MIAM

MIAM

Friday 19 February 2016

Five On Friday

We've had a few nice days this week, the sun has made an appearance and there have been glimpses of blue sky .....well, it's galvanized me into action.  I've been aware for a while that Chez Moi has been looking tired and was in need of a shake-up, (rather like the owner) a few changes here and there and a deep clean of several manky cupboards

Here are five things that will make a difference

1. Daffs
The addition of a 90p bunch of daffs always brightens the place up and gives a whiff of spring...what's not to like?




2. Dresser
I recently came across this dinky dresser in a damp draughty poly tunnel, it had a covering of moudly 'bloom' and was looking rather sorry for itself.  When the proprietor told me he only wanted twenty five quid for it I snapped his hand off. It's perfect for a narrow area in my kitchen/diner, I've had my eye out for a small dresser for years, but you know me, I didn't want to pay proper money for it.  It's drying off in my conservatory before I give it a paint job. I'm considering chalk paint which I've never used before, so if any of you have any tips or advice about it, I'll be glad to hear them.


3. Welcome sign
Last year my garden table fell to bits, well it didn't owe me anything...it was a Wilco job that I'd had for over ten years but I didn't want to chuck the wood away.  The table top now conceals my compost bin and I asked my dad to saw other bits into smaller pieces for me... he looked at me as if I was barking when I said I wanted to make a sign with it.  Here's what I did.





It's not quite finished yet, it needs sanding down around the edges and I may drill a couple of holes in the top and add some wire to enable me to hang it.  I painted the word with a tester pot of emulsion and then sanded over it...not bad for nothing eh?


4. Upcycle
 I've been trying to come up with ideas for my conservatory, so that it looks less like a dumping ground and more a chic garden room.... without spending a shed load of money.  Ha!   'Upcycle things you already have' thinks I,  so I took an old faded box frame of seed heads and updated the background paper with a wallpaper sample.  I've got more ideas (thanks Pinterest!) but until the dresser has been painted and moved, they'll have to wait.


5. Bulbs
 I bought two trays of bulbs in Aldi for a fiver and have planted them up in small baskets I already had.
Some will be given as small gifts when I go to lunch at friends homes, (I've several invitations looming)
the others will provide more spring colour and fragrance to Muddle Towers.

Hopefully these small things have a positive impact at home and help to create a cheerful, homely ambience.
   I can't tell you how glad I'll be to see the back of this winter and the interminable grey skies.
 I've a few other projects going on at the moment, some crochet and a small stitched bit of nonsense that I will show you another time.

 I'm linking up for the first time with Amy's Five On Friday 
  Have a wonderful weekend!
























Thursday 4 February 2016

Best Budget Beauty Buys


I'm a no-frills kind of gal when it comes to beauty products and as we are bombarded daily with images of high end toiletries and cosmetics I thought I'd share with you my best budget buys.


I've been using this Garnier Micellar water for about a year now in favour of my tried and trusted cold cream.  I first heard about it on one of Caroline's beauty posts and have to say I've been very impressed with it. It removes make-up and grime thoroughly and the price for this bottle was a reasonable £2.66 at Tesco.
And there's less mess than the cold cream.  A 400ml bottle will last me ages, anyone else tried it?



My hair has always been fine and fairly thin and now I'm a certain age it's even harder to manage and that's without mentioning the damage I've inflicted on it from over a decade of highlights.  I'm loving this Avon shampoo, another recent discovery that really does 'big up' my hair...(well, as much as it's ever gonna be bigged up!)  I use it with another Avon product,


  their Argan Oil hair mask which is brilliant at leaving my otherwise lack lustre locks soft and shiny.  I buy both of these products on offer, which is pretty often.  This is usually priced around the three quid mark.


 Until I started using this Aldi serum I'd never been faithful to any particular moisturiser, but since discovering this, I buy it in bulk.  Recommended in a magazine, I thought I'd give it a try and at £3.49 it was a no-brainer.  I have been very impressed with this product and saw an improvement in my skin within weeks. One of my dad's cohorts even told me I looked younger. (mind you, we were in the pub at the time, perhaps he was wearing beer goggles!)  It absorbs into the skin easily without leaving an oily residue and has a pleasant, expensive fragrance.  I have also heard that Lacura beauty products are cruelty free, although they are not CCF accredited.

Another product I use for moisturising is this almond oil which I slap on before the serum.....(I'm never sure which I should apply first?)  I've previously used olive oil and I don't think there's much, if any difference but the size of this bottle was handier for the bathroom.  As you see,  it's multi purpose too, not only for cooking but also as a hair conditioner.  I rub some into the ratty ends of my hair before going to bed and wash it out in the morning.


This next product is only budget because I bought it in a charity shop for 50p and is normally quite pricy.  That said, I bought a large gift set one Christmas when it was half price and it lasted most of the year.
The spicy fragrance of this Sanctuary product is a winner with me and I love the luxurious feel of oil.

Lastly is this Lacura Caviar Illumination Day Cream from Aldi.  At £6.99 it's as much as I'm ever going to pay for a face cream but I'd read good things about this in a review.  On the shelf in the store a notice said customers were limited to four per purchase, similar to the launch of Boot's Protect & Perfect which flew off the shelves.
I haven't tried this yet so if anyone's interested I'll have to let you know my thoughts at a later date.
 

Do let me know in the comments what your best budget beauty buys are?



This is not a sponsored post.... as if!