THE OGX REVIEW - BIOTIN AND COLLAGEN

Happy Sunday Everyone! Today I'm going to do another little hair care review for you guys! When I was in Birmingham a few weeks ago I went a little crazy in Superdrug and treated myself to a new shampoo and conditioner. If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know I'm always on the look out for something that's going to give my hair a boost of life and create a more fuller and thicker look. So when I saw the Biotin and Collagen formula from OGX I thought I would give it a try!

I'm going to start off with the packaging because ... just look at it! It's so beautiful! I really like the shapes of the bottle too, although I have to say once you get about a quarter of the way throught it gets a little bit more difficult to get the product out because the plastic is quite tough! Scent wise it isn't overpowering but has a lovely warm and subtle floral note. So I've been using this stuff for a bout 2-3 weeks I think and so far so good! It's a lovely set and it always leaves my hair feeling clean and super soft ... but, I don't think it has done any wonders in terms of making my hair look or feel thicker? I'm about halfway through the bottles and I do really like them but it's not ticked all of the boxes for me if you know what I mean. I try to wash my hair every other day because it's super important to let the natural oils in your hair to come through. It can be quite harsh if you're constantly washing the oils away and that's one of the main reasons you can end up with oily hair because your scalp will produce more of the oil to make up for it! I'm going to carry on using this formula and see if it does make a difference to my hair but if not I don't think I'd pick this one up again? I am really intrigued by the rest of the range from OGX. I have heard some amazing things about their one with coconut in it! I love using coconut oil in my hair to keep it healthy so I'm sure I'll be a fan of that formula but I'll be sure to do a review once I've got through these ones!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this blog post, like always I will say that although I'm not completely in love with this formula it might be completely different for you, it's most definitely worth a try! Let me know if you've tried any of the other formulas OGX have on offer! I'd love to know how you guys got on, make sure you leave your comments below or feel free to tweet me! Have a lovely week and I shall see you with my next post!

THE LUSH HAUL - HAPPINESS EDITION

Happy Sunday Everyone! For me, my day has definitely been filled with happiness as I have just re-discovered a Lush Happiness Gift Box I was gifted for my birthday! I was going through my floor-drobe ... #SorryNotSorry and I found a bag full of lots of goodies that I was given over my birthday! I have to say, I don't think I've ever been excited to find a box of Lush stuff ... ever! I haven't been able to pop into my local Lush store in such a long time and I am running dangerously low on amazing smellies for bath time! And with the sun starting to show the happiness gift box is perfect!

The box comes wrapped in a beautiful graphic print with a ribbon so it's perfect for birthdays or even just as a little treat to yourself! However the real wonders are within the box! As you can see the products used are bright an colourful, it will definitely pop a smile on your face! The first thing I picked out of the box was a bath bomb, the 'Yoga Bomb' has a beautiful pastel colouring. It's very peach with a slight orange warmth! Scented with sandalwood oil it has a very earthy scent with hints of a fruity aroma. The bomb fizzes away in the bath and once the orange has come away it reveals an inner centre of purple and turquoise! The next thing I found within the box was the 'Yuzu and Cocoa' shower cream, now I have a little collection of shower creams in my bathroom but I absolutely love them. They're super rich and moisturising, this particular cream smells amazing! It smells exactly like chocolate oranges! I then saw a pop of pink peering through the styrofoam, it was a bubble bar! I have to say as much as I love bubble bars sometimes they're a little bit more of an effort? But I will most definitely be making the effort for this little beauty! This little sample size of the bubble bar is packed with essential oils and has a super citrus scent! Crumbled under running water this is perfect for a pamper evening! The last thing buried in the box was a soap! Now this will be the first soap I have ever used from Lush, I don't tend to use soaps around the house and although some of the soaps lush have on offer look absolutely gorgeous, I'd rather spend my money on something I know I'll love to use! However this may just change everything! Bohemian is a gently cleansing soap with a light citrus scent, one of the things that I am super excited about is the ingredients in the soap. I've had a quick look online and one of the things that stood out to me was the coconut oil! Everyone knows how amazing coconut oil is for your skin and my hands tend to get a little dry around this time of year so I cannot wait to start using it!

