than be stuffed down my coat. 

A lot of us cat owners know how it goes down when it's time to take out little angels anywhere. Charles is an absolute nightmare when it comes to travelling and getting him his cat carrier is a good 15 minute long event that results is one stressed cat and a human on the brink of an emotional breakdown. This is because Charles lived a very settled life in the countryside where his entire world was his little cottage and garden and small surrounding area. He didn't need to go into a carrier nor did he need to go in a car so when it came to moving house at the age of two you can only imagine how traumatising it was for both parties, so much so that the mere site of a cat carrier turns him 2D and wide-eyed in fear. 

This little stunner was supposed to be our only baby way before Cecil pounced into our lives. We went to visit little Albert just over six weeks ago when he was the sized of a hamster. After what seemed like forever, he finally came home and immediately settled in in with his brother. Albert was a 'normal' kitten when he came home, he was nervous shy and somewhat sad, not like the little diva that is Cecil. He's already shown his much softer nature and will creep up to me for cuddles rather than plonk himself in front of me and demand a tummy rub, he leaves some dinner in his bowl and doesn't growl whilst stuffing his face. I thin Albie looks more like a majestic Egyptian cat than the fluff ball, he has long gangly legs and paws that are slightly too big but he's bloody handsome.

This little chap was supposed to be staying at our house for a few days, considering I'd recently looked after Lucy's cat and successfully handed her back I thought I could do the same with this one. Oh how I was wrong, as it happened this little stunner was in the market for the new family and me, being and emotionally unstable cat addict pestered Luke until he said yes - which took all of forty five minutes because look at that face. 

A month ago I noticed that my skin was turning bad again, I'd started using the new Clinique foundation which worked wonders for a couple of weeks but as usual, with anything that I put on my face it started to not settle properly and come away in patches during the day. I'd had enough and decided to bite the bullet and go bare faced. My skin needed a break and to be frank, so did I. It sounds dramatic but not being able to find a product that my skin can work with gets frustrating to say the least. After two days of sporting my naked face and just as I was starting to feel a little more confident someone made a comment about me looking tired and that was it. I needed something to cover my face up, even if it was just a little bit.

Humans are funny old creatures; when we go to another with problems we immediately try and relate to help come up with a solution or to show that we can truly empathise. Telling someone you're struggling to get pregnant is a lot like when and English person meets an Irish person - there's always a Cousin, Great Granddad or distant Aunt who is Irish and they've definitely drunk guinness at least once. The same applies, someone they know or a friend's friend has also struggled to get pregnant and that makes this person the wisest person in the world and arguably a fertility expert. I know this sounds a bit bitter, truth is I am a bit but 80% of this is in jest so please don't take too much offence at my offence.