I hope you guys liked this post, it's been a while since I've done a Lush post but it is honestly one of my favourite things to write about! Hope you guys have a lovely week and be sure to check out my other Lush posts below!

The Lush Haul | The Lush Haul - Valentine Edition | The Lush Haul - Easter Edition | The Lush Haul - Oxford Street Edition | The Lush Haul - Halloween Edition | The Lush Review - Don't Look At Me

THE POWER OF MAKEUP

Happy Sunday Everyone! I'm doing something a little different for you guys ... actually it's very different! I've spoken a lot about beauty and skincare on my blog but never anything about makeup. Makeup for men has always been a taboo subject and although not many guys won't admit it, there's a load of you raiding your mums or your sisters makeup bags! However more recently it's become less controversial for a guy to pick up a concealer to cover a spot or top up their tan with a bit of bronzer ... and I'm no different! Last week I took a day trip to Birmingham with my bestie T and we were made over by Make Up For Ever! I have always been super self conscious about my looks, I was bullied through most of my childhood for near enough anything and so I take my appearance quite seriously! However I didn't want the make up artist to pile on the coverage! I just wanted something light and natural that would make me feel more confident about myself!

As I was sat in the chair I got quite a few strange looks from people passing by, but with some of the things I have experienced in my life I've learnt that I have to live for myself. In other words f*ck what people think about you, if you're happy do it! The first thing I was introduced to was the face and body liquid tint, this stuff has the consistency of water and the coverage is extremely light. I had to look really hard in the mirror to see the difference but it's actually really nice, It just evens out my skin tone with ease! Now I actually feel quite blessed with my skin, I don't suffer from a lot of acne and so I asked for a little more coverage on my cheeks because I have quite patchy and red cheeks. The makeup artist used a small amount of the Make Up Forever, Full Cover concealer which made me a tiny bit nervous because I thought it was going to look ridiculous on me, and fake? If that's the right word? But the makeup artist used it in minimal amounts and it just helped cover the redness on my cheeks and brighten the darkness under my eyes. Because I'm dark skinned I lost a little bit of the warmth my skin naturally has and so the makeup artist applied a little some cream bronzer from one of their pallets. I have to say this applied beautifully and blended in seamlessly. It just added a slight glow and some warmth back into my skin but it wasn't OTT or too orangey! Finally he applied some of the HD Powder to remove any shine from my face and if I'm honest that really is something I hate about my skin. I don't want to look shiny as it can easily look oily if you know what I mean? Once we were finished I was so happy. And that for me is the most important thing ... to be happy! I looked like me but better, I felt like me but much more confident! A while ago Nikkie Tutorials uploaded 'The Power Of MakeUp' on her channel, this was something that really inspired me and I wanted to do something similar! I know a lot of beauty gurus have done something similar but I haven't really seen any male bloggers do something like this! So I wanted to ... both for me and for anyone else out there who's like me!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this post, It really did take a lot for me to post this because I'm basically telling you guys what my flaws are and that takes a lot! But things like this are important so I'm really glad I have you lot to share it with! I'd love to see your guys take on this post, whether it be a full on blog post, an insta or a tweet be sure to tag me and let me know! I hope you guys a lovely week and I shall see you when I'm back with my next post!

'my aspiration in life ... would be ... to be happy' - Beyoncé

THE SOAP AND GLORY REVIEW - NO CLOGS ALLOWED

Happy Sunday Everyone ... And Happy Easter too! Hope you're all having a lovely day surrounded by the people you love and chocolate. I hope you're surrounded by lots of chocolate! I really wanted to try do something a little bit more Easter related, in actual fact I was hoping to do an Easter Lush Haul but I was unable to get to one over the last week! So instead I'm going to tell you guys about some new skincare I picked up from Soap and Glory! You can all probably tell by now that I am a massive fan of their stuff, so when I was in Boots a while ago I walked in to their skincare section. They had a lot of things on offer and I want to try some of the other things but I was looking specifically for a mask that day and I ended up getting their 'No Clogs Allowed', super self heating deep pore detox mask.

The mask is targeted towards an oily or a combination skin type, I still don't 'really' know what skin type I have, but my nose and forehead tend to get on the more oily side where as the areas where I shave get quite dry. So I've put myself into the combination bracket. The formula of the mask is really quite interesting. The instructions advise you to massage a grape sized amount of 'No Clogs Allowed' onto your face. The cream comes out an off-white colour and has quite a gritty consistency when your first working it in. Now, brace yourselves because it has a self heating formula, I expected it to gradually heat but no it literally just hits you! It's not overpowering at all but it does make you go 'ooh'! You apply the mask on at first with dry hands, once you have it massaged onto your face you then wet your hands and scrub the mask until it all turns a lovely blue tone! I don't know about you but I feel like this stuff is magic in terms of what it does, I mean it turns blue! Once it's all evenly dispersed you let it sit for around 5 minutes. Now normally I'm a right little daredevil and I'll leave it on a little longer, but with this stuff being hot and all that I didn't really want to risk it! To take it off I'll use a wet muslin cloth or a face towel using warm water. You don't need to rub the mask off  at all, It's quite fuss free and just slides off. Now I've used this stuff a handful of times and I have to say it's a little temperamental, the first time I used it my skin felt amazing! Super soft and I did see a change in how visible my pores were. But the second time when I first squeezed the cream out there was a little bit of water that had set towards the bottom of the tube and so when I massaged it onto my skin it wasn't dry. It mean that the steps merged into one and once I had washed it off my skin felt good but not great? It also felt a little dry which was a bit odd because the first time and the last time that I've used this stuff my skin felt really soft and full of moisture! I used it again last night before bed and my skin this morning feels gorgeous! So I'm going to keep using it, I think the more I use it the more I'll love it! And although I don't think this is something to use every day I think it's nice to use when you're having a little pamper session! If you're on the lookout for a mask that cleanses and minimises your pores then this is the one for you!

p.s if you love Soap and Glory as much as I do make sure you check out my other blog posts and reviews!

The Soap And Glory Review - The Righteous Butter and Butter Yourself | The Soap and Glory Review - Heel Genius, Hand Dream and Whipped Cream | The Soap and Glory Review - Orangeasm and Sugar Crush

THE BIRTHDAY MOOD BOARD | PAPERLESS POST

Happy Sunday Everyone! Nowadays any day can be a party and it's made me think about how long it's been since I've thrown a really good party! I'm normally the one that tries to get everyone together for a drink and a night on the town! But for a few years I haven't really had a party for no reason? And they're normally the ones that turn out amazing! The one thing that gets in the way is space, I'd love to have a house party but unless people can contain themselves in my teeny tiny living room I've got no chance! Haha! So I've decided I want to throw a party for my 25th! I know it's not really a special birthday number-wise but who cares! Considering my birthday isn't until next February you might think I'm starting a little early but these things take time and planning! Remember the days when you used to get a birthday invite from your friends at school? With us relying on the internet so much we don't give out card invitations anymore everything is done via email or social media and so when 'Paperless Post' asked me to take a look at their selection I was overwhelmed by the amount of choice they had available! And so I thought I would make a little mood board almost and share it with you guys!

So as you can tell I want to go for a very classic, monochrome theme. I want to keep things chic and on trend. From most of the things I blog about fashion wise I love the monochrome trend because it's something that never goes out of style, it's always going to be around! Now, if you know me at all, you'll know that I am incredibly indecisive, I never really know what I want and so when I headed to the paperless post site I was a little apprehensive but actually it was super easy to navigate around and just like what I want theme-wise for the next party I throw it was fashionable, clean and classic! I knew I wanted to send out invitations to a few of my closest friends but what normally is a quick text or tweet I think I'm going to take thing back in time and send out real invitations even though they may be ones that I e-mail over! So I navigated over to the 'Online Invitations' tab to see what they had on offer! One of the things I love most about their site is the ease of searching of what exactly it is you're looking for. As well as a regular search bar you can filter down the results by selecting the type of event or party you're throwing, the shape of the invitation and even the colour ways you have in mind. Another one of the things I loved on the site was the select few designers paperless are working with, such as Kate Spade and Oscar de la Renta. From the little mood board I've made for you guys you can see that I'm edging towards a monochrome colour pallet along with a metallic edge such as golds and rose golds! 

You can clearly see what I meant about being indecisive now, haha! I've selected a few invitation designs that I've fallen in love with but I'm going to need your help to decided which one I'll eventually go for! So leave a comment below, tweet me or leave a comment on my instagram! I need your help! A big thank you to paperless post for getting in touch, you've opened up a world of ideas for me and I can't wait to see what comes of this! Also I know I've mentioned the invitations in this post but there is so much more on paperless post to explore! I've only just noticed they have a stationery section! I may have to see if I can find a cute little notebook I can pick up!

Be sure to give the lovely people at paperless post a little visit by clicking here! Hope you guys have a lovely week and I shall see you on the next one!

THE SCENT | RIVER ISLAND - BLACK

Happy Sunday Everyone! Apologies have to come first ... I was actually supposed to be back on Friday for the last two Insta-Diaries except ... I forgot! But don't fret! It will make it's way over on here soon! Even if I upload three next month! Back to today though I have something new for you guys, a fragrance review! I haven't done one of these before but in the past month I've really had this urge to build a collection of scents! Like always before I buy anything I like to read about it online! This is where I really saw the lack of male bloggers in the blogosphere and it's honestly such a shame! So I'm going to try and fill that void with any of the little things I notice isn't quite out there and the first thing on my list is a few reviews of male beauty products! So! Lets start off with one of the scents I've picked up recently!

When it was my birthday two of my gorgeous besties took me on a day out to Nottingham for food and shopping! We headed to the intu shopping centre, I've not been there since my mum and dad were together and we used to go back to my grandparents in Nottingham. I couldn't remember if it looked the same or different but I did remember the little fountain outside of The Disney Store ... that definitely bought back a few memories. Anyway! Back to the scent, the one store I really went for it was River Island. I was on the look for some Chelsea boots but nothing really took my fancy, next to the shoes though was a little display where they had a few scents. One that caught my eye was 'Black', first of all I fell in love with the packaging. I loved the sleek cube bottle in a classy black shade with the crisp gold branding! At £15 I would have bought it just to make my desk look pretty but I had a little spritz and I really loved it! When I'm normally shopping around for a new fragrance I usually go for a light and fresh scent, sweet or something with a kick of citrus! This however was the polar opposite, it was ... manly? That's really the only way I can describe it. It's a little more warmer and darker than what I normally go for. I'm really rubbish with describing scents so I went straight to the River Island website to have a look at what the notes in the scent are from. River Island describes 'Black' as a modern aromatic scent with essence of mandarin, lavender, pineapple, geranium, pink pepper, patchouli and leather! So there's a lot packed into this little bottle but that's why I think I love it so much, it's like a fragrance cocktail! When I first spritz this on you're really hit with the leather notes but through the day the floral and fruity scents seem to make an appearance! If you're on the look out for something that smells high end but is super affordable I would definitely recommend giving this a try!

I really hope you guys enjoyed this little review! I'm going to try and do a few more of these kinds of blog posts so keep your eye out! Have a lovely week and I shall see you on the next one!

THE BREAK

Happy Sunday Everyone and welcome back! It's been a while since I've posted on here but there have been a lot of things going on in Prim world which meant that I wasn't able to give as much time as I wanted to our little world. I have to say though I do feel like a break was a little overdue. For some reason I lost my pizzazz and I really wasn't feeling myself! I'm a big believer in blogging for yourself, which I know sounds a little selfish but that's the way I've always been! I write for me, so that when I'm feeling a bit low I can go back and have a read of what was going on in my life at a certain time. However there were a few things that went on in February that I didn't want to write about, don't get me wrong there were also some amazing moments that I owe to the beautiful people around me. 

As they say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I have honestly missed my little blog posts on a Sunday ever so much! So, I'm back and I can't wait to show you guys what I have coming! As always I'll be uploading a new post each Sunday! If there's anything that you guys really want to see leave a comment below for me! Also I really want to try and change a few things around, I'm currently snooping around for a new blog design. I love my layout at the moment but sometimes I think you just need to have a bit of a refresh you know? I've dabbled around and made a few new headers but I want to see what's out there so if you know anyone that does any blog designs let me know! You may have noticed we've not had an Insta-Diary for a while but don't panic, there's one coming your way this Friday! I hope you guys are as excited as I am for what's to come! Hope you guys have a lovely week and I shall see you again on Friday!